here’s the sketch for yesterday’s journal strip ‘backwards’
and here’ s the timelapse
you’re getting about an hour of creation time in a scooch over a minute
making comics is hard work any way, and right now making comics seems very hard for me
just have to find ways to keep the pencil moving
p.s. a note on the ‘(happened in july 18)’ note. when artist john porcellino (whose king-cat comics you should really subscribe to) makes his comics, he (often? always?) notes the date when the incident that inspired the comic occurs, and then also notes the dates when he draws and inks it, which i think is a lovely touch. i meant to do it for yesterday’s strip, since the date when the peas incident happened and i actually published the strip were so far apart, but in the rush to get it posted before midnight for yesterday’s 30 days of comics deadline, i completely forgot. so the date is my john p homage.
another steps strip for day 4 of 30 days of comics
i’ll keep going with these until i run out of my stockpile of ideas
30 days of comics in november begins.
here’s my day 1
its also a journal comic
and, there’s a typo! can you spot it?
in the journal is posted
it’s been awhile since i’ve done one of these
i did it in digital first
but then decided i need the practice so i drew it in ink and watercolor
as you can see i ran in to some lettering trouble in panel 2
we made it
you can now read the story in its entirety
i do hope you have enjoyed it
of the story about a guy with no head
is up
not only is page 19 of the story about a guy with no head up
but i also posted a new ‘steps’ strip
read the story about a guy with no head from the beginning
read ‘steps’ from the beginning
it’s been so long since the last one
but a new ‘steps’ strip, ‘potty training’, is up
almost every other ‘steps’ strip has been done in digital, pushing pixels around
but today’s is fully scribbled in pencil, with lots of (kneadable) erasing, then brushing down puddles of watercolor, and finally a bit of inking
if this is the first ‘steps’ comic you’ve happened to catch
if you’re still reading
or if you haven’t started reading yet
please go read it
read it? see it, i guess
there’s no words on these pages, so i don’t know if it’s still reading
no, wait
i do know. it is reading
you can read a river and there’s no words on a river
so it’s definitely reading
go read page 17
or
up to you
(but it is reading)
we’re nearing the end of our tale
our characters meet
not really face to face but you know
neck to balloon
or something
start here if you don’t know what i’m talking about
heck, i don’t even know what i’m talking about
the story continues, as does balloon’s journey, with page 12
if you have just stumbled upon this story, you can pick up from the beginning here
in other news, there’s not much news:
i’m reading space opera, in hardcover, and i just finished the westing game on the kindle.
as soon as i finished i read that the author, ellen raskin, did quite a bit of work designing the book visually; not just the cover, but even how the text would appear on the page. so if you’re going to read it, find an analog copy.
Hi gang, just wanted to let you know that page 11 is up
we’re halfway there!
hope you’re digging this odd little tale about a man with no head and a balloon
and if you havent had the chance to start it yet, you can do so here
but now what?
our little balloon struggles
in which balloon takes in the surroundings
where we have left our man with no head and we meet: balloon
hope you guys are digging this
read the latest page of the story about a guy with no head here
and if you have no idea what is going on, don’t worry, I don’t either, but you can get caught up on this story at least by starting here.
start here if you’re just getting here:)
this story has been kicking around in my head for a long time. and even though it’s not new to me (I did this version years ago, showed it to a couple of friends, and stuck it in a drawer) I’m glad people can see it, even if I would probably do a few things on it differently now.
Or, start from the beginnning.
In the second version of this story, which is the one you’re reading, I decided to drop the narration and go full color, doing all of the artwork in crayons.
Hopefully crayons give the story some accessibility and people, will look at it and say, ‘I can do that.’
Page 5 (of 22) tomorrow.
But if you’ve’ just found us, you should start here.
I’d been noodling with and doodling the character for a long time before sorting out a story.
When I did get a story figured out, the first version I did was in black and white, very Shel Silverstein, and featured narration.
The story you’re reading is the second version. More on that tomorrow.
