Hannah's NaNo 2009 - doing a complete cartoon book!

Hoppy Holidays!

2011-12-26T14:05:00.003+01:00

A photocomic this time, but still a comic!

page 1:

page2:

page3:
https://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/Zz_FSjoQWVO7bOOs4nRvmwvS6mPooHyTR77PhfKepCM?feat=directlink
page4:
https://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/l9S_-9ANjcQxsbdbHZyh_QvS6mPooHyTR77PhfKepCM?feat=directlink

Happy St.Nikolaas!

2011-12-05T03:00:00.001+01:00

WTF?

I made it!!!

2011-12-01T11:08:00.003+01:00

I edited and inked the remaining 51,5 pages, I embellished the ending, which added two extra pages, which I also edited and inked, so now all 143 pages have been done!!

I still need to re-edit a bunch of pages I did last year (when I did almost twice as many, so they have not all been done to the same standard), I still need to have it proof-read (Erika, are you still willing?) and then I need to write an introduction and an epilog, and design a cover and frontpage (or whatever a 'schutblad' is called in English XD)

I have also emailed some people about what to do if I would want this published professionally (because I have no clue!) and I emailed about selling my stuff on the Art-Comic-Fair but I have not had any answer on those mails for the past 2 weeks yet...

A year ago...

2011-11-28T15:46:00.002+01:00

https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-UNXqw3t-LnQ/TtM7ev1SSlI/AAAAAAAABaI/HIKTtAuEj9s/s800/plottoon28.jpg

New Toons-of-the-day!

2011-11-03T10:10:00.000+01:00

http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/europe-holland-belgium/threads/16344
HannahK's Plot (car-)Toon of the day! | National Novel Writing Month
www.nanowrimo.org

Good news about Lizzie and Ziggie!

2011-10-09T22:35:00.005+02:00

Sef, my friend who works at the bunny shelter, found suitable new owners for Lizzie and Ziggie, So yesterday they were picked up to go to their new home.

It's a Belgian couple with a lot of room for the bunnies, duckies to play with and they don't mind if Lizzie should bite once in a while.
But both me and my friend Sef are convinced that Lizzie's problems will decrease a lot when she has a large territory all for herself and Ziggie.

I did worry a bit when I heard they would get duckies to play with...

And I don't really know whether or not they have a cat..

So safe to say I was relieved when I heard the bunnies and the ducks would actually have their own separate spaces with fences around them :-D

Hurray for a happy ending! :)

Picasa Picture Problems

2011-10-06T11:31:00.002+02:00

I tried out the privacy settings on my Picasa albums, and it turned out I had set them too tight, because the links didn't work any more.
So I set the old settings back, and I figured that would solve it, but apparently it didn't.
I noticed the links changed, so I am editing the last two entries to update the links.

But that didn't solve the problem completely, because if I log out and try the links, in some cases I get a square with a red line around it, where the picture is supposed to be.
I haven't solved this yet, but I did notice that you cán still use the magnifying glass to enlarge the picture and then you cán see it.

So if you cannot see the page because you get a red rimmed square, click the little magnifying glass (and then the + sign) to see the picture

I'll keep working on it. Meanwhile, if you have time, some feedback about whether the links work or not for you would be appreciated. Thanks!

Sherlock Hobbes and Sidekick Mouse: Page 2

2011-10-05T21:53:00.004+02:00

(click to open in Picasa, then enlarge with the magnifying glass and the + sign)

Sherlock Hobbes and Sidekick Mouse: Page 1

2011-10-05T14:56:00.002+02:00

The shaded version I did this week and the original one that I finished during 24HCD last weekend

(click to enlarge)

Sherlock Hobbes and Sidekick Mouse:The cover

2011-10-05T01:06:00.002+02:00

Based on an idea by Saskia G. xxx

I made it!!

2011-10-02T04:01:00.001+02:00

At 3.45 am I was done. Then I searched for an empty room, pumped up my airbed, and now I am going to sleep! :)

24 Hour Comics Day: Oct 1st!!!

2011-09-25T13:52:00.007+02:00

Tomorrow I will get up in the middle of the night (well.. 7 am.. but with my night rhythm of 3-11 that's the middle of the night) take a huge suitcase with lots of drawing paper, my laptop and even an air mattress and sleeping bag in there and get on the train to Zwolle, where I hope to arrive 1 1/2 hours later.

Then I will take a bus to the art school where I will join 29 other comic book writers at 11 am in an effort to make a 24 pages comic book WITHIN 24 hours.

It sounds like heaps of fun and a serious lack of sleep. The latter being something I am not good at, so I am bringing an air mattress that I can throw in an empty room at the school somewhere in case I really cannot make it till 11 am the next morning, or in case I finish in less than 24 hours.

Or maybe I'll just get up a bit later, take a later train, and try to do it in less than 24 hours ;-)

My friend Saskia gave me the greatest idea for a comic. It will be about my new bunnies Hobbes and Mouse. I have already designed their characters: Sherlock Hobbes and Sidekick Mouse:

So wish me luck! And check in here or my FB account, in case I will be able to put updates during 24HCD. I am sure I could use some cheering on ;-)

Bunny Update

2011-09-25T13:51:00.001+02:00

After deciding I could not keep Lizzie any longer, I brought Lizzie and Ziggie to the Shelter and brought Hobbes and Flo back home with me.

It broke my heart, but I knew it was the right decision.

Six weeks later little Flo got sick. The vet admitted her, but she did not get better, so we decided to operate her to see what was wrong. Turned out her liver was completely ruined, so we decided to not let her wake up from the surgery.
We buried her in the woods.

Because it was better for Hobbes not to be alone for too long, I got him a new friend: Muis (Mouse)

But a month later, Hobbes got sick as well.

Because I had researched what was wrong with Flo's liver (the vet took a photo) I discovered she had cirrhoses and that could have been caused by infectants like a hepatitis virus or a parasite. So when Hobbes got sick I asked the vet to take some blood and have it checked for liver functions.

Turned out one of them was too high, but that could be a sign of a liver parasite called coccidia. (Lizzie had an intestinal form of coccidia last year, but the liver form is much more dangerous to fully grown bunnies as well).
So we treated both bunnies for that and after a week Hobbes started to get better! Yay! So unfortunately Flo could not be saved anymore, but because of what happened to her we were able to save Hobbes.

Needless to say it was another emotional couple of months but I am glad we got to save Hobbes
...and so is Mouse:

What a year...

2011-06-21T02:37:00.003+02:00

It's Tuesday the 21st.. which means Monday the 20th is over.. it was the birthday of the friends I lost last November. He would have gotten 45 years old, but he never made that.

At the 1st of this month I said my goodbye's to my brother in law, who died in the early morning of the 3th. He was cremated the 8th of June.
He was the husband of my only sister, father of my two nieces of 11 and 15.

He was the relative I told you about before, the one that we found out had cancer the same week my best friend was buried.

It took two hospitals 3 1/2 months to find out it was related to acute leukaemia, but they couldn't really say what it was. But it didn't matter because two weeks later he had already gotten so bad he could not be treated any more. They hoped to keep him alive for 6-12 month with blood transfusions, but he barely made two months.

The week after all this I came to the realisation that I can't keep Lizzie and Ziggie. Lizzie started biting last October and despite all my effort to train her, have her spayed (or is it 'neutered'?), give her a boyfriend and even give her several different alternative medications, still bites as much and as nasty as she used to. I have nerve damage in two places of my left hand already. And now her new boyfriend won't let himself get petted by me either, because Lizzie attacks him when I even stick out a finger in his direction.

I have tried everything I could think of to try and change Lizzie's behaviour, but nothing works... So as much as it hurts me, I am going to see if the shelter can help me find a better place for them with someone that has a yard so they can go and live outside and that doesn't mind that they can't be touched a lot.

So I hope you will understand why I STILL haven't posted any cartoon updates here, but my life has been a bit of a complete and total mess the past 7 months *understatement*

Painting my Ziggie

2011-04-30T02:39:00.003+02:00

And here is Lizzie's new boyfriend Ziggie!

Painting my Lizzie

2011-04-25T13:17:00.004+02:00

I painted her because I missed her so much now she has been out to stay with Uncle Sef for a week and a half to get hitched to a new little furry friend (and no: not to have babies, but because I recently learned bunnies shouldn't live alone)

The introductions went smoothly and since two night they have been sharing a cage so she may already be coming home with her new beau tomorrow night :)

This is the new beau, still thinking up a name for him

And this is the couple getting used to eachother:

And finally sharing a cage together:

With a little luck they may be coming home tomorrow night already! So then I will have TWO little bunny friends as my room mates :)

Sorry about the delay...

2011-04-03T12:36:00.003+02:00

I am really sorry I didn't have much to upload here anymore these past few months, but me and my family seem te keep getting hit by tragedies that drain me from all energy to work on the book.
I just heard (on my birthday!) that a very close relative - only two weeks after his cancer diagnosis - has already regressed so badly that he is now officially 'untreatable' and has been sent home to.. well.. :-(

I'll see if I can just upload some old stuff maybe. Thanks for still checking here every now and then though, xxx

Lizzie at 8 months..

2011-02-06T19:12:00.002+01:00

.. so fully grown if I can believe what the books say about it.
Isn't she cute?

Picking it back up...

2011-02-05T16:13:00.003+01:00

Well.. guys... I was finally able to pick the editing and colouring back up. Took me quite a while because I was working really hard on it when I heard the terrible news about my friend, so every time I started again it just felt too traumatic and I stopped again.

But last week I organised a write-in for a couple of fellow wrimo's in a café and that way it was easier to work on the pages again and I was able to break through the trauma. I am going very slowly though (did 1 1/4 page since then), also because I had more bad news end of December and again last week (a close relative turns out to be VERY ill) and as a result I am not doing all that well myself. So I am going to take my time.

I am also not happy with the ending so I still want to change that, so I can't post that yet. I am also a little scared I will lose all my readers if I give you the ending before I am finished with the project.. but I don't want to tease you with withholding it for another half year or so. But I do need to edit it somewhat.

Maybe I can draw different ones and you guys can help me pick :-D

So.. there is my update.. I can upload some of the finished pages again every now and then if you like? Anyone interested in that?

Hoppy hoppy...

2010-12-23T23:42:00.001+01:00

My best friend...

2010-12-01T13:00:00.004+01:00

His name was Alfred and last Sunday he had fatal parachuting accident. He was 44...

I'll miss you always my dearest Fred...

The last few pages of my book may be a little later because of this, but I know you will all understand. I just wanted to let you know...

Page 138 - part 3

2010-11-27T12:20:00.001+01:00

Nancy is not allowed to guess any more... *rofl*

(this is the last third of page 138, but because I had one page double this one still has the wrong page number underneath, but it really IS page 138.. :-D)

Page 138 - part 2

2010-11-26T17:46:00.000+01:00

Page 138 - part 1

2010-11-26T00:29:00.000+01:00

.. of 3.
tomorrow part 2 ;-)

Page 137!!

2010-11-22T02:33:00.002+01:00

(and 138 in a way, since they turned out to be the same page :-D)

Page 136!!!

2010-11-16T23:37:00.002+01:00

Yes Ron, there is an IKEA according to google.. :-D
(sorry for the bright green, but any other RGB green became too dark when turned to CMYK)

Page 135!!

2010-11-15T13:01:00.003+01:00

I found out yesterday that page 137 and 138 are the same, so the whole story is not 142 pages long, but only 141... so here is the six-before-last page!

Page 134!!!

2010-11-12T00:13:00.001+01:00

I am so stuck..

2010-11-11T11:14:00.002+01:00

..it's just not pretty any more. Don't know how I was able to do 6 pages a day on day 1 and 2 because I can barely do one the last few days. And yesterday I only edited one.. could it be that we are in week 2 of NaNo? :-s

Page 133!!

2010-11-08T01:12:00.002+01:00

Fully inked and all!!

But a link again because a thumbnail may give away the story.
click here:

http://lh6.ggpht.com/_Io6dJkvrnss/TNcHDcZBnBI/AAAAAAAABG8/HjOoPiqFyj8/s800/nano09-blog133kl.jpg

Some more examples I am proud of:

2010-11-07T21:06:00.002+01:00

Here are pages 9 and 29:

It keeps taking more and more time to edit and ink a page though... I went down from 6 pages a day to 4 already, but the honest thing to do would be to count 2 pages as 2k of words a day (compared to the NaNoWriMo participants that are writing a 50,000 word novel this month) but that way I will reach 50K already when I have only done 60 pages and I want to do at least 100 (3 pages a day), preferably 120 (4 pages a day) and ideally 142 (6 pages a day)... but I am already behind on the 4 pages-a-day quota...

Page 132 again but now fully inked!

2010-11-07T02:00:00.000+01:00

Page 132!!!

2010-11-05T23:51:00.003+01:00

I felt so bad about working on the wrong page, I did my best to get page 132 ready for you as well. It's edited but only partially coloured (since I haven't solved the CMYK problem yet and I still feel ill), but at least this way you guys can read it already :-)

RGB vs. CMYK... help!!

2010-11-05T23:21:00.004+01:00

Anyone have any knowledge about this? I am working in RGB when I should be working in CMYK apparently, because the result is meant for print. A lot of the CMYK colours are a lot less bright though.. so I may have to do the 20 pages I did so far over..

I know how to change the file I am working on to CMYK, but I don't know how to change my swatches and stuff in Photoshop. They do have a whole bunch of pantone swatches to choose from which I think has to do with printing as well, but I wouldn't know which Pantone set to pick..

So if you know anything about this please help! I have felt ill all night and day today so I have hardly worked on my NaNo today... so that's a whole day behind and I don't know how to proceed with this CMYK problem anyway... :-\

HELP!

Grandma's dress - part 2

2010-11-05T14:14:00.003+01:00

Thank you for using the word 'old-fashioned', guys (girls) since that was what I was looking for. The flower dress has the emphasise the fact that grandma is a grandma.. a ninja grandma with a fighting spirit, but still a grandma.
Plus I do like it if she is wearing a dark outfit to fit with her ninja-ishness.

So I feel mostly for this one:

Question is: is it clear that this is a flower dress? Or does it just look like something unclear when you don't know it's supposed to be a flowerdress?

I worked really hard...

2010-11-05T14:12:00.001+01:00

.. to get page 131 up for you (and in colour) and now I find out I had already posted that one... *AARGH*

Anyway, here are 130 and 131 in colour (except for grandma, since I hadn't decided about her dress yet)

Grandma's dress?? help!

2010-11-04T12:55:00.007+01:00

I can't decide what colour to do grandma's clothing. She is a ninja so I thought she would be in black, but that gives me a world of hurt inking it in if I still want the arms to show.

So I was in the Dutch NaNo chat yesterday, where Lenihan gave me the marvellous idea to give her a flower dress, which will make her look more grand-motherish, despite her ninja outfit.

So I made a few pattern stamps myself, and I would like your opinion. Which grandma do you like best? The darker patterns are more 'ninja' suitable, but the lighter ones show the arms better. I think the Delft Blue pattern is hilarious but that may be too Dutch. Pattern nr 5 I will need to adapt if I choose it because it shows a too obvious pattern-rim (hope that is the right word) and that may proof to be quiet a challenge..

The other MC's are: bright red for me, grey for Zowie en light grey (metal) en brown (wood) for Shovel and Picky. The dwarfs are purple.

Here are grandma's possible dresses:
1

2

3

4

5

6

7

EDITED TO ADD: Apparently it wasn't Lenihan, or only Lenihan that gave me the grandma-flower-dress idea, but I owe my thanks first and foremost to BrokenWings for it! So thank you BW, and sorry I got confused about who said what in chat! :-D

What a SHOOTload of work!!

2010-11-02T12:49:00.000+01:00

I have started editing and inking and I have to do 5 to 6 pages which takes me 5 to 6 hours.. no kidding!!!
But it's day 2 and I have done my 12 pages... pfffft. Hope I can keep this up.

But I donlt know when I will get to the last 11 that you all still have coming. I'll try to sneak one in every couple of days so that I can at least post the first draft for you, but I am not promising anything... :-\

In the meantime I will try to post inked pages regularly so you can see what they look like!

Here is one:

(use the magnifying glass! It's 900 px wide :-))

The End...

2010-10-26T01:15:00.002+02:00

At 1.12 am on October 26th 2010 I finished drawing the last page of my cartoon story, page 142... so finally I know how it all ends! (and believe it or not, but page 141 still had a surprise for me!)

I started this story at midnight November 1st 2009 and almost a full year later I am finally done drawing! Now I just need to finish editing the last 11 pages I drew in the past 8 days and post them here, so you will all know how it ends as well.

And the 30 days of next month I will spend editing and inking (hopefully) all 142 pages so I can turn it into a real book at Lulu.com

I love my book, I love my characters, I will always keep loving my little Zoë and I love all of you guys for helping me through it. It was amazing, it was exhausting, it was the best adventure ever, and now I am going to stop being mushy in here and cry a of joy and fatigue in my warm cosy bed.

Goodnight to all! ..and keep your eye out for the remaining pages to be posted here soon.

*biiiig hugs* HannahK

Page 131

2010-10-18T23:21:00.000+02:00

I drew 3 1/2 pages since Friday, yay!

Page 130

2010-10-16T01:13:00.003+02:00

I'm out this weekend, so not sure if I can update Sunday night or Monday.
(I do plan to draw while I am away).
I have storyboarded almost the whole ending already, and I think it will be 6 or 7 more pages (or more if I do one or two page filling drawings again)

Oh and that thing with grandma..? I didn't know that was going to happen until yesterday either, swear to god... damn plotbunnies ;-)

Page 129

2010-10-15T00:13:00.000+02:00

I am so close to the ending now, I can SMELL it! :-D

Page 128

2010-10-13T15:28:00.001+02:00

Page 127

2010-10-12T21:42:00.001+02:00

Page 126

2010-10-11T23:48:00.000+02:00

Still only one page, but at least it's more than no page! :-D

Page 125

2010-10-10T21:52:00.002+02:00

Well, I didn't make it to draw two pages today yet, but here is at least one to start with:

Page 124

2010-10-08T23:28:00.002+02:00

Page 34 (and 35) were posted at November 26 and 27.

I am away from home most of the day and all night tomorrow, so you may have to wait for the next (two) page(s) until Sunday.

page 123

2010-10-07T21:24:00.001+02:00

right on time this one! :-)

Page 122

2010-10-07T00:30:00.002+02:00

Half an hour late, but that's because I had to rewrite(draw) the joke ;-)

Another link this time:

http://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/4vL4PUC9oOA4MUAlpV17Kgw31qwB-SHo1h46lxsZSfQ?feat=directlink

Page 121

2010-10-06T12:56:00.002+02:00

This one is one night late, so the next one will be posted tonight already!

And thanks to all the commenters for pulling me through these last pages! You are all VERY appreciated!!! xxx

Page 120

2010-10-04T19:29:00.004+02:00

..and still rolling...

The thumbnail is too big, so only a link this time:

http://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/DEO_tLFgWZ_nggeiKQuOmAw31qwB-SHo1h46lxsZSfQ?feat=directlink

(and Jolien, stop giving away my plot.. ;-))

edited to make link clickable

Page 119

2010-10-03T11:34:00.001+02:00

Already keeping this up for 3 days in a row now! (I do hope the story will be done in 11 or 12 more pages... but you never know with me, do you?)

Page 118

2010-10-02T18:20:00.001+02:00

..like Erika said.. I'm on a roll! (=ik zit op een broodje) ;)

Page 117

2010-10-01T21:44:00.001+02:00

There ya go.. a promise is a promise ;-)
(and thanks for helping me gain some momentum again!) <3

FINISHING THE DAMN THING!

2010-10-01T14:07:00.002+02:00

So it's October already and i aonloy realised how close NaNo was until last week. I want to use this years NaNo to edit and COLOUR (!) this story. But in order to do so, I need to finish it before that time.
I am really close to an ending now (I actually know most of the pages and jokes, so this time I am not just thinking it) but my pace has slowed down to one that is only still bearably visible to the human eye.

So maybe I should use the first half of October to finish the damn thing. A page a day, and then two weeks of rest before editing and colouring 4 of 5 pages a day.

But if I do that I will need comments to stay motivated, so it would help if there were readers who wouldn't mind coming in every day for the next two weeks and comment as well...

So what do you guys thing? Anyone up to that? :-)

You know what? If I get a comment today I will post a new page tonight ;-)

Present from the Mosselman

2010-09-29T01:37:00.004+02:00

One of my fellow-wrimo's who writes on the NaNo forum under the name Harry Mossel is also a cartoonist-illustrator (http://www.polanimation.nl) and he made me this little Dutch cartoon about my daily cartoons during NaNoWriMo:

*rofl* Thanks, Harry!

Congrats, it's a boy.. (in Dutch)

2010-09-23T17:47:00.002+02:00

Sorry for taking so long to past the next page.
Here is a little in-between, a Dutch cartoon I made for someone who delivered her first baby during a heatwave this summer:

(use magnifying glass in right upper corner)

page 116

2010-09-13T12:47:00.001+02:00

Page 115

2010-09-05T22:47:00.000+02:00

Lizzie ill, Lizzie better!

2010-09-05T22:14:00.004+02:00

Hi everyone, sorry it took such a long time to post a new page, but my little Lizzie fell ill!

I took her to the vet shortly before the Lowlands festival and it turned out she had Coccidiosis. This is a microscopic parasite that 80% of all bunnies carry in their intestines. Typically, healthy adult animals will be asymptomatic because of their developed immune systems. However, undeveloped immune systems make young bunnies more susceptible. So for small bunnies it can be a deadly illness.

Luckily we caught it very soon, so I got medication for her and thought she would be all right. My neighbour took care of her (and of giving her the medication) while I was at Lowlands, but when I came back, I noticed she was quieter than usual and eating less. During the rest of her 10 day treatment she started eating less and less until I had to force feed her to make sure she would not not develop gastrointestinal stasis, which happens when bunnies stop eating and which can also be deadly. We added another type of medication, but her appetite didn't get any better.

I thought she would start eating again after the medication treatment was done, which was a week ago on Sunday. But she didn't eat on Monday or Tuesday, so I took her to the vet, but he could not find anything and sent me home again. I called him again on Wednesday when she still wasn't eating and said I was exhausted from force-feeding her for a full week and I wanted him to check her teeth (which , if you read my comic, you now know has to be done under general anaesthesia).

He offered to take her into his care to see if he could get her to eat again and said he would check her teeth the next day. But when I called the vet on Thursday he said she started eating again. He kept her until Friday just to be sure, but she got her appetite back and I was able to pick her up again Friday afternoon.

She is eating well and her bowels are healing well too. So it was a bit of a scare and an unwanted trip down memory lane after everything that happened with Zoë the last year of her life, but at least Lizzie got better again.

She is not back yet on the weight she started on two and a half weeks ago, and she still has to make up for two weeks of growth as well, but she is all back to her old self again, running and jumping and peeing on my couch... which I don't mind so much any more at the moment.. and which I covered with a textile shower curtain yesterday so I can just wipe it clean now. ;-)

So that's what I was busy with the past few weeks. Hopefully I will get a little more productive again soon. If not, just start harassing me for new pages in here ;-)

Lizzie eating again!

Back between her toys

Playing on my legs!

Page 114

2010-08-18T21:04:00.002+02:00

(I'll be at Lowlands this weekend, so no updates till next week)

Page 113

2010-08-10T22:57:00.002+02:00

Now that I have bought a playpen for Lizzie made out of metal wire panels that I have used to divide the kitchen from the living room, I can leave her safely to play in the kitchen without having to be there the whole time. So now I can go into my study without feeling guilty anymore about leaving her locked up in her cage the whole time! So I thought it was ABOUT TIME for another page! :-D

So here is page 113:

Lizzie is here!!!

2010-08-07T00:30:00.004+02:00

Here she is, my new bunny-baby-girl. A Dutch Mini Lop (Nederlands Hangoor Dwerg) in the colour 'Sallander'. So I named her after Lisbeth Salander, the heroin in the Millennium trilogy by Swedish author Stieg Larsson.

In her travel basket:

Liking her bear:

Discovering her cage:

Discovering the living room:

Loving my home-made bunny-maze!

...but liking it mostly for sitting on and eating it.. :D

or for having a wash...

And she loooooves the play-tunnel I bought her!

Especially for running through it really fast!

What is really strange though, is that I thought she would be beige and brown, but she is much more light and dark grey.. pretty much the exact same colour Zoë was!

So thank god she is a different bunny-breed so at least they wont ever look the same!

She won't let me touch her yet and she runs like hell when I stick my hand out, but she does seek out my company the whole time she is out of her cage. So sweet.. So hopefully she will get used to me and let me pet her soon.

Good news is that she is already house-broken and the place she chose in her new cage for her toilet was... the bunny-toilet! So I didn't have to do anything to teach her! :)

Page 112

2010-08-02T00:37:00.000+02:00

(4 days till new bunny!)

Page 111

2010-07-30T02:51:00.001+02:00

see that time-stamp? That's how hard I am working for you guys..!

(Okay, I lie, I have been up at this time of night for the past 3 weeks or so already, but still.. I could be watching tv :-D)

Behind...

2010-07-28T01:24:00.002+02:00

.. but I am working on it! I am also very busy (in life and in my mind) with the new bunny arriving soon (in 9 days as it looks now! Finally found a ride to go pick her up)

But I am still drawing and working on the book, I just need to edit the pages so I can upload them here. I'll do my best to have one or two ready tomorrow!

My Bunny Has Been Stolen!!!

2010-07-22T21:20:00.004+02:00

So I decided to take the small female bunny from the lop breeder and emailed her last week. I planned to have her neutered when she was 6 months old and then find a neutered male bunny for a buddy.

But today the breeder emailed me back that there was a break-in in her yard last week and they took all the baby bunnies out of the cages and closed the cages again (so no way that they escaped themselves!) And they probably also took two of the baby bunnies: the little underdeveloped male bunny her 4 year old daughter wanted to keep and that still needed to feed with the mother and the little female loppy I had picked out.
They cannot have escaped out of the garden because that has been made completely bunny proof (her own pet-bunny always walks around in the garden loose as well).

I can have the other female loppy from this nest but I am really worried what happened to the two stolen bunnies.

A friend of mine wondered of the story was really true or if she just had already sold the female loppy, so I called the breeder on the phone and we talked for 15 minutes and I could tell the story really wasn't made up.

So this little bunny had been stolen!!!!:

So this little bunny will be my new loppy instead:

The breeder has called pet centres to ask them if the bunnies had been offered to them and if they would keep a eye open (they had not been tattooed yet, but the colour is quite rare) and her next door neighbour and best friend has a hair-salon where she will ask around a lot. If a clients next door neighbours suddenly have two sallander coloured loppy babies they might warn the salon, so we all hope this will work..

I don't mind that I get the other bunny, but I really hope the first bunny will get a good home as well. But we will probably never know.. :`-(

Page 110

2010-07-21T11:37:00.001+02:00

Lots of text! Don't forget to use the magnifying glass in the right upper corner!

Page 109

2010-07-19T12:44:00.001+02:00

Did you see that judge's hammer on page 108?...

Page 108-part 2

2010-07-13T14:07:00.000+02:00

Another cliffhanger.. sorry Ron.. *ROFL*

Page 108-part 1

2010-07-12T13:42:00.001+02:00

...since I had another cliffhanger in the middle of the page... :D

Page 107-part 2

2010-07-12T01:43:00.001+02:00

I am working on page 108, but with the woldcup and the heat I only got to 2/3th, so here is the last bit of page 107 first and hopefully I can finish and post 108 tomorrow.

Room mate search part 3

2010-07-09T18:05:00.004+02:00

Visited a breeder of pure breed Dutch Dwarf Loppy's yesterday. Walked into the garden and saw this:

And my heart melted (not just from the heat)
Bunny-mum with 7(!) bunny babies in the garden!

These are the two wee lasses I can choose from (unless I go for a laddie after all:)

and:

I love the one ear still standing up but that's just because they are still so small and their ears only just 'fell' this week, so my favourite at the moment is the first smaller one with the very pretty spoon-formed ears.
<3

I'll still go and visit a bunny rescue shelter next Wednesday to see if I can find some bunnies there, but I do like these a lot... feels MUCH better than the 'blue' one did. Specially because their owner is a really nice woman and a more professional breeder and she doesn't mind that I still need to think about it. :)

PS: we took my car.. WITH the airco on!! :D

Page 107-partially

2010-07-08T00:36:00.002+02:00

So here is the problem. I have reached a point where I have to make a decision on how to go on. But I need some more thinking on how to make it funnier. So you get the next page without the last frame(s). But at least this way I can post my Wednesday page! (I know it's Thurday, but I haven't been to bed yet, so for me it's still Wednesday!!! :-D)

ps: tomorrow I am going to check out these furry creatures together with Lemonguy (but hopefully in MY car, since his has no airconditioning... and it could reach 30 C again..)

Page 106

2010-07-04T16:14:00.001+02:00

For my 4 faithful readers.. (or do I still have more?? Please tell me in a comment! :-))

Page 105

2010-06-30T22:25:00.001+02:00

Quiet....

2010-06-29T17:20:00.002+02:00

So the room mate search took some energy and I threw my knee out and then the heat started and that always makes me ill for a few days at first (plus that the study becomes a sauna, so I am the PC a lot less) so I am a few pages behind... sorry

The good news is that I found my piece of paper back with notes about where to go from here and that I have to work tonight. And the art-house is usually the perfect place (and after my shift the perfect time) to work on my story.
So I hope it's not too hot (it's usually quite cool there, but a lot of coolers in the projection booths are broken) and I hope I can pick the story back up and have a page (or more) for you soon!!

So please don't leave!

ps: the room mate search has been put on hold for the moment. Need to decide if I really want a loppy first...

Room mate search continued

2010-06-23T13:51:00.003+02:00

So I went to the see the blue nest. Turns out both mom and dad are tattooed, so the nest is pure-breed. The baby bunny is very cute with a deep blue colour and very blue eyes.

But the mother is a little 'dirty' blue with a brown glow and brown eyes. Less pretty. But what bothered me most was that she was HUGE. OR so I thought she was.
And the mother is the best bunny to look at when you want to know what the baby will look like as an adult bunny...

The owner had another NHD that was 1,5 kg and she said that was very small for a NHD, but according to the norm they should be between 1,3 and 1,7 kg.
The mother was undoubtedly much heavier. But then she only just had babies. And the owner bought her from a breeder when she was already pregnant (or whatever you call it with animals in English).

So I took some pictures, but when I compared them at home to the photo's I have of the other mother-bunny and I did not see THAT much difference. So now I am doubtful I even want an NHD.
So I googled some Dwarf bunnies but read that NHD do have much friendlier characters than normal Dwarfs. But then I read a complaint on a forum from someone about his NHD that it was pretty much always asleep and never did anything else. So that would be pretty boring. But there were also people answering that they had ADHD Dwarfs that never stood still and therefore couldn't really be cuddled with. That's no fun either.

Zoë had a will of her own, but she did love to be cuddled with and she came if I called her. But if I get a bunny that does not want to be touched much, that would be not so great either.

So I guess it's a little bit a game of chance, but my control freakishness is not really accepting that, aaarch. :-P

So today I look at the pictures of the blue nest again and I am really doubtful what to do. I asked the owner two days to think it over, so I promised to call her tomorrow night and I just don't know.
I also feel rushed because the breeding season is almost over, so I don't know how many chances I will still get with finding a pure breed bunny of either race...

The search for a new room mate (only remotely cartoon-related ;-))

2010-06-22T12:46:00.005+02:00

You probably all know my real Zoë passed away last December when I was only half way this story. It's my main motivation for finishing it now though, because cartoon-Zoë will live forever! :-)

But I have also started looking for a new room mate this week. I have two options at the moment and I am wondering about your opinions.

I am looking for a pure breed Netherland Dwarf Loppy (Nederlandse Hangoordwerg or NHD) because they only get about 1 1/2 times the size of Zoë, who was a pure breed Netherland Dwarf Bunny (Nederlands dwergkonijn) but they have those cute loppy ears as well.

First option is a blue NHD that is already 5 weeks old. So that one could come home with me in a couple of weeks. But the owner is not an official breeder, so I am not absolutely certain she is pure-breed, and I don't know what her character will be like.

And I don't know how to feel about the colour. She (or one of her brothers) looks like this:

Here is another picture of a blue female loppy:

The other option is a bunny that is only two weeks old right now (so I would have to wait a little longer) and is a bit further away (10 km north of Tiel) but this is a licensed breeder so I would be certain of breed and real breeders also make sure they breed bunnies with a great character, so less chance of an aggressive bunny. She doesn't know how many female bunnies she has yet, but the nest counts 7 and the next nest is expected this week. So she will most probably have a little bunny for me in 5 to 7 weeks.
The colour is 'sallander' and that looks like this:

One of her bunnies with a nest of about 4 to 5 weeks old (ears haven't 'dropped' yet):

More accurate depiction of the colour:

The mother of the 2 week old nest:

some more of her pictures:

So.. what do you all think I should do? I am going to check out the blue bunny tonight.

More library cartoons...

2010-06-20T20:31:00.004+02:00

.. in Dutch.

Here are Hannah & Zowie parts 4 and 5 that I drew last Thursday in the library.
Hope you like them.

I don't think I will make it to do another page for today after having to put my cartooning energy in the library stuff and all.
So you get these instead and I hope I will re-find my motivation and energy to work on the main story in here again soon.

Don't forget to use the magnifying glass in the upper right corner for reading these!

More about: Maus and Watchmen

Live cartooning in my local library...

2010-06-17T10:17:00.000+02:00

...today!!! I am kinda nervous.. I am just an amateur! I bet there will be some kids looking at my stuff and then within hearing distance saying something like 'what a bunch of crap..'
>:-(

or even worse.. a woman coming up to me and asking 'Do you know Maaike Hartjes?' I am afraid that in that case, actual blood may spill...
>:-)

Anyway, here are some more cartoons I did for the library (my apologies to the non-Dutch again, because these actually are in Dutch.. again..)

Part 2 & 3

Page 104

2010-06-16T23:30:00.001+02:00

Page 103

2010-06-13T21:34:00.001+02:00

London wifi cause of no Tuesday cartoon

2010-06-11T01:50:00.001+02:00

I AM on vacation, I DID work ahead, I DO have a cartoon page, but the hotel WIFI wont let me post it... sorry guys, hope I can at least gat this message through, because the past two days I didn't even get THIS far on the net...
so here goes nothing.. see ya on Sunday (back home) hopefully

Page 102

2010-06-06T18:15:00.001+02:00

Page 101

2010-06-03T00:14:00.001+02:00

Dutch cartoon 3

2010-06-01T21:22:00.003+02:00

Another one for the cartoon-weeks in my local library. Look who gets to 'star' this time? :-D

Sorry, too much text to translate... But it's basically about Zowie not being allowed outside because that would scare people. But she can come to the library during the cartoon-weeks, because she can pretend to be a cartoon-figure, so she only has to dress up a little bit.
And Zoë already knows as what cartoon figure she will dress up... (for the rest, see pictures ;-))

Back in the race..

2010-05-31T20:47:00.003+02:00

.. to win some Lowlands festival tickets. I edited my animation film a little and added some decent end-credits (with some sound effects!) so that people (who know Lowlands) would recognise the film tent (called Echo). Because so far, no-one did!

Took me all weekend and most of today, but I just entered the contest for this week!

Not sure how many more weeks I can enter, but I emailed the producer of the radioshow to ask her and she is trying to figure it out herself now :-D

You can see the edited version here (if you want):

PAGE ONE HUNDRED!!!!

2010-05-30T14:23:00.002+02:00

Congratulations me, on drawing 100 pages of ongoing cartoon story! *lol*
(Does this now qualify as a 'graphic novel'? :-P)

Page 100:

Dutch cartoon 2 (with translation)

2010-05-29T13:25:00.003+02:00

Here is another cartoon I did for the cartoon-weeks in my local library

Translation:

- So these are the cartoon weeks in the library?
- yup

- I can't really tell yet
- you can't?
- no, can you?

- well...

No tickets...... :-(

2010-05-28T00:47:00.002+02:00

They waited till 21.30 to call somebody else. But I didn't know till after ten since I was at work and my friends were probably afraid to text me in case I thought it was the radio show. But then none of them were available to console me after the show because they were probably all in bed by then. (Or my phone just acted up again and didn't receive any text messages that were sent.)

I still think it is really low that they send those emails to people who didn't win, leaving you a complete nervous wreck for 24 hours and then just totally devastated.

Very mean. I have a couple more chances to enter, although it is unclear how many, because one part of the Lowlands site says: 15 weekly rounds, the radio website says 14 weekly rounds and the competition page itself says till June 1st, even though week 11 only just started today and June 1st is in 4 days from now.

The Lowlands site also says you get an email when you win telling you how to collect your prize. Nothing about having to go live on radio. And nowhere does it state if going on the radio is compulsory to win the tickets. It's the most unclear competition I have ever entered, but I also cannot find an email address or a webpage with all the competition rules.

But if I enter again and they sent me another email asking me phone number and telling me to be available I'll just ignore it or tell them I am not available.. or too sick to answer the phone or something. Because I don't have the nerves to go through this again. I just have the creative talent. If that is not enough, they should have stated so on the website somewhere.

Radioshow on Thursday night... aaaarch

2010-05-26T23:46:00.003+02:00

If you have time to listen to Dutch radioshow 'Met Michiel' on 3FM from 19.00 till 22.00 than you may hear how they are calling me to tell me I won the tickets for Lowlands with my animation film.

You know why I think that may happen? Because I got an email tonight requesting my phonenumber so they could call me live on air, in case I won...

AAAAAAAAARCH!!!!

I don't want to be in a radioshow! I just want to win the tickets! Besides I have a shift at the art house tomorrow, so I may not even hear the phone over the noise of the film projectors...

AAAARCH, I am going to make a total idiot of myself, I just know it... I am going to be trembling all night and won't be able to adjust the focus on ANY of the films.

And if they end up NOT calling me, I am going to be relieved at first but also SO dissappointed!!! AAAAAAARCH!!!

Back on track: Page 99!

2010-05-26T23:44:00.000+02:00

Dutch Cartoon 1

2010-05-24T13:53:00.002+02:00

And here is one of the cartoons I did for the 'cartoon weeks' my local library is organising for next month. I have more, but I will post them gradually so there is new stuff up here more regularly.

And now I am off to a local music festival with my drawing map and camping chair, so I can sit in the shade and do more cartooning while I listen to live music :-)

My First Animation Film...

2010-05-23T23:18:00.004+02:00

..had to be finished before Sunday at midnight. And it's 23.19 now, so I made it!

I made this film in an effort to win some tickets to the Lowlands Festival. So this is about 'how much music/Lowlands means to me', or something silly like that.

So here it is, My First Animation - the main reason you had to wait for new pages this week. I hope you like it (click twice to open the YouTube site for a bigger version):

(Oh and in case you are wondering, the biggest stage-tents at the festival are blue-yellow striped, violet-blue striped and red...and the filmtent is decorated with lots of eye-balls.)

And here are two photo's I took of the set I built in my study:

Page 98

2010-05-16T17:13:00.002+02:00

Next page:
EDIT: hopefully soon, but am also making an animation clip that has to be done by Sunday and some cartoons for the library that have to be done on Tuesday...

Page 97

2010-05-12T12:26:00.001+02:00

Next page: probably Sunday, maybe earlier

Page 96

2010-05-10T15:06:00.000+02:00

Next page: Wednesday

Page 95

2010-05-09T14:48:00.000+02:00

I am 3 pages ahead, so next page...probably tomorrow already! :-)

Page 94

2010-05-05T16:26:00.001+02:00

Next page on Sunday!