Alas, HB...
Mood:  chillin'
Topic: Heavenly Bride

Putting the donation drive aside for a minute (mainly because I dislike doing it), I was sitting here at the house feeling funny because... well... I haven't updated HB. I'm not quite used to the feeling yet. LOL

 And than I remembered this here little conceptual page I did ages ago and thought, "I can't draw well right now, but I can put this up." Because I don't know about you guys, but I like it when I get to see development pages and wotnot.

Next week will mostly likely be a return to the hiatus picture, but eh. Until then.

 Please feel free, o regular readers and fans I shall now dub... eeeh... uh... Shiks? Nah.... what's a good name. A good name... a good name... Oh bloody hell. Somebody suggest one. =^-^= Then I'll rename the blog accordingly.

Something else that occured to me today: I've been meaning to put a glossary of terms up for folks to be able to read and understand the characters by. I remember such things used to be included in the old school sci-fi and fantasy books and... it appears to have disappeared. But why not? I've always liked the idea. So once I find the time I hope to add that section to the website....

... which seriously needs a revamping. Darn my Perl problem.

Red Light Go Light
Mood:  suave
Topic: Heavenly Bride

Lately I've been noticing a *lot* of traffic to Heavenly Bride, especially from places like Norway and Finland.   There's no rhyme nor reason for this traffic... I'm not advertising anywhere... but there it is. 

 ... cool!  =^-^=

Tonight or tomorrow night, I'm not sure which, the vote ranks roll over. This puts us back at the bottom again. Please vote! If we vote fast enough, we might make it into the 100 spot or higher. That would rock.

BTW just FYI: the pre-order period for the Taus figures is now over.  The company has informed me that they're being shipped and will be going through customs relatively soon.  Then it's a matter of them coming to my door and me shipping out the ones that were pre-ordered.  It's going to be very interesting having a hundred or so little Tauses hanging around the house.

And so far I don't have enough donations on hand for the lapel pin.  This isn't a big deal except that I hate to disappoint the fellahs who HAVE arranged to get one.  Meow.

Despite a massive tooth ache, I've managed to ink and letter two pages of Exiles, create an illustration for the Alice in Wonderland book, and begin the next page of Akashik today.  Let me tell you: the toothache had me screaming in the bathroom at least twice. It's a doozy... but you can't say I'm not stubborn! Must... draw.. pictures... while... still...  CAN!!! Real.. job..will... kill it all!! NOoOoOooo!!!

Oh yeah. One more thing: extra update next week! At least, we're hoping so. That's what's planned. Stay tuned for more later.

Perls Before Swine
Mood:  mischievious
Topic: Heavenly Bride

Ah ha!  A new vote happened on the website today, putting Taus with Wings even farther in the lead!!! Sexy pins here we come.

Even if the pin you'd like to see made is in the lead, remember to vote.  I'm preparing to take it down and put up a new poll.  Oh, and don't forget that if you do want one I need a minimum of 25 donations to be able to cover the cost of having them made.  Still, 25 isn't that bad of a goal.  I hope.

Oh and for those of you who never asked, yes. Her outfit is a spoiler.   Because I couldn't resist.

The quest for website automation continues.  So far no luck, although I did manage to automate the date on the main page. -_- The program I have chosen to use is a little perl application... but my server is Tripod and I believe that's where it gets sticky. I'm not sure because I don't code in cgi, perl or anything except slight html.  So if there is anybody out there willing to earn a free pin (if I can get them done) for the exchange of helping me get this place automated I'd be grateful. 

So far I've put out "help meeeee" posts in 2 programmer forums, the community forum on Tripod, my livejournal, and sent 2 emails to the guys who made Autofox. I have gotten 2 responses back... and then silence. Which is understandable. People do have lives to lead.  It's just that I really want mine to involve some sunshine. :-p

The cover illustration for Alice in Wonderland sucked my time away today. Mind you I'm enjoying the job.  Mr. White called me regarding the matter and informed me that he would like for me to illustrate the entire book. And apparently there will be pay involved.  LOL... I didn't even consider I was getting paid for this. I've been looking for a paying gig this whole time and was working on one without knowing it.  It won't be a lot of pay but it's something for now while I keep looking.

 Dandelion Studios also contacted me recently.  I've been on hold to resume doing artwork for Exiles (a nifty story about a half-elf and her fey friend) for quite some time. Apparently I can expect a script next week.  But that one is still in the air as far as I am concerned, and it will remain that way until I actually have something to work with. Being on hold for an art job is a lot like being laid off.

 I do recommend people check Dandelion Studios out. They just finally revamped their website and it looks very nice. It's at www.dandelionstudios.com. One of their best items is Minions for Hire. But then again I've always enjoyed work from the antagonist's pov.

Oh! And something I forgot to mention earlier this week: I keep making mistakes in the artwork! Can you guess what that would be? Naah, no polls this time.  In short, I keep forgetting to put the stupid unit patches on the characters' uniforms. Darn it! 

In order to give me incentive NOT to forget (because those things tell you things like if someone is in Cerberus or a cop or a weenie head), I'd like to put out a new incentive.  For every page where I accidentally forget the patch (not counting pages where I meant to leave it off), the first person who posts here to tell me about it gets that month's pin for free.  No obligations except that I'd need your address or something.

Um... and I guess that's it for tonight. Wow I talk too much.

 

Made it!
Mood:  hug me
Topic: Heavenly Bride

Well it wasn't two days late as I had expected. It's only a few hours late, and that's not bad compared... so now there you have it: this week's Heavenly Bride page.

Um... okay. I realize that I've been pushing you guys to give me a little bit of input lately. Maybe I should explain some things most of you probably already know but simply haven't put in conjunction over here.

 I had to put Akashik down to one day a week and back off on drawing Heavenly Bride because, put simply, I need to eat.  These comics are put up for free for you, and although I do have donation buttons and wotnot I'm not overly comfortable with begging and stuff. I put this team together for the mission of putting out a story. Making a living at it would be nice, but it's a rare webcomic that finds an audience willing to help you do that.

So that leaves me with the other honorable solution: find a job.  BUT... I have fatigue problems and can't do both very well. I can't draw comics and keep a job at the same time.  I've tried to find commissions and work freelance, but so far in the past few months I've had one commission (which can be found at my Deviantart site, username Sparcarrier).

So I had to back off of these two in favor of not going homeless.  Or even losing these two. It costs money to pay for this website, to buy the special paper and markers I use, to pay for the electricity to run the computer, and yes even for the nifty books and things I put out on occasion. I owe War and  Conquest money for helping - yes we're not a business here but I did hire them out on contract.  Nothing here is free for me, only for you.

And this week's Heavenly Bride page was late because 1. my computer is a little squeaker that needs upgrades I can't afford right now. This slows me down. 2. My little squeaker (whose name is Charlie, btw) also needs to befragged and have large chunks of things I have on him burned onto disk or something, and 3. I chose to work on my resume to send out to several gaming companies instead of drawing Heavenly Bride on the basis of the cardinal rule: I need to eat.

I'm sorry this delayed the story for you guys. For those of you who were angry and let me know it, uhh.. no really. I'm sorry. I want to tell the story and finish it. I really do, but real life is a meanie head.

So please be a little patient with me when I'm late with a page or ask you guys for input.  It's very helpful to know that people are at least reading these stories, otherwise I've no reason to keep this website going at all.

Speaking of input, did you guys know you can respond to this blog? Just hit "post comment". I'm not sure how well it works, but someone told me today that this website didn't have any comments options and that sucked. My response is, "uuuh.. yes it does."  :-)

Late Update
Mood:  don't ask
Topic: Heavenly Bride

My computer is in severe need of love, so Heavenly Bride will have to be a day or two late.  I'm sorry about that.

I only have nine votes for the Akashik poll? What do you take me for: someone who will keep drawing without an audience?!?!  If you haven't already, get your butt to the home page, scroll down, and vote on the poll.

 Speaking of the poll, so far it appears that "Fly being schmexy" is in the lead.  It looks like Taus/Fly will have to provide some fan service in the next month...

Topic: Heavenly Bride
Okay, yes I updated early.... and I guess that's all I have for news. Enjoy, I suppose. If you do. I've no clue. :-p

Topic: Heavenly Bride
HTML clipboard6-5-09 - Today's page took me THREE days to do. I thought it would never end, what with all of the scales and all.  I was thinking of a mandala motif in this one. I hope I got the mood across.  Oh, and btw I put up a new vote button up there in the upper left. Please vote. It would help a lot.  :-)

Topic: Heavenly Bride
HTML clipboard

5-22-09 - Today's page was super hard to do. I'm not sure why. Now that's it's a finished page I wonder why it was so difficult, but it was.

Imagine being a doctor, a being that values life and care of the physical and metaphysical being. And then suddenly you're... a vampire.  It appears that in Lhung's new world being a vampire is viewed a little differently from how he feels about it.

Topic: Heavenly Bride
HTML clipboard5-8-09 - A new chapter begins. I thought, hrm. What shall I do for the chapter cover page? Oh! Chibis!  And so these little guys were born... and I have a lot of fun making them, too.  And I also am going to take the time this break gives me to go over the script for chapter 2; make sure everything is straight. Stay tuned!

Topic: Heavenly Bride
HTML clipboard

4-8-09 Heheh... I'm tempted that in return for the smut I'm giving you tonight to ask that you guys write and praise me. PRAISE ME!!! LOL... but no that's okay. It's not like it's SMUT smut or anything. 

Anyway, I'm going to TRY to get artwork together for Friday. Time just hasn't been my friend lately; that and I fell sick. So again no promises, but I think it would be nice. This is a part of the story I was really looking forward to drawing so I want to find more time for it.