Atomic Tails 27!

I did it! I finally finished Atomic Tails 27! Although I think most everything I do for Atomic Tails is kind of "ramshackle", there's some elements in this strip I think came out pretty good. A lot of stuff (like Rio's blue transparent look, and the fuzzed out background) took some time to figure out, but this is also the first time where I relied heavily on the original sketches for the characters. Usually I have to tweak and rework things in Illustrator until the mice look right.  Or at least better. Also, the full Rio figure in panel one represents a new way of drawing the mice. Since the last strip I've been studying a lot of cartoon styles, and elements like laying the tails on the ground are new ways of drawing the cartoons for me. 

I will begin work on A.T. 28, but I won't promise when it will be done. The last month or so I've been working a lot of extra hours so as to get myself out of debt. Actually, life's gotten kind of depressing, but I am seeing results, and I'm hoping to establish a better foundation for myself in the years to come. So, I may not be positing a new comic as often, but I'll probably be posting a ton of daily sketches to this site. I have to do a lot of drawings from the car (I work as a chauffeur), and to be honest that's where the idea of Rio came from. I spend so much time on the road that over the years I started to imagine all the traffic jams, and poor decisions people make, were caused by a evil god of some kind. 

Well, that's all for now. Keep checking back for more Atomic Tails and there will be a new comic... someday. 

Cheers!

Atomic Tails #25!!!

Two months. I know. Really pathetic and I don't have a lot of excuses, but I'll make some up anyways. Two major problems with getting AT 25 done were One: I originally intended it to be a much larger ("Sunday" style) strip, an so I had sketched up a lot more art than I needed, and two: I threw my back out about a month ago and sitting in a chair for any length of time has been incredibly painful.  Though I am working out my back pains (no joke, it hurts!), while I was down it did give me time to look at the strip and realize I was doing every thing wrong. So, I went back, re-drew a bunch of the panels, and broke up what I had originally planned into a small four panel strip and then next week (I hope) I'll have the resolution between Buttery and Chud. Well, I don't think there's ever going to be a resolution between the two, but for this part of the story. 

Overall, I'm not happy with a lot of the sketchs for this strip. I did like how Trog turned out in a lot the them, but he's kind of hidden behind Buttery and Chud most of the time. As for Chud and Buttery, the only real finished piece I was (mostly) happy with, was Chud's entrance in panel one. That final colored drawing of Chud in his bathrobe just made me really happy. This strip was also a chance to create a new background for Trog's apartment. Though, I'll probably redraw it in future strips, I thought it was an okay first go.  So, keep checking back. I'm already into the next strip and I hope to have it online by next Saturday, but its me so don't count on anything.

Cheers!

Strip #14 is here!

Yeah, it took me awhile, but here it is! One more strip for Atomic Tails. This strip introduces another many character to the story, Buttery Wholesomeness. Buttery is based (for the most part) on an old high school buddy of mine, but in a weird way, much less of an actual cartoon than the real guy. If you knew Chris, you would know what I was talking about. Anyways, Strip #14 was also a chance to work on the characters form and anatomy a bit more. Though I'm still unsure what happens to their tails when they sit on a couch, I actually like some of the poses I pulled off. All except the last panel. Trog's left foot still just looks weird to me, but as many times as I tried (which was a lot) I couldn't get the leg to do what I wanted. Oh, well... Practice!!! Also, though I went back and added it to strip #13, this is the first time I added a Logo type and creator credit to one of my strips. Chudd (the real life Chudd) helped a little bit with it. Anyways, I'm jumping onto Strip #15 now. I really would like to start producing one a week, but at this point I'd settle for anything under a month.

Cheers!