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Today, it looks like we’re going to have one of those mornings where the night chill clings to the ground for awhile. These always give way to warm afternoons that are intoxicating and utterly distracting. Gorgeous scenery is something of a handicap as I head into the final few weeks of school. I’m trying to line up either a visual arts course or an independent contract for Fall Quarter. Either way, I’ll be making comics for college credit the next time I’m in class.

What drawing I get to do right now happens on the bus or between classes if it happens at all. I made it to the last Comics Night at the Danger Room and we drew a strip about a squid burning down the late, lamented King Solomon’s Reef on a big sheet of butcher paper. But almost all of my time is packed out with schooling. I won’t lie; I’m a little behind. I can pull it out, but it will call for Herculean effort.

Funny thing is, all the time I spent ignoring that homework to get Riot Comics ready for Stumptown has given me a headstart on actually completing it in time for the Olympia Comics Festival. That’s absolutely on track and I can’t wait to get it printed.

Now, to ignore the astonishing slendor of spring, do some rehab on my still-swollen ankle, complete a research project that I still don’t quite have a thesis for, catch up on some language and figure out how to do a group presentation w/ three good members and one useless jackass. It can be done. I swear it can be done.

I bought a brush pen the other day. I’ve never been a brush guy, but after seeing brush pens in action during Stumptown, I absolutely had to try one. So far, I’m really loving it. It’s way cleaner than a traditional brush and drips only happen when I over fill the pen’s reservoir. I can still use it largely like a pen, but different hand positions and stroke angles allow for a much wider variety of lines than a ballpoint or a marker.

The best part is the black of the ink, though. The worst thing about using pens and markers is seeing all the damn stroke lines in your blacks. You can mitigate this a little by making sure all your strokes are in the same direction, but there’s still no hiding all those ugly little lines. The brush pen, however, lays down a proper, uniform, authoritative black. Even abrush pen novice like myself can get a uniform black from a brush pen. It looks way slick and I’ve been really pleased with the results so far.

The brush pen experience has prompted me to switch to the “liquid ink” medium while working in Corel. It’s a great format that simulates the behavior of liquid ink quite well. Running this simulation, however, seems to really tax my computer. I think it’s finally time to invest in more RAM - if I have to draw without listening to music, I scarcely see the point.

Today’s all about catching up on all the homework I skipped getting ready for Stumptown. I’m hoping to take care of some personal business and do a little cleaning in there somewhere, too.

I’m basically laboring to peel back the layers of Fail. Get the homework done, get the comic done, get my life back into some kind of order, all on one foot.

Back from Stumptown.

It was an amazing, action-packed weekend that I’ll never forget. Derrick Kirk Kim drew on my cast! So did Craig Thomson and David Chelsea! Chris’s car got totalled, Chelsea sold acres of table space for the Olympia Comics Festival and I gimped around like a useless crutching bastard, moving flyers for the comic I was supposed to be slinging at the convention. There was a comics art battle with a man in a monkey suit and

I’ll have more to say about all of this later, but for the moment it’s time to get back to work finishing this first issue, getting a side story posted, doing the homework I’ve been ignoring and figuring out how to pay the bills.

And at some point, sleep.

When Chris and Chelsea get here, we’re heading down to Stumptown Comics Festival. We’ll be at table #98, slinging comics and inviting folks to the Olympia Comics Festival.

Issue #1 wasn’t quite ready to go in time for the festival, so I brought flyers instead. That’s probably how you got here. I’ve got some hot comics cooking, so if you’re into romance, action and whimsy, please watch this space. At Stumptown, I’ll be selling original & made-to-order custom comics in lieu of an actual book - when I get back, I’ll post what I couldn’t sell and try to pass it off as an update.

Within the next couple weeks, Riot Comics #1 will be available on a site store and at Olympia’s Danger Room Comics. The idea is to pursue the main story in print and run side stories online, diverting into goofy one-offs when I can’t come up with something more coherent.

It’s a beautiful misty morning up here in Washington, so if I must be up this damn early, at least it’s nice to look at. Besides, how can I complain of fatigue when I’m up early in the name of Comics? The cause is comics!

I love’em and I can’t wait to start printing them. This weekend, I’m off to submerge myself in them.