I don’t really have much to say about this article, except that blaming overweight people for contributing to global warming more than skinny people is like saying beautiful women contribute to an increase in rape incidents more than average women. It might be true in some convoluted way, but it’s not very nice to put the blame on them.

The one girl’s eyes are a little creepy, admittedly…but I don’t know how else to draw eyes. Yet.

I have been way too ambitious with my environments lately. If I’m going to keep to any sort of schedule, some simplification is in order. This particular one isn’t finished…I’m uploading the flats for now, but I’ll upload a shaded version soon. I’m still trying to figure out a process that lets me ink in Flash and color in ArtRage, without making the transitions too difficult. I’m not quite there yet.

You’re probably thinking “just do the whole thing in Photoshop and be done with it!” Well, that’s where I might end up…but until I prove that the hard way isn’t the best way, I tend to be stubborn about these things.

EDIT: Updated with the shaded version. This process is definitely not working…I work so hard to color within the lines, and going from program to program negates that. Time to try something new.

Anyway, as body image movies go, it was one of the better ones. I liked that the pretty popular girls weren’t all bad (because in real life, not all of them are bitches…damn them). And I liked how they portrayed Maggie’s inner monologue – that constant paranoia that people with low self-esteem have, where they think everything anyone says to them is an insult about their character or their body. People can misconstrue good intentions with that paranoia, and it seemed pretty accurate to me.

But that wasn’t what I found interesting…rather, it was the ads during the commercial break, and one ad in particular. You might know that Ellen DeGeneres is the new face of CoverGirl, which I think is pretty cool…but when I saw this commercial during the break of this particular movie, I was a little shocked. Listen to the first line she says:

“Inner beauty is important, but not nearly as important as outer beauty.” Wow.

Ok, I get that I’m probably late to the game on this one (I don’t watch a lot of TV). I also get that Ellen is a comedienne, and that this was supposed to be a joke. But it was still a little surprising coming from her! Frankly, it was really poorly delivered (or edited), because it comes off as completely serious. I wouldn’t want that line coming out of my mouth in public…there’s just too many ways for someone who doesn’t know her personality to misconstrue the message. (See how I brought it back to the lessons from the Lifetime movie? Huh, huh?) Especially when it only reinforces a negative stereotype that thin, pretty blondes value looks above all else.

Honestly, I don’t think I would have been shocked if it was just some typical bland model…but Ellen? She seems so down-to-earth, so atypical…and she’s faced prejudice herself in life. So it surprised me a little that she would let them portray her – even mockingly – as a beauty monger. Not really something I expected from one of the most beloved women of our era.

Unfortunately, while I like Dreamhost’s other services, I think their stats tool leaves much to be desired. If anyone has any suggestions for a free service that gives easier-to-read results, I’d appreciate it.

These characters manifested in my brain a few years ago when I first started trying to draw my own webcomics, and while those original comics never went anywhere, this concept has been stuck in my head ever since. I could go into detail, but honestly I’m really not sure myself where this is heading…I’m hoping that over time, the characters themselves will tell us who they are. All I really know is that they each have a story to tell, and they’ve chosen me to tell it.

So here we are, and whether you’re joining us at the beginning in early 2009, or far into the future (I can only hope it lasts that long!); I hope you’re looking forward to getting to know the girls as much I am. 

And…we’re back! I know this one is about a month late…I ran through my buffer (turns out it goes pretty fast if you don’t make anything new), and I guess I’ve been taking the time to figure out exactly what my intentions are with this comic.

You’ll probably notice that this particular strip looks very different than the previous ones. I’m trying something new by inking in Flash, rather than penciling it out. I think my skill is better on paper, but I kind of like the look of the bold, clean lines. It seems to make the colors pop more. I dunno, what do you think?

You can probably expect the art to change a bunch, by the way. Part of my intention with this is to just practice and learn about making 2D art, and that means experimenting with different processes and mediums. I know it looks bad to have such disparate styles within one story, but honestly if I’m not doing this first and foremost for myself, why bother?