New Blog Header for now Old Blog

Yay, I made a new blog title image for a blog that I probably won't use anymore!

For both my regular readers, I've now migrated over to tumblr. It's definitely more popular than Blogger, so maybe I'll be able to get a little bit more exposure. Plus, many artists I try to follow use it, so that'll make looking for updates a lot easier.

I'll still keep this old blog up as a sort of vault for my older stuff, and so I can still see the updates of those on my blog list.

Goodbye, Phillip's Blog! (Cue sad montage set to The Way we Were.)

Animal Crossing Foreclosed, Final Page

If this were animation, this would play during the last panel and end credits.

Well, that's pretty much it for my Animal Crossing fan comics. I'll still play the games, of course (I've started New New Pastel in New Leaf a while ago). And I still may make some AC strips or art on occasion, but never with the same amount of time and detail as I have in the past. The point of this arc was to make a conclusion to all that, and to learn how to make a multipage comic with Manga Studio.

And now that I'm done with all that, it's time to focus on my own stuff.

ONWARD!

Animal Crossing Foreclosed, Page 5

Panel six, left to right: Stitches, Poppy, Clyde, Moose, Elise, Cube, Rasher.

Somewhat related note: J00 guys see the new Super Smash Bros. fighter?

Animal Crossing Foreclosed, Page 4

IT'S A TRAP!

Idano if I'm too new at comics to bother making gutters other than white, but I've always liked the way black gutters look the few times I've seen. That is, if it's used to enhance the scene, like if it's at night or to give a cinematic feel, like what was done in Marvel Civil War and DC's Blackest Night.

On a side note, are there any Manga Studio users reading this that know of the best way to set up panels where one or more are behind the others and/or blend into the gutters of the page, like what I did in the second panel? It took me forever finagle the panel ruler to get something I liked, and I didn't know if Manga Studio has a more specific way to set up that sort of thing.

Fragile Fanart: Ruffles everywhere

I don't think I've mentioned it on this blog beyond the "Web Comics I rather like" side panel, but I think Shouri's online comic Fragile is one of the best out there. Go, read it. Now.

Anyway, I had to draw some fan art after seeing Jess' shorts on a recent page. I had to! I HAD TO! Look how poofy they are!

Also, Shouri also makes the ridiculously cute Springiette comic strip, so read that too.

Disney Cast Member Thank You Card

Mom discovered not too long ago that giving Disney World cast members (particularly waiters and waitresses) little thank you cards is a thing, and rightfully so cuz some the friendliest and best people you'll ever find are those that work at Disney parks.

Anyway, after printing out cards from the Internet for the past couple of trips, Mom remembered she has a son what likes to draw stuff.  So here's a little personal illustration she asked me to make for our cards when we go on our next vacation. She directed me a bit, which is a very good thing. Had it been all up to me, it would have been another inappropriate sexy Tink drawing.

Reason School Girl Uniform

So far, I've given Reason a full suit for his school uniform while Sammy and Shiina have just a dress shirt and tie, and I realized it wouldn't make much sense for a school to make only the boys wear the coat portion. So here's a quick sketch of what girls suit would look like.

But Shiina still refuses to wear a skirt. You try and stop her.

Animal Crossing Foreclosed, Page 3

Penguins can fly!

I hope the next plan involves more cross dressing. ...NO, I mean I hope it doesn't involve it! Of course I wouldn't willingly cross dress, why would you even think that?!

Like I said in my last post, I tried exporting the work on this page from Manga Studio to Photoshop for coloring (well, if you can call grayscale coloring), and it worked out great. There's no real visual difference, but it's so much easier and quicker in Photoshop.

Animal Crossing Foreclosed, Page 2

My poor house and furniture!

The good news: I now have two jobs, which means I might actually be able to make a living now. The bad news: I now have two jobs, which takes away a lot of the time I would use for drawing. For a while, I was working seven days a week, but I've managed to get the bowling alley to give me one day off every week that's also a day off my new job, so I should be able to get a decent amount of art done then.

As I use more Manga Studio, I'm finding little, frustrating "inadequacies." I don't wanna use half tones for work made for the web, but you lose some flexibility if you try to use solid greyscale, and the gradient tool isn't worth a d@mn when compared to the one in Photoshop and Illustrator. Manga Studio's still perfect for inking, and there's tons of special tones like those in the last two panels of this page, but I may have to export the work to Photoshop for the simple coloring, even if it's all in grey. But one of the reasons why I'm doing this comic is to figure out Manga Studio's idiosyncrasies before I start a comic on my own stuff, so, like, whatevs.

Animal Crossing Foreclosed, Page 1

Finally!

Man, my first real update in a couple of months. But that time has not been wasted (for the most part), as I was learning to use Manga Studio and continuing my reading on comics making in general. I've got far enough that I felt comfortable to start this six page "conclusion" to my Animal Crossing fan strips.

Looks like my Animal Crossing avatar is screwed because, just like my IRL self, I haven't a penny to my name.

Batcat

He's the hero Animal Crossing deserves, not the one it needs.

Whoa, it's been a while since I've updated! Better post another old pocket sketch to prove I'm not dead yet.

I've got pretty much nothing to show since coming back from Florida. I was so sick when I got back that I was either in bed sleeping or passing out trying to get out of bed, then I was busy with last minute Christmas preparations, then I just got lazy and spent the weeks after that reading/playing/looking at what I got for the holidays (including a Wii U!). Art wise, I've been trying to learn how to use my newly acquired Manga Studio EX4, which I would very much like use for my upcoming Animal Crossing finale comic and original comic series.

As for this particular sketch, I got a little idea during the Birthday Gift Glitch arc to make a few strips about Rover becoming Batcat. Nothing came of it, but I did make this little doodle when it first popped up in my head.