Posts Tagged ‘art’
4 items.
…and SPEAKING of Spider-Man!
You might have noticed that there is a new ad to the right of the comic today letting you know that you can now BID for original Theater Hopper artwork on eBay!
To celebrate the release of Spider Man 2 in theaters, I have decided to draw the Theater Hopper cast as characters from the movie! Tom as Spider Man, Cami as Mary Jane Watson and Jared as “Mister Busyhands” himself, Dr. Octopus!
Bidding starts at .01 cent – one thin copper penny! The auction will last until next Friday, July 1st!
I’m selling the art partly to raise some more money for Wizard World Chicago. I don’t think I’ve mentioned it here, but I’ve reserved a hotel room and a booth. I’m sharing the booth with Mitch Clem from Nothing Nice to Say and Barrett’s Lament, Zach Miller from No Pants Tuesday and the omnipresent Neil G from Dayfree Press, Robot Stories, The End Chronicles and Limited Space. The convention runs from August 13th to the 15th – Come out and meet us!
Anyway, I’m raising money for that, but I’m also trying to improve our seller rating over at eBay. We’re trying to auction off some other stuff lying around the house and people aren’t buying yet because we don’t have a high seller rating.
If you’re interested in Betty Boop stuff, Cami is selling off a lot of her collection, so check that out. I’ll probably put up some of my junk there in the next couple of days.
/end whoring
Anyway, thanks!
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No blog just yet because I have a lot of ground to cover and I want to make sure I’m thinking straight.
In the meantime, why don’t you big on my original art auction featuring violence against Ben Affleck?! Suitable for framing!
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Something that I meant to do yesterday but didn’t get a chance to do was post the winner of January’s art raffle.
You might have remembered last month that I created a new desktop wallpaper for people who donated to the site. It was an image of Cami dressed up like Elektra. It looked a little something like this:
Well, as part of a promotion to increase donations, advertising and merchandising sales, I decided it would be fun to raffle off the original artwork used in the creation of that desktop.
I am proud to announce that out of a field of 37 participants, Joel Schooling is the winner of January’s art raffle and he will soon be mailed the original 11″ x 17″ piece of artwork, created with loving detail in permanent ink on heavy Bristol board.
Now you’re probably saying to yourself, “Gee, Tom. I wish I could win some original art!” Well, you can! Because I’ve since created A NEW desktop wallpaper (available for donators) featuring Tom as the hero in the recent Keanu Reeves movie Constantine:
…and just as before, the original ink rendition of this artwork is the prize in February’s raffle.
How do you get your name in the running? It’s quite simple. You can either donate to the site, buy something from the store (don’t forget that buttons are still for sale!) or reserve some advertising space and you’ll have your chance to win when I pull a name from a hat.
I know there are only a few days left in the month of February, so that’s why you need to decide now if you want to participate. I will say this, however… February is a short month and things have been a little slow since I’ve suspended t-shirt sales. So your odds of winning this piece are pretty good.
If you need a little extra incentive for turning over your hard-earned cash, remember that donators automatically get their name listed on the Walk of Fame and are also given special access to otherwise hidden areas of the THorum.
If you’re feeling generally altruistic, feel good knowing that any donation you make will be put towards covering expenses for this year’s convention schedule. Our first stop being the Kansas City Planet Comicon convention April 2-3.
Anyway, that about covers it. E-mail me if you have any questions!
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So, here it is. This is the artwork I was threatening to do a week ago. A nice little cast portrait to commemorate my Iron Man 2 storyline. Apologies for the lack of color, but I think it looks better in black and white.
Yeah, I know it kind of ended with a thud. But I’m really proud of about 95% of it and thought it was worth celebrating. Goodness knows I burned up a lot of midnight oil putting it together for you guys.
As a special treat, I filmed myself drawing the artwork last night and sped it up for you in this delightful little YouTube video:
If you find that exciting, then I have even BETTER news for you!
I have decided to auction off the original inked illustration you see in the video on eBay. You can find it here. It’s on a 9 x 12″ sheet of Bristol board with a 1″ border (so you can frame it if you want to!) I will make sure to mail it flat.
Bidding starts now and the auction will remain open for the next 5 days. I don’t sell original artwork all that often, so if you’re looking for a one-of-a-kind piece from yours truly, now is the time to snap it up!
Now if I can get serious for a moment…
I went to this extra effort with the video and the auction because I’m afraid I have some bad news and I wanted to let you guys down gently. There isn’t a good way to say it other than to just come right out and say it…
EFFECTIVE IMMEDIATELY, I WILL BE SCALING BACK PRODUCTION OF THEATER HOPPER TO ONE DAY A WEEK.
This decision was a hard one for me but, ultimately, necessary. With the end of the Iron Man 2 story line, now seemed like the best time to make a change.
The primary motivation behind this cutback is actually very positive. A year after having been laid off, I have finally found full-time employment again! I start work in June and am very much looking forward to the opportunity.
But, as such, I recognize that I cannot continue to dedicate myself to Theater Hopper on a thrice-weekly schedule. The late nights spent staying up past midnight working on the comic have caught up with me. I don’t bounce back like I used to when I was 24 years-old and just starting the comic. Add to the mix two children with irregular sleeping schedules and, well, the end result is that I’m not 100% like I should be.
There’s been a lot that I’ve sacrificed for Theater Hopper. Primarily sleep. But my health, my attitude and my availability to my family have all suffered as a consequence. I don’t blame anyone by myself for these choices. But, at some point, one has to recognize when enough is enough. There simply aren’t enough hours in the day to be effective in all the areas I need to be effective in.
Part of me wondered if it was better to end the comic completely. But I didn’t want to do a disservice to you, the fans, for supporting me. Nor did I want to perform a disservice to myself and the investment that I’ve made over the last 8 years.
Eventually, Theater Hopper will have to end – as all things do. But when it does, I want to make sure it goes out on a high note with a story that satisfies the long-term readers and appreciates them for their kindness and encouragement.
Until then, it will be business as usual content-wise. I’ll continue to make fun of the latest releases, just not as often. I’ll probably be playing around with the format a little until I strike the right balance. But from now on, you can expect a new comic here every Monday morning.
To aid the transition, I encourage you to follow Theater Hopper’s RSS feed. I also encourage to to follow Theater Hopper on Facebook and my personal account on Twitter. They will be the best places for you to receive news and updates as well as links to the most recent comics.
If you have any questions, please feel free to leave them either here in the comments section or in the THorum. If you’re not comfortable with that, e-mails are okay, too.
This is a large adjustment for me, as I’m sure it will be for you. I will miss updating the comic three times a week. But, in the end, I know that this is the decision that will benefit me and my family most. At this point, it’s all about realigning my priorities. I will always enjoy producing the comic and interacting with the fans. But my family, my livelihood and my personal health must come first.
As the excellent, supportive and understanding audience you have always been, I know you will appreciate my reasons.
Again, I thank you. You have been much more kind to me than I deserve.
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