September Roundup #2

Heyyy, there goes September! It was TOO QUICK in my opinion. I can't believe it's October already, where's this whole year going?? Here's your second roundup of the month! 

CONVENTIONS

All my mini-shows are done for the year, unfortunately! I had such a fun time tabling at MICE and Ladiescon, I should really start looking for more smaller indie shows. SPX is always the big indie darling, but I've had the worst luck making it in the past few years (pandemic notwithstanding.) My next con will be ECCC in the beginning of December! I haven't really started getting ready for it just yet, that'll probably start weighing on my mind around mid-October. I still have plenty of stock leftover, so it'll be more a matter of making and printing new things to show and sell. 

I've been considering putting together a NSFW Robber/Robert zine with the art I've already made and posted to Twitter? It would be more for snagging new readers than impressing the people who already follow me and get all the saucy art updates in REAL TIME. I'm still weighing my options! 

SAKANA

Nothing new to report at this time! 

ROBBER/ROBERT

I finished the third bonus page, which is too nsfw to even post a preview of at this tier lol. I also finished the third keychain design! 

I made the lines thicker than I would have normally liked because it will only be 2.5" tall, so I'm considering going back to the image and cleaning it up a bit with a thinner, more sketchy line as like a little print or something. I miss the sketchiness! 👇👇👇👇

If I get a chance to whip this out sometime soon, I'll offer it as a downloadable print at the $5 tier! 

GRAPHIC NOVEL

STILL TRUCKIN'. Only about 50-60 pages left to pencil! YEAH!! 

FUN FACT: I always draw comic pages out of order. There's something that feels too slow and plodding about finishing each page one at a time in sequence, but doing them randomly gives me these little bursts of "oh cool the next one's already finished!" I also like to finish easy panels across multiple pages before I come back and figure out the hard ones. I had every panel but the second one on this page FINISHED FOR TWO WEEKS and had totally finished about 10 other pages before I finally came back and drew that background :'V 

OBELINE

Nothing new to report at this time! But I thought it might be fun to give you guys the "very preliminary working synopsis" of the story! I think the story might end up split-perspective between Quill and Maliver, but here's the pitch for Quill's side: 

Quill is a young member of the illustrious Ebonshill family, the most powerful magical family in all the land. Unfortunately, she has inherited none of the magical aptitude or societal clout that her relatives wield so easily. A social pariah, she spends her days scheming elaborate plots to win her family’s favor, running petty errands for her tyrant grandmother, and dreaming of steamy romances that her lack of magic will most certainly deny her. Her only friend and true role model is her aunt Jenny, a powerful magician with an amorous reputation, who works tirelessly with Quill as her magical tutor.

When Quill’s great grandmother, Annette Ebonshill, passes away after a long and languishing decline, the family loses its de facto leader, and magical society mourns the passing of the most powerful magician who ever lived. Desperate to maintain their reputation, the Ebonshills throw a wild, raucous funeral, inviting everyone, putting their magical power on full display.

At the funeral, Quill unwittingly resurrects Annette’s most dangerous rival/occasional lover, The Great Queen Obeline, whose spirit she had trapped in a jeweled necklace many years ago. But the necklace’s seven gems, which contain all of Obeline’s power, are mysteriously missing, preventing her from returning to her rightful form and resuming the reign of terror Annette so rudely interrupted. Obeline promises great power and glory in return for finding the gems, but Quill refuses the offer. Angered, the Queen lays a powerful curse on her, preventing her from using magic or having magic used upon her. When Jenny tries to intervene and save her niece, Obeline turns her into a chicken.

Quill realizes that her family would rather leave them cursed than tarnish their reputation. Helping Obeline will make her an enemy of magical society, not to mention the Ebonshills, but it’s the only way to save Jenny. Her scheming brain starts spinning, coming up with a new plan. She WILL find the gems, she WILL save Jenny, and Obeline WILL grant her all the magical power she’s ever wanted. And when she finally becomes a famous, slightly-villainous, ultra-powerful magician her family will HAVE TO respect her and romantic suitors will be LINING UP to make out with her. Cheered up by the prospect of power and romance, Quill and Jenny, with Obeline’s spirit in tow, set off to find the gems.

I hope that sounds interesting! I've very excited to work on it more 🥺🥺🥺

OTHER STUFF

The last pumpkin of the season is getting BIG!!!!

Hopefully it oranges-up before the frost comes later in the month!! 

Also, thought I'd leave you with a monthly Gizmo update. He is feeling fine, and looking very grizzled: 

And that's it for September! On to spooky month! 

<3 Mad