process, process, fucking process!

okay.
so, because i mentioned that damned comic to all of you, i have actually been trying to work on it all week. and then i read this comment by la rebelde and something hit me. maybe i can actually post it without all the fanfare. maybe i can reveal to you my crappy sketches and my chicken scratch handwriting. maybe this isn't the project to get nit-picky and super anal about. maybe imperfection has its charms.

and so it goes. it's not like i'll win a macarthur with this comic. geez! and then i can cross something off my damn list! woohoo. okay, so in the interest of respecting the creative process, below i am sharing every bit of this comic with all of you. i beg your patience. please note that if you click on the images, they will open bigger on a new page. (incidentally, i have played around with the comic medium. you can see some examples of my comic post cards here and here.)

draft one:

the text reads: panel 1: *a 'funny' joke from the shop...*; "hey, why are women so bad at measuring?"
panel 2: "he, he. i dunno, why?"
panel 3: "cause they think six inches is this big!"
panel 4: *in my head, i think of a funny response...*; "hmmm"
panel 5: "why are dykes so good at measuring?"
panel 6: "'cause when six inches is this big, they return it to the store!"
panel 7: "he, he." *smug look*

well, this was really rough, which was fine. so then i began drawing a more refined version of it in pencil, here:


and then it hit me. it wasn't necessary to cram eight panels into one sheet of paper, since it wouldn't show up so well online (as the scan above shows). so then i started drawing individual panels at about two per page. my plan was to sketch out each one and then trace it with pen onto vellum.

so here is page one:


and here is the first image traced onto vellum:


second page:


of course, the fatigue sets in and my drawing slowly got sloppy:

but note the valiant effort of trying to perfect my hand grasping the makita brand sander.

and finally, i tried to start the next one with my hand beginning to cramp:


and then i thought, "like i'm gonna get a macarthur with this comic! just post the fucking thing!"

voila!