Just to see if I could...

Gentlemen, we appear to have wandered outside the genre into scary new lands!

Between ad-bouncing with Project Wonderful, webcomic top sites, link pages and a really unfortunate and embarrassing introduction to StumbleUpon, I saw the front page of a lot of webcomics today. Ye god, make the manga stop! If it wasn't elves, it was canine chicks kicking ass. Sometimes it was with a spear, sometimes with a lightsaber - and no slaying was happening with punchlines. This is the stuff that is popular, I guess.

All I know is I no longer trust any comic that exists in full-page format. Comic STRIPS are nice in that they force the cartoonist to put a punchline (or at least something of merit) in each update. Serials, while possibly awesome in the long run, tend to have lots of strips where everyone is indiscriminately punching or traveling in silence so as to establish atmosphere.

Now, I am not opposed to fantasy stories or serializes stories in any ways - heck, if I could draw like that I'd probably have one of my own - but it's not what interests me right now. Why do I keep running into them if I'm not interested? Because I'm following the ART in banners and thumbnails. It is sadly rare when good art meets intriguing store, and even rarer when that story is one that intersects with YOUR tastes.

This vulnerable warrior doggy is my response to a very soul-draining day. It's not *too* bad, but I'm just not comfortable with the "drama furry" forms. "Comedy furry" is so much better!

On the comic front, I am indeed keeping my vow to get two strips done a day - and this is only counting coloring. I got four strips inked today, for example. If I can keep up this pace I'll be able to breathe again real soon.

Say hello to your new god!

In accordance with Chrispmas, I have until March 24th to provide a gift - and even then we have some leeway. Laziness cannot be contained! Last December I promised my mother I would get her a HDTV to go with the HD-ready box in her bedroom. I had the perfect TV picked out, the Sears' website had it listed as available, my brother and I confidently walked in to pick it up... and two of the most inbred-looking people I've ever seen told me it was sold out. Damn Appalachian runoff!

Well, it went back on sale. This time, it's MINE! My mother will be so happy.

But mother's on a trip. I can't possibly just let it sit around! Hey, look, I have enough spare cords and parts to turn my laptop into a magnificent HD desktop set-up.

Sorry mom, this TV is now a vital part of my life. Old computer has now been marginalized to a corner, only to be used when something goes wrong and Photoshop starts opening adjustment windows in the ether, thus making it impossible to do anything but curse and cry. LIKE NOW, FOR INSTANCE! Even my false idols hate me. :-(

Anyway, assuming a reboot fixes things, I might have to kill my family to ensure I can use this TV forever. It's the only solution.

Edit: The image appears HUGE on this TV (since the resolution is still my laptop's) and it looks seriously impressive at this size. All you people with pedestrian monitors are missing out.

It's like a Rorschach test

After doing preliminary inking on the final 10 strips (only one of which is now completed), I needed to do *something* while the ink dried. I decided to give myself a challenge: draw all my characters in one strip with correct proportions. While that didn't go well, Photoshop did come to my rescue.

Once I knew I was a proportion failure, I decided to investigate silhouettes. The main characters all appear in cutout form at the bottom of each Precocious page. It's a nice effect, but the cutouts are based on the very first "official" sketches of the characters. I played around with the shapes, trying to imagine how they would appear. They say you've made it as a cartoonist when your characters can recognized by their silhouettes. I have not made it.

Things I learned, character by character:

Roddy: The placement of the ears means all fluff points are covered. Still, as he's a generic cat shape, the form is very recognizable. Roddy is the only character without a specific accessory, as he is distinguished by his black color. Bonus note: When I was inking Roddy, I discovered that he looked kinda good with his muzzle and cheeks not filled in - would it be too dramatic if I turned him into a black and white Socks-style cat? Hmm...

Bud: His Scottish fold ears really makes it hard to keep him in proportion with the others. Bud often ends up with a tiny head. When Photoshopping the sketches, I would drag one over the other, so Bud *technically* is close in proportion to the rest. His lack of upward fluffiness, however, makes him look more compact.

Suzette: The outline of her bell, collar, bangs, neck and muzzle all conflict horribly. Also, just like Bud, Suzette's ears going down tends to result in her being drawn as really tiny.

Dionne: Long hair tends to block out everything, so I had to work to find a way to keep the form visible. The result was a semi-twirl thing, which does look nice. Of course, I see Dionne in the outline because I know what Dionne looks like. Would anyone else figure out the character from that pose?

Jacob: I was worried his folded ears would look like a big block in silhouette, but I think he's decently recognizable.

Max: Both my doggies with big ears have the same problem. While normal drawing should show the back ear to fit cartoon logic, the rule does not apply in silhouette. I should have done a more direct profile. Max also needs more conservative fluffiness.

Tiffany is one I feared, because most of he quirks are hard to show in outline. I decided to try to give her a dynamic pose, like I did with Dionne, and the result was an abomination unto the lord. I would have been better making a direct profile with the braid adhered to her back. This pose make it look like a creepy third arm.

Autumn - Man, this bitch is HARD to draw in a way that would make a decent outline! Not only did I draw her facing left, which is difficult for me, but so many of her features conflict with other features. Argh.

Oh well, it was a fun experiment. It also took up my entire evening, which should have been spent inking. Whoops!

My god, what have I done!?

The thing about designing unique characters with their own set of physical quirks is that, when one is not paying attention, doodles end up being some unfortunate hybrid that don't match anyone!

It's all about the fluffiness! My cartoon characters all have some sort of fluffiness represented in their cheeks. Some fluff points are rounded, some are sharp. If I'm not sketching with any purpose, I let the pencil decide what I'll do. I'll draw the basics of a face and then decide which character is being drawn. Buuuut, the problem with lazy drawing is muscle memory seems to even things out and make me draw a face that is between the pointy and rounded. It doesn't match up well with anyone, so I either have to force it to be someone, use the eraser to correct the sketch to death or draw a random character.

This sketch went wrong early. It clearly wasn't a Bud, and the face was too masculine to be turned into Tiffany... so I decided to draw the "missing link" character between the two families. Shortly after I started I realized the missing link is not supposed to look like the kids, but like their FATHERS. D'oh. So, hey, fuck it, LET'S MAKE A CREEPY HYBRID OF MY MAIN CHARACTERS! It's highly disturbing.

To blather on, let me explain the subtleties of cheek fluff:

The general rule is kitty cheeks are rounded and doggy cheeks are pointy. It's the degree of the point that subtly differentiates between the characters.

Bud: His cheeks are the most obvious, as they are very round. The fluff *should* point down.

Autumn: Her cheeks are pointy and wider. They can droop a bit depending on her mood, but the normally pointy personality means normally pointy cheeks. Over time, I've scaled her cheeks back for cuteness, but we'll see how that plays.

Jacob: In theory his cheeks are the same as Autumn's, but his varies far more often. This is partly because it's somewhat easy to force my accidental hybrids into Jacobs, and partly because Jacob's impressionable nature softens his facial features.

Tiffany: This is probably impossible for anyone but be to notice, but Tiffany's cheeks and jaws are drawn with a different motion than the rest. In theory, she is supposed to have an angular jaw with smaller-than-average round points. In practice, they look like every other kitty's cheeks. Both lack of technique and affinity for cuteness bring her more into the norm. This does explain why I keep screwing up Tiff's jawline, at least.

Suzette: Of all the doggies, her cheeks are the most rounded. The motions for the basics of Suzette's face closely resemble Bud's. Suzette is also a good default for when I screw up a face, since the bangs and ears override everything.

Dionne: Her face should be halfway between Bud and Suzette. Since I need more cheek space for spots, the roundness helps.

Max: His cheeks should have Autumn's width and Jacob's slight rounding. I should note here that all my best Max drawings are accidental and that it's very hard for me to draw him on cue.

Roddy: Initially, the hybrid cheeks were meant for Roddy, but I'm starting to sour on it. If I'm not careful, Roddy's face looks fat because when a black outline is filled with black it stops being an outline and just becomes thickness. I'm trying to get around this by drawing him with the Tiffany technique. I really won't know what works best until I've put him down in ink a few more times.

If you're still reading at this point, I'm impressed. I find it fascinating that so much thought was put into what are nearly imperceptible variations in features - but this might only because I find *myself* so fascinating.

Who are these people?

Out-of-town-posting-from-the-past, costume change post #2!

It's like in anime, where characters all have the same basic physical molds and hair + accessories is the entirety of their identifying factors! These two look like completely different characters! That, or I really sucked at drawing Autumn and Tiffany with swapped styles. The braid I like, but the rest is simply against God's will. I had better sketches of both in prior books (although that may be whitewashed memory) - but none were the full look/pose deal.

Oh well, I have until the end of the month to get it right.

*panic*



Ok, I couldn't deal with it... so here's version 2!

So it's finally come to this...

Who knows how often this will be used - if ever - but I now have a blog of my very own. What will it be used for? Only time will tell. Whatever. It's here in case I need it.

I wonder if I can make this a sketch blog...



SUCCESS!