My Webcomic Title Cards and Front Covers

Since it's September, and there's a lot of social media choices I've been making to get the webcomic ready for its debut on its own page, I wanted to mention a few things.

My Ko-fi has updates.

My DeviantArt is finally being updated! Go check it out!

And I have a Tumblr blog *specifically* for the webcomic while still maintaining the Instagram page as its unpolished version and companion to the DeviantArt account.

I'm also working on a variety of 12 art pieces now designated to become title cards and front covers for the webcomic.

Check out below some of what I've done so far...

*Progressions on IG later*

Here is what I am calling the 'blue and green' front cover.

I start with cutting out the original title and pasting it into its own file so I can create a speech bubble in its place. 

I decided to remove my signature as it will be hard for folks to read. More on that in another post!

 I copy/paste back the title in this heart-shaped speech bubble from Yanina. I'm changing Dunlop's stance to look a little more upset.

Here's what I had so far. I also found the exact color to full in the title bubble's tail. I still have the signature I'll completely remove. Since Yanina is 'speaking' the title, I'll have Dunlop 'speak' my name.

Here is the near-finished cover! I hope you like it as much as I do. I outlined both speech bubbles. Completely bulked up Dunlop. Overlaid his and Yanina's school uniforms with some green. I touched up Yanina's hair and fixed her stocking legs. Here, she's 17 (& about to graduate from HS) and grew some after being skinny all her life. 

Hope you enjoyed this progression post! Take care, dear readers!

From the Twitterverse

NOTE: I don't know what the future holds for Twitter, but, despite how h3llish it's been for others, and I know, there have been many cr@ppy and horrific moments for me too, the platform has been a boon for my writing life, and in more recent years, my artwork. I met many individuals, coalitions, organizations, advocacy groups, and publishing industry pros I admire and respect. I also learned about and was able to support Black and brown creators and small businesses. I learned to online network more, how to be self-confident, and trust in my voice. Yes, a social media platform did that for me. 

Since I don't know what will happen, I'll be posting handfuls of some favorite tweets. 

Below are some posts from when I was in my MFA graduate program (links are still active):

This is my 2nd #PaulAuster - "Mr. Vertigo" is devilishly fun and feels like #RayBradbury on speed. #requiredreading #gradwork

1:37 PM · Feb 4, 2014

Opinion: I am a beneficiary of chain migration -

#immigration - This article written by a fellow #MFA alum! 

http://tallahassee.com/story/opinion/2018/01/19/opinion-am-beneficiary-chain-migration/1034370001/ (via @andrewjskerritt)

11:36 PM · Jan 19, 2018

D@mn, I found my #MFA #thesis! #furry

https://utampa.dspacedirect.org/handle/20.500.11868/77/browse?type=author&value=Welsh%2C+Carmen+K.+Jr.

9:53 PM · Aug 28, 2019

Why This #Poet Says There Is No 'Single Story Spun On A Single Tongue' - Poet Dr. #EricaDawson was the #director of my #MFA program when I graduated!! She was on the #PBSNewshour this Monday!! Sweeeeeet😍🤩💖 #StarstruckandProud #BlackWomen

pbs.org

Why this poet says there is no 'single story spun on a single tongue'

https://www.pbs.org/newshour/show/why-this-poet-says-there-is-no-single-story-spun-on-a-single-tongue?fbclid=IwAR1whxwpylvMCHvRZYzAWkmJZz1oiXw77Fm2QU6xynXpUIBvl4PLWXzwZ24

2:17 AM · Feb 16, 2019

Year of Champions: Thanks to #TinaIsaacs, local #writers know they are never alone - THIS IS ONE OF MY FRIENDS FROM MY #MFA #WRITING PROGRAM!! #Malaysia 

Read more at https://star2.com/topics/yearender-2017/2017/12/30/year-of-champions-thanks-to-tina-isaacs-local-writers-know-they-are-never-alone/#ZD3S2v1t7BvWlc58.99

https://star2.com/topics/yearender-2017/2017/12/30/year-of-champions-thanks-to-tina-isaacs-local-writers-know-they-are-never-alone/

9:35 PM · Jan 1, 2018

IG Is A Mess

When I created my DeviantArt page, it was to serve as an online portfolio to my work and scope of creative vision. It took me years of deliberation since I knew several years ago, the platform for global artists was experiencing some ugliness in terms of bullying and other social ills. 

Well, dA finally came under new management, new guidelines, and bylaws. An overhaul of the site was made, and when a young family friend and a friend from grad school were both encouraging me to use DeviantArt, I felt now was the time. 

I opened the Instagram account firstly to give my mother's paintings a platform and because, at the time, she was actively trying to sell her art. She even had art openings in our home prior to COVID. My mom was never patient with most social media, her only accepted and tolerated one being WhatsApp. Soon, she convinced me to delete her Insta account. She just didn't want to deal with anything else online. So I looked over Instagram and realized I needed something far more mutable to DeviantArt's steadfastness. 

Also known as IG, I think I unfortunately got into Instagram when it was already bought out by Facebook, and I can already see the ill effects with that takeover. However, I needed to overlook these since my main objective was to use IG's slideshow feature to make one of my comic stories a visual reality. I also created my own art-progression videos (I may go back to those, but the platform doesn't inspire too much trust).

Insta is now making it more difficult to post images vertically because of their feature-cropping. My own cellphones  now have excellent filters and a crop-feature known as Scan. lso do a new feature known as 'Extract Text' I now use for my captions and Alt Text. IG tried to force its users to make their version of TikTok videos. But for months, I kept using my own videos that I then uploaded. After a while, Insta migrated all self-made videos to their Reels section, and in the meantime, they were cropping uploaded images poorly. 

I figured out on the occasion I did my comic pages vertically that the Instagram platform cropped it so badly I would have to take the photo with the page's background. But when it's horizontal, the cropping isn't so much. However, I'm not being paranoid as other creatives such as the cartoonists and artists I follow on IG complained about the same thing. Even friends who tried to promote their books were going through the same. Now IG seems to be forcing us into some other feature. It's making me want to use the Share feature to also migrate to a previous social media platform, Tumblr. 

We shall wait and see.

Social media in rough sketches

I can't believe I was panicking how to recreate my social media interfaces from rough sketch to digital piece. But once I played around with the templates just in MS Paint alone, it became easier. 

I didn't even plan on fixing the avatar, but once I got into fixing the social media buttons, the rest of the edits made sense!

And even though this is just 1st-stage digital work, if I can get this familiar, it won't be a problem later. Especially as I play around with later programs such as Medibang and Krita.

I actually erased the hashtag symbols and used lines from Paint templates. And then I erased my handwritten rectangles and ovals to use the templates... What a difference!

There will be more posts! And also updates to Handdrawnbycarmenjr on Insta! 

See you next time, dear readers!

My update video - Part 3 [Last]

I tried to upload these videos on my Instagram but because their ratio wasn't compatible to the platform, and several attempts resulted in failure, so here they are on Blogspot.

My update video - Part 2

My update video - Part 1

My social media promos for CATCHING FEELS

I've been posting as many mini-promos and announcements as I can for my upcoming scifi story CATCHING FEELS.

[NOTE: Click here if you want to learn more about Kyanite Press - Kyanite Publishing LLC or click link for the Facebook image caption!]

Here's what I've posted so far to Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram. I've also posted to both blogs. Now, all I need is to update the news on my dedicated website, Tabber the Red.

[Twitter: If you haven't seen my news yet, the follow-up to my SF story THE HUMAN NETWORK has been accepted by @KyanitePress! It's called 
 CATCHING FEELS and it comes out February 2020!]

[Facebook: My science fiction story CATCHING FEELS was accepted by Kyanite Press/Publishing for their AMAZING JOURNEYS AND EXOTIC DESTINATIONS Volume 2 Issue 2 February 2020!

Link: Kyanite Press - Kyanite Publishing LLC http://kyanitepublishing.com]

[Kyanite Press' Twitter account: We had one more name to add to the list for V2i2, and here it is! 

Welcome back @[my Twitter handle]

[Twitter: I'm excited for CATCHING FEELS to appear in Kyanite Press Vol2 Iss2 Feb 2020!
It's the continuation to THE HUMAN NETWORK.]

[Twitter: I'm so happy that CATCHING FEELS will be included in this! It's a follow-up to THE HUMAN NETWORK and now this *feels* like a real series to me!]

I Won July Camp NaNo 2019

I WON CAMP NANOWRIMO.

I needed to complete another story project, so for this July Camp NaNo, I decided to work on two stories simultaneously: a continuation of the April Camp NaNo story project and the start and hopefully completion of the second story.

I set my sights on 9,000 words, just as I did for April, and made it to 9,099 words!
Now to work on revising and editing both projects. During July Camp, I also added more to my online world-building encyclopedic blog.

I also did a video series of coloring a sketch on some of the characters and uploading to Instagram. Though I kept tight notes on the videos, they still ended up out of sequence. I'm really exhausted that I did this to myself. But... I won and that means I beat my record from last time. While being distracted with other projects such as the world-builder blog and art-process videos.

And no, I'm not posting to YouTube. It's already been suggested. I have my reasons. I don't need to be on so many social media platforms. I work in several genres and need to get my projects and acts together, and, right now, I use events such as NaNoWriMo and Inktober to get those ideas off the ground. I mean what I say. Social media is work in and of itself, and right now, I'm at a tolerable level.

Thank you. And as always, when I have something new posted or upcoming assignment, I will let you know the details, my Dear Readers.

Sunday rant about Facebook's dysfunction

So sick of how segregating and silencing many of these FB groups are.

The Sailor Moon Fan group I just left wouldn't allow me to post a Sailor Moon Tumblr post (& I credited it).

This is the same reason I left that Women's Writer, Editor, and Agent group.

They allowed other postings but when I posted articles about Black and Brown women in the publishing industry, the moderator wouldn't allow it.

A comic book and collector's fan group wouldn't allow my posting about the death of a recent legend in comics who happened or be Black.

And the Science Fiction writer's group I left wanted to silence minority voices and tell us politics weren't allowed in scifi. Since when has science fiction NOT been political?

And don't get me started on the amount of Christian and Black History groups I had to leave because of that exclusivity!

Friends and family, if there's a group you believe you should add me to, please PLEASE do me and yourself the favor of checking how INCLUSIVE the FB group is. Because Facebook is such a dysfunctional corporate enterprise, this platform often reflects that. Thank you and enjoy your Sunday.

Going back to basics

Buying paper and sketchbooks as an artist is more complicated. After using last of birthday money at my local art store that I need to return the 9 ×12.

Saw a 7 × 10 stack next to that and realized I should've bought two of those instead of purchasing a new 9 × 12. Want to down-scale.
Have been creating a lot of art on this paper but I remember for many years creating on standard 8.5 × 12. So using a 7 × 10 isn't a stretch.

This particular sketchbook paper isn't just any paper. This is Canson, a paper company established in 1557! I've been using their paper for years (Not as long as they've been in existence. Haha) and this sketchbook is for mixed media, 98 lbs, and acid-free.
It brings out vibrant color on designer markers and especially watercolor, which I am now using with my beloved color pencils.

I remember creating a lot of my early works on regular 8.5 x 12 and so I'm returning to those days.

The new skills will bring new creativity and it also has technical practicality. It's easier to scan on my 3-in-1 copier machine or on my mom's copier via wi-fi.

This will make life easier to take pictures and upload to my social media and scan/upload to my online art portfolio account.

When Someone Compliments You...

Some weeks ago, I got into a verbal disagreement with someone online who began to cyberbully. I've learned with years being on Twitter to immediately BLOCK and report when such a situation occurs. I was in a funk afterwards, but, then something wondrous happened.

Another creative popped up - the person was following another follower of mine - and began to ask me a series of questions about my writing. The person began to ask about a story I wrote about a decade ago! To top it off, the person tweeted quotes from it that I had to re-read my own story to be reminded. For over an hour and a half, we chatted and the person brought up how reading my stories has encouraged them to tackle their own writing... WOW.

[Here are screenshots of the convo. I erased our actual Twitter names for privacy purposes]

via Redcap Goblin

via Redcap Goblin

Writing is a solitary venture where we dearly need our communities! So when somebody compliments my writing, I hold onto these like treasure! *UPDATE: the person is a new follower and I am their new follower too!*

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO MY OFFICIAL SITE "TABBER THE RED"!! Here are free downloads to celebrate!!

In honor of my website's NINTH Birthday, as I did last year, here are FREE DOWNLOADS to add to one's own website, blog, or social media! 

278 x 108 jpeg

278 x 108 jpeg

More projects upcoming!

Now that this is my last week at work, I'm gearing up for some personal projects I can take off the back burner. When these are completed and possibly uploaded, I will let my readers know through this blog and other social media.

Don't worry, more posts to come!

Including more of the 'November' 'classic' posts that will be a 're-posted' for December!
Look for them!

Another character...

Ok, so here's the BIG secret, although, if you're following me on social media, you may have already guessed it: I GOT INTO GRAD SCHOOL! Why is this important? Well, it's in Creative Writing, and since I get to submit drafts, read tons of stories, and rewrite projects I'm currently working on, this degree program is right up my alley!

Now, on with the show...

My male protagonist's father.
Like all else with this story, I am trying to multi-fold each character with a history, and not just for background sake, but with the intent that we are all woven into a fabric, and that each life is part of a tapestry.

"Antonio Di Castellan" by Carmen K. Welsh (c)

Take, for instance, Antonio's story - a native Italian, born ethnically a Gypsy, who later takes his inheritance to travel to the New World. His story is like millions, and this immigrant experience continues, wonderfully, to this day.

The history books gloss over things once a person steps off the boat, the ship, or the plane. Yet, luckily for writers, the story does not end there.

Here, I had creased the paper, to find it quickly in the sketchbook, and looking at the sketch, I now realize it almost resembles an Ellis Island photograph, so I'll keep the crease there.
This is a sketch that I will hopefully revise soon. I also studied Ellis Island pictures so that I could get the sense of what a man, recently from Italy, in the 1890s - 1900s, would wear.

I also added the earring because many Romany men do wear jewelry proudly.