Brian Anderson's Blog, page 29

How to do magic tricks

Panels from my webcomic, “The Conjurers”, a companion piece to the upcoming novels.

So you want to learn how to do magic tricks? Or do you want to be a magician? There’s a difference. Learning the secret of how a trick is done is disappointing. Trust me on that. Wanting to become a magician is much more than learning secrets. In this post, I’ll give a streamlined list of tips on how to get started.

in later posts, I’ll focus on different aspects of performing magic and my philosophy on the...

Did Luke Skywalker have a dog?

Did Luke Skywalker have a dog? That’s how this one started. First a bunch of sketches of Luke with dogs that didn’t fit in the Star Wars Universe. Then one of my dogs stole a Nerf sword, and voila! This cartoon was spawned.

Obviously I’m a huge Star Wars fan. I’ve dropped all kinds of Easter eggs in my Dog eat Doug strip since the beginning. But I generally don’t do a lot of pop-culture references in my other work. It won’t be a regular thing in my single panel comics. So far, this one and...

The Latest Single Panel Comic

Here it is, my favorite so far. This one was in the notebook for a long time. Kind of surprising considering I love drawing city scenes. Especially vintage style shops. Do wish I had the time to do a more detailed rendering. But I spent most of the time getting the eyeball dude right.

It’s one thing to doodle an idea that you think will work. It’s another to get it to work visually. This one had to be realistic enough so as not to come off as silly. And, if I did it too realistically, I think...

More Single Panel Silliness - Shank Monkey

For starters, Shank Monkey would make an awesome name for a band. This one began with a bunch of monkey doodles in which the monkeys performed all sorts of menial tasks such as grooming mustaches or applying make-up. And then boom, a little monkey showed up with a knife and shank monkey was born.

Before you ask, yes, there are t-shirts. I had to. Don’t know if they’ll sell or not, but shank monkey t-shirts needed to be a thing. You can get one by clicking here.

Onto the next! I’ll post a...

The Ups and Downs of writing Middle Grade Books and Webcomics

Read “The Conjurers” webcomic from the beginning here. Or click here for the latest episode.

The Conjurers Webcomic is back! Yep, I’m posting about it again. And I’ll be posting a lot more often. From the beginning, the webcomic was a simple, quick exercise while I was writing the books. It was a small break from plotting, writing and rewriting (and rewriting and rewriting…), and illustrating the novels. Over the years I’ve learned you need creative outlets on the side to keep your main work fresh. At the sa...

Gardening with Sasquatch

I don’t do a lot of comics with monsters from central casting. Usually I make them up and they have a strong Lovecraft or Clive Barker flare (go figure). However, this idea, I thought, was too silly to pass up. I’m sure the next one will be a tad darker as that is the way it seems the universe balances out my sense of humor.

Also, there’s a new episode of “The Conjurers” webcomic up at gocomics. I’ll have another post about that, as one of the characters featured in the comic ended up saving the thir...

How to effectively remove the monster in your closet.

This one started as a scribble on a napkin. I’m certain it came from my own childhood experience of watching a shadow creature creep out of my closet every night. I had lots of such hallucinations as a kid, and I’m certain they will inspire more cartoons. Kind of worth the paralyzing terror in the long run.

Once I finish today’s inking, I’ll rummage through the notebook and see which random idea to work on for next week. Lots to chose from. Lots still need some work. The key, I’ve found...

Fishing Trip in Innsmouth

Indeed, another nod to H.P. Lovecraft. I was quite happy with this comic, even after finishing it, which is usually the moment I want to scrap it and start over. The style of the strip is evolving in a good, dark, gothic sort of way. Enjoyed creating the mood in this scene. Started off with detailed background sketch before realizing less is often more. In this case, I created the swamp with simple shapes and lots of washes.

Not all the comics will be so heavily Lovecraftian. However, when y...

Dog Rescue - Comics vs. Reality

As much as the comic follows my real life, I should know by now that reality doesn’t always have the happiest ending. I write the strip months ahead of the publication date. A lot can change in a month, and a lot did.

As most of you know, I have foster dogs in and out all the time. Then came Annie and Louise. And for almost a year, they were sisters. Both had issues, Louise more so than Annie. Louise came from a horrid background and has a severe fear of humans. With dogs, she was normal. 

Return of "The Conjurers" Webcomic

Yep. Finally. Now that all three novels are written, I’m slicing off a smidge of time to bring back the webcomic. There’s still a lot of work to be done on books two and three. A ton of fine tune editing and all the illustrations. However, with book one coming out next July, I wanted the webcomic to revived and breathing well before the launch. Mostly because, even though it’s a rag-tag experiment, I love it. I love getting to visit the cast of “The Conjurers” books outside of prose filled p...