Chapter 6 Update

Mar29
by on 29 March 2024
Okay! Okay! I’ll give you a Chapter 6 update!

Things have been very quiet around here but things are trucking on as they always are. Chapter 6 has been quite a challenge in terms of trying to make all the pieces line up. It’s easy enough to start a story and complicate things and set up arcs and payoffs, but no one really talks about how difficult it is to end a story in a satisfying way.

There’s an incredible satisfaction when an expression comes together even in the loose pencils of a page.

However, I’ve locked down the story beats and am bouncing back and forth between pencilling/inking and thumbnailing the rest of the chapter. This helps keep it from feeling in just building a taller and heavier wall that could crumble on me at any moment.

That being said, Chapter 6 opens up with a long, complicated, and––dare I say––super fun scene. I will say that it’s the big action set piece of the chapter and I’m really excited for it to come together in the final book.

Some very wild action opens up Chapter 6. It’s fun challenge to choreograph and draw.
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New 5-eBook Bundle!

Jan22
by on 22 January 2024

I just wanted to let you know that, after getting some feedback from my wonderful readers, there is now a discounted 5-eBook bundle on Gumroad! You save $5 in the process and get high resolution pdfs of ALL 5 Long John eBooks for immediate download.

Just to remind you that the Long John eBooks are basically just digital versions of the physical books and have all of the content that is found in the physical books. So, if you’ve been wanting to download digital versions of the all the books so far for your tablet, phone, or desktop/laptop computers, this is the best way to get all of them now!

If you can, leave a review/rating on Gumroad! That would help spread the word about the books in Gumroad’s algorithm that promotes a book on its storefront. In related news, if you’re a GoodReads user, some kind soul has put the first four books on that website and I would heartily encourage you to leave reviews there, too! Every bit helps (and thank you!)!

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Sketch Fridays #98 – New Year’s 2024

Jan19
by on 19 January 2024
Sketch Friday #98 – 2024 New Year’s Card

It’s been a few weeks, so we can finally unveil this year’s New Year’s card that went out to friends and family. This was fun to do (though I stupidly deleted the Procreate file that had the time-lapse saved with it) because I really enjoy drawing exaggerated, cartoony versions of me, my wife, and our animals as much as the serious, chiseled-jaw grimaces found in Long John.

I think the stars of this year’s drawing are the cats––Martha and Rose––as they are flung forth by the bursting arrival of 2024. Martha is the one desperately grasping to my hoodie while Rose tumbles through wide-eyed through space seemingly been caught unawares.

Martha (left) and Rose (right) as in their corporeal forms.

As of June, our cats (yes, named for characters from the British sci-fi television series, Doctor Who) are fifteen years old and still have as much energy, ability, and attitude that they had as kittens. Only recently does it feel like they’re starting to get just a little rickety, maybe taking just a few more seconds to consider before making huge leaps. But only just.

As much as they seem like team players in the drawing, they are actually quite skittish and solitary. They are so solitary in fact there are many friends who have still never seen them. So, like with all art, I enhance the truth a little to make the message more clear. Who knows how many more new years we’ll get with our girls, so I’m glad that, even this long into the game, they can still steal the show in a New Year’s card.

And just so he doesn’t feel left out, here is a picture of our dog, Rusty.
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