The Hatrack Blog

Somehow, this still exists!

2009-04-02T20:02:00.000-07:00

I have no idea if I have any readers! But I'll keep going just because.

The comic for Friday, April 3rd is the first one with characters directly based on actual living human beings (My friend and her son). I don't intend to use them again, but I couldn't resist this (especially since I don't have any other ideas at the moment). Hm. Maybe I should let her know that I have a comic, and she appears in it. Next week perhaps.

Monday's full-color monstrosity was a one-time gig as well, as far as I know. It was the result of not really being in the mood to draw, and just winging it; I had the whole thing drawn and colored before I had any idea what sort of dialogue to write. Evidence suggests this is not the route to take in the future, but at least I had some fun drawing Gretchen typing upside-down. Also, this may be the only time Sid will ever be seen without her hat on. Savor it.

on twitter now

2009-03-20T17:25:00.001-07:00

A few notes:
You can now follow me on Twitter, to see what's going on and Hatrack-relevent news, at http://twitter.com/pickletomboy

We now have a new computer, which means hopefully no more trouble updating on time.

I'm currently missing Webcomics Weekend due to funds being redirected toward said computer, and this makes me very disappointed.

Apologies and expectations

2009-03-18T04:06:00.000-07:00

The past two posts have been filler, and for that I am extraordinarily frustrated but I believe it was unavoidable. In addition to being at about half my mental and physical capacity for the past week while recovering from having my wisdom teeth removed, I had lost the use of my computer for the duration of that same week. Though I have the computer back, it's but a shadow of its former self and I'm afraid that it's on its way out (after nearly four and a half years of dedicated [if imperfect] service to a fairly abusive master, for which I am grateful). So I'm in the market and hoping to get a new (read: used) laptop sometime in the next few weeks.

Unfortunately that means that anyone who happened to find out that I was planning to attend Webcomics Weekend this weekend will have to alter their expectations, since the funds that I'd been setting aside (against my better fiscal judgment) for that trip will now be requisitioned for my replacement computer. It seems I'll have to contain my wanderlust until the family trip to VA this Easter (which I should probably tell my mother I changed my mind about attending...)

However, fear not, for regular Hatrack programing will return Friday unless more difficulties arise. (Have I mentioned that I've also gone a week without working on my novel? That has been the source of much consternation as well.)

If I could do away with any physical limitation that comes from being human, the first to go would be the need for personal hygiene, followed if possible by the need for sleep. However this is not the case. I'm off to the shower.

artistic direction

2009-03-01T13:35:00.000-08:00

Comicking is coming along very nicely. I'm working on getting ahead of schedule. Now that character introductions are done with, I'm able to have some real fun and do the comics I've wanted to do from the beginning. I'm also enjoying exploring new techniques and improving my drawing - apparently, far from making this a chore, working on a schedule has awakened a drive in me to actually make this as good as I can make it. The demands of school and my writing haven't interfered as much as I thought.

Another thing that's coming to light is how much I've been influenced by my favorite webcomickers, sometimes surprisingly. I seem to have inadvertently channeled some of Bill Barnes's style , but without those aspects that I never quite liked. (Sorry Mr. Barnes.) A little harder to see is the influence of the likes of Mr. Jeffrey Rowland, who remains one of my most admired role-models in the field (aside from the incomparable Christopher Baldwin, whose dedication to artistic quality I'll never hope to match - particularly in Bruno.)

But enough of my fangirlish gushing. I have much to do.

Comic 5 coming

2009-02-26T18:10:00.000-08:00

Friday's comic is done and ready. It actually underwent some major changes during production, and I'm trying some new artistic methods. We'll see how it goes.

Improvements to the site are pending; my techie friend who helped me get it started has had some demands on her time and energy for the past few weeks, so it could take a while.

And today I got an idea for another webcomic I might end up doing; if so, it probably won't be for a few years, as it'll take quite a bit of research and preparation.

That's about all for webcomic news. In other news, the current healthcare system is living nightmare even if you are insured, and Boolean logic is, as ever, a system with many applications in electronics but not much capacity for ingenuity.

This is the blog.

2009-02-20T22:33:00.000-08:00

Hey, I set up this blogger blog to blog the webcomic until I get the blog on the webcomic page itself working. (That sentence would be total gibberish two decades ago.) Hopefully I'll eventually have the site under control.

On Friday the third-ever Hat Rack went up; hooray. No idea if any readers have stumbled upon us yet. I was chatting with LFG/LICD fans and artist Lar DeSouza over at ustream (which I'd never heard of before), and I did mention the url. I did feel like an utterly incompetent child next to an artist like Lar, but he's really friendly and not at all intimidating.

More news as it happens.