Two worthy projects!

You may have seen the banners on this site already, but did you know *I* put them there? Both of these projects are dear to me, and I'd love to see them succeed! One is for comic lovers. One is for art lovers. All will enrich your lives! Click each banner to visit the funding page. (Then fund them!)

The Precocious kids read and love Newshounds, and you should too! (If you don't help out, you risk their wrath.) This is a comic that I adored and studied when I first started on my cartooning path, so it's dear to me. It's been going online for 15 years, and the time has come for Newshounds to end.  Thomas K. Dye, the creator, wants to give his comic a proper send-off and bring his story to a close on his terms.  In order to do that, he needs your support. The final book, fourth in the current series, must happen! Read over his Indiegogo funding page to learn more and see the special bonus options.

Heidi Black is one of the amazing artists I met during my time at the Savannah College of Art and Design. She's a recent grad of the top sequential art program in the country, and one of the most skilled, talented and versatile artists I know. She has professional experience, webcomic experience and knows more art tricks that just about anyone... and she's sharing it with you! Artists, this book is a MUST-HAVE. It's not only a beautiful art book, but a collection of tutorials to help level up anyone's art skills.  Non-artists, she is offering her version of a swag bag as a donation level for those not in the market for a tutorial book - support a good project and get some mini comics, a poster and some charms! Several other tiers of rewards are available to supporters, so check it out! ONLY A WEEK LEFT TO FUND THIS ONE!

Thanks for reading my pleas, everyone. I want these projects to succeed, and a perk of being a creator is that I can signal boost!

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

Autumn card sketches

Since the card piece below took up nearly all the stream last night (which, it was supposed to, as it is big and complex) there was no chance to work on the back-up card.  Yes, I was prepared in case the client had to run and wanted me to halt production while he was gone.  These were the sketches I had for that card.

1 - Horizontal card with Autumn stretched out reading, like in the recent comic. The background would likely be unobtrusive, with her leaning against a wall or something.  (The dunk tank colors would look silly out of context.)

2- Autumn with a refreshing beverage, inspired by this comic. Likely a vertical card, but I'd have to get clever with the background.

3- Winter outfit Autumn with hot cocoa!  I stole this pose from a Roddy sketch! Could be indoor or outdoor, depending on background request.

4 - Winter Autumn playing in deep snow. The deep snow allows for me to show more figure without having the awkwardness of chopping off the feet.

5 - Happy winter Autumn, maybe as snow starts falling around her. I'd have to straighten her up slightly to fit properly on the card, cute as that lean is.

6 - Sitting Autumn looking concerned. The orientation of this card would depend on how the background is handled. Is there something causing that concern? What's happening in this scene?

An Autumn card could be drawn as early as Saturday's stream - although I already promised to start that one with a Kaitlyn - since it was a request *and* I owe someone a Kaitlyn. Saturday will likely go Kaitlyn card, Copper Road, then one more card, depending on who's around.

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.

Another art showcase!

Once more, a great artist has come to help me in my time of greed!  The wonderful Matthew Dawson has contributed today's evil caricature. Give me thanks and love and follows!

Today's guest art showcase!

Here's the full art for today's comic, courtesy of the great Raiettei!

Much thanks to him for indulging me for this idea. Go check out his stuff and spread the love!

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.

New Copper Road! 12/1/12

Aaaaannnndd, we're back! Thank you for tolerating me during my holiday/medical time out. It's time to get back to the education of Ursula! Vote here to see the latest comic! Remember, it's the first of the month, so votes are EXTRA important. TopWebComics is a great source of new readers, so your vote does more than get you an extra comic and boost my ego - it helps grow Precocious, which helps justify its continued existence.

I guess I should bring the Ursula story to a close over December, since the random Copper Road ideas have been piling up - and it feels so weird to have two arcs going on simultaneously. (This Copper Road arc takes place in early September, while the Fall Festival story is currently in late October - but it still feels like the characters are in two places at once.)  So, yes, I will toss as many Copper Roads up over December as I can. It's a very busy month, but I can fit about four more in - which is likely all I need!

This week's comic is a bit simple, due to me being barely able to comic thanks to my tooth becoming a suicide bomber. You'll have fun with it, though, and I'll make it up to you with a very special Precocious comic next week!