The Work Continues!

It’s been a few weeks since I put any work in on the comic strip, but yesterday I got to work on Atomic Tails #31. This time we’re going back to Rio an Trog, but I’m having some trouble planning out the strip in only 4 panels. I might just have to make a bigger, Sunday styled, strip for 31.

I was trying to create a new car element for the two to ride in, but it didn’t turn out so good. I tried to vector over the image of a real car (using a picture of a car I use for work), but it just didn’t fit in with the panels I’m currently drawing. So, I’ll just keep using the elements I’ve already made, for now.

I also just recently fixed an unnoticed grammar error on A.T. #13. This is why I need non-family and friends to read and critique the comic. I made that strip 3 years ago, and I just now noticed that I wrote a your instead of the you’re that was needed. Stuff like that bugs the hell out of me. I know the comic is probably chuck full of errors, but still, that was just embarrassing. It’s a poor life to be both stupid and old.

Anyways, I’ve got some of the sketch work done for 31, so hopefully I can finish it early this week so as to begin inking an coloring next week.

Keep checking back for more updates! Also, check out www.murraybrotherscreative.com! We’re revamping the old Murray Bro’s site to something that can include our stock art work, print on demand stuff, comics, and anything else we draw, vector, or create.

Atomic Tails #30

New Comic Online

Just a couple of notes about A.T. #30. I worked on this strip when I could, before and after the day job (yuck). I’ve been working extra hours (and days!), so I sort of “chipped away” at this one until finished. I feel like I still need to improve my characters, but I also feel like I got a better ratio between Chud and Buttery. In past strips I felt like I drew Buttery way too big. He’s a large mouse, but only a little bigger than Chud and Trog.

Since the last strip I have also been practicing and I feel some of it is shown in Butter and Chud here. I know some stuff looks wonky (very deep in the uncanny valley), but overall, I was happy with what I pulled off.

This strip is the first step in introducing a new character to Atomic Tails and hopefully Agent D-20 will make his appearance soon.

The next strip I’m gong back to Trog and Rio, and their day at work.

Cheers!

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Atomic Tails #29

I think this was longest break that I’ve ever had between comics.

So… I’m back at it., This year (I hope) to produce a bunch of new comics. Since last August, I’ve spent a bunch of time practicing the characters and cartooning, but #29 is based on old sketches I did last summer, so I don’t think a lot of the new practice really shows up here. Though I do kind of dig Rio in panel 3. That was actually a tough pose to get and at one point I even sketched out the entire interior of a BMW, but I felt it was unnecessary.

It honestly feels really good getting another comic done. I know I’m not the best cartoonist, and probably pretty bad at it, but I really like working on Atomic Tails, and I think I forgot how good it feels to finish one.

Well, Chud and I are writing new stuff, and I hope it won’t take another six months for a new comic!

Cheers!

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!

An Atomic Tails Update

Okay. I know it is very unlikely that anyone reads this blog, or my comic, but it has been a long while since I posted a comic and I just wanted to get on here and write an update for what's going on with Atomic Tails.

For this next year I probably won't be finishing too many Atomic Tails comics. I am still very interested in making more comics, but I've got a lot of personal problems right now and I am working very hard to fix them. This means I won't have as much time to draw Chud, Trog, and their lives. I will try and get a comic out as often as I can, but until probably December of this year, I just won't be able to focus on the comic anymore. And that sucks! I really love these guys and I got a bunch of cool stories I'm just starting to get into. It kind of feels like everything up until now has just been learning lessons.  However, I will still try an get a comic on as often as I can. That image up above is of Rio: Evil Goddess of the California Highways. Trog is a limo driver, and Rio (in spirit) rides along side him in his car, causing him all sorts of problems. So, it may take a week or two yet, but Rio's introduction strip is coming very soon. 

Also, I've pulled myself off of Facebook for a little while, so for any Atomic Tails art or doodles, follow my instagram. 

Okay, I have a little bit of spare time... so I'm gonna draw some mice! 

Cheers!

Atomic Tails #26!!!

New comic strip! This one only took me two weeks!!! Actually one week. I got hit with a really bad head cold, but now that I'm mostly back to normal, check out the latest Atomic Tails. To be honest, this one was really easy to put together since I was able to use so many of the assets from the last strip. I'm probably going to go back and re-draw the kitchen. I'm still not happy with that. 

Anyways, check out the new comic below or in the archive. I'm still leaking a lot of snot so I'm going to cut this short!

Enjoy!

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!

Atomic Tails 23!!!

I feel like I need to start these post with a reason as to why it took me a month to do a four panel comic. I mean, I don't need to. The comic is free, but I have to do Atomic Tails in my spare time (after work and weekends) and sometimes life stuff just get's in the way. I have a day dream where I some how walk into $50,000.00 and I can just take a year off to do nothing but work on the comic and Atomic Moo. Seeing as how that's never going to happen, just know that there is an actual battle of will behind the creation of every strip. 

Another reason this strip took sometime was because I had to learn how to draw a bunch of new stuff. I think that is one of the best things about doing a webcomic is that it can force an illustrator (even untalented ones like me) into having to draw stuff like scared rabbits and fly golf carts. 

Anyways, the fellers are on their way to the Tree of Woe and I really had a lot of fun creating this comic. It's kind of a call back to strip #2, but I feel like I've learned a lot since then, and I wanted to try an push myself on more dynamic illustrations. 

Check out the new comic below, and I'm just starting on #24. I have no idea how I'm going to draw a beach, but I'm looking forward to figuring it all out.

Cheers.  

Atomic Tails #22!

Hello again fellows! Another addition to the ongoing saga of Chud and Trog and their trek to make the world's greatest comic book. In a weird way, this strip was really hard to get done, and I feel like I made a real effort to focus on it. There was a lot of "life" stuff that kept jumping in the way, which can get frustrating. It's weird, but along with learning how to illustrate and use Adobe Photoshop and Illustrator, I feel like working on this comic is also teaching me how to focus and be patient with a project. Not that I'm focused or patient... at all, but I think it is helping. 

Anyways, in 22 Chud continues to tell Trog about his comic book idea (the twins have no idea this will someday become the world's greatest comic book), Atomic Moo! I think I mostly wanted this strip to lead into a trip to the Tree of Woe, which is an actual, real-life, place for Jason and I. Here in Carlsbad there's a gnarly old beach tree (I have no clue what type of tree) and just beyond it we often go to sit, smoke cigars, and relax. It's a good place to ponder and star gaze, and best of all, nobody ever goes there! I've always wanted to include the Tree of Woe in the comic, and if not the next strip (you'll see) the fellers are heading there to think about Chud's return and their future as comic book creators. 

Some notes about this strip: Jason actually did the pencil work for the Atomic Moo scene in panel one, but I did the inks and colors for that panel. I think it turned out pretty good, and I'd like to see if I couldn't get Jas to draw up a four panel Atomic Moo comic. He won't, but I'll ask anyways. Though I really like the Buttery illustration in Panel 2, After looking at it, I'm not too happy with the Panel Four Buttery. He's kind of a tough character to lock down, and I'm going to try more Buttery practice in between the next strip. Buttery is a bigger mouse than Chud and Trog, but not really fatter. Which is kind of tough for me to pull off. Last note, I think I made Trog's head way to big in panel three. I don't know, I like the smirk (especially with a joke nobody but Jason and I'll get) but I gotta watch my proportions better in the future. 

This strip actually taught me a bunch of new Photoshop functions like making blurs and lighting (check out the robots eyes and center piece), and also how to work with masking layers so I don't destroy my art. Way easier to paint these strips now! 

So, next strip we journey (they... they journey) to the Tree of Woe! Enjoy the comic below, check out the archive to see past comics!

Atomic Tails #19

New Atomic Tails and I'm Going to SDCC 17 today! Keen. So, with the new Atomic Tails some stuff has changed. First, I've been studying (and practicing) a lot of new body forms for cartoon characters and I think (THINK) I like where this is going. Buttery, Chud, and Trog all have better sitting and body forms in this strip. Well, maybe. Also, I worked a bit more on Buttery's proportions compared to other two mice. Buttery is bigger than his friends, but not really fatter. Which, I think I was drawing him as in previous strips. I like his size relationship to the other two in this strip way more. Also, I got to draw a hooka in this one! I think the gag was a bit hacky in this one (Jas came up with it, but since I'm mostly trying to work on drawing the comic I thought it was good enough. Plus I wanted to do a comic that kind of went into why the twins are living apart up until now.), and hopefully I can get a better joke in #20.

I'm going to be at the con for the next few days, so I probably won't get to do any real work on A.T. until I get back Sunday night, but check out the full strip below and I hope you enjoy!!!

Cheers!

Atomic Tails #18!

New Atomic Tails!

Check out #18 below!

Finally here!!! Okay, I've been watching a lot of Rick and Morty, so I've been yelling a lot and typing in caps a lot too. However; Somewhere in between playing WoW and watching way too much fucking Adult Swim I managed to finish another strip. Like  always I tried new stuff or changed some old stuff to help improve the comic. This is one big learning experience so if you're reading this and you're reading the comic, please expect changes as I learn new stuff. 

Different stuff in this comic: 1. Buttery's fur. Though you can't see it in the grey scale version, I've decided to make Buttery's fur all the same yellow. That includes his hair style. 2. Chud with one 'D'. In the past I've always spelled it as Chudd. This is actually how Jason (my real life twin and the real life Chud) created the name for the character. Form now on though it'll be just Chud with one d. We love classic horror films of the 70's and 80's and both real and cartoon Chud's are representing the fandom. 2. The mouse faces. I actually learned a little bit about stylizing the mouse face from doing the Goldfinger mouse. I'm going to start applying this in future strips. 

Over all this was a fun strip. For #19 I'm going to get them off the couch. seriously, I'm done with the living room and want to move them somewhere else. Look forward to "the Tree of Woe!"

Cheers!

Atomic Tails #16

Last night I finally finished #16. Not that I really feel bad about taking my time with this one. there's a lot of changes in this strip from how I normally illustrate Atomic Tails. This is the first time I tried to do a larger, "Sunday" like, strip. It was fun, and I would like to work these strips in on a regular basis. Maybe every seven strips instead of days, maybe not. It does take me awhile to get a comic produced. Also, this is the first time I used Adobe Photoshop to fully color one of my strips. So, there ways a bit (huge) learning curve on how to work with PS on this level. I've only ever used Adobe Illustrator for my strip, but I can see how learning Photoshop will speed things up, once I get more practice. I still inked (digitally) the strip in Illustrator though. I just like AI's pen and brush tools way more than Photoshop's. Keep in mind too, I'm using CS3 a much older version of Adobe than most people have access too. I'm broke! I can't afford the cloud! 

Another thing of note is the logo for the Ascension of the Golden  Yo-Yo's, As Designed by Jason (aka: real life Chudd) Murray. I dig the design and think it'll give us a lot to play with in the future. Jason also helped with the writing of this strip and I think it came out a lot better than what I had originally planned. 

The last thing of note is the changes to Trog's apartment. I changed the couch to look more like my own couch at home (kind of...) and I also added some posters of stuff similar (kind of...) to stuff I keep on the walls of my own apartment. It wasn't until I had most of the strip done that I noticed how little detail I was putting into my backgrounds. I'm trying to work more with perspective and spacing, but I want to focus more on Chudd and Trog's world. I'm even playing with the idea of designing the layout of Trog's apartment. Right now I'm just throwing up walls, because they're in doors and there should be a wall there somewhere. In the future I'd like their living space to be more planned out and believable. Well, as real as an apartment for cartoon mice can be. 

So, I've already got a good bite into #17 and I'm hoping this one won't take more than two weeks! Keep checking back for more Atomic Tails goodness! Check out the full #16 below!

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! 

Just Getting Started!

I just started putting the website together, and I'm running into all sorts of problems. Sorry if the comic strip is kind of unreadable or small. I'm hoping to fix that soon. Unfortunately I'm like really new to using Squarespace and this CMS isn't designed for webcomics. Well, not yet. 

The 10 strips I posted the other day were started about 3 years ago. I've been taking some time off from working on the strip it self to develop the form of the characters and study cartooning. I spend a lot of time drawing the Looney Tunes and cartoons like Tom and Jerry on top of normal character study and perspective work. I'm hoping the practice will pay off and I'll have better looking characters. 

One thing I've been doing is mixing my mice with other cartoons. Recently I did a couple of MOTU mash ups with the mice. I like doing this and I think it's helping me work out their overall form. Plus, it's just fun. After MOTU, I'm going to start on some DC Mash ups. I'm also working on a series of character sheets for the comics main characters (Chudd, Trog, Butter, D20, and Numbers) , I'm hoping to have that posted here soon too. Anyways check out the images below, and I'll have prints of them available on the Murray Brothers Creative website soon, and we're also taking them to Power-Con 2016! 

Enjoy!