So my parents have been divorced for some time now. As any child of divorce can tell you, this means multiple family Christmas's even without a signifigent other's family to take into account, which can be alright. It spreads the holiday celebrations out a bit more than just one day.
This weekend, I've been at my sister's house with her family and my mom and grandfather (and his lady friend). It's been fun, I've played some games with her kids, we've decorated cookies, and we opened presents last night. I recieved numorus things that I appreciate very much and I believe all of my gifts went over very well. And while most of the family is watching football and/or taking naps, I figured I'd take a moment to update this blog.
Tomorrow, I head back home and celebrate Christmas with my father and step-mother (a.k.a. phase 2).
Next week is the end of the year. I'm hoping to get another Wombat strip up before the end of the year. I have one partially done, I just haven't had time to do it. I guess I can state now that one of my main resolutions is to work harder on the strip and do better about meeting my weekly deadline (which I've failed on most of this past year). If I'm able to get back in the habit of doing one strip per week, I believe I'll have enough by the end of the year to put out a second book. So I'd like to do that.
Another of my resolutions is to update this blog a little more often. Something I hope will be easier to do with the help of one of my christmas gifts (a keyboard for my iPad on which I'm typing this update now). And yes, with that, I hope to make the updates more entertaining.
Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays, and all the others. See you
Sunday, December 23, 2012
Wednesday, October 3, 2012
A Pint and Pretty Face, or...Hang Him From The Highest Rafters!
So I've received my first commission since my site went live. Granted, the project was from a friend that probably hasn't even looked at my site yet, but still. I don't want to go into any specific details about the project right now as it is a gift and I'm not sure it's been given yet. I'm still getting used to actually charging for my artwork and it felt weird to recieve a check in the mail today with "for art" written in the memo line.
In other art news, my buddy, Anthony Snyder, is having a gallery showing of some of his original illustrations. They're being shown at the Water Street Coffee on Oakland Drive from now though the end of November. He does horror based cartoon illustrations (think old "Tales From the Crypt" or "Vault of Horror"). Anthony, our friend Mike and I spent a little over two hours last Sunday morning hanging his art in the art in the cafe and I have to say it went fairly well. We figured out early the best way to get them hung somewhat on level with each other and the process was less like an episode of the Three Stooges then I thought it would. And if that wasn't good enough, one of Anthony's pieces sold while we were still there.
On the horizon, I've got the Detroit Fanfare convention coming up in a couple weeks. I'll be there selling the web comic as well as art prints and sketch cards. I like to work on cards while I sit at the table, but I often have a tough time coming up with topics, so if you have any ideas of what you'd like to see, feel free to leave your ideas in the comments. Also, at Detroit Fanfare ill (Hopefully be attending the Shel Dorf Awards. They're a fan voted award ceremony that I was lucky enough to get a nomination for last year. They haven't announced the nominations for this year yet so I'm still hoping I get in there again (if you haven't yet, I ask that you go to www.sheldorfawards.com and nominate "Wombat - www.wombatcomic.com" for Web-Comic of the Year).
The site is going well. I'm starting to get actual artwork up. I'm happy with the design but open to constructive criticism. Also, fell free to let me know if you find things that don't work right.
- Neil Bryer
In other art news, my buddy, Anthony Snyder, is having a gallery showing of some of his original illustrations. They're being shown at the Water Street Coffee on Oakland Drive from now though the end of November. He does horror based cartoon illustrations (think old "Tales From the Crypt" or "Vault of Horror"). Anthony, our friend Mike and I spent a little over two hours last Sunday morning hanging his art in the art in the cafe and I have to say it went fairly well. We figured out early the best way to get them hung somewhat on level with each other and the process was less like an episode of the Three Stooges then I thought it would. And if that wasn't good enough, one of Anthony's pieces sold while we were still there.
On the horizon, I've got the Detroit Fanfare convention coming up in a couple weeks. I'll be there selling the web comic as well as art prints and sketch cards. I like to work on cards while I sit at the table, but I often have a tough time coming up with topics, so if you have any ideas of what you'd like to see, feel free to leave your ideas in the comments. Also, at Detroit Fanfare ill (Hopefully be attending the Shel Dorf Awards. They're a fan voted award ceremony that I was lucky enough to get a nomination for last year. They haven't announced the nominations for this year yet so I'm still hoping I get in there again (if you haven't yet, I ask that you go to www.sheldorfawards.com and nominate "Wombat - www.wombatcomic.com" for Web-Comic of the Year).
The site is going well. I'm starting to get actual artwork up. I'm happy with the design but open to constructive criticism. Also, fell free to let me know if you find things that don't work right.
- Neil Bryer
Sunday, September 16, 2012
Be Gentle...It's My First Time.
My first blog post...yes.
Well, ok, technically this isn't my first blog post. I've been quasi-bloging for the past three to five years in the form of a web-comic (www.wombatcomic.com sorry, I'm a self promo whore, you'll learn that about me). No, what I mean when I say my first blog post is that this is my first post on my new Blogger page, which I've started in hopes of connecting to my website (different website, www.neilbryer.com). Hmmm...perhaps I should go back (queue the "How I Met Your Mother" theme...no wait, I hate that show).
I started posting my web-comic in 2006 (which technically makes the strip six years old now, though I've missed a week here and there...and there...bringing the number of strips currently in my stable just over enough for four full years of weekly strips). I first posted the strip, along with a short commentary to my MySpace page. Yes, I, like everyone else in 2006 had a MySpace page. Tough even then, when it was still considered "cool" to be on MySpace, I always felt a level of shame when someone would ask for my URL and I'd have to reply mySpace.com. So, I eventually registered my own domain and started up www.wombatcomic.com.
After some time I decided it to be a good idea to have a separate site, one where I could highlight my artistic endeavors beyond the web-comic. So, I registered www.neilbryer.com. I quickly coded up a "coming soon" front page and there the site has sat for...well...probably a year or two now, as it likely still would, if not for...
I've recently been made aware of upcoming changes to my employment (that I probably shouldn't go into at this time). This has prompted me to get off my but and get this site up and working. I'm hoping that it can, at best, help me obtain work in the field of my choosing (illustration and/or graphic design which what I went to school for) or, at least, get help get me some free lance work from time to time to supplement my current income.
So, that's where we are at the moment. I'm hitting a sharp learning curve and getting the new site all prettied up and am just starting to work on the functionality side of it, including this blog (which you're hopefully reading on my website, not through blogger. When I get this completed and up and rolling, I'm hoping I can use what I've learned here to improve the wombat site.
Anyway, I think that's enough for now.
-Neil
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