no more Mister Nice Bitch.

Hey! Check us out, all still bein' alive and all!

What's up with the radio silence? Well, again, most of the effort going into Grey Bouquet these past months has been stuff involving the picture book. Parted ways with one artist, presently working out test pages with a new one... The character design sketches are lookin' awesome! Wish I could show some around, but you'll have to make do with this for now:



No, that's not from the book. That's a teaser sketch of the new greeting card in the works! Three guesses what occasion this one's celebrating.

---

Speaking of greeting cards... awkward cough. Some bad news on this front.

Not naming names (especially since I don't know what they were), but it's come to our attention that a couple folks were sending the Mister Bitch "Happy Birthday Bitch" card to gals they knew, specifically with threatening or harrassing messages. And while it would be easy to shrug and reply with some knee-jerk excuse like "His name is meant to be a joke!" the fact remains: it's only gals who've been targeted, and NO, THIS IS NOT OKAY.

So. Time to own up to my naivete-- just because I meant it to be a joke, some folks aren't joking when they talk against women like that, and by selling this card, I've made it easier (and worse, made it seem more acceptable; 'hey, there's even a card I can buy that agrees with me!') to do stuff like those couple of folks did, unintentionally or not.

This ties in with the writers' critique meetups I've gotten feedback from re: the picture book script, where everyone so far has agreed (unanimously!) that "Mister Bitch" probably isn't the best name to use for a character in a book where all the names come across as meant to be jokey and cute.

Well, I agree with them. I may not have a new name picked for Amnio's zombie poodle just yet, but there will be a name change coming in the near future.

I've pulled the "Happy Birthday Bitch" card from all stores in the area, as well as the Etsy shop. I'll still have a few on hand at conventions, but if you buy one, I'm going to ask you to look me in the eye and say: "I solemnly swear I won't be a jerk."

Thanks in advance for understanding, yeah?

---

Speaking of conventions, let's get to some happier stuff! This spring, Grey Bouquet will have a booth at:

SAINT PAUL ART CRAWL
Cosmopolitan building
250 E 6th Street, Saint Paul
Friday April 27, 6-10 PM;
Saturday April 28, 12-8 PM;
Sunday April 29, 12-5 PM

SPRINGCON
MN State Fairgrounds, Saint Paul - Grandstand building
May 19 & 20, 10am to 5pm

---

One last thing: if you want to see all the stuff I've been drawing lately that isn't Grey Bouquet, swing by the webcomic I've been updating every Monday and Friday since October.


Autobiographical, with a cast of animal blobs representing different folks. (NOTE: Not work safe if your boss has a problem with occasional swear words.)

INCOMING!

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.

CONvergence is imminent!

(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.

get it while it's... hot?

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!

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!

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.

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

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!

SAN DIEGO YOU ROOOOCK

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.

AND THEN, THE WORLD

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?

SO ABOUT THAT WEBSITE

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

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

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/

SCAVENGER HUUUUNT

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.