A Tourist's Guide to the Afterworld

INCOMING!

2011-09-26T14:23:00.000-07:00

Everybody look alive! Fall convention season's coming this way, and trust me, no amount of huffing and puffing is gonna blow it off its course!

So, let's say you've got a hankering to check out what's new in the Grey Bouquet universe AND get in some quality nerd time all at once. Where do you go? Read on, truth-seekers:

SCHOOLGIRLS & MOBILESUITS
http://schoolgirlsandmobilesuits.com
Saturday, October 1: 11am-1pm
Sunday, October 2: 11am-1pm
Bazaar in main building's cafeteria
2501 Stevens Ave S
Minneapolis, MN 55404

SAINT PAUL ART CRAWL
http://www.stpaulartcrawl.org
Friday, October 7: 6-10pm
Saturday, October 8: noon-8pm
Sunday, October 9: noon-5pm
Cosmopolitan Building
250 E 8th St.
Saint Paul, MN 55101

FALLCON
http://midwestcomicbook.com
Saturday, October 15th: 10am-4pm
MN State Fairgrounds - in the Progress Center
1621 Randall Ave.
Saint Paul, MN 55108

MIX - MINNEAPOLIS INDIE XPO
http://mplsindiexpo.com
Saturday, November 5: 10am-5pm
Sunday, November 6: 10am-5pm
The Soap Factory
518 Second St. SE
Minneapolis, MN 55458

...aaaand pencils down. Everybody got that? Good.

Still undecided? Having a first shot at new GBQ merch not sealing the deal for you yet? Well, we've got snazzy new booth toys this time around, too. Here's proof of one of 'em in progress:

Also, if you've always had a hankering for getting your picture taken with a certain life-sized headless chicken... oh, that's right. Dreams DO come true, people.

-----

...Wha? What the-- we've got FANART?!

No kiddin'! Check out what Grand Master of Cool Mr. Ben Turner sent us last week:

"I'll have four fried me's and a Coke."

Not pictured: like five more Photoshopped Nugget-head pics besides this, including one that involved a truly terrifying gigantic fiberglass head of Eddie Murphy.

The Internet, folks. There are magical people there, and I heart them. Very much.

Still not dead!

2011-08-08T11:02:00.000-07:00

In fact, to prove how NOT dead we are, slam your eyeballs against this beauty:

By popular demand-- the wedding greeting card!

Does it need some spit-polish yet before it'll be ready for print? Good gravy, yes it does.

Will this be seen to in the immediate future? You're darn tootin' it will.

Will you be able to pick one up for yourself by the time the next GBQ convention appearances roll around this October? I'm 99.9999% certain, yes. This one's too fun to sit on, am I right?

Will the card have that fugly watermark on it? Naw. Only the best for you fine folks. :D

CONvergence is imminent!

2011-06-27T17:44:00.000-07:00

(Translation for folks who aren't nerds for Scrabble: there's a convention about to happen VERY SOON.)

Hey, all! Brush that sleep and/or fallout dust outta your eyelids, 'cause we've got some news happenin' over here!

First off: as the title suggests, in just a few days, you're gonna be waking up, and CONvergence is gonna be ALL OVER YOU, AAAAAA. So you'd better be prepared. Is that it? Over there? IS IT? Maybe. YOU DON'T KNOW, DO YOU.

Grey Bouquet'll have a table there at the Artists' Alley, though your guess is as good as ours as to exactly when. That's con mayhem for ya. Keeps you on your toes. Like the folks with bunny and kitty hats and candy necklaces who run up out of nowhere and tackle-hug you at these kind of things. Builds character, I say.

---

Second: at long last, One Year Closer To Dying greeting cards are back in stock!

So are the Nugget pins, Amnio pins, AND Mister Bitch pins that went and got redesigned all snazzy-like! (True, the pictures haven't changed for 'em yet, but the new photos should show up there in the store by tomorrow.)

Same for Nugget's Diary T-shirts, including for the first time ever: SIZE SMALLS! All you tiny people out there who love wearing headless chickens on your torsos, THIS IS YOUR MOMENT. We even gave the shirt design itself an upgrade and made the back logo big enough for folks to read without them getting all up in your personal space and squinting at it! Terminally shy people who like Nugget with his neck scruff pointing the right way? THIS IS YOUR MOMENT TOO.

Heck, EVERYTHING at the Etsy shop is back online! Silly us for not noticing they expired. again. cough. All of you who like not having to go outside to buy things? THIS IS YOUR MOMENT. ALL YOURS.

...Look at us, handing out moments like we've lost the lease over here. Everybody calm down, okay? We're getting to the bottom of the moment bag for today, and I don't want all of you fighting over the last ones. Remember what happened to poor little Sally last month.

There, that's better.

---

Thirdly, regarding any more updates in the near future: your humble doodle wrangler is still stuck up to the thoracic cavity in busy. There's going to be an honest-to-Pete Grey Bouquet webcomic! Someday...! With, like, pages and a storyline and such. The first part's scripted out and everything.

When is it going to start happening? I wish I had any idea. When I have a clearer answer, by all means, this blog'll keep you covered. I know, sorry, sorry... I hate cliffhangers, too.

---

So apparently it was Father's Day last week. Who knew? (Aside from everybody, I mean. Shh. You weren't supposed to answer that one.)

As always, you might have to click the picture to see the whole thing if it's clipping partway-- and if you're not seeing the dialogue on the right side of it, that means you'll need to click to see it. Thanks for sticking through the technical difficulties.

Huh..? His feet? Of course Amnio's dad has feet. Shh. You're not supposed to notice that, either.

I feel fine..! Think I'll go for a walk

2011-05-23T14:03:00.000-07:00

Hello, and great big it's-okay-we-showered-not-too-long-ago handshakes to those of you just joining us from the conventions GBQ's been at this past month! All of you shiny happy people were awesome and awesome to meet. (Especially the one who let me take a photo of his teeth. Those were some fantastic teeth. Believe me, you'd agree if you saw them.)

For those of you who've been here a while, though, your first question probably has to do with how there's been squat for updates this past month as well. And I'm sorry to be the bearer of bad news-- especially for the new folks, 'cause for you, this is like when you find out the fast food place down the street is building a new playplace, and when you get there, wouldn't you know it, their new height rules say you're JUST too tall to be able to play on it-- but it's become painfully obvious lately that I can run Grey Bouquet, OR I can keep up a full-time job, but I haven't figured out how to do both at the same time just yet.

So for the time being, no more regular Monday updates here on the blog. I'll still update when there's news or an upcoming event or something, never fear, but for now, my time's going into

1.) revamping the site to make it easier to navigate, especially in time for
2.) getting the first sequence of actual honest-to-Pete main storyline Grey Bouquet webcomic pages ready to put up, with any remaining time put into
3.) continuing work on the picture book.

Feel free to send any candidates for the Velveteen Underground to greybq[AT]gmail.com in the meantime. Yup, that's still a thing that's going on.

So. Not dead. Slooooowly getting better.

scrawled on the wall in red pen

2011-04-18T19:44:00.000-07:00

If you can read this message, you will know I am still alive.

It has been many weeks since I first descended into the florescent-lit Off'ice village and made first contact with its tribe.

My trials in those early days were many and merciless, and I have learned much. I have picked up smatterings of the Off'ice people's native written language, with its complex system of carbon transfer papers. I now know the thrill of returning from a successful Chipotle's hunt. The bloody consequences of touching any food bearing the inscription "DAVE'S".

Was not expecting the ritual circumcision, I will admit, but even that part wasn't too bad after the screaming stopped and I passed out.

It was... has it already been two weeks? Time grows strange in this place. Whenever it was, I was surprised and honored to be presented with a proposal by the mighty figure they refer to only in whispered tones as "H.R.": I would become a regular member of their tribe! My responsibilities would only grow with my title, Returning Temp, but they assured me my rewards would more than meet the difference.

So I write to you, my beloved brainchildren, and beg you not to despair. I am allowed short times away from my duties, and in those rare times when I do not collapse and fall instantly asleep, I will think of new stuff for you to blow up, or attempt to eat, et cetera.

I will remember.

--Your creator

TL;DR version
WORK PROMOTION appeared!
PROMOTION uses EXTRA HOURS
PROMOTION goes NOM NOM NOM
SUPER EFFECTIVE
GERBIL HAS FAINTED!

GREY BOUQUET used UPDATE!
But nothing happened...

---

Hokay. Pins and shirts ordered. New GBQ booth display sketched out.

Grey Bouquet part of Black Hat Collective booth banner (made for upcoming convention season, starting with April 29th's St. Paul Art Crawl weekend, where you can catch all of our ragtag comic artist bunch LIVE): done.

Sleeptime: emminent.

Once work's over, I mean.

get it while it's... hot?

2011-04-04T12:01:00.000-07:00

Snow's meltin'! Everybody get some sledding time in while you still can't see all the dead grass and animal poop the snow's worked so hard to try and hide. (Good try, snow. We knew you'd give it your best shot.)

Or playing-in-traffic time works too. Either way. Much safer now that there's no cars to worry about, anyhow.

So of course, the image above led to this table-napkin scribble:

PLEASE PULL OVER SIR
THAT DOES NOT LOOK LIKE A MINIMUM SPEED OF 35 MILES PER HOUR TO ME

---

Speaking of something I guess might in some way be related to traffic safety and/or winter sports if you squint hard enough: convention time is upon us once more! And of course, there'll be a few appetizer cons to tide you over 'till the main-course summer conventions start rollin'. Here's where Grey Bouquet will have a booth in the next couple months:

* SAINT PAUL ART CRAWL *
Cosmopolitan Building
250 6th Street East
Saint Paul, MN 55101
Friday, April 29th - 6:00pm until 10:00pm
Saturday, April 30th - noon through 8:00pm
Sunday May 1st - noon 'till 5:00pm

* SPRINGCON *
Minnesota State Fairgrounds, Grandstand Building
1265 Snelling Ave. N
Saint Paul, MN 55113
Saturday, May 21st - 10am to 5pm
Sunday, May 22nd - 10am to 5pm

---

Until then, still workin' on the last touchups for pin/shirt/greeting card makeovers/reorders. Once the restocks are, uh... well, restocked, you'll hear it here first!

someone in this room... IS A DINOSAUR. dun dun DUNNNN

2011-03-28T20:34:00.000-07:00

Over on Nugget's Twitter, yarr, there be plots a-thickenin'.

This post is extra short, so as to build suspense

oOOoOoOOoOo. wiggly ghost hands.

erin go BLAUUGH asdklsfl

2011-03-21T13:09:00.000-07:00

Update over on Nugget's Twitter: he doesn't get St. Patrick's Day, either.

Riddlyn's really a jerk sometimes, isn't she? I mean, grass is green, too, and it's not nearly as poisonous. But nooo, that wouldn't be nearly as entertaining to watch.

Not fair for Nugget, either, 'cause Mister Bitch celebrated the holiday just fine. Several times, in fact. Stuff falling through your ribs helps with that, I guess.

Whew. Can't wait for when I figure out html enough to finally install Comicpress, so y'all can see the updates on each of the pages all on the same page, eh?

('Course, what'll I do with all this update space then?) :(

pokeymans

2011-03-14T13:53:00.000-07:00

C'mon, kiddos. Pull up a chair.

Today, I'm going to talk about a very common illness that artists can come down with from time to time. It happens when somebody who's arted things for a while comes across a piece they've drawn a long while ago that they have decided to use for something once again, and proceeds to launch into a perfectionist frenzy not unlike a cloud of pirahnas. Symptoms include squinting, putting hands to face in a covering motion, grimacing, drawing back from the art as if in pain, and outbursts such as "OH GOD THE FEET, HOW THE HELL ARE THOSE SUPPOSED TO BE FEET", "WHY DID NOBODY TELL ME THIS SUCKED SO BAD?", and "RRRRRRRGHH".

It's a tragic situation many suffer through in silence, much like diabetes, or wicked dog farts. And what's more, it's nothing to be ashamed of.

Yes, this is mainly why your humble doodle wrangler hasn't had hot doodle stew ready on the table when you come home at night lately. Because the meatloaf I wanted to make you came from a years-old recipe where all the anatomy was drawn at weird, unpracticed angles and I didn't think to draw anything from reference and 'fingers' were strange, alien things best left unmentioned, and it pretty much tasted like microwaved hell whenever I'd try whipping up a batch. And I know I can do better than that, so to prove it I've had you go without supper until I can make a batch that really blows your socks off.

So in case it's not obvious: I'M ONLY STARVING YOU BECAUSE I LOVE YOU. Y'know, like that time your aunt tried babysitting that cousin nobody brings up anymore, and the nice police folks came and had a chat with her for a while.

Also, the dry spell lately does not have anything whatsoever to do with the subject below, especially the new video game that came out last week, absolutely nothing at all no sir nuh uh.

...well maybe just a little tiny bit

2011-03-07T13:10:00.000-08:00

Another week on the dry side, looks like. Still, among the pin design upgrades, was caught off-guard once I put the old design smack-dab next to the new one:

Holy crap. That's like... only three years apart, there.

It would appear I discovered this mystical thing people call "line weights" at some point.

GREY BOUQUET WANTS YOU...r stuffed animals

2011-02-28T18:25:00.000-08:00

One of the things it's been tough to get across these past few weeks is the sheer amount of stuff that's been shifting around, now that a recent revision to the picture book includes hints of, gasp, an overall PLOTLINE for Grey Bouquet, with beginnings and middles and ends and conflict and other such luxuries that just plain weren't there in the original write-up.

So along with redoing old designs in time for a long-needed pin restock, doing the same for one of the greeting cards, and getting ducks in proverbial rows towards a total website revamp that'll be way easier to navigate, there's been the matter of stapling on a bunch of subplots to the GBQ beast at large, then going through every few tries and ripping off the ones that don't seem to be working so good. If you've seen the movie "Akira": kinda like dealing with that big mutating gore baby at the end, only with fewer organ systems the size of apartment blocks puffing out of nowhere involved. Lots of erasing, though. And the amount of screaming's about the same. :(

One of these subplots that does hold up through every scratch-out and rewrite is the part where Riddlyn is somewhat of an insane-sounding plush collector (only really, she's not. Really). She single-handedly (flipperedly?) runs the Velveteen Underground, as she calls it-- her rescue mission, roaming the Afterworld for orphaned stuffed toys that had a kid know they were real for long enough for their sentience to stick around after all the humans went away. Only Riddlyn can hear them, but she's determined to gather them all together and make sure they know somebody else-- even if it's only her-- knows they're real, too.

What does this mean? Only that it's time for a CASTING CALL!

That's right. Have you ever had a stuffed animal you knew was real? Want to give 'em a bit of well-deserved immortality? If so, go ahead and send us your best description of what your faithful stuffie looked/looks like (photos are a-okay, too!), and they just might show up in the Grey Bouquet universe.

EXAMPLE:

Name: Pink Dinosaur
Likes long walks on the beach (though prefers to be carried), PB&J crusts, and giving rides to the very small. (Doesn't mind when the not-so-small give it a try, either.)
All limbs intact-- spent a long, loooong time in a basement.
Defender of smelly kids.
Superhero at heart.

[Note: it's just one example. Be as matter-of-fact or descriptive as you want.]

Send all stuffed star-search hopefuls on over to greybq AT gmail DOT com . (Remember to replace the @ and .! Thanks for helping us keep spambots off our tail.)

Now unfortunately, I can't promise any monetary reward with this. In fact, I'll be honest: this is pretty much a donation call for Velveteen Underground stand-ins. I can't track everyone down and pay them royalties if an old friend of yours gets picked to show up in the book or the comic pages.

But hey, if you were lucky enough to have somebody in your life that stuck with you thick and thin, overstuffed or raggedy, rubbed-off buttons or no, here's your chance to let this pre-apocalypse world know how awesome they are!

snow dayyyy

2011-02-21T13:16:00.000-08:00

NUGGET'S BACK ON TWITTER

There. My work here is done.

(...And I so wish I could show off the stuff I'm putting together for the picture book, 'cause nothing looks impressive like somebody saying "no, really, I swear I haven't been a total slacker lately" without anything else to show for it, am I right?) o_x

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This is a placeholder post. It will be replaced in the wee hours of Monday becoming Tuesday.

Due to the newest "I left for five minutes. WHERE did this foot and a half of snow come from" we here in MN were so kindly donated, your humble doodle wrangler got chased off the apartment grounds today so they could plow it, and Lee and Lisa's apartment got snowed in too (remember them? The ones who do Godseeker? You should go read their stuff). Ergo, no access to a scanner before I had to dash over to work. I get back from the office at 11:30pmish, so it'll be fixed sometime soon after then. Just figured y'all should know in the meantime.

So don't worry. I still like you all.

Except for the atmosphere. You're a jerk. The rest of you are cool.

I ASSURE YOU WE'RE OPEN

2011-02-14T13:34:00.000-08:00

not much to show for it this week

but see?

busy

Oh, and the Etsy shop's been restocked. Happy Half Price Chocolate Eve, y'alls.

and there's something about a ball, I think

2011-02-07T11:50:00.000-08:00

In celebration of that quaint human custom of gathering once a year to order pizza and watch a bunch of commercials, we are proud to present: BUTTON LINK ADS! Swap 'em, trade 'em, collect 'em all! ...which is really easy to do, 'cause they're all here on this one page.

You can choose your favorite size, and the html coding to copy/paste it should be right under each image.

PS, for those who've mentioned the right-side menu is cutting off the right side of the pictures in the blog: like all those other times, you'll probably have to click on the image to see the whole banner link pic. Not sure why that cropping issue keeps happening to a lot of you. I'd love to learn how to fix that particular bit of unpleasantness, if anyone happens to know.

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HEY EV'RYBODY! 8D

2011-01-31T09:29:00.000-08:00

Let's all form a rockin' band!

yup, I got nuthin'

One more Series Bible update, now with zesty barbeque dipping sauce

2011-01-23T21:14:00.000-08:00

NUGGET

- A headless chicken with the soul of a poet

- Driving goal: to find a new head

- Unbelievably lucky when it comes to surviving; has stupendously bad luck with everything else

- Compelled to write down his thoughts so that others can read about them and maybe connect with what he's going through. These attempts are unfortunately hampered by the fact that he can't write in anything but chickenscratch lines, and can only type (badly) through dumb luck (and because if he couldn't do something, that'd be just way too depressing)

- Is very shy around anyone but Amnio, Riddlyn, and Mister Bitch, as he's got a serious inferiority complex when it comes to being seen by those who still have heads

- Had his head cut off in a factory right when the Apocalypse was going on. He has no feathers except for one left on his tail; for some reason, there are always more feathers scattering off from him when he's stressed/excited (mostly because the artist thinks is funny)

- Doesn't cluck, but does make wet farty neck noises, like so:

He whistles the same way. :D

- He also talks in emoticons, at least in drawings. To translate them from word balloon to actual noise, when you see a happy face, figure he's squirting out as happy-sounding a noise as he can. Same for a sad face; think of a cross between a kazoo and a slide trombone wah-wah noise, if both of them were drowning.

...And I'll leave you to have that tumble around inside your heads for a while. Enjoy!

ECHO ECHO Echo echo echo.

2011-01-16T22:22:00.000-08:00

Another page from the sketchbook this week. The left side's a peek at what's next on the greeting-card docket, and should be familiar to those of you who've been watching the blog for a while. (Anyone remember the 'if I get word someone wants them' card design ideas? Yeah... got enough to cave for one of 'em, woot!)

As for those globby things on the right side: that's another bit of the Afterworld landscape-- Echoes. Somewhere between a haunting and catching a glimpse of a shooting star, these things pop up seemingly at random. It's a special occasion whenever Amnio and friends manage to spot one, even if they don't know what Echoes are or why they do what they do.

Simply put, Echoes are the last hurrah of humanity's memories-- memories that were strong enough to stick around, even if most are only flashes of habits repeated long enough to sear an action to a certain spot. A person who took the same path from their house to the corner shop down the street every morning for thirty years might show up as an Echo of a faintly humanoid form making that same trek. The local cat lady's house might play host to a couple cat-shaped Echoes who prowl the walkway out front in exactly the same path every time, and then they disappear, over and over. Every July 4th, Echoes of fireworks streak across the sky without making a sound.

---

Before I forget again: as of last week, the Grey Bouquet online store is SOLD OUT of the "One Year Closer to Dying" greeting card. Don't fret, though; they're still available through The Source, Magus Books, and the Sacred Paths Center here in the Twin Cities, but your humble doodle wrangler's got one important design update to mess with before this card goes in for another reprint.

Weird how that card design's been around for so long that when it was first printed, Amnio didn't even have a heart yet, eh? Well, that'll get fixed soon enough.

2011-01-09T20:29:00.000-08:00

So hey, I got a new not-retail job that's actually in my degree field! At a huge pay bonus! Full time! Starting the Monday after this one!

After which I immediately think, Which means I'm gonna get the Monday site updates done in a timely manner... when, exactly?

...

..... 8[

COUGH DISTRACTION. Hey why don't let's take another look at the sketchbook lately?

There's not usually any depreciating comments added in like this one has, but... I do not like realizing how little of art college I can actually remember. Le sigh.

So. 2011, huh? Yikes.

2011-01-03T11:46:00.000-08:00

Well, Nugget's been tweeting again.

Probably not about this, though I'd reckon this has happened to him before.

Suddenly, Nugget gets the feeling that irony is happening, and he doesn't know why...

-----

Plus, since you've brushed your teeth and cleaned your room like I told you to this week, here's a peek at a character I'll be explaining more about soon: meet Pink Dinosaur.

Any of you remember the series bible notes for Riddlyn a couple weeks ago? About how she rescues stuffed toys that were thought of as alive by their human owners, so much so that they became self-aware, only to be abandoned when the Apocalypse went and took their humans away? The Velveteen Underground? (Anyone? Bueller..?)

Well, short version is that Nugget finally found someone he can hug.

I got a rock... :(

2010-12-27T21:37:00.000-08:00

So after being talked down from the roof by those nice people in the fire truck the other night, it has come to your humble doodle wrangler's attention that I am not actually Santa Claus. Even if I was holding a little sleigh at the time. As well as some other stuff my lawyer tells me it would be in my best interests not to disclose.

Well, live and learn, that's what I say.

Speaking of holiday traditions, here's that time-honored favorite, the zombie snowdog:

Also, Nugget's found his way to the clicky box again, so check out the Twitter feed to catch up on his big city trip. Or, y'know, the Nugget Online section on the main site, if you're some strange kind of Luddite who still goes to websites but just not Twitter, I guess.

(PS: Bad Luddite. That's not how it works.)

QUICK, LOOK ALIVE

2010-12-19T22:24:00.000-08:00

Currently between days 5 and 6 of a week of 8-hours-and-up shifts at the retail job. May or may not be dead right now. Not sure.

But that doesn't give you any excuse! Go look at the new Gag Strip in the main site's Comics section! And know that, in this holiday season, I am thinking about all of you. Each and every one of you.

For you see, I am...

Batman.

no wait

SANTA CLAUS

I think

yes.

So everybody shh, now. Let's keep this info on the down-low here. We jolly? Cool.

what's that on the horizon? Could it be PART TWO OF SERIES BIBLE NOTES?

2010-12-13T21:25:00.000-08:00

oh jeez you guys I think it's headed this way

DUCK AND COVER

-----

One more thing on Amnio:
* He doesn't grow up (as in, into a teenager/adult). When they made him, his parents understood the concept that humans/families had children, but not that humans actually aged over time

RIDDLYN
* A mermaid-sockpuppet who sparkles faintly, and can float (swim through the air?) when she wants to, which is pretty much all the time
* Wanted to see the human world, but could only come back to her home in the Diamond Fields (a nearby dimension humans used to go when they were hallucinating) when she convinced 1000 humans she wasn't just a figment of their imagination. Was about to convince her thousandth human when the Apocalypse hit, and is now stuck in the Afterworld
* Has no knowledge that Amnio's parents are the ones who've indirectly stranded her where she is, and is friends with Amnio because he understands what she's saying; the only thing she says is "bumblemuffins"
* Is motivated almost entirely by whim. She's not happy she doesn't know any way to get back to her home, but the Afterworld is enough of a change of pace from the Diamond Fields to keep her occupied and content for the time being, so she's not too troubled by her predicament
* Has met many critters/characters before Amnio's heard of them, even if she couldn't talk to them
* Hangs out with Mister Bitch and Nugget mostly just because Amnio does; Amnio's ability to speak with anyone doesn't extend to her, so Nugget is (to her) a mute who smells bad, makes nauseating sounds, and runs around a lot. She occasionally messes with Nugget when Amnio's not around, and doesn't feel guilty about it; she views most others as casual playthings
* She DOES have a heart for the few stuffed animals in the Afterworld who were loved enough to give them sentience, only to have their humans disappear. She can hear these abandoned toys, feeling sympathy for anyone who's only had one or two people think they were real, and seeks them out, to gather them together in a safe basement she calls the Velveteen Underground (a name that nobody gets but her)
* Is the only one of the cast who can see in color
* Isn't harmed by radiation/fire/temperature; doesn't need to eat/drink/breathe
* Smells like gummi worms
* Has an extensive hat collection, nabbed after the humans were gone. She makes sure Nugget doesn't know about it, because she doesn't want him trying everything on and stinking them all up. She prefers her fez, so that's usually the only hat she wears
* Has 41 brothers and sisters, all of whom look exactly like her (minus the fez). This is one of the reasons she's not in a hurry to get home. There's not many places in the Diamond Fields where she can be described as "unique," and she at least likes to be thought of as such
* She doesn't know it, but there IS a way to get to the Diamond Fields from the Afterworld. There's an amusement park out there somewhere with a teacup ride that'll send you over if you ride it, though it'll make you throw up (rainbows). Riddlyn doesn't like to barf, so it's uncertain whether she'd take the opportunity if she knew about it

MISTER BITCH
* Amnio's pet ex-poodle, killed off by radiation poisoning six days after Amnio brought him home, and re-animated by pure loyalty
* To Riddlyn/anyone else who sees in color, Mister Bitch's fur fluff is a pastel pinkish-purple
* His bones can be disassembled and re-attached, provided it doesn't get TOO gruesome (whole limbs/tail, nothing partial like eyes or teeth). Kinda like a bone LEGO dog
* Has no real motivations besides making sure Amnio is safe, and to eat food-- not for survival, more a hazy instinct that he remembers if food's nearby. Any food he finds just falls through his ribs, though Nugget's getting really tired of it by now
* Can still drool, and does so. Copiously. Sometimes when there's no food around to drool over
* His name came from Amnio listening to some gangsta rap CDs he'd found. Having no context to go by, he took a "bitch" to mean "somebody who's fun to have around"
* As he's already dead, isn't troubled by radiation anymore, though if he's close enough to a bomb blast, he'll get his fur burned off (it'll grow back to normal(, and the blast force'll scatter him around a ways. It doesn't faze him any. And, yes, he's been near enough to some of Amnio's more well-armed playtimes to be blasted bald a few times
* Can tell exactly where Amnio is at all times, and if he's safe or not. This is good for the very few times Amnio's ties to his parents isn't enough to keep him out of danger. Downside: it's pointless to try playing hide and seek with him

Hm. Sure is a whole lot of information about how everybody reacts to getting blown up, isn't there? This calls for a sketch...

There! Facts you can carry around in your wallet, in case anybody quizzes you. Don't anyone say this site doesn't deliver.

...What's that? Something about 'I promised a comic about Amnio's mom'? Sigh. Well, kids, think of this as like when you asked Santa for a pony for the holidays, and instead, he got you a Turbo-Graphx 16, or whatever it is kids are disappointed in nowadays. Sure, it wasn't a pony, but eventually you found out IT PLAYED "SPLATTERHOUSE." THAT TURNED OUT TO BE AWESOME if you could get past the first level of the game without dying.

What? Nobody here played Splatterhouse when they were a kid?

Tch. I don't know you people anymore.

this brief entry brought to you by the Suckerpunched By This Week Foundation

2010-12-06T22:16:00.000-08:00

New gag strip's up in the main site's Comics section! Also the first-ever strip done entirely in Photoshop. Not one dead tree involved. TASTES LIKE FUTURE. (though for serious I think I'll stick with mostly drawing them by hand, 'cause dang, look at all that blank space I wasn't sure how to detail.)

Also, The Source is having a big sale event soon, Saturday the 18th. Grey Bouquet merch AND free caffeine, folks! Mark those calendars now!

Next Monday? Amnio's mom and her unique gardening methods. Or her pet. Not sure which yet, but she'll definitely be in there. More series-production-manual stuff typed out for you, too.

...insert awkward closing "Yup." here

Grey Bouquet Series Bible Stuff I Typed This Week: Part 1

2010-11-29T18:02:00.000-08:00

What Grey Bouquet IS about:
The adventures of four creatures, all of whom are varying levels of alive, in a post-apocalyptic world (the Afterworld, to be precise) where humans are gone, fantasy critters are given free reign to roam around, cities are for the most part nuclear-bombed-out/irradiated craters, and where the farty noises a chicken's neck makes are a legitimate source of humor.

Vegetation/animal life is mostly still around, just none of what humans would have to cultivate. At least part of it has mutated into some of the fantasy critters mentioned earlier.

Ash covers enough of the ground to blanket anything outdoors in shades of grey. (The fact that three of the four main characters can't see anything in color doesn't hurt for giving the Grey Bouquet series its name, either.)

What Grey Bouquet is NOT about:
* a religious-themed apocalypse
* a cautionary tale, re: the environment/nuclear weapons
* struggling to survive in the wasteland
* lol it's random, that means it's funny
* lol cruelty to animals/frying ants with a magnifying glass, that's so edgy
* anything from the POV of humanity
* slick societal commentary
* military strategy or plague devastation specifics
* themes above a general 'PG' rating

Notes on our four main characters:

AMNIO
* Child of two of the Riders of the Apocalypse (War and Pestilence, now calling themselves Warren and Lindsey Horsemann). Has only the vaguest idea of why everybody in the Afterworld knows his parents-- doesn't know they gave up their old job as planetary species destroyers and took on a human-ish form, just that they made something called "humans" who used to live there go away
* Wants to be famous, like his Mom and Dad, and figures the best way to do that is to make as many friends as he can
* Doesn't need to eat or drink, though he can if he wants to. Assume his body vaporizes it when it reaches his 'core'
* Is heavily radioactive, enough to poison any organic insects/birds/mammals around him to death within days, and scald any of them he tries to hug
* Looks crusty to the touch, yet if you could ever hug him, he's actually squishy
* Glows in the dark-- specifically, his 'heart,' and the light reflections off his eyes. Otherwise, his eyes are shiny, wet-looking oily black
* Is left home alone with his zombie dog Mister Bitch most of the time. His parents, being essentially alien life forms, have never heard of "babysitting"
* Isn't cruel, but is very, VERY clueless re: empathy, or whether he's endangering others around him
* Loves exploding stuff, and has accidentally vaporized his family's last two or three homes/surrounding towns with the odd spare nuke his father Warren's been able to find. He now recognizes that Mr. Bitch and Nugget would be gone if he tries blowing up anything big again, so he holds off on doing so... begrudgingly
* Can talk to anybody and have them understand him, and he them. This means that he can understand what a headless chicken and a floating mermaid-sockpuppet are saying, among many other creatures

-----

And because I promised unicorns last week:

These are the three unicorns who live down the street from the Horsemann's house in the suburbs. They're the ones who taught Amnio's parents how to use their TV/DVD player. How the unicorns keep their house's appliances and outdoor hot tub running smoothly, they won't say, besides "Unicorn magic." (SPOILER: they make the tiny one run on a treadmill for their generator in the basement. That's one of the reasons Tiny Unicorn is so angry all the time.)

They're the only ones so far to outright refuse to be Amnio's friend. They won't say why.

Unicorns are kind of jerks.

The Afterworld has no monster truck rallies. What they DO have is way more awesome.

2010-11-22T10:53:00.000-08:00

Yo! Get in line-- newest batch of comic's out of the oven! You can check it out on the main site's Gag Strips section. All you hermit crab fanatics out there should enjoy this one. (In fact, you can stop writing me letters about it, thanks.) Shotgun shells, bombshells... they're all shells, right?

It's been brought to my attention that, so far, Grey Bouquet doesn't really have much for a backstory, other than what's lurking in the yet-unreleased picture book. What fun is that? So starting next week, get ready for a bunch of Afterworld factoids that you don't have to know to enjoy Amnio and the gang, but that'll hopefully shine a light on some stuff that might've had you making one of those crumply-eyebrow confusion faces, like "How can Amnio talk to a chicken who doesn't have a mouth?"

Plus, there'll be unicorns. Frat-boy unicorns. Oh, yes.

---

In seasonal news, The Source is currently the only place that still has the Nugget birthday-slash-Thanksgiving greeting card in stock. Know I've mentioned it before... the one that featured Nugget with what was supposed to look like peacock feathers, but everybody thinks it's a turkey tail? Tomay-to, tomah-to. Either way, it works.

So, if you're the type who sends cards to folks for holidays other than the one with the fat guy and the reindeer, or just wants to see everybody's favorite headless chicken with a rockin' butt design, stop on by!

The word of the day, kids, is UGH

2010-11-15T08:48:00.000-08:00

Okay. So. This is the slumping motion my shoulders make when work has been so crazy that I really have nothing to show for the week.

It has been a great week for comical head injuries, though, so in an effort to provide you fine folks out there with SOMEthing of interest, please enjoy this dramatic re-enactment of one of them. (You'll all just have to picture me getting punched in the face by a falling price display at work for now.)

Why you gotta be a jerk, sky. :(

whatever you do, don't use crayons in his books.

2010-11-07T21:57:00.000-08:00

Not much on the homefront this week, but figured I'd drop a peek at one of the critters that'll be in the picture book...

This is Library Anne. He's one of the smartest folks in the Afterworld, as far as Riddlyn knows. (He should be, for all the books he lugs around with him-- which he carries very efficiently, might I add.) If there's a book you need, Library Anne is the one to find.

Amnio's house gives the best candy, 'cause Amnio's parents are the only ones in the neighborhood who know what Halloween is.

2010-10-31T22:09:00.000-07:00

Now now, Nugget. It may not be chocolate, but it's good for your gizzard.

-----

More layouts sketched out since last time, too! OooOOOOOOoo scary

walk of shame. and cake. mostly cake.

2010-10-26T08:07:00.000-07:00

What happened to this week's Monday update? you might well ask. Well, rest assured, this should be the only oops in the GBQ update machine; your humble doodle wrangler was busy turning 30 years closer to dying, as the greeting card goes. Would've had an update right from the birthday party, if the rainstorm that decided to settle over us that night hadn't knocked out the Internet, too.

Enough explainin', though. Have some special-edition "drawn while roaring drunk" birthday update! Just stick it in the microwave a minute, and you'd never know it's stale.

-----

Next Monday for sure: another peep at the picture book layout update chart! More Xs over page numbers equals more good.

2010-10-17T23:05:00.000-07:00

Back from FallCon, with fresh hellos for all of you first finding your way here because of it! None of those stale, left-on-the-back-porch-overnight hellos. Nope-- nothing but the best for you folks!

Between this con and the Art Crawl last week, your humble doodle wrangler's never been more happily surprised at how many people recognize these wacky Grey Bouquet critters when they walk by, whether they've seen somebody wearing a t-shirt or sent cards out to somebody themselves.

Can't say it enough: no matter how long you may've known Amnio and the gang for, it's an honor and a joy to have been able to meet each and every one of you. Even you. Yes, YOU, sitting right there, blinking and wondering how I can point at you through the computer screen with my mind.

Even if I happen to have an unfortunate-for-conventions knack for forgetting what people's faces look like if they're wearing different clothes than the last time I saw 'em, believe me-- if I come off as distracted or distant at these meet-and-greet events, it's because I'm trying to jog my memory of where I saw you last, NOT because I don't give a damn. If it weren't for nifty folks like you, Grey Bouquet would still been languishing around as sketchbook doodles, and I appreciate your help, enthusiasm, and snickering sounds more with every con I'm at.

Also, to the kid dressed as a skeleton who came by and politely asked if he could have one of the gummi worms, then saw the Amnio "Happiness Is..." shirt and said, "Oh, I'm sorry... I can't look at violent stuff," before excusing himself to the next table: I only wish there was something better I could've given you than a plain ol' gummi worm, 'cause the "d'aww" smile you gave me was worth way more than that.

Also also, to the fella whose mom has the obsession with collecting chickens: I hope the Nugget postcard does its wakeup-call duty well. And I wish I could see her face when she gets it. I really do. :D

So, what better way to celebrate a day of unrepentant comic book nerdery than with a good ol'-fashioned origin story?

Oh, Nugget. You'll never get to an Issue #2 that way!

2010-10-10T22:42:00.000-07:00

Hey, all! And an extra heapin' spoonful of welcome to those of you dropping in from this weekend's Art Crawl festivities. This week had some exciting news pop up regarding the picture book, which I'm gonna be keeping under my hat until some more solid negotiations get hammered down. You might notice how your humble doodle wrangler is making giddy bounce-up-and-down motions and trying to keep from saying "hee-eee" out loud. Please ignore this for now.

As for what I can talk about, how 'bout the new gag strip up in the main site's Comics section? There's that. It's probably the only time this week you'll see a sockpuppet wearing a sombrero, but I'm not making any promises.

Also, thanks to the on-and-off free time at the Crawl, there's a couple more lines showing up over numbers in the Picture Book Layout Report:

-----

Next on the agenda: FALLCON! It's this Saturday only, 10AM 'till 4PM, at the State Fairgrounds, so make sure you swing by to the Grey Bouquet Designs table while you're there and say hello! Or stare from a distance, then come up and ask questions about the doodle wrangler's 3-D glasses. That works just as well.

2010-10-03T23:11:00.000-07:00

job still kicking my free time's ass

but if you head over to the Nugget Online section on the main site (or Nugget's Twitter feed itself), Nugget's got a bone to pick with his beloved clicky box regarding a certain raccoon kicking his ass. Silly Nugget... Pet doors don't play favorites when it comes to who they let in!

PS: Does this week's update mean Nugget's dead? Undead? Plugged into a stunningly inefficient chicken-only version of the Matrix?

- SPOILER ALERT -
Y'know, I'm not sure. He won't ever tell me.
- END SPOILERS -

Glibness aside, I keep thinking of Nugget as just having really, really good luck when it comes to surviving, and godawful horrible luck with everything else.

awww puppies.

2010-09-27T13:31:00.000-07:00

Hey all! Guess who started a new job this week?

Which... yeah. Having money again is cool, but retail's a harsh mistress when it comes to sharing all that free time that was lying around. So, not much progress on the picture book front-- this week, at least.

but, witty stuff later

comic now

Gift comic for the makers of Poe the Goodbye Puppy, another local creation that features a zombie doggie. I figured it was high time Poe and Mister Bitch got to have a play date together. Of course, zombies aren't generally known for their pep...

No means no, Mister Bitch. No means no.

2010-09-20T01:31:00.000-07:00

Good news: There's a new display piece up for the Grey Bouquet card rack at the Source! With new art and the Nugget postcards for sale, even! Hit those fellas up sometime. Can't say it enough-- they're a keen bunch, them and their geek mecca of a store.

Bad news: Only half the art done for the display sign actually fit on the sign. Which is good news for you, 'cause you get to see 'em all here!

Print 'em out, if you like! You don't have to stick to the same boring coloring-page idea, either. Get creative! You can use them as seat placeholders for very small movie theater seats. Or stick 'em to the ends of dogs' ears with some tape, for a few minutes of free entertainment. Leave them at crime scenes and see what Batman-villain-style name the press starts giving you. The possibilities are endless!

-----

Speaking of picture books, how's the progress chart coming along? GLAD YOU ASKED.

Lookit! See? Lines appearing over a bunch of numbers! Lines over numbers is good.

night of a thousand tennis balls

2010-09-12T22:54:00.000-07:00

Every day, you learn something new, eh? For instance, today I learned that I'm allergic to shellfish. (Or maybe mushrooms. Or tofu. Trying new Chinese food combo dishes are tricky like that.)

But don't think a little thing like various body parts going numb would stop me from this week's update! In fact, there's a new gag strip up in the main site's Comics section RIGHT NOW, so you should go check that out. Continuing the "favorite toys" theme from last week, this one gives you the heads-up on how Mister Bitch gets his entertainment.

NOTE: He can do that all day if Amnio lets him.

-----

Hey, that's right, I can add some more to the picture book progress chart, too!

As it turns out, my numbering fail means there's only 40 pages to the book, not 44. I'll spiff up the original chart lines to something less edited-in-Photobucket-at-the-last-minute soon enough.

2010-09-09T21:59:00.000-07:00

One last Not A Card Yet design for y'all today. Here's the Get Well card, which might've had "I'd Keep You Around Even If You Were A Case Of The Plague" on the inside. Or maybe not. Never could figure out a good saying for it.

And with that, your humble doodle wrangler has officially burned through the entire backlog of pics saved up for this blog, so updates are going to be scaled back for the time being to MONDAYS ONLY.

You'll still get your cool stuff here, so keep checking back. I'll just be setting to work on the picture book that much harder in the meantime!

dem bones.

2010-09-08T01:52:00.000-07:00

One thing savvy folks might've noticed about the gag strip this week is that it features, GASP, the first example of correct human-style bone structure since the whole Grey Bouquet series started.

Talking about the pelvic bones, in particular-- ie, the big butterfly-shaped part of the skeletal system, where your spine ends and where the tops of your legs connect into. Especially the obturator foramen (the holes on either side near where a person's butt would be). I swear, your humble doodle wrangler cannot seem to pin down where the holes in pelvic bones are supposed to go.

This only became an issue once I took Human Anatomy grad school courses early this year and realized how bad a track record I had on the hole-placement thing. Seriously. Had no concept of what was going on in that area when I was doing the greeting card art, and it shows.

Actually, that's a cool idea for a game to play whenever you see Amnio or Mister Bitch: SPOT THE HOLES! Sometimes there's four there. Sometimes two, but they'll be in the wrong places. Sometimes Mister Bitch's legs are coming from mystery holes that don't exist, and the rest of the pelvic bone'll have more holes past that. MADNESS I SAY.

Doing a bit better nowadays, as seen in this doodle I sketched out to quiz myself for class:

(Done from the feet up. I kinda got bored by the time I got to the head.)

At least for Amnio, I can claim it's because of shoddy research on his parents' part. They didn't see examples of human bone structure for very long a time, after all.

Where do they get those wonderful toys?

2010-09-05T22:40:00.000-07:00

New gag strip's up in the Comics section, complete with a cameo from the A-bomb plushie Amnio's seen cuddling in the Miss You greeting card design (for those of you on the lookout for trivia extra-credit).

Speaking of obscure trivia: the 'gingerbread voodoo doll' idea came from a tattoo design I made for someone a few years ago. They asked for "a voodoo doll," and... it somehow never occurred to me to look up what a voodoo doll's generally supposed to look like before I started drawing. (Pausing here to state the obvious: this is NOT A GOOD THING TO DO when you do commission work. Just sayin'.) Lucky for me, the commissioner loved the icing/lava(?)-spewing result.

It also happened to look like precisely the kind of stuffed animal you'd find in a place people go when they hallucinate. (Or so I figure, uh. cough.)

2010-09-02T22:19:00.000-07:00

Another day, another greeting card design scrapped 'cause it featured Amnio's parents who hadn't been introduced anywhere yet:

...One without inside text this time, either. Hm. Never could pin down a line that felt just right for this one.

Anyhow. New gag strip on Monday, and your humble doodle wrangler's got more promo stuff to work on in the meantime.

2010-08-31T23:56:00.000-07:00

Hey, so now that you're up to speed on who Amnio's folks are, that means I can dig out the card concepts for Mother's Day and Father's Day! Cool!

Three guesses for which one this design's for:

WOOP WOOP NEW COMIC ALARM

2010-08-29T23:15:00.001-07:00

Hey! What're you still doing here? Didn't you know there's a new gag comic up on the main site? Check it out, yo! (Plus, there'll be another comic next Monday, so don't go tossing your fork right away after you're done! Save that sucker.)

But what's that I hear you asking? Who're those strangers in the new comic? Why, my dear rhetorical audience I'm replying to, you didn't think Amnio's mom and dad weren't ever going to show up in the Grey Bouquet world, did you?

Yup, those lovebirds are Warren and Lindsey Horsemann-- aka, former Riders of War and Pestilence in that Apocalypse shindig that wiped out all the humans, thus shooing in the Afterworld as Amnio and friends know it.

True, they've changed a bit since the first concept sketch of 'em, especially Dad and his helmet-slash-bronze-feathers-or-something-I-don't-know mask:

But if you want to see some real design changes, just check out how the Riders looked before they were done with that Big Job of theirs.

Left to right: Death, Pestilence, and War. Pestilence is stretching for a semi-human form here; usually it'd be a formless ichor blob covered with eyespots. Famine's not in this pic, but trust me, it'd look like sort of a saggy inflatable-windsock funnel critter with button eyes on top.

...Okay, so this is a bit of a cheat. The drawing above is from a comic project I tried briefly in college called "Second Horse," told from the POV of an alien from a protozoan-level ocean planet who's brought to Earth for an unknown purpose-- until that purpose turns out to be destroying the humans the blob's grown so fond of, by the time it catches on.

Thing is, I see the Riders from the Grey Bouquet universe as pretty much the same deal: four alien beings roam from planet to planet, taking out whatever they're told is the local pest that needs quieting down on that world, and off they all go to their next assignment. They have such abstract forms simply because 1.) they have no concept of humanity to copy themselves after, and 2.) they're avatars of friggin' elemental destruction. They don't need to look complicated. That'd be showing off, and they have a job to do.

But then there's Earth. And for whatever reason, War and Pestilence were smitten with the place. So much so that when they were done with that particular assignment (read: us), they decided to quit their cosmic temp job and strike it out on their own to emulate what they figured the dream life of the planet's former natives used to be-- that is, settle down in the suburbs and start a family.

Now, it's true, Warren and Lindsey don't have all too clear an image of what humans were actually like, besides the mishmash of videos and advertisements left behind. The forms they've adopted to look "more human" still don't look exactly like the perfect Hollywood couple, and Amnio's some real proof of how secondhand their ideas are for what "the perfect child" is supposed to look like, but... well, for a couple of galactic endbringers, I think they've done well for themselves.

PS: In today's gag strip? Yeah, that's not really how pre-Amnio life worked at all. But he's just a little kid, right? He can learn all the icky details when he's older. Just be glad his folks never heard about those mythic creatures, the "storks."

Postcards! Get'cher fresh, buttery postcards he-ah!

2010-08-26T22:00:00.000-07:00

That's right, baseball's own timeless crunchy snack favorite can now be delivered right to your door THROUGH THE INTERNET! Check out those photos in the link, 'cause there's art on the back, too. Plus a spot for a stamp in the shape of, get this-- an egg. Boy howdy, huh? What'll we think of next?

Also available in the third dimension at Sacred Paths Center, and (a few days from now) at The Source.

---

No sketch today, folks. Sorry to disappoint if you brought your plate. But don't fret, 'cause this next Monday, there'll be a super-sized update to make up for it! How big is it, you ask? Oh, only 'bout as big as THE END OF THE WORLD.

...'Bang' kind of end, not the 'whimper' kind.

Just... trust me, it's plenty big.

sockpuppet fields forever

2010-08-24T22:15:00.000-07:00

Still working on stuff that's not done enough yet to put up here, so... how 'bout I round out the last of those character/flower logos from the backs of the GBQ greeting cards, eh?

Hoping the basic character/flower parallels came through well enough for all of 'em. Amnio's wilting a flower with seeds inside an oval center that kinda looks like his mask-nose holes; Riddlyn's melting out from a flowery acid-trip sort of jumble; Nugget's sitting on a tree stump; Mister Bitch is gnawing on a poodle-puffy daisy and everything's covered in dog drool.

Didn't catch some of the pair-ups the first time around? You can go ahead and check the others. S'not like I'm gonna end the post and run away while you're out double-checking or anything. Except for the part where I'm totally doing just that.

vroom

2010-08-22T23:14:00.000-07:00

An idea so nice, I did it twice. Bask in the knowledge!

Also, thanks to all who came to the Minneapolis Indie Xpo this past Saturday! If you ran into me there, don't be alarmed-- I don't tend to be nearly that sweaty. (Seriously, what was up with that? I had a movie-popcorn-butter glaze going by, like, 11 in the morning.)

KNOW YOUR NUGGET: an educational film for today's youth

2010-08-19T22:47:00.000-07:00

New picture I whipped up to help a buddy of mine with reference for a certain somebody...

Yeah, so he's off-model from this in some of the GBQ merchandise. Just consider any stray neck scruffs retconned from this point on.

By the way, said buddy pointed out a possible glitch with the html I should mention a quick fix for: if your browser window's only showing you the left end of these pictures, you can click the pics to show the whole image on its own!

-----

Last-minute awesome news! Looks like I'm gonna be sitting in for the Minneapolis Indie Xpo this weekend, thanks to fellow Black Hatter and creator of the best nerds-in-rest-homes-of-the-future webcomic out there, Abby Lehrke! Check us out at the Soap Factory Saturday and Sunday, yeah? Admission's free. Just think of it: all the comic books you can eat!

GBQ plus BBQ equals.. something... BQ

2010-08-17T23:34:00.000-07:00

Entering the dog days of summer, so you know what that means!

...Gah! NO! Not that. Where'd you even get one of those?! You put that away before the cops see you.

Jeez. Kids these days.

I meant it's BARBECUE TIME!

PS: Calm down, that's not Nugget. Amnio's folks don't talk about what happens to all the squirrels and rabbits that get sleepy after Amnio hugs 'em long enough for the radiation poisoning to kick in, is all.

2010-08-15T23:15:00.000-07:00

For the record, this is totally me not stalling while I try to scrabble together enough reference photos to do the next sketch for the blog. Totally. Nope.

Right. ONE MORE KID PHOTO! (...And I can't find the first sketch I did of Mister Bitch, so this really is the last one. For reals this time.)

So I've had a few friends over the years who, on occasion, were known to command: "Hey, you! Draw something. I wanna see what happens."

If they were lucky, I'd do more than just give a dismissive lip-flappy noise in reply, and actually do what they ask. If I was lucky, I'd have something like these lovely ladies appear on the page when I was done. Much like how Amnio showed up, really, though Riddlyn the mermaid-sockpuppet happened to arrive with a chaperone.

"Missusymbiote" (the deer critter, there) was later renamed, streamlined down to a form that made my drawing hand not want to gag, and put into service as a character for a 24-page comic I did layouts for in 2006, none of which I'm going to show online unless I finish it, 'cause I'm a paranoid so-and-so like that.

FUN FACT: Riddlyn doesn't only have that one hat, you know. She's actually got scads of different hats stashed around in her collection. The fez is just her favorite.

She doesn't let Nugget know about this, 'cause... let's face it, he kinda stinks hats up once he borrows 'em. Talk about awkward.

He's put on some weight, but only 'cause roly-polier chicken equals FUNNIER chicken, amirite?

2010-08-12T23:44:00.000-07:00

Not much on the docket for today. Workin' on a couple more picture book sketches, so the checklist should have a couple fresh Xs on it before too long.

How about another first-appearance pic? Seems to be Nugget's week so far, so let's go with him.

I still raise an eyebrow at how little's changed between these first sketches and how I draw him now. Considering Amnio, Mister Bitch, and Riddlyn all had a few years of weird-looking development quirks... just had one of those "right place, right time" moments, I guess. Nugget's my Athena. Sprung fully-formed from the forehead of Gerbil. Love it when that happens.

Gives him a really boring baby-photo story, though.

POSTCARD RUMBLE MANIA, THIS WEDNESDAY!/WEDNESDAY!!!/WED-NES-DAAAY

2010-08-11T00:05:00.000-07:00

First off, guess what came in the mail today?

If you guessed the postcards, THAT IS CORRECT

Also: HIGH FIVE :D

So, rather than toss off another hit-and-run entry like Monday's batch of sleepwalking and fail, figured I'd make things up to you by doing here what I didn't do last time: walk you through how I made the darn thing.

Everybody ready?

TOO LATE HERE IT COMES

---

STEP ONE

NOTE: this assumes you have already
(1) drawn the headless chicken postcard art in question, which involves a Bic-clicker pencil and a very thin piece of dead tree,
(2) gone over the pencil lines with a .005 Micron pen, and
(3) scanned the end result into the magical ~~porn~~ picture box we call a COMPUTER to save it as a file.

Boy-oh-boy! Here's your brand new baby, all wide-eyed and excited and... looking kinda hangdoggy, to be honest. Blechh. Look at those mistake lines where your hand shook tracing with the pen! Those untrimmed borders hanging off the lines! The weird angle that word balloon's got, compared to where Nugget's neck is supposed to be! And those triangles you pasted into the background from a different scan... those aren't working like you thought they would in your head.

Not a bad start, but this thing needs some work done if it's gonna face the Printshop Crew in the final round, 'cause believe me, kid, that team plays hard.

Enter Photoshop CS and its Erase tool!

---

STEP TWO

After a thorough go-over with Erase, some doctoring to the pen line oopses, and a quick Rotate to fix the word balloon angle, we make a new solid-color layer to plop behind the original. This way, you can see which parts of the background (ie, the paper that was originally drawn on) didn't get erased from the part of the scan we want to keep as the image. See the flecky bits in the circles? Almost got 'em all. Time to erase 'em for good. Kids, cover your eyes. I don't want you crying about this later.

---

STEP THREE

Now comes the tricky part. Remember all those pen lines? The ones that were the exact same thickness for the entire drawing?

Well, grab your Wacom tablet and pen-shaped stylus, 'cause it's time to go over the whole thing again-- only this time, we're adding line weights. No more scrawny, nine-pound-weakling lines on THIS sucker! Now it's gonna look like it can stand up to a heavy breeze.

---

STEP FOUR

The Paintbucket tool's a wondrous thing. One click, and the whole area you're working with-- bam! Colored.

...Or so you'd think. There's a lot of zooming in to make the picture huge, gaping in disgust at all the tiny pixel bits that don't get filled in 'cause they aren't exactly the same color as the pixels you Paintbucketed, and frantically smoothing over those edge bits with the Pencil tool set at 1 pixel. [PROTIP: difficulty of this step may vary, depending on how unforgiving any OCD reflexes you might have are being today.]

The color squiggle in the corner is for our next step...

---

STEP THE FIFTH

Adding those background triangles! On their own new layer, of course. Don't want all that work you did on Nugget messed with, right?

Oh, and Nugget looked weird with feathers, so off that white color went. He's actually plucked, so if the Afterworld was ever in color instead of ashy greyscale, this is what he'd look like. No foolin'.

---

SIXTH STEP

Buckle yourself in, 'cause here comes about fifty versions of color swapping. "But that one looks too DARK! No, that one's too neon, it's drawing attention off of Nugget... Ew, not that green! That one's icky..."

Let's skip past the rest of this step, eh? It takes a while.

---

STEP SEVEN

Oh yeah. Hahaha. Ahah. Heh.

Remember the print guidelines the place printing your postcards told you to follow? Would've been a good idea to make your original image THAT SIZE. Just a note to the folks out there like me who don't remember stuff like that. Makes things run a lot more smoothish in the eleventh hour.

Still, once that scrambling horror's done with:

---

EIGHTH STEP / FINISH LINE

Colors've been picked, for the most part. Let's add a brighter green to these three triangles, though, shall we? Last-minute fix. Makes 'em pop out from the rest of the dark triangles.

There we go. Lookin' good there, sweet thing! ROWF.

Submit images. Pay printer. Bake for 13 days (or local ship times). Serves 250.

And... dig in.

NUGGET IS CONFUSED BY STAGES OF THE CREATIVE PROCESS

2010-08-09T00:57:00.000-07:00

[EDIT - You know what? I'm going to leave this post, where I have no idea what I wrote for it, here as a cautionary tale for anybody who knows what Ambien is: be sure to take your sleeping pill for the night AFTER you write your blog post, NOT before. Friends don't let friends blog while technically asleep.]

Seeing as how the Nugget postcards are next on the docket this week, figured I'd offer some snapshots of the first couple stages where we go from point "A" (ie, empty paper and pencil; computer's on, but nobody's using it yet) to "B" (line cleanup and inking via Photoshop CS and a Wacom pad/stylus" and then to "C" and beyond, which we'll come to in another post, 'cuz we sure don't wanna explode ALL your heads with this primo Colombian-grade knowledge, here. Trust me, it's not pretty like it is in the movies. You ever done seen a man tryin' to claw the smarts back into what now passes for their brainpan, gooshing it all down in there like sloppy wrinkle soup? No? Well, count yourselves lucky. Now what was I talki-- ah, right, taking a design from paper to computer image.

Step A: The original pencil drawing, inked over with a 0.05 micron pen and scanned. A line of triangles had this done to them as well. Both were ported over to Photoshop CS, where the triangles (still without having the background of the original scan's paper erased away; that erasing gets done once posing the three scan parts around on the new document background: the chicken scan, the emote scan, and the line of triangle scan pictures, each given their own layers.

So once that cleanup/posing is done, here's STEP B:

~~I go over the lines with a Wacom pen stylus to make them look more thick and dynamic. Go Wacom pens. Woot.~~ NOT YET. At this point I've just gotten rid of the flecks/blurs/mistake spots of the pencil/pen on the paper.

Afraid to say but the Ambien I took for tonight kicked in and is cutting me off here before I devolve into something with even more no language skills besides hooting and scent marking so I'll catch you all again until I wake up later today and figure out just what of this typemash I have to fix. Shouldn't happen often.

but yeah, thanks for coming, now you kids get off my lawn (for now)

bask in the awkward: more photos of somebody else's kid!

2010-08-06T00:36:00.000-07:00

One more! Just one more, I promise. This was the third sketch Amnio showed up in, I think. I remember shoving my notes for history class over the page as I drew it. Sneaky, yessir. That was me. (Not sure why I was so convinced that ringworm only shows up on the legs, but in all fairness, I was drawing instead of paying attention in Biology.)

Ah, life without sedatives. I remember you.

---

Oh and hey! So the first batch of Nugget postcards are on their way through shipping. Should show up in a week or so, and then it's to the Etsy site with them! ...As well as letting you know which local distributors'll be carrying it then, once WE find out.

He's got his daddy's... uh, lens sockets.

2010-08-04T00:48:00.000-07:00

So remember the other day when I mentioned those first few drawings of Amnio from Ye Olden Times?

Yeah. I'm about to do that thing where I open my wallet and pluck out baby photos to shove at you and make annoying parent coo noises. LOOKIT THIS WIDDLE GUY-EEE. ISN'T HE THE CUTEST. LOOKIT THAT WIDDLE FACE.

...Actually, look at those little ribs. Didn't I ever feed this poor kid back then? Sheesh.

There you go-- first documented proof of our main fella, originally sandwiched between sketchbook pages of a gerbil in a storm being eaten by raindrops with teeth, and some vulture-head-looking thing spitting bullets that I remember thinking was totally deep and stuff 'cause I drew it after seeing Pink Floyd: the Wall for the first time. [shrug] Yeah, I dunno either.

good grief.

2010-08-01T22:40:00.000-07:00

Being that San Diego's been a mere week and some change ago, AND seeing how one of this year's con themes was how "Peanuts" had just hit the big 6-0, I figured today's update would be a good time to touch on just how much Snoopy and Charlie Brown ended up being inadvertent grandparents to the Grey Bouquet gang at large.

Now, this humble doodle wrangler honestly has no idea what Charles Schultz would've thought of Amnio and company, if he'd had a chance to see them. I doubt he'd have a bad word for them, as he seems the kind to never hand those around too much.

One thing I DO know is, my dad is in absolute hetero love with good ol' "Sparky," and has been before I was old enough to open my eyes at the Sunday funny pages. In fact, I daresay my father's admiration for Mr. Schultz has only ripened over the years, like a fine wine, if that fine wine also wore Schroeder and Lucy ties to work several times a week. "That Charles Schultz... I mean, wow. You just don't SEE that kind of genius around anymore, you know?" was not an uncommon phrase to pop up over the family dinner table at the slightest provocation.

Which, I should add, is a sentiment I'm behind one hundred per cent. Sure, I could've picked "hating on Peanuts" as an easy path for teenage rebellion-- much easier than, say, picking up the odd recreational drug habit, or voting Green Party-- but I couldn't ever bring myself to dislike the series, even now. All things blockheaded and fussbudgety have simply grown on me far too much.

It especially fascinated me to read Mr. Schultz's family members claim that he often acted as though he was actually seeing the Peanuts characters in his mind-- like he was writing down their lives for the rest of us to peek in on. Not to mention how he passed on right when he stopped doing the strip... If he really did have such an insight into a whole family of his brainchildren, how lonely would that be, having to say goodbye to them all? The idea dogged me so deeply that my first minicomic, The Strange Tale of Charlie Dickenson (a timid-lined, cobbled-together-in-three-days attempt to pass something around at Wizard World Chicago in 2001) was pretty much created whole-cloth from such a scenario.

(Interesting to note: a couple mermaid-sockpuppets showed up in the background of few of Charlie's "vision" panels in the story, both of whom were dead ringers for Riddlyn. Right down to the snazzy fez. Relatives of hers, maybe? Mermaid-sockpuppets ARE kinda hard to tell apart...)

When it comes down to it, it was having my dad call the notebook sketches of odd critters I'd do "not like Schultz's stuff at all" that got the ball rolling towards the Afterworld in the first place. If I remember right: "You'll never see any money drawing scary stuff like that. People want to see nice drawings, like Snoopy! Snoopy makes people SMILE. If you want to keep drawing, you should go into making greeting cards. Something cute. Fun, you know?"

...which kinda paints my dad in a curmudgeonly light, come to think of it, so I should stress: he really did have a point. Those first gasmask-fetus sketches of mine weren't done to make anyone happy-- hell, the fetus in question looked like he was downright miserable in half the drawings I put him in. But a couple months wandering around in my head later, I was trying to stitch together what a little gasmasked fetus kid MIGHT be like. He'd be like any other kid, right? Even if everything around him was as gloomy and toxic as he looked, he'd still want to run around and play. He'd still have fun. And before long, I had a whole cast of critters there to enjoy the ride along with him-- first on a handful of greeting cards, and ~~THEN THE WORLD!~~ well, you know the rest.

Since I started this shindig, I've been thrilled over and over again to see just how many folks agree that something can be creepy and heartwarming at the same time. And every time I sit behind a table with my Grey Bouquet stuff, I couldn't be more delighted-- because even though Amnio and the rest may not have such inviting surroundings as a bright red doghouse, a nickel-psychologist booth, or the old baseball mound, I can still show people what Happiness Is through those in the Afterworld, a little bit at a time.

And that's awesome. :D

RED ALERT - RED ALERT

2010-07-29T22:28:00.000-07:00

Doodle Wrangler's folks are due in town tomorrow morning, so any rushed feeling to this post can be chalked up to having to scurry around hiding anything in the apartment that probably should not be left lying around in front of said folks. Which should be interesting, given the fresh slice of awesome I picked up at SDCC that's currently hanging on my dining room wall.

So.

Update. Update... what DO I have for y'all today?

How about the linework for the Sockpuppet Love T-shirt? Might be able to print that puppy off for some color-in-or-outside-the-lines-as-you-see-fit funtime, right? Yeah. I'll go with that.

Lesson One in coloring: eating the crayons does not allow you to cross into another dimension where the colors look WAY brighter. Trust me.

2010-07-27T23:44:00.000-07:00

Remember that picture book thing I mentioned? Well, I whipped up something for you all to keep tabs on where I'm at with it. Shoulder-snoop to your little heart's content, 'cause here it is:

It's like those advent calendars! If instead of chocolate, there was only SUSPENSE

SAN DIEGO YOU ROOOOCK

2010-07-25T23:21:00.000-07:00

Now that I've had my nineteen-hour-long nap to recharge... LET'S DO THIS THING.

Based on a true story. It was either this, the Galactus hats, or the Adventure Time caps they were handing out.

Seriously now: everyone I met at San Diego Comic Con was AWESOME. And I swear, hearing Jhonen Vasquez, Jill Thompson, Phil Foglio, Tavi and Rikki of Studio Tavicat, and Tessa Stone / Shaenon Garrity (the creators of two of the best webcomics out there) say MY stuff was cool is going to have me skipping in ecstatic slow-mo like somebody in the latter half of a medication commercial for the next seventy-four weeks. At minimum. I hope everybody I met had as rockin' a time at Con as I did there Friday!

---

NEXT ON THE DOCK: Oh yeah, the Nugget postcard's all ready to send to print, isn't it? I know what I'm doin' once I get up later this morning.

Plus, I started layouts for three of the 44 picture book pages on the plane ride over Thursday.

...Yeah. This week is gonna be cool.

it's ALWAYS playtime here.

2010-07-20T22:33:00.000-07:00

So! De-Comic-Sansed the main site, if you're into that sort of thing. (Poor Comic Sans MS. ALL IT WANTED WAS YOUR LOVE)

This Friday will not have an update, as I will be schmoozing in San Diego and hopefully kicking up some buzz for the picture book, if not for the main characters/series in general. Freebie tables ahoy~

To tide you through your loss, have a bigg'un for a picture post. If any of you've seen the freebie fliers for Grey Bouquet scattered here and there around the Twin Cities this past year and a half, this here's the sketch used for the puzzle image on the back of those fliers. (If you've got a flier and don't know what I'm talking about, chase it down for a second and flip it over. See that number on the corner? If you've got all four of 'em, voila, you've got the picture below as well!)

If you don't know what those shadows on the wall they're dancing by are, here-- look it up. Then feel free to chuckle, or shift and say "oh..." a little awkward-like, or demand to know what I'm doing in your living room, or whatever else folks do when they 'get' it.

---

You know what time it is again? Time for PROOOMOTIONS!

Y'all need to drop in for a look at this comic called Godseeker, by two of my peeps right here in the Cities. It's got pre-Babylonian-era romance! Intrigue! People getting eaten by crocodiles! Whirly plant vine things that look super cool! Boobies! (Kids these days like boobies, right?) ...And art and story and stuff that is WAY better than I'm probably making it sound!

You know what it DOESN'T have? Chinchillas.

Blah blah blah chinchillas are on a whole different continent when this story's taking place, there's an ocean in the way. NONSENSE. You need to tell these fine people there's only one thing that could make this comic any better, and that's for this to happen:

Scuba chillas.

I rest my case.

ffff. JUST THIS ONCE.

2010-07-18T23:39:00.000-07:00

...Yeah, I had to.

Are you my mummy? No? Well, you DO look like family...

2010-07-15T22:42:00.000-07:00

Found out today that it is possible to finish off the first season of Doctor Who AND finish up the back side of the first Grey Bouquet postcard in the same night. Unfortunately, the sheer hypnotic power of Christopher Eccleston on a flickery screen for these past few days means that Nugget usually would've gotten around to visiting the Clicky Box by this point in the week, and he hasn't yet. As the kids say nowadays, my bad, yo.

---

Amnio shirts are indeed now available at the Source, along with the usual full assortment of niftyness! If Dinkytown's more your stomping grounds, I'll find out tomorrow whether Magus Books will be offering 'em or not, too.

---

Keeping on the 'greeting card logos' theme, here's Nugget's version. His logo is kind of the odd duck out, compared to the other three. Only one card's ever featured Nugget-- and apparently, most folks who saw it thought it was supposed to be a Thanksgiving card, not for birthdays, like it was intended (though given the peacock-style tailfeathers Nugget's got on the front of the card, I'll admit it's not a big logical leap to make). It was never reprinted past the first run, so unless you've been checking the Source's greeting card racks for a while now, your chances of stumbling across this one are on the slim side.

2010-07-14T00:08:00.000-07:00

Woo! So. Shirts. The new design's now available at Sacred Paths Center, and will be available at The Source this Thursday afternoon.

---

How's about another one of those flower logos, eh? Ehhhh? Come on, you know you want more crosshatched plant stuff in your life.

Mister Bitch likes flowers. Flowers very seldom run away when he tries to eat them, and as his top speed doesn't get a whole lot faster than "zombie shuffle," every little bit helps.

NEW SHIRT

2010-07-11T23:31:00.000-07:00

THAT'S RIGHT I SAID NEW SHIRT

IT'S THE AMNIO ONE

FOR SALE ONLINE

CHECK THE ETSY SHOP

YOU BEST BELIEVE THIS CALLS FOR A 'WOOT'

WOOOOOOOT

cough. okay, that's enough of that... capslock hurts my innernet throat

What are you waiting for?! Go see, go see!

---

Don't let the shirt news make you think I'm cheating you out of a bonus sketch for the day. Have some detail art! This logo's shown up on the backs of the Grey Bouquet greeting cards that feature Amnio on the front.

PROTIP: Older cards didn't have all the nifty shading on the logos. If you turn your card over and notice there's only blank linework there, you'll know you nabbed a card from GBQ's first print run. (Feel free to pause at that point and pat yourself on the back for being ahead of the curve, if you want. You've earned it.)

2010-07-09T01:29:00.000-07:00

So, turns out the head doodle wrangler here fails at camera flash settings, at least enough to not have the Etsy store updated with new shirts yet. This should be fixed tomorrow, sunlight willing.

In the meantime, are you getting a little tired of the Not Card sketches? 'Cause I know I am. Let's mix this 'card' theme up. Here-- have the art from the back of the Grey Bouquet business card.

Nugget with Il Pumpkinini, a sentient vegetable garden farmers used to play opera music to back before the humans were all, y'know, annihilated and stuff. The biggest pumpkin in the garden fancies itself an opera singer. It'll be in the picture book.

2010-07-06T21:23:00.000-07:00

Hiyo! Have another not-card. Graduation Day, this time.

AND THEN, THE WORLD

2010-07-05T21:39:00.000-07:00

Hey, all! Big sloppy hellos to any GBQ newbies coming here from CONvergence. Just finished tweaking some stuff on the main website, and the new Amnio design t-shirts should be in the online shop within the next few days. ALMOST got the hang of this new Monday/Wednesday/Friday update thing. Almost.

As always, if you're local and looking for Grey Bouquet merch, you can save yourself some shipping costs and head to one of these quality Twin Cities hotspots:

* The Source, Saint Paul
* Magus Books, Minneapolis
* Sacred Paths Center, Saint Paul

---

Seeing as this year's CONvergence theme was "Bring On the Bad Guys," I figure it's about time I revealed a nefarious plot of my own. My ultimate goal with this series has been to make a picture book around the Grey Bouquet crew, Dick-and-Jane style-- and this past week, I finished up the second draft of said book's script.

What does this mean? Well, after I turn out the "Nugget Is Confused By Colors" postcard (which looks like it'll be ready by the end of the month), I'm gonna be taking a hiatus from doing any new merchandise. The good news is, it's so I can start working on layout sketches for all forty or so book pages.

As soon as I've got some art to provide, I'll be looking for an inker to help trim down on how long it'll take to bring the book to print. Know anybody who'd be interested? Happen to be an inker who's interested? Drop me an email! All together now: greybq (AT) gmail (DOT) com !

---

Speaking of merch that didn't get made, here's your sketch for the day. This not-card's for weddings.

Same deal applies for all not-card designs, of course; if I hear enough people want to buy a certain card, I can be persuaded. Sort of like a popularity contest, only this one's got a chance at a happy ending!

---

Shameless plug time: heads up, fellow creepy-cute fans! You should check out Poe the Goodbye Puppy, pronto! I met the creators over the weekend-- keen folks, and proud mad scientists, the both of them. We seem to be of similar minds, yet these guys have the added visual bonus of a world that actually has colors in it.

Plus, there's no such thing as too many zombie dogs, am I right?

it's Valentine's Day in July

2010-07-02T11:15:00.001-07:00

There we go! The site should be 100% keen-o now. If it isn't, drop us a comment, yeah?

Busy at CONvergence, but before I dash back to my table, here's something for y'all to chew on. Folks need birthday and friendship cards all year 'round, right? But the two GBQ holiday cards out there had mixed success, and only during those parts of the year, too. There's a bunch of greeting card ideas that've been kicking around the ol' noggin, but mostly they've just been jotted down in a sketchbook and left there.

Until today...

There's more where that came from, too. And nothing says these won't ever get made into cards. Give a comment if you like what you see!

SO ABOUT THAT WEBSITE

2010-06-30T23:18:00.000-07:00

Woo! Slam your eyeballs against that snazzy new site redesign, eh? Should be 100% ready by later tomorrow, and by that I mean "There'll actually be something nifty that displays for the first few seconds when you first visit the site, instead of it sitting there until it goes to the main site by itself."

No completeness for me just yet, as I've gotta jet offline and pack for when I'm over at the Artist Alley booths at CONvergence in a few hours. Stop by the Sheraton if you're in the Bloomington area this July 1st through the 4th, eh? I should be there with a booth from 10AM-5PM on Thursday, 2-5PM Friday, and 10-11AM on Sat/Sunday. Fliers and business cards are always free! Like sunshine. Or a case of rickets.

Those of you in that neck of the woods, feel honored: New shirts are indeed at hand! They'll be available in the online shop soon after this weekend, but you CONvergence folks get first dibs on the third-ever GBQ shirts! (And tiny folks, we heard you-- there ARE Size Smalls this time around!)

All you non-con fans'll have to make do with this teaser sketch for now. Just the linework with no text, but the base idea is still there... even if it isn't as cool as it could be if you got a REAL shirt, one that shows the full-color FINISHED design. Subtle sales pitch am I, ho hoh.

They're so happy.

So anyhow... yeah! Keep those peepers on this space (not the Livejournal blog; we nuked that one, since both blogs pretty much did the same thing anyway). There's a metric crapton of miscellaneous GBQ sketches I'll be updating with on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays, knock on wood.

Catch y'all later, if I catch you at CONvergence!
--Gerbil, head scribble wrangler for GBQ

SLEEP TIME IS NOW

Sad face goes here.

2010-06-10T15:01:00.001-07:00

Well, Nakamacon's over and done with, and thanks to technical difficulties between two different printers, sorry to say, the new shirts still aren't here yet.

Looks like there's a good chance of a Grey Bouquet table appearance at CONvergence in July, though. Trying to hash out possibilities for other con appearances as well.

Did I mention the new postcard design yet? Well, there's that. Not going to jinx that with an arrival date just yet, other than SOON. But while you're here, have a whiff!

It's got an egg motif. WHO COULD IT BE?!

2010-05-25T20:58:00.000-07:00

Look alive, Wisconsinites (and those in the area this week)! In just a few days, not only will you have a chance to poke GBQ's doodle wrangler in person, but you'll get first dibs on the newest GBQ T-shirt design! Yup, this time it's Amnio's turn.

For now, you just get a taste.

What's he so happy about, you ask?

You'll see.

...but if you're at NakamaCon anytime from Thursday through Monday this week, you'll be able to see sooner.

CON APPEARANCES 2010

2010-04-30T21:16:00.000-07:00

Got your pocket planner ready?

I'll wait.

...

Woot, here we go! Grey Bouquet Designs will have a table at the following conventions:

SPRINGCON
Saint Paul, MN
May 15th & 16th
http://midwestcomicbook.com/

NAKAMACON
Madison, WI
May 27th through May 31st
http://www.nakamacon.com/main/

FALLCON
Saint Paul, MN
October 16th
http://midwestcomicbook.com/?page_id=30

For these next cons, there won't be a table to speak of, but if you see somebody running around in 3-D glasses, call out "HEY GERBIL" and you will (probably) get my attention.

(And maybe a stare. Or blank look.
In that case, it's probably not me.)

SAN DIEGO COMIC CON
San Diego, CA
Friday, July 23rd
http://www.comic-con.org/cci/

CONVERGENCE
Bloomington, MN
July 1st through 4th
http://www.convergence-con.org/

2010-04-25T21:05:00.000-07:00

What the-- it's spring already?!

As you may or may not have noticed, your faithful scribble wrangler's been on a bit of a break these past few months. No more, though! Like the flowers, the robins, and that odd-colored mold that won't stay away from your bathroom tiles, Grey Bouquet has returned to the Internets after a winter spent studying for med school classes.

So, let's have some updates!

* NUGGET'S DIARY SHIRTS BACK IN STOCK!
We've got your torso covered, so long as your torso is size M to 3XL.

* PRICE CUT ON SOCKPUPPET SHIRTS!
Profit from our bad math skills AND flaunt your pro-sockpuppet ways, all at the same time.

* GREY BOUQUET, NOW ON FACEBOOK!
It was inevitable. Add us, won't you? We won't pester you to come to any awkward school reunions.

---

Plus, coming up within this next week or so:

* 2010 CONVENTION APPEARANCE SCHEDULE!
C'mon down and bug us in the third dimension! OOoOOooOOo.

* THIRD SHIRT DESIGN AND POSTCARD PREVIEWS!
See? We haven't been slacking off ALL winter. Just most of it.

* A RETURN TO TWITTER!
No promises as to whether Nugget's spelling has gotten any better.

2009-12-15T22:19:00.001-08:00

Dust off that bag of holly-jolly you've been stashing in the basement, 'cause Grey Bouquet's got a brand new holiday card available! Perfect for that non-specified, non-denominational festival day(s) of choice you may or may not have coming up soon. Whew. Think that covers all the bases...

On sale down at The Source, Magus Books, and, of course, on The Innernets.

Comics. Won't you?

2009-09-11T20:27:00.001-07:00

Update over at DeviantArt! Two new gag-strip comics.

Third one's on the drawing board as we speak. ...As I type. You know what I mean.

Post-Con updates!

2009-07-16T01:42:00.000-07:00

Big, sloppy welcomes to any newbies who've showed up here as a result of CONvergence traffic, and to the rest of you dandy so-and-sos as well! Now that yours truly's finally managed to shake off this year's strain of Con Plague, some updates are in order.

- Grey Bouquet is now on Twitter! Rejoice, O Internet: you can now read what wonders brew inside the mind of a sightless, voiceless chicken with no sense of hearing. ...Whenever Nugget manages to find the keyboard.

- DeviantArt update! Not able to make it to central Minnesota in time to grab the four GBQ promotional fliers mentioned in the last update? At least you can get a glimpse at the "buildable" picture that came with 'em.

- LOCAL STORE UPDATE! Shoppers at The Source, Magus Books, and Sacred Paths Center [contact info's available in the first blog post] can now pick up THIS stylin' source of skin protection:

* guy not included

Whew. That's it for now! Good game, everyone... let's hit the showers.

SCAVENGER HUUUUNT

2009-06-29T21:18:00.001-07:00

To any of y'all attending the CONvergence festivities this coming July 2nd-5th, there'll be an extra-special fetch quest you can go on, courtesy of the Grey Bouquet gang!

Like all the best stuff in life, it's not only simple; it's free. Just check out the Free Stuff tables for fliers of Amnio, Mister Bitch, Nugget, and Riddlyn. If you find all four, you can match the back sides to build a super-sized, never-before-seen Grey Bouquet picture! (Or, in nerdspeak: you can form Voltron.)

What's the final product, you ask?

Pff. Cheaters. Fine, have yourselves some teaser pics...

Take our word for it: It's Hiroshima-licious.

Do you like buying things? Sure, we all do!

2009-05-05T23:18:00.000-07:00

Greeting cards are up for sale at GBQ@Etsy! One of each, for right now.

If there aren't six designs there by the time you see this, rest assured any stock will be relisted by tomorrow, when pins and T-shirts'll be there as well.

(They would all be up tonight, but it's past my bedtime, and yes, I really am that much of an old fuddy-duddy.)

2009-05-01T01:28:00.000-07:00

Hey there, hi there, ho there! This here's Jonathan, aka Gerbil, emcee and general scribble wrangler for Grey Bouquet Designs. First post for the blog, too-- allow me to bring y'all up to speed, eh?

As you may or may not be aware, Grey Bouquet (or GBQ, for those among us who like not spelling things out) was brewed up in 2004 so that folks who prefer morbid humor and a more creepy-crawly kind of "cute" could find greeting cards they liked, too.

The first six card designs were on the shelves of a couple Twin Cities, MN stores by 2006. By now, Amnio and his Afterworld buddies have their own line of pins and T-shirts, too, as well as a much bigger (and debatably more hazardous) playground to call home: the Internet!

http://www.greybouquet.com/
That's right, the main site's finally online! If you're wondering what this "Amnio" stuff I'm talking about is, go here first. Check out some Afterworld history, served up with a steamin'-fresh pile of character profiles. Edu-ma-cate yourself, already.

From there, you can find links to more free prizes inside: the GBQ@DeviantArt site's been updated with a series of concept sketches. Hopefully, the pics won't be there by their lonesome for long; I have a few 4-panel gag comics in the works, to be added once I get around to polishing the layouts lurking in my sketchbook. (Got a new temp job starting off today, too, but I'll do my best to balance business with a little pencil-pushing pleasure).

On that note: the greeting cards, pins, and T-shirts I've mentioned will be available online soon-like as well. There's a full catalog of item descriptions for the GBQ@Etsy shop sitting here on my desktop, albiet in larval pencil-on-paper form. Once I type 'em up and do the needed copy/paste shuffling, you'll be able to get some swank Grey Bouquet stuff delivered in the comfort of your own home. Youuuu comfy hermit, you.

Of course, for those of you in the Minnesota metro area, finding Grey Bouquet merch is easier than it's ever been. Real-life GBQ territory has only spread over the years, like a fungal bloom of warm fuzzies. Here's a rundown of which local distributors know a good headless chicken product when they see it:

1.) Source Comics & Games
1601 Larpenteur Ave W
St Paul, MN 55113
(651) 645-0386
A full line! Greeting cards, T-shirts, pins.

2.) Magus Books
1309 1/2 4th St SE
Minneapolis, MN 55414
(612) 379-7669
Greeting cards, T-shirts, pins!

3.) SaraCura
1411 SE 4th St.
Minneapolis, MN 55414
(612) 253-7272
Greeting cards

4.) Ginkgo Coffeehouse
721 Snelling Ave N
St Paul, MN 55104
(651) 645-2647
Greeting cards

5.) Sacred Paths Center
777 Raymond Ave
Saint Paul, MN 55114
(651) 644-3727
Greeting cards-- also, NEW SELLER! Show 'em a good welcome.

...aaaand I'm spent.

'Till next time, all!