Crumbs Website And Bertie Article

Website

I told myself that I would get everything on the site (bar from the comic itself) ready by the end of this week and I'm pleased to announce that I've actually managed to get most of this done much sooner than I had planned. All the little details are complete and I'm beginning to add more and more artwork to the Concept Art page. I'll share some of them in the following week but for now, WEBSITE.

As well as focusing on the comic pages and the Bertie Blue illustrations, one of which I'll be showing you later, I'm also planning on quickly developing the vlog that will discuss the website. The vlog in itself will give me more practice in editing, animatics and speaking to an audience, as I have been getting less confident in that when it comes to my own work. So there IS something of a reason for it.

As of right now, here is a teaser of the home page with screenshots terribly stuck together in Photoshop. I was trying to get the whole thing in. I'm sure there's an actual way to do that but I ain't smart enough for that.

The vlog will discuss the features in more detail but you kind of get the gist of what I was going for. Before now, I wasn't entirely sure about webcomics that didn't have the reading material on the home page until I realised the opportunity to share direct updates with the comic, social networking sites, other projects and share things in more interesting detail.

There WILL be a comic tab at the top, with the other links. The latest page at the bottom is another option for the reader.

After this weekend, I am going to open the website for a short time in order to give people the chance to look around and offer feedback. I'll let everyone know when this will happen so they can basically test everything, make sure all the links are right and share their general opinions.

Bertie Blue

I've also been quickly developing more illustrations for the next Bertie Blue book. Obviously I can't share many of the illustrations with you but I quite like this little one so eh, what's the harm.

It's certainly made me crave more tea, anyway.

The artwork is really starting to come along. However, I made a list of the ideas both myself and the author had and the number of images came to about 18 which is the most I've done for one of the stories so far. I don't think the book is that much bigger than normal either so some might have to be cut or combined with other pictures somehow. I'll figure it out as I go. I'm hoping to reveal the cover as soon as I get it approved.

One last cool thing about Bertie is that it's ALREADY showing up in the papers! I was surprised by a friend of mine on Facebook when they told me the News Post Leader has printed up a small article.

This one mainly seems to quote from the press release (I can't take credit for the 'let the pigeon out of the basket' line, that was the wordsmith there) and I'm guessing any others than the Journal will most likely do the same (assuming they do print it) as they were the only one to get back to me for a chat so far. But hey, as long as information about the books are shared, I'm hardly going to complain.

There's your Thursday update! I'd eat some pop tarts but I don't have any of those in. Pink 'n' Whites will have to do...

New Crumbs Poster and Branching Out

Yep, I'm sticking to the Tuesday/Thursday blog upload schedule. Time to take self employment seriously.

So, there's not a huge bunch of things to cover in this entry but they're still pretty exciting in my opinion. First of all, with the different direction Crumbs has taken, the original poster didn't really match up. So I decided to do something about that.

Naturally I've kept the whole rap pigeon theme cos how could I not?

Strictly speaking, all of the pigeons would be wearing masks but they
aren't in here because advertising and shut up.

Tita is much more prominent in the story than originally planned so I figured she had more of a right to be there than a few others. Also, as this is mainly the poster for the first arc, these characters are come of the most important in the story at that point so it makes sense that they'd be featured first.

So I'm pretty happy with how it's come out and I appreciate feedback if you have any.

In terms of 'branching out', I did something a little different last week. On Friday, I was introduced to someone who was looking for a custom tattoo design and I figured this would be a fun little thing for me to do. Definitely something different as I'd never designed a tattoo before. Anywho, I worked from a rough photoshopped idea that the commissioner had and this little dealio came from it!

Watermarked cos while I have permission to share the design, I don't
know how personal it is to Ian so better safe than sorry!

Ian has promised me that he will send me a picture of the finished result when he gets it done. I must say, it's pretty exciting to think of something I helped make being etched onto someone's skin forever. Feels… oddly powerful.

At the very least, it's inspired me to look into creating more tattoo designs. If anyone has any ideas I could use to get started, I'd certainly appreciate them. And if you'd like me to design a tattoo for you personally, we'd be looking somewhere between £25-£100 depending on how complex it is. The above was rounded up to £25.

I'm going to mention this briefly because I'd rather talk more about it once the article/feature/thingamajigger is out. Last week, Ruari sent out some press releases about the Bertie Blue books books to some of the local papers in the North East to anyone looking for some stories. Yesterday I was contacted by Barbara Hodgson from the Journal who was interested in the books and wanted to phone me to ask me some questions about myself and the series. We had a quick phone interview/chat dealio and I was told the story would show up in the culture section. She told me she'd be back in touch nearer the time and of course I'll fill you guys in once it's published.

So yeah, WOW. What a week. Further Crumbs development, tattoo art and interviews. Now to get started on this week, where I'll hopefully finish the Crumbs website to be able to focus on the buffer and vlog.

… after I've had a sandwich.

Crumbs: New Synopsis and Owners Concept

I really need to get better at this whole 'working on a schedule' thing. But we already knew that, I'm a broken record at this point. Lets get straight to it.

Synopsis

Crumbs has developed quite massively in the recent weeks. The storyline is more solid and interesting, a lot is happening and I'm really starting to have fun with it. Not only that but the website really seems to be coming together and I'm so excited to launch it! I've been asking a number of people if they would be willing to 'beta test' the site to make sure all the links work, that everything is easy to read and navigate and so on.

I've shared the new synopsis everywhere so it's only fitting I share it on here as well. So basically, here's what 'Crumbs' is all about.

~~~

In the city of Wingview, the pigeon population was thriving. A noble organisation known as The Breadwinners, formed by the carrier pigeons of the War Times, had a goal to protect their fellow pigeon and once again become humanity's faithful allies. To their dismay, the human race appears to have advanced and progressed without them. But the Breadwinners were optimistic and promised to be there when society needed them.

One summer day, a deadly toxin fatal to pigeons was secretly released into the city in order to lower the pigeon population. It worked so effectively that the council decided to release it once a year. Two years on, citizens are confused and dismayed at the dead pigeons on their streets one summer's week every year but the majority don't question why. The pigeons, however, have realised that this is no coincidence.

Now, the Breadwinners still aim to stand by humankind- but their priorities have turned. When the time comes, they are aiming to protect only the 'strongest, brightest and bravest' of their kind, turning their back on the weak and injured. If only the best pigeons are left to provide assistance they believe humanity will see the error of its ways.

Meanwhile, an underground organisation has been developing elsewhere. 'Crumbs' has become aware of the Breadwinners less-than-honourable plans and once the purge hits, tries to save as many pigeons as possible. With the help of a young, disillusioned ornithologist who knows about the toxin, Crumbs is prepared to provide help for the weak, a foil for the Winners and hopefully an end to the pigeons annual purge once and for all.

Year three of the toxin approaches. And Crumbs will be there to pick up the pieces.

~~~

Personally, I think it's a lot more interesting than 'good pigeons hate pigeons that are acting evil for no reason'. I was worried about making the Breadwinners seem needlessly cruel. At least this way they have a reason for their actions, even if it only makes sense to them.

Thanks to Ruari for helping me word the synopsis good.

Crumbs Concept

The Animals and their Pets

As mentioned in the synopsis there, an ornithologist, someone who studies birds, is featured quite heavily in the story. Once that was a thing, I began designing the main human characters. These are Jude and Carrie. Jude is the ornithologist hell bent on getting rid of the toxin and Carrie is the manager of the Wingview Softpaws Therapy Dogs Association. They love animals and they love each other.

Jay suggested getting them neutered and was confused when Tita sat on him.

Yeah, Jude dyes her hair wacky colours but often loses interest/forgets and lets the roots grow in so she constantly looks like a scruff. No wonder she had to go freelance, eh? That and the whole… big drama that will be discussed in the comic, mhm yes.

I'm not entirely happy with the shading on Carrie's face but eh. Just need more practice. I need to draw more of these dorks.

But yeah, as these two became more and more important as the story development progressed, I figured it was time to actually get their designs out there. Such cuties. Also they have been quite fun to write dialogue for so I'm especially looking forward to introducing them in the comic.

As well as introducing the comic in general. I'm so excite!

Now to continue sketches and getting the new headshots done for the character page. And character banners. And the new Crumbs poster. The current one I have isn't as fitting for the story anymore. It'll still be kinda rap pigeon-y though.

Til next time!

Hitting the Ground Running

Or rather; smacking into the ground, getting up shakily and wobbling about the place a bit. But at least I'm moving. It's a start.

So yeah, I was quiet on this blog for nearly a month again. But not for the reasons you'd think. I meant to upload an entry before I went to Spain last month, to explain that week long silence. However, I somehow forgot to do so. My noggin can be a foggy mess sometimes. And then when I got back, I was thrown into managing my main projects and so documenting their progress was kind of put on the back-burner until I had something to show.

BUT. If you follow me on Twitter and Facebook, you'd have something of an idea of what these things were. Without further adieu, lets get to them late documentations.

Bertie Blue

The Christmas book is officially in serious production now. Things have been quite slow on all my projects (which I'll explain later in the entry) but they're starting to take off now. I've started with the less detailed pictures in the story to get those out of the way before I dedicate my attention to the more in-depth artwork. Here is one of the pictures, a personal favourite of mine.

I'm still trying to market the books as best I can, but I must confess, it's a lot more difficult than I planned. Not even cos of whether or not people will be interested but because of my anxiety becoming an extremely heavy brick wall in recent years. On a whim, since I had the Bertie flyers in my car, I decided to pitch the books to a bookshop in Morpeth to see if they would accept a flyer and maybe host some copies of the book in the future. However, my brain chose the WORST POSSIBLE TIME to go blank and I would have crumbled completely if Ruari hadn't been there to pitch in with some of the main points and get me back on track. However, it was still pretty awkward for everyone involved. Argh.

That said, they accepted the flyer and encouraged me to send a follow up email to their boss. I have done this although I'm not sure if it'll go anywhere. The whole thing was certainly a wake up call, that's for sure. Mainly, to stop being in denial over how anxious I get and to not pitch things on a whim EVER. AGAIN.

On that note, you should totally buy these books! It's awesome, it's about a carrier pigeon in the war and his Captain and what experiences they… uh… experience…

… uuhhhhh…

"WE WANT A PITCHER, NOT A BELLY ITCHER!"

Haha, if I didn't laugh I'd cry instead. Check out and buy the books here!

Crumbs

This is a tricky one to discuss cos, while I have done a lot of work on this, I don't have a lot in terms of artwork to show for it. Well, I have concept pieces but those are waiting until the next entry. As of right now, I am going to discuss Crumbs' social networking site and… it's brand new website.

Yeah, I decided I was no longer happy hosting the webcomic on tumblr. Not that there's anything wrong with the site but it's a bit limiting with webcomics, I find. I looked around on wix.com and experimented with putting together a website with much more features than the tumblr themes offered. After deciding I was happy with what I saw, I bought a premium package, transferred the domain and seriously began to work on the site.

You can click here to see the site. As of right now, all you can see is an 'Under Construction' message. But nearer the time, I am planning to open the site for a short time to some people who will test the site, make sure all the pages and links work and give me their feedback. Once that's done and any changes have been made, I will put together a vlog, similar to the one I did over a year ago for my project development in college, showing off all the new features and show that off near the end of August, before relaunching the site and comic on the 15th September.

Yeah, the relaunch date is the same as the original launch date. I'm planning on doing it right this time.

As for the tumblr that originally hosted the comic, I am changing that to be the Crumbs official tumblr page (or 'Crumblr' page if you will, hahahaha oh god Im sorry) where I will answer questions and news on updates and so on. This change also encouraged me to expand Crumbs' digital footprint and now the comic has an official Facebook page AND Jay can be followed on twitter: @JayBadEgg. He's still finding his feet on there.

Dang, there's a lot of links and not enough pictures in this entry so far. Changing that now.

Vlogging

So, something I've wanted to do for a while now is vlog my work. Due to the way I plan on doing it, it gives me the change to get braver at talking to a camera (and at talking in general), practice my pitching (cos seriously, I NEED THAT) and also get better at working on animatics. It's also quite a fun way to share information and opinions and I kind of want in on it.

Right now, I have two vlogs in mind. One is the aforementioned Crumbs website tour, similar to (but hopefully better than) the one I did for college. The second is going to be on my Patreon page, explaining my projects, how people can donate and how the Patreon site works.

So yeah, some picture time! As the vlogs feature a cartoon me, I wanted to practice my more cartoony style and see how quickly I can get them done. A few of these were sketched in Spain as well and tidied up on the computer. The animatics will most likely just be a moving sketch rather than full colour as colouring takes up a lot more time. However, I'd like to colour a few of these in the future. They're pretty boss.

Sketches of me in a bunch of outfits I regularly wear.

Me with some of the best animals in the world ever

I do have an example of my colouring process right here, however. I chose the first picture of me that I drew and decided to play about with it, from sketch to colour with shading.

Then, while working on this yesterday, I had an idea.

You might have noticed the new Doodlebug header at the top of the blog there (yeah, I as totally gonna mention this eventually). I'd wanted to change the design for a while now and got the chance to play about with it a couple of days ago. It's now a lot more dynamic in my opinion.

Then I put the Doodlebug next to the wary looking cartoon me and then had an idea.

See… I haven't been officially diagnosed or anything, so I can't say for sure. But I know for a fact that my anxiety affects me way too much for it to be normal. When it starts affecting your work, your relationships, your self confidence and even your health, surely then something must be up. I'm hoping to get it looked into soon. I hate the thought that I'm self diagnosing but at the same time, I have to start looking after myself more and if this is a problem, then I can get the help I need and be able to give all aspects of my life the focus it deserves without the anxiety giving me mental pins and needles.

What's the point of this burble, you ask? Well, I've kind of tried to represent the 'anxiety' as a kind of 'pins and needles' effect, with it all around in the background and also the slightly greeny/yellow/barfy colour around me. Personally, that's the colour I think personifies it for me. 

When I get to working on a project deeply, assuming my mental bawwing hasn't blocked me from doing so, it can really help me forget how bad I feel, even if it's for a little while. Of course, sometimes it can bring anxieties of it's own but my artwork (barfbags at the ready…) is pretty much one of my oldest friends. It's been something I've turned to to create stories, distractions, a source of venting, a source of fun and so much more. And I want to share what I create in these moments. 

So it's something of a personal touch to a piece of self advertising, basically.

Sleeping Tree Arts logo is courtesy of Ashleigh Edmonds.

I thought it would be fitting to have my main projects around me: Crumbs, Bertie Blue, The Dog Division and Sleeping Tree Arts respectively. Although Sleeping Tree Arts also involves Rachel Rutherford and Ashleigh Edmonds and I hope I will be able to work with them both more in the future. Them jobs, they'll getcha. But as it's a big goal of mine as well, it seems wrong not to put it on here. I just wanted people to know that (obviously) I'm not going into that one single handed.

I've also done this picture as a header image for my Facebook and Twitter pages, I'm considering doing it for my tumblr and I've made it the intro header for my Patreon page.

So! In closing, sorry for the late blog entry but I'll be back with some more concepts next week! I've decided to upload blog entries on a tuesday/thursday schedule instead. Won't be so confusing for me once Crumbs is uploading.

I never really know how to close off my blog entries very well. Eh. Take it easy guys! Hope you're having a good week.

Final Show 2014 and Patreon

So yeah, this entry is later than planned. However, not due to lack of productivity. I had to make a visit to the doctors which wore me out a bit but I got working on a little something to distract me. I'll touch on more of that later.

In this entry, I'm doing something a little different. Normally I use the blog to share concepts and artwork I've done and discuss them but I'm putting that on hold for today to discuss some super cool things and shine the spotlight on some artists I really enjoyed seeing at Final Show on Monday.

Final Show 2014

~

It was interesting being at the Final Show as a visitor rather than an exhibitor. Definitely more relaxed in comparison as I recall stressing and hoping that people would enjoy my work and maybe some big studio hot-shot was scouting for talent and my pigeons were somehow the magic thing they were looking for and that they'd shove a wad of cash into my gob and I'd be set for life with sustainable and reliable income due to a super cool animation job where I would draw nothing but birds and dogs and everyone would want me/want to be me and life would be super groovy good.

... Ehh, it didn't exactly turn out that way. Although I don't have many complaints.

"Look, but don't touch. Unless it's a badge or business card. You can get yo
nasty hands all over dem, son."

Anyway, Ruari and I decided to pop by and see what the students were presenting this year. I found a few favourites and couldn't resist taking some photos to share on the blog. Doin' a little bit of an artist spotlight, I suppose!

~~~

Mark Hughes

Twitter | Tumblr

Mark is a hoot and a half and I just want to kick his arse at how much better his storyboards are. He put so much effort and life into them, it's enviable. It's getting me really hyped to see his finished animations. He was the fellow responsible for the sloth greeter and he has a recurring theme of sloths in his work. Good to know someone loves a kind of animal as intensely as I do!
Also them character designs are so fluid and wacky, yo. Can't wait to see the buggers in action!

Emma Inglis

 Twitter | Facebook | Blog

I'm loving this. I mean look at those colours! And the shading is so soft and its all so bold and the details and textures in everything are just so vibrant and I feel like I could be touching that wolfskin if the woman wasn't going to smack me upside the head for doing so. I especially love the bottom one. Daaaang. I can't make smart word at the good art.
"Now at 21, and more confident than I've ever been, my work aims to take a turn for the gruesome and a much more healthy and feminist approach." And god bless you for it, Emma.

Danielle Waterworth

Twitter

These were made in 3D. I honestly weep at how good some people are in this medium cos I SWEAR TO GOD I am physically incapable of working in it. It's diabolical, the amount of damage 3D does to a tortured soul like myself... or at least to my module grade. However, there are those that are total BEASTS at it and Danielle sure kicked it's ass.

And she made a 3D print of a polar bear, what the HELL. That is incredible and I am mad jelly.

~~~

Those ones in particular stood out to me but I have to say, there was a lot of talent there! Just gonna toss out the honourable mentions cos they should shine too!

Thom Sansom
Tumblr

Kym Davison
Blog

Stuart Brown
(I'm having difficulty finding a source to more of his work, I'm afraid!)

All in all, some rad stuff. But one thing that kind of sucked was that there wasn't a screening of the animations on the huge screen like there usually is. That was a shame. I mean yeah, they had them on a loop in the little screen in the animation room which meant people could see the work but sadly there was no way of hearing them. Such a pity.

Oh, and the bar wasn't even in the same room. Jeeze, what was THAT about?

That aside, it was a good show and it was cool snapping up freebies and seeing some old chums from college. Also got to introduce Ruari to them and he was loving the whole thing, especially the inexpensive drinks. But that's no surprise.

"Hate to see you go but love to watch you leave!"

And now, onto that little distraction I mentioned earlier.

Patreon

So yeah, like I said, I never found that animation studio hot shot to cram money in my face and set me up for life. But perhaps maybe you guys can help me out with that instead?

... Allow me to explain. Patreon is a website where you can donate as much money as you want to a creator either on a monthly basis or whenever they churn out a piece of content. Depending on how much you give to them on the agreed basis, you'll be given rewards by the creator which can vary depending on their work. As well as this, the creator also lists goals that can be achieved whenever they reach a certain money milestone.

Have a look at my page as an example. It lists the projects I want to make a living out of and the goals I wish to reach. I know I'll most likely have to change a few details moneywise but this has given me an idea of what I want to do with my work.

Support me!

If you yourself wish to donate any amount, I'd really appreciate it. And if you have any advice or suggestions for my patreon page, please don't be afraid to share as I want to get the most out of the site as humanly possible. I also want to be sure I'm using it right!

Also, please help me spread the word and thanks to those who have supported me so far!

Next blog entry, I'll be back to sharing artwork and talking about it in more detail. Yes, it will be pigeons, I promise. I know you've missed them~

... shut up, yes you have.

Crumbs: Dog Division Lineup (Better!)

Final Show Visit

~

Mondays, ew.

Although my Monday has been pretty spiffy so far. Ruari and I headed out for business lunch and then we went home for business coffee and now we're writing up business things. BUSINESS.

Later on, we're planning on seeing the Newcastle College Animation Final Show to see how the second and final years have been doing. It'll also be good to possibly catch up with former classmates and teachers. Feel free to say hi if you'll be there! Especially if you're a studio doing some networking. You should especially say hi.

Pft yeah, I probably won't get too far on that one. I don't have any work hanging up this year. That and it would be crappy to the students showing their work. I like to think I'm not THAT crappy. Either way, I'm really excited to see what work is being shown this year. I might write up about the show on Wednesday while sharing my own work.

'Til then, here are some Crumbs concepts.

Crumbs: The Dog Division

~

I mentioned in the last entry that I had updated the group picture of the main characters of the Dog Division stories. I absolutely despised the last picture and wanted to work on it for a long time. After finally tweaking Snaps' design, I went into making the lineup that much less of an eyesore.

I'm very happy with the result.

"Oh hey Rocky, look what I just stepped in!"
"It's not really your fault, Snaps. She's such a shortarse, no one possibly could have seen her. *snerk*"
"*sniffsniff* I dunno, she smells a little...
"You're both ungrateful shits and I hate you."

I really like how it sums up their group dynamic. They both really do have a high respect for Tita (the pug) as she was the one to see potential in them and help them achieve their goals, with Snaps becoming a therapy dog and Rocky a guide dog for the blind. However, they're all smarmy buggers who constantly take the piss out of each other and Tita seems to be the brunt of the jokes in this instance.

I had the 'Lightpaws' logo sprayed on the wall behind them because in the story, it's also used to suggest the dogs assisting the pigeons. I deliberately made the logo vague enough for this to be possible.

Underneath is a texture test of the characters together, to see if it worked with the rest of the dogs as it did with Snaps. Personally I think it does.

"Am I really that wrinkly?"
"Yes. And short."
"And smelly."
"Bite me."

Much better interaction and just more awesome designs for the characters in general. I'm still experimenting with Rocky's colours as he's a bit tougher to shade than the other two. Which is funny, considering that I have my own chocolate labrador Frodo who I've been using as a reference. Either way, brown is tough to shade and show light without it looking dirty. If that makes sense.

Ah well, more tweaking to go!

I've got more Crumbs concepts to share on Wednesday but I'm not sure what those will be. Probably pigeons. And obviously a summary of Final Show. Guess we'll see in a couple of days.

Ciao~

Hashtag Swag Stag

Schedule Update

~

I'm thinking from now on, I'll share something on my blog on a Monday/Wednesday/Friday basis. Kind of like the upload schedule I have planned for Crumbs. I seem to really like working to such a schedule. At least I'm finally getting around to sharing stuff.

Once I have a bigger Crumbs buffer, I'll put that on the Mon/Wed/Fri upload and share blog updates on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Hopefully that'll be happening within the next few months.

Until then, lets get cracking with what we got here.

Swag Stag

~

I'm something of a private person when it comes to talking about myself and relationships and the like. However, I'm approaching the second month anniversary of seeing this lovely fellow (It's pronounced 'Rory' to those who have been wondering/asking; it's the Irish spelling) and one way I like to show affection, other than sweetly insulting them, is drawing them pretty pictures for no raisin.

Ruari has a particular fondness for stags (kind of like my pug love: he's got them on pictures, shirts, socks and everything, jeeze what a dork) and aviator sunglasses so naturally I decided to run with these interests and create a little something for him to appreciate.

I think I got a bit carried away.

I want this for a poster. Or a shirt design. Or a beer label. Or a decal for a van.
I want this for an EVERYTHING.

Now, I'm normally not one to be all like 'Daaaamn hombre look at this thing I drewed" but DAAAAMN HOMBRES LOOK AT THIS THING I DREWED

It's probably got a number of faults with it which I'll eventually see after a few months but for the time being, I'm actually really happy with it. Considering it's an animal I haven't really drawn before, it's came out pretty nifty. I have no idea why I decided to go with all the dark and fire and stuff. It was just going that way. And it really makes the stag and glasses stand out, what with them being really super important and all.

So yeah, a little something different than usual that I've wanted to share for the past week now. Also with Ruari's beer magazine work being published and going for sale, I figured now would be as good a time to share as any. If you're into beers beyond the stuff they have in the taps at the pub, you should check out Craft Beer: 100 Best Breweries cos it's got some interesting dranks in there. I've even been slowly expanding my beer palette recently, which I suppose is what happens when you start dating a professional pisshead beer reviewer.

He should totally review that coconut beer next. I forget what it's called but it's hella rad.

... *ahem* YES so, I drew a swag and Ruari got published. Media Power Couple.

Sharing cheesy couple photo cos it's my blog and I do what I want.
Even if I do look like a gurning horse.

Next week, it'll be back to Crumbs concepts. I have a group shot of the Dog Division that I'm very keen to share.

Until then, enjoy the weekend!