Introducing GrumbleSquab

Now that I've made the decision to name my work under the umbrella name 'Emmature Media', I've been planning a bit of remodelling for my blogs and social networks alongside developing my other projects. You'll most likely have noticed the new blog title picture featuring mascots that you'll be seeing a lot more often.

I've been making variations for my portfolio and tumblr sites as well and I'm planning on making similar ones for my twitter and Facebook pages too. 

I've mentioned Bucky the pugalope before, the Staghound mascot who occasionally gets drunk on whatever tipple Ruari reviews at the time. But the big eared yeti is a new addition, one specifically for Emmature Media.

Her name is Squab. GrumbleSquab.

I really want to make a unique print out of this picture, possibly look into making some phone covers as well. But as of right now, here is Grumbles in her unique yetihuahua glory. Featuring the Doodlebug. Cos ain't no way I'm getting rid of that.

I'm debating making the background of all my customisable sites lilac with stars rather than straight black. If anyone has a preference, let me know but that's something I'll probably play about with when I have more time.

… does anyone else think GrumbleSquab sounds like something from a children's story? I pondered this heavily on twitter last night.

… I should probably stick to just illustrating stories, huh. On an unrelated note, Grumbles totally doesn't eat kids. Not after that one time.

~***~

Just a heads up, I'm planning on changing the URL of the website soon. Of course I'll update everyone once that happens, I'm mainly looking into how to be able to redirect an old URL to the new one. I'll keep ya posted.

Emmature-media.co.uk or something like that.

~***~

In other news, I know some folk have been really interested in obtaining a copy of the Bertie Blue novel. As of right now, we are currently looking into getting it out there. We were originally going to get copies printed and sell the, ourselves like we did with the picture books but it seems the price of a 140 page book as opposed to a 14 page book costs that little bit more. And by a little, I mean a LOT.

So we're still looking into other options. We have some ideas but we can't talk too much about that right now, not until we have some progress to share. All I can say is that the book itself is complete and we're just looking into the best options to get it out there and share with the world.

Watch this space, guys!

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.

Oooh, glowy...

Yeah, you probably noticed that the blog looks a tad different now.

It was originally this.

Now it's more like this.

While I was working today and trying to repress a panic attack over how little I was getting done (or felt I was getting done), my mind wandered to how glow-in-the-dark tattoos are a thing and how I'll totally get me a little star tattoo if I ever land the cash. Then I thought about how glowing things are really soothing and enchanting and just overall rad.

Then I decided that I should totally show more of my love for glowing stuff in my work.

Hence, the glowing title and darker look for the blog.

I might still play about with it cos it seems a bit sparse. Although that said, I'm mainly meant to have my artwork and blog text do the talking rather than how it's designed. But we'll see. For all I know, I might get bored of it and go back to the white design. We'll play it by ear.

Anyway, back to the Crumbs buffer. To anyone who hasn't heard me endlessly blather on about my bird comic, you can read it from the start HERE.

And click HERE to visit the Crumbs patreon page if you're interested in supporting the project.

Crumbs on Patreon

I'm getting the Crumbs buffer chugging along nicely. I'm already covered for this week with two of next weeks pages sketched and the following weeks planned. I'd like to have a bunch of pages in the buffer for wiggle room in case I'm not able to work on any for a few days. It'll help me sleep better at night.

Speaking of which, here's another way you guys could help me do that.

Remember that Patreon I mentioned, to support my work overall? Well, to be honest, it felt a bit disorganised and vague. So, instead of having it cover all of my projects, I've decided to dedicate the Patreon page entirely to the Crumbs comic.

Click the picture to be taken to the patreon page. For those who don't know, Patreon is a website similar to Kickstarter but with their being no time limit. It's ongoing and patrons can fund as many projects as they want for as much/little as they want.

Guys, I'd really appreciate any funding/awareness you'd be willing to give to help this project progress. I've got big plans for Crumbs but I really need your help in making it happen. Even if everyone was willing to donate $1 a month, it would really go far in the long run.

And even if you're not up for donating, I'd appreciate anyone sharing the news, retweeting, reblogging, whatever you have to do. It's all appreciated.

For more information, have a look at the page. It should explain things in more detail.

I hope you'll consider supporting the comic!

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.