Really Neat. Full of Meat. You Know the Drill.

From gamera_spinning: Gamera's Been Chibified! =:o

Also, you macros out there who aren't members of suburban_jungle might want to check out Louis' post from yesterday for a fun treat. :)

-The Gneech

Okay, Much Better

*pays a bill*

*pays another bill*

Much as I gripe about this job, it does come in handy from time to time.

I had a rough day yesterday, largely the culmination of a week full of STOOPID that wouldn't leave me alone. (We work for the Federal gumminit -- STOOPID is our primary industry.) So I spent last night not getting anything done, but we did go visit my parents and take them a framed VJ Day Kiss print. My mom was quite pleased, but true to form, said "That's great! But since this frame is clear, can you bring another picture to put on the other side as well?" (Me: "...")

I stayed up until way too late playing a goofy Flash app "Love Hina Dating Sim" I found online. (It was a fan-made game that had some cool bits, but a lot of WTF in it, such as gratuitous profanity and drug references. If it had stayed more true to the source material, I would have enjoyed it a lot more.) By the time I crawled into bed, I was dead-dog-tired ... which meant that I finally got deep sleep for a change, something I haven't had all week.

So today, while I'm still kinda tired, I feel a lot more like my usual self. (I still canceled gaming this weekend, tho -- I need to decompress a bit more.) I'm thinking I might do some DDR when I get home, plus my usual Thursday night Bowflex routine later.

-The Gneech

Thursday Workout #1 of 2

Did DDR for 35-45 minutes; continued the "go up the list on Light trying to get an A on each" pattern. On most songs, A was reachable within three tries, including two new ones we'd never done before. That adds to the conquered songs list (for me, anyway):

Eye Spy - A
Make Your Move - A
Red Room - B
Make a Jam - B

And we hit a wall at:

Macho Gang - E (waah)

Now, dinner time. :) Later, Bowflex!

-The Gneech

Workout Report #2 of 2 (Comic Geekery Edition)

( Yeah, yeah, Bowflex numbers'n'stuff. )

Now that's out of the way, on to what the post is really about!

My Blueline Pro prelined comics paper came in today. And like a proper art nerd, I'm geeking out about it. Oh, I'm sure that to some of you, it's like "Big deal, I use that every day." But to me, it represents an exciting step forward.

I was the same way, back in college, when I stopped drawing on typing paper and started drawing on real, honest-to-gosh bristol like the pros use! It's a kind of talismanic object to me, not just because of what it is and what I can do with it, but what it represents.

It represents my future. It represents my growth as an artist (and hopefully a person). And it represents branching out in new directions.

Ya see, that little 4-page story I did in Carpe Diem #4 was the first time ever I'd really done a comic book. And let's see, what did I post about it at the time? Oh yes... "artistically speaking -- and by no means do I intend to slight comic book artists here -- comic books are SO MUCH EASIER than comic strips, holy crap! So much SPACE! So much FLEXIBILITY! Such TINY, TINY WORD BALLOONS!"

As time goes forward, I hope, plan, and expect to be doing more and more work in "comic book page" format rather than the comic strip format. I think it will suit my art style better, my writing style better, and make my artistic quality take a drastic jump upward, much like it did for codyvfrost. The reason I didn't draw comic book pages when I was first learning, is because in those days "comic books" meant "superheroes," and I wasn't interested in doing superhero stories. If there had been a USA manga market in, say, 1989 - 1991, like there is today, then I would have been one of those kids falling over themselves to sign their soul to Tokyopop.

(As it was, if there had been more, and less sexually-oriented Omaha the Cat Dancers, I would have probably been in the furry scene a lot earlier, too. Then genecatlow wouldn't have had to berate me for not knowing who cooner was. But I digress.)

So yeah, I think I can safely say that as time goes on, you'll be seeing a lot more comic pages from me. I will still have my hand in the comic strip scene (insert more tantalizing hints about NeverNever here) but comic books is where I'm going in the long run -- and I'm hoping to bring you all with me.

So that's why I'm excited by 24 sheets of oversized cardstock with barely-visible blue lines on them. Because when I look at them, I see a whole new world opening up for me. :)

-The Gneech, being schmaltzy, I know, so sue me

PS: ERIC, YOU SCHMUCK! GIVE ME MORE BISCUITS!