Money Doe$n't $tink (page 3)
Fitz on Dec. 15, 2007
Drink and rejoice everyone, for here it is: page 15! :D
So, I made it! A week late, but it's here :) Didn't think it'd take this long. Looks like I've eventually fallen victim to my ambition of improving each time. Last time it took me an extra evening to finish a page. This time I just had to put my pencils away for a couple of days before I could finish it. I was drained, tired, cold and under the weather. I started drawing again on Thursday. At first I used my rubber more than the pencil - but eventually things started to look right. Today I made some final sketches, scanned all I had and processed it on photoshop all day. It's past midnight as I write this - and I'm just done working on the page. And I like it! Hard to say if I can top the previous one - but I like how trippy this one seems, with various shades of green and more red than on the previous pages. Especially the first panel has some psychedelic effect on me. And the bubbles!
And shoes are my new favorite thing to draw.
Btw, please check out Heroes Unite - a community project lead by my friend Nepath:
http://www.drunkduck.com/Heroes_Unite/
I mentioned last time that I was offered to color the pages for Spudsy's part in the comic. So I took the job :) The first full page colored by me is up now. Hope you'll like it. Be sure to read the comic from the start, too!
I hope the next page of A Bit Cheesy will be there on time, in two weeks. It's going to be a busy two weeks, too. As always at the end of the year, there's an extra load of red tape to deal with at work. Hope I can get a couple days off between Xmas and New Years. If not…? Oh well, at least I'll be spending some quality time with my family and stuffing myself full with my favorite Xmas foods :D And giving and getting presents! Hehehe :) Actually the giving part is more fun - especially since I got them something I know they don't expect and I know they will love :) As for what I'll get…? No idea!
I got myself “Extraordinary Machine” by Fiona Apple this week, and this is what's helped me return to sanity. I LOVE that cd! It's funny but it makes me think of the old LucasArts adventure games I played back in my teenage days. Think Monkey Island or Day of the Tentacles. I've always liked Fiona. Now I love her! If you want to hear something with unusual, but still catchy melodies, with a bunch of unusual instrument and clever lyrics - you should go buy this album!
OK, time to sleep! Hope you girls and guys enjoyed this page and that it was worth the waiting. A big thank you to everyone for the kind words and the awesome support! And hello to new guests and the timid DD lurkers ;) And there are a few, as I learned from the forums :) Oh and Merry Christmas to everyone and a Happy New Year, in case we don't get the chance to talk till then!
Ersatz at 11:19AM, Dec. 28, 2007
I hate it when I miss a page then take 2 weeks to realise it even exists! Grrrrrr, damn it and heehee all at once I say! :)
Fitz at 8:17AM, Dec. 18, 2007
Amy: Hey, good to see You here :) And it does seem the neon is everyone's favorite. If I remember correctly, it was also the first thing I drew for this page. Midge: Yeah, it's supposed to like a shadow of a cat :) BUT if you look closely, you'll notice it's just a HUGE shadow of Ryan's hand. I had a hard time figuring out how to draw and arrange it to make it look like a cat's head. TwistedRabbit: Thanks! I'm really flattered. I'm humbled by the praise. The whole process of comic making is still part magic, part fluke to me. There's a lot of thinking behind it, but the final result is often based on some sort of a gut feeling - like, I mess with hue and saturation to figure out the shade of a color that fits best. As a result, there are different shades of green throughout the page, to match the red touches etc. Trevor: The credit for the awesomeness of the bottle and the shoe goes to Coca Cola and Nike, respectively :) On a side note, crocodile skin sneakers - whoa! And I wonder why nobody asked yet what's gonna happen to Ryan, as it looks like the shoe is directly above him ;) Or what's happening to Mick. Or is that one clear?
trevoramueller at 7:03AM, Dec. 18, 2007
Oh my goodness! The drinking soda panel and the shot of the shoes at the end are mind-blowingly awesome!
twistedrabbit at 12:48PM, Dec. 17, 2007
I'm blown away finally having the spare time in my busy life to sit down and look through your comic recently. You've got serious talent in composition. The colors, the style, the feeling...it's all very professional and seems thought out. That's what a lot of webcomics lack. I personally love the various "clips" of modern human life laid out with the dialogue. It's like viewing it from a mouse's(...er...mice's...mooses'?) -perspective. :D
TheMidge28 at 11:46AM, Dec. 17, 2007
is panel three a shadow of a cat?
antcomics at 8:52AM, Dec. 17, 2007
Amazing stuff! I love that 'mouse's eye view'. And the neon sign just grabbed me...
Fitz at 8:16AM, Dec. 17, 2007
Dawn: Wow, I love your interpretation, it's brilliant! I haven't thought of that myself, but it makes perfect sence. And it kind of even looks like multiplying cells. And yup I think I'll be drawing more shoes in this comic, it's fun! Tantz: Are those cliches, really? Those are my real fears ;) Brrr! Nibbi: If I remember right, the neon was the first thing I came up with for this page. I like it, too. But my favorite would have to be the shoe. Midge: It seems to become easier for me to match the visuals and the dialogue. They say much less on this page, but basically every line refers to some part of the panel. I wonder if you figured out the top right one, that one is a bit of a toughie, I think. And yeah, I like hearing different interpretations, sometimes my readers find things I never even thought of, like Dawn here did. Bocaj: HI QT PI - that's "Hi cutie pie" in car plate lingo :) Actually did some research to find this one. And the coke fizz was fun to do. Actually almost clicked myself to death drawing it - since most of it is just several stencils of bubbles stamped all over the panel - but I like the way it looks. JMT: Thanks! Not up for Hunt for Minutiae this time? ;) Jeff: My ambition will take me to either fame and glory or a mental institution ;) And your hallucinations must've been caused by the trippy color palette on this page. BLNTmaker: Thanks! :) But I'm not sure if I apply, with my biweekly update schedule. But that would be neat indeed. And I do have the required minimum of 15 pages now, so yeah, who knows?
blntmaker at 9:21PM, Dec. 16, 2007
Man, I dig your style here! The shadows and shading in it is off the chain! Great art and storytelling! There's a feature in your future no doubt!
Coyotejeff at 3:19PM, Dec. 16, 2007
Ok, your ambition of always improving is paying off in spades. This page is just So Tight! On every level. Color, dialogue, composition! Foe half a moment I smelled wet concrete and heard people walking past! Keep it up buddy. p.s. The hallucinations were related to your art, not my drug abuse ;)
jmt at 1:45PM, Dec. 16, 2007
nice page
Bocaj at 1:43PM, Dec. 16, 2007
Hi qt pi?? Love the Open 24 hours. LOVE the coke fizz.
TheMidge28 at 1:43PM, Dec. 16, 2007
well done. I didn't realize that to be a bottle of coke until reading others comments...then rereading the page has new insights. If a work is truly artistic the interpretation from the viewer is important and that can be said for you work her. I love the commentary of your characters with the juxtaposition of the panel image...my favorite image has to be the Open 24 hours...well done.
nibbi at 12:16PM, Dec. 16, 2007
Love the way you tell a story. The open 24hrs sign was perfect.
Tantz_Aerine at 10:44AM, Dec. 16, 2007
Excellent work! Simply wonderful eye candy here, and a very amusing expose on marriage and kid cliches. XD I love each and every panel. THey are all astounding.
dgriff13 at 8:45AM, Dec. 16, 2007
yes, if I ever need a shoe, I know who to come to! I'm a poet, apparently. Actually, I took the "bubbles" more as multiplying cells, implying conception/baby-making.. but either way it works.
Fitz at 6:50AM, Dec. 16, 2007
Vickie: Thanks :) This is actually my usual device in this comic, but sometimes the connection can be less clear. I really like the last panel, too - I didn't want to leave it with a gradient background, like I usually do in that kind of panels, so I tried this and I like how it turned out :) And the shoe was so much fun to draw! :D Harry: Hm what wisdom do you find in my words? Or is it amusement? Or does my wicked grammar humor you? ;) Either way, I'm glad I can sort of help :) Nepath: There's actually about half the usual amount of dialogue on this page - but I like it how almost all of it corresponds with the visual. As for Fiona Apple, this is the first cd of hers that I got, but I've always loved all her singles and I can only kick myself now that I haven't bought all her cd's earlier. Extraordinary Machine = genius! Abt: You never know! ;) And the story is heading in that direction, so... expect the unexpected! As for the coke, I did try adding an elypse for the surface, but it just look right, the shading looked odd. So I left the surface flat, instead :) As for the dialogue, I don't quite know where it'll lead, myself. I have some idea, but a lot of it emerges only after I have the visual part all thought out, as a comment to what's going on. But rest assured it'll only get crazier :)
Abt_Nihil at 4:35AM, Dec. 16, 2007
Him seduce her...? Now that's something I'd like to see. Great artwork... I can't quite say if it tops the previous page, but that's because they're both at an extremely high level. The way you render these objects is incredible. If I were to nitpick, I'd say the coke's surface in panel 5 seems to flat to me... its surface is a perfect line. Well, at least my coke doesn't behave that way. As for the dialogue, excellent interaction with your visuals, and witty as usual. I'm starting to wonder where this will lead... I'm used to dialectic, but these two never seem to agree on anything! Wonderful juxtaposition though... I can see how these voices are really both inside ONE head.
Nepath at 3:15AM, Dec. 16, 2007
Great page as always, i love the trainers. The shine that you have put on them is amazing. Superb progression of the dialogue as well. For the record. I am a fan of Fiona Apple and have all her albums also! IMO Extraordinary Machine is her best work yet.
harryq at 12:01AM, Dec. 16, 2007
I always re-read your comments on these pages when I think I've become too wrapped up in my work, then I calm down and continue. God bless you, dear boy!
usedbooks at 10:13PM, Dec. 15, 2007
I love the way you matched the visuals to the dialogue. :-) I think I like the last panel the most. The shoes look really cool, and I like how you showed the distance/depth by reducing details.