Words and Drawings

Content Accumulation...

2007-06-08T15:06:00.000-07:00

...is hard work! I know I haven't been very consistent on this blog, but my consistency is about to change...

Not on this blog though.

Sorry, I'm afraid this blog will be coming to an end. I'm going to actually transfer it over to my new site, and re-direct the domain eventually, but for right now if you want to check out the new stuff that will be appearing soon, look no farther than my new site, JetPacksAndTimeMachines.com where I'm going to actually try to keep a regular three day a week comic schedule (other content appearing at random) in an attempt to further develop my comic.

We'll see how it goes.

How Much Future is Too Much?

2007-06-03T22:31:00.000-07:00

That's the question... As I've previously mentioned, my strip takes place in the future. What I'm dealing with now is, how futuristic can I make it without making in inaccessible? I read a lot of science fiction, and play a science fiction themed video game on occasion, and it seems to me that a whole lot of science fiction involves explanations and descriptions. This concerns me because I don't have a lot of room... and I'm afraid that I could easily slip into really deep and inaccessible nerdery if not careful. What I'm dealing with right now, is how to properly render the homes and neighborhoods of tomorrow. I've also just been messing around with landscapes, which I think are far too often ignored in most strips, much to many strips' detriments. There is no better way to add atmosphere and flesh out a world than to add the occasional landscape or establishing shot.

In other future news, I think I'm getting ready to get more serious about this comic. And no, I'm not concerned that I seem to be talking about my comic strip like other guys talk about their girlfriends. I really like the direction I'm heading, and I think I might want to consider taking it to the next level. I might set up a web comic and all that entails. That's right, I might set a schedule and actually try to keep it. I might look into how I could begin promoting myself, and I might look into whatever else I need to do to attempt to generate some sort of income from this thing. I don't know... I'm scared... I'm not good at things like commitments, or consistency... I'm an artist... I can't help it... But I think the time may have come.

...Unless I change my mind tomorrow.

Endurance

2007-06-01T16:52:00.001-07:00

Well, I'm almost out of comics. I've got to make some more. I've got excuses of course, I've been busy with work, and I went on a vacation for a while, and I've been playing more video games recently. All this has made me realize, I have nowhere near the endurance needed for syndication at this time.

Will that change? I do have to work for a living, but regardless... I just don't think I could come close to keeping my day job and making seven strips a week (and I don't even work full time!) Supposedly the test would be to attempt to make a month worth of strips in two weeks - according to Wiley Miller. That makes sense I suppose.

Just thinking about that makes me want to take a nap.

It doesn't matter though... Maybe I won't be syndicated, maybe I'll do something else. Maybe I'll just set up a website to pedal stuff from while making cartoons... Maybe I'll get off my ass and go find myself a wife with some earning power who would like to pay me an allowance... It's all irrelevant... cartooning is just something I do and I'm going to continue in my goal of making trying to make the best cartoon I can possibly make.

Right after this nap, and maybe some videogames.

Issues Upon Issues

2007-05-29T18:14:00.000-07:00

I'm going to have to get blogging more, because I've started to forget what I've talked about before...

Eh, like it matters... Here's another comic sample:

I think I'm going to have to add noses to my characters. I can't pull off a successful profile any other way, and I just can't have two characters talking to each other that successfully without showing them in profile once and a while... and I don't want to stylistically limit myself this early on.

I'm going to need to write in a couple of female characters too...

Jet Packs & Time Machines

2007-05-16T12:35:00.000-07:00

And so, the title has changed yet again... I liked "Partially Robotic Boy" but I didn't feel like focusing on a single character, so I needed something more all-encompassing.

As things stand now, jokes have been written and strips have been made (a handful anyways). I'm not kidding myself that I'm ready to jump into full scale production yet though. There is much refining to do. The biggest question at this time: Nose or not to nose? My characters don't have noses right now... but can I keep them that way? It impairs my attempts to draw them in the round, and I'm not sure that I'm willing to make that kind of sacrifice for style.

This is the first strip I've made since I set out to create a new feature (from the bones of the features that came before it). I've become aware of a number of technical issues that I'll need to address in the future, but all in all, I'm pretty satisfied with it.

The Interior Landscape.

2007-04-26T20:52:00.000-07:00

For a while I've been working on finding the best way to draw landscapes... Then I wrote some jokes that took place inside. Boy was my face red. I had no idea how to draw furniture. I mean, obviously I know what couches and tables look like... But I couldn't render them with any character. (I'm still working on it.) Drawing backgrounds is at least as important as drawing the people who interact with them. I know that since comics began, plenty of artists kept the 'camera' in a fixed location, and only draw their characters from the front, and then they'd draw back drops from head on. This is the easiest way to do it, (and faster) but I think it can be a good way to stifle the life of a comic... it's not a world then, it's just a shallow stage. Not to say that it should be avoided at all cost, but it's got to be an intentional decision, not a decision based on the fact that I just can't properly cartoon a television set.

Visual Language

2007-04-12T07:39:00.000-07:00

For the longest time, I've been hung up with rendering. I always thought the most important thing was how well something was drawn. I would always compulsively "fill the space" whenever making any cartoon, and I'd draw everything in the cartoon with equal care to make it look as good as possible. This lead to some nice looking comics, some nice looking, utterly incomprehensible comics. People would look and my comics, and say "they look good", followed with, "I don't get it." I often found myself explaining things. It's because you could look at a single panel, and have no idea what was important, or what I was trying to communicate. (but they looked sharp)

What does this have to do with the sketchbook page? Well, I've been trying to figure out a variety of ways to visually communicate some of the internal workings of Adam's brains, and one thing I was playing with was having the panels shrink down around his friend's head while he was talking, showing him starting to be ignored. What's on the page is the last panel before his friend is phased out with a 'pop' or some other sound. Those little things are robot ninjas (running around Adam's imagination.) All this just goes back to exploring ways of visually communicating a story without having to spell everything out in dialog. The only question is, how far can I push the visual language? It really depends on the format I suppose...

2007-04-07T20:21:00.000-07:00

Comic progress has stalled due to the need to make a living. I've got to push myself to get busy again... Must budget time better.

I don't know... I'm gonna have to write more jokes I think... I'm having trouble coming up with anything I feel is up to par...

Need jokes involving robot pirates.

The New Style

2007-03-26T21:26:00.000-07:00

I've decided to commit to making a web comic, at least for a while. I'm not doing any of that sissy single strip web comic what-not though... Nope, I'm going full page... 11"x17" one a week (I hope). I'm thinking that each page could be a single adventure... and you wouldn't need to read them in sequential order. I think I really need the full page to bring my idea to life... I want to play around with a variety of narrative devices, and I don't see any other way than take it to the full page.
Plus, I like adding more detail than a small strip will allow. I've got to get down to business and just make a few and see how it goes.

Considerations...

2007-03-23T17:25:00.000-07:00

I've been feeling really stifled recently. It's the space, the space in which I am trying to cram my comic. That cursedly small newspaper space, or in my case, that cursedly small sherpa space (which is where I'm considering going...) it's just too little... too confining. But what option do I have? I've got to work in that format if I want to be syndicated don't I?

It's at this point that I begin to consider the basic assumption underlying that question. I want to be syndicated... or I did... when I first started my serious attempt at cartooning three years ago. I've come a long way since then. I know more now than ever before, and I realize that I don't really know that much. What I do know is that I need to take a long look at what my goals are. I'm discovering some real issues with syndication that I tended to ignore before.

This is all water under the bridge right now though... I've got a ways to go figuring out what I'm gonna do... My primary objective has not changed. I still plan on making the best comic I possibly can. I think the question might be whether or not it will be in the "strip" format...

With all that in mind, here are some more character studies I've been working on...

Monkeys, robots, old decrepit retired super-villain, a half robot boy and his nerdy friend... How will I fit all this into a panel that will be printed about two inches tall? Or have they reduced the size again?

Words but no drawings...

2007-03-05T21:30:00.000-08:00

Ok, no drawings will be accompanying my latest comic decision... My decision? I'm changing it up again. I'm losing the remote controlled boy. Why? I've been trying to write the jokes for him, but it just hasn't been working... So I've decided... Adam is no longer remote controlled. I'm not going to redesign the character, and I plan on keeping the basic concept of a main character with an internal struggle. The change though, is that instead of being remote controlled, he's going to be part robot, or half-android... The stuggle is between this logic-based side of him, and the illogical dreamer that he tends to be.

I'm going to change up his family as well... Originally, I had planned on giving Adam a standard mother and father. Then when I decided he was half android (a cyborg I guess, but I don't like that term...seems kinda menacing) I though maybe his mom was an android, but I thought the suggestion that his dad was fornicating with an android might be kinda weird, so instead his dad will be a freelance scientist, and the suggestion will be that his dad made him that way (or maybe he was in an accident or something... I don't know yet, still working on it.) I thought maybe he'd have a brother as well... A robot that's been programmed to believe that he's a human boy. He knows that he's a robot, but his programming keeps telling him that he isn't... so he constantly tries to fit in with the other kids. He's more of a side character, so I'll see if he works out.

I think this weirder set-up fits better with the super-villain grandpa... but I'm hoping to portray it more like a dysfunctional home life than anything else...

I realize I'm putting a whole lot of thought into the back story and the set-up. I also realize that most people will not really be aware of all the work that goes into it, considering how small a space I have to deliver a joke within. Regardless, I don't view this as a wasted effort, but rather as a crucial foundation to help accomplish my goal of creating a comic strip that's more than just a gag a day... I'm trying to really create a believable world. Or as believable as possible for a family with a super-villain grandfather, a freelance scientist father, and two kids that combined only make up 1/2 of a human boy... Did I mention it takes place in the future?

In the FUTURE....

2007-02-27T11:16:00.000-08:00

...We'll all wear fancy futuristic clothing. Why does this matter? Easy, because I want to make my comic strip take place at some vague point in the future, but I've been having a number of issues with how to go about it. At first I wanted to have the future be kinda weird, with bizarre robot characters, post-industrial accident zombies, and aliens or something... But then I realized, I can't do that. The basic premise of my comic strip is that the main character (Adam) is tremendously bored with reality, and has to struggle between his parents desires for him to become a productive member of society, and his own desires to tune the world out. Why would he be bored with zombie-mutants and crazy robots though? He wouldn't... but the thing about the future is, I'm gonna wager that the future will be more steril, safe, and rule filled than ever before.

You see, I've worked in the sign business for a while... and one guarantee is, rule signs always get longer...

That being said, how much have houses changed in the past thirty years? You can still recognize them... So how will I show that my comic takes place in the future, without putting it in the title? Easy... Change the clothing. I'm not saying that all of a sudden jump suits will be all the rage, and I don't think t-shirts will disappear... but damn it, this is a comic! EXAGGERATE!

I'm thinking most of the robots in the future will be more like roomba, so if I want crazy robot characters, I'll have to make them Adam's imaginary friends. I think the school teacher might be a robot though... How better to accentuate the absolute boredom that is school, than with a robot teaching pre-programmed routines?

A Robot in Your Brain

2007-02-18T16:19:00.000-08:00

I'm still quite concerned about creating a robot character that only Adam can see... I'm afraid it won't be easy for people to understand. One way to clarify that the little robot serves as Adam's robotic sense of responsibility is simply to make him look like Adam... A smaller appendage-less version of Adam (that is also a robot.)

After taking some time to start writing, it looks like my comic is becoming more kid-centric than was my original intention... I fear I will not actually have six different primary characters after all... But rather, one primary character (Adam) and a motley collection of secondary characters. What can I do? I might as well go with the flow.

I think I may have finally gotten to the point that I've worked out enough of my comic that I can start creating strips now. I figure it's a good idea to learn how to work out problems in my strip while still trying to keep up a production schedule... That could be quite necessary if I ever want to try to achieve the goal of syndication.

The Remote Control Experience

2007-02-07T16:01:00.000-08:00

How does a computer processor wired directly into your brain and operated by a separate device tend to interact with you? Does it make you feel things? Effect your impulses? Or perhaps it alters your perception of reality?

I think the more important question is, how do you make the reader realize what is happening to the character? I'm toying with the idea of Adam's remote control interacting with him through an avatar, or some sort of character that only Adam can see... Not a figment of Adam's imagination, but more of a virtual interface representative of Adam's Remote Control Device (damn I need a friggin' name for that thing!)

Should I make it into a character? I think so, because I like the idea of it fighting with Adam's imagination... I'll need to work on a visual means of communicating to the reader that this character is actually an aspect of the Remote, and not an individual character that everyone else can see...

So far I've decided to make it a little floating robot looking thing, sort of reminiscent of the little angel and devil characters that are pretty common in cartoons (although I don't go for the morality play.)
Maybe I should try to make it into more of a hologram? How do you draw a hologram in black and white? I'm loath to use much grey... eh, what can you do?

I wonder if I'm wasting my time with all this complex scenario bullshit... There's very little space available for words and drawings... How much subtlety will be able to come across? How many times can I diverge from the normal comic set-up of talking pet and person?

I guess it doesn't matter though... I don't really know what else to do. I'm just so bored of the standard comic, I'm bored of pop-culture references, and I'm bored of the "legacies"... So I guess I just gotta see what I can do.

The Personification of Imagination... Sort of.

2007-02-03T19:16:00.000-08:00

I like to personify the imagination of Adam (the remote controlled boy.) I don't know why... I just sort of think it's funny to make a thought bubble that actually effects the world around it. I figure it would also add some conflict between Adam's run away imagination, and his parental control skull cap (which I really need a name for...) I don't know how I'm going to work out this conflict yet, but the remote control is supposed to represent pressure of becoming a functioning and productive member of society, while the imagination is part that doesn't care much of all that stuff. The imagination will be a good device for providing the figurative jokes, and I can imagine some epic struggles between a wayward imagination and the purpose driven remote control... When I say epic, I mean as epic as is possible in the limited space of the printed cartoon of course.

The only problem I'm facing is the difficulty of using an unfamiliar narrative device... What if people don't understand what is happening? It's a bit unusual to see a thought bubble that doesn't have words in it, and instead is providing some sort of action in the comic strip. This could lead to confusion... but I think I'll sort it out somehow.

Oh, and the other character in the drawing is Fred, Adam's friend... I'm afraid he might be a little too stereotypically nerdy... But then again, supposedly geek chic is in fashion. The other little sketches are robots... they don't play a crucial role in my comic strip, I just like doodling robots.

THE FUTURE!

2007-01-29T18:57:00.000-08:00

I've decided to embrace the future... and by that I don't mean doing anything in appropriate with a computer or anything involving a female robot. No, what I mean is, I've decided to set my comic in the future. I don't mean like 3000 years, floating cities and cars that fold into suitcase, nor will there be any sort of dramatic apocalyptic scenerio that my comic will take place after. I'm thinking it'll be an unexplained time a few decades in the future. Not too many though... I just watched a discovery channel special about what the world will be like fifty years in the future, and it won't be like that... No flying cars or anything that dramatic... but there will be robots... and technically, there will also be space travel and maybe we've already contacted aliens, and some of them live on earth now (obviously I'll take some liberties for the sake of humor.) I haven't worked it all out yet, but I figure I need something to explain why there's a remote controlled boy running around.

In that theme, I've also been working on a new character... Adam's (the remote controlled boy) grandpa. I figure he's a retired supervillain... Sort of a Vader without the force to sustain him... so he's rather decrepit now... but still carrying the same bad attitude.

I haven't drawn it here, but I'm actually thinking I'm gonna put him in a wheel chair... Really focus on his frailty... I also want to put him in a small cottage with Adam's grandma, who looks like an ordinary grandma. I'm thinkin' it'll be pretty funny... The conflict between his old supervillain lifestyle, and the fact that he's now more likely to become an impromptu babysitter than hold the world hostage to his whims.

Zombies...

2007-01-24T07:43:00.000-08:00

I've been debating adding Zombie characters to my comic strip... Personally, I think zombies can be pretty funny (the slow moving kind, not the modern "fast" kind) but I am somewhat hesitant due to the fact that they're everywhere these days.

I'm thinking that having a few shambling zombie-types would might be funny, they could shamble off to work, shamble back home later, shamble up to the bar perhaps... and generally just sort of hang out. I'm kinda modeling them after hippies, although I don't mean it in some sort of annoying preachy way or anything like that and there isn't really a moral or message here, just animated corpses shambling about their business. I don't think they'll eat brains though, maybe they'll be morally opposed to brains, or they'll want to avoid conforming to stereotypes...

Since they'd be part of the neighborhood, I wonder where they'd live... In an abandoned church? An empty crypt in a Tim Burton-esque graveyard? Or do they just have a house, or a mobile home?

Remote Controlled Boy

2007-01-21T20:01:00.000-08:00

Work continues on my comic... I'm trying to flesh out characters right now. The first of my primary characters might be the remote-controlled boy. He's a boy who's parents decided that simply filling his daily schedule with all sorts of activities from school, to a designated time for homework, to music lessons, to extra curricular activities, wasn't really enough control over their child's life. So they turned to cutting edge and somewhat crackpot science for the answer....

I'm not sure how well remote controlled boy will work... I'm guessing he's the reluctant type, more of a wanderer than a driven person, regardless who is doing the driving. I'm thinking partial control rather than full control... I could also see some debugging needed... I'll have to start writing some jokes and see where this one goes.

I might have to simplify the brain cap as well... It could get tiring having to redraw that thing over and over again.

Creating a Comic Strip.

2007-01-19T21:50:00.000-08:00

The story so far...
There isn't one.

Just a collection of drawings at this point, and some rough ideas that I'm gonna need to flesh out later... and some fluff that won't make the cut.

I'll flesh out some of these concepts in future posts...