Thursday, November 13, 2008

Episode 20 - Sudden Death

CWtoon_20081113


Oh my god, I think I just gave birth to twins.  Twin strips that is.


Please notice that while this week’s strip is THREE WEEKS LATE, it is also TWICE AS BIG.  And I got railroaded by a butt-load of work and the Princess’ kindergarten stuff.  For details on all of that, see my other blog here.


But at last this episode is done, and I can honestly say I still haven’t figured out how I want to draw this.  Manga Studio or Adobe Photoshop?  By hand or on the laptop?  All options have their advantages and disadvantages, and I’m seriously wishing that Smith-Micro would hurry it’s ass up and put out Manga Studio 4 so I could test it and see if the new version solves my current problems. But noooooooo! That would be asking a bit much I suppose. I’m only a heavy consumer of computer graphics programs after all.


So about the cartoon itself. This is something that has happened all too frequently to me.  I get a great idea while I’m out with the kids but when I finally make it home, ‘I got nothing,’ as Orziel would say.  I have learned to keep a notebook with me as often as possible, and I even have a handy little folding keyboard for my PDA, but none of those really gives me the freedom to write the moment the inspiration strikes.  Because I’ve always got to keep an eye on the kiddes, see? I look away for a few seconds and the next thing I know they’re tattooing someone else’s darling child with purple and green Sharpie markers.


But the writing does eventually get done and the inspiration is never completely gone.  It just goes into hiding.


The bastard.


To learn more about Orziel and his lovely boy-toy Jarresh, visit Mojocastle Press at http://www.mojocastle.com/demon/byday.html and BUY A COPY OF MY BOOK, DAMMIT!


Going to bed now…

6 comments:

Sarah said...

Hehe, this is so funny. I am definitely appreciative of you staying up late. It was worth it!

Jade Twilight said...

Oh how many times has this happened to me. Great strip Helen keep up the good work.

Desirée Lee said...

Yes, I know this feeling all too well too! *ROFL* Great visualization!

Carpe Noctem,
Des

Desirée Lee
Putting the Romance Back in Necromancy
http://www.desireelee.com
des@desireelee.com

Katrina Strauss said...

Yep, definitely relating here as I nod my head. Damned fickle Muse! But hey, it helps to see the humor in the situation, which you've done very well. ;)

Anonymous said...

Nothing causes me greater frustration as a mom and a writer than this. Kids in tow=amazing flashes of inspiration. Kids asleep=blank screen and the maddening blink of the cursor.

I thought of you the other day, Helen, when I found my youngest son (he's 4) and his playmate putting on a finger puppet show using tampon applicators (they got into my stash and wasted a *whole* box!).

Helen said...

Thanks everyone! I'm behind in responding to comments, and I apologize for that. This does seem to happen to an awful lot of writers I've talked to. My biggest problem these days has been that when I finally do sit down to write, I don't get writers block, I get slammed with other work! I'm slowly cutting back to just the comic, the podcast and the regular writing projects. That's really all I need to do outside my "Mom" jobs!

Thank you all for the feedback. I hope I continue to keep you entertained!