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133: just go
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133: just go

by kris on March 24, 2013 at 12:01 am

author’s comments:

Graev: You know, Tyler’s honestly pretty good in bed.

Adrian: Shut up!

[ 4 Comments ]

Semi-Hiatus? Apologies etc.

by kris on April 14, 2013 at 11:40 pm
Posted In: Blog

Okay, so obviously I’ve missed quite a few updates in the last couple months. I just wanted to give everyone a solid heads up and explain things. As I said a couple comics ago, I finally got a job. It’s a totally awesome job and maybe it’s not everything I’ve ever wanted, but it’s pretty close.

There are some downsides. One is that my job is in a town that takes 45 minutes to an hour to drive to. That means that I have to get up at 5:50 and leave my house at 6:30 to get to a job that starts at 8. And then I don’t get home until 5:45 or so. That gives me about five hours total time at home before I need to be in bed. I guess that sounds like a lot, but my job is also VERY mentally taxing. I’m training on a lot of information and by the time I get home, my brain is so fried, I pretty much just want to turn into a blob. It’s getting better, and I’m starting to adjust, but it’s been incredibly hard to motivate myself to actually draw the comic. I think when I actually get out of training and I’m able to do the job I’m training for, I won’t be so tired at the end of the day. But until I get to that point, things are going to be really slow around here.

I’ll be really honest. I love my comic and I love the characters I’ve created, and I want to tell their story. But there’s a lot about art that really stresses me out, and when I feel like I’m letting people down, I start to have really serious anxiety. And right now I know I’m letting all of you down. I have no intention of letting this comic go, but I do need some time to build myself back up to working at the rate I need to work at to not feel like a failure. So I need to take an official hiatus and give myself some time to build up a buffer, to work on some really FREAKING AWESOME story stuff that I’ve been writing on my commute, and to chill out a bit while my life falls back into place.

The last two years have been incredibly hard and there were definitely some times that this comic was really the only thing keeping me around. But right now, this comic is the biggest source of stress in my life. I need it to be something I love doing and I need it to be something I do for fun to relax. I don’t want it to be a second job that’s actually harder than my real job.

But I want to let you guys know how much I appreciate you, especially my regular readers and the people who leave comments regularly, and those who supported me in my donation comics; I’d be dead or homeless or living with my mom (oh no!) if not for your amazing support. The thought of letting you down makes me feel terrible. But my life is finally getting better, and I need to be able to feel happy and secure again. I need to not beat myself up because I’m too tired to have an update ready on schedule.

It’s not all bad news! Like I said, I’m not really able to get real comic work done while I’m at my job (everything’s digital!), but I’ve been getting a lot of writing done. I’ve designed five new characters that I’m hoping will debut next year, and I think they’re all really great! I’ve written two chapters and plotted like five more, and everything gets so good, I wish I could draw it now! And I’m not going to stop working on Bridges. Like I said, I’m going to work on building a buffer. I’ll start posting regularly again when I’m ready, but keep checking back here and on my tumblr and the Bridges facebook, because I’m probably going to be posting some WIP stuff, some new character stuff, and some extras while you wait. And of course if any of my wonderful artist and/or writer friends or readers want to pitch in, I’d love to run some fanart or guest comics while I’m taking a break.

Thanks so much for your patience.

[ 13 Comments ]

GOAL REACHED! Donation Drive: Help Me Buy a New Tablet!

by kris on July 14, 2012 at 1:33 am
Posted In: Blog

Edit: I’m leaving this here for posterity, but I wanted to let everyone know that I reached my goal earlier today and my new tablet is on the way! I really can’t believe I collected $400 in just 39 hours. Thanks so much to everyone who donated. If you wanted to donate but the drive ended too quickly, donations are always open and both the minicomic and commission offers still stand!

As for the upcoming minicomic discussed at the end of the post, you can still donate $10 or more to be put on the preorder list, which will make you one of the first to receive it as soon as it’s finished. It will be offered for $10 when it’s up for sale, as well. The poll to vote on whom it will feature is still open!

Again, I’m blown away by the generosity of my readers, friends, and fellow artists and could never have imagined reaching my goal so quickly. Thank you so much for reading my comic, and even if you didn’t donate, know that I appreciate everyone in my audience. I’m so lucky to be able to share my story with such a fantastic community.

So, you may have noticed that updates have been slightly harrowed lately. In part, it’s because of holidays, in part it’s because I’m really buckling down on finding a job, and a lot of it is because my 10-year-old tablet is about to bite the dust.

Meet my Wacom tablet:

Yeah. So. I take really good care of my things, which is why I’ve had the same tablet for ten years (also because Wacom makes amazing products). But after ten years, even the best things wear out or become obsolete, or get dropped off a really high bed along with your MacBook with the USB plugged in and have their USB dongles totally mangled. You know, the usual wear and tear.

So, I really need a new tablet and the one I really want is this one:

Nothing crazy, not a Cintiq, just an Intuos4 Wireless. (There’s a cord there, I know, it’s for charging.) It’s the same size as my current tablet, but it’s bluetooth, so I won’t have to deal with cables all up in my grill and cramping one of my two USB ports. It’ll be nice and new with twice as many levels of pressure and zero times as many frustrated cryings.

They range in price from $300 – $400 depending on how eBay and Amazon are feeling (this is the model before the new one, the Intuos5, which I don’t think I’m a fan of; anyone with personal experience with one, please let me know). That’s where you guys come in. Because I’m unemployed right now, things have been really really tight at my house, bills-wise. We pretty much have nothing to spare, but my tablet situation is getting ever more dire. I make due with it, but when the eraser stopped working, it started becoming a big issue, because I erase more than the average artist. Not because I make a lot of mistakes, but I shade by erasing the highlights out of the shadows — whatever, it’s weird, just trust me, it sucks for me that the eraser doesn’t work. I know I could probably buy a new pen, but at this point I don’t want to invest any more in a tablet that isn’t really working for me anymore.

So if you have anything at all to spare, I would appreciate it more than anything. If you donate more than $10, I’ll take down your name and when I draw the upcoming mini-comic that I’m going to be offering for sale, you’ll be the first ones to get it automatically.

Speaking of that mini-comic, it’s going to be an adult mini-comic, and I want to let my readers choose which couple it’s going to feature. So, if you could, please vote in this poll:

Which couple would you like to see in an adult minicomic?
  
pollcode.com free polls 

Again, when this vote is done and after I make the mini-comic, if you’ve already donated at least $10 in this donation drive, you’ll be one of the first to get a copy. If you donate more than $50, I’ll email you and offer you a pinup-style picture of your choice, basically a color comission.

Please consider supporting me so I can do the comic more easily and faster and more reliably! I love you guys! Donate button and tracker is in the sidebar!

[ 2 Comments ]