The time has come for me to take a brief hiatus from the Michaels so I can focus on my regular web design work - the work that actually pays the bills. This is my first break but will not be my last.
When I am able to turn my attention back to It's the Michaels I will wait until I have a small cushion of new strips built up before I start posting them again. The next installment will probably come in June, but exactly when in June is hard to say. If you would like to be notified when the installments start up again, please email me a request and I will add you to the Michaels Mailing List.
Many thanks to all of you who check this site regularly for updates. I am sorry for this interruption but I believe working this way gives you a better experience than if I focused on the weekly deadlines at the expense of the quality of the comic.
Tuesday, May 1, 2007
Monday, April 23, 2007
Web publishing
I hope you like this update because the backgrounds took me a long time, which is why today's installment is just a single page again. Sorry - but see how pretty? Soooo pretty! Pretty pretty trees.
I originally envisioned It's the Michaels as a print comic and paced it like a TV show. Publishing it as a web comic has allowed me to change it from something I want to do into something that I am doing: It's present tense, and the upside for me is the small dose of immediate gratification I get posting a comic online a few hours after it's complete.
The web comic format has provided me with an interesting challenge: I need to tell the story so that it breaks down into one- or two- page increments with natural stopping points. I often find the pacing less than optimal. I am anxious to get to certain points in the story, but when the final comic is printed into a book it will hopefully read better because of the changes I made to accommodate the web format. In the meantime, thanks to all of you who have been sticking with me week after week - through the four-page updates and the single-page updates. Your support is greatly appreciated.
Monday, April 16, 2007
Happy tax day
About today's installment
Ta-da! It's the first group shot of all the Michaels. In real life their heights would be as follows: Lacey is 6'5": bigger than everybody. Crane is 6'2". That's how tall my boyfriend is, so that is, to my mind, the most handsome height to be. Connor, Bryce, Stuart, and Jason are all of average height: about 5'10". Toomey is somewhere between 5'2" and 5'6". He's the star so he gets to be the shortest. That sounds backwards but look at the third panel and you will see how Toomey fits neatly under a speech balloon while Crane's face falls slightly above eye level.
The way these "real life" heights translate into cartoon heights is flexible. When I show people having a conversation the height differences will be minimized so they fit neatly in frame. At other times I will exaggerate the height differences for dramatic or comedic effect. You would call this cheating but I call it cartoonist license because cartoonist license implies that I know what I'm doing and not just making it up as I go along.
Ta-da! It's the first group shot of all the Michaels. In real life their heights would be as follows: Lacey is 6'5": bigger than everybody. Crane is 6'2". That's how tall my boyfriend is, so that is, to my mind, the most handsome height to be. Connor, Bryce, Stuart, and Jason are all of average height: about 5'10". Toomey is somewhere between 5'2" and 5'6". He's the star so he gets to be the shortest. That sounds backwards but look at the third panel and you will see how Toomey fits neatly under a speech balloon while Crane's face falls slightly above eye level.
The way these "real life" heights translate into cartoon heights is flexible. When I show people having a conversation the height differences will be minimized so they fit neatly in frame. At other times I will exaggerate the height differences for dramatic or comedic effect. You would call this cheating but I call it cartoonist license because cartoonist license implies that I know what I'm doing and not just making it up as I go along.
Monday, April 2, 2007
Vacation!
Chris and I are going out of town Thursday for a long weekend, so the next update after today will be Monday, April 16 at the soonest.
But enough about me. Check this out: The long-dormant blog run by the owners of the Pavilion is all a-buzz with activity. Most interesting is that they have an updated picture of the Pavilion renovation that you can see here.
In addition, it seems that a reality show about the Pines staff will be shot next summer and they are currently looking for applicants.
Lastly, they have officially announced that grocery shoppers in the Pines will now be able to buy Citarella products at A Fresh Market, and new store opening up in one of the new retail spaces in the Pavilion building. This is significant since up until now there has been only one grocery store in the Pines, The Pines Pantry.
You can read about all of this in more detail on The Pavilion Blog.
About today's installment
When I showed today's installment to Chris he thought something was off about the house and told me to "add something to it, like a tree." He was right: The house is supposed to be in a wooded area, but it looked like it was sitting in the middle of a field.
I framed the foreground with leaves and now it looks a lot more like an actual Fire Island house. You can see before and after examples below. (Click to enlarge.)
But enough about me. Check this out: The long-dormant blog run by the owners of the Pavilion is all a-buzz with activity. Most interesting is that they have an updated picture of the Pavilion renovation that you can see here.
In addition, it seems that a reality show about the Pines staff will be shot next summer and they are currently looking for applicants.
Lastly, they have officially announced that grocery shoppers in the Pines will now be able to buy Citarella products at A Fresh Market, and new store opening up in one of the new retail spaces in the Pavilion building. This is significant since up until now there has been only one grocery store in the Pines, The Pines Pantry.
You can read about all of this in more detail on The Pavilion Blog.
About today's installment
When I showed today's installment to Chris he thought something was off about the house and told me to "add something to it, like a tree." He was right: The house is supposed to be in a wooded area, but it looked like it was sitting in the middle of a field.
I framed the foreground with leaves and now it looks a lot more like an actual Fire Island house. You can see before and after examples below. (Click to enlarge.)
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