continuing the dating saga of ace, this week’s strip talks about a topic we all come to face sooner or later. as for ace, i’m trying to do some character development. he’s clearly a ladies man but there’s something deeper, where he’s actually looking for a meaningful relationship. but it’s a conundrum, because the type of women ace brings home might not be the kind that’s able to give him that deeper connection.
let’s say a friend gives you relationship advice, and it’s totally something you would probably not do. ever take the advice anyways, just to see how it goes? can’t say that i ever do it, but there’s been an occasion or two that i have, and it always turns out unexpected. my challenge to you is take a friend’s advice on something, something you normally wouldn’t take, and just do it. you might be surprised.
this week’s comic is pure digital photoshop, since i was on travel and didn’t have access to my regular paper stock. enjoy!
ever have that friend who’s approach to dating is just totally foreign to what you think? whatever the approach (not making any judgments here!), it’s always interesting how they take in our advice or what they do with it. maybe that’s why we love to hear about other people’s love life – so we can live vicariously through their experience and hopefully never go thru it ourselves!
in terms of artwork, not much i’m afraid this week except for the stone bar counter top effect and maybe a little tweaking in body language and panel layouts.
feel free to drop some comments for some feedback – i’m always looking for ways to improve, thanks for readin!
if you’re anything like my friends, undoubtedly there is a lot of smack talk during anything competitive. maybe there’s even a ‘friendly’ wager, just to spice things up a bit. whatever it takes to get your opponent emotionally into the game – and then crush them with a humiliating defeat. of course, the last time i made a bet and talked smack, i lost horribly.
a couple more variations in artwork this week. i went back to a brush pen for the thicker lines, but then used a finer tip for the background. the idea is thicker lines for objects closer, and thinner lines for objects further away. gives the illusion and all that. what do you think? also, the photoshop wood technique worked pretty good again this week, i think.
this week we’re doing another collaboration effort, where we write each other’s comic (but we still draw it ourselves). thus, i’ll be writing weezy’s comic, he’ll be writing chibar’s, and chibar is writing mine. so, what you’ll find below are the usual characters, just with a chibar twist.
it’s been said that comic strips are a very personal art form that allows the creator to speak directly with their audience – no editor, no screening, just pure voice. so having another writer be the “voice” of your characters, i find, takes a lot of trust. to stay true to the characters, their speech pattern, and their reaction. to you, the audience, it could be quite confusing, if not done right. all of a sudden, the characters could be doing something you’re not expecting and such. but i dare say, chibar has done a fantastic job of interpreting the characters.
perhaps most noteworthy artwork-wise this week, is the wood effect for the bar top. i think it adds a nice touch, and hopefully art-wise, it works well with the style of the comic. i inked it using a pigma micron 01, 0.25 mm line width. i’m thinking though, i liked the look better with fatter lines i got using a brush pen.
as dilbert has taught us, there are countless ways to turn the cubicle/office lifestyle into humorous stories. how to take the tiny nuances of the cubicle/office lifestyle and exaggerate it to a point that almost everyone can identify with it. and chances are, of those jokes, we probably exhibit some of those traits!
for the artwork this week, some minor tweaks and experiments. i experimented with inking using a hunt 102 nib and speedball ink. basically that means i used a calligraphy type pen where i had to dip the head in ink like every 5 seconds to continue inking. i don’t think it worked very well for this type of art form as it was too detailed. i also converted the color strip into a black & white strip, to see if it was still as powerful, such as in a daily newspaper. maybe it’s too gray, but i think the colored strip packs a lot more punch.
i remember back in the day when i was in class, how a good friend of mine came into class like 30 minutes late (and it was an afternoon class!). i asked him why he was late, he smiled and said he just couldn’t bring himself to get out of bed whenever his girlfriend was there with him. it wouldn’t be until later in life that i realized and understood what he meant. and to this day, with the right girl, i wouldn’t mind time passing right on by.
as for the artwork this week, as happy as i am how it turned out, i think next week i’m gonna start experimenting with new techniques. i got a book by wheezy and emily, called creative photoshop written by derek lea which i really need to dive into. also, there how to make webcomics, that just came out. i guess what i’m saying is, look for some kick ass artwork, if not, come kick my ass.
perhaps a continuation of sorts from chibar’s post last thursday, we’ve all had those dates that seemed perfect. we’ll prepare for it, try to anticipate any needs, and hopefully not get too nervous. and on those perfect dates, things just seem to go right and all that nervousness just fades away and it becomes practically effortless.
as for the art, still working on the shading technique. not sure if i got it right yet.
here we go… new comic strips every monday AND thursday! that’s right, twice a week now you’re entitled to some of the best comic strips! so, that means after you visit wheezy’s site, come visit ours. 
so on monday, i (johnny) will be your host with new content. this week’s strip was inspired from a leadership training class i took, where the instructor was giving a scenario when a co-worker would come into your office, plop down, and then begin to unload all this drama – when you don’t care. what do you do…?
continuing our experiment on what’s harder to do, delivering a funny comic based mainly on art or on the writing, this week we present you with our writing strip. feel free to leave some comments on what you think, which one you enjoyed more (sight or write), etc. and be sure to check out wheezy’s site, who’s also partaking in the sight vs. write.
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