fredart : blogbits

Nothing like changing gears and moving onto another thread in a story. When I got tripped up about Mondays comic i was concerned that the differences between what was happening with Largo/Erika and Piro/Kimiko (you know, fanciful retelling of a great battle to dealing with a horde of slathering fanboys in the japanese equivalent of a Denny’s restaurant) was not working because if it was it would just flow right, right? Since my creative flow was suddenly tripped up, i had somehow screwed things up, right?

Not really, actually. The more i thought about it the more i realized it was just transition of thought, not the flow, that was giving me headaches. It’s my job as the writer and the art person to smooth it all out and make the transition between theads smooth for the reader and mold things in ways that enable you to see what i’ve been trying to bring to the surface. I guess thats what writers really do - take ideas and lay them out so that the reader can take them in.

I had a real good flow going with the Largo Erika stuff, and it would be so much easier for me just to keep going with it and not make that jump. But that arc has hit the point where i need to jump into the mess that is the Anna Millers restaurant in Meguro now and i just have to roll up my sleves and do it

BTW, i really was exhausted from the trip. Thursday night i never did go to bed - i finished the comic, packed, and headed for the airport, then after arriving in DC i went pretty much right to the booth and a few hours later did my signing. One problem with getting tired like that is you never really catch up, especially when you are trying hard to be on the ball and active for the following days. When i got home sunday i was soooo ready to just curl up in a ball and sleep. I think i’m getting old.

- pirotunes: Biosphere - Sphere of No-Form from “Substrata” -

Grrr. There are times i just want to smack hawk. I’ll explain.

At Anime Central, i dropped my bookbag with my 12″ powerbook in it. It looked fine when i checked it, till i got home and found out that the power plug is either dislodged or broken - i can’t plug it in. So, once the battery died, it was dead. Which was about 1 minute since the battery is pretty well shot (remember, i bought this a few months before going to AX Tokyo so i’ve had it for over 2 years now). Repair is of course possible, but i have to go out to Novi to do it and i just don’t have time right now. Am i irritated at Apple yet? Hmm… not yet.

Then Sarah’s computer starts acting up again. Sometimes it just will not reboot - you can hear it, but the screen stays blank. Usually this doesn’t last long, but the other night it was really looking like it wasn’t coming back. Eventually it did, but i was beginning to worry. The idea of having both mac powerbooks down was not an amusing one. Slightly irritated.

Yesterday, i launched Itunes and for some reason it had trouble loading the playlist.xml file. Yes, for some reason, the file got borked. All of my music is now a mess. And i have a lot of it. I’m going to have to go in and manually reload everything. The original playlist is not recoverable. Irritated at Apple? Yes, much so.

So, when i go to bitch at Hawk, ready to lay into my ‘i hate apple’ rant, what does he do? He points me to the new 13″ macbook. Goddamnit. With all the stuff i’ve had problems with this week, you’d think this would be the LAST thing that i’d want.

Fucking hell. I want that black one. To replace my broken, beat up 12″.

Hawk, i hate you.

- pirotunes: Massive Attack - Teardrop [(from the album Mezzanine)] -

Wonders never cease. I was only 27 min late with todays comic. Nothing makes me feel better than actually getting the comics DONE more or less on time. I’ve been feeling really pretty good about my art recently (except for Monday’s comic, which really suffered more from a few missing panels not super bad art - please note that i edited and updated that strip yesterday - i was on a roll last night :P) and even the emotive impact of my short range story stuff is good. Overall… the flow isn’t that great, and the story feels crowded and overloaded.

I really feel like i don’t spend enough time thinking sometimes. I’m always rushing to get things done, and there is never any meandering in the production of things. Of course, if i was to try to hold off till i had time to think about it i’d have the same situation i have with warmth - lots of off an on development, but very little actual progress. If there is one thing i’d like to change about me and my work, its my ability to have more follow through in my planning so that when i start drawing, im going steps further than where i am now because im further down the path with my drawngs.

On a side note, i finally broke out my COPIC markers today and did some scribbling. What i produced was pretty crappy looking, BUT i really like the feel of them. I’m not good at computer coloring because there is just no feel in it for me, in the tablet. There’s something far more visceral in sketching in color the same way i sketch in pencil. I have high hopes for this method of coloring to help me produce soft, me-styled colorizations in the future. We’ll see.

- pirotunes: Wieland Samolak - Steady State Music 01 -

I don’t really deserve it (not after the rather dismal performance that resulted in monday’s comic) but my Hobby Link Japan box came yesterday containing my 1/8 scale Tomoyo figure.

these PVC figures are really nice, the detail is wonderful, and the quality is surprisingly good. In the old days, getting any kind of figure required mad modeling skills and expensive garage kits that only a real expert could put together well. Sure, killer garage kits are still the hight of models, but these pre-assembled and painted PVC models let the rest of us enjoy them too. Im just hoping getting this one doesnt lead down a slippery slope… that’s all.

Monday’s comic really did not come off well, in fact i’m looking at adding a panel and finishing some things to make it look better. I was really sick yesterday, which so did not help. Probably just worn out. The backgrounds needed to be better, and the action was just not there like i wanted (tho panel 3 came out good). Even so i think it got the idea across.

Comic for today is underway, and hopefully i’ll finish in time for tonight (but you know my track record). I spent a chunk of today running around dealing with the color proof for the book 4 cover. Whee

- pirotunes: Deadbeats - Lounging -

I’m a little concerned that i feel as tired as i do today. Friday wasn’t too bad here at Acen, and things have gone fairly smoothly so far (with the exception of me forgetting to put two boxes in the van with some of the merchandise. geh. The dealer room opens in about a half hour here, and i’m sitting here working on drawings for ‘monday’s’ comic. It’s an easy one for me as far as script goes, but the drawings… yeah, taking a while.

Coming off of finishing the book and rolling right into Acen… i suppose i should have known, there just has not been the raw time to DO everything. Hearing from lots of exasperated readers again, but hopefully when i get back and get things rolling again, i can get back on proper track.

ok, i better get going. whee

These endgame comics are kinda fun, it’s a chance to be more dramatic in a far more dramatic environment Yeah, i hear all the ‘wtf is going on?’ stuff and the ‘what does this have to do with anything? you skipped the betrayal!’ etc, etc etc. I’ve said it before, i’ll probably have to say it five thousand times before MT reaches its end - let me finish the arc before you start getting uppity. Enjoy the ride (if you can) and stop worrying so much about where its going till it gets there.

Gotta pack the van and get everything ready for Acen. So much to do its not funny, just dealing with all the little things is gonna mess my brain up. I’ll be back to working on Friday’s comic tonight, and i don’t see too many problems with getting it done before i go. Monday’s comic i’ll have to do on monday, but that shouldn’t be too much of a problem

whee, off to pack

- pirotunes: RaZoRGrrL.com - DistortedCircuitry.com -

As you may have guessed, i was a little nervous of posting monday’s Megatokyo strip. Why? A bath scene with Pirogoeth in it, you figure it out. ^^;; I’m sure that many people are going to think i have, like, major issues or something, but you have to remember that this is a comic, this is a story, and frankly there ARE some very disturbing themes surrounding the whole Endgames experience and the impact it had on Piro, Largo and Miho. Something like this is opening the proverbial pandoras box, but that’s ok - i’m not afraid to take risks like this, no matter how nervous they make me feel When i do ‘fanservice’ i do it for a reason.

Fsking massively busy day today, so much to do. i feel good about the comics right now, which is a relief — i spent most of the time while working on the book still not happy with how vague things were coming together. That’s all worked out now, so i’m much happier… even if i am overloaded.

Someone sent me a link to this today. He was right, it made me wonder if it really was a joke. ^^;;

- pirotunes: Leftfield - Melt -