essrose

THERE GOES CHRISTMAS.

2009-12-10T21:43:23Z

I'm sorry, Corpse Kid. I wanted Goodbye, Crestfallen! to be out in time for Christmas, too, but it's just not going to happen. In fact, it turns out the book won't even be out on the shelves until late January. Ish.

So no new Serenity Rose book for Christmas this year.

What's that, Corpse Kid? You want to know what went wrong? Well, it's complicated... It's a COLOR book this time, y'see, and a color book means working with a new printer in China, and working with a printer in China means shipping via boat across the Pacific, and shipping via boat across the- Yeah, you're already glazing over a bit there, aren't you? It's okay, I don't really get it, either. It's just COMPLICATED, right?

What I DO know, however, from this ADVANCE COPY sitting right here in front of me right now, is that the final book will be ABSOLUTELY GORGEOUS. SLG has done a tremendous job in putting this one together, and I honestly couldn't be happier. The colors are stunning, the tones are perfect, all the detail is crystal clear, and the binding -because I know you've been wondering- appears STURDY ENOUGH TO WITHSTAND THE FURY OF A LUMBERJACK. (Provided said lumberjack expresses his fury by re-reading comic book compilations, in a normal manner, every few weeks for a reasonable number of years.)

The thing is NICE, Corpse Kid. Very much worth the extra wait. (Now please call off the Halloween Town invasion of China. The Ghost Festival does not need any "gothing up" today, thank you.)

For the rest of you guys...

I'm really sorry about the delay... I know a lot of you were hoping to give someone the book as a gift this year, so this really sucks. One day I will have my own personal armada of ocean-going comic-delivery warships, but, sadly, that day has not yet arrived.

But I CAN offer you this tiny thing:

SEND ME AN E-MAIL, and I'll put your name on the list to get a SIGNED copy of SR Vol. 2 as soon as they arrive here in the U.S.... And I'll even include a little goblin sketch with every book. The price will be $19.95 (cover price), plus shipping... but we won't worry about that until the books are actually here. (And yeah, all you guys outside the U.S. are eligible.)

After you've contacted me, I'll send you a link to a higher-res version of the image above (300 dpi TIF file, 5 x 7.66") so that you can print it out and, y'know, put it in a card, tuck it in with another gift, whatever you need.

Does that sound okay? I know it's not quite the same thing as a real, live book, but it's SOME thing, right? And like I was telling the Corpse Kid up there... all this extra hassle for color printing will most DEFINITELY be worth it come January. (Trust me.)

"See how I transform this old rat inTO a most deLIGHTful hat!"

SERENITY@HEARTSHAPEDSKULL.COM

Happy Holidays!

E-BAIT: Round Two

2009-11-25T21:48:49Z

Wow, has it really been EIGHT MONTHS since my last eBay auction? Doesn't seem possible... You, my friends, have been woefully under-served! Sorry about that.

BUT ANY-WHO. I have FOUR new pages from Serenity Rose Volume 2: Goodbye, Crestfallen uploaded to the eBayosphere right now, just in time for our current holiday season of gift-giving obligations. This will be the last auction before the book release next month... I figured you die-hard secret internet clubhouse folks deserved one more chance to grab a page or two before the larger comic book world is reminded of my existence in December.

HERE ARE THE THINGS (clicks and such for the listing):

BIdding ends this Monday, November 30th.

Thank you in advance for the biddery! I'm not quite sure when the next set will go up for auction, but I suspect it won't take another EIGHT MONTHS. And, of course, let me know if there's a page you're particularly interested in... I'll try to include it in the next batch.

Commissions: ROUND SEVEN

2009-11-10T07:41:29Z

Why yes, that IS Sonic the Hedgehog's pal Tails menacing a Warhammer 40K Space Marine with a "chainsaw sword" while Frank Zappa saunters by in the background with a disapproving look on his face. What of it?

Bunches more, including one (1) image of two (2) David Byrnes, in the COMMISSIONS GALLERY. That place is getting to be the coolest gallery on my site, actually... If only my whole professional life could be nothing but Serenity Rose and peculiar commissions.

If you'd like to request your OWN rendering of Frank Zappa (or anything else) send your angry demands to SERENITY@HEARTSHAPEDSKULL.COM. The base price is $50, and $30 for each additional character on the same page. Shipping is all kinds of free within the U.S., and a mere $3 to parts beyond.

I probably won't be able to dig into any new commissions until around December 1st, so this is pretty much THE call for CHRISTMAS REQUESTS right here... And I already have a few folks in the queue, so if you were hoping for a sketch of mine to wad up in somebody's stocking this year, NOW IS YOUR TIME!

HERE ARE SUPERHEROES:

One of these guys is called "Wiccan." Not to be confused with Brendan "BAD ASS" Li's immortal character of the same name. (COMIX: Not just for kids anymore!)

New Print: HELL IN THE HAM-CHAMBER

2009-10-27T20:02:10Z

PLEASE, SHIELD YOUR EYES AND PRESERVE YOUR SANITY!

Some years ago, on a suffocating August night here in Ol' Virginny, my good friend Jhonen V. and I, having recently eaten our fill of filthy meat and raw terbacky, retired to the porch of my crumbling Antebellum mansion to watch mosquitoes drain our blood and reminisce about the old times. Between puffs on our corn-cob pipes we spoke of many things, but, as was our custom, the conversation soon turned to our mutual friend Rikki S., and his terrible ways with Ham.

HERE IS THAT CONVERSATION IN FULL.

Soon after that fateful night, Jhonen began to fill a FLICKR SET with etchings of the Unspeakable Thing, as if by forcing strangers to render the hateful image again and again he could somehow exorcize it from his agonized mind. (As to his ultimate success or failure I cannot say, as the coroner's document remains painfully elusive on all matters immaterial.) I, for my part, returned to the darkest corner of my decaying ancestral home and crouched there in the stultifying shadows, swaying and staring, staring, EVER STARING, and thinking only of the Hams and the Furnace and the hateful Thing that would one day bring both of them to me.

I crouched there for 2 years, 10 months, 3 days and 13 hours... then someone commissioned me to do this drawing for fifty bucks.

"WHATEVER," I said.

And then Rikki colored it, it being HIS Ham Chamber and all. I think we can all agree it's pretty hideous and disturbing and you wouldn't want to be stuck sitting next to it on a bus or anything, but man... Not sure it was worth dying in a madhouse over or anything. But ha! I guess that's just how it goes sometimes.

Crazy stuff, man!

Get your own HAM DEMON PRINT, signed by me and the Mr. Ham Demon himself, Rikki Simons, right about here:

GOODBYE, CRESTFALLEN?

2009-10-22T09:30:48Z

FIRST OF ALL...

BIG THANK YOU to everyone who's been following GOODBYE CRESTFALLEN week after week for the past 600 years. (It's been 600 years, right? Seems like 600.) I really do appreciate you guys coming here week after week, month after month, decade after decade, supporting the comic and making me feel like I'm not just screaming, feebly, into a hideously empty void. You have rendered me VOID-LESS, and I am enjoying it quite a lot indeed!

I especially appreciate all you comment-leaving types out there (and not just for the free spell-checking you provide). All the guessing and theorizing and whatnot is just BRILLIANT... I think some of you (Alphatroll) have given more thought to how the witching world works than *I* have. (Was that MATH in there??)

(You are strongly encouraged to continue speculating wildly in the official-type Serenity Rose forum, Bubblegum Noir.)

SO.

I guess the question is...

WHEN IS VOLUME 3?

SOON.

Well... hopefully soon, anyway. My policy is that I won't start Serenity's next story until I'm ABSOLUTELY 100% NO-SCREWING-AROUND-HERE POSITIVE I can tear through all 120-some-odd pages, two per week, until it's done. It takes a long, long, veryvery long time to render out these Serenity Rose pages, unfortunately, and it's very hard to balance that time with the time spent, y'know, "making a living."

The demon Botched Deadline claws hungrily at my mindmeats, and his hateful little imp, Irregular Update, taunts me every night in my dreams.

A Serenity Rose book costs roundabout $8000 to make, believe it or not, so if I'm going to make another one, I need to pile up some money for a while... There are a couple of long(ish)-term freelance projects hovering over my head right now maybe possibly, so that's good, but YOU TOO can help support the Serenity Rose Vol. 3 Completion Fund...

HERE IS HOW:

1) Pre-Order THE BOOK! And help spread the words!

2) Pick out some ORIGINAL ART!

3) Grab a PRINT!

4) Request a SKETCH COMMISSION!

5) DIRECT DONATIONS! I'm just like NPR.

With luck I'll have the proper SR funds raised and a nice clear desk within a year. But... of course, if any of you happen to have $8000 lying around RIGHT NOW, I could get Volume 3 rolling by January 1st. Check your sock drawers, folks!

(NOTE: Heartshapedskull.com will NOT (repeat: NOT) be lying fallow during these dark, lonely days of money-grubbing Seralessness. Nope, I definitely have some thinks in mind, and maybe if you come back in a week or two, you'll see what I mean.)

And thank you again for reading and supporting Serenity's little story over the years. I am literally bursting my guts to show you what happens next.

BOOK 3 (and 4) AWAIT.

Book. December COLOR!

2009-10-06T19:57:45Z

PRINT EDITION...

DECEMBER, 2009...

IN COLOR...

GYAARRGHH!

(See how I didn't bury all that good information in some long-winded paragraph with a million silly parentheticals like a usually do? Right up top and totally unambiguous this time. Nice job with the marketing, man!)

PRESS RELEASE:

"When you're a witch with night terrors, you might just start conjuring unspeakable monsters in your sleep. That's what's happening to Serenity Rose, noted witch, artist, and social-phobic, in the much-anticipated second volume of Serenity Rose by Aaron Alexovich (Kimmie66, Confessions of a Blabbermouth).

In Serenity Rose Volume Two: Goodbye, Crestfallen, due out from SLG Publishing in December 2009, Serenity is doing her best to stay awake, but if that's not enough to make her crack, the government goons hassling her, the freaked-out tourists ogling her, and the sadistic blond witch that's been following her will! Add into that some heavy friendship drama and the past coming back to haunt her, and it's no wonder the stress is just about killing Sera. Can she get her head on straight before she brings the whole town down with her?

'I wanted to seriously push myself art-wise, and tell a tight, focused, very personal story with a lot of heavy horror atmosphere and some intense, bizarre action scenes,' said Alexovich. 'I think people who liked the first book will be really surprised by this one. It's the best stuff I've ever done, and I'm beyond excited that SLG decided to let everyone see it in full, bloody, ectoplasmicky color. I promise not to make them wait 78 years for the next one.'

Serenity Rose Volume Two: Goodbye, Crestfallen is a 144-page, full-color graphic novel full of horror, turmoil -- and monsters as only Alexovich can draw them. Its ISBN is 978-1-59362-181-0 and it can be PRE-ORDERED AT COMIC BOOK STORES NOW with the DIAMOND CODE OCT090665.

Established in 1986, SLG Publishing is a San Jose, California based publisher of comic books, graphic novels and related merchandise. Some of SLG's more notable comics and creators have included Johnny the Homicidal Maniac by Jhonen Vasquez, Milk and Cheese by Evan Dorkin and Zombies Calling by Faith Erin Hicks. For more information, visit the SLG Publishing website, WWW.SLGCOMIC.COM."

SCREAM IT TO THE HEAVENS, PLEASE.

Because I would really appreciate it.

If you're into that sort of thing.

Thank you!

Postpartum Depression: THE CURE.

2009-09-24T18:48:27Z

Huh. I seem to have a finished book here. 2 years of my life and 122 painfully pencil-rendered pages, all formatted, zipped-up and delivered to SLG Publishing. Should be some news about that before too long.

I feel like I should be more... jubilant right now, but honestly I just feel sort of... deflated. I'm really happy with how the book turned out - or, well, the book feels like ME at least, it feels RIGHT, which all I can really ask for - and I'm beyond excited to see it all printed up and proper... I just don't have that "VICTORIOUS CONQUERING HERO" feeling I thought I'd have.

Postpartum depression, probably.

But HEY, nothing cures the old "nothin' to do stomach churns" more than having stuff to do, right? I'm currently hovering over a couple of large-ish professional-type projects right now, among other things (planning Vol. 3), but I should have some time to reopen the art commissions queue for a while. I know a couple of you guys have been waiting a while... sorry about that. Your time has come!

COMMISSIONS! are $50 ($30 for each additional character on the page) for a pencil sketch on 9x12 Bristol. I'll draw pretty much anything you'd like, from my characters to other people's characters to your characters to YOU to your friends to your mom to your garbage man to your garbage man's secret lover to your garbage man's secret lover's vengeful spouse in the act of walling them both up forever in the basement and cackling like a madwoman to what-have-you. Stuff like this:

More details (and examples) on the COMMISSIONS PAGE. Hey, pretty snazzy!

Please, won't you help defeat the Ennui of Completion? Thank you kindly!

(I should probably also work up some new prints of some kind.... Any suggestions?)

Comic-Con Schedule, Squids.

2009-07-18T00:09:40Z

The Humboldt Squid have invaded San Diego, and so will I. Tens of thousands of me, each with razor-sharp tentacles and a Slave Girl Leia outfit.

You can find at least one of me (the one WITHOUT the fearsome tentacles or golden bikini) encamped at the SLG booth (#1815, right next to the DC Compound) at the following times:

THURSDAY: 2:30 - 4:00
FRIDAY: 5:30 - 7:00
SATURDAY: 11:00 - 12:30, 2:00 - 3:30
SUNDAY: 10:00 - 11:00

That first one on Saturday has me sat right next to Jhonen, a particularly horrific curse detailed in great and terrible detail here: http://www.questionsleep.com/mindspill/?p=1003 I figure I'll haul off and slug every person in line like that guy next to Robin Hood in Time Bandits.

(INSERT YOUTUBE CLIP HERE!)

Will the NEW PRINTS be available? INDEED THEY WILL.

See you in Squid Hell!

YOUR WALL IS SAD.

2009-06-25T10:03:15Z

...For it does not have THESE:

SERENITY

13 X 19 - $18

VICIOUS

13 X 19 - $18

TESS

13 X 19 - $18

Yep, I have entered the magical world of PRINT-MAKING, and I'm hoping you folks will find these images worthy of your wall-space.

(Because if you don't, this muscular behemoth of a printer I bought might just tear itself loose, wrench a wall off your home and print swear words all over grandma. This thing is BIG. I cannot STOP it.)

I spent WAAAYYYY more time than I should have fussing with these prints and making them just perfect, but I think it paid off... My little world is composed almost exclusively of rough sketches and (mostly greyscale) comic books, so I don't often spend so much time working with color. Or at this SCALE... These images are printed on 13 x 19 inch Canon Photo Paper Plus (Semi-gloss), so they'll take up a decent chunk of real estate on your wall. They seem almost ostentatious, you know?

DETAILS: The prints are selling for $18 each, or $50 for a set of all three. They're signed, and they all come with the legendary "goblin doodle" I've been including for so many years. Every batch of prints comes delivered flat in a heavy-duty, rigid photo mailer (although if you prefer them rolled, we could probably work something out). Postage is $6 in the U.S. and Canada, $10 everywhere else.

Paypal is preferred, but personal checks and money orders are a possibility.

E-mail me at SERENITY@HEARTSHAPEDSKULL.COM to place your order or ask questions or verbally berate me or offer me real estate or what-have-you.

(And yeah, I should have prints for Comic Con.)

The prints' permanent home is in the HSS store right here: http://www.heartshapedskull.com/store/

...And also in the brand new ETSY STORE:

Aside from the prints, in the Etsyplace you'll find lots of original pages (with nice, see-able pictures, even!) from Serenity Rose, Kimmie66, and Blabbermouth, and before too long we'll hopefully we'll get some OTHER things in there, as well. Keep checking back!

THANK YOU to everyone who orders one of my fancy new art prints. They were a lot of fun to make, and I'm CERTAIN I'll be making more.

Because the printer, it watches me.

FAT CHUNK Vol. 2: ZOMBIE

2009-06-17T20:36:41Z

When Jamie "Bear" Smart came to me a few months ago and asked if I'd contribute something to his upcoming zombie comic anthology, I did what any red-blooded American comic artist would do: I laughed at his sickening un-American accent and stabbed him with the nearest bald eagle.

Then I thought about it a bit (while Jamie slowly dragged himself to "hospital"), and realized this could be an opportunity to satisy my life's #1 greatest ambition: to draw people with flies stuck to their eyeballs, and have other people look at those drawings.

Today, that dream finally comes true.

FAT CHUNK Vol. 2: ZOMBIE lives!

Fat Chunk is an anthology of cool zombie bits by 60-some-odd comic artists, all of whom (judging just from the little icons here) make me look like a sad little rag doll hurled into the corner and covered with urine. God, there's some cool stuff there.

Available at only the coolest comic shops right this very moment!

...

...Wait, your shop doesn't have it? Jesus, why do you buy stuff there?? They have "Marvel Bromance" but not this?? GET OUT BEFORE THE INFECTION SPREADS!

(NOTE: The usual online suspects say the book isn't out yet for some reason, but here are some links anyhow: Amazon, Things From Another World, and SLG direct.)

Twice A Week (INDEED!)

2009-05-20T20:11:29Z

Yep, our little witch is growing up, and these tiny, one-update-a-week baby pants just won't fit her anymore. So into the trash, tiny baby pants! INTO THE TRASH FOREVER.

From now on GOODBYE, CRESTFALLEN pages will come rolling out every TUESDAY AND THURSDAY. Meaning that if you only show up on Wednesdays you'll miss half the story, lose your mind, and be left broken, alone, sucking your thumb in a dark alley and weeping all over your tiny, filthy baby pants. You don't want THAT, do you?

TUESDAYS AND THURSDAYS.

Thanks to everyone who followed the book through this dark, painful period of one-update-a-week hell. I assure you, there is a brighter future to come. Chin up, my friends!

More announcements to come very soon.

What do you think, board of directors?

Well screw you, too!

THE END IS NIGH.

2009-03-29T10:12:24Z

Just wanted to let you know the inaugural SR Vol. 2: Goodbye Crestfallen original page BID-STRAVAGANZA will come to its shocking conclusion around 1:30 this afternoon (PST). You can watch in horrified silence right here: http://shop.ebay.com/merchant/serenityrose

Also, did you know Vince the ShamWOW! guy was recently arrested for fracturing a prostitute's face after she "bit his tongue and would not let go?" I'm not sure that information will help me sell any Serenity Rose pages, but surely, it can't hurt.

E-BAIT.

2009-03-24T21:27:14Z

AS PROMISED.

Okay, this'll be sort of a test run... I have four pages from Goodbye Crestfallen up for sale on eBay right now, with a minimum bid of a paltry $5. That's right: FIVE AMERICAN DOLLARS. I'm expecting it to go slightly higher than that by the end, but if it doesn't, no worries... I have a bottle of gin and a loaded revolver on hand just in case.

Here's what we've got (clicks and such for the listing):

BIdding ends this Sunday, March 29th.

And thanks in advance for the bids... Even if we only get these pages up to $5.10, every thin dime helps to keep this whole endeavor alive for another month (I have a machine that converts dimes to hamburgers). And if you don't have the money to bid, no problem. Thank you just for reading (my other machine converts site hits to a delicious fish slurry).

Hurm...

2009-03-15T06:06:44Z

The whole time I was watching Watchmen I kept thinking, "Oh yeah! I remember that part! God... this was SUCH a great book."

So does that mean I loved the movie?

I HAVE NO EARTHLY IDEA.

I do know I love this, though:

Commissions: ROUND SIX.

2009-03-03T22:41:55Z

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

My resolution this year: cut my Death Note usage to just five names a day (and ALL CRIMINALS, AARON).

KInd of wriggling things around here at heartshapedskull.com at the moment, doing a little Almost Spring Cleaning and suchlike. (Man, how long was that radio thing dead?) I'll probably be adding things (hey, banners!) and shifting bits around for a little while yet, but nothing too drastic. The next big site update won't happen until Vol. 3 is ready to roll out.

I decided to ditch most of the Google ads and go with Project Wonderful instead, mostly because they let you pick and choose which ads to allow on the site ("Yes on 8?" No on Google). If any of you guys use the PW, advertising here is super-dirty-cheap at the moment, so by all means, let's get something cooler than Amazon up there.

I've got a couple of other money-making schemes in the works here, too, all in pursuit of what I like to call "living the dream." Which in this case means "sitting in my own home, at my own desk, getting all my bills paid doing nothing but drawing Serenity Rose comics (preferably two a week) and maybe a few fun little sketch commissions every month, and never having to worry about getting any freelance work ever again." God, it's so close... I only need like $600/month to live right now. It's like the dream is just barely pokable right now, but juuuuuust out of grasping distance. You guys have been just amazingly supportive of me and the comic, but I need to come up with some more interesting stuff to offer and some new strategies for bringing in more eyes...

Grasping schemes (upcoming):

1) PRINTS. Goodbye Crestfallen will definitely be published in paper form as soon as it's done, but will it have all the color intact? Yeah... pretty unlikely, at least for now. So I thought I might offer full-color, hi-res prints of individual pages either through this site or something like etsy. Some new color prints would be lot of fun, too, if I could carve out some time. God, that'd be awesome.

2) NEW ORIGINAL PAGES. Several decades ago I promised to auction off some of the new Goodbye Crestfallen pages on good ol' ebay. THAT TIME HAS COME. By the end of the month I'll have a batch of four or five pages up for any and all possible bids. Requests?

3) LOCKETS. Heart-shaped skull lockets. Metal ones. I would dearly love to make this happen, but I just haven't the speckiest of a speck of an idea how. We've thought about making them ourselves, but man, there just isn't enough time in the day. Anybody have an idea?

4) ADVERTISING. Did I mention I made proper, I'm-serious-about-this, grown-up web proprietor banners? IT IS SO. One of them even has a little animation tucked in. If the Project Wonderful thing works out okay, it'd probably be a good idea to throw that money back into advertising on other folk's sites, too....

5) COMMISSIONS. Oh wait... I'm already doing those! And hey, I have some pictures, even!

More stuff all up in the commissions gallery.

Anyway, if you'd like to commission your own wee drawering, send your request to serenity@heartshapedskull.com. The base price is $50, and $30 for each additional character on the same page. Shipping is all kinds of free within the U.S., and a mere $3 to parts beyond.

You could even etch it on your body permanently:

AWESOME.

Merry Muppmess!

2008-12-24T08:09:10Z

Merry Muppmess from myself and the entire cast of Muppet Christmas Carol.*

And yes indeed, this was in fact a commission. I just figured I'd use it to make the site all nice for Christmas. So Happy various Holidays, folks! And remember: There's no law against cranky atheists enjoying some lights, exchanging some gifts, and hugging their moms. You can even enjoy it!

*Except for Sir Michael Caine, whom I have vowed never to draw. (HE knows why.)

WAPSIS!

2008-12-18T10:14:49Z

Have you ever wondered what it would look like if I were allowed to scribble-scrabble all over one of the most beloved, long-running (and sassiest!) webcomics on the internet? Well, check out Wapsi Square today and put all your wonderment to rest.

Thanks again to Paul for letting me be a part of this winter's Guest Comic Week. Your characters are all kinds of fun to draw, sir! (Especially the hands...)

Thanks!

2008-12-01T22:15:40Z

Thanks to everyone who commented on my last post. I figured I wasn't the only artist on earth who's completely uninterested in nuts-and-bolts process stuff, but it was nice to have my figuring verified. And I really appreciate all the suggestions.

I think regular exercise is probably the key here. I should just do the obvious thing and keep a sketchbook for practicing my "technique" on a more regular basis. The more you draw, the more you get your hand and brain used to drawing, the quicker you can blaze through all the tedious technical parts of the drawing process. Which is, y'know, sort of a "Duh" type of situation.

Some people suggested I hire an inker and/or colorist/toner to handle all the... unpleasantness. And yeah, I'd LOVE to do that, but foisting the gruntwork onto someone else is kind of just avoiding the problem. Also, people like to be paid in money, rather than the lovely rainbow personality charts I prefer to use as currency:

Your rainbow is intensely shaded black, gray, and blue.

What is says about you: You are an elegant person. You appreciate friends who get along with one another. You share hobbies with friends and like trying to fit into their routines. You may meet people who are afraid of you.

Find the colors of your rainbow at spacefem.com.

Look upon my elegance, ye mighty, and be afraid!

Thanks, everyone!

Faster, Lazycat! Draw! Draw!

2008-11-27T07:50:58Z

I really need to learn how to draw faster.

My art style has always been sort of cramped and fussy and sort of timid-looking, which I kind of like (the whole world's a little to BOLD for me, thanks), but it's not so good for getting stuff done, and getting it done quick. And being a really fabulous artist isn't just about how well you can draw, but how quickly you can draw well. I mean, any half-decent artist can make something wonderful if they spend eighteen years on it. It's the ones who spend eighteen minutes who really make an impression, get all the good jobs, etc., etc.

I'm bringing this up because I just spent most of November working on three little book pitches. I got most of the writing part done, but I only managed to draw ONE measly little bit of finished concept art. When I realized I was in danger of falling behind on the Serenity stuff, I had to put all the rest of it aside for a while. This is simply unacceptable.

Now, I worked in animation for a little while. I know how to scribble things out pretty quick if I have to. In fact, that's the FUN part. Rough drawings are what I like. I can get four or five Serenity pages done in a day if I'm just scribbling out some rough layouts only I'm meant to see. It's doing those finished, final, ready-to-present-to-the-public-and/or-potential-publishers artwork that's like pulling teeth for me. I hate whittling things down to one solid line. I hate having to carefully figure out tones and perspective and three-dimensional rendering. Don't even talk to me about color.

I find no joy in Photoshop.

It's sort of like I'm addicted to that initial flare-up of beautiful, scribbley creativity, but then my brain quickly glazes over to the point where I'd rather just ditch it all and go refresh CHUD.com for the twentieth time that day.

I WILL PROVIDE AN EXAMPLE.

This is the extra-sketchy version of page 21 from Goodbye Crestfallen (final here):

At this point I have completely lost interest in the drawing process, and am quite possibly staring at my cat or thinking about John Carpenter's The Thing. Maybe I'm eating a cookie.

This is indicative of a dangerous lack of what professionals call "followthrough."

And I have the same problem with writing. I love making plot outlines and scene descriptions and little bits of dialogue and whatnot, but once I've come face to face with that vast expanse of horrible, soul-devouring blankness in MS Word... Hey, maybe I should check and see if Matt Yglesias has updated his blog!

Anybody else have this followthrough problem? Does EVERYone have this followthrough problem? How do you get over it? Or more importantly, how do you get over it without an employer breathing fire down the back of your neck to get things done faster?

Commissions: ROUND FIVE.

2008-11-07T01:13:05Z

Wow, has it really been five months since I last did sketch commissions? Who stole all that time from me? Was it you, big freelance character design job? Or you, big horrible brain tumor scare? Or maybe it was you, big horrible Sarah Palin scare?

No, none of you? Well SOMEbody's responsible around here...

Anyhow! I actually did a couple of wee tattoo designs for this batch of commissions. Never done that before. People send me photos of their Serenity Rose tattoos every now and then, but these are my first little stabs at made-to-order skin art. Turned out kind of okay, I think:

"Remember You Will Die" and "Remember to Live," if you're wondering.

More stuff all up in the commissions gallery.

Anyway, if you'd like to commission your own merry little scribbling (Christmas is coming, eh?), send your request to serenity@heartshapedskull.com. The base price is $50, and $30 for each additional character on the same page. Shipping is all kinds of free within the U.S., and a mere $3 to parts beyond.

Parts like Obama, Japan!

Man On the Moon.

2008-11-05T07:35:20Z

Our parents' generation got to watch the first man walk on the moon.

I think I finally know how that must have felt.

"And to all those who have wondered if America’s beacon still burns as bright - tonight we proved once more that the true strength of our nation comes not from our the might of our arms or the scale of our wealth, but from the enduring power of our ideals: democracy, liberty, opportunity, and unyielding hope.

For that is the true genius of America - that America can change."

Full bit of history here.

Please Die, Prop. 8.

2008-10-30T09:41:43Z

The campaign to defeat Proposition 8 here in California sure could use your money. In case you're not up on your props, this is the one that would make it illegal for gay and lesbian couples to get married in the state of California.

Let me underline that for you: There is currently a proposition on a ballot in the United States of America that would take rights AWAY from American citizens. For no logical reason.

What few polls I've seen show pretty much an even split between supporters of Prop. 8 and, um... well, y'know... decent, rational human beings. An even split. Just terrifying.

Now, I'm pretty confident all you California peeps out there are going to come out and do the right thing at the voting booth Nov. 4, but here's the thing... You don't necessarily have to be from California to get a say in this thing. You can, indeed, vote to stop Prop. 8 with your wallet.

Donate HERE!

Right HERE!

Yes, HERE!

It's not "too late," either. The more money Equality California has, the more ads they can buy in these final, fleeting, horribly crucial days before the election. And when you're talking ballot propositions, ads definitely matter. Every wee little penny counts. The other side has a huge financial advantage at the moment (massive cash infusions from the Mormon church will do that), but we can change the equation if we just keep piling up the pennies.

In about 6 days we have a chance to elect a multi-racial black man with an Arabic name President of the United States of America. We also have a chance to add the weight of explicit public approval to gay and lesbian people's basic right to marry the ones they love.

If things go the right way, Nov. 5th, 2008 will feel (finally!) like the first day of the 21st Century.

(The flying cars and personal rocket-boots will be distributed on the 6th.)

Please help make the 21st Century happen!

And thanks so much!

It's Not a Tumah!

2008-10-25T08:20:28Z

Hooray for no brain cancer!

After nearly two months, one CAT scan, two MRI's, an EEG, one failed "sleep study" and something called Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy (which seems to involve the same technology used to determine the chemical composition of stars, only pointed right at my skull), I finally got word today that all my various sleep disorders and assorted headache troubles are not, thank god, the result of cancer in the brain.

How's that for good news?

It's not every day a guy gets to hear he doesn't have brain cancer. (Have you heard you don't have brain cancer today?)

The neurologists still aren't sure exactly what's been causing my assorted head problems... Scary words like "tumor" and "biopsy" originally came up when the first MRI showed my hippocampus lit up like Christmas and festooned with festive "little dots." I'm not sure what that was all about, but it might have something to do with having the test done just a few days after the second-worst migraine of my life. But anyway, the second MRI showed my brain essentially back to normal. (As if it ever WAS! BWAHAHAHAHAHAohdeargodmakeitstop...) The "little dots" might actually be scar tissue from 20 years of chronic migraining, believe it or not. And if the notion of scar tissue on the brain freaks you out... well, join the club, buddy.

They put me on this new seizure medication to cut out the night terrors, and so far it seems to be working. The migraines I'm not as worried about, since they only hit me once a year or so (again, like Christmas). But I have some new meds for that, too, so with any luck this'll be the end of any health-related blog posting for a long, long time.

Man, that was pretty scary. Not as scary as it would've been if I'd actually allowed myself to think about it much, but still... scary.

I have a disc right here filled to brimming with images of my brain, but they won't open on my computer. So here's an image of a bride and groom being impaled on Triceratops horns instead:

It's about as good a look inside my head as anything else, to be honest.

Hooray for no brain cancer!

Original Art RIP: 2006-2008

2008-10-14T08:30:07Z

Nah, that's too dramatic... But I am going to take down all the original "Goodbye Crestfallen" pages at the end of the month. I just need to find a better way of drawing attention to the original art, maybe by making more of an event out of it (eBay?). I mean, dribbling the pages out week by week in small text links might seem like a winning sales strategy, but you know... even the greatest of mankind's ideas are occasionally laid low (see: American Capitalism, 1776-2008).

Yeah, I definitely think periodic attacks of the eBay might be in my original art sales future...

But anyway, if you'd like to snag a page or two before I take them down on Nov. 1st, saunter right over HERE for the full list.

HERE AGAIN IS THE LINK TO BUY ORIGINAL ART!

LIKE THIS ONE:

Thanks in advance for buying the stuffs! Or, y'know, even if you don't buy anything, thanks again for reading the stuffs.

(Man, I can't wait for you guys to see the next six pages...)

Minx RIP: 2007-2008

2008-09-30T00:08:17Z

I'm still trying to clear all the cobwebs of brain medication from my skull (just 5 pages this month, holy god!), but I figured I should at least post some thoughts about the big Minx collapse last week...

If you haven't heard, a few days ago DC Comics abruptly guillotined their whole "Minx" line of teen-girl-targeted books after just 16 months in the wild. The status of all their pending releases and pitches and whatnot is sort of up in the air right now, it seems. I had three pitches over there (including a Kimmie sequel), but I hadn't heard anything about those in a while...

Anyway, here's what I told Andy Khouri at Comic Book Resources (sorry to steal, but I'd just be repeating myself otherwise):

“Confessions of a Blabbermouth” illustrator Aaron Alexovich (also a character designer on “Invader Zim”) had the unique privilege of not just drawing a graphic novel aimed at teenage girls, but also collaborating with a teenage girl on its creation. “Mike [Carey] and Louise [Carey] put so much personality into those characters, I was more than happy to be dragged out of my typical spookyscreamymonster comfort zone,” Alexovich told CBR. “I'd work with them again anytime.”

Alexovich also wrote and illustrated for Minx the 176-page “Kimmie66,” a critically acclaimed graphic novel about a girl in the 23rd century who investigates the apparent suicide of her closest internet friend. “I have nothing but good things to say about working with Shelly on my Minx books,” he said. “‘Kimmie66’ was my first book for DC, so I sort of went into it expecting a pretty heavy editorial hand, but there was a lot more freedom than I expected. There was a lot of conversation and re-jiggering, yeah, but in the end, that book came out feeling just as much ‘mine’ as if I'd done it with a smaller publisher. That's probably the saddest thing about Minx falling apart. It's one less place at the Big Two for unique, personal voices to be heard. You can certainly pour a lot of your own voice into a Superman story, but it's just not the same thing.”

“Kimmie66” is widely considered a highlight of the Minx line, but that didn’t make it any easier for its author to find in bookstores. “All I can say is that whenever I'm in a Borders, I look to see if my books are there, and I've found them maybe three times, always smooshed in among the ‘Captain Americas’ and whatnot,” he said. “I don't think they ever found the best place to shelve the Minx stuff, to be honest. I don't think I would have, either.

“Alternately," Alexovich added, "maybe people just didn't like them as much as they, y'know, liked other things.”

Read the whole thing here. It's really in-depth... I think he got quotes from pretty much every creative team involved.

I haven't really gone mucking through the comic blog-pits for other comments, but I did find some great posts on my Livejournal Friends Page:

Mariah (who helped edit Kimmie66) has her usual in-depth, well-thought-out take on the situation. I especially like that she brought up the lack of "genre" books in the line. Kimmie66 always seemed like an odd duck at Minx, and I'm absolutely certain the marketing department realized it... (There's a reason Kimmie was released dead last in 2007.) This whole "real girls in the real world" dictate seemed to come about long after I'd finished my book, and it just depressed the hell out of me. I mean, that "teen girl" perspective has been so hard to find in so much "genre" stuff for so long, especially in comics, why not try to tap into that? Maybe more girls would read science fiction (or westerns, or war stories, or monster stuff, action-adventures, whatever) if the stories had more relatable protagonists and recognizable situations. Maybe they wouldn't,* but it's something for the next intrepid publisher to consider.

Mariah also points out that "Moxie" would've been a better name for the line. I agree 100%... but sadly, the focus groups did not. This, unfortunately, marks the first time I and any random group of average teenage girls have not been in total agreement on matters of personal taste.

Some other findings from my LJ Friends Page: Ross brings the whole line down with short-shorts,** Dave Roman (Agnes Quill rocks!) has some great points about serialization, my new favorite artist Faith Erin Hicks dodges a bullet, and Re-Gifter's beyond-brilliant Sonny Liew wraps it all up thusly:

"As comics creators i guess all we can really do is try and tell the stories we think are worth telling and hope that the jungle of the marketplace out there somehow thinks they're worth reading too."

In other words: If you want certainty, may I suggest a career in mathematics?

*Yes, they would.

**Knock it off, Ross! Your work is beautiful and your girls are the truest, most realistic-looking teenagers in the business. Anyone who doubts that oughtta be strapped into one of those "Clockwork Orange" chairs and have Wet Moon forced into their eyes over and over and over again until they're properly reprogramed.