Some of the sketches for this week's comics

The world of comics is a funny one. This is my fifteenth year making comics on the web and it’s only now that I am finally thinking I may have a handle on the process behind it. Even now however I am still trying hard to make my work better because although I am comfortable with how my characters look I know they could still look a lot better.

It is with this point of view in mind that I draw my comics. The five episodes of All over the House that I inked today are case in point. I think they look better than anything I have done before precisely because I’m always trying to make them better. I strive to be faster, sure – this is how I can do ten comics a week and will eventually get that up to fifteen – but I don’t want to sacrifice quality while I do it.

Having said that, it’s not an easy process. That’s why the comic is sometimes late. I want to get the buffer back so lateness is a thing of the past but with wlmy writing work, my law course and the fact that I an still battling over the mortgage, that’s just not a possibility right now. One day though.

Anyway, speaking of work, I had better get back to it. I have a friend visiting tomorrow so I need to get ahead on my writing in case I can’t get any done before she arrives.

See you later!

So just last night I heard a bit of commentary on Twitter about the notorious Rob Granito. I find it difficult to believe this guy got away with passing off other people’s work as his own for over a decade. Even in the pre-Internet world, a community as small as the professional comic artists scene should have spotted and dealt with this guy a long time ago.

I’ve had a few less than pleasant comments on my Webcomic Builder article about aping the art styles of artists you admire in order to develop your own artistic techniques but outright plagiarism? That is totally unacceptable. This guy should be prosecuted, plain and simple.

As for drawing in the style of others? I stand by my views on that one. You can’t perfect your own techniques if you are not comparing yourself to people who have already perfected their skills. Practice is great but practice when you know what you’re actually aiming for is better.

'Unholy Crusade' potential cover

In other news, I met a brilliant artist in Second Life last night. He’s a neighbour of mine in-world and we got to talking when he came ’round to ask me about a poster I had on the wall of my house. The poster is of the Doctor Nob episode of The Life of Nob T. Mouse, which lead to us discussing cartoons.

This is the reason I am in Second Life. There are so many creative people in the metaverse that you can’t help but run into someone who is doing something amazing; be it creating a painting, a sculpture, or even an entire television network. The possibilities are simply endless.

Anyway, that’s about all I’ve got to say right now. I have spent part of this morning laying out Unholy Crusade for a second edit and that’s going pretty well. I’m hoping to be able to release it as an eBook some time in April but that will, of course, depend on how quickly I can get it expanded and edited up.

There are a few plot threads that I really want to develop more compared to the first draft version that is available here on this website. Once those are done, I’ll edit it; get it proofread; edit it again and then release it.

In the mean time, here’s a potential cover image. I really like this one. It is a composite of my own Cactus Through Cleaning Fluid photograph from the 365 days of photography project and T’as d’beaux yeux tu sais? by amysphere on Flickr; which is an image released under Creative Commons. That means this cover image is also released under Creative Commons, so have fun with it.

This is a very quick update, which I’m writing on my phone so please excuse any spelling mistakes. Also, please excuse any wrong words because this little monster of a machine will not turn off autocorrect and I’m typing too fast to check it as I go.

I am incredibly busy again this week but that’s okay. I like being busy, it stops me getting bored. I have law to study, comics to draw and writing to catch up on because I did not get it all done yesterday. The perils of having to renegotiate a mortgage at the last minute, I suppose.

Anyway, I’d best get on with actually doing this work rather than talking about it. I’ll leave you with an interesting link however. I thought when I drew the image on the front of the invited to my civil partnership that I had captured the essence of the occasion but it is clear to me that the bar has now been raised. It was the person who drew this zombie-hunting happy couple who raised it.

Still it will all be worth it in the end.

Anyway, I’ll leave you with an interesting link. I designed the logo on my wedding invites and I thought the image suited the occasion perfectly. Nevertheless I have been outdone. Whoever drew this husband and wife as zombie hunters has clearly taken the invite business to a whole new level.