And now it’s time for my yearly, “I’ve been inking comics, so I don’t have time for new material” inktober. Here’s a panel from this week’s Skeleton Crew featuring Shelly the Frankensteinian construct and Zomboy the zombie.
Skeleton Crew preview, by Monica Marier
Here’s Inktober Day 22, featuring Miles Reyner the Entertainer from CRIT! This is yet another pic that will be on the new CRIT! banner. He will be holding a 6-sided die.
Miles Reyner, by Monica Marier 2015
Today’s offering for Inktober is a half-elf bard code name: THE FACE. She’s studying her script for the next Dungeon Tour. She has to be both the victim and the villain so she has a quick-change costume that will adapt. Sorry for the weird angle I shot it with, but my hands keep shaking and I’m tired.
The Face by Monica Marier
Today’s Inktober is for an upcoming project: Dungeon Tours. Here’s a sign you might see outside of one of these pre-fab tourist dungeons, featuring the lovable mascot, Bellicose Badger!
Here’s my Inktober for Day 9. I put a shoutout for ideas, and my friend Barrie requested to see Linus in a school uniform. I’m sure she meant something along the lines of cramming 52-year-old Linus into a Japanese boys school uniform, but I did her one better. Here is a young Linus (about 19) in the official Uniform of the Rangers Union Pre-One student.
He looks like he’s on the way to archery practice, and doesnt’ care if his hair is combed or his jacket is hooked up. He has three leaves on his shoulder indicating that this is his third year as a student (students take 4 years to complete courses). His jacket also Features the triple-leaf emblem of the Rangers Union on his chest. The drawing needs some tweaking, but I like details that I came up with on the fly that add a little more to Linus’s story.
Hope you like it, Barrie.
Linus Pre-One, by Monica Marier, pen and ink
Inktober Day 7, here’s a creepy little Linus pic. It’s going to be used in this week’s cover of CRIT! Issue 6
The Castle (cover art), by Monica Marier 2015
And this, ladies and gentlemen, is why you don’t ask your friends to “challenge you.” I put out a general shout-out on Facebook for drawings of my original characters in various states and my friend Danny Valentini asked if I could do a picture of his Donuts For Looking analogue, Barney Valentine…NAKED. And so this happened.
Italian Nude with Cherry Blossoms, by Monica Marier
Now, I’m only guessing at most of the details here, but being Italian myself I think I’m on the right track. He reminds me of “Bellini” from Kids in the Hall.
I leave you with these parting words, “Curse you, Danny. CURSE YOU.”
Here’s Day 3 of Inktober. I drew Linus from CRIT! He’s actually tossing a D8 over his shoulder, that part’s not put in yet, since my mathematical perspective is strictly non-euclidean. Media is Pen and Ink. This is going to be on a big CRIT! banner at some point. I like how I managed to get more scar tissue on his skin.
Linus Weedwhacker, by Monica Marier
Day 2 of the Inktober Challenge, and here is an attempt at Quince the Barbarian. Big Muscley men are very strange to draw because their proportions always seem, just WRONG. I even did this with a photo-reference and I remember looking at all the photos of muscley men and thinking they just look like cartoons, and made of clay. Oh well. Minimal lines, since I intend to colour this. See you all tomorrow.
Well, okay here we go. I’ve been putting off writing this, because I’m still figuring it all out, but I’ll do my best.
Hunt Press and I have mutually parted ways and I am currently without a publisher. They wished me all the best and I wish them the best of luck. I’ll never forget that Angela was the first publisher to believe in my and my work. They were my first break and my first fans. But things came up and they optioned me the rights to my works back and we both agreed that would be the best course. Thanks for everything, Angela, Barrie, Laureen, and Tamala, and I’m glad we’re all still buddies.
I’m excited and scared and a little overwhelmed.
What does this mean? Well it means that currently my Hunt Press works are unavailable for purchase at this time. If you REALLY need one, I have a grand total of 3 books left (2 of Runs in Good Condition and 1 of Madame Bluestocking’s Pennyhorrid. Email or message me if you want to buy them.) I’m working to rectify that which means, for the time being, I will be publishing my past books through my LLC, Tangent Artists. We’re the guys who came up with “The Handbook for Saucy Bards,” and “A Cleric’s Guide to Smiting,” so I think they’re in good hands.
So what now? Well, my top priority right now is getting Book 3 in the Linus Saga, “No Shoes, No Service,” out there for those who have been waiting so patiently (and for those who have been waiting impatiently). I don’t want a five-year-gap in releases to become a six-year-gap. Then maybe I’ll go down the line with re-releases of Book 1 “Must Love Dragons,” Book 2, “Runs in Good Condition.” And maybe then I’ll even be able to release the prequel I’ve been working on, “Must Love Humans.”
The reason I say “maybe,” for all of this is because after all these years I’ve realized that doing it on my own isn’t helping my career any and I will begin soliciting for an agent. I am currently looking for someone to represent me, so if you like my writings, musings, and other things and want to see more of them, any help you can give me in this matter would be spectacular.
This is where you can help: as most of you know, I’ve dedicated several years of my life to working on these projects. I’m also writing 3 webcomic series that I publish every week for free. GRATIS. By publishing books, and doing freelance work, the money I make goes to, not only help my family, but it also pays for the equipment and time spent on providing free entertainment to the internet for all to see. Please consider visiting the Tangent Artists storefront and purchasing something. Every little bit helps. It will also raise funds to help produce Book 3, so I don’t have to go too deep into my pocket to do it.
Tangent Artists also has a FULLY BACKED kickstarter that’s ending in only a few hours. If you like to play FATE rpgs, or know someone who does, the Fate Accompli erasable game aides are a great product, and a SURE THING crowd-funding-wise.
Okay. I know you all got my back on this. I’m so honored and blessed to have so many people gunning for me, buying my books, asking for more, giving me assurances and encouragement, and spreading the word. I’m so grateful that my fellow Tangent Artists have got my back too and are willing to set aside comic-making time to help me get this done.
And you. You, the person reading this, you are my reason for doing this. Thank you. Thank you for everything and let’s continue in this vein and grow old together as I work hard to make more stories and art to entertain you. It’s going to be a wild and crazy ride, and this is just another hairpin turn in the “flying dutchman” coaster that is life, so let’s just throw our hands up in the air and scream for the fun of it… and hope we don’t get clobbered by a random seagull like Fabio did.
Love to all,
Monica Joanne Marier
Monica Marier Author 