September 2006 Archives

Third page, this week!

And is there a special word for that sort of person you regularly hang out with and talk to, but you're not really friends with? They're just in your line of sight because you go to the same places and know the same general crowd? You're generally civil with one another, but you don't really LIKE each other? Weird phenomenon. I think only women do this, but I'm probably wrong.

I think it's pretty obvious by this page that Curio's tits are fake. But then, half of the webcomics I read slap perfectly sperical boobs on all their female characters, so I guess no one will notice.

This weekend will be dedicated to getting the making-of page off the ground, drawing new cast shots, and answering email. You guys have swamped me with your good will, and I'm utterly grateful for it and humbled by it. You each deserve a response, and you'll get one.

I feel sorta bad about today's page.

Horologists and horology are real; real world horologists are watch and clock makers, experts, or collectors. But in Templar, well... it means something else. My sincere apologies, real life horology guys, for flaking up your interest.

But hey, is this really that much weirder than planning your day and/or romantic life around the month you were born in? Really.

Another new page in the works as we speak. Off I go...

EXHIBIT A: Look what I got in the mail today, because OH MY FREAKING GOD.

Yasei made me a Sincerist's heart patch of my own! She made one for herself a while back (it's here, in the fan art gallery), but she took orders in my forum recently, and this is what I got! SHRIEK.

Why not drop by her Deviant Art gallery and tell her how awesome she is? Her textile art is great, but her drawn art is nuthin' you should be goin' without, either. Seriously, this chick needs to be famous, one day. Design an animated series or something.

EXHIBIT B: HOORAY FOR BEING GAUCHE. The tip jar runneth over, so there's THREE PAGES OF TEMPLAR THIS WEEK! God, and THEN some! You guys make me feel tingly.

...

Okay, back to work with me. Later!

Cover image is up! Stay tuned for more.

And a big, big, thank you to everyone who's been clicking through from Something Positive, and leaving great comments and sending really flattering, kind emails I seriously do intend to answer. (Sorry.) I read every one and appreciate them all, even if I don't have the decency to send a response. But some quick, across-the-board answers to frequent questions:

1) Sorry, but I don't do private commissions. It's not that I hate money or anything, I just don't have the time! If you want a really stunning commission, though, I can recommend the services of Bill Mudron without hesitation. Here's some of his (not-safe-for-work) recent stuff.

2) Sure, I can show you how I draw the comic. As a matter of fact, a making-of page is in the works right now. I promise you'll be unimpressed, though.

3) I didn't get the idea for the Sincerists from Art Spiegelman, or a novel, or anyplace else, and they DEFINITELY aren't real (thank God). I made 'em up. Or I thought I did, anyway.

4) And yeah, I wish I could update more frequently, too. Believe me, I'm trying. (Would it be gauche to point out that the tip jar is 12 bucks away from a three-page week? Probably.)

By the way, while you're here, you might wanna check out a few comics by K. Thor Jensen, especially The Last Kiss. I dig that one, probably because I just got done watching The Devil and Daniel Johnston, and both the comic and the documentary are about off-kilter musicians aching for fame and recognition.

...

But then, I didn't have to stop reading The Last Kiss every few minutes to bitch about how too many people romanticize the artistic process, something that inevitably leads to more emphasis being placed on a person being "artistic" than the quality of their actual art. If you ask someone about a particular artist and all they care to recall is how great he was at parties, something is just goddamn wrong.

Whatever. My baggage.

LATE LATE LATE LATE LATE LATE.

At this rate, it'll probably slam face-first into the cute new transfer student any second now.

If I were more on the ball, the witchy Sincerist would have probably been named Gina. Not to villify the name completely, of course. You may have had more positive experiences with Ginas. But my Gina was less than impressive. Not in a Sincerist sort of way, though. More of a dope-sucking, compulsively-thieving, impossible-human-toilet sort of way.

Ah, college. And impotent, esoteric nerd revenge. <3

Anyway, today and tomorrow will be the last week of the Intermission. Then, Original Recipe Templar starts back up with Chapter Two. In the meantime, Gene's new bio portait is up.

I need a nap.

By the way, did you know there's a 24-7 Loveline stream up on Shoutcast? That's pretty neat.

1) If you ever get your hands on a rat that's sufficiently pregnant, pick her up and flip her over onto her back. (Disclaimer: Olive is calm enough for this. Your mileage may vary.) If you're very careful, you can feel each individual baby rat inside her stomach through her belly.

This is

[ ] Gross
[ ] Awesome

That chick must sound a lot like a shrill, self-satisfied Napoleon Dynamite. GOD.

Let me know what you guys think of this Intermission thing. Is it working out? Do you dig it? Should I bother in the future, or do you just wanna get back to Ben & Co.? POLLS ARE OPEN. And by "polls," I mean "blog comments," which I am now officially making a better effort to answer and participate in. So, opine away.

By the way, if you guys dig Templar's weird little world, y'might wanna check out the comicry of Jonathon Dalton, too, especially "A Mad Tea Party." It's a story about a genetically engineered, post-war, future Japan, full of backward-glancing youth movements, red-haired designer children with photographic memories, and at least one truly unfortunate-looking pocket-pet.

There seems to be a sort of free-floating haze of nastiness in Veritas. Glad I don't go there.

This was up at midnight. but I conked out before I could post my usual around-midnightish update reminder. So I guess some of you might've already seen it. Oops.

Also, one of my rats seems to be filled with babies. This is kind of surprising, since I've been trying to get her filled with babies for over a year, and nothing ever came of it. I've just been assuming she was infertile for a while, now. But no, her sense of timing is just crappy. GOOD GIRL, OLIVE. MUMMY LUVZ YEW.

I'm going to go boil her an egg.

For someone who whines her ass off about hating architecture, I sure go out of my way to draw a lot of it.

Anyway. On to more important things.

In case you haven't already heard, Lea Hernandez, fellow cartoonist, founder of Girlamatic, creator of Rumble Girls and Texas Steampunk, and artist for Killer Princesses has had a house fire. A bad one. The house is currently uninhabitable, and according to her insurance guy, writing it off as a total loss wouldn't be crazy. She and her family (two kids, a husband, and two cats) could use a little help, if you could spare it.

A Paypal donation jar's been set up at divalea (at) gmail (dawt) com. Every little bit helps.

Going with toned pencils for this. Hope that's okay.

Hope you guys had a decent Labor Day. I mostly slept and ate strawberry jam flavored pork jerky.

No face-making. It was rad.

And with a final establishing shot, baby's put to bed. Good night, The Great Outdoors. Sleep tight. And am I ever glad to see the back of yer ass.

Next week, Templar, Arizona leaves poor Ben alone for five friggin' seconds and has its first Intermission. Stay tuned.

Oh, and while I've got you reading: The comic's FAQ has been updated, and by popular demand, the Mudflap Reagan shirts in the Spreadshirt shop are now available in larger sizes, up to 3XL! Take a look!