Called in to Work

(click comic for larger view)

This is my favorite comic of the bunch of three. I should totally be drawing more, but I am not at the moment because I am still trying to figure out what to write about. Anyway, yes, I did sleep until about 2:00 p.m., and yes, later that day I was driving to the big city about an hour and half away. I had never been to that "Ykia" store before and was impressed by its size. The people behind the counter were nice enough, but no, I didn't have the swedish meatballs. I hear they're not so good anyway from people who have more discriminating tastes than I do. I'd eat just about anything at least once or twice, or more if I was especially hungry. I've always imagined that if I was on one of those reality shows where they made you eat something disgusting, I'd win. No one else would even be close.

Island - Illustration Friday

(click image for larger view)


This is my first entry for the site Illustration Friday, a site that invites artists to create a little something based on a theme chosen by fellow artists. Like it says on their site, there isn't any pressure on outcome or results (other than internal I suppose) and no deadlines or clients to worry about either. I think I first heard about this site from one of the many art blogs I try to keep up on, and then, last year from one of my art instructors offered extra credit to anyone who submitted to them. But as I was swamped with regular classwork, I never got around to submitting. I am not sure why I decided to submit now. Anyhow, I sketched out an idea, scanned it in the computer, and then played around with it in Adobe's Illustrator program. So, here it is.

Doubts

(click comic for larger view)

Hey, it's the second diary comic that I drew way back when! I only drew three of these, so with the posting of this one, there is only one left. I should draw more of them I know, but my days are so rigorously boring lately that there is nothing really worth drawing. Four panels of me sitting in a chair could be interesting in a "meta" way, but really it's nothing that I have a passion for doing. Maybe one day. Anyway, enjoy!

Welcome Back to Me!

(click comic for larger view)

Well, if anyone still checks this space anymore, the above is evidence that my year long hiatus from this comic blog was somewhat unplanned. The date, May 21st, proves that I was still thinking, even way back then, of posting something here. All I can say is that spammers, while one of the most unpleasant and irritating components of the Internet, were at least responsible for a small boost to my ego because their comment spam proved that at least someone was looking at this space. Of course, I am going to slap down the spam here soon, so legtimate veiwers may not see it, but trust it was there!

Two major things have changed since the last time I posted on this site. The first is that I now have Photoshop and Illustrator! My days of using G.I.M.P. are over, and when I think about it, I admit that part of me is going to miss it. G.I.M.P. was instrumental in helping me express my creativity when I had even less access to the tools I needed than I do now. G.I.M.P., if I can just say one more time, is a pretty good FREE! alternative to the expensive Adobe Suite I now own. Also, I am doing my best to get a "Visual Communication" degree from my community college. In the olden days, visual communication used to be called Graphic Design. So, while I am not claiming one software is better than the other, I am switching over to Photoshop for most of my raster needs because that is the industry standard, and by God, I need a regular job again.

The second major thing that has changed during this past year is that I am moving a little bit away from the Angry Bear storyline to some degree. I ran out of steam and most of my comics began to sound like my blog--a little whiny and pointless. It has been fun to explore my comic chops, as they say, but I have reached a new level so I think I am going to branch out a bit. Zeb and Dana and the rest will probably still show up every now and again, but I am going to start throwing more stuff out here on the blog. For example, aside from the diary comic project that I am planning on, I have one or two more ideas for other comic projects that might show up here over the course of time.

Anyway, I hope you enjoy whatever happens. If you got really inspired and left a comment that would be great! It'd sure be a change of pace from the spam, which is nice in the absence of other comments, but still a little annoying.