Hosting hoo haa

At the minute strangebiros.co.uk is routed to the blog, which is fine, but once I have enough content stacked up for the story we are preparing for the Uk WebComix Thing 2010 then I'll switch the blog back to a blogger link, and the URL to the comic.

But where should i host it? I've experimented with wordpress on a uk host, using the comic press theme, but I'm not convinced. I like the look of the slick smooth and funky square space, which seems to be plugged like crazy at the minute.

Perhaps I'll run a trial squarespace site to test out their templates.

Anyroad, the

Spend spend spend

Strangely in a time when the good ole postie isn't delivering letters to General public, my recent impulse purchases all turned up at once, making Alison suspicious at my spending...

Manga Studio, and set of inks from Dinkybox... oh and when I was up in London the other day judging an art competition CASS art was having a half price sale, so I bought a bag full of paper, and pigment pens.

Using Manga studio is like learning to drive a special japanese clown car, everything goes great and then suddenly you accidentally step on the brake, and gravy squirts you in the eye.

I have no idea where half the things I need are cunningly hidden, like the capacity to crop an image... I guess I'm dealing with pages rather than images. On the positive side it has some lovely pen nibs that squish and flex and make swooping curves.

I have continued my strict discipline of trying to draw some girls every day, and whilst a lot look like hogarthian gin fiends, with wonky eyes, I feel I am getting there slowly, and gradually gaining confidence, that I can bloomin' well draw anything I choose too. Todays effort done in manga studio is based on the devilishly masterful works of Mr Allison of the Scary go round, and lately the Bad machinery..http://www.scarygoround.com/ he is without peer in the sphere of drawing girls with slinky hip jeans and tattoos. (top pic photoshop, bottom pic mango sususudio)

New fangled technology

I spend my work day looking deep deep into the vile heaving black heart of technology, teasing it, twisting it to my pedagogic whim.

So when it comes to doing a drawing, it's all to obvious and easy to harness the same familiars, and invoke the adobe demons.

But, I'm not sure that I actually like drawing on the dinky little wacom, maybe I thought.. maybe I should buy a bigger one, or a cintiq... maybe I should buy a copy of Mango studio, maybe I should upgrade photofop... maybe I should just pour all my cash straight down the paypal tube.

Instead I've bought a new nib pen, and a selection of "Deleter" Manga inks.

I'm going all traditional. We'll see how long it lasts.

Honk honk

Dom has Autumnwatch on the TV. I misheard them talking about barnacle geese, and thought they said Bionicle geese.

old hat

I am being reasonably good, and carrying out my pact to try and draw some girls every day, and have attempted to replicate the stylings of Mr Reddick, who seems to ooze skill and talent from every pore. My efforts however seem to remind me of the pepperami monster, or Lesley Ash, one time screen siren, after her ill advised lip inflation episode.

Most of my other attempts have ended up looking like slightly roman versions of Scully, out of the X files, which is a good thing I think, though some of my attempts have drawn audible laughs of contempt from my dear wife, who doesn't know how delicate my artist's soul is.

I cannot draw Gurls for toffee

Robots, YES, Vicious squid creatures, WHY SURELY, Aliens with funny heads in jars, and a squillion legs, OF CORSE MI DERE FELLOW, WHAT COLOUR?

But Gurls? I cannot draw for toffee. So everyday for a month I will make myself draw a gurl, till I am the master.

On the other topic of our exciting family webcomic adventure, we have a start, we have a set of characters, and heaven only knows we have a lot of dissent in the camp.

Wych Wolf

So with the target date set, Dom, Adam and I have started fitting all the disparate ideas together to form the spine of the story. We put up a dirty great bit of lining paper the length of the front room and started adding ideas, and plot points. So far so good, though there have been a couple of "artistic differences" already.