Just a quick update to let you know there’s only a few hours left to back The Antler Boy and Other Stories.

I’ve also posted a couple updates on the Kickstarter that I didn’t post here mostly because a lot of it had art that’s already been posted on the blog in times past. But There’s some new stuff over there too that you might not have seen so here’s links to those posts:

Update #14: The Clock Is Ticking!

Update #15: Last Day!

And because it goes against my grain to do a blog post without artwork here’s some sketch cards I’ve been drawing for the $40 backers. Try to bang out a few everyday:

Antler Boy just crossed $67,500 this morning! Big THANK YOU to all the new backers this week pushing Antler Boy towards 70k. There’s only FIVE days left in this campaign so if you know someone who wanted to back but is putting it off shoot them a little reminder that the clock’s ticking.

I wanted to update you guys earlier this week, but I got sick, and my wife and kids got sick, so sleep and rest was in order. But I’m 100% now and working away on the book!

Secret of the Spacecave

Here’s the latest Secret of the Spacecave pages:

Hugo Earhart Story 2

The story is written out and I’ve begun some concept sketching for a new character:

Antler Boy Development Art

Wanted to show you some art from the making of The Antler Boy story. Here’s some of the first sketches of the character and me trying to visually figure out what this story could be about. I knew I wanted to do a fairy tale, but wasn’t sure exactly how to tell it. All I had was a boy cursed with a set of antlers and he went up against some monster of some kind.

Out of these ideas the story developed into a tale of an encounter with a witch where the boy helps her and return is given “Blessings upon his head” for the grace granted by him that day. I also knew I wanted to push my style with this story so I drew this test panel  to figure that out:

Well, his blessing turns out to be more of a curse, and at it’s core the Antler Boy is about how you deal with bad luck. We’re all hit with bad stuff in life and I wanted to tell a tale with how to turn those liabilities into good fortune. When the Antler Boy is faced with a giant attacking the city the cursed antlers turn out to be quite the asset as you’ll read in the story.

And lastly, here’s the process from thumbnail drawings to final art.

Again, please share this with everyone. I got an email from someone yesterday who just discovered Antler Boy. They had not heard anything about it beforehand and were so excited to have found it before the campaign ended. So there’s still plenty of people out there that want this book, but don’t know about it yet. If anything just send out a link to this update. That should pique some interest.

Ok, that’s all for today! Thanks everyone. Bye!

I’ve been asked a few times about where this campaign goes from here and about whether there will be any new stretch goals or not. As it stands now Antler Boy is over 1000% funded and is at $63,000. That far exceeds any expectation I ever had for this book going into it. Because of you guys it’s going to be a far better book than I had planned on it being. There’s going to be a new story. There’s money now to pay for extra pages of printing so I can add more sketches and drawings to it. I’m now able to hire out some assistants to help with coloring on a couple stories. And I’m hiring a freelancer to help design the layout of the book. So much is going back into the book to make it better. Any more backing that happens beyond this point is just more than I could ask for.

New Antler Boy Book Art

There’s also one more way the book is better because of you: You remember the $250 rewards I’ve been drawing? They’ve all turned out so nice I decided to color them and put them in the book as art for the chapter breaks between stories. Seemed everyone should get a chance to enjoy these drawings.

4 x 6 Art Cards
Not only that I’m getting a set of 4×6 cards made and I’m including one of these cards in each book. So each book, whether you order 1 or 10 will have a card in it.

I’m also adding a couple new rewards tiers for those who would like the whole set along with their book.

New Prints
These pieces also look great as prints. So I made a new reward tier for 12.5 x 9.5 in prints. I framed one up for my daughter’s room:

The Rewards
So, just to break it down clearly, here’s the new reward sections:

If you’ve already pledged at higher levels and would like to add a print or a full art card set to your pledge adjust your pledge by adding $10 for the art cards and $25 for the print then shoot me over a comment saying what you’d like added and I’ll make a note of it on your pledge.

After the campaign is over I’ll send out a survey getting info about which print you want.

Ok, I think that’s it for today. As always, thank you for backing, for commenting, and for spreading the word on Antler Boy!

I just wanted to send out a quick update that we did it! We hit the $60,000 stretch goal this morning! Thanks to everyone who backed both old and new and especially to all of you who increased your pledge amounts. You guys have surpassed all expectations.

I’m getting right to work on the new story this weekend and will be keeping you guys updated on that and the rest of the book.

You’re the best, have a great weekend!

Antler Boy is at $57,600 which means we are sooo close to unlocking the new story!

It could even happen today if everyone tells a friend about it. When I made that goal I honestly thought we’d be hitting it at the midnight hour of the campaign. I can’t believe there’s 13 days left and we are just $2,400 away from hitting the $60,000 mark. Thank you, each of you, for backing this. I’ve got a great idea for the new story and you’ll love it.

I’ve started drawing the sketches for the $40 and up backers. Going into this I didn’t expect to have this many backers pledging at this level. So the task of sketching something for each of you is daunting, but I’m up for it! And today I did the first 16 of them. These will be placed in the book with something not permanent so you can take it out and put it up somewhere without damaging the book, or leave it in there. Up to you.

I originally wanted to draw in each and every book, but if I’m not getting the books back from the printer until September there’s no way I’d get these all out to you by the time I said I would.

Almost done with the $250 rewards. Here’s a photo of the Professor from the Secret of the Spacecave story:

Lucy Nova Artwork

Wanted to share with you some Lucy drawings and sketches from the years. Below is a couple of pages from her first story:

One of the things I wanted to with the Lucy comics was to infuse them with all the stuff I like about those DK Eyewitness books, with cross sections, diagrams, and little asides about her world. Like when she gets swallowed by a giant alien:

And here’s some sketches of her and the creatures in the story:

After I finished the first story I felt like her design was too realistic and I wanted to stylize her a bit. Below you can see her evolving to a more caricatured look.

And lastly this is the first page of her second story. You can see her form is more simplified now.

Ok, that’s it for today. You guys rock! Keep spreading the word and getting eyes on this book.