Recently I produced a strip with a variation of line quality. I say “recently” because it is in my past but the actual post date is about three weeks away. In any case, the results were fair to good.

In producing the strip, I began to wonder if I have the appropriate tools to do what I ultimately want to do. I took a step back and looked at my work station. It’s not as fancy as some may like (perhaps “some” meaning me). Take a look:

The drawing desk.

I have a huge drafting table which I use as a surface for a portable drawing board. So far this has been enough. Everything gets pencil-drawn here. One day I may get one of those snazzy drawing desks so I could like like those pictures of professionals and what not.

The "inking" station.

Inking is done digitally through the Wacom Bamboo. The granddaddy Cintiq would change my life but it’s not an option at this point. I figure the first thing to do would be to update the CPU. I love that machine though. It’s been great! Some graphics people may laugh at my set up but I’ve been producing all sorts of material with that PC. But again, I wonder if I’m limiting myself with these humble tools.

Perhaps it’s a matter of material, not tools. I guess if I can pump out [what I consider to be] a quality product using these tools, why not stick with them until I absolutely, positively need to upgrade? 

Still, those new Macs are so shiny…

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In a recent conversation with a coworker, I brought up how much I liked the TV show “Freaks and Geeks”. Part of the charm was that it was such a short-lived show. It was more of a mini-series.

I also liked seeing Judd Apatov presenting funny stiff without massive amounts of expletives. We all have our tastes. Some may like such salty language. I like mine not so salty.

In any case, my coworker noted that a few of his all-time favorite shows (“Serenity” and “Briscoe County Jr.”) were short-lived. Would these be akin to those spanish channel novellas? Who knows?

My buddy Trevor (writer of Attack Mimes), loves the British version of “The Office” – also a bit salty for my tastes but funny nonetheless.

Everyone I know has liked “Arrested Development”.

So here’s to short-lived, really good TV shows! And may it become a genre in and of itself one day.

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One can argue that the all-time best short-lived TV show would have to be (drumroll please)… Twin Peaks.

How did I forget to mention this one?

Also, I found out the “Serenity” show was actually called “Firefly” and “Serenity” was the tie-up-in-the-end movie. I saw neither.

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On the surface, this strip may depict Compa a bit dim:

Click to view post.

But is he so dim after all? Let’s explore!

OK. Let’s say this is your current computer:

Ye olde computer with .000001 MB memory

But it’s not getting the job done and it goes kaput. You need a computer to do work.

So let’s say you now have your eyes on this computer:

Apple Mac Pro (click to view its awesomeness)

And let’s say you don’t have the cash on hand to purchase this new computer (imagine that).

The Rent-to-Own Circle goes like this:

• Rent-to-own is a good idea because you don’t have the money but you need the computer now. And in your mind it makes sense because you’re making some sort of payments on it so one day it may be yours. But…
• Same-as-cash is better because you can not pay interest if you pay off by the interest-free deadline. And you can use the computer now. But…
• Charge-to-own is better because, although you pay interest, the interest is smaller and you build your credit. And, of course, you can hop on that Mac today. But…
• Save-to-own is better because you don’t put yourself in the hole. Very wise decision. However, you it’s only truly wise if you had thought of it a year ago. No money in that skinny old savings account now. Besides, if you shell out a handsome chunk of cash for this model, something tells me a new model will come out soon, making this model obsolete. So…
• Rent-to-own is a good idea. You can use the computer now and, if it becomes obsolete, rent a newer version.

In a way, the same could go for houses. Additionally, I have heard some of those financial big brain guys say that it is wiser to lease items that depreciate (i.e., cars). That throws me for a loop as well. Or a circle I guess.

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I have a bunch of old drawings in the vault here at my house. By “vault” I mean a large, blue, plastic storage tub. 

Every so often, I dig through the vault just to browse old ideas and such. I like looking at old comic strips, the old jokes. Of course I wrote them so at least I thought they were funny. A lot of them give me a chuckle even now.

I found a pile of old strips and randomly chose one to post here. My formatting was atrocious back then so I went ahead and typed in the dialogue for clarity sake. Click on the image to see it larger:

To this day I don’t know if Niger is a country, city, provence, suburb… The same goes for Nigeria. I could look it up but it really doesn’t change anything here.

The two characters would eventually evolve into Perk (on the left) and Cal. Perk used to get very angry and Cal used to live in a permanent state of sarcasm. Though they were fun to work with back then, I enjoy their personalities better now. 

Enjoy!

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I’m happy to announce that Perk at Work was recently featured on Comics Bento!

Now there’s an fun site with an interesting angle: not only does Comics Bento post it’s own original webcomic, it features other works from around the webcomic world. I think it’s a great idea! Kudos to Adrean Clark!

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Back in, oh… I think it was 2001, I read the book “Clan of the Cave Bear” by Jane Auel. Oftentimes, when I enjoy a book, I’ll draw the characters out so that I know who’s who – especially with a book like this where the characters have odd names.

 I had some fun with this particular group. I drew these on 3″x5″ note cards and painted them with water color. I sent these ones to my mom with the book. She liked them very much so I know they’re good because she’s obviously completely objective and unbiased toward my work.

Anyways, I was recently at someone’s house and noticed a stack of Earth’s Children books(that’s the series name). I remembered these sketches and decided to revisit them and post them here as fan art (click on the thumbnail images below to view larger). I encourage you to go to your local bookstore and purchase a copy of this book. Ms. Auel does a fantastic job bringing this world and these characters to life. I have since read book two “The Valley of the Horses” and I am hoping to start up book three “The Mammoth Hunters” soon.

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