Caffeine & Sleep Deprivation

Goodbye 2011 - Hello 2012!

2011-12-31T17:53:00.002-04:00

Time once again to look back upon the year and I'm happy to report it was, in the smooth crooning tones of Ol' Blue Eyes, indeed "a Very Good Year".

This year marked a first for me; for the majority of the year I worked almost exclusively on my own projects! It's a total dream come true and I'm very happy with the results, I hope someday this will be just a matter of fact.

A few highlights of the year:

- Going to Wizard Con in Toronto and hanging out with fellow Eisner Nom of 2010 Ken Nimura (I Kill Giants).

- Finished drawing the next Angora Napkin book!

- A road trip with Brenda to Ottawa and getting to couch surf and visit so many old friends.

- Seeing Metallica in Halifax.

- A 2 month summer Artist in Residence job in Summerside and getting a start on my next two major projects.

- Seeing my kids off to their first day of Kindergarten!

- Kate Beaton book signing in Halifax!

- Getting engaged!

- Christmas vacation sledding with my girls.

- The creation of Wine Club (Don't talk about Wine Club).

- Almost completing the colouring of the Angora Napkin book (10 pages to go)!

And while no year is ever 365 flawless I do my best to make the best of things. I'm truly grateful to have such a great family, friends and time in which to work on my art. I feel so lucky I could burst!

2012 is going to be exciting! Hopefully a new Angora Napkin book will drop and I'll be well into the next project. It's unlikely I'll be able to have another self indulgent year like this anytime soon - gotta find a good paying gig as I've got a wedding to plan!

See you next year!

Covered!

2011-11-21T13:13:00.001-04:00

For a while I've been wanting to contribute a piece to the "Covered" blog (artists re-interpreting comic covers) hosted by Robert Goodin but never got around to it until recently. I knew just the cover I wanted to do, if only for the simple reasons that A) I'm a huge Indy fan and B) I remember buying this issue off the spinner rack and having my 10 year old mind blown finding a letter I wrote made it into the letters page! (I think I only ever wrote 2 fan letters in my time, this one and one to 'Groo the Wanderer' - which to my knowledge never saw print).

Original cover by Keith Pollard

(Click to embiggen)

(TRANSCRIPT:

Dear Marvel:

The artwork in issue #28 of INDIANA JONES was excellent, and the plot was great. But I was kind of disappointed that Indy called Alec "crazy" when Alec jumped the horse across the cliff. I thought that Indy would have done the same thing without hesitation. Whatever happened to the old "Jones luck?"

I'm a devoted Indy fan, and this is my first time writing.

We hope it wont be the last, Troy! Regarding your observation, we agree. If Indy had been in control of the horse, he would have done exactly what Alec did. But he didn't know Alec had the skill to pull off a stunt like that. Indy's willing to risk his own life - but doesn't like someone else doing it for him!

END)

Yes, I am the eternal skeptic. Nonetheless, I was very satisfied with their reasoning behind Indy's actions in that particular thrilling adventure.

This was a fun little diversion, I'll probably do one again someday if the notion strikes!

My Lovely Assistant

2011-11-17T01:10:00.001-04:00

I just passed the 100 pages mark colouring "Harvest of Revenge"! My kids have taken a real interest in colouring on my Cintiq so I let them help me out now and again. Ah these modern kids and their fancy colouring books - and check out the results! Not bad for a 5 year old lefty, she even signed her work! :D

Ch-ch-ch-Changes

2011-11-07T20:26:00.000-04:00

Sorry about the blog neglect, life got really busy – let meget you up to speed:

A freelance storyboard gig came up and that pretty much keptme sleepless for the better part of September. The rest of October was a mixedbag of unfortunate events. Lets get the bad out of the way first -

My Father, who just turned 80, has been suffering fromAlzheimer’s for some time. Things took a turn for the worse as eventuallyhappens to people struck with this miserable disease and he has had to be takenout of his home and put in a manor. My amazing mother has done well to keephim home and care for him as long as she has but despite that it’s impossiblenot to feel like we’ve failed him somehow. Alzheimer’s is an absolutely awfulway to go, and though he’s still here and relatively well in many respects itfeels like the beginning of the end. It saddens me so much to see him fadingaway.

Next was the shocking news of the passing of my childhoodfriend Craig Arsenault at age 37. He fought a difficult battle with cancer anddespite all hopes to the contrary lost the game just a few days beforeHalloween. Craig was one of the funniest, smartest and all around good guys onthe block. I have a lot of great memories of Craig, he was a big part of myyoung life and I’ll never forget him. He leaves behind a lot of people of lovedhim and my thoughts are with his family and especially his young daughterBella. None of us ever imagines we’ll check out so young with so much life leftto live, I’m sure Craig felt the same. I miss you old friend, it’s unfair weshould be robber of your presence so early.

***

Now onto the good news. November, I’ve been looking forwardto for some time now and it’s off to a perfect start. My girlfriend BrendaHickey and I took a trip to Halifax for her Birthday to attend the Kate Beatonsigning at Strange Adventures. We were first in line (and the line was looongwe discovered when we left) and happy to leave with a freshly signed copy ofher brilliant ‘Hark a Vagrant” book.

Later that evening I proposed to Brenda and she accepted!(Sorry to upstage you Kate!) Anyone who has met Brenda knows what a lucky guy Iam – she’s a complete goofy sweetheart and I love her madly. The past few yearsI’ve spent with her have been some of the best of my life and I’m so happy toimagine that trend continuing on for the rest of my days. Thank you Brenda, Ilove you!!!

And as for the next Angora Napkin book? Well, I’m on page 92of the colouring and still clinging to the remote hope it’ll all be done byyears end. I’ve enlisted two helpers, but I fear this will in fact slow downprogress as they’re still working on staying within the lines. Nonetheless,they figured out how to pick colours and flip the pen around to erase so younever know. Maybe they’ll teach me a few tricks!

PACE - Wrap up

2011-09-01T23:36:00.001-03:00

FINAL REPORT

September 1, 2011

It’swith a heavy heart I gave up my keys to the West End Cottage, 471 Notre DameStreet, Summerside. This had been my home away from home for the summer of 2011and it was an opportunity unparalleled in my experience.

Myoriginal and primary intention during the residency was to begin work on mynext major graphic novel entitled “The Allusion of Life”. This and so much morecame out of my time as the PACE Artist in Residence.

Meetingwith the people at Wyatt we planned out the two months events. I spent 2 hoursof almost every day out on the streets of Summerside as part of the ‘Arts inMotion Festival’, letting people know about the PACE Program and talking aboutmy work. This worthwhile event did much in the way of drawing people off thebeaten path and into the house to see the artwork and it’s development.

As well I also held a presentationfor a group of video game summer students talking about the art and design thatparallels the gaming and animation industries. I was unexpectedly invited bylocal kids to help spray paint the graffiti wall at the park (didn’t have timeunfortunately) and hosted a ’24 Hour Comic Marathon’ which turned out to be amassive success!

It’s worth mentioning this eventfurther, as it was a definite high point of the Residency. I had a group oftalented people take part (A film director, a tattoo artist, an animator fromOttawa and local comic artists) in each creating a 24-page comic in 24 hours!We livestreamed the entire event over the Internet and had plenty of people andmedia check in on our progress as the hours wore on. It was a lot of fun andI’ve heard some of the participants say they’d like to do it again!

Events aside, I myself am beyondpleased with what I accomplished with my time. I’ve written over 40 pages ofthe first draft of “The Allusion of Life”, did plenty of concept drawings andeven the first 2 finished pages from the book!

Also, I began work on an “AngoraNapkin” adventure comic strip - completing seven strips and numerous bits ofpin-up artwork that will be included in the next book. I even managed to get ina little oil painting late one night with the company of a friend who wastrying his hand at abstract art.

Some days I worked withoutinterruption and others there seemed to be a flood of visitors to the property.Some local people came in to see what was going on after seeing it reported onthe CBC, many just fell upon it by chance or word of mouth. I had visitors fromas far away as San Diego, Maine, Ontario, Nova Scotia and New Brunswick.

The PACE Artist in Residencyprogram was an incredible experience; I’m excited for the next artist to beable to take advantage of this wonderful opportunity. My undying thanks go outto the PEICA, The City of Summerside, Wyatt Heritage and all the great folkswho helped bring this fantastic project into existence!

PACE: August 29th -31st Schedule: FINAL WEEK!

2011-08-29T07:31:00.001-03:00

I'm down to my last few days as Artist in Residence!!!! Wow, those two months flew by!! So, last chance to come by and see what I've been up to this Tuesday & Wednesday.

Be sure to come by the house from 4:30 6:30PM on Wednesday for a free BBQ meet and greet, check out the artwork and meet the next Artist taking over the space in September!

SCHEDULE August 29th - 31st
Monday: CLOSED
Tuesday: 9:30am - 3:00pm
Wednesday: 9:30am - PARTY!

*All time are tentative / flexible in that I sometimes need to run errands or whatever, but I'll do my utmost best to be there for the listed hours. I'll update any changes should they arise.

OPEN TO THE PUBLIC: 471 NOTRE DAME ST. next to the CREDIT UNION PLACE.
Come on down, check out the art, chat & have a coffee!

PACE: August 22nd -28th Schedule

2011-08-22T09:20:00.006-03:00

SCHEDULE August 22nd - 28th
Monday: 9:00am - 2:30pm
Tuesday: 9:30am - 5:00pm
Wednesday: 9:30am - 5:00pm
Thursday: 9:30am - 5:00pm
Friday: 9:30am - 5:00pm
Saturday: 10:00am - 3:00pm

*All time are tentative / flexible in that I sometimes need to run errands or whatever, but I'll do my utmost best to be there for the listed hours. I'll update any changes should they arise.

OPEN TO THE PUBLIC: 471 NOTRE DAME ST. next to the CREDIT UNION PLACE.
Come on down, check out the art, chat & have a coffee!

PACE Schedule: Aug 15th - 18th

2011-08-15T11:43:00.001-03:00

Short week this week due to the Charlottetown Parade on Friday and my kids birthday party on Saturday!

SCHEDULE August 15th-18th

Monday: 10:30am - 3:30pm
Tuesday: 9:30am - 3:30pm
Wednesday: 9:30am - 5:00pm (or later)
Thursday: 9:30am - 5:00pm

*All time are tentative / flexible in that I sometimes need to run errands or whatever, but I'll do my utmost best to be there for the listed hours. I'll update any changes should they arise.

OPEN TO THE PUBLIC: 471 NOTRE DAME ST. next to the CREDIT UNION PLACE.
Come on down, check out the art, chat & have a coffee!

CBSW 2011 Wrap Up, PACE Schedule Aug 8th-13th

2011-08-08T10:32:00.000-03:00

COMIC BOOK SHARK WEEK 2011 IS OVER!

I hope you all had a productive CBSW last week. How did you rate? I'd lump myself in as "Mako", but only because of the 24 Hour Comic Marathon, the rest of the week was a jumble of distractions I couldn't get away from. In any case, I'll be ready to tear into CBSW 2012 like a wounded seal next year!

Big shout out to all the participants of the 24 Hour Comic: Brenda & Carloyn Hickey, Peter Murphy, John Dohe, Sue Marsden, Pat Brunet, Christina Gaudet and the official 24HC mascot Sneakers! It was a blast peeps, you were a great bunch to hang out and draw with, let's do it again next year!

So what else did I get done during CBSW? I'm still spending the summer at my home away from home as the Artist in Residence in Summerside and taking part in the Arts in Motion Festival daily. I managed to draw and ink an Angora Napkin pin up, did a lot of writing on my next book and some brainstorming for another Angora web comic. I even managed to fulfill the CBSW caveat and include a shark drawing in my 24 Hour Comic! Not too shabby.

SCHEDULE August 8st-13th

Monday: 9:30am - 4:00pm
Tuesday: 9:30am - 11am
Wednesday: 9:30am - 11am, 1:00pm - 5:00pm
Thursday: 9:30am - 11am, 1:00pm - 5:00pmFriday: 9:30am - 4:00pm, 4:00pm at Lefurgey Centre Arts in Motion wrap event
Saturday: 9:00am - 3:00pm

* From 11:00am - 1:00pm Tues-Thurs I'll be available at Spinnakers Landing as part of the Arts in Motion Festival.

**All time are tentative / flexible in that I sometimes need to run errands or whatever, but I'll do my utmost best to be there for the listed hours. I'll update any changes should they arise.

OPEN TO THE PUBLIC: 471 NOTRE DAME ST. next to the CREDIT UNION PLACE.
Come on down, check out the art, chat & have a coffee!

24 Hour Comic pics

2011-08-06T21:31:00.001-03:00

24 Hour Comic, a set on Flickr.

COMIC BOOK SHARK WEEK! 24 HOUR COMIC! PACE SCHEDULE!

2011-07-31T21:56:00.001-03:00

COMIC BOOK SHARK WEEK

JULY 31st to AUG 7th

That's right chums, it's the kick off to CBSW 2011 and I'm going at it like a school of Mako's on a wounded seal. Yes, it's that special time of the year when comic creators across the globe work themselves up into a creative frenzy and become productive killing machines!

Find out more about this annual event HERE and then GET TO WORK!

So on top of working on the first draft of my next book, taking part in the Arts in Motion Festival, drawing, inking, sketching and painting I plan on hosting a 24 Hour Comic Party at the West End Cottage in Summerside!

The history and rules of the event can be found on Scott McCloud's website.

Bring paper, pens or whatever you like to draw with and on and be ready to go at 9:00AM sharp Thursday, August 4th. Then get ready to crank out the pages without stopping for 24 hours! (I've done this twice before, it's grueling but fun in a group). NOTE: table space at the cottage is limited, if you have a portable drawing table - bring it!

CBC TV was by last week and did a small segment on the Artist in Residence program, check it out:

That's it! See you at 471 Notre Dame St. during the times listed below.

And have a GREAT WHITE SHARK WEEK!

SCHEDULE August 1st-6th

Monday: 9:30am - 11am, 1:00pm - 4:00pm
Tuesday: 9:30am - 11am, 1:00pm - 4:00pm
Wednesday: 9:30am - 11am, 1:00pm - 5:00pm
Thursday: 24 HOUR COMIC 9:00am to 9:00am Friday
Friday: CLOSED FOR SLEEP!
Saturday: 9:00am - 3:00pm

* From 11:00am - 1:00pm Mon-Wed I'll be available downtown Water St. as part of the Arts in Motion Festival.

**All time are tentative / flexible in that I sometimes need to run errands or whatever, but I'll do my utmost best to be there for the listed hours. I'll update any changes should they arise.

OPEN TO THE PUBLIC: 471 NOTRE DAME ST. next to the CREDIT UNION PLACE.
Come on down, check out the art, chat & have a coffee!

PACE: July 27th-29th Schedule

2011-07-25T17:25:00.000-03:00

SCHEDULE JULY 27th-29th
Wednesday: 9:30am - 11am, 1:00pm - 5:00pm (or later)
Thursday: 8:30am - 11am, 1:00pm - 5:00pm (or later)
Friday: 8:30 - 11am, 1pm - 4:00pm

* From 11:00am - 1:00pm Wed-Fri I'll be available downtown Water St. as part of the Arts in Motion Festival.

**All time are tentative / flexible in that I sometimes need to run errands or whatever, but I'll do my utmost best to be there for the listed hours. I'll update any changes should they arise.

OPEN TO THE PUBLIC: 471 NOTRE DAME ST. next to the CREDIT UNION PLACE.
Come on down, check out the art, chat & have a coffee!

PACE: July 20th-23rd Schedule

2011-07-19T22:09:00.000-03:00

SCHEDULE JULY 20th-23th
Wednesday: 1:00pm - 5:00pm (or later)
Thursday: 8:30am 11am, 1:00pm - 4:30pm (Then off to see Harry Potter!)
Friday: 9:30 - 11am, 1pm - 5pm (or later)
Saturday: 9:00am - 4:00pm

* From 11:00am - 1:00pm Wed-Fri I'll be available downtown Water St. as part of the Arts in Motion Festival.

**All time are tentative / flexible in that I sometimes need to run errands or whatever, but I'll do my utmost best to be there for the listed hours. I'll update any changes should they arise.

OPEN TO THE PUBLIC: 471 NOTRE DAME ST. next to the CREDIT UNION PLACE.
Come on down, check out the art, chat & have a coffee!

PACE: July 11th-16th Schedule

2011-07-10T21:45:00.000-03:00

SCHEDULE JULY 11th-16th
Monday: 9:30am - 3:30pm
Tuesday: 9:30am - 5:00pm
Wednesday: 9:00am - 5:00pm (or later)
Thursday: Closed due to Metallica
Friday: 12:00pm(?) - 5pm (or later)
Saturday: 9:00am - 4:00pm

*All time are tentative / flexible in that I sometimes need to run errands or whatever, but I'll do my utmost best to be there for the listed hours. I'll update any changes should they arise.

PACE: Dispatches from the WEC - Part 1

2011-07-07T12:22:00.000-03:00

SCHEDULE JULY 7th-9th
THURSDAY: 10:30am - 5:00pm (or later)
FRIDAY: CLOSED
SATURDAY: 8:30am - 12:00pm

My first week at the WEC (West End Cottage) is nearing it's end but thankfully there's still plenty of time to go. My Residency runs until the end of August and I'll be spending most of that time in the quaint little home you see below:

471 Notre Dame St. Summerside, PE

So far I've been mostly occupied with moving in and setting up shop, figuring out what I need and what I forgot to bring. I'm pretty much up and running now and look forward to getting down to business just as soon as I finish this post.

View from the front porch

I've covered the walls with original artwork from the first Angora Napkin graphic novel along with tumbnails and roughs for those pages. There's almost half a dozen sketchbooks full of Mygrain comics and other junk to flip through. I've even brought along some canvases in case I get the urge to do some painting.

I started this painting years ago... Will I finish it??

I'll post my tentative schedule here the first of every week. This is open to the public so come on in, I'll make you a coffee while you read a comic, check out the art or watch the Angora Napkin cartoon! Who are you to resist?

Happy Canada Day!

2011-07-01T09:03:00.000-03:00

It's Canada Day here in Canada! My you find a hobo in your bathtub on this special day!

Wow, the next two months are going to be a blast! I'll be starting my PACE residency "officially" on July 4th, but I expect it'll take until the following week before I actually get set up and a schedule worked out. I'll be doing a lot of blogging during my time in Summerside and have a lot of fun events in the works so keep checking back for updates!

Speaking up updates, I'm pleased to announce that I'm (as of yesterday) half way done the colouring stage of the next Angora Napkin book! I managed to finish 24 pages in June, much better then the previous month. Well, it's all down hill from here, right? Right?

PACE Artist in Residence July-August 2011

2011-06-24T08:00:00.000-03:00

I've received word that my proposal to the PACE Artist in Residency program has been selected for the July - August slot! More details once I get them but in a nutshell I'll be spending most of the summer (should it ever arrive here on PEI) in Summerside making art and comics in a public venue! I am super stoked about this project and can't wait to get more details to share.

My residency begins July 4th, so forget about the Royal Visit that day and come to Summerside and take in some comics instead!

"We Love Comics"

Hockey and The Evil That Men Do.

2011-06-16T11:17:00.003-03:00

This will be, without a doubt, the only time I'm ever going to blog about Hockey.

This may startle you, but I'm a Canadian and not a hockey fan. I could care less about the Stanley Cup. In fact I spent last night's final game of the playoffs watching LOST re-runs. But this morning I get to witness Vancouver, the sore losers of last nights game:

This really got me thinking about our WIN / LOSE culture and I believe this is why I have such an aversion to institutionalized sports. The concept of Good Sportsmanship, humility and grace are ideas long since abandoned in our society.

Hockey is a game, not a religion. Games were at one time meant to be fun and challenging. Somewhere along the lines the notion of "Winning is all the matters" took over and is now seems to be the primary psychological motivation behind coaches and fans alike and not the basic love of the game.

The problem with institutionalized sports, as opposed to say chess or Scrabble, is that while an individual player my take their loss with grace and humility the external forces of fandom are beyond that persons ability to influence and as such you see the results in the above picture. A few bad apples ruining it for the rest of us.

Now, I'm not particularly good at sports in any way but I enjoy playing them provided it's fun. If you only Play To Win against me the fun has left the game.

So here's a radical idea: what if players and fans alike could win or lose with grace, respect and humility towards their other team? What if the defeated side can feel disappointment yet cheer for the success of the opposition? Why have things degraded to such a neanderthal clubbing match with victory the only point of the endeavor?

People have a very messed up perception of what success means in this world.

Until things change, and I don't ever expect that it will, I'm going to keep my nose out of Hockey lest it gets broken but some idiot and be thankful I don't live in a town where my car gets set on fire when the local sports team loses.

Make love, not Hockey

Meet The Podcrastinators & SCG

2011-06-04T11:26:00.001-03:00

Last week found the illustrious Brenda Hickey and myself in the heart of Conservative Canada (Ottawa) were we slept on many a couch (Thanks peeps!) and held book signings. And by signings I mean one.

One of the highlights of our travels was doing a podcast with the infamous ("more then famous") Andre & Mike of The Podcrastinators - Ottawa's favorite Podcast straight from the heart of Wellington Diner!

Don't miss a moment of this almost 2 hour podcast, but if you must cut to the chase then Brenda and I make our appearance around the 39:00 mark:

The Podcrastinors: Episode Sicks

Full disclosure, Mike and I go waaaaaay back. For example, check out this bit of collaborative 'gold' from 2000:

Kudos to Mr. Andre for the slick edit on the interview, there was a lot of noise and interruptions that vanished in the post production phase and made the interview nice and tidy.

One final shill, you can pick up a copy of Mike's new book "The Open Door and Other Night Time Tales of Terror" (TODAONTTOT for short?) by clicking on the the spooky book cover below and steady yourself to never sleep again!

Keep reading!

Something's brewing over at www.angoranapkin.com!

2011-05-18T10:14:00.000-03:00

JUNE 1st, 2011... THE BEGINNING of the BEGINNING

I've been busy re-vamping the Angora Napkin website lately and have some fun stuff in store for you soon!

In case you're interested, I have a very limited few remaining Angora Napkin T-shirts left. Last chance to get one before they're GONZO!

Check it out starting June 1st!

Check it out on May 21st in Summerside:

2011-05-13T17:39:00.000-03:00

Book signing in Ottawa!

2011-05-10T07:16:00.000-03:00

Colouring pages

2011-04-30T09:31:00.000-03:00

Hey gang!

So yeah, the final phase of the next Angora book is well underway but it's taking some time! I'm a B&W junkie but it was suggested to me by my publisher that I go full colour for my next book and so that's what I'm doing. The process is very slow and time consuming - I'm about 30 odd pages in and managing 5-6 pages a week at the moment. I can draw these pages at almost twice the speed I can colour them! Still, I have a good head start at the moment so hopefully we can start serializing them online soon.

Here's a panel in process from the new book going from B&W to Flats to Final colours. I must admit I like the finished product so I expect all future Angora Napkin stories will probably be in colour.

And now for something completely different...

2011-04-11T20:25:00.000-03:00

Angora Napkin Book 2: Drawing phase COMPLETE!

2011-04-07T16:06:00.000-03:00

*whew*
First page drawn on Monday, October 26, 2009
Last page drawn on Thursday, April 7th, 2011.

I really got things moving in 2011

Tomorrow I'll be announcing the title of the new book as well as posting a way-to-early sneak peek.

Check it out at www.angoranapkin.com

Progress!

2011-04-02T15:15:00.000-03:00

The next Angora Napkin book is moving along at a good clip!

STATS:
February - 18 pages
March - 24 pages (Somehow, despite getting the flu and doing Wizard Con Toronto)

I'll actually be finished the drawing part next week, but then the task of scanning and colouring all that comes into play. Ugh, so close and yet so far from breaking out the champagne on this one. In any case, once I finish drawing the book I'll post a teaser page or two and reveal the title - so be sure to look for that coming your way later next week to celebrate it's partial completion!

Chocolate covered coffee beans and Pocky, Comic Con staples.

A rare Angora Napkin graphic novel signed by both Troy & Nick!

Wizard Con Toronto!

2011-02-28T09:05:00.000-04:00

CLICK HERE FOR SHOW DETAILS!

Creating a wormhole in time through sickness

2011-02-02T22:55:00.000-04:00

Somehow I managed to accomplish this task.

First thing you must do is to catch a cold. I did this with the aid of my lovely daughter Hayden.


Take a bow Hayden!

Next, decide that you're going to take it easy and do little beyond resting and watching TV.

Today I watched:
Avatar the Last Airbender (3 EP)
Caprica (2 Ep)
True Blood (4 EP)

I took a 3 hour nap in the afternoon and had a shower.

And somewhere in that jumble I lettered and inked 2 pages of comics.

The only plausible explanation.

I'm considering taking further advantage to this time/space disconnect to learn piano, take up Wizardry and maybe write a self help book, which should be available in stores tomorrow if this keeps up.

January 2011 starts with a bang!

2011-01-31T22:46:00.000-04:00

OVER ALL RESULTS

January 4th-31st

32 pages finished

Yep, that was a heck of a month but the results are worth it! Seems I average a good 8 pages a week and this is without question the most comics pages I've ever produced (excluding 24 Hour Comics) in a month.

If I can maintain this I should be done the drawing part of the book in 2-3 months.... Then I have to go back and start colouring all those pages! The only bump I foresee in the next while would be Wizard Con in Toronto, March 18-21st. Looking forward to it though!

It's been good clocking my hours and figuring out how much work I can handle in a week to be able to plan ahead and get a sense of how long it will take to produce pages. I'm sure my next project will be a whole different ball game but I'm pretty consistent with Angora Napkin pages it seems.

No more weekly blather and analysis in February. I'll think up something else to go on about. Expect to be both thrilled and disappointed in equal measure with every post!

Week 3 Stats

2011-01-22T22:55:00.000-04:00

I wasn't sure how close or off the the mark I'd be this week. I had a good number of distractions (ie: new laptop, Avatar: Season 2, college talk, etc.) but some how managed to hit it once more.

RESULTS
January 17-22
8 finished pages
39 Hours (aprox)

Special thanks to Red 6's Jek Porkins (RIP)

for the encouragement to Stay On Target.

Week 2 Stats

2011-01-15T22:42:00.000-04:00

Let's keep this brief and to the point:

January 10th-15th.
8 finished pages.
46 Hours.

Boom.

Day 5 / End results

2011-01-09T22:47:00.000-04:00

Over the weekend I managed to thumbnail out all next weeks pages and finish one more.

Breakdown:
Roughs/Thumbs: 3.5 Hours
Pencils: .5 Hours
Lettering: .85 Hours
Inks: 1.35 Hours

Total: 6.2 Hours

TOTAL WEEK: 8 PAGES @ 36 HOURS

So there you go. Next week I'll not bother with the annoying daily breakdown and save the results until the end of the week. I got a lot out of this little experiment of putting myself under the microscope and can't wait to get back at drawing tomorrow morning!

Day 4 - True Grit

2011-01-07T19:01:00.000-04:00

2 more pages done and in good time!

Breakdown:
(2.5 out of 5 for difficulty / challenging)

Roughs: 2.7 Hours
Pencils: 1 Hour
Lettering: 1.2 Hours
Inks Pg 1: .65 Hour
Inks Pg 2: 1.25 Hours

Total: 6.8 Hours

This has been a pretty challenging week (that only started on Tuesday for me) but I'm really happy with the progress so far. I'm getting a good idea about what it takes to do this stuff on a proper schedule and how long it takes me to do the work. It's also reminding me what it's like to look forward to the weekend so I can take a break!

Tonight's reward: Going to see "True Grit"!
Tomorrow's plan: Tumbnail out next weeks work and do one page.
Sunday: I'm taking Sunday the frig off.

Day 3 - Going Public!

2011-01-06T22:57:00.000-04:00

Another page done! A little bit out of order; I left my thumbnails for Pg 55 at home so I jumped into Pg 56 as there was no continuity issues that required me to have 55 done first.

I roughed out the page at the coffee shop and then Livestreamed the inking later that night. Unfortunately the Livestream didn't seem to record so if you missed it, you missed it forever!

Today's Stats (one page):
(I'd give it a 3 out of 5 for difficulty / complexity)

Roughs: 1.8 Hours
Pencils: .65 Hours
Lettering: .55 Hours
Inking: 1.65 Hours

+ Ruling out 20 blank pages: 1 Hour

Total: 5.65 Hours

Roughing the page while hanging out with Brenda

Tomorrow I'm going to shoot for a 2 page day if I can manage it.

Day 2 Results

2011-01-05T22:46:00.000-04:00

*Whew*

2 more pages in the can!

Breakdown:
(I'd give these a 3 & 4 out of 5 on difficulty / complexity)

Rough pages: 2.8 Hours
Pencils: 1.1 Hours
Lettering: 1.5 Hours
Page 1 inks: 1.5 Hours
Page 2 inks: 2.2 Hours

Total: 9.1 Hours

Not bad, but exhausting!!
I managed to finish the first page inks my 5:00, then finished up by 10:00 (after some food and a "few" episodes of Avatar).

Now if I could only manage to be FINISHED by 5:00 or 6:00. That would kick ass.

Tomorrow's only going to be a One Page Day, got other things that need attending to!

2011 - Mathematical!

2011-01-04T22:40:00.000-04:00

So for me this is my first day back on the JOB since the holidays. Starting a fresh new year is all ways exciting and I couldn't wait to get back to working on comics.

December was fairly productive despite all the December distractions. I started using a time tracker app on my iPhone to see just how much time I actually spent working on comics over the last 3 weeks. Yeah, stupid time to start tracking hours when you're knee deep in the holiday season but there you go.

Things broke down as such:
Week One: 17.6 Hours
Week Two: 9.8 Hours
Week Three: 13.5 Hours

I attempted to not start kicking myself with only minor success seeing the results.

It got me thinking though. What IF I actually managed to put in an 8 hour day / 40 hour week doing comics in this "full time" manner I've been yammering on about? Deciding (agonizing over) to only work on one book at a time I figured I should be able to do 1 - 2 page of Angora Napkin a day. So today I got to put theory to test and clock my time while attempting 2 finished pages.

I had thumbnails for Pg 51 & 52 done before I started today at 8:30.

I roughed out the two pages on 8.5 X 11 paper while sipping wicked hot coffee at Starbucks. I really hit my stride somewhere between "Song 2" by Blur and "I Can't Stop Partying" by Weezer on my iPod. I guess that's when the caffeine kicked in.

Finishing that I ran some quick errands, picked up a new pad of Bristol board and a syringe for ink refills and made my way home. Note to self: driving downtown for coffee every day ends up A) costing a lot of money on coffee and B) eats up a lot of time. (None the less, I need to get out of the house once and a while or I go mental.)

Home, and the blank pages await!

I lightbox pencil one page out before stopping for lunch and a chat with Brenda, then back at page 2. Here it is all lettered.

And then... The Moment...

My awesome girlfriend got me this SWEET new brush pen for Christmas and today's pages would be it's trial run. I've been long using the Pentel Brush Pen (and love it) but came across this one on a pen fetish web site one day. It claimed to put the synthetic Pentel to shame with it's real sable hair bristles. I'm probably more excited about this then I should be. Brenda asked me if she should be jealous.... The jury's out on that for the moment.

So, I pop in the in cartridge and spend some time getting the ink flowing. I ink a panel, frown and go rise out the crappy ink in the cartridge and refill it with good old Rotering ink. Ahhh - satisfyingly black!

It's a tricky brush pen! Shorter bristles then the Pentel and it really holds a lot of ink! I smeared a lot of lines because the ink came out so fluid as to not dry quickly enough for my impatient inking. Also, I had to (with great fear) scalpel off the very tip of the brush as it was a hair too long and kept catching on turns. It's going to take some getting used to but by the end I was getting better at it.

Too much pen info? Deal with it.

And so, having not drawn much of anything in a week or so and wrestling with a new tool my wrist was killing me by the end of page one. I checked the clock and took a dinner break.

Determined, I set back to it after pizza. (Thank you Mom & Dad, I love my new toaster oven - you can cook a whole pizza in it!)

How did things break down?

(I'd gauge these pages as being a safe 2.5 (out of 5) for difficulty / complexity.)

Note to Self: I'd only finished inking 1/4 of the first page by 5:00

Roughing 2 pages: 2.1 Hours

Penciling 2 pages: 1.4 Hours

Letting 2 pages: 1.25 Hours

Inking 1st page: 2.0 Hours

Inking 2nd page: 1.6 Hours

TOTAL: 8:35 Hours

SUCCESS! I completed 2 pages in one work day!

I think I'll continue to clock and blog my work week and see how things go. Might even set up the web cam and do some Livestreaming at some point, so stay tuned!

Assess, Adapt and Move Forward! Bring on 2011!!

2010-12-31T16:15:00.000-04:00

2010 is almost a memory! I must say it was a very good year and I have a very good feeling about 2011. It's been interesting doing the full time comic thing for the last month and a bit. I started out with a plan on how I was going to spend my work time and when that didn't work I revised it. Version 2 worked for a while but then "mild frustration" set in (see last post) and so I'm adapting it again.

I think I've finally learned I can't do two books at once, sorry Chiaroscuro fans - it's returned to the back burner for the time being. I've also learned I don't make the best use of my time, hardly ever do I seem to put in 8 hours a day on my working days. (Also, I don't sleep enough and almost never exercise).

Okay, I KNOW I can do better then this. So I'm starting off 2011 (starting on the 4th) with renewed determination to pick up the slack. I'm working exclusively on the next Angora Napkin book and I'm setting a 1-2 page a day goal. The book is all ready a year late (by my own deadline) for web serialization so I really want to get this thing MOVING and get it online early 2011!

If I can nail this pace the book will take 3-5 months to finish and then I can switch gears and tackle Chiaroscuro full time and get some momentum on that one.

Wizard Con in Toronto, March 18-20th! I'll be there!

That's it from Meanwhile Studios for 2010, see you next year gang!

Happy Hollerdaze Napkin fans!

2010-12-15T20:59:00.002-04:00

Mild frustrations

2010-12-08T14:47:00.000-04:00

Hey look - Chiaroscuro book 2 is in the works!

I kind of knew that switching gears between two books was going to cause me a good degree of face-palming. Mainly, I can breeze through Angora Napkin pages then I run smack into a brick wall with Chiaroscuro.

Angora Napkin is loose, cartoony, fun and portable to the coffee shops to work on. Chiaroscuro is dense, slow paced, tedious to draw and entirely NOT portable. Also, I have around 450 pages to draw before the story is complete - it's a little daunting.

Angora Napkin is totally me in my element I've discovered. I LOVE drawing stupid cartoons. Chiaroscuro is... Challenging. I still don't feel entirely comfortable with the look of it yet and it constantly points out a lot of my shortcomings as an artist. I have this feeling it's a career spanning work-in-progress.

So far this month the finished pages count standing is:

Angora Napkin: 5
Chiaroscuro: 2

Part of my frustration lies in that I have so many more ideas pinging around in my head and comics are just SO SLOW to produce I just don't have the time to dedicate to developing them. I have no idea how some people (Doug TeNaple, I'm looking at you!) balance a family, comics, creativity and all the other things that make up a day.

OK, enough ranting and more drawing. I'm pretty sure that's really the only way to get where I want and so far as I'm aware I'm not getting any younger.

One last thing before I get back to work:

BOOK SIGNING @ LIGHTNING BOLT COMICS

Charlottetown, PE. DECEMBER 15th from 11-4

In the spirit of giving this season....

2010-11-28T11:54:00.000-04:00

... Why not pick up a copy of Chiaroscuro or Angora Napkin for that special someone?

Scroll down the blog and you can find an Amazon link to both books, starting at as little as... $0.01???? Um, that's just "this" far from being free! Buy a few why not?

Or if you're feeling generous and benevolent you can buy one directly from me HERE. The bonus for you is you get an original drawing in your book and that warm fuzzy feeling of directly support the artist that created the work.

Either way you win!

Endurance II

2010-11-26T15:10:00.000-04:00

Here's an old comic I found digging through the ruins. Click & Enjoy!

What a week!

2010-11-18T15:38:00.000-04:00

Yesterday I posted the Angora Napkin pilot on Vimeo and it sure is getting around! As of right now, 245 people have shared it on Facebook and it's got 2,247 views on Vimeo - all in 24 hours!! Keep on spreading the love and share it with your friends ~ and thanks for all the positive feedback!

Angora Napkin - pilot from Troy Little on Vimeo.

Beyond that I've managed to pump out 7 inked Angora Napkin pages, 1 Mygrain comic and penciled a commissioned piece.

(A new Mygrain comic!)

(Penciling Pg 36 on the light table)

(Pg 36 inks in progress)

Today's task is a slightly daunting one... Remember that book I did a long time ago. I think it was called Chiaroscuro (or some other unpronounceable thing). Yeah, I have more of those to do. I only planned to take a year off from the book before getting back into it but a whole lot of things got in the way. I've managed to draw a staggering 6 finished pages to date. I write the date I finish pages at the bottom of the art and that last page was inked November 22, 2009 - so it's been just over a year since I've worked on the damn book.

Whelp, enough of that bullshit. It's in the queue now alongside Angora Napkin starting today! Page 7 is penciled and I'll be busting out the Hunt 102 and freshening the ink shortly.

In the meantime, I dug up the cover to the single issue of Chiaroscuro #8 that never was. I guess I thought I'd channel Frank Miller on this one but alas it never made it to print with issue #7 being the last of the single issues.

Wish me luck!

(BTW, if anyone out there has read and enjoyed Chiaroscuro Book 1 and felt the urge to add a nice word or two about it on the Amazon page that would be mighty sweet of ya. Currently the only review is a "One Star" review that refers to it as "The worst comic I have ever read.") ^__^

Troy 2.0

2010-11-13T15:12:00.001-04:00

~ We all have big changes in our lives that are more or less a second chance. ~ Harrison Ford

So much has happened since September 19th, 1999, the day I finished page one of Chiaroscuro. It's been quite a ride and I have so much to be thankful for.

(Original cover art for Issue #1)

In my fledgling career as a comic artist I've been lucky enough to win a Xeric grant, 2 PEICA grants, and been nominated for an Eisner Award. The pipe dream of an animated Angora Napkin has been realized as a pilot and my graphic novels are available world wide thanks to IDW Publishing. I've traveled to many new places in North America in support of my comics and met so many amazing and talented writers and artists.

In my personal life I've seen many ups and downs. I've worked mainly in animation since 1996 and have worked with some of the greatest, coolest and most creative people that I happily count among my favorite people on the planet. I've suffered through a lot of devastating financial times, major geographical relocation, been married, divorced and witnessed the birth of my twin daughters Alicen & Hayden.

I'm in a very good place right now; like I hit the reboot button and I'm starting fresh again. I can honestly say I can't remember a time when I felt this good about life. I have the best kids, an amazing and wonderful girlfriend and time to draw and create.

(Hayden & Alicen sporting their Kochalka swag)

I was 27 when I figured out that comics were what I really wanted to do. I'm 37 now and one thing I've never been able to do is afford the time to do comics without having to work full time day job.

While that is probably still the case, I find myself currently without a full time day job. So I figure NOW it's time to buckle down and make a go of this comic thing! As of Thursday, Nov. 11th I've been working full time on comics and will continue to do so as long as I'm able. In the last three days I've inked 5 pages of the upcoming Angora Napkin web comic, roughed another page and did the first Mygrain comic in a loooong time.

So here's the plan: I'm going to work like a dog and crank out comics. I'll be mixing my time on Angora Napkin, Chiaroscuro Book 2 (Yes folks, it's still alive!) new Mygrain comics and developing some of the other ideas I have into pitches. In order to keep me focused on writing and drawing I've enlisted the help of a mysterious assistant known only as The Wa. He's ruling out pages, scanning artwork, colouring flats and doing all my general monkey work. I can't thank him enough for his help!

(The Wa and The Boss)

In my attempt to sustain this level of output I'm going to also need your help and support. I plan on having some merchandise available soon, selling / auctioning off original art and possibly taking a few commissions. I'm going to be more active on Blogger and Twitter to keep you in the loop as to what's going on. I experimented in Livestreaming recently and will schedule more soon. There will be lots here to keep you coming back and spreading the word I hope.

(Angora Napkin panel in progress)

Thanks to all of you for your patience and continued support over the years! I hope you enjoy all the new things I'm cooking up! Stay tuned for more!!!!

ANGORA NAPKIN TONIGHT!!

2010-10-31T15:00:00.000-03:00

CHECK YOUR LOCAL LISTINGS!!!

You know where to find me on the 24th.

2010-09-13T19:20:00.000-03:00

Yep, it's official - Dave Sim's LAST signing will be at Strange Adventures in Halifax on September 24th!

Then I'll be exhibiting at Word on the Street on the 26th (also in Halifax)!

I'm loving the Halifax this month!

Upcoming Events

2010-09-01T17:01:00.000-03:00

I'll eventually get around to posting something on the Comic Con / Eisner event of July. In the meantime you may tide yourselves over with this article from The Buzz I wrote: LINK

Catch me at these upcoming events:

Summerside, PE - Wine & Arts Festival, September 10th from 7-9

Halifax, NS - Word on the Street, September 26th from 11- 5

Hope to see you there!

San Diego Comic Con bound!

2010-07-12T20:17:00.000-03:00

TCAF 2010: Be there or FAIL.

2010-05-05T09:10:00.000-03:00

Toronto Comics Arts Festival

May 8-9

SEE YOU THERE!

Comic Art of Troy Little @ Baba's Art Wall on display until May 7th.

2010-04-18T10:08:00.000-03:00

In case you're not in PEI, which most likely you're not, here's a peek at the show!

Info about the show, location and such can be found HERE.

ANGORA NAPKIN nominated for an EISNER AWARD!!!

2010-04-09T18:05:00.001-03:00

Best Publication for Teens

CLICK HERE for the complete list of Eisner nominees for 2010!

Comic Art of Troy Little @ Baba's Art Wall!

2010-04-07T18:05:00.000-03:00

The Comic Art of Troy Little will be the featured artwork on display at Baba's Lounge from April 8th to May 7th. Opening reception at 8pm on Thusday April 8th from 8-9. Featuring original pages from his graphic novels Chiaroscuro, Angora Napkin and the web comic Mygrain. For more details check out the Facebook event!

Last call for Angora Napkin T-Shirts!

2010-04-05T08:55:00.000-03:00

Order your Angora Napkin T-Shirt today or miss out! Last chance!

Angora Napkin T-Shirts! One week only!

2010-03-28T08:22:00.000-03:00

ANGORA NAPKIN T-SHIRTS

Limited edition silk screened shirts

Taking pre-orders online until April 4th! After that - No shirt for you!

www.meanwhilestudios.com

Angora Napkin - 2009 Glass Eye Awards winner!

2010-01-05T10:55:00.000-04:00

Eye on Comics has just released their top picks for 2009 and Angora Napkin was listed in the top "Best Original Graphic Novel" category!!

YAY!

Angora Napkin: The Detour, iTunes and BEYOND!

2009-11-18T22:10:00.000-04:00

Hey gang, you can still check out the Angora Napkin pilot online, cast your vote and shower Teletoon with heaps of love for the show! Here's some handy links:

The Detour
The Detour (direct link - no voting / comment boxes)

Sympatico TV Guide

DOWNLOAD it at iTunes!

And watch now... IN FRENCH!

Thanks for the support everyone, lets rack up those votes and push this puppy into a full series!!

ANGORA NAPKIN ONLINE! ONE WEEK ONLY!

2009-10-29T22:41:00.001-03:00

This is it kiddies: ONE WEEK ONLY!
From October 30th - November 5th, check out the Angora Napkin animated pilot online!

www.thedetour.ca

We hope you enjoy the cartoon and please take the time to leave a comment for Teletoon demanding more, we'd be happy to oblige!

- Troy & Nick

Angora Napkin: Online October 30th!!!

2009-10-24T20:20:00.002-03:00

CHECK IT OUT!

LOVE IT!

DEMAND MORE!

The Detour.ca

From the muddy banks of the Rideau...

2009-10-14T11:32:00.000-03:00

I fought the law and...

2009-10-02T14:31:00.005-03:00

A big hand for the boys and girls at the US border for keeping their country safe from Canadian comic artists and their ilk!

So in case you went to SPX last month and wondered to yourself why my table stood empty, cease wondering; I was stopped at the St. Stephens border, had my books seized and had to pay $200 to get them back and was then sent away. Why? Well:

FLASHBACK to SPX 2008...

See, I work with strange notions like common sense and basic human understanding. I draw cartoons for a living and think very little about how the stock market works or how to build an airplane so when I drove up to the US border in 2009 and was asked where I was going I cheerfully and honestly said "To the Small Press Expo in Maryland to sell my comic books!", which is of course, the wrong answer.

The car was searched and I was informed I couldn't sell my books in the US. I asked why and was told, "Because you can't". My option was to drive back to Canada and get rid of my books if I wanted into the States, BUT I was allowed to bring a few copies of each book for promotion and give away provided I didn't sell them. So I left there thinking the problem was you can't SELL in the US, but you can GIVE AWAY. So I stashed all but a few of my books on the Canadian side of the border and passed through, having a jolly good time for the rest of the week I spent traveling around the US.

This idea took hold once I spoke to a few other Canadians at SPX who drove down to the show. "Never tell them you're selling, it's all promo and freebies." OK, so that's somewhat dishonest but what the hell does FREE TRADE mean anyway? I don't know, but I DO know that spending a week in the US is certainly going to cost me more then I could ever hope to take in on a few comic sales. Proportionally, the US is getting a sweeter deal with my tourism then I am grasping fist fulls of hard won American coin.

SPX 2009...

So I'm all signed up for SPX, have my "Free" comics in the trunk and two friends driving while I sit in the back and try and take care of a nasty flu bug that got me only days before. We get to the border and guess what? Seems I'm flagged by customs for my previous crime of ignorance pertaining to US Customs laws. They search the car, pull out all my comics and berate us for three hours.

Civil, polite and well versed in common courtesy they are not. The Henry Rollins wannabe cop could be heard to say such things as, "What's all these boxes doing on the counter? Who's the guy with the funny books?" then, flicking a customs paper at each of us, "You can read? You been to college? Know what this says?" followed by, "You tried to pull this last year and we gave you a warning so this time we're seizing your books. We will fine you and you may or may not get them back. You will not be crossing into the United States".

As if doing cartoons for a living wasn't difficult enough, I'm now on par with drug smugglers and terrorists. I've been told that I will be searched every time I try to cross into the US now and could be banned from ever entering the country should I fail in any way to please them, which includes I'm told, they have to BELIEVE what I tell them on top of not crossing the border with any funny books in my possession.

To underscore how common sense was not a part of this three hour ordeal, one of my travel friends had about a dozen of his own photocopied mini's he was planning to give away at the show. One of the officers said to him, "You plan on just giving these away? I would never just give anything away. How much did these cost to make?" and Henry Rollins pops in and states, "I don't care what he says; he's taking these down there as a commercial venture in the hope that he can get work". And so he was written up much like I was my first trip down and threatened with similar treatment as to what I was receiving should he try this sort of thing again. All because of 12 photocopied comics he was just going to give away.

$200 US later, I get my books and go home where my flu turns into a lung infection and I miss a week of work. My only comfort was the hope I gave one or two of those upstanding officers H1N1 or something during my stay. I grant one exception, and that being to the officer who decided to take the time and speak to me like a human, helpfully trying to clarify the 'rules' while the others tried to figure out how much money to fine me for (of which one woman was outraged that it was only $200 and not $800 for all the time they spent figuring out the paper work on my seizure).

Anyway, I think I'll just find comfort in all the great Canadian shows for a while. TCAF was the best show ever for me last year and I wasn't seen as a criminal for selling comics. Sorry US, but your CBP wankers make me wonder if its worth the trouble.

Don't call it a comeback... Even though it is.

2009-09-21T10:06:00.005-03:00

Hey gang, long time no see! Yeah, I've been more then slack keeping that "New and Improved" website updated (or even finished) so I've at least decided to return to 'Ol Bloggy here.

So, what's new you ask? Well, I'm glad you asked:

Angora Napkin animated pilot status: The cartoon is done and will premiere at the Ottawa International Animation Festival! Be sure to check it out on Thursday, October 15th at 11:30PM along with some of the other pilot episodes! For more info on this event CLICK HERE.

Can't make it to Ottawa? Then how about SPX (Small Press Expo) in Maryland, DC! The event takes place this weekend, September 26-27 and you'll have a rare opportunity to meet BOTH of the creators of Angora Napkin, Troy Little & Nick Cross!! We'll be signing books, doing sketches and previewing the cartoon at our booth. As well I'll be giving away a special FREE mini preview of the upcoming Angora Napkin web comic/graphic novel "Harvest of Revenge"!!!

Hope to see you soon!

New website & blogsite!

2009-03-12T18:09:00.004-03:00

The new website is still under construction but not unlike a certain battle station is fully operational! I'll begin blogging more often from the blog on the site and posting news, artwork and all sorts of goodies so be sure to update your bookmarks and start looking there for all the news!

I'll leave this site up for you to dig back through and enjoy. Now ONWARD!

WWW.MEANWHILESTUDIOS.COM

I, Troy Little, will be the best 36-year-old... EVER!

2009-03-07T11:35:00.000-04:00

Book signing in Halifax!

2009-03-03T15:45:00.001-04:00

CBR and new website

2009-02-23T21:26:00.002-04:00

Not too long ago I was approached by the good folks at Comic Book Resources for an interview. It's now online and you can check it out by clicking HERE!

Now that the Angora Napkin cartoon is winding down I'm going to start working on a new website shortly as the old one has fallen by the wayside and my crappy website builder quit on me sometime last year. Don't expect much as I hate building these things but hopefully I'll have something semi functional up soon.

I've received a few email from people who have picked up the Angora Napkin graphic novel and heaped great praise upon me. I thank you for the support and I send good Karma to your door.

10 Questions

2009-01-25T09:15:00.002-04:00

Kirk at Comics Career has started an ambitious project where he ask comic book professionals a set of 10 questions and posts the responses every day. Today you'll find my contribution to the project by clicking HERE!

ANGORA NAPKIN graphic novel in stores now!!

2009-01-22T11:17:00.002-04:00

AT LAST!!!
Available everywhere!! book stores, comic shops and online!!

Chiaroscuro: Best Graphic Novel of 2008!

2008-12-12T14:53:00.004-04:00

At least according to Suvudu, and who am I to argue? In case you missed out, the TPB edition is out now!

Also, my website is on the fritz and I am currently unable to update it so all news will show up here until I can get around to fixing that... Like in March or something...

Why must I care so much?

2008-12-01T11:58:00.002-04:00

Episode #22 in the Bond franchise. Arguably the worst film I've seen in some time, and that's saying something. It was hardly even a James Bond movie, more like some 'The Bourne Identity" crap that's shot too tight by someone in the midst of an epileptic fit. I don't think I've seen a worse edited film - totally unwatchable. Don't get me started on the story... Frankly I'd be hard pressed to tell you what it was about it was so well defined.

Why do I care so much about film and cartoons these days? They only get me angry and make me bitter. This world makes no sense to me - How can QoS be so bad and make 20.1 million in 5 weeks? Why do people like Shrek? Then I spin off into: Why did "The Force Unleashed" have to cheap out on the PS2 version in such a big way? Why does the Christmas shopping season kick into high gear the day after Halloween? What lame excuse did you use to not vote in the last Federal Election? Who is the jackass that came up with reality TV and why has no one killed him yet?

Then I start to think: WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH YOU PEOPLE??? Have you no integrity? No sense of personal accountability? No concept of potential? Why do we take the notion that 99% of everything is crap as acceptable?

And then finally I wonder - why the fuck should I care about any of this? Why do I let these things ruin my day and make me a rotten, surly, sarcastic bastard? I'm being played like a sucker no matter how hard I try it would seem. I'm sure there's a lesson I'm hard pressed to learn in all of this but I have difficulty with the idea that I should stop caring.

Angora Napkin graphic novel: Update

2008-11-24T12:33:00.003-04:00

The book is finished and off to the printer!

Previews has listed Angora Napkin as "Certified Cool" in the November catalogue!

How to pre-order your copy:

1) Local book store - give them the name and ISBN 978-1600103391

2) Comic Shop - Name and Diamond Code NOV08 4158

3) Click the Amazon link

The book will be shipping and available in stores world wide in January 2009!

(Most online shops seem to have listed the book as paperback, but it's actually a hardcover.)

NIN - Montreal, Nov. 12th

2008-11-14T10:43:00.003-04:00

I've been a rabid NIN fan since '94 but have only managed to see them once before this on the Fagility Tour in 2000 where I was regrettably stuck in a seat in the nosebleeds. Not this time my friend!

Thanks to my friend Jean we scored GA floor space and when March of the Pigs came on I was four people away from the front and center of the show. Now THAT is how to see a NIN concert.

(see me down there?)

Setlist:

999,999

1,000,000

Letting You

Discipline

March of the Pigs

Head Down

The Frail

Closer

Gave Up

Me, I'm Not

The Great Destroyer

5 Ghosts I

14 Ghosts II

19 Ghosts III

Ghosts Piggy

The Greater Good

Pinion

Wish

Terrible Lie

Survivalism

The Big Come Down

31 Ghosts IV

Only

The Hand The Feeds

Head Like a Hole

Encore:

Echoplex

Reptile

God Given

Hurt

In This Twilight

SPX 2008: There and Back Again

2008-10-11T18:22:00.032-03:00

I've been trying to get to SPX for years now but something always seemed to crop up and I'd put off the idea for a year or two. This year I finally made it and it sure was worth the wait.

SEPT 30TH, 2008

My pal Patrick and I rented a car (thanks Jay!) and hit the road for Moncton to catch Blue Man Group playing at the Moncton Colosseum.

I've been a big fan of these guys for years, but Patrick knew very little about them and was rather indifferent until the show started. I knew he was going to love it and I was not wrong - how could you not? Our floor seats sucked so we took to the high ground for a better view. I'd seen the show before on PBS and knew all the music so it wasn't too much of a surprise to me, but very enjoyable none the less. Great crowd.

After the show, a few friends had backstage passes to meet the BMG, so me, Pat and my nephew Josh were waiting around for them to get back. Out of no where my cousin Craig Wilson from St. John greets me. I haven't seen him in decades! What I remember most about Craig was him giving me his Star Wars toys one time when we visited (I still have them too).

We crash at Carol's uncle Dave's house that night. I have trouble sleeping because Pat bought me a coffee just before the show.

OCTOBER 1ST, 2008

Woke up early the next morning with a mild headache, fueled up on coffee and hit the road! We had a few days travel time so the plan was to not have a plan. Stop at interesting or weird places and take back roads where possible.

Just outside St. Stephen, NB we find our first weird stop.

The next stop was the US border where I learned and interesting thing: A Canadian can not go into the US and sell stuff. We were stopped and whisked into the Department of Homeland Security building, the watchful eye of George W. Bush grinning at us from a large framed poster while border guards went through our car and belongings.

An elderly woman, attempting to bring 8 peaches across the boarder was stopped and her fruit confiscated. Pat had a peach while we waited.

I was mildly concerned when the officer came in with a handful of books from the car, one of them Dave Sim's Judenhass. I half expected them to flip it open, see a drawings of Hitler and Jews from Auschwitz and charge us with distributing hate literature. Thankfully that was not the case. In fact, the officer was as helpful as she could be but in the end told us to go back to Canada and get rid of all but 2 copies of my books and I could keep the free preview comics.

We grabbed lunch at a nearby Pizza Delight and tried to formulate a plan. I'd be damned if I wasn't going to SPX this year! My salvation came in the form of Brenda Matheson, a kind and trusting soul who manages the Tourist Information Building in St. Stephen. She kept my books in her office for a week and I can't thank her enough for helping me out!

We breezed back through the US border without anyone bothering to make sure I'd done as told. None the less, The US is justly safe from Canadian comics and peaches - well done!

Pat wanted some Marlboros and happily smoked away when the fancy struck him. We stopped at a Tim Hortons, curious as to what passes for Tim Hortons coffee in the States. I ordered a medium and got a large. Pat ordered a medium and got a large. When he commented on that, the woman serving us said, "Oh, you must be Canadian. Everything is bigger in the US". Sadly (but not surprisingly) the coffee sucked.

We drove until it got dark and rainy, stopping outside Boston around 9PM. We found a dark parking lot and decided to save a few bucks and sleep in the car for a few hours. It was almost impossible to sleep, and when I did finally fall asleep for a few hours, it was on a sharp plastic corner of the armrest. I still have a baseball sized black bruise on my thigh from that.

OCTOBER 2nd, 2008

By about 4AM I'd had enough and started driving again in the pitch dark and in a downpour through Boston and onto the I95. By dawn we were pretty hungry so we pulled off and found this amazing little German styled restaurant filled with teddy bears, aptly called Pat's Kitchen. Breakfast was awesome.

Our first sight of NY signage! We debated if we should go for the day but rightly decided against it in favour of hitting Philly for the day tomorrow.

Pat veered off and we took a pit stop in Port Jervis, an awesome little place filled with neat antique shops. We started off at an Army Surplus Shop.

This would have made an excellent Halloween costume!

We decide to go for a walk.

Pat finds himself a nice Hawaiian velvet Elvis painting at a great antique shop. I find this book I had and loved when I was a kid, so I bought it to read to Alice & Hayden. Good coffee house called Port Java in this town too.

We drive and get to Philadelphia in the early evening. Driving into town was interesting; litter everywhere! The place was dirty and looked very old and poor. It took a long drive to get down town and then it was like night and day - huge, beautiful buildings everywhere! Such a contrast.

We found a hotel after a good deal of insane driving around the busy core of the city then we went out to find some food and a good pub. I guess the Vice Presidential Debate was taking place in town; every TV was tuned into the debate. It seemed to be about the only thing anyone would talk about was the Election everywhere you went. So very unlike Canada.

OCTOBER 3rd, 2008

Next morning we're up early after a much better nights sleep and we start to hoof it around Philly.

The architecture, fountains and statues everywhere are truly amazing!

Trick photography at it's finest.

Randomly walking around the city we find ourselves in the Free Library of Philadelphia. A sign indicates there is an Edgar Allen Poe exhibit on in the Rare Books section of the library. We go check it out and are truly floored by the things we find:

To show but a fraction of what we saw:

A hand written copy of "The Raven"...

..."Grip", the actual raven owned by Charles Dickens (featured in his book "Barnaby Rudge" and the inspiration for Poe's poem....

... Original artwork by Arther Rackham...

... 4000 year old Cuneiform tablets (not shown) and 2500 year old Egyptian scrolls on papyrus...

... 12th Century hand painted illuminated Book of Hours (each page is made of real vellum, it took the dried flesh of two calf's to make a page)...

... A page from the Gutenberg Bible...

... The list goes on and on, from the desk that Charles Dickens wrote in (he etched his initials into the wood) to letters from Columbus to the King telling of his discovery of the Indies (we were not actually allowed to see that one, but they had it there!). It was completely mind bending.

Our next find was the Rodin Museum!

The imposing "Gates of Hell" greet you.

Detail.

On our way to the Art Gallery. The steps leading up to the building were made famous by this movie called "Rocky".

Amazing sculptures outside the museum.

Patrick attempts to spar and fails.

I just want to be his Adrian.

And here is the moment you've all been waiting for:

We never made it into the museum as time was running out and we had to get to the convention. We hailed a cab and got an enlightening history lesson from the cabbie (who was about to go home and put a big rockfish in the oven). "We call this place the City of Brotherly Blood. All those pretty buildings you see are thanks to 400 years of free slave labour". We asked him about the upcoming election and he was convinced that America was not ready for a black President and should he get elected he would be killed. I hope he's wrong.

We hit the road and make it to the hotel without incident. We find our show passes and in the evening have drinks with a few of the other comic creators who've arrived (Hi Ben, Lamar, Chris and Mike!)

The meet and greet moves to the hotel lounge and I get to meet a few of my IDW brothers, Pat Lewis and Kevin Colden and a slew of other. It's been a long time since I've been to a comic con and I'm really enjoying it.

OCTOBER 4th, 2008

Pat and I went breakfast hunting and found an awesome place called the Silver Diner. The menu had a special "Vote With Your Breakfast" item: The Obamalette and the McCainlette. As a Canadian in the US at election time I had to cast my vote, and I'm happy to see that the Obamalette is way ahead in the polls at silverdiner.com

Show Time! I neglected to take many pictures at the show as I was so busy meeting people and dealing with legal issues surrounding the Angora Napkin cartoon. Pat snapped this one at my table just after the show started. Thankfully, IDW had sent my advance TPB copies of Chiaroscuro to the show! Thanks Ted!!

The blurry view from my table. Ignatz Award winner Nate Powel l and his book Swallow Me Whole at the bottom left. I got so many books to read it's going to take some time to get through them all. Pat took off to check out Washington and I didn't see him again until later that night.

This photo was lifted from Brian Heater's Flicker page. After the Ignatz Awards everyone made their way to Karaoke. I was in the loud room where James Kochalka and Liz Baillie belted out Quiet Riots "Come on Feel the Noise" as best they could (the screen text was in Korean).

I got a lift back to the hotel with the great folks from the table next to me (Hi Joe, Maris, Duddits and Tim!). I found Pat hanging out in front of the hotel with Danielle from Girls With Slingshots fame.

OCTOBER 5th, 2008

Last day of the show. I'd gotten Pat hooked on Scott Pilgrim a week before the show and he showed his good taste by buying a page of original artwork from Brian O'Mally. Sales were pretty good, I handed out hundreds of preview comics and had a great time. Now the big debate is what to do next year: SPX or Mocca....

That night after the show Pat and I took the subway into Washington to check out some sights.

The White House is much smaller than I expected, especially in comparison to all the gigantic Romanesque buildings everywhere else. I asked a security guard if the President ever plays frisbee out in the front yard and I guess he doesn't. Too bad.

Directly across the street is a tent and a man by the name "Start Loving" who (with others) has been holding a 24 hour protest against war and US policies since 1981. He gave us grief for putting Stephen Harper (Bush jr.) as our Prime Minister, I don't disagree. The Canadian Federal Election is on Oct 14th, I hope we see a change in our Government.

We walked down past the Washington Monument, the city seems nearly deserted of people. The long walk down to the Lincoln Memorial is truly one of the most amazing things I've ever seen, I'm glad we went at night as it was lit so nicely.

Photos do not do justice to this monument. It is huge and very somber. Standing on the steps looking towards the Washington Monument was where Martin Luther King gave his "I Have a Dream" speech. Etched on the inner South wall is the Gettysburg Address.

On the trek back to the subway we passed by the Vietnam / Korean War memorial wall. Dimly lit it's a very somber view. Pictures of families, stuffed toys and little flags sit here and there at the base of the wall. A old man in a military jacket flips through a book that catalouges the names of the dead and where to find them on this long wall of names.

OCTOBER 6th, 2008

Breakfast at Rotten Ronnies and we hit the road. The plan is to hit Boston tonight, find a hotel and get up early and pound the pavement. On the road we discover we're passing through Gettesyburg. There's no question we're stopping there.

Patrick has a big canon. Take that you Confederates, that's how we roll in the North!

This is the actual spot where Lincoln gave the Gettesyburg Address. Being at the Memorial last night and here today gives a nice symmetry to the trip.

We drive on to Boston, stopping at a the Blue Colony Diner in Connecticut. We arrive in Boston late, driving past the brightly lit Fenway Park where a game is in session. We zip around the city a bit, and in trying to find a cheap hotel outside the city we discover we're not far from Salem. And we're off!

OCTOBER 7th, 2008

We have a hell of a time trying to find the place, expecting it to be some spooky cedar-shingled little warf town. Not so! We decide to skip the hotel as it's 2:30am and try sleeping in the car again, but with a bit more success than last time.

Up early again we hoof it around Salem only to find out that nothing opens until 10am. I have to be on the Canadian side of the boarder by 6pm to get my books or well be staying the night in St. Stephen. None the less, Salem is too cool not to check out.

At 10 we are in the Salem Witch Museum, which is cheesy as hell and all the better for it. We skip the "What is a Witch" tour at the end and check out the town. (Mike, you'd love it there).

They have an awesome comic shop there, tons of goths folk and and amazing graveyard in the middle of town. I found a stone with "Little" on it.... Could it be that I'm decended from a clan of Salem Witches?

Magnificent, twisted oak trees are everywhere.

Statue outside of the Witch Museum.

I was "Bewitched" in Salem. (ouch, sorry)

We left later than planned and high tailed it for the boarder. We were just on the other side of the border at 5:45 and I was afraid we'd be held up crossing so I called Brenda at the Tourist building and got no answer! I tried again and finally the cleaning lady answered. She said she would hang there for me to get my books.

I noticed crossing the bridge that the time zone changes! It was 6 on one side and 7 on the Canadian side; we were an hour late! Anyway, I got my books, thanked the lady 1000 times and went and had dinner at The Red Rooster.

I'm really glad I took this trip. We drove nearly 3000 KM and saw a side of America I wouldn't have seen traveling by plane to and from my destination. I have a greater appreciation for the country and understand better where this deep sense of American pride comes from. Everyone we met was helpful, or at least what I call "Aggressively Friendly" (in a good way). Even the homeless were more polite than those I've encountered in Toronto. We only got the Evil Eye once and that was outside New York, so I take it with a grain of salt. What a great trip!!!

Now the trick is to figure out what to do next year: SPX or Mocca....

Off to SPX!

2008-09-28T23:01:00.002-03:00

This is my first time attending SPX and I'm really looking forward to it! If you're planning on attending, I'll be at table B13B.

I still have some Angora Napkin Previews to give away and if everything goes smoothly I should have a few advance copies of the Chiaroscuro trade paper back for sale!

I'm driving with my pal Pat down to the show, so hopefully I'll have a good collection of pictures and stories for the 'ol blog when I get back.

Hope to see you there!

"Hide Your LIfe Away" is now available!

2008-09-25T22:02:00.003-03:00

Meanwhile Studios is proud to present the release of Carol Little's novel "Hide Your Life Away"!

The book was officially released on Tuesday, Sept 23rd and can be ordered through the handy Amazon link on the right side of this page. I hope to soon have a paypal link set up on my website so you can order direct and get a signed copy!

We are having the book launch and party this Saturday night, starting at 7 PM at Vere Studio & Gallery in Summerside. Carol will be reading from her novel as well as selected poems with musical accompaniment by Patrick Brunet. For full details on the event check out Vere Studio website.

"Hide Your Life Away" is available in bookstores across PEI and we hope soon to expand distribution throughout North America. If you simply must have a signed copy and can't wait until I find the time to update my web site just drop me an email and I'll send along info on how to get a signed copy.

Happy reading!

Angora Napkin update

2008-09-13T20:43:00.003-03:00

Alas, Angora Napkin is forcing me to ignore my poor blog and website but the Production Blog is starting to pick up speed! Lots of new and behind the scenes fun will be showing up there as we ramp up to full production.

We also have a Facebook Fan page you can join:
Angora Napkin on Facebook

Fear not, I will return to this humble url as the girls allow me.

Get you Preview copies now at SDCC!

2008-07-24T23:15:00.003-03:00

IDW has a limited number of FREE Angora Napkin / Chiaroscuro promo comics for you at the San Diego Comic Con! Drop me a line if you picked one up and let me know what you think!

New book from Meanwhile Studios!

2008-07-02T21:37:00.008-03:00

You've read all about Carol's adventures during the International 3 Day Novel Competition, now you can read her work yourself! (If you missed it, click the links: Part1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5, Part 6, Part 7, Part 8.

Earlier this year Carol received a PEI Council of the Arts grant to work with an editor (the talented and indispensable Lisa Cole) a photographer (the brilliant Artist / Photographer Shayli Vere) and book designer (your's truly) to produce Carol's first novel, "Hide Your Life Away".

So what's it about you ask? Here's a brief synopsis:

Thirty-two-year-old Jason Mahoney is a commitment-phobic grocery store clerk who finds himself at an inevitable crossroads. He is confused about his path in life, and is hiding from a potential romantic relationship. He can’t understand what cashier Debra Springer could possibly see in a lazy, unkempt, stock boy like him, but she wants him. Bad. And she wants the whole deal: marriage and kids.

Between Debra’s offers of unprotected sex and a late night roofing contract with his friend Random Michaels, it doesn’t seem like Jason will get to do the only thing he really cares about this weekend: watching his new Star Trek DVD.

Hide Your Life Away is a satirical, fast food, weekend romp that might just end up with a trip down the aisle.

The book is scheduled for release on September 23, 2008. You can pre-order the book from Amazon.com (just click on the link to your right).

Carol has started a blog too! Check it out at: www.carollittleauthor.blogspot.com

Carol is planning a book tour in Ontario and the Maritimes this fall, be sure to check back for more details soon!

This is a really funny and well written book by a talented new Canadian author, and don't just take my word for it, early reviews are already showing up:

Hide Your Life Away takes place in a world of lousy jobs, food, and junk culture, and out of this unpromising material Carol Little has fashioned (as I see it) a work about commitment, and how it can offer a certain amount of salvation from that world. Read it. It is diverting, informative and artful. Thanks Carol. --Lorne Elliott, Writer / Comedian

Book Info:

"Hide Your Life Away" by Carol Little
ISBN 978-0-9739971-1-8
156 Pages, Retails $12.99 US
Release date: September 23, 2008

More reasons to loath TV.

2008-06-13T21:32:00.005-03:00

“You want a dark, Goth version of Tweety Bird? Have at it,” said Lisa Gregorian, executive vice president for worldwide marketing at Warner Brothers Television.

Please, if you can stomach it, read this great article from the New York Times on network execs bringing cartoons into the 21st Century.Some brilliant creative highlights include:

Artists produced nearly 400 drawings depicting new looks, then American Greetings asked licensing partners for feedback. With the drawings hanging in a single room, he told focus group members to put Post-it notes on the 20 that they liked. “We refined it from there,” he said.

And how about this:

On top of her new toy line, Strawberry Shortcake is getting a new computer-animated movie and a new TV series, starting next year. This time, in keeping with contemporary nutritional concerns, the franchise will downplay the sugary dessert theme and move, as Mr. Conrad put it, “fruit-forward.”

“It’s also about creating a cohesive line,” Mr. Conrad said. “We’re downplaying characters that were part of Strawberry’s world but who didn’t immediately shout out fruit.”

(Oh, I can't wait to see the characters that did "shout out fruit".)

Recently I've been watching a lot of old Mickey Mouse (1930's) with my kids and, while not particularly funny, they are none the less well animated, beautifully designed and created with care and attention by real people.

Few things make me so angry as viewing the state of modern animation. Shit like Family Guy and King of the Hill make my blood boil.

Pop in Sleeping Beauty (my favorite Disney film) and try and imagine what that will look like done in Flash for the imminent straight to video sequel. Oh, it gives me ulcers.

Why won't Broadcasters, executives, producers, lawyers, marketers and their ilk trust in the ability of an artist to create without interfering? Is it too much to ask? I suppose if that were to happen we'd never have stuff like this:

What a loss.

Anogra Napkin Cover Preview

2008-05-25T08:06:00.001-03:00

Hey gang, I need your help!

I have two versions of the cover for the up coming Angora Napkin graphic novel and I can't decide witch to go with. Visit the website to check out the options and cast your vote!

www.angoranapkin.com

Frye Festival notes

2008-04-29T22:50:00.007-03:00

I'm back from my sojourn to the Frye Festival in Moncton and I had an absolutely amazing time! The streets were plastered in Frye Fest advertising. The event was huge, well organized and well attended, up over 25% from last year I over heard. This was the 9th year for the event and unfortunately the first I've attended. Had I known about it I would have gone last year to see Harvey Pekar speak.

There were plaques all over Moncton with qoutes from Northrop Frye. I read a recent poll on literacy in P.E.I. and evidently 42.8% of the working age people on P.E.I. (16-65) are not literate enough to read a box of asprin. I had a hard time believing that until one day I spent a few hours in the Tim Hortons downtown Summerside trying to do a little work. Now I believe it.

As a guest author of the Frye Fest I was put up in a swanky hotel (the Delta Beausejour) in the heart of downtown Moncton.

The view from room 333.

The Festival got an early kick off on Tuesday with the monthly Pop et Frye talk featuring yours truly. Talk about trial by fire! My talk lasted about an hour and was the first of many. By the end of the Festival I had spoken at 6 schools over 3 days (10 sessions), acted as MC at Cafe Underground with author Katia Canciani and ran a storyboard workshop with Rob Anderson from Fatkat. My voice was so raw I sounded like Leonard Cohen choking on Tom Waits. I had my speech crafted, refined and nailed down by the end of the week.

So serious.... I won a free coffee 3 out of 4 days by getting the Timothy's trivia right. Yay, not Tim Hortons.

It's nice to see the wild life has adapted to city living. This timid creature has taken on armor plating to protect itself. It scampered off moments after I snapped this picture.

My picture taking ceased pretty quickly into the event as I found myself too busy to even think of reaching for my camera.

Highlights:

- Getting to know some of the other authors at the Festival, like Katia Canciani and Christopher Lirette.

- Hearing readings from Russell Banks, Heather O'Neill and Darryl Whetter.

- "Midnight Howl" poetry readings at Mexi's.

- Chatting with Russell Banks about "Rule of the Bone", graphic novels, publishing rights and drinking Mojito's.

- Meeting lots of amazing people; musicians, Festival organizers and many interesting locals.

- Carol showing up for the Frye Jam on Saturday night.

I was like the bee girl in Blind Melon's video for "No Rain" all week; I had found my people. It was so refreshing to be surrounded by people who love to read and are into all things creative. I'm looking forward to next years event so I can take in some of the lectures and readings I missed while I was in the schools. Too much fun!

Fyre Festival Schedule

2008-04-19T14:07:00.003-03:00

The Frye Festival is starting in Moncton this week and I have a slew of events going on:

April 22, Timothy's Cafe, 7pm
Pop et Frye

Press release:

Troy Little, author and illustrator of the critically acclaimed graphic novel Chiaroscuro will be speaking about the evolutionary process in creating his book. From it's simple beginnings in his sketch book, through numerous creative mutations and finally into the world of both small and big press publishing, Troy will talk about what it takes to be an independent graphic novel creator. Troy will give his talk at 7pm at Timothy's on Main Street.

School Visits:

April 23, JMA Armstrong High School, 8:30am - 11:15am

April 23, Bernice MacNaughton High, 1:00pm - 3:30pm

Mentor workshop; grades 9 - 12:

April 23, Cafe Underground (Aberdeen Cultural Centre), 7pm

School Visits:

April 24, Caledonia Regional High School, 10:45am - 11:45am

April 24, Moncton High, 1:00pm - 3:30pm

School Visits:

April 25, Riverview High School, 11:00am - 12:15pm

April 25, Harrison Trimble High School, 1:00pm - 3:20pm

Book Signing:

April 26, The Comic Hunter, 11:00am - 1:00pm

Storyboarding workshop:

April 26, Mad City Comics, 2:00pm - 5:00pm

Comic Jam:

April 26, TBD

Whew! And from what I'm told there's other events I may be taking part in but won't have that information available until I arrive. Hopefully I'll find access to a computer and be able to update my Blog with any new information.

I'm really looking forward to this event and hope to take in some of the other events going on through out the week. See you there!

Angora Napkin @ IDW!

2008-03-31T18:40:00.003-03:00

Animation? Graphic Novel? I told you, it's the year of
ANGORA NAPKIN!

Angora Napkin: the graphic novel as been picked up by IDW Publishing!

It's Go Time!

2008-03-15T16:59:00.000-03:00

Long have you waited, now all your dreams are coming true...

ANGORA NAPKIN: THE CARTOON!

Bookmark the official Angora Napkin Production Blog for all the news, updates and behind the scenes chatter from your pals Trick and Noy!

Stickers and gum for all!

Angora Napkin: Graphic Novel Update

2008-03-04T22:27:00.005-04:00

As of right now I am half done adding the spot colour to the book. I started on January 17th, so that's clocking me in at about 1 and 1/4 pages a day. At this rate I should be finished around mid to late April.

By the end of this month it will have been 2 years since I started this project.

I have yet to collect and scan all the additional artwork, miscellaneous comics and draw the cover so it looks like I've still got a bit of work to do before I throw a wrap party for myself.

*sigh*

Button fun!

2008-02-28T15:15:00.005-04:00

Cute As A...

My button will be one of 50 picked for the big button trade at the Confed Centre tomorrow night. Click the link to find out more about the event, and if you're in the 'hood why not stop by!

UPDATE: The Walrus blog has a write up on the event and it's history. There's a small blurb near the end from yours truly about my contribution.

The Story of Little Jimmy Cardboard

2008-02-26T11:36:00.001-04:00

So close you can almost taste it...

2008-02-12T12:58:00.001-04:00

Ice storm fun!

2008-02-01T13:46:00.001-04:00

36 hours with no power or heat made for a jolly time! This limb missed the house by about a foot. These two somehow missed the piece of shit KIA but managed to take down a few power lines. I had to hack it apart with a tiny miter saw once Maritime Electric moved the wires.

Reminds me of the Ice Storm we had in Ontario back in '97. All the trees are encased in ice and bent with the weight. Very pretty but a lot of damage was done to the trees in our yard.

Comic book round up

2008-01-21T11:48:00.000-04:00

I've been eating up a few great graphic novels and comic strip collections lately. First up, I re-read Art Spiegelman's "Maus". Truly one of the finest graphic novels ever written. If you haven't read it: read it.

Oddly enough, I'd only read the second part to the story, and that was back in college around '91. I picked up the first book years ago and it kinda got lost on the book shelf. So while going through the tedious process of scanning the Angora Napkin comic, I took them off the shelf and read them both, I'm glad I did.

Charles Shultz created one of the best comic strips ever, it's sublime and brilliant. I learned to read with those soft cover Peanuts collections from the 70's which arranged the panels in a vertical layout.

This was another book that's been sitting on the shelf for too long unread (what, am I busy or sumthin?). I was given a nice box set of Vol 1 & 2 for Christmas a few years ago and I just finished the first one. I love seeing the evolution of Shultz characters, both in terms of the art and the refining of their personalities. Fantastic book and beautifully designed by Seth.

Eddie Campbell's a bit of an odd duck but I love is autobiographical work. I found this book, "The Fate of the Artist" to be a really great and charming study of the artistic quirks that make up the creative mind. Here Eddie has gone "missing" and his whereabouts are being tracked through interviews with his family and short comic bits where the character of Eddie Campbell is played by an actor. Clever and funny, and more accessible then some of his earlier books.

And finally this morning I started reading E.C. Segar's, "Popeye Vol. 2".

Before I get into this, let me caution you: Skip the forward by Donald Phelps. I was getting so irritated with this introduction I started scanning it, reading bits to see if they made any sense at all and found very little redeeming value in any of it. I don't like thinking "Hey, maybe I'm too dumb to get what he's trying to say". My instink (as Popeye might say) told me that much like my issue with my dismissal of Thomas Moore's "Utopia"; this guy just can't write to communicate. So I did a little search on Mr. Phelps and had my suspicion confirmed by animation kricket (again, as Popeye might say) Michael Barrier, who wrote:

Phelps has, indeed, done the work, but he is, alas, an undisciplined writer whose perceptions are buried in dense verbal undergrowth. If one word will not quite serve, he piles on others, in a pleonastic orgy—hoping, I suppose, that the right word will eventually turn up, or perhaps that the sheer bulk of a dozen not-quite-right words will fill the void left by the absence of the right one.

I'm not a big fan of Barrier, especially after the cheap shot he took at my pal Nick's film but he did hit the mark on his summation of Phelp's essay style of thesaurus writing.

So, skip the intro and get to the meat. I was laughing out loud on the first page. These Popeye books have been one of the best comic finds I've had in a long time. If you only know Popeye via cartoons or the Robin Williams movie, you have to read the original to truly appreciate what an amazing character he is.

Images from the "...And Other Stories" exhibit.

2008-01-10T11:18:00.001-04:00

Art Gallery of the Confederation Center, September 2007 - November 2007

Curated by the estimable man from the Outback, Mr. Ihor Holubizky.
Special thanks to Jon Tupper and Siobhan Wiggans at the gallery for their support.

A nice Star Wars scrolling welcome was found on the floor at the entrance to the show.

Original artwork from Chiaroscuro #7 & #8 lined the outer walls!

Charmaine Wheatley's section. A sketchbook graphic novel done with watercolour.

This section featured original watercolour pieces by Seth from the book "Bannock, Beans and Black Tea", a P.E.I. memoir by his father John Gallant who grew up here during the depression.

Display containing original art and books by Robert Harris (1848-1919)

There was a 12 minute interview playing on a loop with myself for the first half and Charmaine on the second. I've attached a link to my half of the video from YouTube. Sorry about the quality, the back lit nature of the video makes everything a big on the dark side and the audio is a bit low.

Angora Napkin: Finished!

2008-01-04T21:13:00.002-04:00

Here it is : almost two years of my life in a nice, neat little 11X14 stack. Started in March 2006 and completed January 2008.

Yep, there it is. Hooray for me! Now I have the ever-so-much-fun-job of scanning all the pages (twice) and then going back and adding the spot colour.

I had a lot of fun bringing these characters to life finally. Angora Napkin has been kicking around in binders since 1997 when it was created as an idea for an animated series. I can't wait to get the technical bit done and get the finished book out to the world!

"Yeah that's great and all dad, but have you seen my monkey?"

Ring in the New Year with AVP-R!

2008-01-02T11:06:00.000-04:00

Just look at that! Wow! Classic rubber suits and all! And filmed in BC, so all the Aliens are Canadian!

I went to see this fine film last night with my pal Pat and I admit I enjoyed it. It was by no means a good movie (much better the the previous AVP at least) but anyone who knows me is aware of my fanboy addiction to the Alien franchise.

I've been waiting for a bunch of Aliens to get loose on Earth and just go about killing everything in sight and someone finally made that movie. It had a lot (maybe even too much) of homage to past Aliens and Predator movies in the music, sound and visuals. Lots of James Cameron bits in there for sure. At least they go it right for the most part, even the Predator looked and acted like the original instead of some bulky football player.

Still, it had many dumb points as you can imagine but at least there was no sign of The Newborn (Curse you Joss Whedon!).

Eh, what can I say? I'm an unabashed fanboy at times.

"Be happy in your work" Part 2

2007-11-26T11:13:00.000-04:00

Yep. Too much of too much isn't a good thing and the clones I ordered from Kamino have yet to arrive. The day job, the post-day job (that didn't work out), the graphic novel promotion, the next graphic novel in progress, the hunt for the next post-day job and a myriad of other things I won't get into are driving me to distraction.

I'm not so much complaining as I am just venting. I'm very near completion of the Angora Napkin graphic novel and if memory serves me (which is a long shot) I got all wound up when I was near finishing Chiaroscuro Book 1. I guess while I'm working on a project I never really expect that I'll reach the end, so it comes as a surprised bout of nervous shock when I can see the final few pages drawing to a close. I'm anxious to draw but my mind is bouncing around to 40 other things simultaneously.

Also, it's that time of year when the world shows you just how fucking poor you really are. Jolly times indeed.
...And it doesn't help when you're reading a really crappy book (Demon Box by Ken Kesey) that you wish you could stop reading. I have a really hard time investing myself in a book and not seeing it through to the end. I know, it's stupid. Kesey's written 2 of my favorite books, Cuckoo's Nest and Sometimes a Great Notion, so I had great hope for this but it turns out the publisher just culled together a bunch of really lousy unpublished short (some not short enough) pieces of journalism to make a buck and now I'm stuck reading it. It's so depressing when this happens, I must be more careful in the future.

Italian Spiderman

2007-11-14T10:20:00.000-04:00

Launch photos

2007-11-10T20:42:00.000-04:00

I dove right into the book signing and sketching shortly after 7pm and didn't stop until around 9:30! Had a great turn out and got to talk to lots of friends, family and met some new people too! I even found a few of the old Chiaroscuro T-shirts to sell as well as a couple of Meanwhile Studios coffee mugs.

As they say, I'm "Gettinerdone".

Check out some of the C-town glitterati. Can you pick out all the famous artists and animators in attendance?

The proud folks posing with the prodigal son. If only Norman Rockwell were alive to capture this glowing moment!

Thank you everyone who stopped by to see the show and wish me well, I had a great time!

BOOK LAUNCH TONIGHT!

2007-11-09T11:13:00.001-04:00

Book Launch tomorrow!

2007-11-08T23:06:00.000-04:00

Yeah, I'll be lucky if I get any sleep tonight.

3 Day Novel: Postscript

2007-11-05T19:35:00.001-04:00

Carol was recently featured in The Guardian newspaper on her accomplishment with the 3 Day Novel competition. Read it and marvel!

Chiaroscuro is in stores now!

2007-10-31T15:02:00.001-03:00

Podcast and Career Day

2007-10-29T16:07:00.000-03:00

First order of business: Podcast! Yes, I've been recorded and I'm now available (at your convenience) for download at www.comixology.com ! One of the perks behind written interviews is that they tend to edit many of the "ummm..." bits out of your conversation. Not so on a Podcast! So enjoy the smooth sound of my voice as I stammer through a half-assed synopsis of my graphic novel.

Next: Halloween is the big day! Chiaroscuro will be in stores on the 31st, Woo-hoo! I have my advance copies piled up next to me looking slick as all get out.

And then there's Career Day. Well, it was.... Interesting. I was asked to speak at my old High School to the students about my careers in animation and comics. There was 3 sessions of about 40 minutes each, between 20-40 students in each session.

I remember being in high school all to well. There's the little cliques; the metal heads, the cool alternative geeks, the smart asses and the disinterested. Snarky kids and some kids with a genuine interest, but with no teacher supervision in the room: just me. Yar. Not a lot of questions were asked, most kids seemed vaguely interested in computer animation and little else. I don't know that I was of any use at all in getting kids excited about pursuing the arts, but I tried. I would run out of things to say after 30 minutes and then with no questions, just sit back and watch the clock.

Except the last session. There was a kid who came in who clearly had social/mental issues. He spoke too loudly and with no inflection, interrupting everyone and becoming irrationally hostile towards me for no real reason. It was odd having to deal with this poor kid in a polite manner, as I said there were no teachers present. It was nearly impossible to speak to the rest of the kids while he shouted weird things at me with a big smile on. When the session was over he got up in my face with a fist raised yelling "You haven't seen the last of me, I'll have my revenge! Why don't you got to Hollywood, we don't want you here"! Really weird. I feel bad for the guy, it can't be easy getting through the day in such a manner.

It's also strange to find that all those lousy children's cartoons I worked on over the years are the stuff these kids grew up on. Ouch.

A trip down amnesia lane

2007-10-24T21:25:00.000-03:00

Let it be known I never went to school for animation, I'm self taught. So that means ya gotta start somewhere, right? I started out by making this little film back in the days before Flash. It's hand drawn animation pieced together in Adobe Premiere and run through After Effects. The audio was poorly recorded in my friend Pat's basement on a lousy 4 track that could hardly pick up sound.

Now here it is online for a larf. I added the subtitles because of the lousy quality of the audio.

The cartoon was based on a comic strip I was drawing for the now defunct Capital City magazine in Ottawa.

There's another old animated short of mine hidden away somewhere on one of these old disks, but it makes this one look like Fantasia. Maybe someday when I'm feeling particularly horrible about myself I'll dig it out and post it... But then again, maybe not.