More tool reviews

Lately, I haven't been loving the brush. I probably just need to break down and buy some new ones, since my current sable brush like one year and 60+ pages old, but buying brushes is SO HARD. And I'm tired of the struggle and hand cramps.

I've never been able to draw with a nib. We all had to give them a try during our first year at CCS. I would scratch with the thing until I wore a hole in the paper and still never get a line out of it. It's just not my thing.

Since these tools aren't doing it for me lately, I've been giving pens a try. These two valentines were drawn with a Pentel Tradio, which has a felt tip that kinda acts like a nib, except with it decides to spray ink everywhere.



In retrospect, these cards probably aren't going to do well. Do people buy Valentines for their pets?



And these sketches were drawn with a Right-Handed Pelikano Junior (which is amazingly comfortable, and they make a left-handed version, too) that I outfitted with a fountain pen converter, and filled with black Speedball ink.





The Pelikano inked just fine over gouache, which was nice.

Next I might try drawing comics with the fountain pen, unless the brushwork really does look better? I really can't tell anymore.

Link time!

Liz Baillie's Kickstarter is SO close to being funded. Help her out, won't you?

Jen Vaughn, Nomi Kane, and Caitlin M's Kickstarter was funded in less than 24 hours. But, the more the merrier!

I'm still worrying over book design. What do you think of these endpapers?

Adventure Time!

Not so much drawing lately, I've been off having ADVENTURES! First, Jon and I took a short trip to Vegas, where we enjoyed the cheap accommodations and tacky atmosphere.



No, we did not get married or lose everything on the blackjack table or meet Wayne Newton. Jon wanted to go because Vegas is home of the Pinball Hall of Fame. I wanted to go because it was like, 40 degrees in Nevada, which felt like summer compared to Vermont's current -10. I went outside without a coat! It was pretty nice. Rest of the photos are here.



Yesterday was the annual adventure that is Capricornucopia. The year we celebrated the birthdays of Capricorns Jon Chad, Joseph Lambert, and Jess Abston. The theme this year was either Time Travel, Space, or Fur and Metal. Things seemed to keep getting mixed up. But a rocking good time was had by all, and you can see the photos here.

Now with partying and travel done, I'm feeling refreshed, ready to buckle down and meet some deadlines. Most of which are in February. Hm.

TV Time!

I've been watching way too much tv lately, especially Avatar, since my grandparents sent me the last two seasons on DVD for Christmas.



Then Betsey got me addicted to this show, The Misfits by talking about it over two consecutive parties and a game of boggle. It's like British X-Men, with more bad decisions. This is Curtis and Alisha from the show- he can turn back time, and she kinda like a sexy Rogue.

And right now I'm watching Spaced with Jonch, but I don't have a drawing for that yet.

Tragic Relief 11 now available!

You can now buy issue #11 of Tragic Relief online at the Etsy store!



Here's a sample page from the backup story. Turns out the German word for tomatoes means "wolf peaches". Huh.

New Year, New Comics

I've gone almost a week without updating, that's no way to start out the New Year. Been making good use of the time, though it has been spent in my least favorite part of the self publishing process- laying out and designing the final book.





I'm collecting both of the "Sir Christopher" stories from the NaGraNoWriMo Challenge into one book. This will be the largest thing I've ever printed at 204 pages, so it's a little intimidating. The cover is especially throwing me for a loop. So far the design strategy has just been to do a sketch per day, trying to figure out what I like. Right now, I know that I like black and yellow. Past life as a bumble bee?



Here's the cover for Tragic Relief #11, which should have been here already! UPS is being slowed down by all the snow, but as soon as they arrive I'll let all the internet know. Since this was number eleven, I wanted to be sure there was a tomato on the cover.