apr 01-30 2007

apr.04.07

To my favorite patient patrons... (GWS#248)

Thanks for hanging in there, folks! Jersey was a blast as always, and there will be photos to prove it soon!

Normal update schedule will now resume, until I have another good excuse not to.

apr.06.07

Love. (GWS#249)

Ah, Hazel. Oh well, she's learning.

Greyscale later! Since some of you guys like to save the uncolored strips when I can't make time to grey them in, I hope you won't mind the delay.

Oh, and there's edit: WAS a rare gem for sale at my Etsy store (to your left). I found a small 4x5" colored pencil drawing of Hazel drawn before GWS was even started. I was originally going to draw the whole cast like this for the cast page, but after this one took so long, I think I gave up! It's a bit of a collector's item, and relatively inexpensive. Enjoy!

apr.09.07

Luscious ass. (GWS#250)

Oops, did I say this comic strip ISN'T autobiographical?

By the way, I finally did a TUTORIAL on how I make my GWS strips. Go check it out!!

apr.11.07

Drama! (GWS#251)

Oh god, I'm going all soap opera on you guys... ! I swear I didn't plan this.

apr.13.07

And to think... (GWS#252)

... Reese was originally supposed to be gay.

Happy Friday the Thirteenth!

apr.11.07

Announcement, announcement! (GWS#251)

I hate secrets, and I've been holding this one off for awhile, so let's air some laundry here.

Some of you have noticed that the GWS tee shirts are no longer available at Zazzle. Why, you ask? I recently re-acquired the licensing rights to Girls With Slingshots from 360ep, the company I signed with a few years ago. This was a mutual break that was made because, basically, I can't do simple math. The contract was for 36 months, and for some reason my mental calculator told me that 36 months = 2 years.

So I started planning to have the rights back in my hands this year, before I realized that our contract wouldn't be up until much later! Fellow art majors, do yourselves a favor and take a math class before you go into business for yourselves. ;)

That said, I'd like to extend a big "thank you" to the 360ep team for getting me started and giving me a ton of confidence in myself!

What does all this mean for GWS? This means I have full control over GWS merchandise, books, animated features (wouldn't THAT be a riot?!), and anything else that could be produced with Hazel or Jamie or McPedro's mug on 'em. (Assuming a mustache and teeth are considered a "mug.")

So first of all, I'll be doing new shirts! Not sure what company I'll be going through yet, but I want to do some really kick-ass shirts & assorted merch. Maybe mousepads, posters, coffee mugs. But I have no idea what you guys want. Why don't you tell me yourselves?

Secondly, I have two new GWS books planned for the end of the year! Yes, that's right, I've not only heard but LISTENED TO your requests!

One will be something that should've been done ages ago: a compilation of the first 100 or 200 strips. The second one will be... a surprise, because I'm not certain it'll get published yet. :) You'll see preview snippits along the way, I'm sure! And if you ask me in person at Pittsburgh/Toronto/Heroes/the bar, I'll most likely tell you.

So keep your eyes on this spot this year, y'all - I'll let you know what GWS will be all over throughout the year!

apr.17.07

OMGWTFseriously! (GWS#254)

Okay, two things. One: a very large package came in the mail yesterday from Amazon. I'm talking... this thing coulda had a refrigerator in it, okay? Like, the kind of box you ship small children in. And I'm like, but all I ordered was a self-help book (and I just admitted that on a public blog), why is this box so big?

The post office is two blocks away, but I had to drive - not carry, but DRIVE - this package home, where I open it to find... a scanner. Um, what? This does not help me cope with my suburban middle-class-bred quarter-life crisis.

There's no invoice. No gift card. This wasn't even ON my Amazon Wishlist, so I know Random Kind & Clever Reader couldn't have known that I wouldn't mind a new scanner (mine's tiny and I have to scan my pages 2-3 times and piece them together in Photoshop - PAIN!).

Then it hits me: I got someone else's order. Or worse, I got charged for something I never ordered (and I hide my Visa from myself when I'm drunk, so I mean it when I say "never").

I begin to lament the fact that I'm inevitably going to have to go through the trouble of sending this thing back, when I get an e-mail from a reader I'm familiar with:

"Hey, I never donated for all the free GWS pages I have read, and I figured you had mention how painful it is to piece together a strip, so I hope the flimsy 11x17 scanner helps!"

...

I'm not going to name names, but L? THANK. YOU. I'm completely beside myself. You just made my life way easier.

So... although that is miraculous and amazing on its own, I have ANOTHER blog-worthy note to make:

TYLER PAGE. I know you're out there, you talented thing you. Will you PLEASE update your e-mail address (~~all of your @stylishvittles.com addresses are bouncing back~~ edit: maybe if I stopped using explicit words in e-mail subjects, they would be delivered properly) so that people like me who become UTTERLY HOOKED on your webcomic Nothing Better can thank you and flatter you and then blame you for almost keeping us from scripting our own comics because your comic is so damn good we couldn't stop reading it?

In other words, GWS readers, you might severely enjoy Nothing Better if you start reading it. So if you open that link, please don't open it at work or if you need to use the bathroom in the next five minutes/two hours. Because if you like it, you won't be able to move for a very, very long time.

apr.21.07

Surprise! (GWS#256)

Decided to post early so I can spend some actual quality time with Tony & Ellen Sunday. Happy end-of-the-weekend!

apr.24.07

Quick sabbatical! (GWS#257)

Anyone who knows Hazel well by now will appreciate the punchline. :)

This one's going up a little early, too, and will be the last one until next week. So check back Wednesday, May 2, and if you're gonna be at Pittsburgh, come hug the giant cactus!!