Desperate times call for busywork

Just as cowardice caused me to work on the gruntwork that is coloring, a sad and stressful day caused me to make the swatches graphic I needed to make for coloring. Colorizing strips requires actual effort, but making swatches is mindless busywork. Oh well, this will help in the future. The colors will change, I'm sure, but that just means I update the swatches. As long as it was a swatch at the time, no color is ever incorrect!

Discarding the race card

As I've referred to the Gender Wars arc as Precocious' pilot episode, let me continue that TV series analogy. Pilot episodes are generally raw, as the creators haven't yet discovered what works. Some premises change. Some details are altered. Some characters are cut. Other characters are re-cast.

The major visual Precocious change looks like our poor, unlucky black cat will be recast. I mentioned a few posts back that I was in the middle of inking a Roddy drawing when I turned to get more ink on my pen. When I turned back, I saw Roddy with only the top of his head inked. It looked... better. Could I change my black cat to a Sylvester-type cat? At the time, I decided to stay the course and debate the change later... but now it's later.

The day after the site was launched, I feel the pressure to make my moves now. Look, just because I officially launched the strip doesn't mean anyone showed up to see it. My traffic went from zero to, maybe, two. I still have time! While this post was originally going to be about weighing my options by comparing the two inking possibilities, I've gone ahead and made the change.

I like the *idea* of Roddy as a black cat, but in practice it was limiting. Only certain types of mouths look right when drawn on an all-black character with just India ink, which is a problem because Roddy is supposed to be rather expressive. By making him black and white, I now have the freedom of expression with Roddy that I need. I lose the concept and I lose the race card, but the long-term gains in storytelling will likely make it worth it.

At this point, I was going to continue with the pilot episode/regular season analogy. I want to talk about lessons learned, promotion and various other comic things that weigh on my mind. But not tonight. All today I've been in major postpartum depression, and the power I need to win friends and influence people just isn't there. Oh well, I'll be back in the rambling mood soon enough.

Nothin' says Luvin' ...

...like Joe and Sydney Oven!



Why do I enjoy drawing characters who rarely appear in the comic? Alright, so I only enjoy drawing Sydney, but I need practice on Joseph. As I've mentioned before, it's far easier to draw chicks. A few curves and eyelashes and everyone knows it's a babe. For dudes, I have no easy shortcuts. Joseph is even scarier - he's all big and burly! How do I draw furry muscles? At this point... Popeye arms?

While I like these sketches, there is a major flaw with 'em: They look waaaay too young. It's the big, adorable eyes. Both these darlings are over 40, and I am not getting that across at this point. So...uh...this is a portrait of the two from when Bud was just a baby? If Precocious starts with Lost-style flashbacks, I'm set!

Seriously, I need to control my eyes when I draw parents. A subtle shift in eye size makes all the difference. It requires finesse and control...something I lack, considering I very rarely sketch the parents. Oh well, maybe it's good that their arc had to be cut. It takes place in August, so that ship has sailed. I'll have to do it and insert it into the storyline at a later date, I guess. This is what I get for having a breakdown and losing three months of work. The first arc (which I am not even halfway through drawing) takes place in July. The second arc takes place in August. The regularly-updating strip was supposed to begin...uh...in three days. Yeah, I'm missing that deadline. My kids are going back to school starting in October, I guess. Whatever. I am numbering my comics sequentially and not by date. I'll retcon when the time comes to post things.