Crumbs Development: Comparison and 'The Dog Division'

"Yoohoo! Emma? Remember us? C'mooon, we're starvin' here!"

Ah, Crumbs. My poor, neglected brainchild. As I've said before, I've mainly been focusing on the Bertie Blue work so much that I've had to put Crumbs on standby for the time being. I honestly didn't expect to pick up work quite so soon after graduating but I actually started the job nearly two weeks before Crumbs went live. I'd built up a buffer before but wasn't able to add more to it and eventually in November the pages ran out, as did the time I had to work on more.

The worst of it was that I wasn't able to discuss much of the project until recently, making it look like I'd dumped the comic or given up on it for no reason. Which I assure you is NOT the case. In fact, I have many ideas for Crumbs which I want to get cracking with ASAP (I definitely need to revamp the site and make it easier to read) and as my illustration work continues, I simply need to find a way to juggle both pigeon related projects.

If anyone has some time management hints and tips, please feel free to share. That was never my forte. I get by but I want to get better.

For now, I have some Crumbs based concepts to share, although one of them is simply a re-do of a picture I did in my last year of uni. For anyone who has read or glanced at my old college blog, you might remember an autumn based image of Blue and Jay watching leaves fall. Out of curiosity, and because I hadn't managed to draw an autumn picture this year, I decided to redraw the piece and see if I've improved between now and then.

I have to admit, I quite like it. I have no idea why I give my pigeons such long necks. Blue may be stretching up in wonder to get a closer look at the leaves but I have no idea what Jay's excuse is. Maybe his head is trying to escape from his mutant fingerfeathers.

That aside though, I think I'm getting the hang of shading a little more and those leaves look a lot like... well, leaves. There's more of a cold autumn morning/evening feel to it, I think.
I dunno, maybe that's just me. Have a look at the comparison below and feel free to share your opinions.

Jay's characterisation in the pictures has changed as well. He was originally quite timid and had never set foot outside before, so the falling leaves made him a tad apprehensive. Now, he's wondering about leaf aerodynamics and their effectiveness in flight. Or something. Weirdo.

So yeah, that was fun. Perhaps I'll redraw the picture in a year or so. Or maybe redraw some other old abominations. Time permitting, obviously.

Oh, and here's a concept I've been tossing about in my head for some time now, rambly synopsis included.

Learning new tricks.

Crumbs: The Dog Division is a spin off collection of stories, revolving around the honorary dog Crumbs members, Tita, Snaps and Rocky, going into more detail with their backstories.

Snaps is an Irish Setter with severe attitude, anger and abandonment issues after her owner was no longer able to cope. Because of the misguided attention and lack of discipline her owner gave her, she actually sees herself as human and is furious over being abandoned by her 'mammy'. Her explosive temper could very easily lead to her downfall.

Rocky is a chocolate labrador who wants to become a guide dog for the blind, but due to the stereotypical nature of his breed, he is met with skepticism by trainers and fellow guide dogs alike. He is forced into becoming a hunting dog like his brothers but lacks the pent up energy and lack of focus they have. As well as the courage to stand up for himself.

Tita, a calm and level headed pug, has experience in aiding pigeons in need, as well as staying strong in the face of adversity. Her guidance will be vital in helping Snaps and Rocky work through their issues and achieve their goals, proving once and for all that old dogs can learn new tricks.

This would be a spin off of Crumbs as the three dogs feature quite prominently in the story, Tita in particular. Ideally, if there is enough interest, The Dog Division would one day be available in print for anyone interested in the dogs' backstories.

I'm a bit iffy on the colouring/designs currently but I'll play about with some more concepts and see what works. I just figured I'd share what I have at the moment.

However, I kind of need to get cracking with the main story before I put much further thought into this, y'know? I'm getting right to it. Just gotta step up on getting a routine sorted.

And, y'know, actually planning out the comic pages. Pretty important.

Thanks for reading, lovely people! I'll be back with more artwork/Bertie news soon.

Bertie Blue E-book Now Available!

Click on the cover to get to the e-book link

The first story is now available as an e-book! If this sounds like a thing that would interest you, get your bottoms over there and get it bought!

Once again, I'd appreciate it if you'd share the link and get the news spread as much as possible. The book will be going into print very soon and this story is the first of many planned.

Also while I'm here, thanks so much to everyone who has shared the blog entry and news of Bertie so far. You're wonderful kind people and your shares, reblogs, retweets and so on are helping mightily. Many much thanks to all of you!

Oh, and I'll totally sign your printed copy if you want me to.

Please keep sharing! You're all being a huge help!