The month everything changed.....

I've got this written on my calender:

"November was the month everything changed,
This is the month everything got better."

As some of you know (Hi Mom!), I lost my job at The Odyssey after 9 years with them, Candie lost her job, and had to be in the hospital for a week. And now I'm doing a lot of soul searching, job searching, friend searching, and opportunity searching.

I've been working at the studio on my future web comic dealing with monsters, people, geopolitics, and the human heart.

I suppose if life had spoilers, it would ruin all the fun - but sometimes I wish I could open that notebook and turn the page to next year and see what was in store.

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I checked my hits and was surprised at the traffic I get, and why....
apparently I need to do some more cartoons involving famous rappers and peanuts characters....:P

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Anyways, take care everyone.

"Little do ye know your own blessedness; for to travel hopefully is a better thing than to arrive, and the true success is to labour." -Robert Louis Stevenson

Froggy Dear...

I did this at the studio today. It's a late x-mas present for Candie. The final product will be (like my other gifts) wrapped around a piece of cardboard - imitating frameless paintings. I started with a pencil sketch, and then used colored inks and markers to finish it.

My studio experience has been good so far. I'm slowly moving my stuff in, and getting in to a better groove.

Also, I created a twitter account that you can find here.

Take care!

-Brandon

The New Year.

Lots of changes coming in the new year. Most notable, perhaps, is that I'm joining Robot Cowboy Studios.

Robot Cowboy is home to such artists as Will Terrell (Super Zeroes), Denise Guinn (Of Snakes and Apples), and rising artists Rachael Simmons (The Harvard Project), Amber Dean (Git-R-Drawn), and Syd Gutierrez(Reynard City).

Robot Cowboy is also starting a blog, which I'll be linking to (and posting in) soon.

Part of being in the studio is setting goals for everyone to follow, and helping others reach their goals. I'm glad to be a part of it!

I'm planning on coming out with more of my Supermini comics, as well as starting my own webcomic "Giant Atomic Monsters".

Stay tuned, and be well all of you.

Small Comic, Big Hit at West Texas Comic Con!

Quite the unexpected and amazing thing happened, I didn't get to finish the comic I originally wanted to do for the Con.

Instead, I had 4 days, half finished pencils and a basic idea about how I was going to proceed. I printed about 40 and sold out within 4 hours! And better yet, people heard about the comic from others and wanted more. Just amazing.

A super-mini comic is what I call it, one of the world's smallest comics produced. The idea itself was a selling point, but I hope the content is what ends up being the thing people like the most about it.

It's a tiny inspirational title that can be bought for half a dollar. A full 24-page comic, 1 inch by 1 inch. With readable text and recognizable art.

There are a few bugs to work out, but I like the results so far. There is even the idea of selling them via a vending machine, in those little bubble containers. Cool possibilities.

I'm not sure what the next one will be, or when it will be produced. But I do know that this has been a great learning experience for me. Not only the convention experience itself, but also the month leading up to it.

Priorities are making themselves clear. More to come.

I hope you are well.

- Brandon

West Texas Comic Con!

We are just days away from the first annual West Texas Comic Con! We are very excited, and we hope you are too! This is going to be our BIGGEST comic convention in Lubbock so far! With great special guests, awesome surprises and fun waiting for you all! By the way, if you haven't already seen our TV commercial that's been running this week be sure to check it out!

A few things... DC and Top Cow comics have kindly donated a LOT of free comics, buttons, posters and other goodies for you all! But amounts are limited to the first 500 attendees in the door! So make sure to be there early. We will have some other goodies for people that come later in the day, but this is the PRIMO stuff! So be sure to come early!

Also, we want to thank the Abilene Star Wars 501st for making an appearance at this show. We hear that R2D2 is coming! Along with many other classic Star Wars characters you can meet and greet! Also, there will be a huge costume contest for all those that come in costumes. This being just days after Halloween, it is going to be quite an event! Registration for the costume contest starts at 12:30 if you want to participate, so be sure to get there ahead of time.

GUESTS
We have several wonderful guests for you to meet too;

Matthew Sturges (writer of Final Crisis Aftermath: Run! Jack of Fables, and Justice Society of America ),

Paul Benjamin (Writer of Pantheon High to Marvel Adventures Hulk and Marvel Adventures Spider-Man.)

Dirk Strangely (artist and writer of "Darkened bedtime stories" and underground icon!),

Josh Howard (creator/artist/writer of the hit comic book series Dead @17),

Scott Zirkel (writer for Viper Comics, Penny Farthing Press)

Joel Watson - Creator of the hit webcomic "Hijinks Ensue"

Chris Nicholas– AKA “Uncle Staple” (founder of the superbly awesome STAPLE independent media expo in Austin)

7,000 BC! (Artists and members from the Albuquerque based Sketch Group!)

Twitchy Dolphin Productions - An award winning independent film company from Austin

Plus dozens of Local and regional comic book creators and artisans will be at this show for you to get to know!

And of course...
WTxCC co-founder and Sketch Club organizer Will Terrell will be premiering the first full issue of his comic book series Super Zeroes at this show! I

If you are wanting to meet up with someone specifically at the convention, or just want to see who all will be in attendance, check out our WTxCC floormap!

WTxCC PANEL SCHEDULE
10:30 – 11:30 Rob Weiner – How to Read Comics – Fun for Kids and Families!
11:30 – 12:30 Writer’s Workshop and Panel featuring: Matthew Sturges, Dirk Strangely, Josh Howard, Scott Zirkel and Paul Benjamin, hosted by Will Terrell

12:30 – 1:00 Registration for Costume Contest begins

1:00 – 2:00 Costume Contest

2:00 – 3:00 Twitchy Dolphin independent film panel featuring “Funny Books”

3:00 – 4:00 Fan Panel with Matthew Sturges: Learn about all your favorite characters from the DC Universe and Fables

4:00 – 5:00 Game show for everyone with great prizes!

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Oh yeah, I'm gonna be there too. Hope to see you there.

-Just Brandon-

One of those posts you write, and wonder about.

Hey all,

Of course a lot has happened since my last post. Still working at The Odyssey, still doing comics...

I'm ready to make change in the way I live my life. A lot of things have changed for me - the universe pushing me out in the open.

I can no longer hide in my cave of solitude.

I can no longer let everyone's needs come before mine.

I can no longer let fear hold me hostage.

I can no longer let the opinions of other people take precedent over the true wishes of my heart.

I can no longer be the quiet person standing in back.

I can no longer live my life by the rules I made for myself when I was a child.

There will be more art here, sooner than later.

There will be more posts in general.

There will be a change.

Thank you.

-Brandon

24 hour comics day was a blast, and Jammin' at Novacon!

Well, 24 hour comics day (the official day for doing a 24 hour comic around the world!) has come and gone, we held a little event here in town at my friend Kiki's house but I got very little done (Like almost 3 pages - all-time lowest page count...). I was having too much fun talking to everyone, and goofing around.

"Chocolate Rain!!!!"....you had to be there.

My gf Candie is awesome! She found a bunch of sponsors for the event and got us tons of free food.

Unfortunately she hurt her wrist and arm after slipping on a sycamore seed while getting us some of that food. :( But she has mostly recovered now.

Now on to the next big event.

Novacon 2008, www.novacon2008.blogspot.com is here

- Saturday November 1st from 8:00am to 6pm at the Garden and Arts center. -

I've got a table there, and will be hosting a Comics Jam.

I'm looking forward to seeing how this all turns out.

Here is my event info:

NovaCon 2008 Comics Jam!
When: Saturday, November 1st, 2008. From 2:00-3:00pm
Where: The Lubbock Garden & Arts Center (44th and University Ave)
Who: Anyone interested in making improvisational comics art.
How much: Free, with entrance to NovaCon 2008!

Seating is limited, so please come early!

What is a comic jam?

A Comic Jam is when a bunch of cartoonists get together and draw comics together. There are frequent, on-going jams all over the US, as well as "one-shot" jams such as this one.

Why would I want to do this?

It's a chance to show off your creativity, meet new people, stretch your imagination and because it's fun!

How does is work?

Most comics jams work like this: You draw a story panel on the page, and pass it to the next artist, who then does the same until the story is finished. All comics jams are different, many with no real format.

However, because of the limited time span of the event, we will be providing fun and challenging scripts, created by local comics writers. The goal is to stick to the script as much as possible, while trying to creatively fill in the gaps.

So what do I need to bring?

Most importantly yourself, your imagination and talent. Pens and paper will be provided for you. But if you need anything more (like a board to draw on instead of the table).

What about....?

If you have any questions, please contact Brandon at: artistwithin[at]gmail.com

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Take care everyone,

-Brandon