One of the things I've been thinking about doing in UnCONventional is changing up some of the character's outfits. When the comic started out, it seemed obvious to make the characters appear uniform so they'd stand out. When the comic was mostly set against a white backdrop, having never changing outfits didn't seem incongruous either... but as more detail has crept in, it seems weird that they never seem to change.
While there aren't a lot of defining features on a stick figure, what I've realized is that these characters have distinct enough faces (and styles) that in the current strip I can mix things up.
What you see above is a version of Lynn I did with this in mind. I wanted to put her in warmer colors, and maybe something that would be a tad more sensible in northern Wisconsin than her previous skirt. You'll also note she has her work ID badge still on - as I plan on exploring more of the world of Eau De Puanteur, WI over the next year or two.
I had considered doing a whole spinoff about Lynn's workplace, but man... I do NOT have time for a third webcomic.
Because I like to occasionally sleep.
Sleep is good...
- Traegorn
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 So a few weeks ago I broke my office chair. This chair has been, for the record, the most comfortable desk chair I've ever sat in, and since I work from home, I spend about eight hours a day in it.
So, y'know, I've bonded with it a bit.
So when a little bit of welding broke, separating the chair from the base, I was exceptionally unhappy. I mean... it's my chair.
After the initial frustration (and grabbing a dining room chair so I could get back to work), I had to figure out what to do. I mean, I could technically afford to go spend the money on a new chair, but the chances are I wouldn't like it as much as my old one. Frankly, my chair was bought on clearance, and isn't produced anymore... so I'd be compromising if I went this route.
And then I realized -- the part that broke would be easy to remove... and maybe I could just buy that bit.
Lo and behold, after a bit of googling, I found out the wonderful fact that office chairs have standard parts. The bracket that broke? I could just get a new one. And so I went out and bought one. And since the part of the bracket that broke off was almost impossible to get off the cylinder, I got a new one of those too.
As the parts arrived, I rebuilt my chair. Like a phoenix, it arose from the ashes... mostly. I didn't bother checking where one of the levers was on the new bracket, so I had to modify it with a saw and some duct tape to fit under my seat... but that's not big deal at all. My chair is now sturdy, steady, and comfortable again.
Huzzah.
- Traegorn
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 I mentioned about a month ago about how I got rear ended while I was traveling for the Holidays. Well, I got around to taking the car in to get repaired over a week ago. I rented a car for last weekend to head up to Milwaukee (and to do some errands throughout the week) as the car was originally going to be fixed by today. What I wasn't counting on was one of the parts that needs replacing on my car (the rear body panel) to be on national back order.
This means that it'll be at least a week, if not longer, before I get my precious Silver 2011 Nissan Versa Hatchback returned to me.
I miss my car, dammit.
If this were summer, it wouldn't be a huge deal. I work from home, there are several grocery stores in walking distance, and Crysta can take the bus down to the University. But it's winter, and winter in Indiana means lots of ice on the ground. If this were Wisconsin, it would just be cold - and I can deal with cold. But the temperature here fluctuates wildly, and the half-assed local government doesn't salt enough even though things get this bad every year.
Winter is difficult here without a car.
But there's really nothing I can do about any of it -- I can't make Nissan manufacture parts faster by wiggling my nose. I just have to wait. Wait without a car...
...and it really kind of sucks.
- Traegorn
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 So this last weekend Crysta and I drove up to Milwaukee for Nezumi Con, a little one day convention held at MIAD downtown. I figured that since I'm not going to be at Anime Milwaukee this year, it might be nice to do some promotion up in that region -- not to mention my absolute love for startup conventions.
The convention itself was small, probably only about a hundred attendees, and was held on the fourth floor of the MIAD school. The vendor room was appropriately sized for the crowd though, and the room also served as the venue for the Cosplay contest. I spent my whole time there behind my table, so I didn't get a chance to experience any of their other stuff (I know they had a Maid Cafe, panels, and some tabletop gaming -- but I never got to check it out).
All in all though, it was a pretty fun little event. The staff was nice and courteous, and while I might have tweaked one or two things if I'd been running the con myself, I have no real complaints about the event.
Which, if you know me, is a miracle. I like to complain about everything.
If the timing works out (and presuming they do this event again), I'll definitely turn out for Nezumi Con next year. Also, we were seated next to a very nice artist named Tara Coble, and you should check out her stuff. It's neat.
- Traegorn
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This week's UnCONventionals introduced a new background for the comic - that of the hotel room. Now those who know me realize that I don't like to do overly complicated sets for comics unless I think I can reuse them... well, unless there's no other way to tell a joke.
Historically, that's meant a lot of UnCONventional's are set against walls - which to be fair, is fairly realistic, since a lot of the "non standard" locations end up being hallways.
In this case though, I decided not to skimp - and the reason is simple: all hotel rooms look the same. All I have to do is move a few lamps, change the colors, and boom -- it's a different hotel.
That and I'm trying to be less lazy.
Less lazy is good.
- Traegorn
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So one of the biggest mysteries to me since moving to Indiana in 2010 is that none of my neighbors seem to own ice scrapers for their cars. Come winter time, while I'm scraping the ice off my windshield, I see people trying to use their wipers and just looking confused at their vehicles.
I grew up in Wisconsin, and lived most of my adult life in the Northwestern part of the state. One thing in everyone's car there is an ice scraper (or two) for the winter. And while it's not quite as cold down here in Indiana, I'd say there's still a solid three months where that $5 piece of plastic is exceptionally handy.
Frankly, with the fluctuating temperatures, I think I scrape my windshield off more often now that I'm in Indiana than I did back in Wisconsin. Yet I am still the only one who doesn't seem to stare at their iced over windshield with a confused look in my apartment parking lot every morning.
Should I just buy a bunch and hand them out to the confused masses? Or maybe I should sell them for an exceptionally high markup?
I smell a business opportunity...
- Traegorn
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When I decided to transition UnCONventional to color, one thing I didn't think about was how much more time I'd have to spend on backgrounds.
When the comic was black and white, I could just cheat a lot of the time - put the characters against a gradient and pretend it was a wall. Now, of course, that doesn't really work. It ends up looking like the characters are standing in an empty void.
Which would only be good if this actually took place in one.
Which it doesn't.
So I went and made more work for myself. No matter, it's not like I wasn't already doing the same for my other comic - but it's one of those things I never thought about when I started planning the change.
- Traegorn
[ Comments ( 1 ) ]
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Posted Jan 14, 2013 - 10:48:08
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Weather has been a bit of a roller coaster these last few days in Lafayette, IN. On Friday and Saturday it amazingly almost got into the 60s, and then it snapped back to reality with 20s and teens yesterday and today.
And in the middle? Rain.
This means the world around me is covered in a veneer of ice. I almost had to chip my way into my car. It would all be quite lovely... if it weren't a huge pain in the ass.
At least the world isn't pretending to be anything other than winter now. Temperatures actually look like January again - and at the very least I can thank the world for returning to my expectations.
My annoying, annoying expectations.
- Traegorn
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 Well, almost last minute it seems. I know it's only two and a half weeks away, but I'm happy to add another con to my schedule. On January 26th I'll be up in my home town of Milwaukee for Nezumi Con at the Milwaukee Institute of Art and Design. It's a small, one day convention - but I think it will be a lot of fun. Admission is only $5, so if you're in the area, you should definitely come on down. I'll have copies of the first three The Chronicles of Crosarth books for sale along with the first two chapters of UnCONventional. Sorry about not having book three of UnCONventional ready, but it's only January -- I know it will be on sale by Spring though.
And I know it's a few more months out, but I want to remind people that I'm a guest at Anomaly Con (March 29-31) this year in Denver, CO. I don't get out to that part of the country that often, so I'm excited. It's a pretty cool looking Steampunk convention, and I thoroughly encourage everyone and anyone to attend.
Because I'll be there.
And I'm quite awesome.
The question before me right now is whether or not I should add any more cons to the schedule than what I have planned now. I know I haven't made any announcements about the fall, but it's pretty safe to assume I'll be doing about three cons around then.
The real question is whether I should do any this summer?
I've traditionally taken the summers off from conventions. I do some other non-convention travel then, and I figured it was easier if I just wasn't running around willy nilly trying to gets books printed and sleeping in hotel rooms. This means there's a huge gap in my calendar though - from the last spring con I do in April until September there's just nothing.
Should I change that? Should I try to do more shows?
I'm honestly not sure.
- Traegorn
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