Wednesday, August 31, 2011

So This Happened

City of Cards page 29: Here!

No new sketches or anything this week because, uhh, things have been a little nuts. Aside from moving out of another apartment there was a little post Irene flooding issue that has been occupying the minds and bodies of the residents of WRJ and a large portion of Vermont.

This article on the Schulz Library Blog explains the current circumstances the best. We still need help here. To sum it up, Caitlin McGurk and all those that have been working their asses off are heroes.

Here's an article on the Comics Reporter by James Sturm from the night of the evacuation about the state of the library. And here is an updated article on the Comics Beat about the rescue effort where, uhh, you may see a photo of me grabbing books out of the back of a car in the middle of the night. While all the books are safe, the Main Street Museum is still in dire need of help. If you want to donate to help the Schulz Library, you can do so here at the Center for Cartoon Studies' website.

So yeah, I know I should be happy with having gotten any art/comic done in the past while, but it's tough. I'll hopefully have more time/energy next week to say more, you know, before SPX and my road trip. IT'S GO TIME!

And if you want something to get your mind off of all of this, read My Cardboard Life, a comic made out of cardboard and other stuff. It's really quite cool.

Thursday, August 25, 2011

Twist

City of Cards page 28: Here!

Finally a little more mystery with only two more pages to go.

Speaking of twists, just finished coloring this piece:


I know, what? Actually coloring something in a timely manner? Ace's black and white color palette preference makes it kinda easy, though.

Other than that, gearing up for SPX. I won't officially be tabling, but I'm planning on helping out the guys at Boom! so head on over check it out. I might get some time to wander around and help out at the CCS table as well if they're low on staff.

I'm definitely excited! I haven't been to SPX before and I can't wait to see all my bros.

Also, wanting to say something about InkOutbreak. It's a great comic aggregator that's started about a month ago and has been growing pretty steadily. I've got my site linked there if you search for it, but there's also a lot of other amazing comics up there too.

So far my favorite feature has been the archive function. Since with Ink you end up going through a lot of comics, this function allows you to bookmark your spot in a comic's archive and come back to it later. It works really smoothly. So yeah, check it out. You're likely to find something that interests you. 

Thursday, August 18, 2011

Crispy Rice Don't Fail Me Now

City of Cards page 27: Here!

I'm kinda looking forward to putting aside some time for sleep in the next little while, but I'm kinda thinking that's not going to happen. The ceiling in the closet in the apartment I've been staying had a little bit of a rainy cave-in. Oops! I've told pretty much everyone I know about that already, but it's still got me shaking my head. At least everyone here has been awesome. If I had to have crap piling down on me, at least it's happening amongst friends.

But that doesn't mean I'm not gonna keep getting things done! Didn't get a chance to ink it, but here's a work in progress drawing of Ace that I drew while trying to re-figure out some panels in Chapter Two:


I've also been trying to figure out a new outfit for him for the third chapter. So long as it's black and white and can be worn multiple times without washing I think we're good.

There's still a lot of stuff going on in my life that's making progress difficult but I'm doing my best to not fall too far behind. I'd hoped to have a lot more of Chapter Two inked at this point, but I'm still in a place where I won't have trouble updating. Chapter Three pencils have me more concerned, but so long as I can find a space to sort some stuff out before I head off I think I'll be okay.

This week saw four more amazing people head off to greater destinies. Beth, Betsey, and Penina: You three are champions. Emily, I'll be seeing you around. You all are welcome to visit me in the Emerald City.

Thursday, August 11, 2011

Four!

City of Cards page 26: Here!

Four pages to go till Chapter Two.

Random fun fact, my name, CJ Joughin is the same name as my one of my ancestors who was the chief baker on the Titanic and survived out of sheer drunken manliness. I hope to live up to his legacy.

Continuing off of last week, I offer some more sketches. First, an amazing piece of cross-over fanart done by Betsey of my dudes hanging out with hers at Nate's club:


Seriously, everything I want for my art is contained in hers. Movement, expressiveness, humor... brilliant man, brilliant.

Followed is a sketch by me of, well, Ace with his hand stuck in a peanut butter jar seeking help from Betsey's character Bryan:


Slim Jims and peanut butter. There will probably be more sketches like this in the future. Actually, I'm sure there will be more.

Some of my dear friends have moved off to New York this week and I hope they're settling in well. Paul, Lena, I wish you guys the best!!


Thursday, August 4, 2011

From One Place to the Next

City of Cards page 25: Here!

Ungh! That's what moving sounds/feels like. Next week I'll probably be in a better state to say more about plans/comic/lucha but for now I'm TIRED.

Big props to my family for being supportive during this whole move even when they've got their own stresses to deal with. Same to my friends. You've gotta look out for each other, especially when everyone needs a little/lot of support.

Speaking of which, here's a quick sketch a did a little while back of my friend Betsey's character Nate from an amazing comic she has to make or there will be repercussions. There seriously needs to be more comics about fail nightclub owners:



During all this craziness I kept my sanity by finding a couple of really great webcomics.

Le Mime - 4koma done with a gorgeous watercolour style and really charming expressive characters. It's definitely a feel good comic in the best sense.

Waking on Broken Glass - "A Supernatural Office Dramedy Romance About Murder". Sometimes a comic is hard to describe, but I'll say why I like this one: Great dialogue and believable characters in a modern/realist sci-fi/fantasy setting. A lot of this comic has so far been the interactions between the characters Kennedy and Nick and it's done well. It keeps itself light to help you get to know and care about the characters, and so that the underlying fear and twist that's being foreshadowed is something you really want to know more about.