Stream (and post-stream) results.

Thanks to all who came to Saturday's stream! Maybe I was rusty, but it was nice to do it again. I hope for a brighter, more streamy future, but it's likely this one was the last chance of the year.

Here are the results!

This piece is to serve as the cover of a binder that features my art, which is the coolest thing! It's 8.5x11" and super spiffy! Autumn is reviewing her secret (art) files before bed!  With all of these, I may have overdone it on color-correcting. My screen is a bit off on yellow, so what looks right for me would be off for you. In-person, all is great.

It was a Pingo-themed night, so both Soren and Ivy got art cards. Soren's card is based off a sketch over a year old, which didn't get chosen during one of my request stream nights. It's a bit too complex to draw on the fly, so I scanned in the sketch, printed it out card-sized in blue lines, penciled over that and finally used my lightbox to get it onto an actual card.

For Ivy, she's discovering another lawsuit from a wronged magician. Since the client noted he liked Ivy's recent pink outfit, I included it for the card.

This is the long-overdue book art, which had been held until the stream. Ms. Monster tortures her kids. (The original idea did feature Ivy, so this was *almost* continuing the Pingo pride.)

Finally, here's the card drawn for the winner of the costume contest! This wasn't part of the stream, but I finished it earlier today so I could ship out both packages tomorrow. Bud is showing off both his zesty new cold weather outfit, and the setup for the (should be) winning costume!

New Copper Road + Saturday Stream!

I threatened to do this. And then I did it. Doctor Who returns, Doctor Hu returns. (I guess I should have been more specific with my tease...) Anyway, vote on TWC to see this new comic! If you missed yesterday's Copper Road, let this be a lesson to you. Read Precocious and vote for Precocious every day! Comics keep flying around!

And, yes, I did totally break the "Oh, ____!" chain for this impulsive Doctor fun. I'll draw and post that one next week sometime.

One last burst of streaming - Saturday, 8pm

This Saturday, November 23rd, 8pm Eastern time. Come watch: http://www.ustream.tv/channel/the-sycophant

It's less warning time than I'd planned, because I fell asleep before posting this and writing my emails last night, but it is happening! Let's steam some art!

This is the last of the Kickstarter streams, delayed first because of his work schedule and later because I am constantly near death. I will be coloring art that is featured in this sketch blog post - except for that Bud card up there. That's the costume contest prize, and will likely be drawn off-stream. The only time for a test stream to figure out my new setup is tonight, so I dunno. I may color it tonight, but probably not with an audience.

The stream is set for four hours, so if you have a moment tomorrow night, feel free to jump in and watch at any time.  You do not need a Ustream account to watch, but if you get one you can follow streaming announcements and be able to have your username appear in chat. Remember there is a lag in the stream, plus I can't read the chat window when I'm looking down to color, so there will always be a delay between you saying something, me seeing it, me responding and you hearing that response.  I have a much more stable internet connection for this stream, so I hope things go smoothly!

Oh yeah, no Pony spoilers, and no Doctor Who spoilers. I think those two premiers happen on Saturday, and both your artist and the client won't have been able to watch yet.  BE GOOD.

(You know... I have a Doctor Hu script. Maybe I need to draw it tonight and post it for tomorrow...)

Steaming prep + contest winner prep!

It's been a mess of scheduling issues and poor health, but maybe we can make the last Kickstarter stream finally happen! I remain not in the best of shape, and it's not looking like any good news on the heath front is coming any time soon, but I have medication set aside to cover a stream, so let's go! (Every stream I've done in the past year was also medicated, so this one isn't any different.) I hate owing people work, so I'll whittle it away whenever the possibility arises.

Anyway, here are some sketches from the upcoming stream, and something else thrown into the picture frame for my convenience. I took these photos with an iPhone in weak light, so they only clean up so well in Photoshop. Forgive me!

The Soren card was a possible sketch for an request night stream a long time ago, and it was resurrected for the last Kickstarter stream. I'm glad he gets the chance! There are a lot of great card sketches that never got made, and that's wrong! We must go through those sketches and give them justice!

The Bud card is for the costume contest winner. While his suggestion was my favorite, drawing the costume in action would be somewhat awkward for an out-of-context card. Thus, I drew a good Bud card with the costume. So WE know what it is, and why it's funny that he's eating that apple, but it's also just a nice-looking piece. As it's highly unlikely I'll have the time and strength to do a test stream for this, before the big main event stream, I'll be coloring this piece off-camera.

This is a piece I'm so excited about. It's going to be the cover of a binder that contains lots of my art! It's 8.5x11, though slightly smaller on the page than this cropped image. I left room for titles, which I won't be drawing on the piece, but can be added to the digital print file and then printed out.  As not all details of this one are in/approved yet, it's only in pencil.

This is for the artist edition book sketch. I drew a more elaborate scene, involving Ivy and Ms. Monster, but that would have been tough to fit in that space - especially since it'd be better on a wider, landscape layout. It should become *something* one day, though, because it was great!  This piece is Ms. Monster in front of her chalkboard, announcing some group projects.  (I'll add the chalk text to the board with white ink after I'm done.)

There's also an Ivy card I'll be prepping, but I didn't keep proper notes and now I don't remember which Ivy sketch was chosen. That'll be ID'd and drawn up soon.

The Sky goes on forever

Doing another run of Sky sketches. She shall be art carded during Thursday night's stream!

Thursday Streaming!

When: Thursday, August 29, 8pm Eastern Time. Where: My Ustream page. What: Rent-a-Chrispy art!

This session is for another of the great Kickstarter backers who reserved this time and helped make book 2 a success. The stream shall feature an artist edition sketch and several art cards, some of which are previewed in the above sketches.

Everyone is invited to watch and chat with me! The stream is scheduled for four hours, so I will still be drawing away if any latecomers poke their heads in.

Typical stream reminders: You don't need an account to watch, but if you sign up you get a username and can follow my channel for streaming notifications. Ustream is a "free" due to ad support, so sometimes there will be commercials. Finally, there is usually a significant lag in the broadcast, so there will be gaps between asking questions and getting answers, going both ways. I still want to chat, though! Give me something fun to babble about as I draw!

Tuesday stream + Kickstarter Update!

As the preorders for book 2 keep shipping out, Tuesday marks the first of the Rent-A-Chrispy streaming sessions! Come follow along on Ustream at 8pm Eastern time for some chatting and arting! Scroll down to the other streaming news post for my typical streaming rundown.

For the rest of you backers, work on artist edition sketches is moving along nicely! Above you can see a few samples. Click on the image to see more I posted to my Tumblr.

I'm almost done with all of the tiers marked for August delivery, and I've already started on other tiers. (Sometimes I had a color set out, so I looked for artist editions requesting it.) Everything drawn should be on its way to those backers by next week. The only delay this week is that I need time to prep for my InterventionCon visit! (Come see me, DC-area people!)  Bonus: I'm getting the dolls for Cupcakes of Bliss at the con! That means the dollmakers will be there, marking maybe the only time a latecomer could grab an extra doll order. The new button set should arrive next week as well, which is when Cupcake packing begins!

Once I have cleared through the pre-orders, the remaining Precocious books will be going up in the store. Soon! Sooooon! The store will be populated with more and more things as I get time. Feel free to nudge me over it if there's something you're after. Money talks!

Streaming times!

The book 2 preorders continue to be sent out, and I am now into the levels with artist editions. Since I'll be sketching them anyway, maybe I should try streaming one of my drawing sessions?

Tomorrow's stream is a casual one, hence the short notice. I'll be sketching artist editions, or doing owed artwork or maybe even drawing the next Copper Road. Depends on the sketching I get done tonight. Streaming will go for as long as I feel like drawing, but I'll guess 3 hours for this one. (If you ordered an artist edition, there's a chance you might see your book being drawn in if you show up!)

Next week begins the Rent-A-Chrispy rewards, which means a night of streaming devoted to those who pledged for 'em! That also means streaming will continue as the renters get their requests in.  Tuesday is when we begin, so come watch me be an art slave for 4-5 hours!

More streams will be announced as my schedule falls into place. I'll be tabling at Intervention next weekend, so I may be traveling down to DC on Thursday. If not, Thursday streaming!

A reminder about streaming:  Ustream is ad-supported, so expect to have to watch the occasional commercial. It's the trade-off for a "free" service. You don't need a Ustream account to watch or comment, but if you sign up you get to have a username, and you can then follow my Ustream page to get notifications of when I'm streaming. The stream has a lag, so factor that in when waiting for any responses from me.

I hope to see you around.

Let's try streaming again!

It's been a long time, and I'm not actually better, but I need to test out my streaming chops in order to plan my Book 2 Kickstarter fulfillment actions. Plus, I miss streaming! I'm gonna try it again on Tuesday, 7pm Eastern time!

If all goes well, I will be drawing two or three art cards over the stream. I'll do one Precocious card, then probably work on Animal Crossing or Pokemon cards I started for the recent conventions, but didn't finish. The stream goes until I wear down. I hope for around 3 hours. You can always pop in and check to see if I'm there at later times.

How it works  Click on the image, or the Ustream link on the home page, or the link right here, and you can watch me draw and listen to me jabber on about whatever.  There will be a chat for the stream, so I can respond to questions/comments/whatever.  You don't need a Ustream account to watch or chat, but if you sign up you can chat with a username. (Unless they've fixed it since I last streamed, once you sign in, you have to refresh the page to get your name to appear properly.) There is a lag with the stream, so expect me to respond to your prompts with a delay. It's also easy for me to miss stuff if the chat is moving fast, because I'm, of course, looking down as I draw.

Technical difficulties can always happen. My wifi can go down, audio/video can drop or lag can get bad at times. If things go weird, be patient and allow me time to reconnect. Ustream is a free service, which means it's supported by ads. You will have to watch some periodically. No way around that. If streaming becomes regular again, I might find a pay site to handle my stuff, but for now be happy for what we have.

Once again, this is a test stream. I can't offer you any future plans yet. Still, I hope it's fun, and I hope good news keeps on coming!

New Copper Road! 1/17/13

Hey, I remembered we were due! This one's Transformerlicious! Vote here to see it!

By the way, if you've been in need of a streaming fix, you should check out Darc Sowers' stream! It's every Wednesday at 8pm eastern! (And go read her comic while you're at it!) My streaming is still on hold due to head exploding syndrome, and she's far better at art anyway.

Thursday art card streaming!

Thursday, December 13th, 7pm-midnight(ish) Eastern time - http://www.ustream.tv/channel/the-sycophant

As long as you guys keep showing up, I will keep this streaming going! Bonus: I might be able to do this one on minimal painkillers! (Might.) I only have one art card commission lined up so far - Winter Autumn holding a cup of cocoa - so who else wants to grab a card slot? Only $10!  By the way, all cards pictured up there currently don't have homes - anyone want to adopt them? (There's also one more Suzette - guess no one loves her.) Update: Vincent hanging his stocking, Max Bond, Saxy Ursula and the Suzette card that *isn't* in this picture were claimed.

While this stream won't have an art card giveaway - those who were there know why, and those who weren't will learn why in the next stream announcement - I might still be embracing the spirit of Chrispmas and drawing some gift art. If you guys are OK with it - and if I have the pencils ready in time (a big if) - I'm thinking of using the stream time to draw gift art for other webcartoonists. With the tooth thing, the buffer I thought I'd have by now isn't here, so I want to use my time efficiently. I love streaming, and I love talking to all who come, so I hope you will indulge me - and maybe find a cool new webcomic to read in the process! Alternately, you can buy up my time slots and get alllll the attention. That's fine too!

I'll draw at least two cards over the stream - the commission one whenever the client's around to see, and another one based on chat suggestions. After that, we'll see what happens as the week unfolds. (If I write/prep a Copper Road in time, I could even do that!)

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.

New Copper Road! 12/8/12

First off, thanks to everyone who showed for today's stream! It was a blast, and I hope you were entertained by watching me draw the art cards and finish off this Copper Road! Also, congrats to JDS for being the lucky winner of the art card giveaway! This is the season of giving, so more free art chances will be happening! Watch the front page for details!

As for the comic, Ursula's entering a new danger zone. Of course, with Ursula, just about everything is dangerous to her - but this especially! Vote here to see the new comic!

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

Texas hold'em!

For those who weren't able to spend six hours hanging out with me in the stream, here's the finished version of the piece I colored tonight.  The Precocious kids are hustling poor Kendall, and he's about to go down to Autumn's all-in! (Or maybe cheating Tiffany will knock him out first.)

Pieces this complex are pretty intimidating for me, since I still consider myself a newbie with marker, but I'm happy with how it came out.

11x8.5" piece, Copic multiliners and sketch markers on Canson comic paper. This image has approximately half an inch around each edge cropped to show how it would look framed.  (No one asked, but I want to prove that I did take possible framing into consideration when I composed the piece.) You can find the full image in my FA gallery.

Kendall belongs to SirKain.

Tuesday Commission Streaming!

Let's do this again! Last time, the client behind the above art had to call in sick. This time the big card game art *will* be completed! That will start around 8pm. We'll start at 7pm with an art card commission, and we'll toss in more art cards, if there's time.

I'll be drawing and coloring all evening, so stop by whenever you can and say hello! I'm up for chatting and doing Q&A while I color! You don't need an account to chat, but you do if you'd like a fancy username. I hope to have new faces check in every time! Let's build up this community!

The UStream page is here: http://www.ustream.tv/channel/the-sycophant

The next commission stream will likely happen Thursday, December 13th.  There may be a special stream for in-chat requests or Copper Road drawing on Saturday, December 8th as well - depending on how my schedule works out.

Kendall's card trouble

UPDATE: The coloring of this piece was pushed to next week, because the client got sick.  Check Precocious' front page for an announcement of when the stream will happen.

I have absolutely no idea how I pulled it off, but I did it! I got the inks done! I can color this tonight as planned!  If you want a full explanation of what's going on, you'll have to come to tonight's stream at 7pm Eastern time. I'll be starting with a badge, then moving on to this piece.

And now I rest my hand as much as I can before 7pm.

Also, this is my 999th blog post.  That's kinda cool.

Vanbael con badge inks

Here are the inks for my MWFF homework badge. I'll be coloring this one over Tuesday's stream. The inking is intentionally light for badges. Once all the marker work is done, I'll go over the badge again with a larger pen and make the lines bolder.

He's thinking of bacon and has a D20 on his shirt (and, yes, I dug out my old dice bag to make sure it's accurate) - so he basically wins the internet.

Commission streaming Tuesday!

I promised to start with commissions again after Thanksgiving, and here we go! On Tuesday I will be drawing a con badge owed from Midwest FurFest and tackling the complex full-page commission of the above sketch. (UPDATE:  The above piece got pushed back a week. Here are the final inks, if you need temptation to come next time and see it colored.)

My current approach to handling commissions is to set up a queue, drawing a few a week over the streams. Each stream will cover two or three marker commissions, with art card requests filling any unpaid time. As always, I will be chatting and answering viewer questions. Read more on the Buy Stuff page. Tuesday's queue is full, but the rest of the future is still open. I'll edit this post if/when that changes.

I can add a second day for streaming if there's demand - and my schedule can flex slightly for clients who want to see their work done outside the usual streaming times. If you don't want to see your work drawn, or we can't work out the timing, I will still draw it over the stream unless you tell me not to.  Streaming helps me balance my commission and comic work, while allowing me to build a stronger Precocious community and provide some entertainment!  (And you guys get to both inspire me with your chatting *and* keep me on task!)

I still don't have a set weekly streaming day - and it seems pointless to try to settle on one during holiday-packed December - but these front page posts (and the schedule on my Ustream page) will show you the way, as well as list my current queue.

And, while I have you, the next Copper Road will be appearing on December 1st. The convention, holiday and my ongoing dental disaster slowed me down, so I need the time to try rebuilding a buffer for Precocious.

Monday night streaming! 8PM EST

Midwest FurFest is THIS WEEK, and I still have some commission examples to finish before I go! So, hey, who wants to hang out with me while I art and give me feedback on how to art my art so it's super art?

I will be working on watercolors and half-page marker commissions. It's not Precocious stuff, but it's art and it's fun. The streaming page is here: http://www.ustream.tv/channel/the-sycophant

Art begins at 8pm! If I get the samples done early, I'll do my typical art card requests.

This is the last stream until my con/holiday travels are over, by the way. (And sorry for the late announcement. Didn't decide to do it until just now.)