30
/ MAY / 06 - 1313 CST : "Night Out - Pt. II"
I
realize that I'm probably ruining the slacker image you guys have of
my by posting a strip before sunset, but here
you go.
For
those of you who've asked, yes, I still plan on getting that con
report up sometime before next year's one rolls around. I
can't say for certain at this point, but I'm hoping for Thursday at
the latest. Which most likely means that it'll be up on
Friday.
In
other GT news, it looks like I won't be heading to Connecticon this
year after all. I ended up waiting way to long to try and book
my table, and so of course they've all sold out. So instead of
hitting that one this year, I think I'll try to grab space at a few
smaller cons. Preferably ones that I can save a bit of money
on by actually being able to drive to them. I'll keep y'all
posted though.
Well,
I've gotta run folks. If I can I'll drop by tomorrow and share a
bit more info with you, but if not I'll see you on Thursday when I
post the next strip.
Later,
-Ed
******
28
/ MAY / 06 - 2223 CST : "Night Out - Pt. I"
Sorry
for the lack of jabber today folks. I had stared working on a
storyline that was based around Casey, but then I remembered I had
already done one of those just before the KeyCon strips. And
while I love all the characters like they were my illegitimate children,
I try not to give any of them (with the exception of Noname, who is
after all supposed to me be the main character) two storylines that
are dedicated to them in a row.
So
instead of more Casey I switched from the work I was doing on that
this afternoon, and decided to kick off this
tale instead.
Oh,
and just a heads up, "Night Out" be one of the
longer story arcs.
Enjoy
it all, I'm off to get ready for work.
Later,
-Ed
******
27
/ MAY / 06 - 2359 CST : And I'm spent...
Step
7 - The Background:
And
last but not least, I create the background.
|
(click
here to see the finished strip) |
For
the most part, I always hear how artists hate doing backgrounds, and
usually I'm no different. Every once and a while though I get
really into it. Plus I do think any strip looks a lot better
when there is even the most basic background added.
One
of the things I've gotten into the habit of is saving all the
backgrounds I make as separate files. I find this saves me a
hellova lotta time when it comes to producing strips (you might have
noticed in the past how often I've used the same kitchen
background).
So
there you have it folks. A strip from beginning to end.
Keep in mind though it doesn't usually take me all freakin' day to
do just one. This sort of thing only happens when I've got a
ton of other stuff on the go (which was the case for pretty much the
the last couple of weeks).
If
you'd like to see how a couple of other (and more experienced)
artist create their strips then allow me to suggest you check out
the following links.
Lar
deSouza breaks down his process HERE.
I think it's a very informative write up. Especially if you
prefer to do all of your work on the computer (which Lar does over
at Least I Could Do).
And
if you follow this LINK
you'll be shown how Hawk
from Applegeeks does his
thing. It's probably one of the most thorough articles I've
seen written on the subject.
Well,
that's all for me. See ya tomorrow guys.
Later,
-Ed
2347 CST : Almost there...
Step 6 - The Shading:
The
second to last step for a strip is the shading.
|
(click
to enlarge) |
Now
even though I'm not the greatest at this part, I think if you look
at the pic above, compared to the one below, you'll see just how
much better a little bit of shading makes the strip look.
Also,
while it's hard to see here without any type of background, I've
taken Casey (who was saved as a separate object / layer) and set his
transparency to 74%. This is what allows the background to
show through him just a bit, and in turn makes him appear far more
ghost-like. But, like I said before, without the backgrounds
actually added at this point it's kinda hard to tell.
However,
I'm just about to create the background now, so you should be able
to see what I'm talking about very soon.
-Ed
1659 CST : Slight tweaks...
Step
5.1 - The Flat Colours (again):
Okay,
before I started in on the shading I decided to make a couple small,
and one large change to the strip. I'll show you what I'm
talking about:
|
(click
to enlarge) |
Now
before I get back to the shading I've got to do some more running
around, so the next update may not be for a few hours. Still,
everything will done by tonight. I know this for sure because
I have to get started on tomorrow's strip soon, so I don't really
have much of a choice.
Okay
folks, till the next update,
-Ed
1613 : Now in
colour...
Step 5 - The Flat
Colours:
The
next step in making the strip is to lay out all the flat colours
between the two layers of inks. Like so:
|
(click
to enlarge) |
Keep
in mind that the time that has passed between my last update and now
is not an accurate indication of how long the flats take to
do. They actually only take a few minutes, but before starting
them I had some running around to do.
Alrighty,
time to do the shading (which I absolutely hate), and wash some
dishes (which I hate even more).
-Ed
1317 CST : Step 2, 3 and 4...
Step
2 - The Words:
Pretty
straight forward what I'm doing here I think. I add in the
text, create the bubbles, and add the tails.
|
(click
to enlarge) |
I
used to do this step last, but I now find it easier to do it right
off the bat. For one, my mind is usually mush by the time I'm
done a comic, so writing any kinda text at that point is just asking
for typos (which still happens now, but it has cut the number of
them down dramatically.
Oh,
and I also add in any borders that I don't plan to ink in later.
Step
3 - The inks:
The
first phase of this I do by hand with Micron inking pens. I'd
much rather be able to use quills or brushes as I really like how
other's work looks when they're used, but for now pens are a lot
quicker and easier. Who knows though, maybe one day I'll be
able to master those other tools.
Inks
'A' :
|
(click
to enlarge) |
After
I scan my inks into the computer, I use photoshop to touch them up a
bit and / or fill in large areas that I didn't want to waste a whole
lot of my ink on before.
Now
even though I'm happy with the way my inks are shaping up at this
point in my life, I know that they could use a lot of
improvement. Once I get more comfortable with them I'd really
like to start adding in a lot more shading and definition to my
work.
Inks
'B':
|
(click
to enlarge) |
Now
whenever Casey is in one of the strips I always isolate him from the
rest of the characters, remove him, and then add him back again as a
separate object. This makes it a lot easier later on when I
have to make him transparent. It's also the reason why I
prefer to do my background separate when he's kicking around.
That way when he's made transparent later on, everything behind him
shows through him exactly as it should.
Ink
'C':
|
(click
to enlarge) |
And
the last part of this process involves creating a separate layer of
just the inks which will go on top of the original layer. This
step is necessary a little later on when I get to the colouring step
(which I'll talk about when we get there).
Step
4 - The Inks & Words:
|
(click
to enlarge) |
Here
I take the text I made up before and add it on top of the
inks. I've made the words all one object so that I can hide
them a lot easier when I'm doing the colouring later on.
Well
that's all for now. I'll be back when the next couple steps
are finished.
-Ed
0948
CST : The first step...
Step
1 - The Pencils:
Okay,
first we have the pencils.
|
(click
to enlarge) |
As
you can see I don't do much in the way of shading right now. I
usually leave some of that part for when I do the inks, and most of
it when I do the colours.
Normally
I use a 2H pencil, but in this case I went over everything with good
old HB so that they'd show up better on the scan.
Also,
I've left out the background. Sometimes I draw them in at this
point, and sometime I do them with photoshop. However, nine
time out of ten when I've put Casey into the strip, I'll do them
after (I'll explain why later).
Most
of the time, if I'm just using the four core characters in the strip
it doesn't take me much more than an hour or so to do this part
unless I'm really struggling with a pose. However when I draw
someone else into the strip it'll take me a bit longer.
Especially if I have to draw a female character as I truly suck at
drawing women (though I do my best to study the female form whenever
I can so I think I'm getting better at it).
With
this comic I had reference to work from as the lady in the mask and
the big guy with the goatee are both based on real people I met at
the con (my apologies to Colleen and Corey), so it didn't take me
quite as long as it otherwise might have.
Okay,
I'm off to work on the next couple of steps now.
-Ed
0843
CST : Step by step...
I'll
have something to show you guys in about an hour, and will then
continue to post revamps every hour or so after that till the strip
is done. So I guess you could look at today as a behind the
scenes peek within the Geek Tragedy strip making process (a process
that usually has far fewer interruptions than this freakin' strip
did).
Okay,
back in an hour.
-Ed
******
26
/ MAY / 06 - 1957 CST : On the road again...
Hey
folks.
As
much as I wanted to Mr. Reclusive Hermit Guy tonight, and just work
on the site, the real world requires my assistance tonight. As
such the strip may not be up till the wee hours of the night.
If
I can swing it, I'll put up a black and white version of it earlier,
and then the full coloured one when it's done. Also I may try
to fit some sleep in there somewhere, but we'll see.
I
know this has been a week of delays for the most part, but I'm sure
all of you can relate to what it's like to have weeks where there
just doesn't seem to be enough hours in the day, so I'm hoping
you'll understand. Once things start to calm down a bit around
me things should get back to normal with the strip. Or
normal-esque at the very least.
Okay,
gotta jet.
Later,
-Ed
1704 CST : While you're waiting...
First
off, I hate driving! Even under the best of conditions it's
among my least favorite things to do. And doing so during rush
hour, on a four lane street that had been bottlenecked into one lane
due to construction only makes it less appealing to me. Still,
I can cope with it for the most part.
However,
when you've been sitting in your car for ten minutes and you've only
managed to go about four car lengths, and then you look up ahead to
see a guy standing beside the road holding a sign that says "SLOW"...well
that's just asking for a beating in my opinion. I mean I
firmly believe that bludgeoning a man to death is wrong, and under
normal circumstances I'd frown upon on that type of behavior, but
for the love of God people!
In
the end though I figured the sign was more of a declaration on this
fellow's part rather then an actual request, which allowed me to
choke back my mounting road rage and moved on. Besides, I
don't think I'd do too well in prison.
Anyway,
I'm finally back home now, and will start trying to get this strip
done in a timely fashion. While you're waiting though, you may
want to take a look at this:
Personally, I'm more of
a handshake kinda guy, but that's just me.
Alrighty, back to the
grind!
Later,
-Ed
******
22
/ MAY / 06 - 2021 CST : "True(ish) KeyCon Tales - Pt. IV"
Well
it took a year (and most of today on top of it) but the newest
installment of the Geek Tragedy's exploits at
KeyCon has finally arrived!
The
rest of the strips this week will be posted Wednesday and
Friday. This'll give me a bit of a time buffer so that I can
hopefully get the con report done sooner rather than later, and
should also free up a few extra hours to deal with other site issues
as well.
And
speaking of site issues, I mentioned about a month or so ago that I
was going to be taking a week off at the beginning of this
month. Well oddly enough I totally forgot I was going to do
that. So instead I will be taking a week off sometime next
month..
Now
I already have a couple of guest strips / fan art lined up (I'll be
sure to get you that script soon
"as-of-yet-unnamed-guest-artist"), but I could always use
more. So if you'd like to help out with a Geek Tragedy
guest strip, or some sort of GT artwork, please send
me an e-mail. Aside from the warm glow you'd get from
doing me this kindness, I will of course be dropping your name here
on the blog as well as a link to your site (if you have one of
course).
Plus
I plan to throw some extra cash into the old advertising budget next
month, so who knows, you may end up getting a nice bit of extra
exposure that way.
Well,
that's all for me folks. I'm off to try and get a couple hours
of sleep before work.
Later,
-Ed
PS:
For those of you who weren't able to tell from the strip, or haven't
looked it up yet, "filking" is basically sci-fi / fantasy
related folk singing. Which by the way is something I'd never
heard of before this last con.
1823 CST : Still coming...
My
attention has been split in a million different directions today,
which keeps putting me behind. Thankfully though, everything
that has been leading me away from the strip has been amazingly
positive. Which also means I'm totally wired right now, so you
don't have to worry about me falling asleep before the strip is
done.
Oh,
and as for when the strip will be done...hopefully no more
than an hour or so.
Later
(but not much),
-Ed
1453 CST : It's coming, it's coming...
Hey
folks. Just wanted to keep you posted here. The strip is
still coming, but it'll still be a few hours yet as I'm running a
bit behind.
See
ya then,
-Ed
0957 CST : The weekend took more out of me than I
thought...
First
off, let me offer a big welcome to all the new viewer's coming from Saturday
Morning Breakfast Cereal. I hope you're enjoying yourselves and
that you've liked what you've seen so far.
Also,
I fixed a problem I found on this comic
that was causing the next button to skip ahead an entire
month. Hopefully not too many of you have been missing the
strips in between there, but if you have you may want to check them
out.
---
The
weekend...
Before
I go any further I'd like to say that I had a really
great time at KeyCon. I was a bit more sociable this year, so
I got to meet a lot more folks than I had in the previous one I
attended. Unfortunately the "nap" I went home to
take on Sunday ended up lasting a solid eight hours (yeah, I'm a
light weight partier who just doesn't seem to have the stamina I
once did), and so I wasn't able to drop by for the "Dead
Dog" before work and say goodbye to a lot of you.
However,
I'd like to take this opportunity to say how great it was seeing and
talking with y'all who I met for the first time, and how wonderful
it was to be able to catch up with those of you who I haven't seen
in a very long time. And because I didn't get a chance to say
goodbye...
---
The
shout outs...
Sean
- It was a pleasure as always, and thanks for grabbing me and
inviting me out to dinner. Oh, and count me in for your next
gig!
Corey
- Loved your artwork and I hope that I'll have a chance to see a lot
more of it in the future!
Laurie
- It was so cool to meet you and be able to hear your thoughts on
comics. I've since checked out your work and good lord are
your colours ever amazing! Hopefully we'll meet again
sometime!
Colleen
- Your costume and mask were amazing ("Hey foxy
lady!"). It was really wonderful chatting with you and I
can't wait till we get a chance to do it again.
Travis
& Steve - My partners in con-crime who I did say goodbye to,
and see fairly often, but I didn't want y'all to feel left out so...
Lar
& Christie - It was so great finally getting to meet you
both face to face. I'm sorry I didn't get more of chance to
chat with guys or say a proper goodbye. Christie, you did a
wonderful job on Lar's costume btw! And Lar, well hell man,
what can I say? Meeting you was definitely one of the
highlights of the con for me (and thanks for the book)! I'm
sure we'll meet up again sometime in the future (after all, I still
owe you some tequila)!
Everyone
I'm forgetting - I'm so very sorry. I've got a memory like
a very small leaky bucket that can't hold much water to begin
with...
---
The
con report...
It'll
be coming soon (sometime in the next couple of days), complete with
pics. In the mean time, if anyone from the art jam or masquerade
happens to have sites they'd like linked to the report please feel
free to drop me a line.
I tried to get the info from those of you that I could, but I know I
missed a lot of you, so I wanted to let ya know that I'll be more
than happy to put up a link to promote your work.
---
The
strip...
I'm
off to work on it now, so it'll be up sometime later today.
Hopefully around the early afternoon. Till then, take care all!
Later,
-Ed
******
21
/ MAY / 06 - 1333 CST : I'm back...
Just
dropping by to say that I'm back from KeyCon.
However, since I had to take off before I could say goodbye to a
whole bunch of folks at the con I'm going to try and get back there
later on tonight to see if I can catch them before they leave.
For
now though, I'm in desperate need of some rest. I'll have the
pics and the con report up in the next couple of days. As well
I'll be sure to post the first of the three KeyCon strips
tomorrow. See ya all then!
Later,
-Ed
******
19
/ MAY / 06 - 1447 CST : Gone to get my geek on...
Hey
folks!
Well
in a few hours time I'll be heading off to KeyCon
to take part in general sci-fi / fantasy tomfoolery. I'm also
pretty damn excited about having a chance to finally meet face to
face (and tip back a few) with Lar
deSouza from Least I
Could Do!
Lar
was at the last KeyCon as a guest of honor (this time he coming back
strictly for the fun of it), and while I did briefly run into him in
the elevator while we were both there, given the state I was in at
the time I was decidedly less there than he was, so we never
really met. As fate would have it though, after the con Lar
was directed towards my site (thanks Sean!) and after checking it
out he e-mailed me to let me know that he liked what he'd
seen. At that point I realized that he was a man of impeccable
taste and demented mind, so of course we've gotten along quite well
since then.
Anyway,
I'll be sure to take a bunch of photos for y'all to see if you're
interested. As well, I'll finally get off my lazy ass and add
a new entry regarding the con in the too long neglected "With
Apologies" section (which I'm ashamed to say hasn't been updated
since the last con I went to over six months ago). Also,
I'll be doing up a few "True(ish) Keycon Tales" strips for
you next week much like I did last year after the con.
Oh,
and speaking of the strips, Sunday's will most likely be bumped back
to Monday. However, I will be bringing all my art supplies
with me to the hotel, so if I can steal a few moments to work on it
there it may still be up on time.
And
one final note, even though I'm attending the con as just a
civilian, I've printed up a few flyers of various sizes to hand out
in an effort to promote the site. When I get back I'll
probably post a section where you folks can download the full page
flyer so that you too can print one or two up yourself and maybe use
them to help spread the word about the site (if you so wish).
For now though, here is a small version of the flyer that you can
take a peek at.
I'll
eventually be making up different ones that feature each of the main
crew. In the mean time, if you have any input on this one,
please let me know.
Okay
guys, I'll talk to ya on Sunday when I get back.
Later,
-Ed
******
18
/ MAY / 06 - 1554 CST : "Dead Friends - Pt. VII"
I'll
have a fair amount of info to share with y'all tomorrow, but for now
I'm just dropping by to let you know...hell, you
guys already know what I'm going to say anyway, don't you?
Later,
-Ed
******
17
/ MAY / 06 - 1345 CST : "Dead Friends - Pt. VI"
I
like the way he looks and all, but damned if Casey isn't my least
favorite character to colour! Anyway,
it's up now at long last.
Enjoy
folks!
Later,
-Ed
1103 CST : It's on
the way...
Just
got in from doing some running around after work. The strip'll
be up in a couple hours. Just need to cook something to eat
and finish off the colours.
Later,
-Ed
******
16
/ MAY / 06 - 2151 CST : Overslept...
Slept
in waaaay later than I meant to, so I'm currently hauling ass to get
the strip done before I head into work. If I can't get it done
before then though, you have my apologies and I'll have it ready
just as soon as I can once I get home.
-Ed
1137 CST : Sleep then strip...
Hey folks.
I'm
gonna catch some Z's before I finish off the rest of the strip, so
look for it later on in the evening. Unless of course I'm not
actually able to fall asleep, in which case it'll be up this
afternoon.
Oh,
and if you haven't done so already, you may want to click on the
"of the moment" box. My sister pointed this clip out
to me, and I thought it hilarious.
Later,
-Ed
******
14
/ MAY / 06 - 2159 CST : "Dead Friends - Pt. V"
Well,
today's strip is a bit wordier than I
would've liked, but there is a reason for it. I want to
have this storyline finished up by next Sunday so that I can do a
series of three KeyCon comics, like I did
last year, so
I ended up combining two scripts into one. Still, hopefully
you guys enjoy it.
Well,
I better get ready for work. I'm still not feeling 100% after
my bout with whatever it is I've was suffering from for the past few
days, but I guess I'm well enough to go back to the lab.
Talk
to you folks on Tuesday at the latest.
Later,
-Ed
1853 CST : No, I'm not taking Mother's Day off...
The
strip is going to up today. Not sure when, but sometime
before I head into work tonight. Just thought I'd mention it
in case y'all were wondering.
Later,
-Ed
PS:
HAPPY MOTHER'S
DAY MOM! (love
you!)
******
12
/ MAY / 06 - 1351 CST : Guest strip...
Hey
folks. Just wanted to let y'all know that the guest strip I
did for Bardsworth is now up
for your enjoyment.
This
is the first guest strip I've ever done, and I have to say that I
got a big kick out of the experience. It's a lot of fun
messing around with someone else's characters,
and I hope I get the chance to do it again sometime.
Oh,
and I've already been told by a couple of people that they find the
red text a bit hard to read, and now that I've looked at it again I
guess I can see their point. So I'll most likely do up a newer
version in the next couple of days to try and fix it (so Pete, if
you're reading this, I may be sending you another pic soon).
Well
that's all for me. If I don't get a chance to talk to you
folks before Sunday's strip, then have a great weekend!
Later,
-Ed
0839 CST : "Dead Friends - Pt. IV"
In
today's news, the strip is now up and alive
and so am I thankfully! I still feel pretty ill, and after
sleeping for like 13 hours straight my neck is doing it's best to
provide me with a lot of added discomfort, but other than that I
guess I'm feeling better than I did yesterday.
As
well, sometime later today a guest strip I did for Pete over at Bardsworth
should be up (which was one of those projects I told you folks I was
working on this week). I've been dying for you guys to see it,
as I'm actually rather happy with how it turned out (it even has
real backgrounds!). However, it doesn't seem to be up there
right now. My guess is that Pete felt it wouldn't be a true
Ed Ryzowski guest strip unless it was put up a bit later than usual.
Okay
folks, I'm off to make some tea, and do my best to try and ignore
the fact that my body is in shambles.
Later,
-Ed
******
11
/ MAY / 06 - 1549 CST : Crashing...
Hey
guys. I'm gonna try and get some sleep. I'll finish off
the strip when I wake.
-Ed
1143 CST : So help me, if I lay an egg...
Okay
folks, it's looking better than I had hoped as far as me getting the
strip up today is concerned. I figure at this point it's about
50/50. I'll keep pluggin' away at it though, but I'm not
exactly running at 100% as I am so very ill right now.
Rest
assured though, unlike in the past when I've gotten sick I don't
plan on logging on here and exaggerating the extent of my current
health crisis. Nor will I become all melodramatic or whiney about
either. However, it should be noted that this may be my last blog
entry ever, as by this time tomorrow I fully expect to be dead.
'Cause
I'm not saying that I've got that avian flu thing, but between the
incessant cravings for chicken I've been having, and my complete and
total lack of medical knowledge, I just don’t see there being any
other reason for how I feel right now.
The
good news is that my illness seems to be making sleep virtually
impossible, so as long as I can't sleep (but can still see straight)
I'll be sitting here working on the strip. Productivity
through misery. Yep, I have finally become a true artist.
Anyway,
back to work. If I crash before I get it all done, I'll come
back to let you know.
Later,
-Ed
******
10
/ MAY / 06 - 1208 CST : Thursday's strip update...
Hey
folks.
Well
I fully expected to be letting y'all know that tomorrow's strip was
for sure going to be postponed till Friday, but given the amount of
work I got done on my other projects this morning I'm thinking there
is still a chance I'll have it up on time after all. Either
way, I'll let you know tomorrow.
And
now on a personal note I'd like to send a message out to my much, MUCH
older sister and say...
HAPPY
BIRTHDAY JODI!!
I'm
not sure how old she is exactly, but I'm pretty sure it's something
shy of 40.
Oh,
and sis, I would've given you a call to wish this to you, but I'm
pretty sure I'm coming down with something and I wouldn't want to
spread my germs to you over the phone (cell phones can do that you
know...it's a well know myth that I stand by!).
Anyway,
I'll talk to you guys tomorrow.
Later,
-Ed
******
09
/ MAY / 06 - 1827 CST : "Dead Friends - Pt. III"
Okay
folks, we finally got us a strip happenin'!
I
don't have much to say about the GT universe, but in the real world
I can definitely tell you that it has been a very, very, very
weird day. You ever have one of those days where you feel
you've either done just the right thing, or something unbelievably
stupid, but you're not exactly sure which it was?
Well
if you have, then yeah, today was that kinda day for me.
Okay,
I'm just about gone, but before I go I should mention that there is
a chance that Thursday's strip may not be up till Friday. I've
got a project to finish up that I'm working on, and I'm not sure if
I'll have it capped off by tomorrow or not, so it may delay things a
bit. I'll let you know in the next 24 how things stand.
Till
then,
-Ed
******
08
/ MAY / 06 - 1217 CST : "Dead Friends - Pt. II"
Alrighty
folks, the strip is now up.
Once
again I apologize to all of you for the delay. By now you guys
know that I really do hate to have these things posted late, and
while I wish I could say it'll never happen again, I know that it
probably will. All I can say is that I really do try my best
to keep the lateness to a minimum.
Okay,
I'm outta here.
Later,
-Ed
******
07
/ MAY / 06 - 1832 CST : No excuse...
I
just flat out mismanaged my time today and I couldn't get the strip
done before my brain turned to mush. My apologies to you folks
for the let down. Especially to my friend Stef, whom I
postponed plans with specifically so that I could try and make up
some lost hours and get my work done only to fall short of doing
so. Sorry man!
I'll
have it up as early tomorrow morning as I possibly can. Till then,
take these pics as a peace offering. The
first is the initial sketch of a character that'll be introduced in
what was supposed to be today's strip. The second is a fully
coloured version of him, taken right from the comic.
Once
again, I'm sorry for the delay. See ya all tomorrow,
-Ed
******
05
/ MAY / 06 - 1527 CST : To answer a question...
I
haven't been posting much here as of late, so I figured I'd use my
current bout of (insert word here that means inability to catch some
Z's that I don't want to use in an effort to not use certain
keywords that will affect a specific part of my site that I'm not
supposed to bring attention to) to my advantage, and jabber for a
bit.
Under
the influence...
From
time to time some of you folks have asked me about who I look up to,
or who's work inspires me when it comes to drawing GT. Well,
while I do try to check out and learn from as many different artists
as my time allows, there are only two names that come immediately to
mind.
Lar
deSouza of Least I Could
Do (among other things), and Mohammad
"Hawk" Haque of Apple
Geeks.
(WARNING:
The following blog entry may contain fanboyish type gushing that
may not be suitable for all audiences)
Now
to look at each of these artists work side-by-side you'll notice
that stylistically they tend to walk down different paths.
However, one of the main things I feel that they have in common,
aside from the fact they're ridiculously talented, is that both of
them have an infectiously strong work ethic. This is something
I've gleamed from just about everything I've ever seen and/or read
about them (and in Lar's case, from what I've been lucky enough to
find out first hand), and while I have gained a lot from their
artwork alone, it's this dedication to their craft that truly
inspires me to become a better artist.
If I had to hazard a guess as to why their work ethic inspires me so
much, I'd have to say it's because for the longest time I had such a
poor one when it came to doing my own art. You see in art
school, before I gave up on drawing completely, I pretty much had
the work ethic of your average Enron employee. The only
difference is my lack of ethics never made me a dime, whereas theirs
made them millions. But then again I currently don't have to
worry about whether or not I'll be getting a taste of hot sweaty
prison sex in the near future either, so...wait, I lost my point.
Oh
yeah...
So
because I never really had much of a work ethic before, now that
I've gotten back to putting pencil to paper, I feel that I've come
to admire that trait so much more when I see it in others.
Also,
no matter how good they both get, they never seem quite satisfied
with the extent of their knowledge. They seem to be continually
trying to learn and try new things in an effort to push they're
skills to new heights. You can tell that it's a way of life
for them, and not just "job" or a "trade" that
they simple do.
Plus
in the past they've always shown themselves to be so incredibly
giving when it comes to sharing with other whatever they themselves
have learned. A fact which, I'm ashamed to say, makes them a
lot more selfless than I am. God knows if I had their
knowledge I'd either just lock myself in my house, guarding it
jealously from prying eyes, or else I'd find someway to twist
it and use it for evil.
I'd
have have folks bowing at my feet and bringing me cookies and other
baked goods. My bedchambers would be filled with only the
fairest damsels the lands had to offer! Great rivers of diet
Dr. Pepper would flow through my castle, and villagers would chant
my name with fear and awe! For I would be their king! I
WOULD BE THEIR GOD...but I digress.
I
can't tell you how many times I've looked through their work in
order to gain inspiration for my own. And I just don't mean
that in the way where if I'm stuck on how to draw this hand gesture
or colour that panel I'll look to see how Hawk or Lar might do it
(though I have done that). I'm talking about those days where
I need that little push to feel excited about drawing again.
'Cause that's what they're work does for me. It gets me
charged up about grabbing that pencil and just going to town after
those long nights of work, when all I really want to do is sleep.
Seriously,
if I could heat them both up in a spoon and shoot them right into my
veins daily, I would...or maybe I'd just pour them over some ice
cream and ingest them that way instead (I hate needles).
So
yeah, for those of you who where wondering about my artistic inspirations,
there you go.
Okay,
well I think I've done a good enough job making y'all long for the
days where I didn't have much to say here, so I'll wrap this
up now. If I don't see ya before then, I'll catch you guys on
Sunday.
Later,
-Ed
******
04
/ MAY / 06 - 1803 CST : "Dead Friends - Pt. I"
Okay,
the strip is up, and I'm down for the
count.
Later,
-Ed
1421 CST : Damn ghosts...
Hey
everyone.
Just
popping by to let you all know that the strip will be up today, it's
just going to be a little late due to some colouring issues I'm
working through.
I
tell ya, sometimes I rue the day that I ever added a ghost as a
regular cast member...
Anyway,
back later (but hopefully not much later) with the strip.
-Ed
******
02
/ MAY / 06 - 1517 CST : "The Roofpig"
Okay,
I realize that this is a far cry from
what you guys were expecting, but hopefully you'll get a kick out of
it just the same. Besides, I really hate missing updates and I
figured that if I wasn't going to be able to update till Thursday,
giving you some type of artwork was far better than nothing.
Oh,
and in case you were wondering where the idea for The Pork Knight
came from, you may want to check out this exchange that took place on the forum not too
long ago.
Okay,
we'll be back to "normal" strips on Thursday, so if I
don't drop by tomorrow I'll see you then.
-Ed
1311
CST : In lieu of a strip...
Alrighty,
I'll be posting something in a couple/few hours
from now. The colours for what I'm working out are turning
out better than I thought they would so I think I'll be using it as
an alternative to today's strip.
It
doesn't really have anything to do with Noname or the rest of the
crew, but I think y'all will get a kick out of it just the
same. Plus, hopefully this'll give me a chance to catch up on
everything I've been working on, and then I'll get back to the GT
related stuff on Thursday.
Anyway,
I'll see you guys in a few, and you can check out what I'm talking
about then.
Later,
-Ed
0903 CST : And I was doing so well...
Hey folks.
Unfortunately
it looks like today's strip will at best be up quite late, or
worst case scenario won't be up until tomorrow. Sorry about
this, I've just fallen way behind today, but I am doing my
damnedest to play catch up.
I'll
keep you posted on what's going on, and if it doesn't look like
there will be a comic then at the very least I'll try to get something
for you guys to look at up here.
Once
again, sorry about the delay.
-Ed
******
01
/ MAY / 06 - 1211 CST : Those who don't save their work
often...
Are
doomed to rewrite all that shit over again from scratch!
Seriously,
it's just...ARRGGHH!!
Anyway,
let's try this again, shall we.
Cons...
As
of right now it looks like I'm 99.9% sure that I'll attending Connecitcon.
And I should be able bump that number up the remaining 0.1% later
this month once I've finalized the purchase of my Artist's Colony
table.
I
have no idea what to expect when it comes to this con, but in the
end I figure at the very least that it'll be a positive learning
experience me. And besides, if get to meet up with even a
couple of you folks out there who are fans of the site, then I feel
the trip will have been well worth while.
Unfortunately
it's looking like I'll have to take a pass on Wizard World Chicago,
which was the other major con I wanted to get out to this
year. I'm kinda disappointed about this, but short of a miracle
I don't think I'll be able to afford to hit two cons that are only
about a month apart.
Still,
I may be able to get out to another one this winter, but I haven't
even checked out what any of those might be. So if any of you
out there know of a few that take place in November or later, feel
free to drop me an e-mail, 'cause any input at this point would be
much appreciated.
Fans...
I've
been meaning to thank all of you out there who have taken a few
moments lately to drop me an e-mail or two letting me that you're
liking what you've seen here so far. As well, I'd also like to
send a shout out to anyone and everyone who has been kind enough to
link Geek Tragedy to their site.
I
constantly check out where various traffic is coming in from, and
regardless of how much I get from whatever site, I'm eternally grateful
to each and every last one of you. Not only does your support
keep me motivated, but I also get a huge kick out of dropping by
your sites , and catching a glimpse of who you folks are out there
that keep coming back for more everyday (even if in some cases I
can't read the language in which the majority of your site is
written).
All
of you out there are the very definition of what "a small, but
supportive fan base" truly is! Thank you!
Naps...
Okay,
I wanted to write more today, but I feel myself running out of steam
fast. I'll try to have more here for you tomorrow when I post
the newest strip, but until then I'm off to bed.
Later,
-Ed
