I’m the type of person who goes through stages of mad, wild productivity and then slide to the other end of the spectrum and get absolutely nothing accomplished.

I’m starting to slide back to the other end, though.

For the past few months I’ve been in an abyssmal place and have done pretty much nothing creatively.

The funk, it leaves me… the creative spirit, it returns…

There’s a little being that’s been muddling about in my head lately. Her name is Harriet.

Her design is just about together. You’ll be the first to see her.

Magenta Star is sort of on hold as real life has started to interfere with my plans. I’m jobless at the moment, so finding a job is sort of my number one priority.

But this little critter named Harriet remains in my head…

I’ve also still been debating the return of GBD, but with a fresh complete change in style.

So… that’s what’s up. Hugs and kisses.

Happy birthday to me.

So I’m back on track with Magenta Star. The hairstyles for a couple of the male characters are giving me trouble. The only style that works on the character code-named “Silver Spoon” makes him look entirely too much like out buddy the Archduke. What can I say, sometimes a design just works! So I’m going to need to move in a different direction with S.S.

Another character, code-named “Piggy” bounced off the page when I was sketching this weekend. I was struggling with him as well, but he finally clicked. His hair isn’t working either. Sometimes I wish I could make them both bald, but that just makes them look old, and we’re going for youthful.

You say you want to see these character designs? Sorry, gang, it’s top secret. Official art is to come, I promise, but we’re not there yet.

Meanwhile, I’m going to start up a new blog with some videos of me sketching. So I guess it would be called a “vlog.” More info on that soon.

I didn’t want to do it. I held off for long. It was really just the principle of the thing. It was for teenagers who like bright colors, annoying songs, txt 5p33k, and sparkly graphics.

I made myself a promise, long ago, that I would never ever ever join MySpace.

That didn’t last.

For those of you not in the know and as cool as me and my gang, there’s an awesome comic book artist out there named Levi Krause. He’s another guy who illustrates for Chris Yambar, the guy who is writing Magenta Star. I’m sure we can somehow fit Kevin Bacon in here, but I don’t want to and you can’t make me.

Anyhow, Levi sent me a fun little drawing. Click for a huge version, and check out Levi’s homepage, and his books: Levi’s World, Spells, and Faith: Warrior Princess. (Spells is my fave.)

EDIT TO ADD 11.07.06: Levi and Bex illustrate for Chris Yambar, who worked with Gene Simmons on a Simpsons: Treehouse of Horror comic. Gene Simmons was in Rockin’ the Corps: An American Thank You with Louie Anderson, who was in Quicksilver with Kevin Bacon.

In no particular order.

• Get the gallery up and running again. I saved most of my art and a few fan arts. Sadly, most of the fan arts are gone.
• Finish that Magenta Star art Yambar wants. Lazy me.
• Beautify the forum. It’s very blah.
• Get the Cast page up.
• Get link links going here.
• Upload all those games, tutorials, screensavers, and wallpapers up here again.

Am I forgetting anything? Let me know. Anyhow, onto your comments and questions.

Reynard said:

“I really like(d) GBD and am sorry that it may never again grace my screen. That said, however, have you thought about a once-a-month posting schedule? It might slow the story to a crawl, but it would at least keep it going until the end of the current storyline and you could then transition to a new format.”

Well, Reynard, that’s an idea. Unfortunetly, the current storyline is incredibly long. We’re in chapter 4, we need to get to chapter 15 to get to the end. On the other hand, starting over and posting a new page once a month or just not on any particular schedule would be cool. But like I said, Magenta takes priority. I’d really like to do that but again, it won’t happen any time soon.

And Haxar had a swell question:

Will there be any info posted about Magenta Star and where?

Magenta will be getting her own page eventually. Most of the updates will be here. When I get my personal page up and running, it will be there too. Also, my writer buddy Chris Yambar has his own website that might eventually have word on the book’s progress. But until we get together some official concrete crap, you’re not going to be hearing much about it outside of the title and the occasional cryptic doodle.

Sweetie Gavin had this to say:

One day, you might put it in print. Then I will be first in line to purchase it. Let us know when it will hit the comic book stores!

You’ll be the first to know. When that happens, you won’t be able to shut me up about it. Magenta Star’s going to be a small publication initially, but with the Internets, anyone who wants one can gets it.

Well kids, that’s it for now. Hope you had a marvy Halloween!

Hey gang. Yes, I am still alive. And I know you’ve been asking a lot of questions.

So where’s the comic? Well, if you click on the link Comic Archive, you can read the old comics.

Where’s the site? Internet monsters ate it. Yes, my website crashed, and absolutely everything has been lost. This is what I managed to salvage from my hard drive, and it’ll do for now, I hope.

Where have you been?! Well, I got hired to draw a comic book. Not a webcomic, no. A comic book. We’re aiming for a spring release. It’s called Magenta Star, and you can bet I’ll keep you updated on that.

Is the comic dead? I’ll be honest with you. Yes and no.

Yes because I haven’t the time to work on it, and the art is really not anything I’m proud of anymore. I mean, I look at the first few chapters and I just out and out cringe.

No because I love the story, I love the characters, and there is so much more I want to tell. What you’ve seen so far is just the tiniest tip of the iceburg. I’m really proud of and excited about the story and universe, and I can’t just leave you hanging!

So where does that leave the webcomic and fans? The only way I can see myself working on GBD again is if I start from scratch. If Magenta Star does well, I’d love to put GBD into print. I need to do some major editing and rehashing of the story.

Alternatively, I can continue on from where we left off, but with very different art and format. That means no color, and a page sized layout rather than these squares I’ve been using. Also, the characters might look pretty different.

Whatever happens with GBD, it won’t be happening anytime soon. I’d hate to dedicate time and effort to my personal pet project while Magenta Star, a collabrative project I’m actually going to get paid for, suffers. (I’ve been slacking enough on MS as is! Don’t tell Chris!)

So that’s where we stand. Things can change, sure. If you guys really don’t care about the art, I can always upload scribbles with dialogue, but both you and the story deserve better.

I’ll be keeping in touch and keeping you updated. Hugs and kisses.