Newsflash: Ida lives.
Really. And so does the comic, after massive CPR. The doctors are positive on it.
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So, yes, I'm here. Of course, I've been here all the time, if we take 'here' to mean 'in front of this computer' (alternatively, it could be stated that as of writing this, I'm in the train from Viborg to Copenhagen, wagon 12, seat 76, on my ass - but in that case, I've definitely not been here all the time). As I told you eons ago when I last updated, though, the wider, less-time-specific definition of 'here' have changed since I stopped updating, though - in other words, I've moved to Viborg. And I think most of you can already guess that that MIGHT have something to do with the lack of updates.
For those who don't know, Viborg is the kind of place that makes you realize the difference between 'city' and 'town'. Copenhagen is a city. Viborg is a town (even though the locals would probably object to me calling it that. It IS, though - any place where the only cinema around is too small to be playing 'Sweeney Todd' is.) Coming from Copenhagen, which, although it admittedly isn't really that big, at least acts like it is, Viborg is a major difference. Sure, it could be MUCH more provincial, but the change of climate was still impressive. Call me an arrogant city mouse, but I like big cities. A lot. There's a REASON Superman moved from Smallville to Metropolis, and that reason is that smalltowns just don't mesh well with superheroes. Yes.
(Before the, doubtlessly huge, portion of remaining readers who live in small towns skin me alive for the above paragraph, allow me to say that 80% of my hostility towards Viborg most certainly comes from the simple fact that it just isn't HOME. I would probably feel exactly the same way about living 6 months in Berlin or London, except probably MORE bitter, since, between paying for housing, food and school fees, I would have no money left to go to the movies or buy stuff. At least in Viborg, there are no interesting shops to tempt me. ^_^; And on the plus side, at least Viborg is only 600 km away from home - if it weren't for insane train fares, I could technically come home every weekend.)
But I didn't come to Viborg to shop anyway, I came for the Drawing School. And holy crap, is that a good school! Sure, it's taxing as hell, but that was what I signed up for, and the progress you can see yourself and your classmates make completely makes up for the sweat and tears (no, I'm not planning to bleed on anyone's drawings.) Sadly, I don't think any of that progress shines through in the comic above - as far as I can tell, it's as crappy as they usually are, even though this one is a actually a redraw of a sketch I've had lying around since December. That sketch WAS extraordinarily crappy, though (part of the reason why I never inked it), so that might not say much about my new skills. Perhaps I should post a naked dude? (In that case, do you guys expect the parts a Ken doll so severely lacks to be censored? Or did this comic lose all pretensions of 'family friendliness' with the entomophile lesbian?) Anyways, as said, the school is GREAT. It's a very different form of learning (I still keep wanting my teachers to 'just frickin' explain it', but that's not how one learns to draw) and using your brain, but the teachers are great, the classmates are great, and the school in general is just great. Also, we don't get homework, which leaves me plenty of time to... cook, clean and buy groceries. -_-; No, I don't enjoy moving away from home much. Sure, you have the luxury of being able to sit up 'till 3 AM every night and listen to Nana Mizuki at the highest volume on your ghettoblaster (thus ruining every chance you would have of being mentally present in school the next day) without anyone telling you to use your brain and get to bed - but, seriously, the cooking alone, the need to keep track of EVERYTHING or suddenly be out of toilet paper, and the evenings spent alone (my college has no communal areas, so except on weekends, you rarely see anyone after 8 PM) just aren't worth it. I HAVE earned a great respect for my mother, though - one I will, from this summer on, exercise by once again preying on her goodwill... er, live at home. Yeah. No, the level of maturity in this one is not astonishing.
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Oh, right, the drawing naked men part? Well, that is what we do most of the time. CrimsonCat was right - and except for one of them, who looks suspiciously like naked Santa, they ARE the athletic, generally-considered-attractive type, which just makes her MORE right. Scary.
There are basically two types of classes (though the same teacher teaches both - for more specialized classes, we have guest teachers), croquis and longstudies. Croquis is, well, croquis (drawing a model posing for between 15 seconds and 5 minutes, resulting in massive amounts of generally crappy-looking but educational drawings, for the uninitiated) and longstudies are, as the name implies, drawings (typically of models, but they can be objects or body parts as well) which we have a delightfully long time to finish and generally make un-crappy. You'd never guess what class I like the best. As for specialized classes, I've so far had Character Design (very animation-centered, since the students who want to go on to animation school are finishing their portfolios these weeks), Sketching (very useful and insanely difficult when you're as slow-handed as I am), and managed to be sick all the way through Perspective (which I like to believe is the reason my backgrounds STILL suck). There will probably be more of them later, but right now, we're back to the naked men.
Seriously, we've had ONE woman. Out of five models.
I think the above paragraphs sum up pretty well that this has been a pretty eventful period of my life - and THAT is why I haven't been here at all for so long. Not the actual busyness (when that's the case, I can at least post here), but the whole experience of being uprooted and having to settle in a situation where the only major thing that hasn't changed is in fact - this comic. Sure, the general tiredness and the fact that I actually HAVE managed to be social and make new friends here (who, of course, bring with them social activities and other such unholy thieves of all-important Internet Time) has been tearing at my comicmaking energy and time, but the main reason remains that my mind was simply anywhere but here for the last seven weeks. I deeply apologize to those who have been emailing me or tried to contact me on the tagboard, and only gotten late, hastily-made answers, not to mention those who haven't got any answer at all. You're awesome, and I suck. (And on that note - if you have something you want me to hear, and I haven't been listening, please just email me - I'm present now). On the plus side, well, look above. That's a comic. And that means that I'm not absent any more. I don't know exactly how often I can do regular updates for the next 16 weeks, but I WILL be present. And when I can't do a comic, I will do something else. In fact, I have a filler-concept I've been wanting to try out for quite a while... Even if non-Skyen filler is breaking traditions here. If nothing else, expect a naked dude with an apology.
Here's your comic. I'm glad to be back. ^_^
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(Yes, I know certain naturists and people who make it their hobby to fuss over grammatical errors will object to the use of the word 'naked' in the headline. They are naked, though. The dudes, that is.)
