Quizzes and Surveys!

Hey guys! Just a quick favor to ask of you! I have made a quiz of Which TBT Character Are You? for fun and also a little quick survey to see the main stats on who I'm marketing the comic to for a media kit I'm trying to do. If you're bored or wouldn't mind filling out a quiz or quick survey for fun that would be super rad of you!

Quiz: http://www.gotoquiz.com/which_tom_boy_tara_character_are_you

Survey: http://www.kwiksurveys.com?s=KBJKFI_d72b9bea

Thanks again dudes and dudettes! You've been most wicked!

Pinups and Comic Panels With Special Msgs Coloured

So I have some new sexy pinups as well as some random panels I coloured in from my newest TBT comics. This pinup I did of Tara is pretty random I know, especially seeing as Tara isn't supposed to be seen as eye-candy in the comic, but she's human, and under all our clothes we are all vulnerable, so I guess I was just showing Tara in a moment of being, on her own, when no one is supposed to be watching. She's still friggin' cool under all of her clothes.

The next few comic panels raise some interesting points. Why are women so mean to each other? Even the ones that don't seem like they should be are. I find it fascinating how most men are pretty chill with other guys, unless threatened (like a girlfriend has been hit on or something to that effect) but most women, for some reason have to prove themselves to a new group. If the girl passes, most of the time she's in for life. Girls can be very possessive and will treat their friends like a precious treasure. I don't know if it's some kind of bitterness they have deep down, or if it's some kind of jealousy thing but women can be so malicious! I think it all boils down to being self conscious. All women, no matter how beautiful, inside and out have at least a hint of insecurities. Let's face it, all women are beautiful in their own way, and a lot of women see others as a threat, until they get to know a girl and realize she's harmless. Sometimes though, even after the judging phase seems to be over, they still have a deep down resentment towards that one chick who just rubs them the wrong way for some reason. I must sound bias though, it really depends on the girl's character to be perfectly honest. Hence why I state "most girls" throughout this blog post. I've just seen this behavior so many times my head hurts. Oh well, thus is life I guess. One girl can't change the way society functions as a whole. So anyways, hope you like the panels I've coloured in for your viewing pleasure! Anyways, enjoy the new comics I've made!

Events and Products

So I'm actively getting ready for upcoming conventions. Not only have I done the regular (business cards, prints, buttons, stickers, t-shirts, etc.) stuff you normally find at conventions but I also have a grand collection of: TBT jewelery, tattoos and edible business cards (fortune cookies I made up myself having to do with situations in my comic). I have never taken Conventions lightly.

The most recent pieces I have been working on are stickers (you will see those at the conventions I plan on attending) and my wonderful "You Dunno Jack Tattoos" that I got specially made just for the convention from a wonderful site called Stray Tats found at: http://www.straytats.com/

A pic of me wearing the delightful new tattoo is featured here:

This could be you sporting an awesome, cartoon ferret, side-kick tattoo on your magnificent pipes!

I also tracked down a wonderful creator of comic jewelery, the lovely Valerie S. has agreed to make me an arrangement of comic necklaces for the convention to distribute! Originally I contacted her because I purchased a wonderful Betty necklace from the Archie Comics (She's my fave character) and asked her to do a commission piece of Jughead for my friend Amy who is a huge Archie Comics fan and she loves Jughead to death! She has agreed to make me a bunch of jewelery of some of my images, necklaces, earrings and buttons will be available for purchase. Here is the commission Jughead necklace she crafted for me for my friend:

Just to keep people in the loop, I may or may not have a table at the upcoming Fan Expo, but that certainly isn't going to stop me from attending the show. I will most definitely be distributing my fortune cookies and may bring a few small items with me for purchase if you feel so inclined to buy some. Also I have purchased a table at the Canzine art show put on by Broken Pencil magazine for Indy Art. Details for the show can be found here at: http://www.brokenpencil.com/canzine/ If I don't end up selling much this year I definitely will at this event. It's cheap to get in too, only $5 at the door and it includes a magazine as well. Well that's my new update on what's going on here. Hope to see some friendly faces at these wonderful events and hope you like what I've got!

Youthful Behaviour

I truly believe in order to appear youthful, you have to think youthful. It is an art, like eating cereal for all three meals of the day, going to bed early and watching cartoons on Saturday morning. Adults can still be kids, as long as the bills are paid, and food is on the table and some responsibility is met. There is nothing wrong with taking an adventure to an amusement park or a zoo without having to have kids in tow. If there are some kids that would like to tag along, by all means, bring your nieces, nephews, whoever wants to come, but even if you’d like to take a day to just play and feel free there is nothing wrong with that. So many adults fear the unknown, why do some mature people act so infantile? It is not that they refuse to grow up, but mainly they realize there is nothing wrong with having fun once in a while, so long as the fun is legal. You can be a giant kid in a sophisticated manner, as long as you realize your responsibility to your job, significant other, your own children (if you have them) and all aspects of life. Playing with toys was accepted when we were kids, why not now? The people who impulsively collect may be more mature than you think, they know there is no rush to grow up because when you’re old you are old and you can’t turn back time, no matter how cool that would be. So for now enjoy the complexity and simplicity of youth, I know I do.

Beginning of July Update

Well not much is going on so far in July, I hurt my leg somehow and was told it might be a blood clot from a random Dr. at a health clinic. I went out of my way to go to get an ultrasound to further investigate in the middle of nowhere and it was nothing...needless to say I'm never going back to that health clinic. Missed a day of work for it and now I feel fine. I'm going to try to make it to the Midnight Release party of the final Scott Pilgrim comic book. I sure hope it's a doozy, it's been built up a lot. I know the movie is based on all 6 books. I have 5 so far (the first two of which are signed by Bryan Lee O'Malley, the creator) and waiting to see the outcome of Mr. Pilgrim. I like the fact that it's Canadian and has a lot of gaming and music humor thrown in. Waiting with anticipation has inspired me to scope out some of making of video blogs that Edgar Wright documented while on set. I've also made a little cartoon avatar of myself. This is me as a Scott Pilgrim character:


Well, as if that guy needs any more publicity...his books have probably received enough with this new movie. Something that may need a bit of publicity though is the comedy stylings of Andre Arruda who is appearing in a cool comedy show this Wednesday called the "Anti-Giants of Comedy". Andre was awesome enough to request I do a cartoon of him for the flier. So here's the cartoon I drew of him that he enjoyed enough to post on facebook (he'd always wanted to see himself as a cartoon) and here is the finished flier that has the head of host comedian of the nerds, Gavin Stephens:



That's just some of the work I've been doing lately. In addition to some of my latest comics I've been trying to post (hope you've been keeping up with them) I've also drawn a random pinup of Tara I felt was kinda fun and almost retro looking. Love her x-ray specs, I'd be lying if I said I didn't want a pair for myself. Hope you enjoy it:


So that pretty much ends the beginning of July's update so far. Hope you like what I've been doing, and maybe I'll see some of you at these upcoming events!

June 2010

So this month has been ok so far. Haven't had much time to do my comics but I've been trying to work over-time when I get home from work trying to do what I can to keep up to date as much as possible for Tom Boy Tara. I've been drawing caricatures for people, and just completed a portrait of Deena for my friend's b-day. I hope she likes it. I'm normally not cheap like that, but she enjoys the character of Deena and also I spent a ton of money when I was down in Niagra Falls for the weekend. It was very unexpected. Beautiful down there, but man does that place financially drain you. There are in fact, no cheap vacations! Well, that being said, I also attended the Fan Appreciation convention this month, in which you have to pay to get in on the Sunday, but you get a $10 voucher that you can spend at the con on any of the vendors. I ended up getting a pretty cool comic belt and a Scott Pilgrim wallet that some dude was making. Tried not to spend too much, but you know how it goes. Love the summer for cons...but my wallet hates it. So I shall now leave you with a portrait I drew, scanned and coloured in Photoshop. The portrait of Deena:

May 2010 Update!

Hello! I've been so busy in the month of May I haven't been able to do a blog post in a while! I've been attending comedy shows, Rock Band nights, and even got a new job! It's been nothing but creativity happening lately...it's a bit over-whelming funnily enough.

The month started out amazing with the help of FREE COMIC BOOK DAY! I love that day anyways, I look forward to it all year 'round. This year was somewhat different though, but in a good way (as if FREE COMIC BOOK DAY can get any better!) and I ended up drawing with a bunch of pro comic artists in the industry at Paradise Comics! It was extremely fun and quite the honor! Of course few people had heard of me but I had a lot of friends come out. I drew about 12 drawings in 6 hours...one every half hour I guess while I chatted with the cool artists, cosplayers and many of the comic fans and kids who made it out for the awesome event! It was very exciting! I drew one pic of the Swedish Chef as an inside joke for a friend and everyone wanted me to draw them a Muppet for the rest of the day. I was type-cast but that's fine by me as I love Jim Henson's creations anyways so it was my personal tribute. There were many pix and videos taken of the event with my brand new digital camera I saved up to buy. Thanks to the wonderful people at Paradise Comics who made it all happen! Later on in the evening I attended Nerdgasm Comedy show where I dressed as my version of Hermione from Harry Potter and attended a Rock Band event much later! It was a tiring but fun-filled day for sure!

The next weekend my work sent me and some other fellow employees to a charity auction where I happened to meet Michael "Pinball" Clemens and I had no idea he was going to be there! He was super nice! I've also been extremely busy drawing some pictures for wonderful clients of mine. I just did an image meant to be turned into a tattoo for a fellow nerd girl pinup I met as well as drew some caricatures for a comedian for an upcoming flier for his comedy show. I've done this all while working full time at my new job and trying to keep up with posting my weekly comic.

Oh and who can forget TCAF! I attended TCAF (the Toronto Comic Arts Festival) in which a lot of Indy artists and webcomic creators, etc. came out of the woodwork and I even got to meet the very humble and cool Daniel Clowes! I was so beyond nervous as I am such a fan of his work! His unique art style and inspirational writing has made me want to pursue this industry for quite some time. I am not saying I am like him by any means but I feel he and I have a similarity when it comes to intuitive comic creation...at least from interviews I've read about him and things I've heard. He was very cool, he signed the copy of Wilson I picked up as well as the cover of "Now Magazine" that featured a giant article on him as well as a self-portrait drawn by him. He joked about how he'll sign his self-portrait by giving himself a tattoo on his neck and how he should do that in real life. I was so nervous I blurted out something dumb about me being a wuss and wouldn't have the balls to get a tattoo but that'd be cool. He musta thought I was a huge dork. Either way he took a ghetto flier I was handing out of my comic and said he'd check my stuff out. If he did I'll probably never know, but man, it was still cool that he took the flier anyways...ahhh, I'm such a retarded fan girl!

TCAF had many other cool comic artists there too! I talked to so many cool people and was practically broke by the end of it, buying comics, a t-shirt, a balloon, a Frisbee, socks, etc...so many things, so little time. I was there for only 3 hours but it was a blast! Then I had to go off and paint some kids faces at a party. Which was totally fun too!

So my latest comic #146 has been a cartoon cross-over...which is kinda lame I know but it managed to work out a bit in my comic. I like to draw some inside jokes in my comic sometime...so inside only I seem to be laughing, so I decided to let people in on a little secret as I know not everyone has read my actual published comic books! Sarah (the red-headed girl Tobey seems to be slightly smitten with lately) was the star of my one time only book "Why I Hate Cheerleaders", so I decided to make it known with a little asterisk in the comic. I advertised for the Dork Girl trilogy way more than I did for "Why I Hate Cheerleaders" which is a shame 'cuz I really enjoyed creating that book. Maybe after I made it known that Sarah is Tobey's new love interest all grown up and in college now, people may search it out and pick up a copy or two. If not...it was worth a shot? Anyways, may I say, this has been a very interesting and creative May.