Crumbs: Passive Aggressive, Badges and Epic Blue Stages

I said I'd be productive!

Well, as a way of apologising for my general suckness, here's the first official comic of Crumbs! I'd finished work on it a while ago but wasn't going to start uploading them until I had a good amount going so I could plop them on here once a week or so. But eh, I'm feeling generous.

Besides, it'll show I'm serious and that I'm not talking out of my ass when it comes to the comic. Hopefully.

Now, I'm just gonna say right now that Crumbs is kind of experimental for me. I'm basically gonna be putting these pigeons in various situations: funny, serious, happy, sad... whatever idea takes me, I'm going with it. I'm going to pen down some story arcs that I've been toying with in my head for a while now. So I'm starting off the series on a funny kick but the tone might change depending on the story or gag. We shall see...

To see this in full, you'll need to right click, open the picture on a new tab and close in on it. The sizing on here is a pain in the backside so I'm sorry about that. Maybe I'll figure out another place to host it if here doesn't work out.

But yes, enjoy!

The moral of the story is don't be a douche or your car will be covered in bird shit. Although that doesn't explain why birds crap on my car... or does it?

This was a fun little shading experiment as well. I was originally going to leave it flat but it looked like it was missing something, it just didn't pop out right. Or something. But I think it's more appealing to look at. Any advice on that matter, feel free to toss it my way!

What else... ah yes, the badges! Well, I have a design for them right here. I don't know if these will be the final design but as of right now I'm happy with them. They're subject to change though.

And finally... actually I don't know what this is. not exactly. I wanted to do an epic pigeon pose, something out of the ordinary. This was quite fun actually, I might do a bit more. I had to use a reference for the wings and I think I kind of effed up on it but eh, practice makes perfect.

I might use the final picture for the cover of her intro story arc. Hmm...

Well, that's pretty much all I have to show you right now. I plan on doing updated character sheets by the time the week's over and having them put on the Crumbs tab. That's what I plan on doing anyway.

Being productive feels good; I should do it more often.

Obligatory Post of Obligation

Don't want the ol' blog to get cobwebs after all. Besides, I figured this would be as good a reason to update as any.

Eheh... eheheh... heehee... pfffttt AHAHAHAHAH.

... sorry, forgot I was nearly 21 for a minute there. *snerk*

Seriously though, thanks to anyone and everyone who has taken the time to pop by and have a look, even if it's just to pinch various .gifs or whatever. You still added to the pageview count and gave me a much appreciated chuckle. Goddamn, I'm such a five year old. But yes. Thanks for the support. You all get a heart. Use it well. <3

I'm gonna pull my finger out soon and get some actual work done in preparation for 'This is Not an Exit' next month. I've got a few ideas for how to present my work but I don't want to do anything definite until I know how everything will be set out. I know for a fact that I'm gonna be a total butt and pinch Rachel Normand's idea of making badges of her characters. Some nice freebies. I just need to figure out how to make said badges. I also know what pictures I'm going to make into prints which shouldn't be hard to do. And if I'm lucky, I'll maybe shove everything aside to finish my 'Not a Drinker' animation that I've been putting off for a while now. It's a quick thing so it shouldn't take too long to work on. The truth is, I want to have something in the moving images department as well as my show reel and the Crumbs trailer. I MIGHT add a few more scenes and make a more impressive trailer for Crumbs but do NOT quote me on that. For the love of God, DON'T.

Besides, I need something to work on so I don't fall into a rut of not doing anything. I'm normally quote productive but when a big project or the school year ends, I just collapse and do nothing, as if my body is telling me to switch off for the next few weeks or so, and then I have this deadly habit of leaving everything to the 11th hour. I don't want to do that. So I'm booting myself up the bahookie and getting on with things. If it's to be, it's up to me damnit!

Well, I don't really have any images sketched to show you all, I'm afraid. I'm teasing the idea of a new Crumbs character (Christ, not another one!) but before I make that decision final I'm working out story arcs and concepts to see if it'll fit. But again, don't quote me on it. However, I guess I'll leave you with these two videos that I find useful. They're both MLP related (as if you folks expected otherwise) but these folks know what they're talking about. Particularly in the second video. I had NO idea you could press shift and click to make lineart straighter. I bet everyone else did. WELL I DIDN'T. NYAH.

Til next time, darlin's. And if I don't have any sketches to show you in the next entry, you have my hand written permission to beat me senseless. How's THAT for dedication.

... not the face.

Post-drunken Final Show Writeup

... well. That's it over.

And it's so strange to think that some people won't be doing the third year. I'm hoping there's a way for us all to keep in contact. We've all become something of a family of sorts, if you'll forgive me getting sentimental. We all care for each other and I'm certain we've all wanted to kill one another at some point as well.

Just like family!

But anyway, yes. Well, we basically hung around and looked at everyone's work, mingled here and there. My parents got there before everyone else so it was kind of like giving them a kind of VIP tour of sorts! I'm glad they liked my work. They always seem to but this stuff was a bit different from my caricatures so I wasn't sure if they'd like them as much.

There wasn't an awful lot for us to do in the meantime so I told the parentals to look around Newcastle until nearer seven or so, when the animations would be screened with sound, as opposed to being shown on various small computer screens to showcase our stuff. Thankfully I got enough gonads to break the drawing wall's virginity. I hold that honor close to my heart.

Titan! Been a while since I drew him! He seems to be lacking in manners though...
Rachel Rutherford drew the stinky one. The drawing itself, ironically, is the opposite of stinky.

... yeah I can't resist drawing pigeons. Some Green and Pink (pre-footloss) interaction

Rachel drawed and eagle so I had to drawed a Tweak.

Some desperate attempt for self publicity. Which TOTALLY WASN'T
DRAWN BY ME, NO SIREE BOB.

This one actually also wasn't drawn by me. Rachel also helped my desperate
attempts to interest folks! Sorry for making you derp your herp though...

There was one woman in particular that was amused by this image.
... I'm considering making it into a shirt...

After our doodling shenanigans and as my loving parents returned, it was time for the screenings. It was brilliant finally seeing everyone's work in its full glory. There's just so many impressive pieces that we've achieved in the past two years and I can honestly say I'm proud of everyone.

I might as well put up links to the show reel and Crumbs trailer again. Seems fitting to do so.

After seeing everyone's work, we went back to the final show room. I was quite pleased to see a few of my business cards gone, as well as some of my doodlebug stickers. Seems people are interested!

I was even MORE pleased to be given a business card by the lead animator from Arcus Studios! I've checked out their website (http://www.arcusstudios.co.uk), followed their twitter (https://twitter.com/#!/arcusstudios) and sent an email giving them the blog address. Lets see where it goes from there! I'm just chuffed someone took such an interest!

Ashleigh also got a lot of photos taken of us, which I hope she uploads soon. I'd like to pinch them and upload them here and keep them FOREVER...

After this, we all went to No. 28 for a few drinks... about a few Baileys in my case. I've missed that stuff. And we all just took the time to unwind after such a busy day and have a few laughs. Many hugs, good luck wishes and OMFG YOUR SO AWESOME DON'T FORGET TO WRITEs were exchanged. Then Rachel and I headed homeward (well, after the half hour taxi wait and quick McDonalds run. I tell ya, around midnight, you get some interesting characters. One guy that had a massive gash on the side of his face and was completely incapable of speech was the talking point between the two of us for a while).

Then I got my drunk ass to bed. And it was glorious.

Now to rest for a few days. I might art but I won;t make any promises. I will say that I have another Big Draw meeting on Thursday that Callum and I will be attending. I'll spill the beans on that when it happens. Other than that, I'm gonna start planning my next project, work on more comic ideas, figure out what things I want printed out as postcards for the Star and Shadow, all that good stuff. Oh, and the Crumbs animation itself of course. But all that can wait a couple of days.

Til then, folks.

Pre-drunken Final Show Writeup

Don't pay much heed to the title, I'm just playing it safe. We have a bar, so...

Well, today's the day for Final show and we've all been preparing the room for tonight. Everyone's boards are set, portfolios and business cards at the ready, all the good stuff. I'm looking forward to tonight and hoping people take some interest in what I have to offer. Its also fun seeing more of everyone else's work as well!

Here's a few shots of my board and other related shenanigans.

My little blurb that's supposed to be relevant to me. It... kind of is?

My board. Twisted and the Underdog cast

My business cards, featuring my shirt with my logo. I was gonna wear that but
then I went all girly and junk.

Deal with it.

I'm planning to report back later, maybe with more pictures and tales of woe joy over how the night progressed. Watch this space, m'dears!

I'm Working! I Promise!

After something of a hiatus, primarily blamed on the complete burnout I often endure after lengthy projects, I'm starting to get back on track. I have the stuff for my board printed, my show reel and trailer handed in to make a big group show reel thingy (I are talk profeshunal), portfolio prepped and now I'm just figuring out if I'm gonna make prints. Should really make that decision fast as tomorrow's the last time I'll be in before final show. I can't make it Friday and Monday's the big day. Unless I came in early but I suppose we'll have to play that by ear.

In the meantime, here's a little side project I've been working on. Surprise surprise, it's Crumbs related. Little feckers will peck my eyes out before I stop drawing them it seems. Anyway, I've said for a while now that I wanted to do a comic based on the characters and I figured if I don't get started now, I probably never will. I haven't really done any serious comic work, apart from a Media project (which will never see the light of day. Sorry Mum!) so it looked like a good chance to get some practice.

This will most likely be redone sometime in the future, especially once I actually sort out the story arc around it. That won't be for some time though, as I'm considering only working on said story arcs after the animation itself is done and God knows when that'll be which will hopefully be by Christmas. Ish. But I'm getting ahead of myself. Long story short, this was just a chance to get a glimpse of Pink and Green's friendship, work with the art style, speech bubble placement and all that good stuff. I'm quite amused by Green's censorship. Y'all can thank Rachel Normand for that one.

It's also... KIND of spoilerish but then again, you wouldn't really know about that unless I told you. So just pretend I didn't tell you. Or I'll just cross this out and we'll pretend it was never there. Mmkay? Mmkay.

Green's a dick.

If anyone has any suggestions or advice, don't be afraid to let me know. I'm always eager to learn.

I'm also currently working on a comic right this second. This one will be the official first comic of the series, where I start with various interactions of the characters before launching into the main story (which will be kicked off by the animation). So it seems the Crumbs Comic tab will FINALLY be getting filled up! Joyous occassion!

Here's a WIP of said upcoming comic.

Sounds ominous...

Interesting thing about this entry. I started typing it up last night. But when it came to adding the images, Blogger/my internet connection/God was all like "NOPE" and wouldn't let me complete it until this morning. Thankfully Blogger has that drafts thing-a-ma-jigger so I didn't need to type everything out again.

Well, off to finish my comic and consider what prints to use. Just in time too, the college internet seems to be stuffing up now. It's so hard to come across reliable internet these days.

Emski out!