Comic 170
Back-up Vocal~ Ah, we reach an old favorite. This particular Comic bears quite a stretch of history behind it, with many past attempts and passes before reaching completion. Truth be told, it spans several years. Its first few incarnations date back to the earliest days of what we now know as “Mannyacs”, during the period in which I needed to learn how to use Photoshop and Illustrator all over again.
Why again, you may ask? Because, in 2009 when I first got serious about making my little zoo a reality, it became clear to me that I was going to need the Adobe Software family in my bag of tricks. Art school graduation was in 2003 and I had not seen either program in 6 years. So, after buying both of them, I reached out to any and all available resources in search of the education I needed to apply them. I read stacks of books, watched a ridiculous number of youtube tutorials and talked to as many schooled artists as I could find for guidance. Mostly, I dove head first into both programs and made a vast array of mistakes. The culmination of all that spelunking, is that I now use roughly 2% of what the Adobe world can offer and that’s fine by me. That’s really all I need. I’m not a person who wants a lot of bells and whistles. If I even have a “style” to call my own, it falls into the “minimalist” category on its best day. So, I take what works for me and meets my goals. Then, I move forward. As long as my writing and art compliment each other and I tell my tales in the fashion that respects my characters, I’m happy. It’s even better if I can conjure some laughs from my readership along the way.
I never got the idea for this one out of my system. Over the course of considerable time, I kept returning to it, looking for the chance to make it work. Sizable chunks of the aforementioned blunders were committed whilst revisiting this particular concept. As years progressed and I grew much more confident in the software I use in my creations, I would constantly experiment with the best methods to scale the canvas size down as much as was demanded, yet still have all the crucial pieces fit in the available space. Ultimately, the most confounding hitch of this Comic, was finding the right spot to include it. A passing comment from Soxx in the Splendorland University Guitar Show story arc provided the gateway that gave the notion life. At last, all the elements came together.
I’m thrilled that this puppy finally got to show itself to the world and breath clean air. It proved the perfect way to end the “Splendor U Hullabaloo” saga. Plus, to cap it all off, the boys made the cover of “Zoop Magazine”.
DBS 3 REPRESENT!!!