Conventions are coming...

In 10 days I'll be on my way to Anthrocon. One week after that, it's ConnectiCon! Wow. I still have so much left to do!

For those who have followed along with my social media and art accounts you can find by checking out the sidebar, you've seen the above cards come into being recently.  I am almost done with my artist trading card portfolio! This year I broke down and added fan art stuff, so feast your eyes on Pokemon and Animal Crossing cards! (No ponies, because it seems like every other artist out there has that covered.)  Now I have to add five Precocious cards and I'll be done.  Those still available after Connecticon will pop up for sale when the Precocious store debuts.

Two more portfolios still need to be put together: One with samples and original artwork, and a special ego-boosting collection of original strips! (So, if you'll be attending any of those cons and you want to own an original Precocious or Copper Road, let me know so I can bring it with me.)

I'm not sure what my table commission situation will be like at Anthrocon yet. I'll be taking some, but maybe not a full load due to ongoing health issues slowing my process way down. It's best to get to me early if you want a badge!

You'll get the in-depth Anthrocon news post at the beginning of next week! For now, I have to figure out how to draw two weeks of Precocious (plus those ATCs) from my bed...

Convention preppery!

If you've been following me other art dumping grounds, you've seen my recent push for artist trading cards. I have this cute binder that looks so good when filled, I wanted to make that happen even if it meant dying before I could even get to the cons! (I never said I was good at decision making.)

With a week of so many vote incentives, extra art and promotion posts had to be pushed aside, but they shall come! It's about time to start reminding folks about Anthrocon and Connecticon!

I'm debating setting little Eevee here loose on tumblr alone.  Is he cute enough, and is his plight poignant enough, to get the reblogs a-fire?

The scary part of Tumblrizing ATCs is the mandatory resizing to 500 pixels. That usually makes the cards twice the size of the originals on my monitor. (And even more exaggerated for vertical cards!) While still time consuming to draw, ATCs are little! They are the size of standard playing cards. It's weird to make them big!

Vote for a bonus comic!

First off, I'm so happy to have read such wonderful comments/speculation about the attic arc. I had no idea this story would go over so well, and with my current health issues I really needed such widespread positivity! I kept mostly quiet while the story ran, so as not to interfere with the discussion. It's always wonderful when commenting both thrives and (usually) stays on-topic without any nudging.

Once again, my "enhance the future books" promotion means you get a bonus strip! (Another will come next week too!) Click here to vote, and see where Jacob ended up! You'd best enjoy it now, as these bonus comics won't go into the online archives once a new incentive goes up. They are book bonuses you get to see *years* in advance!

New Copper Road! 6/21/13

And so it is time for the thrilling conclusion of Eva's smelly adventure! What a tempting line that was. Click this link anyway and vote to see the comic!

Since another incentive is coming for Sunday, you'd best act fast and catch this one while it's up!

New Copper Road! 6/17/13

Vote here to see part two of this little scene with Yvette's family! If you missed part one, the image here sets the scene for you.

I gotta figure out how to draw this group better in black and white. This is why Copper Road is for experimenting - and they're too fun to leave out!

New Copper Road! 6/12/13

First, make sure you scroll down to see the promos in the post below!

And now, here is the start of the kinda-three-parter I teased you about! Vote here to see it, and don't slack, as part 2 will be up in a few days! Enjoy Yvette's family doing its thing!

Promoting some friends!

One of the perks of having a comic is sharing stuff that I feel should be shared. I have a trio or friends doing promotions right now, so let's give them a signal boost! Maybe one is offering something you want!

Going in order of the banner, I'll start with Tiff Ross, creator of the Cyantian Chronicles and Alien Dice. She's currently holding an Indiegogo campaign to fund those adorable plushes of her character Darius. If you don't want the cute doll (WHY NOT!?) she is also offering commissions as part of the fundraising.

Next up is Becca, of the Nattosoup art and comic blog, who is working on adorable watercolors, featuring art of Pokemon, Studio Ghibli, Nintendo characters, Adventure Time and Gravity Falls, among original creations. Check her Tumblr for a sampling of them. You can commission new watercolors, or grab one already created, over at the Nattosoup shop! (Edit: There's some issues with the store check-out. It'll be fixed soon, but you'll have to contact Becca directly to purchase something for now.)

Finally, Darc of Code Name: Hunter is doing a fundraiser to replace her well-used Cintiq, and offering lots of perks in the process. This is one of the best-drawn comics out there, and funding keeps it going strong, with more updates per week! She's so close to the goal! Don't you want to be the one that puts her over the top? Remember, she's also giving back to artists, new and old, with her Pimp My Studio giveaway, so she deserves some love. (The deadline for that promo is midnight of June 10th - that's today!)

Sketch cards!

I don't know if I've shared many of them here yet. If not, please enjoy this selection of sketch cards that were drawn for Kickstarter backers and convention attendees. The bottom pic shows the front of the sketch cards, along with the new magnets.

By the way, the gold and copper markers died out pretty quickly, so all newly-drawn cards only get silver for highlights. Also, there are several more cards that never got photographed. Gotta preserve some mystery!

New Copper Road! 6/5/13

It's a good day for a Copper Road, isn't it? Here's a new one! More details are coming out about that... fateful night? Vote her to see the new comic!

Widdle animals!

After being ill all of May, I'm going to try and use June to tune myself up for the convention run that starts in July. Thus, an excuse to draw cute things! All these widdle bitties will be on sale, either at cons or through the upcoming store (it exists, but I haven't been taught how to use it yet).

I'm still not taking on commissions, though. I consider these warm-ups, with little pressure attached to them. If I spend an afternoon drawing one, and no one wants it, only I'm disappointed. Despite my June vow, nothing has changed medically yet. All I've done is remove one drug that was hurting more than helping, but no real replacement is happening, so I'm back to the usual death-face issues. (And that means this daily art thing isn't likely to last, but I'll try to keep things moving.)

Making custom buttons!

My June vow: Get back into art! This is easier said than done, as my lack of arting isn't due to laziness. My health problems have continued - and I've been a mess of side effects while trying out new treatments. A necessary step, if a frustrating one. Still, con season approaches, and my portfolio need upgrading! I want to do something artsy (beyond regular comicking) every day, although it's doubtful I'll be able to pull it off. Denial only goes so far, but it's all I have!

I'm doing warm-up and sample pieces at first, even though I owe commissions still. Gotta get myself back into a groove before doing proper paid work.

Today: Playing with custom buttons! I don't have a button maker, as it's far too expensive for far too few sales, but I *do* have snap-together button pieces - and all the ingredients to make magic happen!

Above you see the button pieces, marker paper with designs, a circle cutter and a template I put under the marker paper to let me know where the edges are.

Of the drawings, I decided I only liked Autumn and Bud's drawings well enough to take to completion. I markered them up (Bud got a faint coat of glitter, just because) and prepared for the next step!

In order to fit in the circle cutter, I had to cut out the drawings from the page. I used the template to make sure everything would fit on the button correctly.

And, since it's all good, I put the paper in the cutter and out came the perfect circles!

And, ta-dah, the circles snap into the snappers - and buttons are created!  These two will be giveaways to lucky Kickstarter backers.

As for the future, I must figure out how to price these things. Even though only 2.5", it's still custom art, and all custom art requires development time. But that's the future. For now, I'm just happy to have some art done.

Now, back to Precocious! Let's keep that buffer up!

New Copper Road! 6/1/13

It's the first of the month! That means TWC has reset, so the fight for ranking begins anew. The higher up Precocious gets, the better the chance of new readers. The more new readers that show up, the more reason I have to keep putting out bonus content to entertain everyone! Vote on TWC to see the latest Copper Road, your reward for your support! Poor Vincent. He gets that a lot.

Also, thanks to the Kickstarter success, since it's the first of the month, that means the Copper Road archive has been updated with May's comics, starting here. You can now comment on them, and catch up in case you missed one. After that, start anticipating the many Copper Roads of this month! Oh, and no one panic over the recent increase of strip-size comics. That's just how my recent scripting came out, with a few of those planned for June making up a little Copper Road storyline. (Today's comic is a standalone, though.)

If you're wondering about where the bonus ending for the Charity arc will go, it's going bye bye for now. I desire to have my online comics and the printed collections each give a unique experience, and this is part of that. Online you get titles and alt text. In print you get commentary and bonus comics. That means, once the incentive rotates out, any bonus panels (one might happen for the attic arc, depending on how fine-tuning later scripts goes) won't pop up again in the open until it's booked.