No comic this week but.

As my previous blog post explained, I will not be putting comics out on a regular basis for a little while.  That said, I do want to keep in touch.  Here is a doodle of things to come.

Have a good weekend!

K

No comics, but not to worry.

Hey people, you may have noticed that there haven't been any new comics in the past two or three weeks.  Please allow me to explain myself.  For those who don't know, I am also working on a board game that should (if all things go according to plan) come out sometime in the next year.  Recently there has been a massive design overhaul.  As in, 90% of the mechanics were scrapped and rebuilt from the ground up.  This has been a long, but fruitful process, and I believe it has made the game significantly better.  In any case, this rebuild has taken all of my creative time for the last two weeks.  It is nearing a conclusion, meaning you can expect comics soon; but just not this week.

Hope that has cleared some things up.  Sorry again for not producing; I'll do something special for you all when I get back.

-K

Renovation 6

Well here we are again.  The sixth page of Renovation is done for real now, I hope it was worth the wait.  This page was finished in my new studio fresh off of me moving in.  It has been a busy week but I think I am starting to get settled.

Like I said before this decision to go black and white as well as sketchier was made to both save time and free up the process from traditional comics.  If you want more detail on that notion see last week's blog post.

I like how this page ended up for the most part.  Panels 4,5,6 I think worked out particularly well, though I liked them better before I put in the word balloons.  A note for next week is to plan out where the words go better; I am still quite the novice when it comes to that.  One other thing I am not happy with is panel 8.  Quin's face sort of fell apart I thought.  I couldn't decide how cartoony to go with the expression and so in the end I think the indecision shows.  Also, maybe her head is too small.  Oh well.

It has also come to my attention that drawing multiple figures is taking me significantly more time than when this thing was just Jeremy in a car.  This fact is really obvious and I should have planned for this sooner but I think black and white will be a necessity from now on.

I said last week that I would also have a 3 panel strip.  This turns out not to be the case.  But don't fear, I do have something else for you to make up for it.

More details about this other project will be out soon.  I am going to get a website up for it in fact; so you can look for that in a few weeks.

That is all for this week.  Hope you all have had and are having a good long weekend.

-K

Renovation Sort of 6

Hello people, another Sunday has snuck up on me.  As you can tell the comic isn't 100% done; for that I am really sorry. I am in the process of moving this week and so I haven't had the time to hunker down and get shit done.  That said the Renovation page and a gag strip will be done for next week so you can look forward to that.  In the mean time I thought I could still do a blog post for the first time mid process.  So, here we go.

The first thing I should say is that my plan for this week was to do the strip black and white.  this decision was made for two reasons.  Firstly, as I have talked about before I have never really liked colour.  It always makes me uncomfortable and I don't know why.  Secondly, I knew I was moving this week so I decided ahead of time that I could speed things up and get the comic done if I didn't colour it.  And look how that turned out!  In any case I feel like not colouring was a good idea because I didn't want to approach this like I usually do.  Let me explain.

When it comes to process I have been really traditional with Renovation.  I started with rough "pencils" then I "inked" the stuff, then I coloured it all in and added the words last.  When it comes to the drawn elements of a comic that whole pencil, ink, colour thing is like the holy trinity.  In my opinion it is a pretty archaic way of going about things.  But that is the way I have done this because that is the way comics are traditionally made.  As Liza would say balls to you that.  I got to thinking that this three layered methodology sucks because it was made in a physical media mind set (instead of digital) and furthermore it was designed in the traditional comic industry, where you had different people to do each of those steps.  All this brings me to the biggest change I made this week, other than a really rough sketch to sort out layout I am just drawing this weeks comic.  That's it.  It is being drawn in photoshop; as in that is the one and only step.  As much as I hate to harken back to my artschoolspeak I am treating it like a painting.  It is just a bunch of stuff on a flat page.

Now, that said I am still not using the fact that I do this digitally to it's full potential.  As much as I rail against tradition in the previous paragraph I am still not using this new medium to it's full potential. I am fully aware of that, but baby steps.  In two weeks ill come up with something else to disturb, but for now this is it and I hope it has made things a bit more interesting.

Other than that I would say that I like how the page is turning out.  I finally get to draw someone other than Jeremy, so that is a treat.  I particularly like Tod's expression and pose in panel 7.  I didn't think it would be that interesting but I am liking it more and more.  

I think that is it for now.  Have a good week.

-K

Under the Sea

Well it has been another week and here we are.

Tomorrow I begin moving into a new place, so that's new.  I should still have the next Renovation page up next Sunday, as it will be a while before I have to pack up this old computer.

I feel like today's comic is a real return to form.  Maybe it is because I haven't posted a black and white gag strip in a while; but I don't think so.  I feel like this harkens back to the good old days of I Love Internet Cats. 

Well, I can't really think of anything else to say, other than the Winnipeg Fringe Festival is on and you should all go support local and non-local performers of all sorts.

Renovation 5

Hey everybody, I am back.  Utah, was great, and Nerdtacular was the best convention I have ever been to by far.  I thought I would get this out early, seeing as how I have been so bloody late for the last few weeks.

The entire trip has me really inspired to make cool things, and so this is just the beginning.  the fifth page of renovation, I hope you all enjoy it; god knows you've been waiting long enough.

So lets get back to business and talk comic. Looking back now the approach to 'inking' in the last three panels is way different than the first six, this probably has something to do with them being made a week apart.  For those with a keen eye you will notice I redrew Jeremy in the first panel.  In any case, this gets me to thinking about my general thoughts on process.  The way I have been doing things thus far has been very traditional by comic standards, rough pencil drafts, then 'inking' then colouring.  It is an archaic way of going about things given the comic is 100% digital. From now on I am going to be messing with that process, its order or cutting out steps or whatever.

I think I agree with the sentiment of the last panel. I feel like I have been putting off any interesting character interaction or narrative in favor of this sort of vague tone setting prologue that has been going on.  Upon reflection I don't regret any of it, the last few pages have been fun and I believe necessary.  That said I am ready for the story to actually start moving.

Originally this page was going to end with Jeremy wandering in the dust looking for the mysterious figure only to encounter something\someone else.  I cut things short to get the plot moving a bit and add some mystery or whatever and I think it works, but I am curious as to whether or not anyone felt the shift between panels 6 and 7 was jarring at all.

This page we also get a view of the cast  I think their general look will be fairly stable, but with the visual style changing page to page I can guarantee nothing.

That is it for now I think.

A new page will be out in two weeks.  Next week I will have another black and white strip out on the usual Sunday.  Till then have a good week.


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Vacation Time

As some of you may or may not know, I am going to Utah soon to go to Nerdtacular 2013.  I feel awful that I haven't been putting up comics lately and I know that I won't be able to get a full comic out this coming week.  That said, here is a work in progress from the next Renovation page.  It is only black and white and it is cropped down, as the last three panels aren't quite done, but whatever here it is.

So here we go.  This page should be finished around the 13th.  I will probably re-draw the face in the first panel.  Sorry, I am sort of rushed writing this so I think that is it.  Have a great week guys!

Sorry Folks! Allow me to explain.

So you may have noticed that I haven't been putting comics out for the last two weeks.  Last week, I did some apology with vague hand waving "I've been busy" blog post; but I figure I should give full disclosure on whats been going on. 

I am currently working on a board game.  It is in the middle of development so I can't really say anything about it other than it is pretty cool and I am doing all of the art for it.  As it turns out, that is a bunch of art.  Because of this I have been creatively drained in my downtime where I would normally make pages of Renovation or little black and white strips. 

This week I am leaving to Nerdtacular 2013 in Salt Lake City and so I won't have a strip out.  My plan for when I get back from this vacation is to find a balance and be able to get weekly comics out like I use to.  I am quite determined to do this, so please keep an eye out, this blog isn't dead yet.

Sorry for the prolonged absence, here is a drawing I did a year or two ago for some DND campaign.

Sorry Folks!

Hey everybody!  My apologies for not having a comic out this week.  Things have been strange, and as we all know when your a stranger faces look ugly when your alone.

In any case, there should be a comic next Sunday.

Robots Can't Love 2

Is this a lazy retread?  Maybe.  But I like the gag; it is the type that bludgeons you.

I started to think about it and I am not sure I agree with the premise of this comic.  As funny and dark as I find a robot in cheesy situations failing to understand emotion I feel like a bit of a hypocrite.  I do think that eventually if AI gets complex enough they would understand love and emotion.  Whew- now that I have that off my chest I can go back to whatever the hell it is I do.


How was your week?  Mine disappeared and then it was Sunday.  I can never tell if that is a good or bad thing.  I honestly can't tell what I feel about it.  All I know is that it is not apathy.  Or is it!?  People say that time goes by faster the older you get.  I don't think I agree with that.  I agree that older people have more shit to get done and so it seems like there isn't enough time to do everything you want or need to do.  But even still I seem to find myself caught in lengthy moments of work or play where everything seems so utterly stagnant. 


In any case, it has been a good and productive week.  I have thoroughly enjoyed it and I wish the same for all of you.


Here's to hope that the next week will be the same,
-K

Renovation Page 4

Hey everyone, sorry I am late.  This is as good a time as any to talk about scheduling.  From now on this comic is going to update on Sundays.  This just works out much better with how my week is typically planned out.

In other news I graduated with my BFA this week and so it has been kinda hectic; hence the late comic.

But back to business.

No playlist for this comic.  The vast majority of this was done in silence, it was just one of those weeks.  Probably the earliest sketches were done to the new Daft Punk album; but I can not be sure. 

So linework.  You may remember that in my last blog post I talked about how I was not satisfied with my lines.  Well this week I feel is a bit of an evolution but I am still not satisfied.  I was mindful in some of the panels to have a thin hesitant sort of stuttery line, just to see how that would work out.  In the end I feel like it was equal parts good and bad. It seems like where I used this type of line things seemed to fall apart.  Shapes are made, but they don't know what they are exactly; almost like they are perpetually on the verge of rattling apart.  I am not sure how I will move forward in the next page.  My guess is that I will focus a lot more on the line, cross hatching, fully blacked out shadows, that sort of thing.  That said, there is a chance that I might make things even flimsier just to see what happens.  I did have moments of weakness (panels 2 and 3) where I fell back onto a thicker line made with a more confident stroke.  So maybe the answer is to expunge that idea completely with no regrets or second thoughts.

Colours are coming along.  I have always felt that they are my weakness and I feel like I am getting a better grip.  I am still trying to stay away from anything too painterly, but at the same time I am giving myself some room away from a purely graphic approach.  I have a hunch that I might have gone overboard with the textures a little in this page.  I have been hesitant to use them in my digital work, I feel like some people use texture to cover up bad drawings or colour choices and I don't want to do that.  All in all I am happy with the colour, though I think I should have made things a little bit lighter.

 I am happy with page layout.  Nothing is too adventuress but then again not everything has to be.

As far as story is concerned I am biting at the bit to get past this prologue and introduce the full cast, but I do want to take things slow; it is a thriller after all.

I can't think of much else to say about this one.  Thanks for reading and have a good week.

Jeff K.

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It's a work in progress. . .

 

Hey people.  I have been pecking away at making a cover image for the first chapter of Renovation.  Here is part of it, a work in progress shot if you will.  I think I will include more progress images of stuff up in this joint.

Have a FANTASTIC weekend.

J

The Trouble with Tribbles

Well it has been a week and here we are again.

I should admit something.  Technically I have cheated, and I don't know if I feel bad about it.  The comic above was made several months ago for the University of Manitoba's newspaper The Manitoban.  I have never posted this anywhere else and so that's why I don't feel bad about reusing it.  But what the hell, a new Star Trek movie just came out and it had a Tribble in it.  Look I am topical.

In addition to being topical I chose to throw this guy up because I have been hard at work on other projects and frankly didn't have time this week.  That said I can guarentee that there will be a new Renovation out next week.

Till then, cheers.

-J

Renovation Page 3

Hey people it is that time again!  Sorry for being late with this comic, I was having some computer trouble, but that is all smoothed out now. Besides, I got this thing out the next morning so get off my back.

So lets get back to business.  Soundtrack for this one is mostly Iron Maiden and Beastie Boys.  If there was more then I forgot.

 I think I should mention before hand that a friend of mine, Ian, gave some good suggestions that helped the layout quite a bit. That said, I jumped the gun a bit and I think this page could have been a bit clearer.  Specifically, I think that I should have put the foot on the break panel earlier on in the page.  Other than that I am happy with how things turned out.

I decided to tighten up the linework a bit in this one compared to the last page.  Maybe that isn't the right word, but whatever.  I have a thing with lines, they strike me as being all really similar.  Hear me out, this isn't as stupid as it sounds.  I find I have a habit of making lines a bit too curvy and too think for fear that they won't be seen.  Best examples of this can be seen in panels 1 and 2.  In panel one, the interior of the car
 bothers me, and this isn't an issue with variation in line weight.  I know that I might have a problem with having too uniform of line weight, but what I don't like about the work is more that when lines get thick I don't like how they look.  Secondly, the curvieness of lines I feel like I never make straight lines, like they always have to swoop.  So, what have I learned form all of that?  Well next comic you can expect something very different in terms of line.  I am thinking of thin thin lines that don't very in weight that much, also a lot less swoop.

Colour was interesting this comic.  I knew that I wanted to have all of the exterior shots of the cars and stuff have a yellow orange haze that hinted at a day that is a little too sunny; then with interior shots, stick to cooler colours.   Not sure how well it worked out.  Also, in the battle of painterly vs. graphic I think I hit a reasonable middle ground.  Earlier versions of this comic had the gravel road and fields really worked with a bunch of grays browns greens and yellows.  It all looked a bit cluttered, and the colour began to fight with the lines so I smoothed things out a bit.  While I allowed some of the nuance to come through in the gravel and grass I think it isn't too distracting and gets the point across.  So I guess I am saying that I am happy with colour for once.

Well that's it for this week, so have a great long weekend and I'll be back again next Friday.

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New look!

Hey people, you have probably noticed if you are reading this but I updated the site!  Hopefully things look a bit better around here, but if you don't like it or if you have any suggestions tell me and I will try to make things work. 

This Friday you can expect the third page of Renovation.  I am already biting at the bit to write about it because frankly it feels like the first real page and I have some opinions about how I could have done it better.  Anyway thats all for now!

Godzilla part 2

Hello people and here we are again at the end of another productive week.  The dramatic conclusion of the two  part Godzilla epic is finally here.  I didn't really plan to talk about it like I do Renovation, but I sort of feel like it now so I guess I will do it while I have the energy.

Again in the interest of full disclosure the music I listened to while drawing was a mix of Tenacious D, the musical Assassins 2004 reunion, Beastie Boys, and then a bunch of classical and some podcasts (mostly The Morning Stream).  Also, this cover a friend of mine made of Cry Little Sister.

I have noticed that I am getting looser (maybe sloppier?) with these black and white comics, and I sort of like it.  I think it might have to do with painting nothing but water colour paintings all year.  You would think that nothing but water colour would make me cleaner and more anal about linework and stuff, but it really hasn't.  If anything I have learned to go with the flow more and let stuff bleed over onto other stuff.

In terms of composition I have always LOVED cheesy family photo blurred in bust technique.  That is probably not what it is technically called, but you know what I am talking about.  Speaking of composition you may have noticed that this comic doesn't make much sense when it comes to physical space.  In the first two panels I mean, I think the third panel makes perfect sense.  Normally I don't like to overly explain myself when it comes to stuff like this, but today I was thinking why do I actually do that?  Why not make Godzilla blowing up some monsters while sum41 plays on the rooftop like I had originally intended instead of this weird photo-montage sorta thing.  I have come to the conclusion that I think it is just the pure unexpected novelty of it all.  I would rather have a sorta funny, sorta stupid comic that I haven't seen anything like before than some generic action shot bullshit.  Not that I have a problem with action or violence or anything, my problem is that as a nerd or movie buff or whatever I have seen so much of it.  And frankly so much of it is the same old power fantasy shit over and over again.  Now I think I am rambling and so I am gonna cut this thought off, but I will conclude by saying that I think this comic series' goal is not to be a good comedy, or good action, or good drama or whatever but just an attempt to make something new and novel to look at.  God knows there is a shit ton to look at out there.

I have just noticed that there is this gray streak between the bottoms of panels 1 and 2.  Up until now I had thought it was a stain or smear on my computer monitor, and so now that I know that its a fuckup I cant help but laugh.  That is why I am leaving it in, so enjoy.

That is it for this week.  Next Friday yall can expect a page of Renovation in which something sorta thrillerie happens.  Till' then have a great weekend.

Renovation Page 2

Well hot damn people it's a comic.  On Friday, just like I said it would be.

So this is where I talk about making this thing.  In the interest of full disclosure the soundtrack to making for this was was roughly equal parts Slayer, Girl Talk and the Spice Girls.

I said I was wanting to make it much cartoonier and so that is what I did.  I have to say that I had a hard time not crosshatching the hell out of this thing, but I managed to resist so that is good I think.  I may have mentioned before that I have a weird relationship with colour.  I am not too sure why, but I have never been too comfortable with it.  Maybe it has to do with having more of an Apollonian personality, though that might just be a bunch of bullshit projection.  In any case when I use colour it tends to be more washed out.  However, in my recent watercolour paintings I have been using bolder and bolder colour, so maybe I am getting use to it.

When it comes to style I am not so sure who I am riffing on.  The handling of mouths is defiantly influenced by Penny Arcade.  I have always liked Mike's handling of mouths as just one swift movement and depending on all of the angles it gives off different expressions.  One other thing I have always had trouble with is eyebrows.  I tend to think about them too much I think.  In cartoons they give a ton of emotion and they don't have to make sense always, but I don't handle things not making sense too well and I think that is the root of the problem.  There is this way of doing eyebrows that ya see in anime a bit where you see them through the bangs, but only the line-work.  I've always liked that idea, but I never really used it too much before this because I felt that when I did it it was too much of a clutter of lines up in the hair that didn't make any sense. 

When it comes to layout I knew what this page would look like before I was done page one.  I knew I wanted to have the full phone call in one page and quite suddenly I came up with the idea of having just four or five vertical panels that were defined by the windshield.  I was worried that the page might be boring because it is quite simple and nothing really changes, but in the end I think it turned out ok.  Really this page for me was about nailing down Jeremy's design and playing with facial expressions.  I am not sure how happy I am with the speech bubbles.  I had an earlier draft that didn't have black outlines on them and it made them look a bit cuter, but I thought they were harder to look at.  Also, I am in love with the idea of each person having a really distinct looking speech bubble.  The first time I saw this was in Gaiman's Sandman series and it struck me as such a good idea.

So that is it for this week.  You can expect the dramatic conclusion to the Godzilla comic next Friday and page three of Renovation the Friday after that.  Hope you all have a great week.

Love and Peace,
Jeff K

PS:  I do not condone driving while talking on the phone.  Personally the idea always freaks me out and so whenever I get a phone call I either ignore it or pull over.  Remember people, safety first.  :P

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Godzilla King of Monsters Part 1

Hello people!  I am uploading this a bit late, sorry for that.  I assure you that I am committed to making a strip a week.  The plan is to upload Friday nights, around 7 or 8 my time preferably.

Anywhoo...

This is the first of a two part strip.  A friend of mine showed me the film Godzilla Final War the other day.  Needless to say I liked it a lot.  It was the last of the Toho Godzilla movies, made in 2004; it's something of a swansong to the Godzilla series.  In it Aliens bring monsters to earth to try and take over.  Their plan would have worked, but they didn't count on one thing. . . Godzilla.  The entire movie is basically Godzilla wrecking monster after monster.  HE IS UNSTOPPABLE.  It gets to a point where he is fighting three at once.  I am starting to ramble, that is a sign that the movie is pure gold.

Here let me link something.

I mean look at that scene.  Really look at it, ya know?

Sum 41.

Anyway, next week will be another Renovations page, and I am really looking forward to that. The week after that you will witness the dramatic conclusion to this Godzilla strip.

Oh, also, another friend and I have a podcast, so if you like these strips you might like it, you can check it out here or just by searching "Hopelessly out of Date" on itunes.

Cheers,
Jeff K.

Renovation

Hey people!  Frustrated Comics is back as you may have heard and here is the big grand return post.  And as promised, change is in the air.  I am pleased to announce and reveal the first page of my new project Renovation!

Renovation is a full colour horror comic that I have begun work on.  I have been wanting to do something like this for a long time, and now that I am done with school I have the time and more importantly energy to start working on this. 

A key feature of Renovation will be its visual style.  I want making this comic to be an adventure, and for it to push out of my visual comfort zone.  As a result, each page of Renovation will be done in a distinct visual style and after each page is done I will give some thoughts on said style.  Eventually I do plan on settling on one but for now it will be quite a ride.

So I suppose I'll start with this.  Initially I wanted to go with something cartoonier but with no line work, like a sort of paper cut out look.  This starting point can be seen best I think in the red car in the first panel.  That plan broke down a bit.  I am sort of ashamed to say that I broke down into a more painterly way of working.  I went to a method that I felt more safe with, and while I like how this page turned out I am disappointed  that I didn't push myself further.  Oh well, there will be plenty more pages.

So here it is, the next thing I am working on.  I hope you like it.  Next week will probably be a 3 panel black and white strip.  the goal is to have a Renovation page out every two weeks on Thursday.  My next Renovation page will be much cartoonier than this.  I want to do this because 1. I am not good at cartoon stuff and so I want to work on it, and 2. there is something about the idea of a cartoonie horror comic that intrigues me.  Maybe it won't fit as easily, but the fun is in making it work.  I think that is the point of this new project, not just to make a comic, but also to have the decisions that go into it a public process.

In any case, till next time!

-J

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LOOK WHO'S BACK

I am back, and so is Frustrated Comics! Things may look different though. School is over, for good this time. I have passed through end of year crunch time and kept my sanity. I don't plan on going to grad school for a few years (if ever) and so it is time for former side projects (like Frustrated Comics) to come back in some grand spring awakening. So I suppose this is me formally saying that the comic is back and will be updating weekly. But I spoke of change and change there will be.

First, I am going to say that the comic will be coming back, and in the usual style; but this time there will be more. Over the last few years I have been tossing an idea around in my head and I think it is about time to get moving with it.  So, along with the usual 3 panel black and white strips, every few weeks there will be a larger, full page, full colour comic.  The details at this point are sort of sketchy (hur hur hur) but I can tell you three things.  One, I haven't settled on a title.  Two, It will be a horror comic.  Three, the art style is totally up in the air and I think it will be really weird, as I am totally just experimenting right now.

Oh, also the image above is some rough work on the aforementioned narrative project.  I can't guarantee that the end product will look anything like that.

So that's it!  See you next week and I look forward to making sweet sweet comics together.

-J