Etsy Shop, Now Open!

I opened an etsy shop. It’s a side thing. Well, another side thing. Don’t worry – the comic is still being worked on. :) Here’s the link to the shop. Sorry there’s not much there at the moment, I’m having a hard time taking photos of some of the items. In case you couldn’t tell from the photo, I enjoy making random little clay miniature … things …

Posted in Uncategorized | 1 Comment

ST – Page 169

Here it is – page 169.

I owe you all an enormous apology. I wanted so badly to release all the pages at once for one big ending, but I’m simply not getting the pages done fast enough. It’s all my usual reasons and excuses, but when I realized I had pages completely done and sitting in a folder for over a month now, I felt terrible. That’s not fair to you guys, and I am sorry.

I do intend for there to only be one last update to the Skipping Tomorrows comic – that will include the last page and an epilogue. I’m so sorry it took this long.

I also have a site relaunch almost ready and I’m turning inside out looking at my current state of things. But the comic is priority at this point.

Thank you all for your patience!

 

Posted in Uncategorized | 4 Comments

ST – Page 168

I’ve actually had this done for a couple days, but I’ve been working on a commissioned project and kept forgetting to upload this page. Sorry! Hopefully I’ll be able to share the commissioned project within the next week or so, but it’s part of an event and I won’t ruin any surprises in case there’s any local people checking out my blog.  So you’ll have to just live with just a ST update instead. :P

Posted in Skipping Tomorrows, Webcomics | 8 Comments

FAQ 2

Picking up where I left off Monday:

Did you make Emma look like you on purpose?

The one or two of my family members who have read Skipping Tomorrows tend to ask this, and I have to remind them of a couple things. When I started drawing for this comic I had short hair. As in, Meg Ryan from “You Got Mail” short. I was also a strawberry blonde and didn’t have glasses. It wasn’t until I hit 21-22ish that my hair darkened into a kind of burnt auburn. I let it grow long now (A while back I was bound and determined to get a motorcycle and wanted everyone to know I was a girl so I grew my hair out so I’d have a ponytail streaming out from under my helmet. True story.) and I happen to need glasses for when my eyes get tired. So no, I didn’t make Emma look like me on purpose. If anything … I made me look like Emma. (If my eyes randomly turn green, I will seek help.)

Why color? The pages would go faster if it was black and white.

I wanted everyone to know that Emma’s hair was red, and that’s really hard to do in black and white. When I was little I watched episodes of “I Love Lucy” and thought she was blonde. The day I saw her in color traumatized me and still haunts me to this day. I wasn’t going to let that happen with my comic.

No. Not really. I just like working with color. Sheesh.

This is the end of the official FAQ. SteeKira was kind enough to ask these additional questions.

How did you start writing manga?

I’ve always wanted to tell stories in some form or another. I’m the common artist stereotype: a little shy, a little introverted, yet bursting at the seams to share an idea or feeling with other people. I grew up on anime, then found out about manga as a teenager. The desire to tell stories and the love of anime naturally turned into manga styled comics.

I’m actually trying to kick some of the anime out of my drawing habits, but that’s a whole other blog post for another day.

How did this story come about?

Way back in either 2001 or 2002 (I can’t remember) I was doing something completely mundane at work leaving my brain free for daydreaming. The idea of finding a time traveling friend sort of took shape and I wrote down a couple notes on a scrap of paper – I think I might still have it somewhere. Initially it was going to be a short story about a friendship between a red haired time traveller and a misfit college student. I was intently going to leave romance out of the picture, going out of my way to stress the friendship aspect – the two characters just happened to be opposite genders. Shawn even had a fiance scripted and everything was working out to be a nice, neat little slice of life tale.

This was all well and good until the first time I drew a concept sketch of Shawn and Emma together. As silly as it sounds, I remember looking at that sketch for at least a minute after I put my pencil down. I had heard of characters taking on a life of their own, but hadn’t experienced it until right then. Call me a sap, but I started a brand new script after that sketch. These guys had to be together. Shawn and Emma became twentysomethings, Shawn’s lit professor turned into his doctor, Sherri, and Jen just showed up without being asked. But that’s Jen for you.

Below is a wallpaper I made in 2004, before I even had the second version of the script finished. It’s the first official “couple” image of Shawn and Emma. They’re supposed to be sitting on a couch, but I never drew the couch. There was no official name for the project yet either, so I toyed with the idea of calling it “Because.” Why? “Because because because because! … because of the wonderful things he does, doodiddledoodiddledeedoo.” (I will now go get more coffee.)

Before there was a comic, there was a wallpaper

Is there a particular character here that you love to death?

Shawn. :)

Is there a particular character that you relate to?

Probably Jen. I’m not quite as unsure of myself as Emma, and I’m not as even-keeled as Shawn. And I’m simply not as cool as Sherri. However, I have dyed my hair a tad wild from time to time, I love my brothers like crazy, and I prefer to perch on furniture rather than sit like a normal person.

Thanks for the questions, everyone! I really appreciate the interest taken in this comic. Before I wrap it up, I have some good news and some bad news.

The bad news: I broke my thumb Saturday. Out of the two thumbs I have, I happened to break my right one. I am right handed. I’m still able to type and use my tablet, but it’s going slower than I’d like.

The good news: I invested in actual comic software. I’m pretty excited to use a program with comics specifically in mind, although I probably will save it for my next comic.

Posted in Personal, Site News, Skipping Tomorrows, Webcomics | 2 Comments

FAQ Part 1

 

Without further ado:

Will Skipping Tomorrows ever be printed?

I have no plans to officially send the Skipping Tomorrows comic to the printer. There are many different reasons for this, but mostly it would be far too expensive. Part of the fun and reward of being a webcomic artist is offering something I’ve worked on very hard for free. The other reasons are personal. As you know, I’ve dragged this project out way too long. Everything about how I approach storytelling has changed, from character development to basic art style. You can see the range of this if you go from chapter one to the current chapters. As understanding fans you may not mind this, but I do. If I am going to put something to print, it must meet my standards. And if these two reasons were not enough there is also a format issue. Colors, aspect ratios, font size: these would all have to be fixed for print. I’ve been anything but consistent in putting together a project that is easily adaptable from one format to the other. I’ve also lost many of the early .psd files due to a poor archive strategy. (I like to call it the “don’t think about backups until the computer has already kicked the bucket” plan. Not recommended) These lessons have been difficult, but learned nevertheless.

All that being said…

I happen to love you guys and appreciate your infinite patience with this comic. It’s been brought to my attention  that a few of you wish to share Skipping Tomorrows with friends and family members, and a web-based format has made that difficult. When the comic is done-stick-a-fork-in-it, I am planning on making a print version available. It won’t be professionally bound with ISBN number. It may simply be 3-holed-punched and put in a presentation folder. I’m not interested in making money on this, and I’ll do my best to find the most cost effective method to make this happen.

Bleh! That was the big one, the rest are shorter.

 

Is Skipping Tomorrows a Christian comic?

It is not. It is simply a short, lighthearted romance story that I wanted to tell. However, I am a Christian and this is usually where the confusion stems from.

 

Will you ever go to a structured update schedule?

What is this structure you speak of? I’m pretty sure I’m allergic to it.

Honestly, I’d like to be organized and prepared enough to offer you all a twice a week update on my comics.  I’ve lost a lot of readers due to hiatuses and inconsistency, I understand and regret that, but I’m not going to promise a schedule and then not follow through. I am doing my best to make updates happen more frequently, though. I’m also going to make my progress easier to track through social media. (Anyone else just get a stress headache? No? Must be just me.)

 

If you’re a Christian, why are you drawing a comic where the two unmarried characters are living together?

A legitimate concern, I guess. First of all, I’ve gone out of my way to make sure that no shenanigans can be inferred either by the writing or artwork. It’s simply not part of the story and was never meant to be. The thing is, it is a story. I don’t open my sketchbook to suddenly find my two young adult characters in a compromising situation because the plot takes place in one apartment. If I do, I’ll have to find out who drew in my sketchbook and beat the tar out of ‘em.

 

End of part one – I have to hit the road before it gets dark. I blew a fuse in the dashboard of my car and if it’s dark out, I have no idea how fast I’m going. Think the cops would buy that?

Posted in Personal, Site News, Skipping Tomorrows, Webcomics | Leave a comment

Therewith to Be Content

I have come to grips with the reality that I am addicted to buying things. I don’t have 250 piece porcelain badger collection, nor do I get attacked by a waterfall of shoes when I open my closet. I don’t yardsale or even ebay lurk and I am not on the waiting list for a Hoarders episode. Yet I still manage to chew up my mad money within a few days of payday. I am not happy unless I am tracking at least one package from amazon (usually a reference book that I NEEDED that will briefly leaf through then eventually put on my shelf and contribute to expanding the surface area for dust). I am a sucker for software sales and if there’s a price drop on an iphone app that I am remotely interested in, I’m already downloading it.

The trick is, I have myself fully convinced that it’s smart for me to purchase these things, but that logic only works if I USE THE THINGS I BUY. Even though the bulk of my purchases are digital and take up no physical space, I would love to stop my grab-for-the-shiny impulse.

My goal is this: for the rest of this month, I will purchase nothing new for myself. No new apps or books, no new music, tech gadgets or accessories. Any geekery that I want to purchase (outside of my existing subscriptions like audible and netflix) will have to wait until next month. If I suddenly decide to ditch my Liz Lemon-like wardrobe, I have a whole month to watch the sales. Both of my computers are functioning adequately and I foresee no need for hardware purchases.

This isn’t even really about saving or spending money. It’s  more about not wasting what I already have. And if I vocalize it in some form, for instance in a blog post, I will have a better chance of following through. I hope I learn something this month and stop putting such an importance on needing the “new” and placing a focus on using, appreciating and taking care of what I have.

What about you guys? Do you enjoy being a consumer to the extent you rarely use what you buy?

Posted in Apps, Gaming, iPhone/iPod Touch, Movies/TV, Music, Opinion, Personal, Product Review | 2 Comments

ST – Page 167

ST Page 167

One step closer to the end.

On a side note, I’m working on typing up a FAQ for Skipping Tomorrows.  If you have any questions that you’d like to see answered in this upcoming post, just let me know. You can post here (if it’s the first time you’ve posted, don’t panic if it doesn’t show up immediately, it’ll get approved soon) or you can write to me: fayth*storm*at*gmail – minus the *’s of course.  Sorry about all the precautions, I’m not trying to make it hard for people to contact me, I’ve just been slammed hard with spam since the fall.

Side note – I’m not really a facebook user, but is a hoodiegypsy/Skipping Tomorrows fan page (or whatever the kids are calling it these days) something that would be helpful for updates? Regardless of my personal stubbornness, I realize that many people use it exclusively almost as a browser, rarely navigating off unless it’s an external link. If you’re more of a twitter user (I happen to heart twitter) you can follow site updates @hoodiegypsy or myself personally @faythstorm.  Sorry I don’t have easy to use twitter links up, but my lunch break is over negative two minutes ago.

On a lighter note – happy birthday to my “baby” brother!

Posted in Skipping Tomorrows, Webcomics | 4 Comments

ST – Page 166

thumbnail from page 166

ST Page 166

It’s almost done, guys. It’s almost done. Page 166.

 

Posted in Skipping Tomorrows, Webcomics | 6 Comments

ST – Page 165

First off, as promised, the next Skipping Tomorrows page: 165.  I’m sorry it wasn’t sooner, like I promised, but if you check out the image below, I’m sure you’ll understand.  The photo was taken while I was driving on the road a couple days ago.  You can see how the ice has pulled down the trees and branches quite badly – in many spots they’ve come down on power lines.  The road crews were working hard to get power back to the town (it had been off for 12 or so hours in many places, mine included) and getting the internet working again was – and still is – a secondary priority.  Anyway, thanks for your patience, and please enjoy the newest ST page.  Thank you for reading!

Posted in Skipping Tomorrows, Webcomics | 4 Comments

Digging my way out from under the snow.

In case you haven’t heard, it’s been snowing a lot in Maine.  The roads have been terrible, the days and nights have been freezing, and I’ve been seriously considering buying an actual winter jacket.  However, all of this chilly precipitation has forced me to stay put a little more often than usual – meaning more time to sit down and draw.  The project I’ve been working on for months seems to be on hiatus.  While that’s bad news for me, it’s good news for anyone who reads Skipping Tomorrows, because I have had time to put into finishing up the story.  There will be a brand new page released some time this week.  Honestly.  I mean it this time.

Also, I’ve been trying to practice new techniques and style for my digital art.  While most of it is nonsense on sketch pads and multiple renditions of files called “Untitled,” I did implement some of the new stuff into a coherent image.  I used my friend’s WoW character as a subject (a rather epic dwarf holy paladin).  It’s just a study, it’s not finished or polished, but it’s something visual at least. As always, thanks for everyone’s patience with all of my unannounced hiatuses and sporadic postings.

Posted in digital art, Personal | 2 Comments