| I swear I haven't forgotten about the comic. Illustrator has been behaving like a little bitch all this past month and it's been really demoralizing. The fifth page will go up by or before next Wednesday.
The happier news is that I started a blog, which is basically just advice about how to make a webcomic that doesn't suck. | comments: X=6 | O?   |
| I think I must be the only person in the world who can't fucking stand Audrey Kawasaki's paintings.
Sure, they're pretty. But they're just soulless little soft-core Oriental pinups. Illustration, not art, and bland and repetitive illustration at that. 90% of her pieces could be retitled "Sultry pubescent, with leaves."
And yet EVERYONE LOVES HER! What the fuck! | | comments: X=14 | O? |
| Aaron and I have somehow developed a kind of complex about the air conditioner in our apartment. We never, ever turn it on, because turning it on means that we are weak and shamefully spoiled wastes of human life who hate the environment. That we are are snivelling crybabies who can't take the heat. You get the idea. So since it was 90+ degrees out today and our AC is off-limits for the aforementioned reasons, we biked over to Peet's so I could work on the new comic in a cool, climate-controlled space. I guess the reasoning we used is that since they would have the AC on anyway it's not destroying Mother Nature any worse if we go over there and enjoy it.
All that is just the lead-in to the real point of the story, which is that during the 3 or so hours I spent at my table working on the strip, I was accosted by two very enthusiastic men who came up and struck up a conversation with me about Comic-Con out of nowhere, on two separate occasions. Both times it went more or less like this:
Guy: (awkwardly) So, you're making comics, huh?
Me: (also awkwardly) Uh, yeah!
Guy: So did you go to Comic-Con?
Me: No.
Guy (appalled): Why not?!
Me: Oh, well, it's kind of expensive... didn't really plan... uh, maybe next year?
Guy: Well, THIS year it was huge. (launches into story about how he spent three hours in a line two miles long just to pick up the convention badge that he'd already bought online)
Me: ...Awesome?
Guy: Yeah. So! (a bunch of rapid-fire questions about the comic I'm making)
I'm a NOBODY and this was at a COFFEE shop and these guys were SO JAZZED about talking to me about my comic and the convention. They were both really sweet, but it makes me wonder what would happen if I were actually 1. semi-famous and 2. attending Comic-Con. Do Gabe and Tycho have to hire bodyguards or something?
I did actually really want to go this year, because Alison Bechdel was in attendance and I wanted to shake her hand (oh god how I wanted to shake her hand. I bet she has to hire bodyguards too), but the Saturday tickets sold out too fast. | | comments: X=5 | O? |
| so by "morning" I really meant "late afternoon."
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| I'm running behind with the new Hand to Mouth page, so in the meantime, have a gander at my attempts to colorize the last one. I wanted to make the colors fairly brownish and unsaturated (a fancy color theory term meaning dull and muted) to reflect the nighttime environment that Sam's in, but not so much so that it was boring to look at.
Desaturated version:
Fully saturated version:
Hybrid:
I think I like the third one best, but every time I re-examine them I change my mind, so I dunno. I might try going back and simplifying the palette a bit further. The new page will go up tomorrow morning instead.
I don't even know if doing this comic in color is a worthwhile goal, given the content and style, but I've never tried it before, so I figure I should at least make a stab at it. I usually prefer B&W because of its clarity and simplicity, but then there's Scary Go Round and Rice Boy, two comics with absolutely beautiful color which are also easy to read. Rice Boy in particular is so visually amazing that I'm sort of infuriated by how good it is. So I don't know. What do you guys think? | | comments: X=7 | O? |
| If you were ever secretly attracted to me, I'm sorry.
 | | comments: X=14 | O? |
| 
I spent what felt like a hojillion hours shading the sixth panel, because I didn't know what the hell I was doing and kept having to start over. I think it turned out ok though.
The grayscale stuff is getting more labor-intensive with every page. Since I'm exerting so much effort anyway, I should probably just suck it up and transition to full color, but I'm too scared. | | comments: X=2 | O? |
| Sorry if today's extra-large image breaks anyone's journal.
But, alas, he did.
Properly executed, the coffee-making procedure goes like this:
1. Put on water to boil
2. Clean out pot & filter
3. Grind beans (here is where I fucked up)
4. Rinse out thermos & favorite mug
5. Put honey in bottom of thermos & favorite mug
6. At this point, water should be ready, so brew coffee
7. Pour coffee into receptacles
8. Add milk
9. Stir
10. Announce your triumphant success | | comments: X=8 | O? |
| A new journal comic! Why not!
Today's comic has some (extremely un-titillating) naked boobs in it, so you may want to hold off on clicking the link if you're still at work.
( click for comic ) | | comments: X=18 | O? |
| this isn't technically supposed to go up until tomorrow, but whatever.
The eagle eyes among us might notice that Ollie's hair is now light gray instead of white. I was hoping to keep the number of gray tones I used to color in the strips under 4 for the whole series (both as a technical exercise of my coloring skills, but also to keep file size down), but the last panel in today's page made that impossible. So Ollie and his hair received the benefit. | | comments: X=5 | O? |
| It's called Hand to Mouth, and it's about a lesbian couple who become superheroes. They fight crime (and each other).
The website is http://ramiferous.net/htm/ if you would like to check out my TOTALLY RAD site design, but I'll be posting updates here too. These two are the main characters.
Introducing Ollie, Sam, and Ray. | | comments: X=4 | O? |
| Hello everyone. I am working on my very first superhero comic. In the meantime, please enjoy this extremely basic tutorial on how to draw a human head.
| | comments: X=5 | O? |
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when they invent bionic arms, i'll be first in line for the upgrade. | | comments: X=5 | O? |
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hey, Bank of America! feel like giving me free stuff for the product placement? send email to lurgulary at gmail.com. | | comments: X=2 | O? |
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still getting the hang of Illustrator. it's slow going, but totally worth it, I think. | | comments: X=6 | O? |
| 
Thanks, mom and dad.
Also, an important announcement:
Fuck you, Photoshop. I am tired of your bullshit. I'm with Illustrator now and we're very happy together. | | comments: X=4 | O? |
| 
unprecedented! two updates on the same day! I suppose I've got a lot to make up for though.
current wrist status: stiff, twingy | | comments: X=4 | O? |
| Back home for the holidays. Carpal tunnel syndrome (it's official now) may be preventing me from using my tablet, but my parents have a scanner! In your FACE, inflamed nerves.
Here are two of the characters in a story I've been working on:
and here is your humble artist:
current wrist status: self-explanatory. | | comments: X=4 | O? |
| hello everyone on the internet.
sorry for being incredibly slothful about updates. I have lots of exciting (pronounce: "boring and stupid") stories to share in comic form, but as it turns out I have managed to give myself carpal tunnel or some shit so I am trying to take it easy.
In the meantime please enjoy this picture of my alter ego:
Deadly McStab, the Scots-Irish Ninja.
happy Halloween. Terrible doodles to follow in the near future. | | comments: X=4 | O? |
| 
sorry for ignoring the comics all week. as you can see from today's choice of subject, life hasn't been all that exciting lately. | | comments: X=7 | O? |
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lurgulary's journal