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Con Report: Steel City Con [Dec. 7th, 2009|03:00 pm]
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[Current Mood | tired]

Sometimes a convention just doesn't work out for you. You can't get depressed or discouraged by it, though; you have to factor in why it didn't work and how you'll avoid that in the future. Steel City Con, which was this past weekend, was one of those cons that just didn't work out.

( On with the details. )

Needless to say, we won't be returning to Steel City Con. I wish them all the best, I really do, but it's the wrong crowd demographic for us. Despite the utter financial failure of being there, though, we had a great time hanging out with the other artists and we came away from it with some new friends, some of whom we'll be at future cons together with.
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The Trees Sigh in Relief [Nov. 23rd, 2009|11:33 am]
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[Current Mood | chipper]
[Current Music |Ulrich Schnauss]

Those of you read my news post today or saw the news on Twitter already know this, but as of today Bardsworth has officially gone digital. That means that all inking and coloring is now being done on the computer.

Why is this a big deal? Because it's a big step forward for me. When I started doing Bardsworth, I was almost completely against doing things the digital way. I wanted to maintain the traditional hand-penciling and hand-inking techniques. Not to mention that I was never quite able to get my line art to look good when I tried digital inking.

Well, necessity forces us to make changes in out lives. My process of drawing Bardsworth includes the following steps - measuring out the panels on the Bristol board, penciling each panel, inking each panel, re-inking the panels to accent outlines and to add detail, then scanning in each panel individually for the coloring process. By going digital, I can get a panel inked with less steps, less mess, and less trouble. And by inking in Illustrator instead of Photoshop, my line art looks much cleaner and smoother.

Another reason I switched to digital is because of my the commute to our studio. Since all my art stuff is there, I could only really work on the comic there. But now I can do it when I have some spare time at home or if I'm watching a movie or something. And the fact that I won't have to spend money on Bristol board anymore is a huge plus.

A much less important reason that I held onto the traditional method was that I had hopes of people being interested in buying the line art as collectibles. Unfortunately, to date, I've only had one person buy line art from me (and I gave one original away during a donation drive). I now have a stack of nearly 500 strips that I can't do anything with but store. I can't imagine doing another 500 strips without selling anything and having to store THOSE as well.

I still plan on doing a lot of things the traditional way. Nothing quite beats the feeling of finishing up an art piece and looking at it on a piece of paper or Bristol board. But for Bardsworth, it's time to join the 21st century.
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The Process: Part 3 - The Buffer [Nov. 18th, 2009|02:36 pm]
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[Current Mood | chipper]

All right, we've got our idea and we've got our notes. Time to get a website now, right? Wrong! Sit down and take a breath, pardner, there's something we need to talk about.

You may have heard whispers of something called a "buffer". This elusive creature is not an easy one to catch, but the reward for its capture is not something you want to pass up. So let the hunt begin!

Cutesy metaphors aside, a buffer is a very important part of being a webcomic creator. Simply put, your buffer is the strips you create ahead of time in order to keep updating on a regular basis.

Huh?

Okay, here's what you do. Before you even think about getting yourself a website or putting anything on the web, think about the type of update schedule that you want to keep - twice a week, three times, every day. Now, start drawing your comics and stick to that update schedule until you have a good number of comics done (the rule of thumb seems to be 30; going higher would certainly be better, but any lower than that is not encouraged). This has a two-fold effect. One is that you build up your buffer before you really have to start working. The second is that you can test the waters and see if the update schedule works for you. If it does, great. If not, adjust it and do a couple more weeks with that schedule.

Now, when you actually start updating, you'll have [number of strips you drew] strips between the one you're updating with and the next one you need to draw. For every update you do, draw another. Draw two if you can. Just try to maintain that number of strips in the buffer.

Trust me, you're going to want that buffer in the future. I'm sure you're all familiar with the dreaded "H" word - hiatus. If you're a Bardsworth reader, you're definitely familiar with it. I haven't had a buffer for a long, long time, so I try to keep people from making that mistake. When you have the buffer, things like hiatuses don't happen. If you have to take a few days off because you're sick, use up a couple comics from the buffer. If you have friends coming in from out of town, you've got the buffer. Heck, if you just need a night off, the buffer is there for you. The buffer works like having sick days or vacation time at a regular job. But don't use it without realizing that you will need to build it back up again.

I know some artists say they don't work with buffers and they do just fine. Some of these artists, however, do not have full-time jobs or school to worry about. Your lifestyle plays a big part of how you update the comic. If you're a busy person, always have a buffer. Unless you like working under pressure.

Didn't realize a webcomic would be so much work, did you? Guess what - we haven't even begun the hard stuff yet.
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Five Oh Oh [Nov. 16th, 2009|11:03 am]
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[Current Mood | cheerful]
[Current Music |Nada Surf]

With today's posting of strip #500, I considered the usual route that a lot of webcomic creators take when they reach a milestone, which is to proudly proclaim on the webcomic blogs and news sites that I did it, I reached #500. But I decided against it for a couple of reasons. One is that after my recent post about being pissed at the non-community nature of the webcomics community, I would feel slightly hypocritical about going into those same venues and saying, "Look at me, look at me, I'm one of you!"

The more important reason is that I don't care. Oh, I care that I hit #500. Trust me, it makes me proud to know that I've stuck to my guns and produced that much work. Not only that, but it makes me proud to see the vast improvement in my art since day 1. But I don't care about others knowing that I did it. I don't need their validation, in the event that they even take notice.

And that's the other thing - no else cares. I've done those postings before - 1 year mark, 200 strips, etc. - and no one ever says congratulations, I get maybe a small handful of people visiting the site if any, and at most I end up wasting my time writing out the stupid announcement. The only people who care are the ones who are the most important, and those people are my readers.

I didn't draw 500 strips for my colleagues in the webcomic industry. I didn't draw them for the "maybe readers". I drew them for myself, yes, but most importantly for those who have been supporting me, either from the beginning of just the last couple of weeks.

These 500 strips are for you.
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The Process: Part 2 - Blueprints [Nov. 11th, 2009|02:50 pm]
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[Current Mood | energetic]
[Current Music |The Crystal Method]

Last week I talked about coming up with your core idea for a webcomic, your foundation. In using the construction metaphor - foundations and walls and all that - I've overstepped an important part: the blueprints. Or rather, your sketches and notes, if you will.

I know, I know, you want to jump right in and start pumping out those comics, don't you? We all felt that way. But, as the Cub Scout motto goes, "Always be prepared."

My roots are more dug in as a writer than as an artist, so as a writer I highly value the importance of reference materials. There's nothing worse than being ten chapters into a story when you realize that you forgot what color one of your character's eyes are and you have to go sifting through nine previous chapters to find a mention of it. Wouldn't it just be easier to open a document or notepad and see it written down - or drawn - for easy looking-up?

This is where the blueprints come into play. Spend some time sketching your characters. Try different things - different head shapes, different hairstyles, different heights and body types. When you hit upon that "right" character design you'll know.*

Now, practice drawing those character designs over and over, in different poses and from different angles. You want to get to the point where you won't NEED the blueprints (but you'll have them just in case). Make sure each one is distinguishable from the other. One way to do this is to draw the characters as silhouettes; if you can't tell the difference between characters in silhouette, you may want to make them more distinguishable.

Another great thing to do is a height chart. Draw all of your characters side-by-side so you can get an idea of how each one of them compares to the other. This is something I didn't do at the beginning of Bardsworth and sorely regret. Over time I gradually changed the heights of my characters, but back then there was really no specific height to each character (except maybe Francis, who then and now towered over everyone).

Now, let's talk about the writing aspect of your blueprints. If you aren't doing a story-based webcomic, this isn't as important, but you might still want to keep some notes based off of what I'm saying. Make sure you have notes about your setting - what is the city they live in like? What is the political atmosphere of the fantasy world you have them traveling through? What kinds of things does the college the characters are at teach, and how does that affect the kinds of people it draws in?

Make sure you have notes on your characters, too. Even if you have the sketches on hand, write down some of the defining characteristics of each character. Keep notes on their personality types, too. I would go so far as to creating a back story for each character, even if it isn't a completely detailed one. If a character is quiet and snarky, why are they like that? If another is chipper and boisterous, are they doing so to hide something or are they genuinely that way? Remember, nobody but you needs to know any of the back story. Each of the characters in Bardsworth has a back story, but I haven't divulged everything (and some if it I may never divulge).

Keep in mind that nothing you put into your blueprints is set in stone. If you make a note about a character, you can go back and rework it (but do so in a logical fashion; if someone changes a personality trait make sure there's a good reason for it). Character designs can change, too (again, within reason). Look what I did with Mike; I gave him long hair for the first couple years of Bardsworth, but I ended up not liking it, so I had him cut it.

The blueprints will serve to solidify your core idea as well as acting as a plan to build your webcomic. It's a lot of work to do before the fun of drawing the comic, and some webcomics might not even need it (one-off comics like a Far Side type comic probably wouldn't need much of a blueprint), but I still urge at least sitting and thinking about all creative aspects of the webcomic before attempting it.


*But don't throw away those sketches you rejected - you may want to use those as a basis for other characters. Case in point, a rejected character in Bardsworth became the initial design for Kris.
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The Process: Part 1 - The Idea [Nov. 5th, 2009|12:02 pm]
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[Current Mood | bouncy]
[Current Music |Nightwish]

This is the start of a new series of installments that I want to call "The Process". It's something I had been thinking about doing, but it was pushed forward by a recent email from a reader wanting to know how I did everything. The process is pretty involved, though, so I thought I'd make a series of posts detailing each part.

So what do we begin with? With what every good webcomic, book, television show, or whatever begins with - the idea.

Seems pretty simple, huh? It is. It's probably the simplest part of the process. Chances are you have the idea in your head, whether or not you even know it. Maybe it was that idea you had for a fantasy comic set in a world dominated by monsters, or maybe it was that slice-of-life comic you wanted to base on you and your friends. Maybe it's just a one-panel, zany-type comic that will display all the crazy thoughts you have in your head.

I find the best way to come up with an interesting idea is to ask, "What if?" I learned this from one of my favorite authors, Terry Brooks, in his book on writing (Sometimes the Magic Works). Try it.

"What if... cats could talk?"

"What if... a college taught battling with mechs?"

"What if... webcomic authors could become millionaires?"

All right, that last one is a bit of a stretch even for someone with an insane imagination, but you get the idea. Start off with the "What if?" and run from there. Mine was, "What if my main character found a door in the back of his closet leading to another world?" That was it, the genesis of Bardsworth. I had no other ideas than that - the school, the characters, the plot all came later on.

Think of it as building a house. Before you can put up the supporting beams or the walls, you need a foundation. The beginning idea is your foundation. From that, you can create your characters and your story, but none of that can work unless you have that core foundation.

Do you think I'm harping this one simple thing a bit too much? Perhaps. But I honestly believe it's that important.
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Long Overdue Con Report: ConnectiCon [Nov. 3rd, 2009|12:08 pm]
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[Current Mood | embarrassed]
[Current Music |Rammstein]

I realized that I'm about four months plus overdue on my con report for ConnectiCon. At this point, much of the con has filtered out of my head, leaving the highlights, so this report may contain minor factual errors. Also, no photos. I went back and looked at the ones I took, and most of them were bad. So... yeah.

( Let us begin, shall we? )

Once again, ConnectiCon turned out to be an awesome experience. My brother and Brendon are already talking about going again next year. If Katie comes with us this time, though, we'll probably be a little more well-behaved. But not by much.
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Ask the Author - Redoing the Archives [Oct. 29th, 2009|10:10 am]
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[Current Mood | exhausted]
[Current Music |Stars]

This week's Ask the Author question is from Edgar, loyal reader, shoutbox regular, and bringer of coffee, and came up in a discussion that took place in the shoutbox: "Seriously, what do u think about going back in general to edit anything that you later decide would better suit YOUR artistic eye? (time permitting)"

There are lots of artists that do this. NJ from Emergency Exit is currently going back and redoing the pages in her archive, as is Otter from A Girl and Her Fed. When an artist's style improves significantly from the beginning of the comic, it's natural to want to go back and redo the earlier stuff.

I, however, disagree with it.

One of the things I love about webcomics is watching them progress over the years. I love to compare the raw look of a lot of artists' early stuff to their newer stuff. It's part of the experience that you don't see much in print comics.

Personally, I want people to see where I started. I want them to see how bad my art was in 2005. I want them to see how I've learned and grown over time. Why? Because it's a part of the history of the comic. And because it shows that anyone can do it. I don't have a formal art training outside of classes I took in high school. I'm entirely self-taught, and I believe in teaching yourself the things that you want to learn. If I can share that philosophy with others, great.

All that being said, though, I can understand why some people like NJ and Otter want to clean up their old work, and I'm down with that. In general, it's a great marketing push. A part of me would love to redo the old strips in order to sell a much nicer looking print version of the comic. But I'm too attached to that older work. Heck, I still have notebooks with bad sketches I did in high school because, even though it's bad, it's a part of my growth as an artist.

Until next time - ask me anything!
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Addendum [Oct. 28th, 2009|10:23 am]
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[Current Mood | calm]
[Current Music |Lamb of God]

Two addendums to yesterday's post.

1.) *sigh* Dave Kellett, why did you have to illustrate my point? I still love you, man, but seriously, bad timing.

2.) My buddy Rob Howard, also known as Tangent tried to post a response that I do believe needs to be mentioned here:

That depends on what you consider the "webcomic community" you realize.

If you're talking about Guigar and his ilk, the "successes" in the field of webcomics, then you probably won't find a very neighborly situation. I suspect that the webcomic reading community might be considered along the lines of a zero-sum game: there's only so many readers and if you open up your borders to the little guy, then you end up losing out. This is very much the relationship that the Big Print Comic Companies ave behaved in the past (especially in their efforts to kill the independent-comic market), and these behavior trends have tainted webcomics as a result.

But if you look at the smaller communities... comics such as Garanos, Bardsworth, Paradigm Shift, Footloose, and similar titles, then you have a friendly and accepting crew that is willing to work together and help out. Heck, when a webcartoonist ends up in need (such as JJ Shippen, who had a toddler-related incident with her tablet, or Karen Ellis whose apartment was lost due to a fire), then you'll see cartoonists working together to help out. They spread the word, they encourage donations, and they draw fan-art and the like to help.

Think of this as akin to a regular town. You have the rich snobs who don't often deem to talk with the "little people," you have the newly-rich who remember their roots and some of who will take time out for their less-fortunate neighbors, and then you have the smaller communities. You don't have an entire town working together, perhaps, but you do have streets where several homes get to know each other, and slowly create networks of friends and neighbors.

This is the true webcomic community. It's not a vast consciousness where every reader is interconnected. It's groups of readers and groups of comics that through the cartoonists often form little cliches that enjoy each other's company.

Which I suppose makes me the local weekly town newspaper. ;)

Rob H.


Rob is right - the term "webcomics community" is indeed subjective, and technically there is more than one community. My original post was directed at the term as it is known in the mainstream, which is supposedly the collective of webcomic creators.

The community as a whole is definitely like any other social gathering, and does have its cliques (I think that's what you meant, Rob, not "cliches"; correct me if I'm wrong), which is not a bad thing. The cliques are usually formed of people with strong similarities - they do fantasy comics, or love anime, or are stone masons. But what I think gets lost in the upper eschelons of the community is that a clique does not have to be an exclusive club. You can allow other people into it.

I do want to say that I'm in no way badmouthing any of the artists that I'm alluding to. I love a lot of their comics and I do think most of them are really awesome people. They just need to learn that webcomic world is not comprised of them and everybody else; it's everybody, period.

And another point I want to make is that I'm not seeking validation from anyone in any way. I've been doing my comic for almost 4 years, and I'm rapidly approaching strip number 500. I have a loyal following of readers. My artwork has been improving consistently. All of those things are the only validation I need. I am a professional webcomic creator and I don't need acceptance into a community to make it any more real. My beef is with the community's attitude.
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The Defiant Stand [Oct. 27th, 2009|03:47 pm]
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[Current Mood | determined]

I've had several important realizations, epiphanies if you want to go that far, in the past couple of weeks. The culmination of which has led me to an important declaration of intent: I do not want to be a part of the webcomics community.

Now, before you freak out and think that I'm quitting Bardsworth or something, sit tight and hear me out. I'm not waving bye-bye to making my webcomic. I'm not going to stop reading webcomics. I'm not going into hiding from the people who read my comic. But what I am doing is turning my back on the so-called "webcomic community".

When I first started doing Bardsworth, one of my big goals was to be on par with the people who inspired me, to rub elbows with them at conventions, and generally get the same respect from them that I was giving them. What a wide-eyed, naive young thing I was (seriously, it was only four years ago).

I used to be a part of a church youth group back in the day, and when the group met everyone was a friend of everyone else. However, with the exception of some close friends, a good number of those people were completely different outside of the group. They would say hi to me if I greeted them, but always acted aloof or indifferent, as if they were wasting their time in exchanging pleasantries with me. This is close to the same feeling I get from some of the "big shots" at conventions. They'll smile and be nice-nice there on the floor (maybe because I'm another potential buyer of their merchandise), but afterwards it's basically, "Who are you again?"

I understand that they are probably tired of being bombarded by readers and rabid fans. I understand that they can't be friends to everyone. But would it be so hard to treat a colleague with a bit more respect than they would treat a reader? I'm not saying that they have to give out special treatment, but in a professional setting you wouldn't snub a coworker like that (unless you were a complete jerk).

There's no one incident that brought this on. Rather, it's the general feeling I get when I think about the "community". It's not a community. Part of the word community is "unity", and there's no feeling of that. Not unless you're in the club, so-to-speak. If you're another popular - and yes, I hate to use the "p" word, but it's true - webcomic artist, then you get respect. But if you aren't popular, you're nothing. It's a black and white arena with no shades of gray.

Think I'm full of it? Hit up some of the more big-named webcomic blogs or community sites. You'll see the same names over and over and over. Yes, they got there because they're good at what they do (most of them, anyway), but that doesn't mean that those are the only ones who are. And the names that I'm talking about? They'll talk about the other names constantly. It's a wagon circle that keeps everyone else out.

I'm not whining. I'm not complaining. It's the way it is and I accept that. What I'm doing is stating that I do not want to be a part of this community, this farce. I would rather be a part of a network of other webcomic creators who treat me with the respect that I give them, as well as the readers who make my job worth doing. Anything outside of that is a waste of my time and effort.
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Things I Just Don't Get [Oct. 23rd, 2009|10:45 am]
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[Current Mood | confused]

There is something I'd very much like to understand about webcomic readers, and I guess in people in general - why is that there is a such a need to express your hatred for something?

Here's what sparked my curiosity. This past week, Scott Kurtz of PvP did a storyline revolving around a random, non-canon character called LOLBAT, a superhero parody of internet memes. Up until now, Scott has only done one-offs, just random strips here and there involving the character. But he apparently really wanted to do this brief storyline; it was something that excited him. And to be honest, I'm glad he did, because it paid off in a big way today.

All that aside, though, he mentioned in his blog post that LOLBAT has had the effect of polarizing his readership - folks either love the character or despise him. Scott mentioned getting emails about peoples' hate for the character. And it was that mention of emails that got me thinking - why would someone do that?

Seriously, if someone sent me an email telling me how much they hate Francis, I would be less hurt/angry and more puzzled at why they felt they needed to tell me. Sure, everyone is entitled to their opinion, but do they really think that expressing their hatred is a productive venture?

Is it the immediacy of email that leads to this? You see something that you hate and you know that within five minutes you can write up that hatred and send it spinning through the interwebs at the person who is responsible. There, you did it... now what? What comes after that knee-jerk response? Is there an expectation of change? Just because you don't like something, you expect to change the creator's mind so that they'll stop putting that character in the comic? I just really can't wrap my mind around that mentality. It's their comic; they'll do as they please regardless of how you feel (well, most of them will).

In a related story, Least I Could Do recently did a week long one-off story with Rayne leading a TED conference about a number of things. I don't venture into the forums often, but Katie told me that people were getting pissed at Sohmer for writing that arc, basically telling him to get off of his soapbox, get back to the funny, and (my personal favorite) that Rayne wouldn't do that.

First of all, we are brought back to a subject that has circulated through the webcomic world on numerous ocassions - entitlement. You, as a reader, have no reason to feel entitled to anything (and ironically enough, the subject of entitlement came up in the fictional TED conference, though not in relation to webcomic readers). You read a free comic, free comic, and you expect, even demand, things from the creator? Even if you do donate or buy a t-shirt or a book, that does not make you a shareholder. That makes you a supporter, not of one portion of the comic, not the portion that you like, but the whole thing, good and bad. There are no Terms of Service that state that by giving the creator money, you now have some stake in the comic. You have no right to demand anything. None. End of discussion. And to whoever said that Rayne wouldn't do something like that obviously hasn't read the comic for very long. Ridiculous.

Maybe Penny Arcade isn't far off the mark with their equation: Normal Person + Anonymity + Audience (in this case, the webcomic creator who has made his/her contact info available) = Total Fuckwad.
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Ask the Author: Dancing the Night Away [Oct. 21st, 2009|10:35 am]
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[Current Mood | chipper]

This week's Ask the Author question comes from shoutbox regular Cuerva and is directly related to the current storyline: "Do you know how to do any formal dancing, e.g. not just wave your arms around and scuff your feet?"

Outside of the typical slow dance that Katie and I do at weddings, I do not actually know any formal dancing. Katie and I have talked about taking ballroom dancing lessons for years, but have not had the time and the money simultaneously available to do it. We're hoping this winter to be able to do it finally.

However, this past year at ConDor (the sci-fi/fantasy convention in San Diego), there was a workshop on regency dancing that we took and had a lot of fun doing. I would love to take some more lessons on this, and it seems to be gaining steam in the underground dance circles.

Outside of all that, I do know how to skank. For those of you who aren't "rude boys" or into ska, skanking is a dance rather like jogging in place, but synchronized with ska beats. It can be done solo or in a "skank pit" or "circle pit". If you've never done it, it's a heck of a lot of fun. I made our DJ play a couple ska songs at our wedding, and myself and some friends formed a circle pit, and even Katie joined in, wedding dress and all.

Now you know a little bit more about me. Until next time - ask me anything!
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Ask the Author: Mmm, Cookies [Oct. 14th, 2009|09:13 am]
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[Current Mood | happy]

Reader and shoutbox regular Daigerus had this to ask of me: "Do cookies play an important role in terms in the current story of Bardsworth? It's been mentioned in the taglines, and has appeared numerous times in the comic. [snip] Also, are the cookies always the chocolate chip variety or is Mike open to other kinds?" (edited for brevity's sake)

Many things that you see in Bardsworth are actually clues into the depth of the story. If you go through the archives, there are ocassionally things in the background that are placed there for a reason (some of which haven't been divulged yet). But not all things.

In short, the cookies are just cookies.

The presence of the cookie in Bardsworth started off as a mere running joke. In my high school and college days (and, to some extent, even now) I had an obsession with pie. In fact, my automatic response to a question I didn't know or an awkward situation was, "I like pie." So when I was shaping up Mike's personality, I considered transferring that obsession to him. But I backed off, not wanting to fall into the trap of making Mike too much like me (although many aspects of him are). So I changed the pie to cookies.

Later on, as I began to market the comic, I was trying to come up with ideas that would appeal to both readers of the comic and people who had never heard of it. When I realized that cookies could bridge that gap, I decided to take it from a running gag to a full-on marketing campaign. To this day, people still chuckle at the title of the Bardsworth book "If You Give Me Cookies I'll Believe Anything", and when I was selling t-shirts with that phrase it always got peoples' attentions. In fact, within the past year we started selling plush cookies, and they've been a pretty big hit.

As for the kinds of cookies, I usually just draw chocolate chip because it's easy to draw and it's the most recognizable kind. And yes, they are Mike's favorite (the crunchy kind, though, not the chewy kind), but he will eat any kind of cookie. As for me, I'll eat any kind except snickerdoodles or ginger snaps. Bleh.

Until next time - ask me anything!
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Ask the Author: The Website Questions [Oct. 7th, 2009|11:48 am]
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[Current Mood | chipper]

Today's Ask the Author question is the second part of an email from forum-goer Mad Scientist (the first past was answered last week), and the question was also asked in a recent email from new reader Amanda. In Mad Scientist's words: "Where/how did you make your site? I am looking at buying one (aka, leaving my host). And did you learn the html/css for it or did you pay someone to do it for you? Last, (if you hired someone), how much was it and who did you ask?"

When I was first putting Bardsworth together I considered doing the free webcomic hosting thing with Comic Genesis (although it may still have been Keenspace back then) or one of the other free hosts. But my problem is and always has been the need to control everything I can regarding my projects. I couldn't do that with the free hosting; I'd have to be subject to their ads and certain aspects of the layout. So I decided I would shell out for my own hosting and chose 1&1 hosting at the recommendation of a friend.

So the next issue to tackle was putting the site together. I had had minor experience with HTML back in 1996 when I put together my first website (which is still out there haunting the interweb; no, I won't tell you where it is), but I needed to reteach myself and familiarize myself with more advanced coding. I did everything hard-coded on Notepad and uploaded it to the server via an FTP program. How much more hardcore can you get, huh?

I didn't learn CSS until about two years ago when I did my major website overhaul. I had learned enough at that point to get by, but the site is in definite need of ANOTHER overhaul one of these days. And CSS has become so much more powerful in regards to making a good, dynamic site. But I digress.

Long story short, I am entirely self-taught with the HTML and CSS. I am a prime example that if you are stubborn enough, you can teach yourself anything. Except maybe not to be so stubborn.

Nowadays I use Dreamweaver for all my web updates and changes. If you can afford it, Dreamweaver is an invaluable tool. I would still suggest learning the hard-coding so that you have a foundation to work from, though.

From time to time I've thought about hiring someone to take care of the website for me. It is just one more thing on top of my pile of things to do that takes up time. But again, I can't give up control of any aspect of my projects. Besides, I genuinely like playing around with the website.

My advice, if you choose this route, is to learn the following: HTML/XHTML, CSS, PHP (you don't need to be a guru, just learn enough to be familiar with scripts), using databases like MySQL, and graphic programs like Photoshop or GIMP (you gotta make those website images somehow). Things that will help, but that I don't feel are completely necessary, is knowledge of XML (or at least RSS feeds), Javascript, and more advanced familiarity with PHP.

I hope that helps! Until next time - ask me anything!
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Out of the Past [Oct. 5th, 2009|04:41 pm]
[Tags|]
[Current Mood | thoughtful]
[Current Music |Steve Vai]

Have you ever had one of those moments where something acts as a catalyst to make a memory pop out of nowhere? I had that happen to me the other night. It was like a bubble rising out of the water and when it broke on the surface I remembered something that I hadn't for a long time.

I was doing laundry in my parents' basement and as I was heading back towards the stairs I happened to look at a pile of stuff sticking out of a drawer of an old desk. One of the things there was a plastic folder made to look like a clapboard. This was an item that I asked my parents to buy me when we were in Disney World eons ago. The folder is a thick puffy plastic, and on the inside there's a pocket on the left and a notebook lined paper on the right.

I don't remember the exact reason I asked for it, but I do remember what I did with it. I drew comics in it.

That's right, my comic-drawing days extend back that far, and for some reason I totally forgot about it. I remember specifically one of the comics I tried doing was a 3 or 4 panel comic where a character finds a floating head that grants wishes (and insists that he is NOT a genie) and the two of them go on wacky adventures. Well, to be honest, I only drew a few of them, but I remember I had grand plans for what I wanted to do with it. Needless to say it never happened.

No, I didn't look in the folder. I may get the courage to do so, or I might just let it hide where it is. I haven't decided yet.

But the thing that it made me realize is that what we love doing has roots in our past. I've ALWAYS loved drawing and making up stories, which explains my need to do Bardsworth and to write. It's going to be fun for me to watch my kids closely someday to try and figure out what they're going to be into as they get older.

I hope it isn't sports. Oh God, I hope it isn't sports.
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Feeling Bipolar [Oct. 2nd, 2009|04:07 pm]
[Tags|, , , ]
[Current Mood | happy]

Okay, I just had a very depressing moment and a very happy moment happy within the span of 2 minutes.

I've been scared to check web stats since June. I knew that I had lost a big chunk of readers with the delays and the hiatus, I just didn't want to come face-to-face with the reality of it. Well, today I finally checked, and yup, it's about what I expected. Not good. So naturally I was a bit depressed.

Then I checked my referral links just to see where some of my hits were coming from. I saw the usual links, but then one jumped out at me. Apparently Crystal Yates of Earthsong started linking to me at some point! Crystal was a big inspiration to me when I was playing around with Bardsworth's art style back in the day, so to find out I was linked on her site totally made my day. And simultaneously made me feel bad that I've fallen behind on reading her comic. I guess I'll have to rectify that.
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Art commissions [Oct. 2nd, 2009|10:30 am]
[Tags|]
[Current Mood | lethargic]
[Current Music |Rebecca Pidgeon]

Since I may have to deal with a laptop tragedy, I am opening myself up to art commissions. The information will be posted on the Bardsworth site next week, but I thought I'd post here to give you all a heads up in advance.

( Commission details )
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2009 Webcomic Readers Choice Awards [Oct. 1st, 2009|03:55 pm]
[Tags|, , ]
[Current Mood | sick]
[Current Music |Nirvana]

In case you are unaware, the nominations for the 2009 Webcomic Readers Choice Awards (or WcRCAs, which I like to pronounce as "wuh-kerk-as") are now being accepted. What's the criteria for nominating? You just have to be a webcomic reader, and you have to sign up for an account at Webcomic Planet.

No, this is not a shameless plug so that you guys will vote for me. I love webcomics as much as the next reader, so I'm happy when I see other webcomics (webcomics who definitely deserve the award more than I do) get nominated and even win. Besides, Fawn came in a close fourth place last year for supporting character. I had my fifteen minutes. ;-)

But I urge you, if you have comics you really love, to go and nominate said comics.

WcRCAs
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Ask the Author: Wallpapers [Sep. 30th, 2009|03:36 pm]
[Tags|, , ]
[Current Mood | getting sick]

Today's question comes from forum-goer Mad Scientist (who submitted several questions; more to be answered next week), and goes: "When you make a comic, how do you decide what to make into a wallpaper/bonus stuff? I cannot for the life of me think of anything to make for my readers? (if I even have any) Does it just come to you? Or do people make suggestions?"

My choice of what to turn into a wallpaper depends. Sometimes I'll be struck by a line of dialogue or a pose or a composition while I'm doing the comic. Other times it'll be an idea that just hits me and I think, "Gee, that would look nice!" I've had some suggestions in the past, but as I'm very picky about what I draw I don't think I've actually taken any, though I probably should. It's the stubborn artist in me resisting.

My advice is to figure out what people like about your comic and go from there. Or you can just think about what YOU like about your comic. The best thing about wallpapers is they don't even have to be a part of your story's canon; you can do something crazy. For example, one of the wallpapers that I need to get around to doing is a drawing of Superfawn, which was inspired by one of the strips I recently did. Fawn would never dress up as a superhero in the comic, but I can still make a wallpaper out of it. It's almost like doing a one-time offshoot of your comic.

Bottom line is be creative and don't worry about whether or not people will like it.

Until next time - ask me anything!
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CALL TO ACTION [Sep. 24th, 2009|02:34 pm]
[Tags|, , ]
[Current Music |Serenia]

UPDATE 9/27/09: JJ said she's about halfway there, folks! Please, if you haven't donated yet and you like the comic, just even donating $1 is going to help. If you still haven't checked out the comic, what the heck are you waiting for???

Click the image below to donate:

Donate to Muse Academy

ORIGINAL MESSAGE:

Guys, a fellow webcomic artist and friend needs help. JJ Shippen of Muse Academy suffered something that no artist should suffer - the death of her Wacom tablet. Her baby daughter (who is adorable regardless of her actions) spilled a cup of tea onto the tablet, ending its life. As someone who has experience near-hardware-failures on several occasions, I can tell you that this is a craptastic thing to have happen.

If you're a reader of Muse Academy, please throw a buck or two (more if you can manage) into her tip jar on the main page. If you aren't a reader, check out the comic, which I'm sure you'll love, and then consider donating. The more people we can get to do this, the closer we can bring JJ to getting a new tablet (she's operating with an older and inferior tablet at the moment). And just so you don't think I'm full of all talk and no action, I did donate before I typed any of this out.

Pass the message along, please.
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