The Adventures of Bertie Blue Novel COMPLETE!

Published in the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month.

… well, I very much couldn't post it ON the 11th hour, could I? I was doing the silence, obviously.

Yep, this little guy is one of the main reasons why I've been silent for a while. Certainly not because I have nothing to show. In fact, quite the opposite! It's just that the projects are either secret or need to be experimented with to see if such a thing can be done. I promise updates as soon as I can.

I'll just say that I need to start developing an online shop that sells more than just the Bertie books.

Anyway, lets not get ahead of ourselves. This entry is about the illustrated novel!

The book features all FOURTEEN of Bertie Blue's adventures in the war, in and out of the trenches. There are illustrations scattered throughout each story, all of which are based in historical facts and events. We're still working out a retail price and I'll obviously let everyone know the details as soon as humanly possible.

~***~

In news that I CAN share, however, I'm slowly going through something of a redesign. 'Emma Friel: Doodlebug' was a bit of a mouthful in itself and I missed the 'Emmature' nickname that I was often referred to. So from now on, the blog is going to be titled 'Emmature Media' to cover all of my creative aspects.

It spans over a few things. 'Emmature Doodlebug' for prints and artwork. 'Emmature Shopper' for my upcoming online shop. 'Emmature Productions' for animations. 'Emmature Hour' for my radio show/podcasts. If I ever get around to doing such a thing.

And so on.

I've just got to get around to designing a new logo for the blog and various social networks. I'm still planning to include the doodlebug logo in some way but also have it feature alongside a mascot. I've got some designs in mind if I can fit them in alongside these projects.

~***~

Speaking of mascots, I've been collaborating with Ruari in one of our Staghound projects. Long story short, a Staghound project is one where the two of us collaborate on something, be it proofreading, drawing/writing for the other, working on videos together and so on. It's gonna be big.

One of these projects is our little Staghound fella, Bucky, being illustrated alongside Ruari's beer reviews. So far, I only have one done for him but soon there will be more to Buck things up. Ain't he a cutie?

You can read the review he's featured in HERE. I'm buying ArtRage sometime this week so artwork including him, as well as others, should hopefully be that bit tidier. I'm experimenting with programs other than Adobe. Good to have more arrows in the quiver. If that's the right expression.

~***~

Crumbs is still a thing but as of now, it's strictly a passion project that I can only really work on when I have the time. I'm trying to organise my projects and life so I can start working properly on it again. Any advice for work organisation is appreciated!

~***~

And that's roughly all I can share so far. I'll try to stick to a weekly update on this blog but as the projects are mostly secret for now, it's a bit tricky. All the more reason to work on Crumbs more!

Oh yeah, I'm separating different projects in an entry with those wiggly line star breaks. I started doing it in the Bertie book and it's kind of stuck. Do you like it? I like it.