Rewrites and Cuts



After looking back at the characters and where the story was heading I didn't think that either was working. So I took both story and characters to the chopping block and made a bunch of cuts. The story will be simple shorts that shows the characters relationship with technology and the world around them. It seems we spend more time interacting with technology then we do people, or we interact with people through layers of technology. Along the way I'll experiment with character design, layout and story.

I have also reduced the large number of characters to two, the frog and cricket. James, the frog is in the middle of the road. A savvy user but never an early adopter. He spends too much time working and wrapped up in technology to know what is really going on in the world. At times he is unsure of anything since according to him, "there is no undo button in the real world." His friend Benny Kricket is blogger for hire. He is every bit as confidante as he is knowledgeable about the world around. His one biggest gripe is that they don't make gadgets for his size and nothing ever fits, but you'll know about it in his blog anyway. There will also be a constant supporting cast. Glen Turtle will be on as the guy who always has to have the latest and greatest gadgets as well as be involved in every social network possible. A new edition is the environmentalist and champion of open source, Reed Fox. Works for the technological needs of the community. Finally making his appearance is CEO Steve Piggs. Always pushing his sub par computers on the people and trying to make as much money as possible. New character will be added as necessary and when the story calls for it.

Hopefully this direction and cast can carry the story forward. Hopefully by then end of December I'll have a few strips written out in advanced for an 08 release. I will keep posting artwork for the strip and other ideas for illustration.

Gotta Regroup...



Many of you readers already know, I hardly post anything. With new changes going on I have had ample time to work on making a comic strip, and it has been a hard road. In part because I have been away from anything art/comic related for so long that I am clearly out of touch.

Looking back at past efforts so far the writing and story have been abysmal. Mostly due to my poor grammar, but in part because I want to tell my personal story and experiences. It's good to put a little bit of yourself in your work. However, this strip is not the place to tell my life's story. There will be another opportunity for that. I need to look back and ask myself why I started this strip? Characters and story need to be analyzed. So I'll take a break from the strip and start fresh. No, I am not abandoning the strip or blog. I'll still post sketches, as this blog was intended for posting sketches.

Corrections and Adjustments

I am so glad no one (maybe just one person) reads this blog. Looking back at the first steps I made to write and draw a comic strip have been more like stumbles and falls than steps. However they have been good learning experiences. Seeing my work out there from another perspective helps me see all the flaws I need to correct and many things I needs to learn. Your comments too help me whip this thing into shape.

So the strips right here collect two strips I drew before. James the Frog is misunderstood at work and while he's surely setup for failure he ends up on top. On a later strip he constantly blogs his anguish which leads Wally, the ISP Rabbit to cut his net access and spare the world from his whinny blog. Wally lets James keep his connection on the premise he plays online games as a form of therapy to easy his stress. The two strips we're created as a test and both were meant to correlate with each other. Aside form the decent drawings they all fell real short.

Having gone back I reworked the story and art. Hopefully this makes more sense. While I do like the ideas of doing dailies and telling the story in 3 panel format. I think all of them will end up being combined into a larger "Sunday" format, and in color too. I have neither the discipline or experience of doing dailies. Here is the "beta" strip, enjoy.

Almost there.

This strip and post should have gone up weeks ago. Well it's here. It was done almost immediately after my last post. However with friends and relative stopping by I hardly had a chance to get close to the computer. Keep in mind that these are test and experiments for the strip. It still has a lot of story and character development to go through. I also really gotta get sharpen my writing skills too!

There have also been many changes going on here. So hopefully I'll have more posts on the way soon.

Hard To Keep Up...

The last few weeks have been busy and I have already begun to neglect my blog, again. Here is a sketch from the first strip. Somehow James has already managed to land a job working for someone who has no clue as to what is going on. But with long winded speeches how can you say no? Anyway. I thought I'd post something in the meantime I finish inking. Although I think I may make some changes to Kevin Pigg. While clueless, he is determined to get the most out of his employees. Which usually means he has all his employees working on task that they have no idea as to what is going on. I envision him more rounded and simpler. James is good with computers right? Sure he can make that annual report not only look great but he can also get started on writing the actual report too!. I should be done by Friday so check back till then.

The Brains Behind The Beta Tree

The mouse behind Beta Tree Valley's name and success is none other than Albert Mouse. He came to the valley when he was a young mouse. He left his farm not knowing where he was headed. He came to the valley and found a perfect place where he could work on his botanical experiments. He didn't have much at all and his main concern was food. With little money he buys a small plot of land and seeds. Now, this being a very small plot of land he doesn't have many options as far as growing a crop. Using his botanical knowledge he tries to combine plants to fuse and grow multiply crops at once. He first successfully worked on small plotted plants making an assortment of salad plants, stir fry and even fruit salad plants. These successful experiments help him move to the next step, a tree. After a few failed attempts Albert manages to create a small southwest salad tree. From here the rest is history and Albert and his salad trees take off. Albert's discovery help put Beta Tree Valley on the map as a place of innovation and futuristic ideas.

Some Albert concept sketches.




Albert hard at work.

Where Have I Been?

Lost I imagine. Most likely I took a wrong turn somewhere but I'll save that story for another post. I did however stumble upon an interesting place. A small town tucked away along the California coat. A small town where entrepreneurs come to find their fortunes grown and dreams of success come to fruition. This small ideal town is where neighbors help each other and everyone has access to the lastest and greatest technology. Now, if this place did exist it would be called Beta Tree Valley. I am not sure where the idea came from but I am sure it started at some boring meeting or while trying to come up with some company policy that will never be implemented.

I have long been a fan of Krazy Kat and Pogo and it is safe to say that's where the idea of Beta Tree Valley came from. For me Coconino County and the Okefenokee Swamp are places that I visit often. While the adventures of their citizens is always enjoyable to read I have of lately found them quaint. I needed something more topical and inline with my interests. So I imagined what would it be like if Krazy, Pogo and the rest of them lived in Silicon Valley today.

While not a complete idea, but a constant work in progress, here are a few ideas and sketches of the towns citizens. Some of you may even find a few familiar faces.

So here we have the towns local ISP, Wally Wrabbet. A family owned business since they took matters into their own hands to bring internet into their town and hijacked some large telcos installation truck. Wally, along with all his litter of kids who help with installation services, run "Wally's Fast Net." Here are a fews sketch and ideas.



Here is one with Wally and his army of installation experts.



Glenn Tyrtle is an accountant who is master of the spreadsheet by day and extreme sports enthusist whenever he can find time.



Office Mayhem as usual for Glenn.



...and of course the usual suspects.