An Unexpected Phonecall

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A Phonecall

I'm still learning how to do this. I used a sharpie to fill in the large areas of black, but I think that soon I will try to use actual pen and ink, and maybe I'll even try experimenting with a brush. I am hearing that this is the best way to do these types of things, the best way to create the kind of lines I want, and the best way to give the comic the personal stylistic character it needs. Some of my lines here are not too good. Also, the pen I have been using for lettering doesn't work the way I want. I think the best panel in this strip is the one where Zeb is at a loss for words. I also liked the way Dana turned out in the second panel, even if the inking is a little off.

In any event, this comic is part of a story-line that will fold out over the next couple of weeks. I am hoping to get at least one of these out per week, but if inspiration strikes, and if I get some time for myself away from the demands of work, then I will post more. Don't forget to vote! I want to be able to hear your voice and see what you want. Also, don't be timid about commenting. I'm looking for any kind of feedback that you guys can give. Next Week: Bossy Doodlecoop!

Quest

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Quest

Once again, this is a comic that I had completed earlier, but didn't have time to scan in until recently. I have one more left until I need to, *ahem*, get back to the drawing board. I'm still trying to find my footing with both the drawing aspect and the computer aspect of this comic. It has been both challenging and fun. I am continuing to learn as I go, so things may be a changing more and more as I go on.

As far as the computer aspect goes, one of the things I recently discovered was the differences in browsers. If you want to see the best version of the comic, you should click on the image to see it by itself. However, if you are using Internet Explorer, you should mouse over to the lower right hand portion of the comic to reveal a little box with four blue arrows in each corner. Click on that little box to expand the comic to its original size. The difference in quality should be worth it. If you use Mozilla, like I do, then you should already see the fully expanded version when you first click on the comic. Since I don't have access to other browsers, can anyone give me feedback on how to view the comic with those other programs? (How does it look in Opera or Safari? Is there a way, or a need, to expand the comic?)

Don't forget to vote the day you want to see a new comic. I will leave the poll up for a month or so to allow people to choose. I am thinking that right now, one update per week is all I can do, until I get ahead on comics, and that won't happen until I finish up my other work. Although I haven't finished that work yet, I am really close. That's all for now, and--oh yeah, don't forget to Vote!

Dinner

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Dinner

As promised, this is the update for the end of the week. I am still working on other projects that need to be completed soon, but I did not want to get too far away from Angry Bear Comics in the mean time. I had completed this strip a couple of weeks ago, but did not have time to upload it until now. Also, this strip was completely hand drawn, and as you can probably tell, I am still experimenting with the form. All of the black that you see was filled in with a fine tip pen--not something I recommend as I ran out of ink. As you can see, this strip was a little too tall, so the bottom edge of the very last panel is cut off. And, the final critique of myself is that the characters are still a little rough; I still need to figure out a good consistent way of drawing them cleanly. Which means, I need to practice a lot more to get them where I want. (I guess the REAL final thing I want to say is this: My heart longs for a scanner, but my wallet remains parched from a general lack of money.)

On another note, I have discovered that Dana the dog is one of my favorite characters here, and she is the most fun to draw. I think that her ability to return to her optimism, even in the face of Zeb's dunderheaded-ness, is my favorite quality of hers. Overall, I think the development of all of the characters will continue as I find their unique voices more. And as mentioned in my update post, I am going to introduce more characters soon to help flesh out the strip a bit better. While a couple of incidental characters have showed up, I think a couple more established characters will help round out the strip more.

Finally, I think that I also need to establish some regularity here as far as updates goes. I am thinking that I should update this site once a week. This will give me some time to doodle out the main ideas and have the strip drawn in a leisurely, non-pressured way--in a way that does not interfere with my other work. In that regard, I want to know: Which day of the week would you like to see a comic update here? If you have a preference, drop an anonymous note in the comments by clicking on comments link and posting your preferred choice. (Please, I wholeheartedly invite you to leave one. Unlike Zeb, I won't bite. I won't even "Grrr.") So--until next time.

Quick Update

I figured I should let everyone know that I have a couple of comics that are already completed and should be up either by the end of this week or the beginning of next. These two comics were finished before I started a big push to get my other work done. I've tried out a couple of new techniques and I am introducing some new characters (like Clark and Bossy Doodlecoop!). It should be fun, but as I mentioned in the previous post, I am still rather busy finishing other things, so I can't update the comic as much as I've wanted to. However, comments are still open, so if you want to comment anonymously, or have any suggestions, I'd love to hear them. Hopefully, I'll see you here by the end of the week!