Announcements for 9/3/10
So yeah, didn't manage to post last week due to ArmadilloCon, but it was a very successful venture, so I personally am okay with how things shook out. Still working away on the book, but I don't have anything to show you on that at the moment. Instead, I will give you a feep:
 - Green Furry Dragon
This piece is a propos, given that tomorrow is the "closing" party for the ASG show at the Hideout. I have several pieces up in that, so you should come to the shindig, drink some wine, eat some cheese, and buy some art. I say "closing" party, because it was initially going to end on Sept. 4, but we ended up getting extended through September. So. It's still a party. You should still come. Further deets on the Events Page.
Cheers,
Dylan NDR
Announcements for 8/20/10
This week I have for you page 1 of Blake's story. I won't be posting the entire thing online, but I would like to put up a page from each chapter just as a teaser. You may have already seen this on the Beacon Press blog, but here it is again:
 - Blake's Story - page 01 pencils
This page is also featured in the Transposes 20-page preview book, although in a slightly different form. Speaking of said book, have you purchased it yet? No? Well, here's that link again:
 - Transposes Preview Book
Meanwhile, ArmadilloCon approaches. Next weekend, in fact. That means I shall be a-feeping, and am as yet uncertain whether or not I'll be able to update next week. I guess we'll find out when we get there.
Cheers,
Dylan NDR
Announcements for 8/13/10
So! What now, you ask? A fine question indeed. For the moment, allow me to present unto you this promotional piece I did for the PRISM Comics booth at SDCC:
 - Adam as Fred Astaire
I'm not quite sure what I'll be posting next week, though probably sample pages from Blake or Avery. I won't be putting their entire chapters online, but I can at least give you a teaser.
Cheers,
Dylan NDR
Announcements for 8/6/10
Several announcements today, but let's take care of the final page of Adam's story first:
 - Adam's Story - page 16 pencils
So there it is. One chapter of the book in its penciled form. And I have finally, at long last, put the preview books containing this chapter up for sale online:
- Transposes Preview Book
As you can see upon clicking that link, you have two options: you can get just the book (which includes the 16 pages of Adam's story, bios of the other characters, page 1 of Blake's story, and a nifty full-color cover), or you can get the book plus a little piece of preliminary art. When I repeat panels in a story, rather than cutting and pasting with a computer like a sane person, I trace the panel onto vellum and then transfer it with blue carbon paper. So I wind up with all these pieces of vellum with art from the book traced onto them. The Deluxe Edition nets you one or two of these (depending on the size and complexity of the panels in question). Right now I have vellum panels from Adam's story and Blake's story available, and I'm sure other characters will pop up as I progress with the art for the book.
Speaking of which, I've finished penciling Blake's chapter and am currently working on Avery's. Concurrently, I'm storyboarding the introduction for the book, so there is much afoot here.
Also also, a couple of show announcements. I'm in an art show that is up now at the Hideout in downtown Austin, and have two Austin conventions coming up: ArmadilloCon (August 27-29), and Austin Comic Con (November 12-14). More deets on these shows are to be found on the events page.
I think that's it for now. Plenty enough, surely!
Cheers,
Dylan NDR
Announcements for 7/30/10
San Diego was a blast. I had a great time hanging out with the PRISM guys, and am looking forward to doing it all again next year. There's more to say, but I'm frantically framing stuff in preparation for an art show that's going up tomorrow, so instead I shall cut to the chase and present the next page of Adam's story:
 - Adam's Story - page 15 pencils
Once the art show is up I'll hopefully have a spare moment in which to put the Transposes preview book into the online store. It really will happen eventually, I swear.
Cheers,
Dylan NDR
Announcements for 7/19/10
I have posted my official schedule for SDCC, so if you're going to be in attendance, here is where and when you'll find me:
Events Schedule
No update this week, as I'll be a little bit busy. Hope to see some of you there!
Cheers,
Dylan NDR
Announcements for 7/16/10
Bleah. Please allow me to apologize for not getting a listing up for the Transposes preview book for those of you who want to buy it from me online. I came down with a cold this week and am very sick right now. Getting up long enough to post this update is a bit much. Since my top priority is NOT being sick for San Diego (because how much would THAT suck), I am pretty much jettisoning most tasks that do not involve getting better as quickly as possible. So, if you want to buy the preview comic and are not going to SDCC and want me to hold one for you, please just email me and I'll set one aside. They're $3.00 plus $1.00 shipping (for US addresses, for elsewhere please ask and I'll figure it out), and consist of the penciled pages for Adam's story, character bios, and page 1 pencils for Blake's story.
At any rate, here's the next page of said Adam pencils:
 - Adam's Story - page 14 pencils
Hopefully all will be well soon. And by "all" I mean "me."
Cheers,
Dylan NDR
Announcements for 7/9/10
So! The preview comics did indeed arrive safe and sound. Soon I shall convey instructions for obtaining a copy, but I wanted to get this week's page up first:
 - Adam's Story - page 13 pencils
San Diego approacheth, and there is much work to be done in preparation. I will probably post preview comic purchase instructions this weekend, unless I don't. But I'd like to. But we shall see. Next week at the absolute latest.
Cheers,
Dylan NDR
Announcements for 7/2/10
And now, Adam - page 12:
 - Adam's Story - page 12 pencils
Apparently the Transposes preview books are printed and en route to me even at this very moment. If all goes well I will have them in hand next Tuesday. I shall then confirm their worthiness to be sold to the public at large, and shortly thereafter shall convey instructions for obtaining your very own copy.
I just want to make absolutely clear that this is NOT the finished Transposes book that will be coming out from Beacon Press. This is a 20-page PREVIEW book I put together on my own for promotional purposes. It features the PENCILED art for Adam's chapter, not the final art that will be in the final book. This is for process junkies and early adopters and collectors and that sort of thing. Okadoke?
Cheers,
Dylan NDR
Announcements for 6/25/10
Page 11 of Adam's Story awaits:
 - Adam's Story - page 11 pencils
In SDCC preview book news, I got my proofs of the print-ready comic and have paid my invoice, so in theory the books are being queued up to print as we ... well, whatever this is. As I type, as you later read. At any rate, once I have them in hand I shall let you know how you, yes YOU, can go about obtaining a copy.
I'm working my way through page 8 of Blake's story right now, which puts me at about 3.5 pages to go. So that chapter should be done soon. This one's been slow going because I have to stop frequently to hunt up photo references, and there have been quite a few packed panels (nothing as extreme as the crowd scene on page 1, but still). Probably going to pencil Avery's story next.
Cheers,
Dylan NDR
Announcements for 6/18/10
There's page 10 of Adam's Story, of course:
 - Adam's Story - page 10 pencils
But wait! There's more! My publisher, Beacon Press, is running a penciled page from Transposes on their blog in celebration of Pride Month. This is page 1 of Blake's story, which means you ain't seen it yet. See if you can spot the cameos:
Blake's Story Page 1 pencils
I'll be posting that here eventually, but for now that's where you gotta go to see it.
Cheers,
Dylan NDR
Announcements for 6/11/10
Page 9, page 9, make way for page 9:
 - Adam's Story - page 9 pencils
Long day, brain fried, on to the next task at hand. Ka-zoom, etc.
Cheers,
Dylan NDR
Announcements for 6/4/10
Could it be time for page 8? Oh, I think so:
 - Adam's Story - page 8 pencils
In SDCC book news, I think everything's ready to go. I've passed it off to a friend for typo-checks and so forth. If all goes well, I'll put in the print order this weekend.
I'm also prepping the pencils for page 1 of Blake's story for a feature on the Beacon Press Blog, so I'll let you know when that's up. Busy busy!
Cheers,
Dylan NDR
Announcements for 5/28/10
Page 7 is here for your edification:
 - Adam's Story - page 7 pencils
The SDCC book is coming along nicely. I've got all the story pages formatted, now just need to do the cover and title page and whatnot. I've done a lot of cleanup to the pencils for the book version, mostly getting rid of planning lines on faces and so forth. So. Once it's all ready and printed I shall let ye know.
Meanwhile, I'm about to start page 4 of Blake's story, which will be the 20th page I've penciled. Once that's done I'll be approximately 20% done with the pencils for the book, which is quite glee-inducing. For me, at any rate. (Compared to pencils, inks are like coasting downhill.)
Cheers,
Dylan NDR
Announcements for 5/21/10
Ah, but page 6:
 - Adam's Story - page 6 pencils
Besides that, things chug along. I did finally finish penciling page 1 of Blake, but it took for-freakin'-ever. SDCC sneak preview book proceeds apace. That's about it, really. Onward!
Cheers,
Dylan NDR
Announcements for 5/14/10
What's this? Page 5 already? So it would seem:
 - Adam's Story - page 5 pencils
I am still working on page 1 of Blake's story. It's a big, complicated crowd scene, dontcha know. But I'm having a lot of fun filling in the crowd with amusing cameos, so it'll be worth the effort. While I won't post all of Blake's story online, I may post page 1 so you can ogle the madness. But ye shall see it not before Adam's story is done, regardless. Now, I gotta go work on putting that SDCC book together before too much more time slips away from me.
Cheers,
Dylan NDR
Announcements for 5/7/10
And now, Adam page 4:
 - Adam's Story - page 4 pencils
I have finished up the pencils for Adam's story, and it now rests with my editors, awaiting their commentary. In the meantime, I have begun penciling Blake's chapter, the first page of which is a bit of a doozy. It shall keep me occupied for quite some time. I also need to put together the preview book for SDCC, so that will be happening shortly as well. I believe it will be possible for folks not attending SDCC to snag a copy, so I'll keep you updated on the particulars.
Cheers,
Dylan NDR
Announcements for 4/30/10
Today I don't just have a new Adam page for you, but we'll start with that nonetheless:
 - Adam's Story - page 3 pencils
But no, wait, there is more! Come close and observe, for I have at long last discovered an appropriate working title for this damn book: Transposes. Here's why it's so great:
transpose (vt)
1 : to change in form or nature
2 : to render into another language, style, or manner of expression
3 : to transfer from one place or period to another
4 : to change the relative place or normal order of : alter the
sequence of [transpose letters to change the spelling]
5 : to write or perform (a musical composition) in a different key
6 : to bring (a term) from one side of an algebraic equation to the
other with change of sign
There is also a definition for transpose as a noun: "a matrix formed
from another matrix by interchanging the rows and columns."
Plus, there's the idea of "pose" in there, as in posing for a photo,
painting, or - ahem! - drawing.
So there you have it. Unless something more brilliant comes to me in the interim, the title of this book shall be Transposes.
Cheers,
Dylan NDR
Announcements for 4/23/10
Behold, further pencils in the Saga of Adam:
 - Adam's Story - page 2 pencils
In other news, trying to come up with a title is kicking my ass. I'm still searching for a word that conveys infinite complexity, but that isn't fractal (that is, the deeper layers of complexity don't necessarily follow the same pattern as the layers above). Blah! Where is this word I seek? Where is it?!
Cheers,
Dylan NDR
Announcements for 4/16/10
Before you click, I must apologize for the fact that this is a pretty fast and dirty scan of the pencils for page 1. I just simply don't have time right now to do a better scan. Hopefully I can get to that this weekend, so if you want to wait for a better image, come back in a couple of days. Otherwise, click ye here:
 - Adam's Story - page 1 pencils
But yes, onward!
UPDATE 4/18/10: Just uploaded a much, much cleaner scan of the pencils, for the relief of your eyeballs and mine.
Cheers,
Dylan NDR
Announcements for 4/9/10
And so we conclude draft 4 of Adam's storyboards:
 - Adam's Story - page 13 storyboards
 - Adam's Story - page 14 storyboards
 - Adam's Story - page 15 storyboards
 - Adam's Story - page 16 storyboards
So! This means next week I shall commence posting the penciled pages of Adam's story. I'll be doing so at the rate of a page a week, to give you lots of time to savor the details of the artwork.
Cheers,
Dylan NDR
Announcements for 4/2/10
The fourth draft of Adam's story cannot be stopped:
 - Adam's Story - page 09 storyboards
 - Adam's Story - page 10 storyboards
 - Adam's Story - page 11 storyboards
 - Adam's Story - page 12 storyboards
Pencils on Adam's chapter proceed apace, so next week I'll have the last 4 pages of the storyboard draft up, and after that we move onto posting pencils. And. AND. My plan for San Diego is to have a minicomic of a penciled chapter for sale, so those of you who are into that kind of thing can pick up a special preview of the book with material that will be slightly different from the finished book. More info on that as it develops.
Meanwhile, the book is gonna need a title if I'm to promote it effectively at SDCC, but the sad truth is that coming up with titles is not my strong suit. So, if you have any brilliant ideas feel free to pass them along. More info about that and potential frabjuous prizes over at my LiveJournal.
Cheers,
Dylan NDR
Announcements for 3/26/10
Four more pages of the fourth draft of Adam's story:
 - Adam's Story - page 05 storyboards
 - Adam's Story - page 06 storyboards
 - Adam's Story - page 07 storyboards
 - Adam's Story - page 08 storyboards
I'm in the midst of penciling page 5, should be done with that later today. Then I need to mock up a sample chapter using these pencils so the production folks at Beacon can make sure all is well with respect to aspect ratios and printable margins and what have you.
In San Diego Comic Con news, I have received confirmation of my pro registration, so I'm all barcoded-up and ready to go. Next step: figuring out travel. Excitement and thrills!
Cheers,
Dylan NDR
Announcements for 3/19/10
So! Here we go. The first four pages of the fourth draft of Adam's story:
 - Adam's Story - page 01 storyboards
 - Adam's Story - page 02 storyboards
 - Adam's Story - page 03 storyboards
 - Adam's Story - page 04 storyboards
Now you can go nerd out and look at how much changed from draft 1 to draft 4. I am even now working on the pencils for Adam's chapter, so that's coming down the pipe. The plan is, the next month is fourth-draft storyboards (it's only 16 pages to the first draft's 21 pages), and then I'll start posting the pencils.
For the time being I'm taking down the storybards I'd had up for Cal's chapter. I think I want to keep it to one story, rather than have a mishmash of drafts from this chapter and that. So that's where those went.
In other news, I've sent off my pro registration materials for San Diego, so if all goes well I shall have my badge in hand in a few weeks, and all will be well as far as my plans for camping out at the PRISM Comics table go. More info when I know more.
Cheers,
Dylan NDR
Announcements for 3/5/10
Continuing with the beginning of the first draft of Adam's story:
 - Adam's Story - page 02 storyboards
Behold! STAPLE! is tomorrow (March 6th), whereat I shall be selling comics and feeps and things. I would like to bring the chapter edits for Adam's and Avery's chapters so's you can see what it looks like when your editor writes all over your work, so hopefully I won't forget. Any of you hardcore process nerds would then be rewarded for getting off yer butts and coming to this show (so what if you don't live in Austin; can't you people teleport?).
Cheers,
Dylan NDR
Announcements for 2/26/10
As mentioned previously, let us wrap around to the beginning of the first draft of Adam's story:
 - Adam's Story - page 01 storyboards
I think these pages were gone by the second draft, so I'm not going to promise super excitement. What I will promise is a non-stop rollercoaster of process junkie nerdity.
Also, STAPLE! is next weekend (March 6th), so the time has come to panic about that. Off I go!
Cheers,
Dylan NDR
Announcements for 2/19/10
This here is the last page of the first draft of Adam's story:
 - Adam's Story - page 21 storyboards
I think what I'm going to do is go ahead and post the first four pages of draft 1 so you can see the whole damn thing in its warts-and-all glory. Next stop after that is to post the storyboard pages for the ... er ... I think it's the fifth draft? Which is the draft I'll be working from as I draw the pencils. (I'll probably do that at a rate of three pages a week instead of one, just to speed things along.) Then I can start posting pencilled pages for Adam's chapter, and you'll finally be able to clap your eyes on some actual art for once.
Meanwhile, my editors (I have two, actually, who are working in tandem on the whole book) are going to be doing line edits on the storyboards for Avery's chapter. So that one is the next down the pipe, though I'm not actually going to post every page of every chapter here. For that one, probably just a couple of teaser pages.
I guess my point is, progress is indeed being made, and things are on a roll.
Cheers,
Dylan NDR
Announcements for 2/12/10
Another Adam page for you this week. No new Anti-Valentine, but I did do a new drawing of a hot nerdy guy:
 - Adam's Story - page 20 storyboards
 - Shirtless Copy Editor
I drew our corrective friend here so I could practice a different inking technique from my usual. It wasn't too happy with the process, honestly (too slow, too messy), but I thought you might enjoy the results nonetheless. Assuming you're into that kind of thing. And really, if you aren't, I don't quite understand what you get out of this site.
Cheers,
Dylan NDR
Announcements for 2/5/10
Back to Adam:
 - Adam's Story - page 19 storyboards
Closing in on the end of this version of Adam's story. I think what I'm going to do is go back and post the original pages 1-4, which I didn't bother to do before, so you can see this draft in its entirety. THEN I'm gonna post all of the third draft so you can see how dramatically it changed. I probably won't make you read it a page a week, but rather 2 or 3 pages at a time. Yes, we are deep into process junkie territory, but I am a process junkie so you're stuck with it.
Not sure if I'll have another Anti-V-Day card up next week or not. We shall see if inspiration strikes.
Cheers,
Dylan NDR
Announcements for 1/29/10
Let us take a wee break from Adam'd storyboards for some new Anti-Valetine fun:
 - Wasp Nests Anti-Valentine
As I mentioned on the be-linked page, I did not doctor this photo. The scene was discovered as-is, and begged me to turn it into an Anti-Valentine. I am not so cold-hearted as to refuse such an impassioned plea.
Also as noted on said page, should you be shaking your head at my relentless cynicism, you may wish to note that the wasp nests in question are made by mud daubers. These are beneficial wasps and not particularly aggressive, so make of that what you will.
Cheers,
Dylan NDR
Announcements for 1/22/10
Furthermore:
 - Adam's Story - page 18 storyboards
Talked with my editor yesterday, and Adam's story is almost ready for pencils. She's going to do line edits now, and once I have those I'll start drawing. Yes, I know, this process takes a lot longer than you might expect, and certainly longer than I'm used to, but I am learning a lot from this and I think my work will be much stronger for it. Now, to wrestle with another chapter for a bit.
Finished the new PIQue strip for the STAPLE! 2010 anthology. It'll presumably run in the program book, which you can get at STAPLE! on March 6th. After the big day has passed I'll run the strip here.
Cheers,
Dylan NDR
Announcements for 1/15/10
And then there was this:
 - Adam's Story - page 17 storyboards
Spent much of last weekend trying to pick a font for das book (no, I'm not using Arial, for those of you who might have been concerned). Seriously, this took hours and hours, and I'm not even settled yet. I may wind up making a font of my own handwriting, but I dunno. It's not like my lettering has ever been spectacular. We shall see what transpires.
Finished the pencils for the new PIQue strip for the STAPLE! 2010 anthology. Shortly I shall ink.
Cheers,
Dylan NDR
Announcements for 1/8/10
Yawp, onward with Adam's Story storyboards:
 - Adam's Story - page 16 storyboards
I'm actually rather excited to be able to hold up these drafts against the finished pages to see just how much has changed even at this late stage. It'll be a bit, though, before I will be posting any of said finished pages. But! Oh, when I do ... when I do ...
Meanwhiles, You may be interested to learn that I'm working on a brang new PIQue strip for the STAPLE! 2010 anthology. It'll also be awhile before you see that one, since I want to wait until after STAPLE! to put it online, but look ye for it after the first weekend in March. Or, you know, come to STAPLE! or suchlike.
Cheers,
Dylan NDR
Announcements for 1/2/10
As you may have been able to ascertain, the holidays happened to my posting schedule. But I have returned, and have for you this page o' storyboards:
 - Adam's Story - page 15 storyboards
Should I say something about the new year? Well, here it is. Obviously the book is not going to be done in time for a spring 2010 publication date. I do hope it will still come out this year, but I'm trying not to get distracted my worries about specific release dates. The truth, as you may have gleaned, is that publishing deadlines are squirrely, and trying to pin them down is a bit of a black art. At any rate, you can rest assured that I am working away, even if my original time estimate was a wee bit optimistic. Who knew, eh? Who knew. Regardless, it's at a stage of getting more finished with each pass, tightening up and becoming fit and trim. All is well.
Cheers,
Dylan NDR
Announcements for 12/18/09
Inevitably:
 - Adam's Story - page 14 storyboards
Another conversation with my editor today as we tighten and polish Adam's chapter (I'm working to get the storyboards at least 95% done so I don't start drawing the actual art and find myself having to do any major revisions; efficiency, don't you know). So I think I will indeed go ahead and run all of the first draft storyboards for Adam's story, even though they are already obsolete. It'll give you comic creation nerds a chance to see just how much everything can change even when the alterations are primarily cosmetic.
Cheers,
Dylan NDR
Announcements for 12/1/09
But were you expecting THIS:
 - Adam's Story - page 13 storyboards
So, hmm, I might extend the storyboard excerpt for Adam's tale past the original cutoff point. Partially to give me more time to work on the for-reals pencils, and partially to ramp up the process junkie geekery, making a 1-to-1 comparison more straightforward. We shall see what transpires.
Cheers,
Dylan NDR
Announcements for 12/4/09
Furthermore:
 - Adam's Story - page 12 storyboards
Loooooong, very productive conversation with my editor about the state of the book, and each story contained within. Mostly the discussion was about what was working and what wasn't, areas where the focus needed to shift, and bits that were reduntant or overly obvious. So! A lot of stuff is getting cut, but that's good because the material I gave her significantly exceeded my contractual page count. I knew stuff was going to have to go, now I know which stuff (for the most part).
I also asked about the actual drawing, as opposed to mere storyboarding. Drawing is slow and takes a long time, and can't wait until the entire book is 100% ready. Luckily, I can get away with that in this case since the stories I'm doing are largely distinct, and a tweak to one is unlikely to require significant changes to another. So, soon here now, I'm going to start doing the pencils for Adam's story. Convenient, no, as we have been observing the storyboards these last few weeks, and will get to see the translation from storyboard to pencils very soon. I will probably wait to start posting pencils until after I finish the run of excerpts I've been posting, just so you can get some sense of closure before we shift over.
Meanwhile, I'll be out at the Wheatsville Arts Festival this weekend, so if you're in Austin stop by and purchase some of my delightful wares. Details on the Events Page.
Cheers,
Dylan NDR
Announcements for 11/28/09
Okay, so I completely forgot yesterday was Friday:
 - Adam's Story - page 11 storyboards
And now I have to go, because I've got company over.
Cheers,
Dylan NDR
Announcements for 11/20/09
Ah, but:
 - Adam's Story - page 10 storyboards
Perhaps you will be interested to learn that I have put in motion the wheels necessary to obtain some exhibitor space at next year's San Diego Comic Con. I haven't given anyone any money yet, so I haven't put it on the events calendar, but the idea is to jump into the Prism Comics pool - they'll have some shared spaces available and I've already talked to Zan about reserving a slot, so I'm feelin' pretty good about it. The book won't be out yet by then (July 2010), but in theory it'll be in the can and I will therefore have tasty preview pages available to show off. More info as developments develop!
Cheers,
Dylan NDR
Announcements for 11/13/09
And thusly thus:
 - Adam's Story - page 9 storyboards
Things have been a mite insane lately, what with one thing and the other. I have been prepping some new feep products (mugs! shirts! shot glasses!) as part of my general goal to have art of mine for sale that I only have to make once. Also, I'm generally a fan of utilitarian art, so hooray for feeps that hold my coffee while I drink it. I'm donig the Wheatsville Arts Festival again this year, so if all goes well I should have these new things ready in time for the show. I realize this here site is more about the comics than the feeps, but my point is, I've been busy with feep stuff lately and will have more book news soon. I have a grand scheme to finish up the storyboards by the end of the month, sort of like my own personal NaNoWriMo, except different.
Cheers,
Dylan NDR
Announcements for 11/6/09
Here we go:
 - Adam's Story - page 8 storyboards
Made some solid progress on Aaron's story this week. Finished up the drawings for the storyboards, then started having all kinds of misgivings about the text. But then! I realized several ways in which, with a tweak of a word here and there, I could make the whole thing come together into something solid. Allusions! Montages! Subtle shifts of stuff and things! Oh my yes. Proceeding apace occurs.
Cheers,
Dylan NDR
Announcements for 10/30/09
Stuff continues to happen with Adam:
 - Adam's Story - page 7 storyboards
I have had one of those weeks where I feel like I've been hit by a bus repeatedly. This means you are OBLIGATED to come to the closing party for the ASG show at the Hideout (617 Congress Ave., Austin). It's on Sunday from 6:00-9:00 pm. There will be booze and food. Eat, drink, and buy art.
Cheers,
Dylan NDR
Announcements for 10/23/09
Let us see what happens next with our pal Adam:
 - Adam's Story - page 6 storyboards
Busy day, so more blather at a later time.
Cheers,
Dylan NDR
Announcements for 10/16/09
Here be's the deal: I'll be running a 10-page excerpt from the storyboards for Adam's story, starting with page 5. Pages 1-4 show Adam (still living as female, named Anna, and exploring a bisexual identity after divorce) meeting Marni at a Lesbian Avengers party. Also, this is the first version of the draft, so there are already some minor edits (Anna will be dressing slightly differently), but that means you shall have the fun of spotting the changes in the final version.
 - Adam's Story - page 5 storyboards
Also also, I put up a post on my LiveJournal detailing the current state of the book, so if you'd like the full rundown of that click ye here.
Cheers,
Dylan NDR
Announcements for 10/9/09
I've been a bit unwell lately. Not super-sick, but sick enough to be sluggish and unproductive. I had intended to get more storyboarding done this week, but it didn't happen. I didn't even get around to seeing if I wanted to post selections from Adam's story. Mayhap by next week I'll be back on top of things. In the meanwhile, I present unto you a couple of new monster drawings that are currently on display in the ASG show at the Hideout (617 Congress Ave., Austin):
 - Yawning Monster
 - Kangolrootle
Geez, I really need to overhaul the art sections on this site. But I need to overhaul the site in general, like what I did to the Feep site earlier this year. Can't really see that happening anytime soon, though. Sigh!
Cheers,
Dylan NDR
Announcements for 10/2/09
Cal's story - the final page!
 - Cal's Story - page 11 storyboards
Last page, anyway, of the draft version. It could change, or it could not. We shall see. Anyway, now you can read it all in one go if you like, which is undoubtedly better than reading a page a week. Me, I gotta go crawl back under that pile of deadlines over there.
Cheers,
Dylan NDR
Announcements for 9/25/09
The penultimate page of Cal's story:
 - Cal's Story - page 10 storyboards
Next week, I expect, will be Page the Last. After that? Possibilities inclue posting some arts (some actual finished pieces for once), and possibly some excerpts from Adam's story.
Cheers,
Dylan NDR
Announcements for 9/18/09
The continuing saga of Cal:
 - Cal's Story - page 9 storyboards
I've finished drafting the remaining scripts for now, and am letting them sit for a bit, let them settle out and see which parts work and which parts need fixing. In the meantime, I'm prepping for an art show at the Hideout here in Austin, so I'm working on some new drawings for that. Mayhap I shall post them here once we're done with Cal.
Cheers,
Dylan NDR
Announcements for 9/11/09
Furthermore, Cal:
 - Cal's Story - page 8 storyboards
Working on the last of the major stories for das book, and it is proving tricky. I seem to have saved the hardest for last. I have what I hope is a clever idea, though. All it has to do is continue being a clever idea and not turn out to be a crap idea that was masquerading as a clever idea. Off to find out.
Cheers,
Dylan NDR
Announcements for 9/4/09
Let us check in with Cal:
 - Cal's Story - page 7 storyboards
As for the rest of the book, I had a hugely productive couple of days of scripting, and at this point have most of the thing done. I have one more story to develop into a script, and then I need to storyboard the whole mess. (Storyboarding is done, at least in first draft form, for Blake and Adam.) So. Things proceed apace.
Cheers,
Dylan NDR
Announcements for 8/28/09
And so:
 - Cal's Story - page 6 storyboards
Those of you who have been paying attention may recall this page from a few months ago. It returns, this time wrapped in the warm, snuggly blanket of context.
Cheers,
Dylan NDR
Announcements for 8/21/09
Shall we go on with Cal's story? Indeed, we shall:
 - Cal's Story - page 5 storyboards
As for the rest of the book, I have, I think, 47 pages storyboarded, which represents three characters' stories. Whether that shall translate directly into three separate chapters I know not just yet. Four more characters to go!
Cheers,
Dylan NDR
Announcements for 8/14/09
Cal's story continues to continue:
 - Cal's Story - page 4 storyboards
No time to chat, off to sell feeps at ArmadilloCon. Zoom!
Cheers,
Dylan NDR
Announcements for 8/7/09
Cal's story continues:
 - Cal's Story - page 3 storyboards
Working working working! I've done the first pass on the storyboards for Adam's story, and am about halfway through the storyboards for Blake's story. Altogether that's about 40 pages roughed out thus far. Things proceed apace!
Cheers,
Dylan NDR
Announcements for 7/31/09
Let us journey further onward with Cal's story, shall we?
 - Cal's Story - page 2 storyboards
Meanwhile, I am quite busy with prepping another chapter for storyboarding, so I shall bid you adieu until next week.
Cheers,
Dylan NDR
Announcements for 7/24/09
One of the guys I'm profiling for the book, Cal, has given permission to post the storyboard draft of his tale, so that's what I'll be running with for the next few weeks. Let us begin at the beginning:
 - Cal's Story - page 1
I had previously posted page 6 of Cal's story as a teaser, but I've taken it down for the moment since it seems like it would just be confusing to jump from page 1 to page 6. No fear, it shall return in due time. This is, as I said, a draft, so it may change. That's part of why the art is so rough, since I am really just blocking things in at the moment. Those of you who are process junkies should have a bit of fun watching things unfold. Those of you who just want to get to the finished pages already ... uh ... come back in a few months, maybe? :)
Cheers,
Dylan NDR
Announcements for 7/17/09
I'm hard at work on sotryboarding book chapters right now, nothing in a state where I can really show you (I want to get the OK from the guys whose sotries I'm telling before I post anything substantial online). But I am working quite furiously to wrap up the current story, and as such don't really have time for a proper update today. Sorry! This sporadic posting will not go on forever, though. Promise!
Cheers,
Dylan NDR
Announcements for 7/10/09
So here's what's up. I need to work on storyboards for the book, and I have discovered that my usual method of storyboarding, i.e., drawing everything by hand, scanning, and adding text, is slow and not very conducive to the sorts of revisions you need to do when you're going back and forth with an editor. So I've decided to skip a couple of steps by doing my storyboards on a tablet from now on. The main problem with this brilliant scheme is that I have very little practice using a tablet, and therefore everything looks as though an especially challenged walrus drew it. I figured maybe I should slow down and practice on something kinda throwaway, so I drew up this sketchy cartoon. I still think it's hur hur enough to inflict upon you:
 - Hors d'Oeuvre
Yeesh. Anyway. I gotta go do some storyboards for reals now, and with any luck they'll be at least marginally competent.
Cheers,
Dylan NDR
Announcements for 7/4/09
Sorry for not updating this week. I am still embroiled in moving shenanigans and haven't had time to draw anything new. Also, I'm shifting over to a new computer and don't have access to all my old files, and my scanner isn't talking to the new machine so I can't scan anything anyway. Hopefully everything will settle by next week.
Cheers,
Dylan NDR
Announcements for 6/24/09
Doing the weekly update a bit early, as I am in the process of moving and chaos is ... well, it has already ensued, but will only increase as the week goes on. And so, best to get this up now, for it is the final page of PIQue #3:
 - Politically InQueerect #3 page 36 storyboards
Finally, you can read the whole damn thing from start to finish. But, you ask, 2/3rds of the story are storyboards. When do we get the real art? The answer is "eventually." Obviously, I have to focus the bulk of my efforts on the book for the foreseeable future. Once that's done and done, though, I would really like to put together a PIQue compendium as a proper trade paperback. For such a volume I would obviously want issue #3 to be complete, and so I do indeed intend to finish the art all proper-like as soon as time permits.
In the meantime, I hope folks who mostly come here for the Political InQueerectness will stick around for book developments. My publisher is very keen on seeing me carry over the PIQue writing style to the book, so I hope it will be something you enjoy.
Cheers,
Dylan NDR
Announcements for 6/19/09
Here we are at the penultimate PIQue page:
 - Politically InQueerect #3 page 35 storyboards
With any luck I'll be posting the final page next week, and then you'll have the whole story at long last. After that, it's gonna be all book, all the time, at least until such time as the book is done.
Cheers,
Dylan NDR
Announcements for 6/12/09
Working like mad on book stuff this week, so no new PIQue page. However, I will share with you a sample storyboard page from das boook:
 - Cal's Story - page 6
Why oh why am I starting you out on page 6? Because the script is still in the draft stages, so the story isn't quite ready yet. These storyboards are mostly for my editor to see how things are coming along. I'm just showing you a page I think is pretty amusing on its own, whether it manages to stay this way or not.
Cheers,
Dylan NDR
Announcements for 6/5/09
First, go read this new PIQue storyboard page, then come back for some behind-the-scenes nerdery:
 - Politically InQueerect #3 page 34 storyboards
Back yet? No? I'll wait.
Oh, hi. So! As originally written I had them waiting for a cab to show up, having completely forgotten that they had a rental car. I didn't notice the continuity error until after I'd drawn the page. Turned out to be a good thing, since it gave me an excuse to get Todd out of there. He's not really part of the conversation, but I didn't want anyone to have space to pay attention to what's happening on the TV. So there. A happy accident of sorts, and certainly something it's better to pick up on at this stage rather than after the page is fully drawn and lettered and everything.
Cheers,
Dylan NDR
Announcements for 5/29/09
Gosh, but I have been productive this week. In addition to finishing and launching the redesign of the the Feeping Creatures website, I also have for you a new page of PIQue #3 storyboardery:
 - Politically InQueerect #3 page 33 storyboards
I'll try to have page 34 for next week, but I gots some big work to do on the book, so I dunno. We shall see.
Cheers,
Dylan NDR
Announcements for 5/22/09
So! I have been very busy redesigning the Feeping Creatures website, and as such haven't had time to put together a new PIQue storyboard. However, the feep site is inches away from done, and I expect to launch v.3.0 next week. In prepping for it, I ran across this one-page fake ad I did for an anthology that never got off the ground:
 - My Little Earwig
My cat is yowling. Why? I know not. Probably there are particles of dust that taunt her delicate sensibilities.
Cheers,
Dylan NDR
Announcements for 5/15/09
Imagine, if you will, another page of PIQue #3 storyboard:
 - Politically InQueerect #3 page 32 storyboards
Four pages. Four pages to go! We're this close to the zombie space-giraffe invasion plot twist, which you will not be expecting, and which will be a total and complete surprise!
In other news, tomorrow (May 16) I'll be vending my wares at Zine Fest Houston, which is in Houston, and it's a fest for zines. If'n you be in Hooston, you mought come, yes? It is free for to be admitted! DOOO IIITTT.
Cheers,
Dylan NDR
Announcements for 5/08/09
Oh my heavens, can it be? Can it be??? A new PIQue storyboard:
 - Politically InQueerect #3 page 31 storyboards
"Fine," you say. "Good. Whatever. But where is that last character design you promised us?? EH??"
Well, so. The deal there is that I had a very long conversation with my editor yesterday, and a very productive one, but I need to let the fruits of our discussion ... uh ... percolate ... into some kind of drip smoothie? I guess? Or maybe I just need to stop abusing metaphors with such wild abandon! So anyway, I decided to hold off on any further book postings for the nonce, and to work on finishing up PIQue instead while ... you know, the percolating smoothie action does its thing.
In other gnus, you might be interested to read this article for OutSmart Magazine for which I was interviewed. And I do indeed plan to be at Zine Fest Houston, which is next weekend (!), so also read the article for more details on the fest.
Cheers,
Dylan NDR
Announcements for 5/01/09
For you this week I present the penultimate profile of characters what are of from the booook:
 - Character page for "James"
So, next week will (presumably) be the last of the profiles. After that what? A good question. In an ideal world, I'd finish up the storyvoards for PIQue #3. However, I'm still grinding through the update for the feep website, and need to get that off my plate ASAP.
I have a phone meeting with my editor next week to discuss draft revisions, so hopefully in the very near future I can start sharing some of the storyboards from the book. We shall see what transpires.
Cheers,
Dylan NDR
Announcements for 4/24/09
The character design train keeps on a-comin':
 - Character page for "Aaron"
Trying to quit caffeine (AGAIN), so who knows what typos await you.
Cheers,
Dylan NDR
Announcements for 4/17/09
I return, and I bring you ... more character designs! Behold "Cal":
 - Character page for "Cal"
I am currently embroiled with a complete redesign of the Feeping Creatures site, so that's taking up most of my spare time right now. Hopefully it'll be done in the next two weeks.
Cheers,
Dylan NDR
Announcements for 3/27/09
More character designs, for all five of you process junkies out there. This week 'tis "Henry":
 - Character page for "Henry"
Four down, four to go. I'll try to post something next week, but I am not at all certain it'll happen. I am going out of town, you see, and that tends to wreak havoc upon one's schedule. We'll see. And yes, eventually I'll finish up the story for PIQue #3. Honest.
Cheers,
Dylan NDR
Announcements for 3/20/09
Woo, and furthermore, hoo. For I have now got approval on the character designs for all of the participants in the book. This week I bring you "Blake":
 - Character page for "Blake"
Sorry for the paucity of biographical information. I am on a big ol' deadline burn for other stuff and my brain is completely fried. Things like "sentences" and "spelling" are proving challenging to me right now.
Cheers,
Dylan NDR
Announcements for 3/13/09
Still truckin' along with character designs for the book. At this point I've got approval from their real-life counterparts on about half of them, with the other half still pending or going through revisions. So, the next one on the list of All Done is "Avery":
 - Character page for "Avery"
Thanks, by the way, to everyone who came to STAPLE! last weekend. It was an awesome show and it was great to get to chat with alla youse.
Next week there will be more stuff of some sort. Now, I gotta go get a new battery for my smoke detector, which is currently chirping at me in a very loud and annoying fashion.
Cheers,
Dylan NDR
Announcements for 3/6/09
I'm back in town but under a major time cruch since I have a show tomorrow (about which more in a minute) and I lost a day due to travel delays. But I do have a couple more character designs to share, which I have added to the existing page for "Adam":
 - Character page for "Adam"
Now, as to that show. Tomorrow is STAPLE! ye olde Independent Media Expo. I will, of course, have a tableful of feeps, whatever issues of my comics I have left in stock (Enderstated #1 is almost sold out, as is Politically InQueerect #1), original art, and so forth. I'll also be bringing my proofs for PIQue #3 if you want to see it at better-than-web resolution, and the originals for my editorial cartoons, which are for sale. You should totally come by and check it out. only $5 admission!
Cheers,
Dylan NDR
Announcements for 2/20/09
And the winner is: character designs! I'm slowly getting these approved by the various participants, and the first one back with an OK is "Adam":
 - Character page for "Adam"
I'll be posting more of these as I hear back from people, and adding info on characters as other material gets approved, so keep yer eyeballs open for that. I do still mean to finish up the storyboards for PIQue #3, I've just been overwhelmed with other stuff that has to take priority.
On that note, there most likely won't be an update next week, as I will be out of town. So! See you again in March.
Cheers,
Dylan NDR
Announcements for 2/13/09
This week I have for you one more new Anti-Valentine's Day card. Lucky you! (Get it? Lucky? Friday the 13th? Eh? Ahhh, never mind.)
 - Your Cynicism is Justified
So yes. Next week it's back to something or other. Not exactly sure what, just yet. It shall depend upon the various deadlines 'twixt now and then, and how quickly they get resolved. Possibilities include a new PIQue storyboard page, a dumb panel cartoon, or character sketches from das book. We shall see!
Cheers,
Dylan NDR
Announcements for 2/6/09
A week out from my least favorite holiday and it's time to dip into that well of bitterness, I should think. So, a new Anti-Valentine's Day card:
 - Bitter Tears
I guess anyone who thinks scare quotes mean the same thing as an underline won't find this card to be all that funny, but surely anyone reading this site is too much of an intellectual elitist snob to make that kind of mistake! I heart intellectual elitist snobs. And that's a sincere statement!
Cheers,
Dylan NDR
Announcements for 1/30/09
I know I said something about storyboards for das book, but I have been overwhelmed this week by working on the main script (as well as on other deadlines) and just haven't had time to do any storyboarding. Apologies. Instead, I give you sketchbookery:
 - Bat Sketches
 - Magic Emo
In theory I'll be spending a lot of time over the next couple of weeks working on character designs for the book. I hope that I can also get some more PIQue storybards done, but it's hard to say. I've also got some new anti-valentines I want to draw and post, as well as a random cartoon just for the fun of it. There's just a lot going on right now, so the future is a murky cloud of uncertainty!
Cheers,
Dylan NDR
Announcements for 1/23/09
So here's the deal: I have to turn in a draft of my book to my editor at the end of the month, so I am spending pretty much all of my creative enery on that right now. This means no PIQue storyboards for the next couple of weeks. In the meantime, I give you this odd little piece:
 - Todd Yawning
As to what on earth this is: at one point as I was prepping a couple of pages of PIQue #3 for an anthology, I happened to have the marqueed outline of Todd yawning from Page 3 set against a white background. I thought it looked kind of cool, so I screengrabbed it. It was not until later that I realized what one might think he was up to if one takes this image entirely out of context. This new interpretation was so amusing I couldn't not share it. Laffs aplenty.
Next week I'll see about maybe posting a couple of storyboard pages from das book.
Cheers,
Dylan NDR
Announcements for 1/17/09
Sorry for not updating yesterday. The art on this one took a lot longer than I expected, and that's even with the massive cheating I indulged in. Nevertheless, may I present the Final Outfield:
 - The Outfield #75
As, I mentioned last week, I'm retiring the Outfield for the time being in an effort to reduce my cartooning obligations while I'm working on the book. Better to work on fewer things and have them be good rather than more things and have them feel rushed and half-baked. (Hooray for cut and paste.) So! There you have it.
Cheers,
Dylan NDR
Announcements for 1/9/09
And it is the time for more PIQue storyboard action:
 - Politically InQueerect #3 page 30 storyboards
Six more pages to go! Not to spoilerize anything, but I think you'll be really surprised when the zombie giraffes from outer space show up. I mean, you will totally not be expecting it, and then, BAM! There they are!
In the meanwhile, I should have the final Outfield cartoon up next week. Yes, I said "final." I don't remember if I made mention of that here or not, but I'm retiring the Outfield for the time being in an effort to reduce my cartooning obligations while I'm working on the book. Better to work on fewer things and have them be good rather than more things and have them feel rushed and half-baked. Ya know?
Cheers,
Dylan NDR
Announcements for 1/2/09
And a very happy new year to you. I, of course, started it out with a massive hangover (how on earth that happened I couldn't say), so my productivity has been off this week. And so, it's sketchbook time:
 - Polite Zombie
 - Goose Demon
I hope to return to actual cartooning next week.
Cheers,
Dylan NDR
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