Spillin’ Tha Beans And Gainin’ Poundage

by on June 25, 2011 at 12:36 pm
Posted In: Blog

Welcome to the special 1st Anniversary poster. Sorry it is late. I had one completely finished but asking TB’s opinion left both of us shaking our heads at it going, “What was I thinking?” I put over 7 hours of work into it but at 2:30am last night we both decided to can it and sleep on it instead of delivering a less-than-adequate piece to display for this momentus occasion.

And so, we present the two last lovelies for Shards: Goldie and Cindy. It was more than a great idea to have them as the spokesladies modelling their full glory to announce the end of our first year. The last strip, where Alice falls asleep in her room, marks the end of Chapter 1. We decided it was about time so I am putting the rest of the planned strips, and the last two prologues, into Chapter 2. Monday will be Chapter 2’s exciting cover and the strips will continue from there. Big things ahead so we hope you’ll stick with us!

As promised, Cindy and Goldie will be up shortly after this post. Their bios are done. Just need to round out the artwork. I am a little behind in posting all the previous voting incentives under the Gallery but never fear, it shall be done!

Ah, yes. I have been waiting to spread the news. It was good advice I read in a webcomic-making book which stated that your readers don’t want to hear you whine. That doesn’t mean that you should keep ALL drama away. It adds familiarity, comradery, and most people enjoy a little inside info. I am indeed 4 months pregnant with our second child. I have been diligent in keeping our many life problems we’ve faced out of the blog/news for the comic. It’s been a rough year. It’s hard not to get teary-eyed reading TB’s post:) I’ll try my darnedest to keep up with the schedule I’ve set for the strip and the promised extra content whenever it appears, and to keep any baby comments to a minimum LOL. Unless ya wanna know. If you do, I’m on Facebook just as Jade Griffin and you can usually find out stuff there. But here, I try and keep the writing on its own level. I am, after all, a writer as well as an artist;) Just not published anything big for money.

So, to close out, I hope you’ve enjoyed a year of Shards. Here’s to at least a few more, eh? There’s lots to tell, lots to learn (for me as an artist and for you as a reader!), and lots more to do to make Shards as good as it can be.

Thanks for a great year, all of you:)

JG

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1 Year Already

by on June 25, 2011 at 11:55 am
Posted In: Blog

Well, folks, decided I’d get in my 1 year post before Jade. She’s got more important stuff to say than me so I figured she should be on top :)!

Its been a year. A long gruelling year for both Jade and I. We’ve come across a lot of hardships as a family, couple, co-creators, in our work. Our “light at the end of the tunnel” has been this comic strip and it is an unbreakable glue that has kept us going throughout these tough times.

In this year I just HAVE to point out, that Jade has never once been late or missed a strip; in fact, Jade has posted extra strips and pin-ups regularly. I’m sure that most of you who browse webcomics often notice that authors, due to lack of time or life, tend to miss their scheduled updates every now and then. Jade has stayed up late, passed up fun and family time, and kept the promise we made to each other when we started this strip, “We will not miss an update.” For a free comic, I think we all know what an accomplishment this is.

So I implore all of you, to show your appreciation for Jade by getting us into the top 150 on Top Webcomics in July! Not for any reward from us, not for the promise of extra strips, but just as a thank you to Jade for being professional and keeping her artistic integrity throughout this year! In order to get us into the top 150 you will need to come back frequently and click the Top Webcomics button. You can do so once a day! If 20 of our readers do this every day we will almost assuredly get into the top 150.

Lastly! Jade is pregnant with our second child. The Doc thinks it’s a boy, but it’s still a little early. The actual due date is 11/11/11!!!! And no, we won’t miss a strip that week either! Thank you all for being such loyal fans. We really do love your comments and appreciation of our work. It’s the best compliment any artist/creator could ask for!

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100 Strips Already??

by on June 20, 2011 at 12:01 am
Posted In: Blog

Today’s strip marks our 100th one, not counting holiday bonus strips. Can you believe it? As a celebration and thank-you for sticking with us, look for a special pin-up tomorrow, Tuesday the 21st.

Also, I wanted to mention that the Velvy Prologues you guys got were an early treat. Chronologically, they haven’t happened yet. What will likely happen is that I will post them again where they fit but will fill up the week with at least one if not both the regular strips to be posted. They’ll just all be in order under Chapter 2, instead of treat bonus stuff as they seemed to have happened in Chapter 1. Hope this clears it up! Oh, and Chapter 1 is coming to a close! True! Just a few more strips to go:) and two final prologues. Heh:)

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Velvy’s Prologue Ends

by on June 17, 2011 at 7:21 am
Posted In: Blog

Well, folks, today’s Friday strip marks the end of the extra strip content, and the end of the Velvy prologues. TB is still tweaking the rp sheet for Velvy but as soon as he’s done, it’ll be up to show you what we’ve been working on at the other half of Shards: The rp campaign system! Oh, and don’t forget there’s a new voting incentive: Miss Muffet in a new dress design. She will get a redesign but I think I’ll go with the one that was the incentive earlier. Easier to draw, although this one shows more details. This one looks like blood will stain it easier… Yeah.

The 25th of June is our One-Year Anniversary. I’ll be adding some new content like all the current incentive pics, Cindy and Goldie and their online character pages, and a commemorative poster. Currently up is a “Bad Guys” section under “Characters” on the main menu. I list a few but the only one with a link is the Candy Man, but only because we haven’t seen the other opposing factions yet:)

I wish I had the commemorative poster done in time to be approved for Comicon but it was not to be. What was approved was a little flier to be put on the Freebies Table at Comicon. Yay! We hope to stir up some new readers, and fans, that way. Would have gone to the con ourselves but it sold out faster than we could blink! Some good friends will be down there helping us promote Shards by wearing t-shirts with the commemorative poster on it so be sure to keep a look-out!

The last David prologue goes up on Monday. That leaves two more hero prologues left. At least, of the ones I had planned to do. Who knows? Maybe in the future of the comic, there will be one of Mother Goose, the BBW, or some other “bad guy” I haven’t revealed yet. Only time will tell.

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First Cameo From Another Comic

by on June 16, 2011 at 12:01 am
Posted In: Blog

Wow, that title sounds like a B-Horror movie:) For this strip, we did a cameo shot of one of our favorite webcomic characters: Selkie! Go check it out if you haven’t already. Yes, I added another more famous cameo if you’re looking close but the one of note is the title character, Selkie. She’s the girl with the dark hair and the fish on her dress. Dave, who does the whole “Selkie” comic, posted on his site this momentus occasion. Not only is this the first webcomic cameo character to appear in “Shards” but it is a first time for “Selkie” as well!

Don’t forget that Friday is the final installment of the extra content strips: The last prologue of Velvy. It’s already up and scheduled to go. I have my new Adobe CS5 Photoshop software and am a bit ahead. If I keep up the pace, I’ll be good to go for adding all the extras I have planned for our 1-Year Anniversary. That time already? Yes! June 25th. Mark your calendars! Ha ha:) It’s a Saturday but I’ll be adding extra content for that day so keep yer eyes open!