I'll be attending the Minneapolis Comic Book Association (MCBA) Spring Con this Saturday and Sunday at the Minnesota State Fairgrounds between the hours of 10am and 5pm both days.

Hope to see you there! I won't be able to use my TV (thanks Apple), and I won't have my banner either, and I have no idea where they're gonna put my booth... If despite all that you're still able to find me, don't be shy and come up to say hello! Always great to meet people!

Since this has been going around lately, I should probably give my two cents. Basically what it amounts to is that Nintendo has filed Content ID info of their games with YouTube. What this means is that if you upload gameplay video of a Nintendo game, YouTube will automatically monetize that video, put ads on it, a link to where to buy the game, and take the money generated from that video and give it directly to Nintendo. People who do "let's play" videos are, naturally, pissed off because they want to be earning money off their videos, so they're calling Nintendo "thieves" for doing this.

I can see both sides to the story. I can see Nintendo as a corporation wanting to exercise control over their properties. On the other hand, "let's play" videos can often help new gamers find games they otherwise wouldn't have tried.

But here's the thing: Nintendo isn't the first company do this. Both Microsoft and Ubisoft do it already. YouTube has also had a long history of having music videos and TV shows Contend ID matched to prevent users from profiting by uploading content that isn't theirs. In other words: Content ID matching isn't anything new, it's just the news that Nintendo is throwing their hats into the ring as well.

That's the bigger problem in my books. This is something ALL corporations are going to try and do eventually. I'd be surprised if, by the end of this year, pretty much every video game corporation out there hasn't filed for Content ID matching through YouTube. To me it seems like the next easy way for big corporations to earn "free" money.

But just so you know, YouTube states in their terms and conditions the following:
"You may not be able to monetize videos which use any of the following without the explicit permission of the person who created or produced all material: Including Video game or software visuals"
So by YouTube's own standards, "Let's play" videos are against the rules ANYWAY.

Again, I see both sides. I personally feel that this is a big mistake on Nintendo's part, but I also can't really fault them for trying. They're not taking the videos down. They aren't going to flag your account. And they're only targeting videos of a "certain length." So this likely won't affect smaller users who upload a quick "Let's Play" here or there, but more likely to affect the bigger YouTuber's who have hour long videos showing every detail of their games.

So, no, Nintendo is not "stealing" your money away. Chances are you won't even be affected by this even if you upload Nintendo related content. But it's still a problem and Nintendo is just one of the first to do this. More will come. And this is how things will evolve.

We see it all the time these days. An artist posts work-in-progress of whatever it is they're working on and they get instant feedback from their fans. Be it on tumblr, DA, through a livestream session or on their websites, this trend of letting fans critique their work before it's finished is becoming so common place that it's almost expected of us now.

Personally I'm a little torn up on the idea. On the one hand all artists need feedback and critique to improve, and if something isn't right with their work it's much easier to notice and fix while it's in a preliminary stage. On the other hand... a creator logistically can't show the behind the scenes work of everything they do. And if an artist isn't being 100% transparent with their art, it's often wrongly assumed that they're trying to "hide" something.

It's been happening more and more lately, fans of an artist being extremely vocal about how they feel the art should be drawn. And while feedback is important, I also feel that artists need to develop their own styles and drawing personality on their own sometimes... something that can be routinely hindered by having "too many cooks in the kitchen" as it were.

Worse still is when certain fans start becoming more invested in an artist's work than they are themselves, resulting in instances where a fan demands changes to be made because they feel entitled to the creator's work. This is actually a pretty common occurrence, especially when it comes to mass media things like MLP:FiM or Adventure Time.

I'm still a bit of an old school believer in not showing the progress of something till after it's done. If you let fans critique your work from start to finish, the surprise and mystery can sometimes be sucked out of things. A joke is less funny the 2nd time you hear it, so posting a work in progress of a daily strip, for example, probably isn't a good idea since by the time you finish the work you'll have lost a lot of the joke's initial impact.

But I also recognize that in this age of instant gratification, communicating and responding to feedback and criticism is vital and important to an artist's growth and development.

So my question to you all is... what do you think is the best way to have this creator/fan relationship? Do you think that fans deserve to have input on how artists draw or create their work? Can fans become too emotionally invested in a creator's property? Are there downsides or drawbacks? Do the positive aspects outweigh the negative in your eyes?

I don't have an answer to these things, I genuinely want to know what you all feel is the best dynamic. I want to move forward with my own artwork, but I feel hindered by my ideals and want to know where everyone else stands on these issues.

Equestria Girls
The trailer to "Equestria Girls" (the humanized MLP spinoff film) finally was released today. Aaaannnd everyone's freaking out. Again.


You know, it actually looks pretty decent. Bronies... please understand: I know you're a major unexpected demographic for the show. I know you enjoy seeing shout-out's become canon within the show, and appreciate how the creators do little things here and there for you. But... the show isn't made for you. This is not Cartoon Network and the target demographic isn't 25 year olds in college. You're a nice addition to the target demographic of little girls, but you are not the driving force behind MLP.

I don't want this to sound mean, but it needs to be said. This is where it becomes very important to understand the fine line between being a fan of the show and thinking that because you've invested so much energy into the show that you're entitled to things.

I'm sure the movie won't be as bad as everyone makes it out to be. It honestly looks pretty good from the little I've seen in the trailer. It looks to have all the expected trappings of a "fish out of water" and "parallel universe" storyline, and those generally are a lot of fun. The fact that there's magic involved and that the alternate human universe characters don't seem to know who Twilight is, suggests that there's a deeper crisis that needs to be dealt with than the apparently shallow "become the prom queen" setup people think it will be.

Also, there won't be any shout-outs to Lyra. Lyra's obsession with being human is one of those things the Brony community latched onto that has never been hinted at in the show. So probably best to get that disappointment out of the way, ok?


Nintendo vs Developers
Nintendo is in trouble. Recently they sent out a message to all Wii users urging them to upgrade to the Wii U, clarifying point blank that the Wii U isn't just a peripheral "it's a whole new console." When you have to come out and blatantly state that to your consumers, there's definitely something wrong. Now don't worry, it's Nintendo, they design their systems to churn a profit no matter what. They're not going anywhere. But it is still pretty depressing to see them struggling so badly.

Speaking of struggling, at what point do we stop blaming Nintendo for the lack of 3rd party games and start blaming the developers for simply being lazy scumbags? It seems like every week a new story goes up about how developers are passing on the Wii U, despite many employees of those developers stating that there's no reason to do so.

I know it's customary to blame Nintendo for their inability to secure 3rd party developers... but when do we point the fingers at the developers and start saying "get up off your ass and DO something, stop blaming them for your own failings." Just wondering...

Commissions
I'm working through a round of commissions right now. I've got quite a few lined up, plus one really BIG one, so I hope all those who have hired me don't mind if I work at my own pace on these. I've still got a few replies I need to make to people to accept their commissions as well, so if you haven't heard from me yet, keep an eye on the inbox, i'll get to you eventually.

I am still accepting commissions through so if you're interested please read through the updated info here [link]

MCBA Spring Con
I'll be attending Minneapolis/St.Paul's Spring Con like I do every year. It's at the state fairgrounds on the weekend of the 18th to the 19th. Unfortunately I won't really have much at all to sell... so I'll probably mostly be taking commissions and making sketch cards. And thanks to the recent iPhone updates, I can't even display video on the TV anymore, so my booth will be pretty bare bones this year. At least I'll be there to chat so if you want to come up and talk, feel free to.

I'm gonna try to accept commissions again, and I've listed out the general rules below.

Submitting A Commission Request
First submit a request via e-mail to adobson66@yahoo.com detailing what you want in a commission (don't use DA notes, please). If necessary, provide images or links for specific characters or things I might need to know. The more information you can provide, the better the commission will come out. If I don't have enough information, I'll try to fill in the blanks myself and this can occasionally result in your commission being less personal.

Also, please be upfront about what you want. Don't send me an e-mail asking if I'd take your commission without any information as to what the commission will be. I won't say yes or no until I know what I'm in for so please just be direct. It makes things so much easier.

If I agree to the commission, I will contact you and ask for payment via Paypal. Once payment is received I will begin work immediately. It may take a couple days before I finish, but as soon as I do I will e-mail you the artwork, whereupon you are free to do whatever you'd like with it (post it on your site, print it out, etc).
*NOTE* Please do not send payment until I ask for it. Premature payments will be return with a slight loss due to Paypal taking a transaction fee, and I don't want to see people lose money for no good reason.

Depending on the complexity of the commission, I might send you sketches to help clarify anything that might've been ambiguous, although this usually rather rare.

Types of Commissions
I'm generally pretty open to drawing whatever, though of course I don't draw hentai, fetishy things, or overly sexualized characters. Nothing gory or politically charging either. I'm more open to drawing original characters. Don't try to commission me to draw huge groups of characters unless you're willing to pay for it. No "Adventure Time" sized illustrations, if you know what I mean.

Prices
$40 + for 1 page full color comics. (This is something new I am trying out. The price can fluctuate depending on how detailed or lengthy the comic is, and we'll discuss that in the e-mails.)
$30 for a standard full colored digital illustration - backgrounds included.

$20 for a full body character illustration - no backgrounds
:
$10 for copic colored sketch cards

Additional charge of $5 per extra character (not applicable for the comic rates)

So for example if you commission a $30 illustration and it features 3 characters, that makes it actually $40 total. Whereas if you commission a comic page and it features 4-5 characters, it could still end up being only $40 depending on how detailed it gets. I try to set price structures like this because I personally don't enjoy haggling.

Have Fun
I will do my best to respond to everyone's request to let you know if I will or won't take a commission. In the past I've been lax in responding to commissions I won't take and that causes problems for everyone, so I'm gonna try my best to be more on top of that.

It seems that the gaming world is finally waking up to the fact that women DO actually play video games. They (the gaming industry) are not being mature about it, but the fact that a female perspective and voice is being heard more and more is a very good thing in my books.

The latest controversy to break out in the video game world has been over niche gaming studio Vanillaware's recent title "Dragon's Crown," and the absurdly sexualized female character of "The Sorceress" [link]

Some people are, naturally, offended that such a ludicrous character design with no sense of reality or function even exists, while the other side keeps saying "why are we even talking about this?" Both sides are being vocal, but they also seem to be talking past one another. One side seems to want to rid gaming entirely of sexy character designs, while the other seems to think this is some sort of "feminist agenda" and are being sexist in response because they fear having a discussion about it will take away these sorts of games that they enjoy.

With both sides arguing passionately for and against her design, I just wanted to throw my two cents into the ring...

I don't think there's anything inherently wrong with having a sexy character in any medium. I also think that attempts to rid them entirely from games/books/whatever "just because" is kinda silly. A character being sexy does not automatically objectify them. Making a character "sexy" for no other reason than to gawk at them, does.

I think that the variety of what is known as "sexy" needs to be expanded upon. The stereotypical skinny, skimpily clad, big boob/butt ,"attractive," female character design needs to be just one of MANY sexy design options. Women don't have to be underdressed or have an hourglass figure to be considered sexy. Women can be completely clothed and still be attractive. They can be various shapes and sizes and still be "hot." (And this goes for men as well, though it's far less of an issue for them.)

The Vanillaware game is an interesting discussion, but I feel that it's getting in the way of a much bigger problem in the industry that we're not addressing. Sexy female characters are not inherently bad. The lack of variety and the industry's insistence that only one type of design choice for "sexy" women IS.

****

What are your thoughts? Do you agree or disagree? What sort of characters (male or female) do you find sexy but not sexist? Do such characters even exist in your mind? Do you think this is a worthwhile discussion or do you think we should just ignore it?

This is a notice to all my fans.

Since I've returned to making SYAC again there's been a bit of a resurgence of trolls. There are a lot of fake accounts floating around out there with my name attached, and many of them are posting alternate SYAC strips and my old fetish work. While they are fairly obvious to spot, just to be safe I am writing to remind everyone that these accounts are not mine.

DeviantArt has made it more complicated to report copyright infringement issues, and I simply don't have the time to sift through the troll's gallery of re-uploads, find the original URL's (if any even exist anymore), and file DMCA on each and every post. It takes weeks to get anything accomplished and it wastes the time of DA moderators who have to sift through those individual reports. And even if I am successful in getting the troll banned, they'll just create a second account and come right back with another bucketload of altered art and start all over again. That's wasted time and energy on everybody's part.

And to anyone in the fetish community, I am not reposting any of my old fetish artwork anywhere on DA. I have no desire to do so (and to be honest I don't even have the original files anymore anyway even if I wanted to), so if you see an account posting them saying I've had a "change of heart," it is a troll account. Please do not favorite or comment on those re-uploads, as you will just be making yourself into a target for the trolls (who likely aren't even into your fetish) to laugh at. I don't want to see innocent people picked on for their unique fetishes, so please do not engage with these accounts if you happen across them.

Likewise, if you see my art being posted anywhere here on DA that's not by my TomPreston account and it's not credited to me or is obviously edited, please either report it, or block the user in question. Do not engage with these people, as they're not worth your time. They are trolls and they want to have fun at your expense.

I realize the irony in making a journal about trolls saying not to "feed the trolls," but it needs to be said so everyone can be on the same page. If I am not posting the work here on DA [link] , on my facebook account [link] , or on my SYAC website [link] , I have not given permission for it to be posted.

So remember: Either block, report, or ignore. Do not engage, comment, or note these worthless losers.

Now let's get on with our lives and have some fun!

A Link to the Past 2 for the 3DS
Nintendo just announced this as part of their Nintendo Direct presentation, along side other titles like a Yoshi's Island sequel.



Nintendo. STOP BEING AWESOME. STOP IT!

Miyamoto said once that he wanted to remake A Link to the Past for the 3DS. Now it looks like this is the genesis of that idea. Of course being Miyamoto just a simple remake isn't good enough, it's got to include all new dungeons and gameplay mechanics while staying true to the tried and true top down gameplay. Any new handheld Zelda game that ditches the bullshit touch control system to move is a great idea in my books, but doing it with one of my absolute favorite Zelda games of all time? Nintendo, I love you.

Hypothetical question: Since this game takes place in the same universe as A Link to the Past, features locations from that game, and now that the game engine is made... couldn't they just release the remake to A Link to the Past as well? I mean, don't get me wrong as a Nintendo fanboy I am going insane over the prospect of a direct sequel to one of my all-time favorite Zelda games... but at the same time I kinda wish I had the remake as well... just because.

Pluggins, Feedback, Etc

A Quick Self Promotional Plug
I don't often self promote mostly because I feel bad about trying to make people interested in my mediocre work. But since I haven't done in a long time maybe I should just remind everyone that I have a facebook page for my SYAC and Brentalfloss comics all in one spot. It's at the following [link]

I've actually had a stupid comic I wanted to post if the facebook page ever reached 9,000 likes, but sadly for a long time now it's been sitting comfortably at around 8,840 likes. If we manage to bump it up past the 9,000 mark I can finally post an outdate obvious meme joke that I drew almost 2 years ago! lol

SYAC Feedback
I've been doing the SYAC comics again for about 2 weeks now, with a new strip almost every other day. With the sudden surge of new content I was just wondering if I could get a little feedback on if I am heading in the right direction finally or not.

I've been putting more time and care into each of the comics, completely retooling many of my backgrounds, and trying to make the character less of a condescending dick. I've been playing around with different mediums (be it the Minecraft comic or the most recent DC/Marvel parody), and been keeping the color pallet usually pretty muted and consistent and not using the common preset color swatches I was before. Aside from making the character skinnier with more hair and less facial hair... how is it all looking at the moment?

I'm just curious to know how it's being received and would appreciate any feedback (good or bad) on the new direction I'm taking SYAC. Of course don't worry about the NSYAC strips because those are coming soon and aren't up yet.

That's all for now. Hope you guys have been enjoying the new work.

Xbox720's potential DRM?
Microsoft's lead creative director Adam Orth got angry over the backlash always online DRM has gotten lately (thanks in no small part to Sim City and Diablo III), and decided to take his frustrations to twitter. Orth made a plethora of sarcastic remarks, insulting people's place of residence, and mocking anyone not rich enough to always have an internet connection. By doing so, not only did he make himself look like an ass, he may have inadvertently revealed that the upcoming XBOX 720 may include always online DRM. Nice...

Since he's made his twitter account personal, you'll have to visit this [link] to see a sampling of the remarks he made.

Spammers
Speaking of "unprofessional," what's with the influx of spammers lately?

I know that DA has had long running problems with it, but I just got like 8 spams in a row on just one of my deviations. What is up with that? Has anyone else had or seen this problem?

Nothing more fun than loading up DA, seeing a large number of comments to read after posting a new deviation, and then realizing that 60% of them are spam.

Back
Oh yeah and SYAC is back.

I'm doing both the "classic" SYAC strips and the "new" SYAC strips featuring college bound Emily. They're gonna be posted... whenever I feel like it. As of right now there's a little surge of new strips because I finally got jazzed up enough to want to work on it. I'll wager that energy will wear off in a few days and I'll be back to a more manageable schedule.

There was a new Alex Ze Pirate strip too, but it's not actually new, it's a strip I found when browsing through my computer that I never posted before for some reason. I'm not sure when Alex Ze Pirate will be back, but I would love to work on more stuff soon.

That's it for me, peace out!

PokéFun

People seem to love to jump to conclusions. If there's one thing I want people who visit my page or read my comics to understand, it's this: If I poke fun at something, that does not automatically mean that I HATE it.

I'm restating that now because it came up again recently in the "Nintentroll" comic. People seemed to think that because the comic is making fun of certain pokemon that means I am decrying the whole series or somehow personally insulting those who actually do enjoy the specific examples I used. Let me reassure you, I am not.

I guess I just want people to lighten up and not always be in such a defensive mode all the time. Everyone has different likes and dislikes and if I don't like something or happen to poke fun at something you do, that does not mean I am personally attacking you and there's no reason to be so knee-jerk defensive about it. This goes for everything I do beyond the "Nintentroll" comic as well. If I poke fun at a movie, or video game, or specific character, etc... don't freak out, please. Often times the reason I'm poking fun at something is because I actually LIKE it.

I'm not trying to invalidate people's experiences or likes. I'm here to have fun and make jokes. We all cool on that?

If ever you bring up Disney in a conversation, people immediately recite tired old issues with the company that haven't been true for a long time. For example, complaining about the excess of half-assed sequels. That was part of Michael Eisner's regime. When he left the studio the quality Disney was producing suddenly skyrocketed considerably. Likewise the excessive merchandising and branding of Disney related products has also ceased to be as all-consuming now that Eisner is gone. In fact, a lot of the main issues people had with Disney during the 90's and early 2000's was a result of Eisner.

Since Eisner left, the Disney studio has done a REMARKABLE job in clearing their name of many of the atrocities they had committed during his regime. They promptly turned the animation department around and have even begun doing 2-D animated films again after Eisner said "no." Granted, at the moment 2-D is still in hiatus, but the situation isn't as dire as it use to be and there's still promise of a unique 2-D 3-D hybrid coming out eventually thanks to their award winning short Paperman.

It's frustrating to see people criticizing Disney for things they did 10-20 years ago when they're not doing those things now. Especially since a lot of the "bad" things associated with Disney (like all the dirty subliminal messages in their cartoons) were false accusations to begin with started by religious groups trying to get funding in the activism racket.

Bottom line, Disney of 2013 is entirely different from the Disney of 2003. So why is everyone freaking out now? Because Disney is closing the doors to Lucas Arts.

Link to the Article: [link]

As we all know, Star Wars was recently bought for an obscene amount of money by Disney, taking the creative reigns away from George Lucas (thank god). In that deal came Lucas Arts, a game company that has a long and prestigious history of great games. However, despite how great those older games were... the studio hasn't really produced anything worthwhile in a LONG time. In fact that last game they produced was Star Wars Kinect which was universally panned and hated.

Disney has looked over Lucas Arts, determined that they're not worth the funding (which isn't surprising given how much they just spent acquiring the rights to Star Wars), and has promptly shut the studio down. 150 employees were laid off, and 2 promising Star Wars games were canceled in the process. Naturally people are freaking out, but dear god people... read between the lines.

First off, Lucas Arts will still be around, just in the form of a licensing name. It's not like any of the original programers who made those classic games are still there. They've all gone on to do bigger better projects. And there will ALWAYS be more Star Wars games. Disney is not trying to kill your precious fandom.

Second, the two games that were canceled might still eventually see the light of day. As I understand it, one of the title was very close to being done and was receiving positive attention. Just because the studio is closed, doesn't mean Disney can't still have a 2nd party come in and do the final tweaking on the game and release it under the Lucas Arts brand (which is probably what they will end up doing).

Third, anyone who listens to the news in the video game industry knows that this is a COMMON TACTIC. Companies fire employees, and even whole teams, all the damn time. This isn't anything new. Just as an example: This past week the team responsible for the Tomb Raider revival was fired. Yes, it's a douchy business method, but stop acting surprised, please.

I don't know about the rest of you, but I'm just getting really sick of the reflexive hatred against Disney for doing what all other businesses do openly and without shame. You're still getting a whole new trilogy of Star Wars movies, plus movies set in the Star Wars universe being directed by big name directors that will likely be epics. Disney doesn't want to kill Star Wars, they want to make sure it flourishes and thrives for their benefit. Axing a studio that, although had a history of good games, hadn't been producing anything worthwhile in ages seems to me to be a fairly standard surgical business decision.

So grow up people... this is not the end of the world. Stop freaking out. Stop trying to sensationalize something that's not that sensational.

I did a Q&A journal recently, but since some people didn't like the short curt often sarcastic one word responses I gave to most of the questions, I thought it would be a good idea to respond a little more in depth to some of them, especially since a lot of the questions asked were so similar to each other.

What do you do when you have artist's block?
I tend to play video games, or go watch a movie. The best thing to do when you have artist's block is to get out of the area where the block is occurring. Go to a coffee shop and relax, or (since it's spring) go to a nearby park with a sketch pad and just start doodling. Artist blocks usually occur when you're trying too hard, so getting a change of scenery and allowing your brain to relax is what'll help get you through it.

What got you into comics?
A number of factors. First, I've always liked to draw ever since I was a kid.
Second, even though I wanted to be an animator, when I was in school it was much faster for me to make comic books that my friends could read between classes than it was to make animations to show them (remember this was long before the idea of portable devices like iphones were invented and the only way to show animations was either with a computer and a CD, or somehow magically transfer the animation to VHS).
Third, when I was in college there weren't a lot of animation classes. I took all the animation classes I could when I was a freshman, then wasn't able to get any higher advanced classes until I was a senior, which left 2 semesters in the middle of my education needing to be filled with something. So I turned to comics.
And finally, when I graduated with a degree in 2-D animation, less than a year later Disney fired all their 2-D animators collapsing an entire industry in America, which forced me to use my backup plan of making comics instead of animating.
Comics have been something I turn to more out of practicality than anything else.

What is your favorite color/movie/comic/tv show/video game/disney movie/etc
Favorite color is yellow.
I don't really have a favorite movie. Usually as a placeholder I say "Goonies" but to be truthful I haven't watched that film in almost a decade. I'm enjoying The Hobbit right now but I wouldn't call it my "favorite" movie of all time or anything.
There are a lot of comics I like, but i'm not actually reading anything specific right now. I guess again, like movies, my backup default response would be "Bone."
Favorite TV shows at the moment would be The Simpsons, King of the Hill, Frasier, Futurama, Doctor Who, and Adventure Time.
Favorite Video game for each console?
NES = Super Mario Bros 3.
SNES = Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past.
N64 = Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask.
Gamecube = Animal Crossing.
Wii = Mario Galaxy.
Ps2 = Shadow of the Colossus.
Gameboy = Super Mario Land.
GBA = Legend of Zelda: the Minish Cap.
Nintendo DS = Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney.
3DS = Etrian Odyssey 4.
Favorite Disney movie is Aladdin

What is your process when you work? Do you listen to music while you make art?
I imagine my process is similar to other people, but this is generally how I work:
First I sit down with the script and read it through, making mental notes of what needs to be in the picture and how I'm gonna achieve it.
Second I sit down and make up a quick sketch, fitting everything in as best I can and making only changes when I feel it's appropriate.
Third, I send this quick sketch to the client to get approval. They'll send me back an OK-GO! or give me additional notes. If the notes aren't extensive I'll just go ahead and start inking, otherwise a couple more revisions might be needed and approved first.
Fourth, I scan the sketch in and start inking in Illustrator. I use illustrator because I can get incredibly smooth lines that I normally wouldn't be able to do with a real pen. I can also vary my linework a bit and get some nice thick to thin lines if necessary, something that's harder to do with a fixed width technical pen. I often have something playing in the background, though it's not always music. Sometimes it's a podcast, sometimes it's a movie, sometimes it's a playlist for a TV series or YouTube series. But generally I can't work unless I have some sort of background noise.
Fifth, when I've finished inking, I import the file into Photoshop and fix any errors that might've occurred before beginning to color. Since I deal with cartoon characters that have very specific colors needed, I use a custom made swatch pallet for the majority of my work, though I do mix my own colors if I need to.
Sixth, when I'm done inking and lettering the comic I save it as a PSD, then I flatten all the layers and save that as a high-resolution TIFF with LZW compression, then I shrink that and save it as a internet-ready JPG. Some people wonder why I don't save as a PNG, as PNG tends to retain compression, but it's a personal preference sort of thing. I've done tests and when I uploaded a PNG instead of a JPG, no one noticed or cared. It didn't improve the quality of the strip so I don't bother with it. Also, websites like DA like to convert files to JPG anyway. So even if I uploaded the full resolution TIFF file to DA, it would convert it into a small internet JPG file for display. Saving it as a JPG in advance just makes that process quicker for me.
That's pretty much what I go through on every work of art I create.

Can you give me advice as an aspiring artist?
This is a bit of a sore spot for me. During SYAC's run I was encouraged to try and make strips which were educational in nature, which resulted in a lot of people nitpicking and ripping apart my methods. For example, I used to use the fill bucket a lot more than I do now. It was quick and fast for me, as I had a method that worked for coloring flat comics. But others viewed my method as "cheap" or "outdated" and I got slammed for it. My advice was "old fashioned" or just simply "wrong" because I was the one saying it. When I made my Adventure Time picture people FREAKED at me for taping sheets of paper together, rather than buying a full sized sheet of paper, and called it "unprofessional."
There are simply people out there who just flat out lose it if I try to give ANY sort of advice, and I would just rather not deal with those asshats if given the choice. This is pretty much why I don't give advice about art techniques and tools anymore. There are hundreds of books and tutorials online giving better insight than I ever could, and learning the right tools and techniques to use is what college and classes are for. Besides, I still fall back on the concept that it doesn't matter what tools and techniques you use as long as the final end product is what you want.

Is it possible to make a living being an artist?
Yes, and no. Yes, it's entirely possible and there are a number of successful artists out there who do make a living off their work. No in the sense that it's VERY hard to get to that point unless you're willing to sacrifice a lot of your free time and social life to get there. Most artists who are successful still have a secondary job to supplement their income. There also aren't a lot of art related jobs which have set schedules and hours the way other jobs do. Unless you're an animator, graphic designer, or work for an illustration firm, you can't really expect a 9-5 sort of job. Your work life often bleeds into your social life, and that can be frustrating both for you and your friends and family. Being an artist often doesn't pay well. I know that sounds cliche, but it's true. People are so used to getting art for free, it's very hard to charge enough and work enough to make being an artist your only job. For example: I charge $30 for commissions, and that's rather low compared to what I probably should be charging for my work, yet it's seen as being "too high" by a lot of my potential clients. Finding the right balance can take a while and, if you're willing to work hard at it, it is possible to turn a hobby into a full time job. It's just very VERY difficult.

Unless you get lucky and go viral.... lol

I'm bored. Let's do another Q & A. Ask me anything, and as long as it's tasteful or not too personal, I'll try to respond.

One of the things I love about the 3DS is the abundance of demos. They prompt me to try games I normally would never have looked at. Case in point: the demo for Etrian Odyssey 4 convinced me to give it a chance and try it, and it's proved to be quite addictive and well worth the risk.

In many respects Etrian Odyssey is an old fashioned dungeon crawling adventure. Your party of explorers traverse the usual staple of mazes, fighting off monsters, gaining experience, leveling up, etc. Thankfully there are just enough modern day tweaks to the gameplay to shake things up.

You start by naming a guild of explorers and recruiting new members. These new members are more "icons" of their professions than actual characters. You can have up to 5 members in a party, but you can recruit many more than that and rotate characters in and out of your party whenever you're in town. Every time you gain a new experience level you also acquire a skill point, which you can funnel into the extensive skill trees for each character's established profession. Halfway through the game you can add a secondary profession to any character, which allows you to customize your party and play style to a remarkable degree.

Once you've got a party assembled, you take on the game's various dungeons and mazes. As you explore, you'll be filling out the dungeon map on your own with the touch screen. You can mark helpful locations, denote walls and hidden pathways, indicate treasure chests, points of interest, etc. Whatever you mark on the map is entirely up to you and is there for your sole benefit. Forcing the player to fill in the blanks is actually a fun way to keep you exploring all the hidden nooks and crannies.

Outside the dungeons you have to explore the overworld in your airship. The overworld contains a number of gigantic FOE's who wander around in set patterns that you want to avoid. At the beginning of the game they are grotesquely overpowered, but as you progress you'll be able to best these FOE's and unlock more dungeons and explore more areas of the overworld. You can pick up food to sell back at home, or to give other explorers who are wandering around the overworld maps.

Each land you explore contains one giant Labyrinth which you will be coming back to many many times. Each time you'll get a little further along, eventually working your way up to the various bosses. Items you forage and acquire in the labyrinths help you level up your gear and is necessary to unlock certain items and weapons. Since there is a day and night system, and forage spots respawn after a certain number of days, this gives each maze and labyrinth remarkable replay value.

The game is also incredibly HARD. Ala Fire Emblem, if one of your party members dies, they're dead for good. This can have serious repercussions if you've been leveling up a specific player and make a tactical blunder resulting in their death, setting you back to having to level up a new recruit. There is a little bit of salvation in the form of "Casual Mode." In Casual Mode if your characters faint, they don't die completely and just need to be revived from the inn. If all players faint in a battle, you're sent back to town where you have to treat your wounds and lose any food you've gathered. Even in Casual Mode, the game is still remarkably unforgiving, and you can switch this on or off anytime you're in town.

There's also an "auto" fighting mode which helps alleviate some of the tedium of level grinding. Hit the L button at any time during a fight and your party will just attack automatically. They only use the most basic attack, and never use up your skill points, so using "auto" mode is a very bad idea for fighting high level monsters and bosses. But when you're just traveling through an old labyrinth and having to fight the same old monsters again and again, the "auto" mode becomes a lifesaver and really helps keep the gameplay flowing.

Now that I've gone over the main aspects of the gameplay I'm just gonna denote the next few lines to the pros and cons of the game.

PRO
-The fighting mechanic is incredibly robust and customizable, allowing you to tailor your party to your preferred fighting methods.
-Characters are colorful and uniquely designed and well rendered.
-Exploration is a lot of fun, and the mazes and labyrinths are varied and diverse enough to be different from each other.
-Inventory management gives exploring a labyrinth a lot of replay value.
-There are optional side quests you can take at any time.
-The turn-based system allows you to play at your own pace, and tackle even the most dire circumstances or bosses only when you're perfectly ready to do so.
-The music is great.
-Random encounters while exploring dungeons aren't as painfully frequent as they are in other RPG games, allowing you to explore and mark your maps quite a bit between battles.
-After you complete the game and reach your level max, there are optional side quests you can take which will continue the game a bit and release the experience cap.
-Using QC codes you can register other player's guilds and share your own accomplishments with other players.

CONS
-There is a lot of text and reading. The game has cut scenes in the form of text and still images.
-The game doesn't hold your hand. Usually there is a brief summary of how to play and that's it, the rest is up to you to figure out, which can be daunting at the start.
-FOE's and boss battles can sometimes be unforgivingly cheap and harsh until you've leveled up enough.
-The game is very much a grindfest, but that's made less of a con thanks to the "auto fight" mode.
-The game is very very HARD. Even with Casual Mode enabled, it's still unbelievably challenging.
-There is only one save file available. If you want to restart you have to either completely start from the beginning, or beat the game and unlock the "star" mode which carries over your characters and guild into a new game.
-The 3D effect is atrocious beyond belief. Nothing is actually in 3D at all, which is grotesquely disappointing given the constant need to judge depth while exploring mazes. This is a game best played with 3D off.

Final Verdict
It really depends on the type of game you enjoy. I like games that have a lot of replay value and give me a lot to explore. This game definitely has that, but it is also incredibly hard and unforgiving. There's an extraordinary amount of depth to the fighting system, and I love the ability to customize my party to my preferences. I love the little touches like "casual mode" and "auto fighting mode" which helps bridge the gap between old school gamers like myself and newer ones who might not be used to the tough-as-nails style of the game. All in all I thought it was a great game and one that I honestly didn't think I would ever pick up.

The best thing, though, is that if you're still unsure if you'd like to try this game out or not, there's a free demo on the Nintendo eShop. The demo is completely open up until the second floor of the first Labyrinth. After that you'll be given the option to purchase the game. If you've grown fond of your characters and don't want to start from scratch, that's ok too. The they allow you to transfer your guild and party members from the demo to the full game easily. So try it for yourself and see if it's something you'll enjoy.

Minecraft Quest Reward System
A few weeks ago I came up with a simple quest reward system for my minecraft server that worked remarkably well. I thought I'd share it with everyone around here and posted this scrap deviation.

While it contains all the details of how to set it up, I wasn't entirely happy with it because I wanted to make sure everyone could understand why it does the things it does and how all that code functions.

So I made up this tutorial video that's being hosted over on Skyrie.net's YouTube page. It's 20 minutes long, but it's a comprehensive step by step tutorial of how to set up this reward system. Please enjoy!

SimCity could've worked offline
EA refuses to waver from their stance that the always-online DRM for SimCity that's caused so many problems is absolutely necessary to the functioning of the game. However, a modder by the name of UKAzzer has proved that EA is basically full of shit. UKAzzer discovered that the code which checks for a connection every 20 minutes could be changed to 0, resulting in no checks at all. The game still plays and functions perfectly offline, with only minor hiccups.

You can view his video here: [link]

On a side note, EA's CEO John Riccitiello has resigned. I wonder if the SimCity debacle is in any way related...?

TMNT Movie Still On
Megan Fox has been cast as April O'Neil in the Michael Bay TMNT reboot movie that we all thought was shelved months ago. So... yeah, this project is apparently still gonna happen. Co-creator of TMNT Peter Laird had some... less than flattering things to say about the casting decision: [link]

Movie studios, please think about this: When the original creators themselves are pissed off, that's usually a sign that there's a PROBLEM.

DUCK TALES! WOO-HOO!


HD graphics. Hand drawn artwork. The original voice cast. God bless you Wayforward.

Looks like it's coming to practically every platform available. My only criticism at all is that the beautiful hand drawn characters don't mesh as well to the generically rendered 3-D backgrounds. But outside that... F*CK YEAH!!!

The Game Over Tinies poster we made last month is finally out of the pre-order stage and is now available here: [link] To commemorate the occasion, Brent has put together a little video signing the lyrics. ENJOY!