Issue 25: Another Way

Issue 25: Another Way has just been posted. Click on the link to check it out. A few other updates on the Character Page as well.

Had fun drawing them underground. Anytime I get a chance to change up the scenery and the background, I find it a nice break from the usual forest setting. Also guest appearances from members from the Orchard community are always fun to draw. I underestimated how hard it was to draw an earthworm and not make it look like a snake...I need to practice more...
-GH

The Princess and the Frog

Disney's much anticipated return to 2D animation begins with the 2009 release of The Princess and the Frog. I'm extremely excited to see Disney return to traditional animation especially if John Lasseter is in charge. He's now the Chief Creative Officer of not only Pixar, but Disney as well.

Those who don't know, John Lasseter was one of the founding members of Pixar and director of some of your favorite Pixar films.

Check out the trailer at the website linked above. Its looking good so far.

-GH

Anpanman

One of my biggest inspirations and influences are the stories from Anpanman by Takashi Yanase. I was 11 or so and my dad bought me an English translation collection of Anpanman comics and I remember I couldn't put it down. The art was so simple and colorful and the stories were childish, but it was awesome to me.

If you're not familiar with Anpanman, its an extremely popular Japanese comic for children. The main character, Anpanman, has a head that is basically a red-bean filled pastry. Anpanman's creator, Uncle Jam will often replace his head when it becomes damaged when fighting his arch nemesis, Baikinman, a germ. Weird enough? Gotta check it out, its great. Below are paintings that can be found at Anpanman World in Yokohama, Japan.

-GH

Development

I was cleaning out the email boxes and found some designs I had created with MS Paint. Orchard Heroes was officially created only a year or so ago, but I had been chewing on the idea for some time. Along with the idea chewing comes random sketches and drawings that I tend to do. The designs below were made back in 2005 and it surprised me how much the designs had changed. I wonder if artists often look back at initial designs of their characters and find them amusing. I usually keep all my sketches and designs, but for some reason, I had totally forgotten about these.

Anyway below are what the Orchard Heroes COULD HAVE looked like...don't ask me about why Appleman looks like he wears his pants up so high...he just did.

-GH

Applying Knowledge!

I had the privilege of attending Comic Con 2008 this year thanks to a co-worker who couldn't make it at the last minute. Being that I live in San Diego, I almost had to go. So my buddy Felipe came down from LA and we headed to downtown SD bright and early on Friday. I had a great time, the whole event was inspiring. Mainly I wanted to learn all the different mediums that are possible when doing anything related to comics. Took lots of pictures and took notes on all the different marketing and merchandising strategies...you never know right?

I also attended a really cool panel on webcomics made up of a really entertaining group of web comic artists. Through all the jokes and stuff, they actually gave a lot of really really awesome advice and tips. Hence this blog!

I got pretty excited after seeing all the other work that people are doing out there. Check out the awesome Mr. Toast, by Dan Goodsell. Pretty cool stuff on that site. Seeing work like this inspires me!

I think the main thing I took away from all of this was to "have fun." With 18 thousand webcomics out there, you've got to go into this thing with an attitude of fun and enjoyment. I end this post with a great piece of advice that just stood out to me, "Don't quit your day job." Yes sir.
-GH

Greetings!

Hello there! First post and first time blogging here. I'm going to use this blog to share more of the process and thoughts that go into creating the Orchard Heroes webcomic. I'll also be sharing bits of art or designs that I'm working on and also all other things that I find cool and interesting. Things that... tickle my fancy. Was that creepy? Sorry.

That's it for now, just kind of wanted to post the first post so I can see how it looks on the blog.
-GH