Yes, I know, it has been a looooong time since I've updated this blog. Assuredly, I will carry that guilt with me forever. Our lack of correspondence has not been without reason. Two weeks ago, we moved into a new apartment. Unfortunately, we were without internet for a little more than a week. All internet priority shifted from blog updates to posting the actual comic.
This new apartment is great for the comic because I used to have to drive into Hoboken every weekend to work on something webcomicky with Katy. Now that we're roommates, our new home is also the headquarters for After-Comic.com. YEEEEAAAAAAAAHHHHH! (You can all start break-dancing now).
We've also had some delays because, well, a crazy effing storm has rocked the east coast. Our house lucked-out big time, though I wish I could say the same for our neighboring cities. The intro was filmed early Monday afternoon, right before Sandy took a dump all over the new Yorks and Jerseys. The footage and audio are less than ideal, but there are some really great questions addressed and answered. I can release the entire panel if people wish it.
Also, hurricanes may come and go, but we still update! Today is Wednesday, so page 8 is up for viewing. Thank you everyone for being so patient!
Comic con was a fantastic learning expereince. But it has been a very long two weeks. An amazing, draining, roller coaster of a time. I will better articulate our experience in the near future. Until then please enjoy a couple things I whipped up on the little bits of downtime we had over the weekend. One is a new sketch, THAT I AM IN LOVE WITH. The other is a pumped up version of my sketchbook cover. I promise, I will have an informative post out very soon. Thank you!
Jebus crust, it has been an insane week. Firstly, Comic Con was amazing. To put it colorfully, it is a bizarre, informative beast that swallows you entirely, chews you up, and spits you out; leaving you tired but very well-informed. As far as networking goes, Katy and I made a great number of contacts and managed to sell a decent number of prints. Here are some important pieces of info we gleaned from our time:
1. There is a very friendly and knowledgeable community of artists and writers within the convention. Talk to anyone you can, and just be nice and open-minded. We learned so much about webcomics and working creatively in general from our neighbors in Artist Alley.
2. Print LOTS of business cards. Seriously, print more than what you think you need; and after that, print even more! These will go quickly, and you never know when and where you'll meet an important contact. By the last day of the convention, we were right our email on the back of fliers because we had simply run out of sources of our contact info.
3. Try to have as little of expectations as possible going into each day of Comic Con. Honestly, we thought Thursday would be a breeze and Saturday would be the most daunting. In reality, the exact opposite proved to be true.
4. If you are selling or giving away prints/posters/etc, bring lots of bags! There is a lot of shit being sold at a convention, and your patrons have their hands full. A lot of nice people want to buy your product, but sometimes they just don't have the means to carry it around with them. Also, you want to make certain your art stays in good condition as they trounce about the show floor with it.
5. Here are a list of items that we found to be a necessity when operating a table in Artist Alley:
- Bottles of water (I've been dehydrated almost the entire weekend)
- Tape (So many applications)
- A lockbox (If you are selling anything, you want to keep your funds safe. I purchased a perfectly functional money case at Walmart for $10)
- Change (Also for selling merchandise. If you have a hundred dollars in varying bills than you will be more than prepared for giving customers change. This varies based on the scope of your sales of course.)
- Pens
- Pads of paper (For artists, it looks good if you're constantly sketching while sitting at a table)
There is a lot more to be said of Comic Con, and I'll be posting further this week. I've also edited all the footage I took of each day and will be posting them frequently. Below is the footage from Thursday, and I need to preface it with a few things. Firstly, I thought I could film everything and then edit and post it later that night. This didn't pan out so well, which I'm sure you'll be able to tell by how tired and insane I appear. Secondly, most of the footage was obtained while my hands were almost completely full. I apologize for all the shaky camera work, and I assure you the other days' footage will be an improvement. That being said, enjoy:
(Yeah, aware of the fact that this looks like a survival video)
Wednesday, October 10, 2012
Hey team!
Here's the good word: this week you get not one, but TWO PANELS! CAN YOU HANDLE IT!? In the spirit of all things comic and convention, we're doubling our post before we head for NY Comic just a small number of hours from now. Katy and I are functioning on abnormal levels of excitement and sleep deprivation, and are looking forward to unleashing that energy upon others at our table. Thanks for all the support!
Hey there, Folks. Tonight is Wednesday night (aka weekly update night). Bryant and I have been hard at work preparing for comic-con. Here is another poster that we will be handing out.
I am going to be completely candid with you all. This process is difficult. The hardest thing is not doing the work, The hardest thing is posting older pages (like the one I am posting tonight). I know I have already have already mentioned it, but I have quite a few pages that I have / am currently re-drawing.
But I cannot do that forever. SO I am releasing my pages that I created many moons ago.
I have also been devoting my time to promotional material (no you have NOT seen it all!) for the past month and a half or so (or maybe an eternity...that is what it feels like). I am itching to get back to work on the actual comic.
I wish I could dedicate all of my time to this. If I could put as much love into each panel as I put into this poster, I would be a happy gal. The silver lining is that I am getting better and faster at this the more I do it. It is an uphill battle, but at least I am going uphill. Thank you for following us. We hope to do you all proud!
