One of the extra things I said I’d get ready (while I’m not updating with story content) was a new donation wallpaper! The previous one had been around for too long, and I’d like to encourage people to donate once more. My immediate reason for this is that to get the website launched, I’m going to have to upgrade my hosting a bit. While it’s not a ton more money, a few bucks from a few of my readers would certainly help me out. You can find donation buttons in the sidebar or on the store page.

I’m going to do my best from now on to have a new donation wallpaper available each month. I have a bunch of ideas for silly illustrations that I probably wouldn’t have an excuse to draw otherwise, so I think it works out for everyone.

The old wallpaper is no longer available, but I may drag it back out at some point if I feel the need.

As I explained in Friday’s comic’s newspost, I’m going to be taking a break from producing regular Girlbot content for the next 2-3 weeks. This is NOT a hiatus. I’ve got some really great guest comics from a bunch of swell, thoughtful cartoonists lined up. So there will be new content every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, as promised. I’ll just be taking a step back for a little while.

Why do I need the break? Well, the main/official reason is that I’m going to be putting together a shiny, new Girlbot site, and since I’m a little slow on the draw with that sort of stuff, I need the time to make it happen and make sure it’s done right. But in addition to that, I need to play catch-up with my work on Poorcraft and some commissions that I’ve been neglecting. I’m also working on a special project for Welcome to Jinxville that needs some more prep before it’s ready to go. These are all things that would be pretty much impossible to make time for if I also had to worry about making deadline for Girlbot three times a week, especially with how labor intensive it’s been lately.

Another thing is that work on the comic has been stressing me out a lot — partially because of how much effort goes into each strip nowadays and partially because of worrying about all the other art work that needs doing — so it’s my hope that taking a break from it will recharge my batteries and help make this next year of comics not suck.

As much as I love Girlbot and try to make it a priority, it’s not a job for me yet. At least, it’s not a job that earns me anything close to even a meager wage. Maybe one day when I can call it a real, bona fide job and myself a legitimate professional webcartoonist, I won’t have the need for breaks or filler. It’ll just be sweet, sweet comics all the time. One day.

For now, I hope no one will begrudge me this time while I go wrestle with a few art demons. I may be taking a break, but it’ll be no vacation, I tell ya.

I finally got around to fixing up the store section of the site. Now, in addition to original art and commissions, there’s sections for prints, mini-comics, and t-shirts. (The shirt store has been around for a while, I just never linked officially for some reason.) The shirt store is a Spreadshirt shop, but everything else is on-site. The original art and print shops are both set up with PayPal, so you can submit a cart instead of e-mailing me. I’ve already sold a few mini-comics, but there are plenty more.

I’ll be adding more stuff to the print shop in the near future, including an option to buy prints of individual comic strips — which I’ll have to figure out a way to integrate into the site — and few more mini-comics, including a couple of non-Girlbot-related ones I hope people will like.

I’m now officially offering Girlbot-related commissions in a new store section! Check out my prices, and see if the idea strikes your fancy. For a piece of original art of your very own, these are some sweet deals, you guys.

Now that I’ve had some time to recover, a few words on the trip that caused me to resort to guest comics and a filler strip. (No, seriously, though, the guest comics were great. Thanks to all!)

First, I flew to fabulous Portland, Oregon, to finally see the city for myself and visit some folks!

Cute, interesting Portland neighborhoods.

I was in Portland for a few days. First I got to see the new studio space where Meredith Gran and Aaron Diaz both do their voodoo. Being an artist without her own private workspace — I have a drawing nook next to the living room in my house — I’m a little jealous. I also made a point of hanging out copious amounts with Peter Wartman, the fellow who drew this guest comic right here.

In addition to that, I went by the studio of freelance illustrator/cartoonist/rockin’ fella Kevin Cross, where he, Joshua Kemble, and I did two podcast recording sessions over the course of four hours. I ALSO got to spend a very valuable day with the people at Periscope Studio, where Pete (see above) is an intern. They helped me reorganize my portfolio and get my head on straight. Those are the best kinds of people to know, for a cartoonist.

Lovely day on the river walk.

Portland really is a beautiful, interesting city. I can really see why so many cartoonists have been flocking there in the past few years. I love Minneapolis, but I’m tempted to make the move myself in a year or two. I know that I need to go back at some point, anyway, so I can do all the things I didn’t have time for on this first visit. There were just too many things to see and people to meet in the few days I had before heading down to San Diego, California, for Comic-Con International.

On the bus.

It was about as exciting as you might guess.

The less said, the better, really.

If you’ve ever been to San Diego Comic-Con, you pretty much know the drill. I spent very little on books and junk at the con, though, and used most of my time to walk around, show my portfolio, and hang out with a bunch of cool people, including Iron Spike (with whom Pete and I were sharing a hotel room), Dirk Tiede, and Magnolia Porter. Good times were had by some.

Oh, and I pitched a 5-minute cartoon idea to the people at Titmouse in 2 minutes. Beat that!

Yup.

San Diego was exciting, but aggravating, as any big con is bound to be. I’m looking forward to being able to make an actual presence there in a year or two. Or three. For now, I’m fine alternately floating about and riding the coat tails of anyone I know who’s more accomplished than I am. (Kidding. I love you guys.)

That’s it, I guess, until the next big con trip. So many plans to make now. Plans, plans, plans.

This is so neat. Dave Shabet of Dead Winter drew this picture of a group of poor webcomic characters lost in the spooky, haunted woods of the 1920s:

Click for a bigger version.

From left to right…

• Reagan of Templar, AZ
• Reginald of Nedroid
• Captain Vanderbeam of Starslip
• Cat Rackham of Monstro-Draw
• Lizzie of Dead Winter
• Hanna of Octopus Pie
• some jerk doctor of Lucid TV
• Dr. McNinja of The Adventures of Dr. McNinja
• Takako of Heliothaumic
• Antimony of Gunnerkrigg Court
• KC Green of Horribleville
• Komiyan of Darken
• Left (or Right?) of The Comic Adventures of Left & Right
• THE TITLE CHARACTER of THE WEBCOMIC SITE YOU ARE ON RIGHT NOW
• Manny of Real Cane Sugar
• generic dude of Pictures for Sad Children

I feel validated, you guys. *single tear*

While I don’t have a lot of hits to throw around right now, I wanted to make a link post and give some attention to awesome people and comics. Are ya READY?!

First, here are some webcomics that linked to me. They are awesome, and their creators are awesome:

Girly
Templar, AZ
Gastrophobia
Dawn of Time
Tiny Kitten Teeth

And here’s some other comics that you may enjoy if you like Girlbot:

pear-pear
Rice Boy & Order of Tales
Daisy is Dead
Nothing Better
What Birds Know
The Princess Planet
Digger
The Tale of Tamarind

If you don’t read these comics, you are a fool.

In my surely my very first step towards world domination, or at least of domination of all webcomics about robots that look like little girls, an interview with me is featured in the latest episode of the Seqalab podcast, from the fine students and faculty of the comic art program at SCAD. Check it OUT! I just hope I don’t come off like a complete ass.

I’m, uh, sort of awkward. BIG SURPRISE.

Finally decided to start using the blog section on the Girlbot site. I was thinking of waiting until I did the redesign of the site — coming soon, I swear — but since I figure I’ll have some stuff to actually announce some time soon, that seems like a dumb idea.

I did make my entry to the Big Funny project on time, as I had mentioned in previous comic posts. I’ll hopefully have another, better post about that at a later date, assuming they want to use mine. I sure hope they do. That thing took a lot of effort. Effort that I could have been using to draw Girlbot.

I’ll make sure to show my entry off at some point, but right now it doesn’t seem right to post it online. Gonna keep it under wraps for now, but it should amuse anyone with an affection for Girlbot.

We’ll see.