Now to explain myself and where the hell we've been.
Crap.
Okay. At the end of last year, my brother and I went on a short holiday with our family. My time was short though, as I returned home briefly to meet back with six of my friends, leaving my home town in Australia and travelling to California, America, for an epic three week adventure. In California we visited Disneyland, Disney California Adventure Park, San Diego Zoo, Seaworld, Legoland, Six Flags Magic Mountain as well as Los Angeles and Hollywood. It was an incredible holiday, I had so much fun and I would love to return there.
Coming back home, I was quickly ushered back into reality, e.g. full time work. My brother of course returned to his university studies as well as his own full time job. Needless to say, we've both been busy, but I've realised that I REALLY want to try and take this comic and cartooning path, so here we are again. I'm not stopping just yet.
To be honest, I've kinda been inspired by Penny Arcade's new web series, Strip Search. For those who may not know, Penny Arcade started Strip Search through the Kickstart program. Strip Search is a web series where the boys and girls over at PA have carefully hand picked very skilled and talented artists, to see who is the next big web comic. To the winner, they work in Penny Arcade's office rent free for one year, receive cash prizes but most importantly, have access to Penny Arcade's resources. That would be an amazing life changing experience. I applied for Strip Search myself but unfortunately was one of the many who weren't accepted, which is fair enough, those who were chosen are absolutely amazing artists. They also seem like really nice, cool people too! So basically, the show has inspired me to get off my arse and get back to work, and drag my brother and force him to lend me his writing talents. At gun point.
Speaking of Penny Arcade, I'm so excited that PAX, the Penny Arcade Expo, is actually coming to Australia this year! Holy, crap! It'll be in July down in the big city of Melbourne. My brother and I will be making the journey. Our flights are booked, our hotel is booked and of course our three day pass is booked. I'm really excited and really looking forward to it, Penny Arcade is my favourite web comic and I really look forward to the opportunity of meeting Mike "Gabe" Krahulik and Jerry "Tycho" Holkins in person.
Now, getting back to art as well as Reckless Abandon... I recently picked something up off eBay to help me and my work. Hopefully, this thing will help me produce my work faster and at better quality...
A Wacom Cintiq 12WX graphics tablet!
I'm still getting used to it in fact, our latest comic strip above was actually drawn with this baby.
Previously I was using a Wacom Intuous3 graphics tablet, a USB powered tablet where you draw on its surface, while looking at your PC's monitor to see what you're drawing. It sounds clunky and at first it is, but after a while you get to used to it. With this bad boy, the Cintiq acts as a second monitor and you draw directly on the screen, looking at the screen. The device itself can be leaned up similar to that of a drawing table and it's damn precise and nice to look at, being at 1280 x 720 pixels in resolution... I think. My only gripe with it so far is that it comes with a lot of accessories to power the damn thing. First you've got a power cable, then a USB cable and then a VGA cable. It's a lot more than an Intuous, that's for sure. Like the Intuous, I'm still getting used to this thing, but I look forward to further practice with this device as well as future art and comic endeavours and reaping the rewards.
My deepest apologies for a three month hiatus, but Reckless Abandon back and hopefully we'll be rocking out some comic strips in 2013. I know it's late to say this but I hope you all had a wonderful holiday season and new year. Have a great Easter long weekend!
-Cr33g (Craig)