week off w00t

I have a holiday coming up next week. Going to be doing all sorts of Fringe festival stuff hopefully. Also i will be sitting my rear end down and get back into gear with the comics, so hopefully I'll be able to then focus on the website and figure out how to use MySQL and other programmes.

w000t

things are slowly starting to right themselves here in Seski-world. The flat is almost completely organised (yay!) just a few more things need to be re-arranged and a few more pieces of furniture bought.

the registrar has our booking forms (after 3 faxing attempts) so we can now go visit them on the 23rd of September and say "we want to get married" then pay £60 for the privilage of going down there to say this..... of course there is also the fee for them CONDUCTING the ceremony as well... but we dont have to worry about that JUST yet.... I hope.
My job hunting is picking up again and I will start putting in my CVs to more places....

my art is also on a bit of an up... I have a piece that I'm working on and so far it has taken 2 hours... I expect it to take another 20 at least before its done... I'm determined not to get lazy with this one. after Im happy with it I will return my attention to the comics.

Im also currently writing a story.... I doubt it'll ever get published but I want to get it written down then I am going to perfect it as best I can, then send it off to publishers. I expect rejections but I want to prove myself that I CAN complete something.... I may just publish it myself and sell it on the website.

Moving, marriage and mangaka

its been far too long since I updated.

things have been so busy here that I just haven't had time to update this blog. Also it doesn't help that I have only just gained internet access again on Friday.

So, moving... Ive learnt that packing a van when moving is a lot like playing tetris, but without the satisfaction of a full line disappearing automatically... no... you have to do that yourself... and its slow. We ended up doing about 8-9 loads over the span of 3 days. My back was in agony afterward. Most of the stuff go piled into any available space, so by the end it was like a mountaineering expedition just to get into the bedroom.

Currently the place is still a mess, though rooms are slowly starting to clear out, and things are finding their rightful place. The Study/art room is almost done, all that remains is to buy a new bookshelf for my art books and an artist table (FINALLY) for me to draw at... currently I use the computer table which is too high and too cluttered.

As for how the wedding planning is going... well its floundering about at the moment because of bureaucratic English laws which starting out silly and have become completely insane.

it all started with Ollie and myself wanting to get married in England, as we were both born in England and most of our family resides there. We decided to get married near where my family live for several reasons, mostly because it would be mostly my family going (because I have the larger family). We booked the venue fine enough, though they advised to book the registrar as soon as possible to make sure that they were available, as it HAS to be the local registrar for that district that we go with. So we rang up the registrar and everything was going well till we informed them that we currently lived in scotland.... Now remember that Ollie and I were not only born in England, but resided there for all our lives up until 2 years ago....
"Oh well you'll have to come and live in England 7 days and 7 nights and on the 8th day you must both come to the registrar and officially announce your request to marry"......riiiiiiight...

I mean its not like we'd moved to America, we were still in Great Britain, just 2 hours train journey from my home town. But no, even being born in England didn't give us automatic rights to marry there. Also we could only announce the marriage, at the very earliest, a year before we wished to wed.

but this is where it starts getting REALLY stupid.

My father was born in Northern Ireland, and lived there most of his life. My mother moved over there when she was very young, but luckily for me in this case she was born in England....

because if they were both from Ireland then there would be trouble... you see I haven't updated my passport, so as proof of my British citizenship I not only have to take my birth certificate, but one of my parent's as well.... and here is the real kicker.... My dad's birth certificate is pretty much null and void in this instance... because he was born in Northern Ireland.

its so stupid... and its driving me up the wall. All I want is for this venue to be booked so I can stress about OTHER aspects of the wedding.

But anyway... we are getting it sorted.... so by the 23rd of September 2008 we will have everything very firmly booked. (fingers crossed)


Going on to my art...... well there hasnt been any art recently. Mainly due to the moving but also because I just dont feel inspired. I feel too STRESSED about work and the wedding and getting everything sorted for the flat... and it's depressing me. I am going to start trying to draw again soon, but I just cant bring myself to do it. I hate my art, and I know it sounds so stupid, but I wish people would not tell me that they are jealous of my talent and ask me how I learnt to draw so well.... I CANT DRAW WELL! I DOODLE! I get frustrated at people telling me I'm good because I know Im NOT. Im honestly not looking for sympathy or people to then say "dont be silly of course you're good". Im not... I used to be amazing as a young kid... but I just lost patience to learn and just did quick stuff... I grow bored of projects quickly or I become disgusted with my work 9 out of 10 pieces gets ripped up and tossed in the bin....I'm very de-motivated.

well thats my ranting over with... I should get back to sorting this place out.

ciao for now

Seskimo

beatings

so I got beaten up by my fiance last night. I have a rather tender jaw this morning.... to be honest I gave him a few good beatings as well.... No it wasn't domestic violence, we were sparring for the first time in a long.... and I suck (but he sucks more). I used to do a lot of thai boxing, kick boxing and normal boxing... but this was at least 2 years ago. I'm not as flexible as I once was. Whereas I used to be able to kick up to the height of a six foot person, I can now only just reach head height of my 5ft9 fiance. its a little depressing so I'm thinking, after all this silliness with moving, job hunting and wedding venue hunting, I will look at joining a thai boxing group again.

as for my art. I am slowly getting out of the artist block. pages wont update again till next week however. I don't want to rush myself when I'm having such an awful time drawing or feeling inspired to draw.

well thats all from me.

ciao for now

artist blocks are the worst

I am currently suffering a MAJOR artist block at the moment. its at the point where even the characters I turn to when I usually get an artist block are not helping me. I have no creativity for drawing, writing, scripting.... nothing. Even role playing I cant seem to think of an original character... my mind is a mental desert with no oasis in sight.

The usual cause of such creative dry-ups is too much "other stuff" going on. And believe me there is a lot going on. As has been mentioned on my website, Ollie (my fiance) and myself are flat hunting. I am also job hunting and on top of that there is a wedding to plan. It doesnt help as well that I am the one who deals with all our finances, and looking at the bank account at the moment is like watching light being sucked up by a black hole.... ok Im over-exaggerating. We arent that bad but Im not used to being in debt. I dont LIKE (no one does) being in debt and it troubles me.

Blogs

Im fairly bad at updating blogs, I must admit. I never know what to say in them other then give a reason for a comic not going up. However I think I'll try and use this more, possibly for musing random stuff that interests me. I'll see what I can come up with

catch up catch up

well I can happily announce there will DEFINATELY be a page up this wednesday (unless an anvil falls from the sky and crushes my computer... or something to that effect). I have just completed it and have made sure that it is saved in the correct folder so I don't have the scenario of page 3 repeat itself. I'm also happy because I have the next 2 pages of NIGHTLIFE inked and ready... though I am still going to hold back till June before I start updating again... and I'm afraid that Nightlife will be Black and White for the majority, though I may do a couple of colour pages once in a while when I feel I have the time. I'm also almost caught up on the art I need to get done for my GM. It seems that, despite the bad start, today has been rather good on the creative front.

thats all from me

Ciao for now.

seskimo

GAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

I have gone and completely lost the 3rd page of Tekumel which I completed last night. I am NOT happy. Im going for a walk then I'll work on it again. it'll be up this evening.

sneeky photos of the gamers

I took my camera to the gaming session last Wednesday and took a couple of photos of the guys gaming. here is one of them with scribblings of info. enjoy :)

Busy day for Seskimo

well today was supposed to be a day off for me to get on with both Webcomics, however I ended up doing several things.
firstly I had to run into town for a leaving card for my Manager who is going to another department.
I then had to go to a job interview which I was invited to on wednesday.
Next I went into work to drop off a leaving present and card for my manager.
Then I went to the GPs as my heart scan results came in... nothing to report I have to say. (this means I will now be going in again for x-rays)
then I met up with Ollie for a quick spot of lunch.
I made it back home about 2pm and I have decided to work on the Tekumel page. This means there probably WONT be an update tonight, however there will be a proper site for tekumel by Sunday, along with the next page.

I think from now on Im not going to give reasons why I havent updated, just accept that I work full time and have other things to contend with.

thats all from me.

Seskimo

Why there is no new Tekumel page

unfortunately I was unable to complete the next Tekumel page last night as I have been unwell (again). I have been sick since Saturday evening, we thought it was because of the rides at Alton Towers but it appears to be something more. If it persists I am going to go to the Doctors. But basically because of the illness I felt so drained I went to bed at 9pm last night. I also cant eat anything without feeling like I'm going to throw up. I will try my hardest to get the page ready for Friday, though I don't know how well I'm going to be.

SESKI'S NEW SPECS!

Now its not often I will put photos up of me on the internet. I am not very photogenic and quite frankly I think Im a bit butch looking.... but I just HAD to show everyone my 2 new pairs of sexy glasses. Glasses are the only item I'll spend more then £100 on... because lets face it, I have to wear them ALOT and they have to last me a long time. better to spend a lot and have them last than cheap and keep buying new pairs... my previous set lasted me just under 3 years, which isnt bad going since Im so clumsy!
The ones with cool stripes down the sides are "Red or Dead" and the slightly more plain "for work" glasses are Tommy Hilfiger.

(AFTER THOUGHT: Im not sure how long this post will be here, lets see how long I can stand having my image up)

creating a portfolio

Since I have stopped Nightlife for a month, meaning I can take a bit more time on the pages, and the fact that Tekumel pages only take me about 2 hours to do, I have started working on several projects to build up a portfolio for when I decide to start doing commission work. its also giving me a chance to improve several artistic skills and push myself.
I'm also going to start asking around several forums for anyone who wishes to have any work done for free. So if anyone reads this and wants something done for free (for a limited time only) I will be more than happy to oblige.

bleh

I was going to spend the day doing pages for the new comic as well as finish nightlife's next page. its been such a long day however, I just got back from the opticians, and I am not in the mood to draw. Nightlife will be updated tomorrow evening and I will work on the tekumel pages sunday.

right now however Im going for a nice long soak in the bath and then I might play Assassin's creed for a bit.

The Next Page of Nightlife....

Night life may or may not have a page done by tomorrow. I realise I am sucking at updating the pages at the moment, but I have SO many things on at the moment i struggle to find time to do the pages. Im "inking" the page at the moment.... probably wont get around to colouring till tomorrow morning...

In other news I was at the GP today for the Nth time about chest problems. Now I may or may not be going to hospital tomorrow. it depends if I can get time. I'm supposed to have a heart scan, but I also need new glasses.... and really id rather have a new set of glasses. I know, I know, priorities messed up, but the reason for my scan has been around for years... it isn't going anywhere any time soon. I will probably go on Monday if not Friday. don't worry its nothing serious.... possibly... ok I don't know but I haven't DIED so I doubt it.
so, yeah... this is one of the reasons for me being a bit slow. I'm also planning on sitting for the whole day and drawing pages for the new comic so I have enough of a backlog.... or at least enough to start updates.

THE NEW WEBCOMIC

here we have the front cover of my latest project: "Tekumel: Chronicles of the Hill People."
These are the three main characters of the story, which is based upon the RPG I currently attend. If you want to read up on the sorts of things these characters have been up to then go to my GM's blog HERE
although I will warn you that a lot of stuff there will be spoilers (however Im going to add my own artistic licensing on some of the stuff....possibly.)

The planned start for this comic is next Wednesday, fingers crossed I can keep to that. It will then continue to update on Wednesdays and possibly the occasional Saturdays from then on.

Nightlife will still update as much as possible, and if anything has to be sacrificed for what ever reason (even if just for a short period) it will probably be Tekumel first.

DISCLAIMER: TEKUMEL AND ALL CREATURES COPYRIGHT OF PROFESSOR M.A.R BARKER. CHARACTERS ARE COPYRIGHT OF THEIR RESPECTIVE OWNERS (KUNA, the female, COPYRIGHT OF SESKIMO... ie me.)

Uh Oh

well Ive gone and done a terrible terrible thing.... I bought Assassins Creed for the PC.... I will probably get distracted by that on my evenings which may cause the pages for NightLife to become a little late... there will be an update tomorrow though it may be in the evening (about 11pm in the evening). I will try not to distract myself too much with the game.
Im also working on the new comic at the moment. More info on that will be coming later.

thats all from me for now.

seskimo

new website layout

unfortunately I doubt there will be a new page of the comic this week. This is primarily due to the fact that I am working on updating the site... hopefully for the better.
also I will be having a little look at MYSQL and how that works as well as CSS (I think its time I stepped up a notch with my web design. Ive been told it will make life a lot easier if I use CSS instead of HTML.... we shall see.)

another thing is that I'm struggling with one panel of the comic, and I really want to start working on the look of the thing. therefore I'm going to take my time with it. I will, however, put new art up as and when I have any done in the mean time.

so in the mean time, keep an eye out for the new web site design.

Seskimo

All Hail The Admin Girl!

well I have one less stress off my plate. I have convinced my awesome cousin to do the admin side of the website for me. this means she will mess about with programs such as MYSQL and Wordpress. she is an utter legend and I constantly bow down to her knowledge of anything computer-based. Hurray for my cousin!

I wish other things were going well... but they're not. The next page is progressing along ok, and may well be up tonight. but more personal issues are getting me down at the moment, though I wont go into them.

oh well! thats life.

awol seski

I'm very run down and constantly on edge at the moment.... probably due to the fact that I spend 35-38 hours a week a work, then spend a further 8-16 hours a week on web comics, have 2 sets of 4 hour gaming sessions a week also, and then try to find SOME time to spend with the fiance. It is causing me to be ill a lot of the time and I'm also very stressed and angry for no reason (I don't think it helps that I've been eating nothing but salad pretty much constantly the last week.) I try not to be a girl... I hate doing cliche girly things like storming off... but sometimes its better then punching someone in the face (....again)

so I want to make a formal apology to my gaming friends for running away last night.
you see, I had the guys around my house, but felt so pent up I had to do something. I was on the verge of either throwing something or breaking down into tears (and I refuse to let people see me in tears if at all possible) so I got up, put on my shoes and left. I know, a bit immature but honestly,and you can ask my fiance, you don't want to see me when I'm pissed off. luckily he was there to be a good host in my place.

I'm sorry guys (if your reading this) and I will try not to do it again.


on the other hand I got to watch the most beautiful sunset over the sea. the waves were gently lapping and the only noise was that of the ocean and the seagulls in the distance. it was an image that could not have been painted of photographed... it was just too perfect. the whole sky was golden and there were only a few wispy clouds dotted about. I wish I could describe just how amazing it was.

____________________________________________________________________

AND IN COMIC NEWS....
____________________________________________________________________
going back to comic stuff.... I am currently trying to draw the next page ENTIRELY on computer (I am trying to save money on blue lead and paper, since I'm almost out of both)

we'll see how well it turns out soon.

a new chapter, a new style

Chapter 2's front page marks the start of a new colouring style for my comic, though its very subtle I think it works well. also I have just left the inked lines black instead of colouring them. It looks better I've decided. I am also changing the way I draw the pages in order to make better quality pages. I am putting 2 panels onto a page, giving me more room to add details etc. I will then be shuffling them about on adobe and setting them up to look like a comic. At some stage I want to cut out the drawing on paper all together and draw from my Wacom tablet straight onto Adobe. I'm not fully confident with that yet however so it may only be random panels every now and again.

ok I really am just babbling now, but I wanted to just say that there are a few changes being made to the over-all process......

sick seski

Ive just got home after leaving work feeling like I'm about to throw up. I will try and do some of the page today but it will be in bouts of probably 10 minute sessions. so it's going to be slow progress. hopefully it will be up tonight however.

SITE ISSUE RESOLVED

i finally figured out what was wrong and why I couldn't upload my site onto the new host server I have set up on lunar pages. the reason was simple but took me a while to realise. I had not changed the DNS on my domain name to co-inside with lunarpages.... hence when I logged onto the FTP program it had NO idea what I was asking for. ahh well easy mistake to make Im sure. (translation: is a dumb ass)

so, why the change of server I here you (translation: no one) ask. simple really. the host server I was currently using did not offer MySQL, which is vital to use wordpress, as part of the basic package. I would have had to pay £160 for the privilage. However with Lunarpages it is part of the price, as well as a lot of other nifty features. the only down side with lunar pages is that it has a bandwith limit where as fasthost did not... but I doubt I'll be reaching that any time soon. if it does come to a point where I reach my quota on a regular basis I will consider upgrading, though it will cost me a lot more. but I will not worry about that just yet. in stead I'll be happy its finally all sorted and I can focus on the webcomic again.

No page this friday

I wish I could post this up on the main page of the website but unfortunately my ftp is playing up.

there will be no page this Friday, due mainly to the fact that I am unable to do ANYTHING with the site (refer to what I just said in the first sentence)

its all because of this new host. I'm struggling to find any of the correct ftp details.

On a brighter note however, I have re-written chapter 2. Maya (my favourite character) will be appearing as of the first page of the chapter. this also means that Ruben will come into play in chapter 3... as well as introducing the final two main characters it also means one of the main the stories comes into play about 3 chapters early due to how I have re-written the chapter. I'm quite pleased I did it... though some of the scenes will be difficult to draw and are going to put my skills to the test.... but thats also a good thing :)


due to the fact that Maya is now appearing earlier than before I will also (soon as I get the damn site working again) be updating only twice a week, this means I can start focusing on another project I am doing.

anyway thats all from me. hopefully updates will resume as of next week.

seskimo

clocks went forward....

so I woke up at "7:00am" according to the clock in my bedroom. I thought great, I'll have a page finished and up by 10am. so I jump out of bed and turn on my computer... only to find my computer telling me it was infact "8:00am"..... to which I thought "oh crap. clocks went forward."

so Im currently struggling through a page, and even though its only an hour I lost, it has completely thrown me and I cant seem to get into the swing of it.

there will definately be a page done before 3pm, but its taking me a while (also there is more background so its taking a while again.)

I doubt I'll have a page done for Monday however, thus I will have next weeks update be Tuesday and friday..... fingers crossed.

Seskimo

god-damnit.

So I got one page done yesterday when I promised 2+. there are several reasons for this, and they may also affect me getting a page up Sunday and Monday as well.
first off the page I put up took me far longer then it should have done. usually I can get a page done in an evening... this one took me 3. Granted I only spent 2 hours most per evening but that still equates to about 6 hours.

secondly I started feeling ill yesterday afternoon. I'm still not brilliant but I don't feel as rough as I did.

finally this week at work (which is usually when I get my inking done) has been so hectic I have had no time to think about my comic. I did not even get much time at lunch times to do it.

This means I currently have no back-log of inked pages to simply colour and be done with... I will have to ink a few more. thankfully I have work today and since Saturdays are usually dead I think I'll have some success, even if its just one I get done.

well thats all from me for now. I'll hopefully get something done!

seskimo

2 more pages

today I only managed to get 2 more pages finished and up. Im falling a little behind on my planned shedule and will have no time to catch up for this friday's update, however I will be able to get back on track this weekend so hopefully I'll still be on target.

todays 2 pages bring 2 new characters.... or at least 1 and a bit....
Demitri is quite a cool character, though he only really has a bit part for the first few chapters. We'll get to know more about him and his past later in the comic.

thats all from me for now.

catch ya later!

Seskimo

the first 7 pages.

ok... so they have been up since Friday. what can I say? they're aren't the most revealing panels in the world. they will get a little bit more so later on.

here is the plan of action: 3 page update on Monday, followed by a 3 or 4 page update on Friday.

this will bring me up to 13 or 14 pages. chapter 1 is 20 chapters long, including the "front cover". this means I need to get another 6 done the week after that. This will put me on track to get onto more interesting plots such as the introduction of Maya (end of chapter 2) and Ruben (start of chapter 4... I know he's a long way off being introduced.)

hopefully I will be able to keep up at least 4 pages updated a week from then on for at least the next few weeks till I start production on my next webcomic "Tekumel: the Chronicles of the Hill people"

thats all from me for now.

Seskimo

THE COMIC IS UP!!!!

pages 1-7 of the comic NIGHTLIFE are up and running. they can be foudn on my website www.seskimoshack.co.uk/nightlifeindex.htm

I shall blog about them a little later but first I have to go to work!


ciao

seskimo

falling behind with the website

boring news but its something I wish to share due to frustration.

Im still quite far behind on the website layout. Its up, its running, but its lacking any sort of interesting comment.

Im currently just doing stuff behind the scenes, such as paying for MySQL on my server so that I can, at some point in the near future, put up Wordpress. It should make updating the comic so much easier afterwards.

however its all a bit of a trial, and since putting MySQL onto the server costs £25 per year.... its not a cheap solution.

oh well. We all must sacrifice in the name of love.

Pulling my hair out over web design

I really need to either; A) learn how to set up php powered sites. or, B) find someone who can do it for me.

because quite frankly, doing a webcomic purely with HTML is not going to work. for example. to do one months worth of archive calendar has taken 160-odd lines of html table code...... damnit.... maybe I can rope an old tech friend into helping me.

oh well... back the grind stone

keeping ahead of the game... not

gahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!

its taking me ages to get enough pages done so that im far enough ahead. Its not because of any technical problem, or artistic problem.... purely that I keep distracting myself. I have nearly done 2 pages today. its a Sunday.... Im sure I should have had more done then this!

its not all bad news though. I am still far enough ahead for me to feel happy about starting this comic on saturday. fingers crossed I can keep up the pace. I need to get a page a night done over the next week to make me happy enough to have it update 7 days for the first week.

its only 2 hours a night though, and with no late shifts at work that will only take me till 8pm every evening (just in time to settle down for Star Trek DS9)

anyway... Im distracting myself again, so I should get this page finished!

thats all from me!

Seskimo

Re-doing the website... again

Im currently re-designing the website. Im just never happy with the results. I know its my own fault for lacking creativity when it comes to site design (also my fairly low amount of HTML knowledge), I think I may end up getting my cousin involved, she's fairly good with sites.

Im starting to work on another comic as well. that wont be up for quite a while... lets just see how the first one goes eh?

its based on the RPG Im currently playing in. you can find information by going to the GMs blog here

My character is the Girl called Kuna (there is a write up there by the GM)

anyway I should be getting off for work now.

Ciao

Seskimo

Taking the day off the do webcomic pages

I am currently using precious holiday time so that I can get on with more webcomic pages. It has taken me 2 hours to finish 1 page....... I think I need a break for a while. the aim is to get two, if not 3 pages done today, but I doubt thats going to happen anymore... well at least Im still on track (sort of)

thats all from me for now.

The Blog For My comic

I decided that I would set up a blog for my comic which I am starting up soon. Not sure what I will put up on here just yet, probably I will make commentaries on pages put up, or maybe make my excuses for why pages HAVEN'T been put up *prays that this will never actually happen, but know it will*

I'm not the best at blogs, and often get lazy with them.... but since this will be connect to my webcomic I will make an extra effort to keep up to date.

and for anyone interested, the site which will be hosting my comic is www.seskimoshack.co.uk and it will start going up as of the 22nd March.