So, as most of you know, the Compozerz finally hit the big page 1-0-0, and I am so stoked!

I have some other things I am planning right now, which I'll share shortly here.

I want to first take a moment to thank all of you who stuck with me through that last big hiatus. And who stuck with me while I finished up that last page. It took a long time because, as I said in the comments, I really wanted it to be a special one. Cityscapes are not a strong suit of mine. I don't particularly enjoy drawing buildings. But I made myself do it, I felt like it had to be done for that particular page. And as many comic artists will tell you, you should learn to draw backgrounds of all kinds. Even if you hate drawing them. Most comickers I know shy away from drawing backgrounds. I totally understand, I do that myself. But my feeling is, if you are going to make a comic, you need to know how to draw just about anything. You never know what kind of situation your characters may get into.

I have found myself having to draw ocean liners, cities, deserts, mountains, bridges over rivers, cars, trucks...among a few things. None of these items are particularly easy for me, nor do I think I am really all that great at drawing most of them, save the desert scenes. The Compozerz comic was what helped me improve on that, and I am grateful. The desert is one of the places I dearly love--my favorite place is New Mexico, where the story started, in fact. I improved on the desert scenes because I had to draw them over and over. Repetition. It's the key. Practice makes perfect--there is much truth in that phrase.

Comics, to me, are a fantastic way to learn to draw a great variety of scenes because, as mentioned, you never know where your characters could end up. That's one of the big pieces of advice I like to give people (yeah, people actually ask me for advice on drawing comics! ). Draw as much stuff as you can. And yeah, sometimes you have to repeat stuff a lot. It's part of what comics are all about. It's like an animated cartoon that isn't animated. There is a reason comics are called "sequential art". You aren't describing what is going on, like a book does. You are drawing what is happening.

So anyway, I guess in my long and rambly way I am trying to say that I am really going to strive to improve the way I draw objects I am not particularly good at drawing and to try and get better with the backgrounds--namely ones I don't do much, like cities.

Now down to the works in progress.

Of course there is the next Compozerz Page, which will lead us into the big climactic scene. Got that going, ideas written down, lots of them, and rough sketches. I am actually still down to a couple of different ways this could pan out.

Another thing I have thought of lately is the Ants, who have lay dormant since early 2011. I was listening to "Zerox Machine" the other day, and got hit with an idea. I wrote out a parody of it called "Vending Machine" that I'd like to illustrate. I'd like to draw the Ants again. Like I said when I finished that last Ants arc, I'm not done with those boys yet!

And that's all folks. Hope all your new years are going great so far. Here's to a fantastic Year of the Snake!