Mark Fultz

As part of payment for some recent artwork, I agreed to create a sketch of the artist. This one was new for me as I branched out into the paintbrush for drawing...ohhhh.

I liked the look of it, I did a short animation of it based on this head turn sketch I had completed.

Here is an attempt at a similar turn of Mark Fultz.

The Wide Mouth Frog

New strips are on the way...soon.

In the meantime, I finished a quick animation, which was really practice on syncing dialogue. The whole compilation took about six hours, spread out over a couple of days though.

Feel free to take a gander. Comments are always welcomed.

Lady and the mouse

(Comic strip 222) I never thought it would be so hard to draw a mouse. I kept trying to pull far away from Jerry from the infamous cat and mouse duo, but I still felt like I was hovering on that edge.

I like the whole thought of a mouse civilization parodying our world with the same legends. Couldn't they just eat the olive away from the sword. Who knows? Maybe it's too much liquor. Could definitely bring new meaning to the whole lady in the lake scenario.

On the flip side, I finished three projects this week. Two commisioned pieces and a web update for a motivational speaker...who lives in a van down by ther river! Ha, if only. Because one is not ready to release yet, here's a glimpse of the other.

Making it work

Tonight's strip was a labor of love...well, it was labor anyway. Tina had a fortune cookie that said, "Digital components are made of analog components." I thought it clearly had to be written by some nerd running a fortune cookie shop, which gave me a strip idea. My brain-trust thought it wasn't that funny, but came up with another fortune cookie idea where all of the fortunes were written in binary code.

HAAHAHAHAHAHAH! We laughed and laughed, so I drew the strip and when it came time to add the dialogue I thought, "That's not funny." In retrospect we all agreed that it wasn't funny and couldn't figure out why we laughed to begin with, which led to our hour discussion of possible punchlines, none really being the zinger we originally thought we had.

Other considerations were 1. "I disagree, Fortune-o-matic, I think it's less filling." 2. "No, Fortune-o-matic, I think it takes more than 12 licks." 3. "Why are all of these fortunes ads for lost cats?" And it went on and on like that.

We even thought of posting it without the dialogue and making a contest out of it. The true sign of desperation. Either way, I kind of like that idea, so look for something like that in the near future.

Bad News?

And so now would seem right with the world, but I have a big 'ol greasy monkey wrench to throw in the works. For the next few weeks, I'll be updating just once a week (I know, you're thinking that it's not hardly updated at all as it is), but this will allow me to invest more time into the upcoming animation feature that you may have heard mention of in the forum or in previous splog posts.

I promise, the animation will be worth your (and my) while. Joe said that he's finished...almost...part of the theme music to accompany it. As soon as he does, I'll post part of it here to keep you in the loop of where it's going. I'll also post clips of rough animation scenes here as well.

Spring Break

It's been fun teasing with Joe's hair, but the real story to the fro begins next week. Just a little teaser.

Spring break is underway, so my participation in the forum has been less than usual, and my work production for the animations and other things has been as well. I've been spending my time doing what I do best...or enjoy the most anyway, playing with my daughter.

Nevertheless, I'm still sticking to my own deadlines. I should finish proofreading the novel before the week ends. Also, I plan to put together some...or one, at least run cycle for the android animation as well. The catalyst for that is that I received in the mail yesterday, The Animator's Survival Kit. I now know exactly what I didn't know about animation. With tutorials, I sometimes skim more than I read. This....I can't stop reading it. It's a must.

I'm saving the rest of this space to post the run cycle. You'll see it soon.

EDIT: Here's a quick rough of the run cycle that I mentioned.


http://www.hd-image.com/tutes/templar_run_black.swf

Templar

Another successful convention has been checked off the list.


If you've been keeping tabs on the forum, you've heard...read...the talk. The Jeopardy Challenge was a big hit. We've been invited to ChattaCon to host another game. Since it's such a well-attended convention, we'll probably be there...but that's in January so who knows what may happen between now and then.


I'm getting set to lay out the lines of motion for the Templar animation that I mentioned earlier. I've completed a few rough sketches with color of some of the characters. Colossus seems to be giving me the most trouble. Since he's a Russian robot, I'm toying with hard angles for his shape, but everytime I picture him, he's curved and round. Maybe my brain knows better than I do.


The sketch below is a mockup for Mr. Templar.

Feeling the Burn

Another delayed strip...I know. What's becoming of the world?

Priorities, I say. FantaSciCon is this weekend and we've been prepping for it. Tina has two cakes due this weekend...quite elaborate, too, I might add so I pitch in when I can, where I can...well, when she needs me.

Honestly, though, I've got an itch. An animation itch. W. Clemente Stone phrased it this way, "When you discover your mission, you will feel its demand. It will fill you with enthusiasm and a burning desire to get to work on it."

Ernie sent me a story to illustrate about a desolate world filled with androids, so I've been sketching. That's lead me to think of other things and possibilities, and I've decided that I want to turn the story into an animation. I've completed the rough, mocked out story boards and simply need the moments to begin working. It really is burning in me. I just hope that...as long as the animation will probably be...I don't lose that fire.

Check out the first story board page below.

Feeling the Burn

Another delayed strip...I know. What's becoming of the world?

Priorities, I say. FantaSciCon is this weekend and we've been prepping for it. Tina has two cakes due this weekend...quite elaborate, too, I might add so I pitch in when I can, where I can...well, when she needs me.

Honestly, though, I've got an itch. An animation itch. W. Clemente Stone phrased it this way, "When you discover your mission, you will feel its demand. It will fill you with enthusiasm and a burning desire to get to work on it."

Ernie sent me a story to illustrate about a desolate world filled with androids, so I've been sketching. That's lead me to think of other things and possibilities, and I've decided that I want to turn the story into an animation. I've completed the rough, mocked out story boards and simply need the moments to begin working. It really is burning in me. I just hope that...as long as the animation will probably be...I don't lose that fire.

Ideas and stuff

Sometimes the strip is spawned from an idea, and sometimes it comes from a doodle. Today's case is a doodle. Well, sort of. I knew Joe eventually had to get his hair back. The doodle of the fubbits, as I call them, gave me the method of getting it back. Despite impressions from first meeting Joe, his hair does grow.

I want to remind everyone about FantaSciCon, the weekend of March 16-18. Joe, Ernie, and I will be there with a bevy of panels. Of course, I bestow my deepest condolences to Ernie and Aberrant Dreams buddy and author-pal Rob Shelsky. Their panel on science fiction is going up against our 1st Annual FantaSciCon Jeopardy Challenge Extraordinaire! Actually, Ernie said he was going to see about having it moved because he too wanted to attend the Jeopardy game.

The forum has been a buzz as of late suggesting possible questions to use in the Jeopardy game. I thought it would have been a lot harder coming up with questions and categories to cover the large spectrum of the fantasy and science fiction genre, but Joe and I finished the first game Monday (12 categories with 72 total questions...hence the lack of a strip Tuesday). Looking at the time that Dutch has allocated for us, we will be creating a-whole-nother game session this Saturday.

New Animation

I'm proud to announce, even though it was officially posted Sunday, that the first animation has been added to the animation theater.

There's a few comments I could make about how I would do it differently if given the opportunity, but for the most part, I'm pretty happy with the finished product. Any comments would be greatly welcomed.

Coming up in March, Joe and I will be attending FantaSciCon in Chattanooga, Tennessee. Albeit thus far unconfirmed, we should be hosting two panel sessions: one on Flash animation and the other will be the First Annual FantaSciCon Jeopardy Challenge Extraordinairre. It promises to be fun. Visit the forum to check out question suggestions.

Oddly enough, when we were there for HallowCon, which was a blast, I started a Zombie versus the Debate Team animation. Sadly, it's still not finished. I'm going to try and finish it and use it as a reference tutorial for the animation program. The end result being that doing the prep work for the Con should also give me the material to post in the forum that so many have asked for in the way of animation tutorials.

That's Butter!

Not always do I feel the need to post after a comic update, but I think it must be made clear that this strip actually happened. The conversation is verbatim. I find that during a casual discourse with a student (not during instruction mind you) that he or she often looks with wonder at me as he or she tries to process what I have said. They think it's funny the way I talk.

I remember being alarmed a few years back when a student told me he was mugged in the hallway. He was upset by this fact, as well as I thought, that he should be. In this case, I later learned, the "mugging" just meant that another student looked at him. Not harshly, mind you, or that would have been a "mean mugging." I think it's funny the way they talk.

Happy Valentine!

Happy Valentine's Day to one and all!

The Valentine strip features the image used on the Valentine cards that we sent out to friends and family, featuring my wonderfully precocious daughter. We're so giving in sharing her goodness with the world.

In response to a recent email, I plan to present an abbreviated tutorial on how I created the fiction page (the one with the library). I'll probably add a tutorial section to our forum so that people can also share their own tutes.

Addressing another question that was asked, I am open to doing animations or artwork for others. Contact me at lharper@hd-image.com with any questions or to discuss a project.

Apologies are to be extended at this point. I have not posted a new strip this week because I have been working on an animation for my wife's birthday. Sure it's a ton more work than just going to the store and purchasing that perfect gift, but I feel drawn to that Seventh Heaven mentality that it means a little more when you use the gifts that you've been given to do something for others.

While the animation is strictly for her, I will post it as soon as it's finished.

Lastly, there is just one last thing I ask you to do today: Pick up the phone, call your mom, and wish her a Happy Valentine's Day.

Single Shot

Back to the single shot comic strips...ah, those make me smile. There's never any worry about continuity when there's less of a storyline running. I do, however, try to maintain consistency. We've revisited the hole in the garage wall, for instance. However, I have yet to revisit the scythe of death wedged in my door. I can see that blooming in the near future.

Today's bonus image comes from an animation I'm working on for someone special. Funny, I originally had a zombie animation for the Animation Theater, but that got pushed back when I had the grand idea for this. Nevertheless, I'll still release it in the theater when it's finished.

Making a Dump

I must admit. The new layout has been well-recepted. That makes me happy. By layouts, I mean the magazine for the most part. Quite frankly, having visited most others, it is a great deviation from what is the norm. Let's keep it up.

With this new medium also comes the addition of the forums. Lots of conversation has been going on about the stories we publish, but now I need to get the same thing going for the comic strip. However, I'm going to take it from a different slant. From most of the art/comic forums that I visit, lots of people are always open for a sketch dump--somewhere to just dump all of their work for critique. Thus, that's where we'll begin.

Got it, want to share it, dump it here.

Today's drawing is for a "Save the Date" card I did for a friend's wedding.

Animawhozits

The Animation page is on its way. I've completed the layout but am still working on the actions that take place on the screen...I got to get the flow just right. Or at least past an embarrassing level. Check for it soon.

My time lately has also been devoted to creating a short animation for a friend's wedding reception. As soon as that's finished, I'll post it for your viewing pleasure.

For now, you can satiate your palates on the full size image of Joe's elf character from the Dungeons and Dragons storyline: Swanky McLank.

Where's my Monday?

What's with this Tuesday/Thursday thing?

It pained me greatly to drop from updating three times a week to two times a week. School has expanded its scope to include afterschool remediation on Tuesdays and Thursdays, which cuts into the time that I would usually draw the updates for Wednesday (Tuesday night) and Friday (Thursday night).

A good part of this, and yes there is one, is that now I have more time for working on the animation that is to be added to the site.

But most importantly, it affords me more time with my family. This makes everything else, the cut backs and so forth, worth while. I promise, though, that the quality of artwork will continue to rise and the plot lines will improve...through Tina's coaching.

Below is a full sketch of the dwarf from the current story.

Wonder Twin powers...Activate!

Due to popular request, I have added a larger version of the "Wonder Twins" foryour viewing enjoyment. I thought with Joe's role (and figure) the expression fit him well.

Also, I am most certain that everyone will recognize the "get ye flask" as originating from the text-based game crafted by the Brothers Chap from Homestarrunner. I think the one saving grace to junior high was the daily morning pass that allowed Joe and I as well as some others to go to the computer lab each morning before school. Mr. Whitlock had some of the best text-based games. My only regret was that I never beat The Wishgiver.

New Shirts

To correct an error point out to me by the most loveliest of lovely women, we now offer women's shirts, well...shirt as of right now, in our store. More designs for women are on the way. The new shirt, offered to men and women, features the new Slip of the Pen logo.

As soon as the graphic is approved, we'll being offer the shirt in black.

New Site

Ah, the new site. I would not say that it's been tedious but definitely long in the making...especially with everything else that still needed to be competed, daily updates and such. I think the new look was worth it, though. Any comments are always welcomed.

Also, I plan to use this space to post images/sketches of upcoming strips or animation work. The forums will be available for others to post work as well if one would like to have the community provide feedback.

Let's make daddy proud.