Jan12
└ Tags: RTSCTV
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Zzack Toons
Home of the WebComic series, RTSCTV
Wait! What is that there on the main page of Zzack Toons? Could it be? Yes, yes it is! It’s a new RtscTV webtoon! Whoo hoo!
That’s right, I have once again gotten back into making cartoons. That said, let’s touch on rate of frequency when it comes to posting new cartoons.
We’ll get this out-in-the-open early.
Let’s face it, I work for “the man”. Trust me, it’s not as bad as it probably sounds to some. Basically, I have a full time job. I work for good people, and though the job can be challenging at times, I enjoy working for the company.
Since I do work a full time job, my time is limited when it comes to working on cartoons. Many artists that create cartoons for newspapers, magazines, or on the web (and even some would-be readers of my webtoons) may be critical about my working a full time job and making my cartoons more of a second thought or hobby. To those individuals, let me just say I am happy with my current arrangement. True, I’d love to be able to publish webtoons daily, have tons and tons of readers, and maybe sell a few products based on my webtoons along the way, but not at the risk of jeopardizing my full time job nor my basic demeanor while working said job. One thing I take great comfort in is the basic steadiness of having a full time job, and not having to worry about how my wife and I are going to afford groceries next week (though I understand with the current economy, all bets are off when it comes to job security – I learned that the hard way back in 2010). As a result, if I need to turn in at a reasonable time at night so I can be ready for my full time job the next day (rather than stay up late to work on a cartoon), so be it.
This is very similar to my father’s stance while he was playing the drums in a local band a couple decades ago. The band he was in seemed to be going through a successful phase, having (among other things) a professional demo, promotional studio photos, time on a local radio station, and enough gigs to make a very hectic schedule (over 20 shows a month). Everyone in the band eventually quit their regular jobs to concentrate on the band – everyone except my father. When the band members urged him to leave his job, too, he explained his reasoning as best he could. He had a family to support, and was not going to risk a steady job (and the years he had already invested into that job) just to live the life of an artist, scraping what he could to survive while the band waited to be “discovered” (as if it was a guarantee).
I think my father made a wise choice, since the band never really made it any further than they already had, and ultimately broke up. Some members went on to other musical projects, but none went on to live the “life of a rock star” that several dreamed of one day living.
I have the same stance with my cartoons. I’d rather leave my regular job the priority rather than live like a zombie while trying to juggle both my regular job and my cartooning while I wait to be “discovered” as the next potential Charles Schulz or Bill Watterson (as if there will ever be another comic strip artist of that caliber, particularly with the future of newspapers left in question).
I know not everyone feels the same way, and that is okay with me.
At the moment, my goal is to return to some form of weekly publishing schedule of my webtoon(s), but that may change. I hope true flesh-and-blood visitors (and not the bots trying to peddle some unknown pharmaceutical) take the opportunity to stop by each week to catch up on the cartoons.
And as Bartles and Jaymes would say, “Thank you for your support”.
- RA
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It is done!
In the 90′s, my father took it upon himself to search our family history so he could make a family tree. It was quite a project, as he sought information from various relatives, searched historical records, and even visited cemetaries where family members had been buried. In the end, my father had made an elaborate family tree on poster-sized graph paper which he copied and handed out to the family.
A couple years ago (2008), he was interested in the family tree being transfered to a digital format (which would make it easier to update), and I created a version in Adobe Illustrator. I felt it was a good choice using Illustrator, since a vector based program will make it easy to resize the tree as needed without loss of line quality. I saved it to a flash drive, stopped by my local Staples, and had them print out a bunch of poster-sized versions to hand out to the family.
This past year, my sister accessed Ancestry.com, and was able to expand our family’s records even further back (with the earliest birth date listed as 1522!). With a new batch of family members to add to the tree, it was time again to update the tree in Illustrator. It took a little longer than I anticipated (since the tree expanded quite a bit), but it is done.
With that project completed, I am one more step closer to returning to the drawing table.
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Well, 2011 has been a busy (and hectic) year! I guess it’s pretty evident that my cartoons have suffered as a result. Looking ahead to 2012, I’m hoping to return to my cartoons (like RTSCTV and Zzack) as well as explore some new graphic design projects, and test out a few new techniques in the cartoon making process.
In the next couple of weeks, new content should be up here on the Zzack Toons website.
Check back soon!
-RA
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Due to the increase of recent projects, I will be stepping away from my work with TektonTV. I have thoroughly enjoyed working with J.P. Holding on his cartoons this past year, but with the rise of other projects that need my attention, I will be unable to give J.P. the proper amount of time and dedication to continue my submittal of artwork to his animation series.
I thank J.P. for the opportunity, and wish him the best of luck on his upcoming projects.
-RA
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