Tonight's art cards!

Another good stream! At least on my end. You guys may have suffered, but at least you had plenty of suffering friends to commiserate with this time!

Aside from the new Copper Road (go vote and see it! It hurts my feelings when I slip this low in the rankings) I did these two cards, and they're cool. Totally.

Autumn's card started the evening. This is a recreation of the final panel of this comic with bonus color and double bonus not having to look at naked me to see that pose. Since this was a sequined dress in a sparkly environment, I went ADVANCED and used metallic silver and gold pencils for the shininess. I may have gone overboard in experimenting with colors and polling the chat to settle on the perfect dress color - BUT IT WORKED. What I'm most proud of, though, is how I pulled off the curtain-esque background. I rocked my color theory via means of insanity!

Vincent's card had a very cool origin. While folks seem to enjoy me drawing the Copper Roads, there's also a bit of quiet as I have to do the lettering and ink the borders. This time, I tasked the chat with deciding upon the next card while I did the less-zesty Copper Roading.  It... worked.  Rather than melting down into sectional violence, everyone actually seemed to have a good discussion and came up with the concept of Vincent, in holiday pajamas, hanging a stocking while standing precariously on a wobbly stool.  I admit, I was dubious about fitting it all onto a card - but IT WORKED. The end result was one of the coolest cards yet, and everyone involved gets to take some credit in its creation.

While commissions aren't canon - and even with no owner, art cards count - this does give an interesting view into Vincent's home life. I've always imagined Vincent's dad as doing the best he can - even in areas where he doesn't have the most expertise. Vincent wanted to celebrate the holiday, so daddy went out and got a big tree!  Decorations? Uh... One box of ornaments and no lights or tinsel? Like Vincent, there's something so sweet in that slightly inept attempt to make someone happy.  Anyway, Vincent's probably spending his holiday in the emergency room.

Also, when these cards are placed side by side, it's hilarious.

Cards and comics streaming, Dec 8th

December 8th is a special day, as it marks the beginning of Chrispmas - the season of giving! (Come to my streams if you want the full story of Chrispmas.) I intend to start this season by giving you a bonus weekend stream! Note the early start, 4pm eastern time, as I'm letting those darling people over in Europe get in on the action without wrecking their sleep schedules!

The plan is to draw two art cards and finish up the next installment of Copper Road, which will be posted after the stream ends.

Oh, and didn't I say this was the season of giving? During the stream, I will be giving away an art card to someone in the chat! You don't need an Ustream account, nor do you have to be actively chatting. You just need to be watching when the time comes and be able to let me know you exist. (You can use the chat room anonymously, or even email me if you're that shy.)

The above sketches, with festival outfits, are me getting you all started with ideas for the cards, as at least one will be created from chat requests.  The other card can be a commission, if someone would like to reserve a spot. Send me an email - chrispco (at) yahoo (dot) com - if you want it. Only $10.

The steam is expected to run 3-4 hours, so I encourage you to stop in and try for the freebie when you can! As always, this is the link: http://www.ustream.tv/channel/the-sycophant

My Little Copper Road

The prep work is done for the next Copper Road comic, which I'm aiming to get out tomorrow! As you can see by this sketches, we're trick or treating... AS PONIES!

Hey, I can indulge a bit if I want to!



Here, the Great and Powerful Quincy returns. I have to decide when I put him in the strip whether I want the ears in or out of the hat. Trixie is ears-in, but that looks kinda weird here.



Good old Kaitlyn gets to be Applejack. That hat drove me nuts, and it drives me nuts still.



Yvettershy and Derpy Vincent may not make the comic, but I wanted to draw them anyway!

What might have happened

When you write a story - especially a long on like the Birthday Bashing arc - some ideas change dramatically from inception to execution, and a good number of thoughts end up on the cutting room floor.

When writing the water balloon confrontation, I took it through many incarnations before it hit its final form. At one point Suzette was the betrayer. (Or, rather, suddenly a "conscientious objector.") At another, Dionne tried to betray so much she asked for her own balloon to soak Autumn with - which promptly got HER soaked by the males, who weren't buying it. (Autumn was saved!) Finally, I decided to let Autumn have it again - since that seems to be how all gender wars end up.

Because I'm trying to streamline things to finish up the story, I tend to cut a lot of the non-essential connective tissue. The above scene is one of the many possible transition strips between the betrayal and Autumn's soaking. It's not canon, just a possibility, but do note how in the strip before (strip #964) Dionne and Suzette are positioned behind the two males most likely to chicken out. So much could have happened!

Fall down go boom

I want to get back into making character watercolors, and I've set my eyes on dear little Vincent. The problem with him is that he's so darn POOFY! He doesn't fit on my half-page sheets!

Solution: KNOCK HIM DOWN! I'm trying to the find the perfect klutz shot of Vincent to use, but I do believe I'm still searching. It is fun to draw him falling over again and again and again...

Bonus Comics Day - A song in my heart!

This day has been a blast! I'd do it forever, except that this day has also nearly killed me.

I went into it thinking I'd get a ton of work done because I'd be chained to the computer. WRONG. With ADHD, it can take me a while to settle down into a work groove, and having to reset myself every hour to an update threw me off-balance completely. By the time I did the update, posted about it, checked out all the social media places, prepped the next update and sat down to start my work... 45 minutes had gone by! It's hard to get a project started in 15 minutes, so back to email and Twitter and...

It was still totally awesome being able to throw updates at you guys left and right. (And I grin looking at the stat boost I got from today's antics!) If I ever do another donation drive, I must have a bonus comics day again - although next time I MUST charge more per strip. I hope you all had as much fun as I did.

Along the way, while trying to stir up the slow early morning crowd, I was talking about music I was listening to - and realized I missed a golden opportunity. I've been listening to the delightful St. Vincent, and some of her songs make great fits for my own little Vincent. Somehow, despite it being crazy to do so, I drew up ANOTHER bonus comic - just so I could double Vincent all the way across the sky. It'll show up at the top of the hour. (Bonus music comic #15, strip #854.) I had two ideas for the St. Vincent strip, and the sketch you see above is from the one that lost. It's such a sweet line and it's perfect for Vincent, but also kinda gross to illustrate if I wanted to be literal.

It's weird to think I could be exhausted from doing nothing but playing on the computer for 15 hours, but I really am. After I get to the regular update, when I can finally let go and have the CMS do the updating for me, I'd like nothing more than to go to bed and sleep for a week. But I'm a cartoonist. That ain't happening.

For one, thanks to all this Bonus Comics Day stuff, my buffer is now gone. Tomorrow I have no choice but to color the rest of this week's strips. Then can I rest? Oh, no! I still have three commission projects that desperately need attention! And I have to build up my buffer again! And I have to work on a donation poster for August! AND I NEED TO GET WORKING ON THE DANG BOOK! *head explodes*

Ahh, cartooning. The work is insane, but at least the pay's nonexistent and no one ever respects what you do (even in your own field, if you're a newspaper-style cartoonist). Woohoo!

Sunday, bloody Sunday

Today has been a struggle against the upcoming Sunday's strip, so much that I nearly forgot about my daily dose of inane blogging!

The reason for my troubles: Vincent. He's a fun guy to draw, but it's never easy to do it. That's fine, as long as it's from the standard angles... but what if a scene requires a shot of Vincent from behind? I HAVE NO IDEA WHAT THAT LOOKS LIKE! Oh yeah, and what if this angle is from a distance? Gah! So I have to cop out and find ways around it!

I hope the Sunday comes out ok, with it being clear what is going on... but at moments like these I have my doubts. On the plus side, it's a bonus-sized strip, so there's more awkwardness to LOVE!

Tonight the war begins: Me verses Sunday. It has to go out to the colorist by morning, so this battle must be won! In related news, I have a Red Bull in the fridge. Considering I've had maybe three Red Bulls in my life, it should pack quite a punch if needed.

If the Sunday's ink lines are all shaky... well, now you know why.

Another day, another sketchbook page

I think the title says it all. Nothing snazzy to show from today, but that's not a bad thing. I need to do more of this daily sketching thing - this is sketch blog after all - but all that productivity stuff can get in the way! Eh, look at it this way: No matter what, I'm doing something awesome! THESE SKETCHES ARE AWESOME!

To Flanderize or not to Flanderize...

Ahh, Flanderization! It can lead to glory or could lead to cheapness. In the right hands, maybe both?

Anyone who has read through my archives knows I'm big on the Flanderizing, making all my supporting characters pop in pre-Flanderized. I did this on purpose, to give you a cursory, bullet-pointed summary of THIS IS WHO THEY ARE AND THIS IS WHAT THEY ARE ALL ABOUT!!! I figured introducing them and driving home the characteristics would help readers get into the story. Was this good or bad, I dunno - but it WAS on purpose!

So now I'm about to introduce Vincent in Copper Road - and he's a character I can seriously Flanderize. I think I'm going to go ahead and do it, but it makes me feel guilty - like I'm forcing it something fierce. (Maybe I am.) The humor of Vincent so far is that he's been languishing in obscurity... so to make him suddenly burst forward and be all aggressive is taking him to new and awkward heights!

It's going to be cheap, and I admit that... but maybe it'll also be funny?

I'm attacking the darkness!

This is it, the final sketch of the latest sketchbook to be conquered by my mighty pencil! It took forever to finish this bugger, since all my drawing time was spent on the comic, but that's a good thing.

As my life is so comic-centered, what you see here is prep work for next Sunday's Copper Road. It's clear to anyone who knows the signs what it's about. Gotta say, Vincent would be a terrible dungeon master, but sacrifices must be made if Quincy is going to play along to give Kaitlyn an introduction. Besides, RULE OF FUNNY! No questioning it!

Anyway, today is going to be a production day. (Assuming all goes as planned.) I have to finish this week's Precocious strips and start on the next batch. I'm out of Sunday scripts, so that may skipped over. Even when I'm ahead in the dailies (which hasn't been for weeks now) Sundays always get done last minute, so this is nothing new. This is why I have to work in batches. Creativity is not a constant stream, and even if it was it would not be homogeneous. A constant flow of creativity is sometimes mostly paintings, sometimes all about sketching, sometimes writing, etc. Time of low creativity can bring a flow of high grinding productivity, such as lining templates, lettering or a good focused inking session. I have to play it the best I can and go with the flow. I've wanted to ink for days, but creativity has been telling me to paint. I have one last day to be whimsical before cruel deadlines rear their ugly heads, but let's hope it doesn't get that far.

A new era of vote incentives

Sometime on Monday I launch my Precocious spin-off comic: Copper Road!

You see, friends, I crave attention. I validate my existence by the numbers beside my comics name on toplist sites. And those numbers have been DROPPING! Something drastic must be done!

There is a thing called vote incentives - little bits of bonus art that, in theory, entice people to vote for one's comic. I have been using small things here and there, with lackluster results. FINE! Let's go for gusto!

Copper Road will be my new vote incentive. You wanna read my new comic? THEN YOU MUST VOTE FOR ME!

Copper Road will appear sometime on Monday, so get your voting fingers ready!

Same name game

More Final Fantasy VII sketching! This time it's my Vincent as their Vincent!

What also might have been

We're closing in on the end of the Precocious summer spectacular and I'm going through the requisite jitters about the ending. Along the way, I cut out what would amount to two weeks of stuff - and now I'm wondering it it means the ending is a bit abrupt.

So I set out to see if I could stretch it out another week. Well, not STRETCH - more like ENHANCE. I debated extending an interaction between Dionne and Suzette, and I even thought of throwing in a Vincent cameo for good measure.

Yeah, it didn't work. Or at least it's not working yet. The jokes aren't punchy and I'll need to plot a bit more if I want to use Vincent appropriately. As it stands, his official introduction is too oversimplified and pre-Flanderized. (It *is* pretty funny, though!)

One thing I worry about is putting too much out there and just dropping it. I'd be setting the table with Vincent when I *know* I probably won't be able to give him some solid attention until next year. The only way I can get away with a cast as large as the one I have is because I give them all enough attention to keep 'em around. Granted, the current joke with Vincent is that he's doomed to obscurity - so dropping him plays into that - but I'm not sure I'm ready to go meta with this gag just yet.

In the end, this will likely have been another creative exercise and nothing more. That's artistese for FAIL.

I don't like the drugs, but the drugs like me

If you've read my bio on the Precocious website (or ever met me in person) you'll know I have the brain-addling despair that is ADHD. When I was put on Ritalin, it really did save my life. Precocious wouldn't exist without it. Currently my cocktail of choice is 20mg in slow-release form in the morning and regular Ritalin in small doses throughout the evening. When prepping for my trip to DC, I packed my pillbox with my morning pills. (No I am not a walking pharmacy. There's TWO, both of which are optional!) Guess what I forgot? Oh, right, EVENINGS! When I do ALL MY WORK! For this week, instead of firing up at 5pm, my brain will be melting down. Dumb dumb dumb. This has been a stupid week for me, hasn't it? (OK, so it's not a huge deal, but I wish I had the option available to me if I needed it.)

I chose Vincent for this illustration because, spoiler alert, he's got an undiagnosed ADHD problem - which leads to much merriment for all of us! Y'know, whenever he shows up. Which is not for a long time. Yes, this means he wouldn't be freaking out over meds, as he doesn't know he needs them. Shut up! It's close enough to be apt anyway!

Oh, anyone who thinks ADHD is fake just because it's often misdiagnosed can preemptively go fuck themselves.

Supporting cast parade!

Do you know how hard it is to draw a bunch of characters together? (Wait until you see the nightmare that I faced for Sunday's strip.) Oh, I wish I was a simple, talking head comic some days...

Shiny happy people holding hands

Why do I set myself up for this? This Sunday strip is expanding rapidly, now featuring a giant shot of the class - in what should be a full class shot. Oh, SCREW THAT! I have neither the patience nor the skill to draw 15 desks and 13 kids spread among the desks with a few in the center forming a discussion group. WHY DO I SCRIPT THESE THINGS?

So here is my first attempt at a compromise. Forget the damn desks - they pushed them all back so EVERYONE can join in the discussion group. And they sparkle, because in comic visual language, that means EVIL CUTE! (Because Bud and Kaitlyn holding hands isn't enough of a sign that evil reigns.)

Life on the edge

It's seems all I can draw today are the outsiders of the comic. On the plus side, they're nice sketches. On the minus side, I CAN'T DO ANYTHING PRODUCTIVE!

Today has been miserable. I woke up in pain, which is likely the result of stress finally taking its toll on my jaw. If that's it, then maybe some relaxation will make it go away. If it's something more dentally malicious, I'm in real trouble. I'm sorta on the Winchester dental blacklist right now. Right now I'm living off an advil/excedrin combo, and that's only enough to keep me from screaming. Guess that's a plus. I *really* hope this goes away tomorrow.

This is not a good time for a breakdown. Tonight the last of the bake sale story runs, and tomorrow gag-a-day May kicks off. I'll be dancing on the edge this month, and that makes me very uncomfortable. I'm used to having a few weeks of strips in my buffer, and I'm starting to burn off the last of what I have. Here's to hoping life improves in the next few weeks, because I'm creating strips at a far slower pace than a daily strip requires.

Doomed to obscurity

You know, I was so proud of today's comic. Not only was it funny, but we've secretly replaced Max with a previously unseen character. Let's see if the readers notice!

Uh, guess they didn't. DAMN YOU, READERS!

I'm building towards a joke here that requires people to notice this strange kid in the background and not think, "Eh, he has so many characters anyway - guess I forgot this one." If you are confused, check the cast page! I wanted to see a "Who is this guy?" comment today - not a "Wait, which one is Dionne again?" question. *facepalm* I know she hasn't been around in a while; but, even if this was your first time reading, her identity should be clear from the context of the strip. Also, CAST PAGE!

Now, you loyal blog readers already know the new kid's identity - but I stuck Google Analytics on this sucker and I know my loyal blog readers number around 15. I could give away the next few months of scripts here and most of my readers would never know!

Poor Vincent, you are not only ignored by my cast, but by everyone else as well.

Spoiler alert!

Realizing that I have precious few color strips of many Precocious characters, I set about rectifying that. There's a massive color story coming (the ever-hyped parents' intro) which should cover some good stuff. But what about the supporting kids? They won't be appearing! Strip #7 is the only color version I have of them outside of supervillain get-ups. Well then... let's play some more!

This banner ad features a detail from next Sunday's strip. Those in the know might even be able to figure out the punchline. Oh well, it took a long time to make and it's "bonus" - that's fair game for blogging! Not sure I'm fully sold on the ad yet, but it's good enough for now.

Edit: Darn differently-calibrated monitors! Kaitlyn is the best-looking one on the HDTV, but she looks like a washed out Martian on the old school screen. I have no idea what you people are seeing. Please let it be the good version!

And the meek shall languish in obscurity

I made the sketch. I scanned it. I remembered I had to actually post it at 11:40. Victory! Ok, so it's not like this was done *early* - it took forever for a decent sketch to appear - but I had a comfortable window, dammit!

If Kaitlyn doesn't drag these two along, what chance do they have? You know, this post can make a real deep statement about something. I've been fighting to get my strip noticed, and networking is not my strong suit. Kaitlyn is the only *normal* kid in the class, and so she can guide the meeker/crazier class members. Then again, even Kaitlyn can't break through the Gemstone delusion. What chance does erratic Vincent, who tends to stick his foot in his mouth by cluelessly rambling - or Yvette, who is near mute but *potentially* lives a complex inner life (we're not sure) - have if their leader can't succeed?

If I sound like I'm reeeeaaalllly stretching, DUH! The original idea was to draw the other half of the class like a posse. After starting on Vincent, this post's title popped into my head - so I stopped with the 9-year-olds. I'm just happy I got a decent sketch today. Don't read too much into it. ;-)