So...so busy

I've been working almost full time on my job, trying to keep up with After the Fall, and thinking of releasing another comic I've done and been working on as a webcomic.

Ugh...so good to have a day off.

Up to 9!

Huwaaah, I'm up to 9 pages (no preview!) and trucking on!

Planning some hosting, promotional tools, all that on the way!

It's all so busy, there's so much to try and do before I get things going, so many people to speak to and all that. So much work!

Another page!

So what, like, an hour after posting I post again with the next crappy webcam page, YAAAAAAY!

More pages!

Pages three four and five are out of the way, and six is pencilled and ready to ink! What a pace lol. Something tells me I won't be able to sustain it. Crappy webcam photos for now, I'm trying not to break to scan until I finish a month's buffer (12 pages). I plan to have them uploading every mon wed fri at this stage, but not 100% sure.

I also still have to build a website, blaaaah. Might get some help with that <3

Anyway, previews!

UPDATE ON WEBCOMIC PRE-PROGRESS!

Lol, Pre-progress XD

In the planning and buffer forming stages of the webcomic I'm working on. Two pages totally down, a third on its way. I'm using the characters I posted in the last blog, in a style inspired heavily by Vert is Ninja at her comics site http://hanna.aftertorque.com/.

I am really adoring the freeform style of it. It just feels so RIGHT. WHY has this not been done more often?!



Those are crappy webcam shots of the first two pages I've done! I'll be scanning them in perhaps tomorrow and showing you a bit of a preview. Any suggestions are more than welcome!

Thanks, for now <3

Some concept art for characters in an older series idea I never really started. They were previously a lot more fantasy oriented rather than destructionpunk.


Concept Post Fall by ~AJadeArt on deviantART

Conversion to Art Blog?

I've been writing mostly for FasterLouder.com.au recently so I think I'll keep the music for that site :)

A better idea for me anyway is to make this blog a record of art and my comic work. I've noticed that I tend to get distracted really fast so perhaps this will help me keep on track?

I'm also trying to work out the art of 4 panel comics. I'll be uploading some soon along with some concept art and inks for bits and pieces of the absurd amount of series I seem to obsess over. I'll hopefully be uploading this stuff either tomorrow or Monday.

On a different note I've been watching a lot of the documentaries on September 11 and it amazes me how many have never accepted the image of the Falling Man. For those who haven't seen it the image shows a man falling from one of the towers before it fell. It's difficult to look at but I believe it symbolizes the event with more poignancy than a photo of the rescue and clean up efforts ever could.

Tara Simmons, Oh Mercy and HKOH 9th June 09

It always amazes me how fast the Troubadour fills. Upon entering there were 5, 6 individuals scattered on couches, Eddy G on the door. I assumed it was Tuesday-itis. Having never been to a Tuesday gig at the Troub, I wasn't sure what to expect, but as Tara Simmons took the stage with her 4 piece accompanying band the warm room was on its way to filling.

It's not everyday you see a frail, pixie-haired songstress take the stage with an enormous double bass, two cellos and a drummer as accompaniment. It's even rarer to see the songstress switch from keys to a cello mid-performance. Simmons stunned the crowd with her soaring vocals and quiet manner, announcing each song before she played and doing her best on a slightly out of tune instrument. 

Follow up Melbourne band Oh Mercy took the stage shortly after, with a high standard to follow. With a retro sound and interesting style, they were a good transition into what we knew was the final set. However, the performance was marred by the run-on sound of the order of the tracks played (which, due to the similar sounds of songs, meant it was sometimes difficult to tell one song from another), the impersonal style which resulted and a group of highly inconsiderate fans who stood directly in front of the stage (as well as standing in the toilet line, which you'd think would get through to them after twenty or thirty people had tried to get past) and blocked the view of at least a dozen people sitting along the wall. 

After the break Hungry Kids of Hungary  took the stage to a booked out house, highly impressive considering the effects of Tuesday-itis. Starting slow and urging the crowd to stand after a few songs, the Hungry Kids personality and joking interactions with the crowd were a hit. Noteworthy moments were the two instances crowd-members were pulled on stage to tambourine, including a birthday boy (who seemed rather tipsy), Skinny Sam from Skinny Jean and a photographer. Lead Dean's guitar string snapped part way through a track, leading to a quick guitar change. A lover's tiff with keyboardist Kane over how awesome having a sold out house before the amusingly appropriate final song "Good Times. Called back for an encore amidst thunderous applause, the boys impressed with a rocking cover before taking their leave, insisting that the crowd should never ask for an encore again.

Overall a highly enjoyable night - I highly recommend anyone to catch any of these bands if they can.

On a final note - if you haven't yet picked up Edward Guglielmino's cd "Late at Night" make a point of asking him for one if he's working the door at the Troub - the look on his face when I asked was priceless, along with his reply of "what, one of mine?" when I asked if he had any with him. Well worth it :D

All for now

AJ

Skinny Jean/Skipping Girl Vinegar/Dead Letter Chorus @ The Troubadour

Upon entering the Troubadour at around 8:40 on the 15th of May, it struck me how empty it was. Considering indie pop kids Skinny Jean were playing first, there was a distinct lack of crowd as this 5 piece band began their set.

Running through a selection of tracks from their Dolce Doggerel album, frontman Shem impressed (as always) with his bizarre yet hypnotic style of movement, which can only be described as watching an angry epileptic fit that somehow never seems to end in injury. Jemma entranced with her solo "Army Wife". Amusing moments in the short set included the playing of instruments with bottles of Tooheys Old (which I'm not even convinced we were meant to notice), Shem's "special needs" (also involving Old) and the adjustment of ego and talent levels. 

Next on stage was 4 piece Melbourne band Skipping Girl Vinegar. Impressing from the outset, their first track saw all 4 members of the band providing vocals. Not the only unusual facet of the setup, all members seemed lined up along the front of the stage, providing a refreshingly good opportunity to grab photos of often less-seen members of the band. The various woodland creatures attached to microphone stands gave this set a distinctive character even before the music began. 

To be honest, SGV was the highlight act of the night. Big on audience involvement, their up beat, catchy melodies had us "releasing our inner bogan"(including holding up prompt signs, a job which Ben from Hungry Kids did admirably), joining their "postal revolution" and getting excited over one of the best presented CDs I've ever seen (more info in a later post). Including songs such as "Getting Wasted", this band is one to watch for, with their laid back style. Tracks also included keyboard-as-organ style keyboarding, something I haven't heard in a long time (or at least since the last time I watched Dogma). 

Final act Dead Letter Chorus were wonderful, but after the engaging and self-deprecatory humour of SGV felt a little flat. This could also, however, have been partially due to the crowd, who had by halfway through SJ's set swelled to a respectable number. To one end was a low rumble of continuous talk, whilst to the side was one extremely drunk loose woman attempting to exotically dance with a male bystander (or at least I hope he was a bystander, I'd be horribly embarrassed to know her in any way). I'm reasonably used to crowds being inconsiderate, especially if the individuals are waiting for the last band, but this was during the last set. Some of us ARE actually there for the music, sweethearts. 

The 5 piece band was energetic, and switched it up quite a bit, with keyboardist Gabrielle switching between her keys and guitar often. Their new song, entitled "My Father is Drunk and my Mother is Dead" was amazing, and the vocals were incredible. This set produced my favourite quote of the night, being "The base player headbangs a lot for someone with only one tuft of hair". And in an excellent finishing move, members of the previous bands, as well as one of the members of The Gin Club, joined them on stage for the final song.

All in all, a wonderful combination of sounds. I'll definitely be looking out for SGV next time they head up this way (and sending them a letter, too!)

Until next time

AJ