Crumbs Update and Bertie Blue Development

So, yesterday's post is now today's post.

That was my bad. I've become a bit overwhelmed with some things and it doesn't help my anxiety much. I've had a bit of difficulty facing the day but I'm here now.

Unfortunately I don't really have a new image to share, as I try to do for my blog entries but I DO have the next Crumbs page! Click on the image and it'll take you straight there.

And check out the rest of the pages/site if you haven't already!

As said on the site, I do plan on spending the next week blasting through as much of the buffer as possible. I was getting anxiety attacks and low moods which were causing loss of motivation which were causing anxiety attacks and low moods which were causing loss of motivation which were causing…

Well, you get the idea.

Anyway, there's that AND I have a bit of Bertie Blue news to share. As planned, 'Bertie Blue and the White Rum Sauce' is now complete and I am able to have it stand alongside it's previous stories as a small collection.

So pretty.

Speaking of collections though, the author and I have decided (for the time being anyway) that we're going to stop creating the books in this format.

And instead, put all FOURTEEN of the stories in one novel with three illustrations per story.

A charity known as Words For The Wounded hold competitions to raise money for the rehabilitation of wounded servicemen and women. With the subject matter of the story and with the combined stories reaching the word limit, the decision was made to combine all the stories and enter it as an illustrated novel in the competition, launching on the 11th November.

The goal is to have the book all ready by then. I'm starting the task the week after next, allowing myself to catch up with Crumbs before I can balance the two projects again. This seems like a very exciting development for the project and I can't wait to put my all into it.

Finally, and most importantly, thank you to everyone who kindly commented on Facebook wishing me the best. I really appreciate your support, you're all so wonderful! I hope you'll all enjoy what's to come.

Chihuahua Princess and Pigeon Development

So, people who know me (or sometimes don't know me) are aware of my incessant pug fascination. They're just delightful potatoes that one day grew fur, became sentient and ran into a wall. Ever since, they have infiltrated so many families, adverts and fashion accessories. They are beautiful beasts who I will one day be proud to call 'Master'.

However.

They are not the only dog I love. In fact, I love every single breed of dog on the planet. And probably a couple off this planet as well. So occasionally I am prone to drawing other breeds.

Specifically, I've become possessed by this precious princess. The tiny but mighty Chihuahua.

She kind of looks a bit like a cat, probably cos of the pink nose. But I'm mostly happy with how this came out. And I've had an overwhelming urge to doodle a Shiba Inu for well over a week now, as well as more chocolate labradors, so there will probably be more doodles of dogs in the future. And a butt-ton of other animals. It's good to draw more than pigeons all the time.

Don't despair though (you were totally despairing, I saw), the pigeons aren't going anywhere. In fact, I've been quite productive with them as of late. In regards to Bertie Blue, I've just emailed Steve the Christmas story PDF complete with coloured illustrations. We're hoping the book will be ready to print this week, with an even more exciting development for every single story of Bertie Blue ever written. There are fourteen in total.

I'm holding off on sharing more news about that for now though. In the meantime, I'll share the cover for the aforementioned Christmas story 'Bertie Blue and the White Rum Sauce'.

Glad to have the three stories out in time for Christmas. But as I said before, there's a potentially interesting development for the stories that we're considering. I'll share news on that as soon as I can.

Finally, Crumbs. I'm happy to say that the webcomic has entered it's second week! Still quite slow moving for now but we're kind of story/world building a little bit… kind of… sort of… eh, it'll hopefully make a bit more sense next week.

Anyway, the comic is running quite well so far and people seem to be intrigued by what's happening so far. So while the comic is running, I've toyed with the idea of making prints and posters. One design being Page 4 without dialogue. I think it's quite a dramatic piece and I'd totally poster the heck out of it.

Does anyone else feel the same? Would you have this rockin' on your wall?

Feedback is appreciated!

Anyway, hopefully I'll be able to share more information about the Bertie Blue Christmas story and this new Bertie development later this week. And possibly more dog pictures. Perhaps.

Most likely.

Don't forget, Crumbs updates tomorrow. But this Wednesday's page might be a bit… intense. Heavily implied pigeon death as we see the toxin in action. Just a heads up.

Enter the Staghounds

Damnit. I'm SUPPOSED to be working on PIGEON PROJECTS.

WHAT IS HAPPENING.

First, it was the Yetis. I figured, 'What the hell, I'm gonna draw YimYam with Aan Xai cos that would be cute, why the hell not?"And then a story idea started developing from that. It's good to have another potential project in the works; something to develop in my own time, most likely. But it seems the Yetis have dug their spears in my brain and aren't letting go. I have Crumbs pages and Bertie Blue illustrations to ink and colour, fer cryin' out loud!

And if that wasn't bad enough, I started being pestered by these adorable little buggers. Known as Pugalopes to many. But I think 'Staghound' sounds cooler. And gives them a level of epic that's undeserving. Don't get me wrong, I love pugs but you're hardly gonna crap your pants if you see one in a dark alley.

Then again, them antlers...

Meet Bucky. Having trouble choosing what colour he should be but I'm leaning towards black. Input appreciated.

It was only a matter of time before I drew a Pugalope, what with Ruari's favourite animal being a Stag and mine (or one of mine) being a pug. And the thought of a tiny pug having huge antlers sticking out of its napper will always be hilarious to me.

Aside from that though, I've been meaning to draw one for… logo reasons, let's just say. Things still need to be discussed but lets just say there's another potential pie to stick my finger into.

Not sure if I'll stick with the stencil text or try something else but I'm happy with the overall idea.

Yay, business ventures!

Eh, I suppose in a way this is a good thing cos stuff like this means I can build more of a portfolio. I do need more variety than pigeons and dogs. Or, antler-less dogs anyway.

Anyway, aside from this, continuing with a page from the Crumbs buffer and a few yeti sketches, I haven't gotten as much done as I'd have liked. I think I've still got some fatigue from the play. Adrenaline can only last for so long. So I'm taking it easy for the rest of the night. I've learned that if I push myself to work in this state, I just end up making things more stressful for myself.

Despite not getting as much done as I'd planned, I need to recharge every once in a while. And I'm pretty much saying that out loud for my benefit more than anyone else's. I seem to forget it the most.

Tomorrow I'm planning on primarily working on colouring Bertie Blue illustrations and the Crumbs buffer, which I should have been doing in the first place. As well as uploading the next Crumbs page. In case you haven't been keeping up, the first two are now online and can be read here and here.

Next blog entry will be Tuesday. As for the rest of the night, I got some 3DS shenanigans to catch up on. The kids in Tomodachi life grow up so fast… no really, they grow up so fast. Three days ago my Mii parents had a baby and now he's living in his own apartment as an adult. Sunrise, sunset.

And my Animal Crossing town are probably wondering where the hell I am.

Back From Tibet! With a Yeti Fixation.

… Well actually, I'm back from performing 'Tango In Tibet', a play written by my good pal Richy Wilson. I think a couple of you guys came to see it, so many thanks if you did! You totally got to have a good laugh at me as a yeti.

The yeti fixation though, that's legit.

As the play was going on, between rehearsals I would often doodle out this little yeti character. I have a few ideas in mind for her and a potential series revolving around the princess of a yeti tribe and her spirit guide helping her channel her anxiety so she can successfully rule the tribe and not end up killing them.

It sounds like an exaggeration but… uh, the reason makes sense in my head. Which you can't see into. I envy you.

Anyway, where was I going with this… oh yes! As the idea started to take shape, what came out of it was Aan Xai Yeti, a young spirit guide yeti with the task of helping the princess manage her… well, anxiety. Shut up, it was super clever when I thought of it.

The whole inspiration for the princess and tribe idea came from me playing YimYam, who was a yeti princess. It all just kind of took off from there. I'll most likely develop a new design for the princess character however, as YimYam doesn't belong to me. And she was never actually an anxious yeti anyway. (which you'd know if you'd seen the play, GAWD)

Despite this, I couldn't resist drawing Aan Xai and YimYam together. BEHOLD! YETIS. Featuring shade comparison. It's a bit subtle but I think it makes it pop that bit more.

Yes, Aan Xai is supposed to look like a horned furby.

As well as this, Richy asked me to doodle YimYam with her father GrimGram when I had the time. I was in a yeti drawing mood so I figured, YEAH YETIS.

And then I got a bit carried away, it was only meant to be a simple doodle but then I added snow and this happened.

Male yetis have curly horns and females have pointy horns. Probably cos the females hunt and the males
can't be arsed or something, idk.

Nice little yeti Kodac moment. What isn't pictured is all the random yeti fights, mud throwing (figurative and literal) and farting.

It's a yeti thing.

So yeah, Tibet hasn't quite left my system just yet. And the fact that I could keep my yeti onesie isn't helping.

"My bitch is horny!" Hahaha YOU'RE NOT FUNNY, RUARI.

Yeah I'm wearing it now, why do you ask?

… yeah it's starting to smell STOP ASKING QUESTIONS THIS INTERVIEW IS OVER

Crumbs Begins and Framed Artwork Whoa

Well, I said I was going to attempt to update this mother two times a week, alongside the Crumbs updates. So let's get cracking. I don't expect this to last long.

As of yesterday, Crumbs has now began uploading. At the moment, we only have the title page for the first arc but it will slowly begin to take off. I'm really excited about finally sharing the story!

Also, I've rearranged the main page so it's a lot more accessible now. Feedback is appreciated!

Click to be taken to the page!

I'm constantly planning updates and I'd like to create some concept artwork with the comic's official new artwork in mind. But for this week, I might not be as productive as I'd like. Mainly because I'm in a local am-dram project with Wave Theatre called Tango In Tibet and it hits the stage from Wednesday-Friday this week. And I need to be put in make up extremely early.

I dabble in acting, dontcha know.

Anywho, things should be much calmer after this week and I'll really be able to hit the ground running with my projects again. I'm quickly putting together a rough Christmas story for the author to showcase as a WIP at an event tomorrow. Next week I'll be able to work on it properly.

In other news, I've also done a nifty design for my Aunt! I wanted to make a cool something for her and I felt her last picture was a bit outdated now so I decided to go for something more… better.

I word good.

Also featuring the framed version. I normally frame pictures I do for family members/friends so I'm surprised I didn't show this on my blog before. The photo shows it really dark but that's down to the monitor issues I was having. I've actually brightened the original picture on the left so HOPEFULLY you can actually see the darn thing.

Anywho, I'll try to get another blog entry up this week but I make no promises. I'll definitely keep the cycle up next week though, fo sho.

UNTIL THEN.

Resolved Screen Brightness Issues

So, a bit over a week ago, it came to my attention that my images were printing too dark.

I wasn't sure if this was a problem that had plagued me for a while because my work mostly seemed to come out alright and the majority of my work was only ever shared online anyway. But after looking over the front cover to the Christmas Bertie Blue book, I noticed that the problem was indeed rather glaring. It made a pile of crumpled army clothes look like a snail. Not quite what I was going for.

So before I went on any further, I decided to turn to social networks for fresh eyes in helping me with my brightness issues. Someone suggested that perhaps my work monitor wasn't at is brightest. So I decided to turn up the brightness.

It didn't get any brighter at all. Mystery solved there. But now I was worried that my images in general were showing up much too dark on other monitors. So to look into this, I presented people with the below image. The one to the left was the original image and the one to the right had been brightened.

I immediately noticed a big difference but wanted to see if others had the same opinion. The one on the right was indeed the more popular option and I've been using the brightening method ever since. It really makes things more vibrant, as well as more visible. Which is obviously important.

Yeah, this is the title page for the first Crumbs arc. 15th September is approaching.

Thank you to everyone who has provided feedback on various social networks. And who says Facebook ruins lives? Pft.

Crumbs: Comic and Title Page Art Comparisons

We all know what I'm going to say about this late entry so there's not really any need to say it. Onto progress!

In terms of the Crumbs buffer, the main issue I'd been having with it was how long it would take to do one page. If you recall, I used to do lineart in Illustrator before doing everything else in Photoshop. Here is an example from the previous edition of the comic.

God, Pink was such a blabber beak.

As my colouring/shading methods have developed, I've noticed that I take way too much time on one individual image, let alone an entire comic page. So I have come to the decision that the in depth shading/textured images will be saved for posters, title pages, concept art, basically anything but the actual comic pages themselves.

I'm hoping that doesn't come across as false advertising. Eek.

Now, at first this left me with a dilemma as I'd used that method to create artwork for a while now. It was basically like learning how to breakdance after only doing tap for so long. Rather different methods. But I've played around with some techniques and I'm quite happy with this one. It'll mean comic pages are done at a much faster pace. And it's a lot easier than breakdancing.

I've always loved the artwork from Rayman Origins and wanted to see if I could recreate such a design for the comic pages. Obviously they'll have their differences but I loved such a contemporary look for the characters and with it being much quicker for me to do, I'm feeling a lot more optimistic. I still need to work on the lineart skills but I'm having fun with it, which is nice.

The pose of Lilac and Twig is from the title page of the first arc. It was originally the one with all the pigeons and Tita in the rap pose but as they're not heavily focused on until the second arc, I've decided to make that the second title page. And maybe a poster design.

I want it all up in my wall.