What’s Coming in 2016?

Well, 2016 is here!  We’re one week in and we already had a domestic terrorist attack.  So we’re off to a good start.

Anyway, 2015 was quite a year.  Optimistically Cynical continued on, and got a big makeover.  I went to more conventions than ever, and upped my sketching skills while investing in some new tools.  I started drawing Black Snow: Another Round digitally, only to decide to start it over again with a pen and ink style.  So a lot of good stuff.

Some bad too.  My grandpa passed away, so I wasn’t able to do the Alternative Press Expo when it returned to San Jose last October.  And unfortunately I’m still having a problem with the show’s organizer, Dan Vado, the head of SLG.  And if you’re keeping score, yes, this is the same man who decided not to publish Two Drink Minimum.  I was told I’d get my registration fees refunded since I couldn’t attend, which still hasn’t happened, and Dan has basically stopped communicating with me when I ask about it.

While it was great to see Alex back in town and attend his wedding, our communication concerning the comic wasn’t so great.  Hopefully that will improve as he sees more of the book fleshed out.

Which brings me to what you can expect from 2016!  As mentioned, work continues on Another Round.  I got a lot of fancy new paper, pens, markers and a huge scanner so I could draw the book in the traditional comic book style.  And you can see the results with this preview of the first scene.

So I’m very excited about that, and hard at work on the second scene.  I’m doing my best to get Alex back to writing so I won’t hit a time where the drawing is caught up to him.  Speaking of his writing, in the few scenes he’s written things have already veered off a little from what we had planned.  Which is not necessarily a bad thing.  I think he is taking more ownership of it and I’m excited to see where he takes it.

While working on that, I plan to keep putting out Optimistically Cynical every Sunday.  I may end up doing it twice a week depending on how quickly I’m able to do it and how busy I am.  It’s still a lot of fun to make, and I have quite a few new ideas for it in the coming year.  The response has been mostly positive, so I think people are enjoying it.

I’m not scheduled for any conventions this year.  I’m considering a few, but I might take the year off.  While I enjoy doing them there have also been a lot of negative experiences, like refund situation I mentioned.  Plus they are expensive, and I never come close to making my money back.  If you really want me to appear at a convention I suggest contacting the person running it  and telling them so they can bring me in as a guest.  Then it costs me nothing, they promote my appearance and just treat me better in general.

I do want to do more sketches, prints and commissions this year.  Those are a lot of fun, and a way to actually make a little money.  So if you are interested in having me draw something for you just let me know!