So, while i’ve been toiling away at my day job, working on comic pages, and watching far too many DVDs, i seem to have forgotten to make my monthly post to the blog here. i guess that’s the problem with having so many other social media outlets to attend to. But i digress, i’ve got some things to talk about that are coming up in this new year.

The big news is that i was accepted into the first Vancouver Comic and Arts Festival (website) coming up near the end of May. It’s pretty cool because it’s a curated show, which means their space is limited, and one could only get in by invitation. So it made me pretty proud to be accepted, that i might actually have some respect and/or recognition for my work. So i’m planning on trying to get something special made up for the show, to try and make an impact.

Also coming up closer to home is the Edmonton Collectible Toy & Comic show in April (website), which is a pretty fun trade show that i’ve been to the past few years along with my cohorts in Open Door Comics. i should have the next comic book done by that time, and a show like this is always a good way to debut a new collection!

A longer term project i’m attempting on my website is a donation incentive program. i’m going to be making a set of 12 collectible calendar pages for 2012 featuring all the major cast members. They can be printed or used as desktop wallpapers. i’m pretty happy with how i’ve designed them, and while nobody has donated in January as of yet, i’m hoping that as the year goes on i’ll get a few interested readers chipping in. Depending on the overall response, i may continue making these pages, or make an push at the end of the year to do a full 2013 calendar so that donators have something useful for the upcoming year.

There are a few other projects that i keep putting on the back-burner that i may get around to, like making my custom Mighty Mugg, but that pretty much summarizes what’s coming up for dead//life for the time being.

It’s the middle of November, the snow has finally started accumulating, and it’s getting close to the annual sci-fi, gaming and comic convention here in Edmonton – Pure Speculation. i’ve arranged for the Open Door Comic collective to have a merchant table there, and hopefully, we’ll make enough sales to warrant doing it again in future years. i haven’t been doing a whole lot of extra drawing recently, though i did get some drawings done for some bookmarks i wanted to have made for the festival – more on that in a bit. Part of the problem is that i’ve been really busy with work recently, and without a dedicated time set aside for it, drawing tends to get laid by the wayside. That’s what i liked about that bar i used to go to on Sundays before it shut down. It’s far too easy to get distracted at home, what with Facebook, Twitter, online Flash games and so forth. And that’s just on the computer! Still, i can at least get the weekly page up more or less on schedule, so i don’t feel too bad.

As you already be aware, the most recent storyline is wrapping up. It was fun to revisit R’lyeh again, although i’ll say i won’t miss making all those fancy backgrounds. So much fiddly-work! There were some other bits and pieces that i thought were pretty clever, such as the “Stupid” conversation, the submarine designs, and Nemo’s “precious”. The Pirate Gundam was actually designed quite a while ago by a long-time reader and fan, Marcus. As for the next story, i got a fair bit of it completed during this year’s 24Hr Comic day, and i think it’ll work pretty well, even if it’s based on my roommate’s idea (he doesn’t really “get” the humor behind my comic most of the time).

There’s been a lot of stuff to do to get ready for Pure Spec, what with printing a new comic book and organizing everything. i had originally hoped to get two books done, but wasn’t able to get the last few pages drawn in time, so it’ll wait until the new year. i had also wanted to get a full set of character bookmarks made (and I could’ve done it if i hadn’t kept putting off the drawing i needed to do), as well as a spiral-bound calendar featuring those same drawings. i was able to salvage some of that work and make a tent-fold desk calendar with Matt & Alison on it, and i may make it available online in the new year. It can be a bit tricky thinking of interesting & useful merchandise to make (and sell) that doesn’t require a large investment, but when it comes to these larger shows, i really need to be more on the ball if i ever want to start earning some money.

Or maybe i should just take my Mom’s nagging advice and start making seasonal greeting cards instead.

Back on September 21, 1995, i started drawing a little comic called Deathworld. If you can do basic math, that means i’ve been drawing my comic series for SIXTEEN years now. The fact that i’ve had the ability to focus and create for that period of time is rather remarkable in my mind. i know there are professional cartoonists out there who have been working at it for much longer than i have, and i know there are likely people who have been working on there hobbies for most of their lives. Maybe my sense of accomplishment has more to do with my local peer group. The majority of them work on one-off stories or have bounced around from comic to comic to comic without any indication of attachment to a particular project. All i know is that i’m proud of what i do and what i create (even if i look back at my earliest work and cringe a bit).

Well, now that i’m back from my trip to Ontario (to visit my parents and collect the car they wanted to give to me), it’s time to start thinking of something else to write & draw for dead//life. The most recent story was pretty fun to do, as it involved a cameo appearance from my friend’s webcomic, HEAT: the Space Age of Pro Wrestling. It was also a little challenging, as it involved action sequences (ie. the match) and fairly specific busy backgrounds (ie. the crowd scenes). I wasn’t entirely happy with how it turned out, in that it probably could’ve been executed better, but one of the things that prompted me to switch to this new “simpler” style back in 2009 was the frustration i was having with not being able to accurately capture the scenes i held in my mind’s eye. i thought at the time that making the comics in a simpler style would not only reduce the amount of effort i was putting in, but allow myself to “cut corners” artistically when it came to anatomy & action sequences. Some readers were accepting of this move, some were not. In the long run though, it was something that i did to make myself happier with my work.

As for what i’m thinking about doing for the next story or two? Not really sure yet. i’ve got a potential idea involving Alison and Nemo going to recapture the Pirate Gundam. My roommate suggested a tale of a store run by killbots (K-Mart) that Matt gets trapped in. And there’s always the possibility of something Cthulhu-related.

Not much new lately. i’ve been brain-storming new story ideas and have come up with a couple decent concepts (one of which i’ll probably save for 24Hr Comic Day), and i’ve also been doing sketching the occasional Sunday night at a local Goth club. There’s just something comforting about going to a bar to draw, rather than sketching at home. Maybe it’s because there are fewer readily available distractions (obviously, there’s going to be distractions at the bar – pretty girls, bar TVs, etc), it could be that the alcohol loosens up my creativity, or it might just be because i work better to music i don’t regularly listen to. All i know is that whenever i’m at a bar, i do more sketching than elsewhere (and some of it even turns out really good!). Some of the artwork i’ve been doing recently has been posted in the Gallery section, if you care to see it. We’ll see if this bout of creativity continues.

I’m typically a man of few words. I don’t talk a whole lot unless i have something worthwhile to say. It’s usually why i’m fairly quiet in social gatherings – i prefer to listen to people and find out what they think. It’s also why i don’t post in my blog all that often. I don’t see a need to go on about the fairly boring details of my life. I mean, how much do you really want to know about what it’s like to work at a comic book store, or what Xbox 360 game i’m playing at any given time?

But anyways, I suppose i should talk a little about my comic, as it’s what’s this blog is for. If you follow regularly, you may realize i’m currently working on the story i “wrote” a few posts back  (when i discussed how i write a typical dead//life story). What some visitors to the website may not have noticed is that i’ve also been featuring the pieces of artwork i had my friends make for my during this year’s Free Comic Book Day. See, every year, the store i work at, Happy Harbor Comics, has local artists help out by doing artwork for customers in exchange for donations to the Food Bank. I didn’t have much, but i got four pieces done (and received another from my a comic colleague in an art swap) and wanted to make sure they were seen by other people beyond me. So why not display them prominently (if only for a short interval) for the world to see?

The Open Door creator meetings have been going well, and i’m about to start holding presentations about different aspects of making comics – i figure i might as well put my 16+ years of experience to some use. I realize that i’m no expert at making comics (if i was, i’d be paid to do it!), but it still may be useful to my friends who make comics to see a more in-depth study of techniques i use. Maybe i’m being too much of an egotist by putting myself on the stage like this, but i figure it’s something i can talk about and be potentially useful for, and it really goes back to my first point.

At least, in this area, i have something worth saying.

Time for my monthly post, I suppose.

So, March has seen a few things occur that are worth noting down.  First off, near the beginning of the month, I realized that I had virtually no savings left and was faced with the prospect of literally being a starving artist.  I ended up posting a Donation Drive comic (which you can see here on the blog) and had a few generous fans help out with some cash, which I really appreciated.  Sadly though, my tendency to be late with updates didn’t improve as a result (writer’s block and my depression acting up being a few of the reasons).  I also opened up myself to taking commissions – to which a local fan availed himself.  He got two very nice (IMO) Tank Girl drawings.

The other main event this month was the Edmonton Collectible Toy & Comic show.  Some good friends and I all chipped in for a few tables so that we could sell comic books and do sketches.  This show is always a lot of fun, mainly because we’re all joking around and having a good time while we’re there, but also because there’s so much to see!  I did pretty well, selling all but three of the comics I brought with me, and I did get to do a couple of drawings (Yellow Lantern Batman vs. Blue Lantern Captain America, as well as a Harley Quinn pin-up).  I had more people buy drawings from me last year, but overall I think I did slightly better this time around.  It was heartening to meet all the people willing to take a chance on local indie comics.

There was also the 12 Hour Comic Challenge at the store I work at (Happy Harbor Comics in Edmonton).  I chose not to participate this year, in part so that I wouldn’t skip a shift I sorely needed, but also to allow my boss the chance to get in on the fun (something he has not done in a few years).  The event went quite well, with a few people dropping out and a couple non-finishers.  I did hang out after my shift was over and got a little bit of drawing done (I started working on that story idea I posted previously)

So, overall, I guess March has been decent enough. Except for all the damn snow!

Well, now that that short little story involving Stephan & the killbots is over and done, it’s time for something new.  The problem is, is that story was my buffer, and i came up with nothing substantial while it was running, so i’ll have to start from scratch with something new!  It’s been some time since i was operating without a buffer – there’s a bit more stress involved when you’re making a new page every week and not really sure how the story is going to turn out (or even how long it’s going to be!)  Now, i do have a few ideas percolating in my hind-brain that I’ll probably be going with, so things are not all lost.  This might even be a good time to examine my overall creative process (assuming anyone cares).

Basically, i tend to start by considering which characters i plan to use – in this case, it’ll likely be Alexis, as i haven’t used her in a main role in some time.  After picking which of my leads i want to use, i consider which of the secondary characters, if any, might have a place in the story – for the story idea i’m working on, i’d need a supporting minion (Morbus, the super zombie) and an antagonist (Evil Kitty – who doesn’t have a proper name yet. Maybe Ariel?).  Then, i try to come up with an amusing situation to put the characters in, keeping in mind their personalities.  What I have in mind for this story is that Alexis’s favorite stuffed toy (or whatever) gets stolen by Evil Kitty, so she summons Morbus to get it back.  What follows would then be an homage to the Looney Toon Roadrunner/Wile Coyote shenanigans.  Finally, i try to figure out how to wrap things up (that’s what i haven’t come up with yet), usually i work in something absurd and/or nonsensical without resorting to a full-on deus ex machina.

So, yeah. There you go. A quick look into my creative process. Aren’t you glad?

Wow, 2011 already.

Things have been going fairly smoothly on my end for comic production. The latest storyline has finished on the website (a little parody/homage to the Wizard of Oz), with another short story waiting in the buffer. Still, i’m going to need more material to make it through this year seeing as how i’m missing the beginnings of a 24 page story like previous years. Probably what i may end up doing is rewriting and/or redrawing older stories from when i started the comic back in ’95

The end of December saw me releasing three new comic books, featuring material from the last year and a half or so. Much like the first issue, i make them around 24 pages in the ashcan style (digest format, aka 5.5″ x 8.5″) with a full color cover. Obviously, that fits the larger 24 page stories, as well as 12 pages efforts and the bite-size sampler comics i’ve done for Free Comic Book Day (and other events). The response for them have been pretty good, but keeping in mind the print runs are quite small (50 copies of each issue), it’s not like i’m making any decent coin off of them.

I’ve also founded a group of local artists/creators with the goals of helping each other make & promote our work – we’re calling ourselves Open Door Comics. The idea is is that’s it’s a lot easier to get tables at trade shows, etc. if we can share the costs (rentals, travel, etc). We’re also able to act as checks on each other so that if one us starts having problems, the others are there to encourage/prod them back into action. There’s also cross-promotion opportunities, such as including ads in each others books.

What does this year hold in store for me? Not sure, really. Probably more of the same. There are plans to attend some conventions (Edmonton & Calgary), the usual 12Hr and 24Hr challenges, probably another FCBD sampler. Dunno what more than that is feasible.

dang, i’m still getting used to the fact that i have a blog now… i keep forgetting to post stuff to it. Not that i really think that anyone reads this.

Anyways, we’re about a third of the way through the current story right now. I mentioned on my main site a bit about design issues i have with some of the minor characters that are showing up. See, the killbots are easy to generate, as they all follow a basic “template” – square head, conical body, spindly arms, tracks as locomotion. About the only differences between them are the eyes, weapons, coloration and assorted chest panels. Now the zombies, on the other hand, being more organic, are much more difficult to design. i usually end up drawing a lot of them very similar, which is something that bothers me somewhat. Every once in a while, i toss in some entrails or exposed brains/flesh, but usually, they end up being hairless with bloodshot eyes and tattered clothes. i dunno, maybe i should read more Walking Dead or something and see how they do theirs.

so yeah, that’s basically what i’ve been thinking about lately. That, and the designs for the covers of the next two/three comic books i plan to release at the end of the year (December)