Alright folks, gather 'round! Your friendly neighborhood artist, Steve Rude (the one with the crippling art supply habit!), is back with a brand new sketchbook project: The Art of Steve Rude 2025 Sketchbook!
This bad boy's hitting crowdfunding in January, and lemme tell ya, art supplies ain't cheap. That's why your support is golden!
Speaking of gold, be sure to check out our Patreon page â those dedicated dudes and dudettes get some special deals during the launch.
And hey, while you're at it, head over to our launch page (www.steverude.com/2025skb) and sign up for the Backerkit livestream! We'll be dishing all the juicy details about the sketchbook and maybe even throw in a few laughs.
Now, to keep this humble dude motivated, let's hear it! What kind of goodies would make YOU excited for the next crowdfunder? Hit that poll and let your freak flag fly! (Select all that apply)
We just wanted to let everyone know that work on the comic is currently underway, and to say thank you to everyone for their patience. We joined onto the comictopia project on rather short notice, but during the campaign it became clear that while we love Backerkit for our fulfillment solution, we've just built up too much of a an audience on Kickstarter to try and move everyone over here. So we will be launching issue 1, the full issue, over on Kickstarter next month, and we will have enough art to finalize assembly of the ashcan very soon.
Artist Antonio Baldari also had to take on another gig unexpectedly but is back working on CSR, and also contributed this awesome cover for the upcoming full length issue.
So hopefully if everything lines up right, you will have the ashcans in hand just as everyone is starting to talk about the first issue, before it goes to press. This will also get a wide circulation through comic book stores nation/world-wide, making this limited ashcan release something special. As soon as the new kickstarter pre-launch page is live we will share that too. More to come soon!
I'm very sorry for the long wait for the comic, and I'll be sending out some free stuff to whoever backed this physically - extra comics and print and stuff like that! Your patience is very appreciated and I hope you love this comic. I'll be sending a survey out next week for everyone, and here's a link for the digital download of Dr. Gravelight!
We have a production update from the South Korean printer.
The âgutsâ for all books are printed and covers are in process! Better yet, we have photographic evidence! Itâs always interesting to get a little peak at how the sausage is made, right?
We also have an estimated schedule from our point-person at the printer: ââŚwe are probably looking at everything being finished on/about the second week of September and shipping out from Korea on/about 4th week of September. This would put the arrival at Long Beach Port around October 10...and ready to ship out from our warehouse in Southern California around October 17.â
As a small publisher, the logistical hurdles presented have been challenging, but weâre looking at the light at the end of the tunnel. Shoutout to Marie, as well, for being a proactive creative partner, always invested in assuring the project makes it to the finish line! We hope to update soon with more photos of the printing/assembly process!
If you haven't filled out your survey, please do so. This helps make the
Ascendants, As you'll remember from my last update, inks and colors are complete and lettering is underway. We had hoped to have the book finished this week for PDF delivery to you. Unfortunately, we're behind schedule.
More unfortunately, we're behind schedule because of health-related problems. One of our team member's work has been slowed as she has had to devote substantial time to caregiving for a family member who is dealing with a difficult health challenge. Please know that she is working as diligently as she can under the circumstances.
I hope you will grant us some continued patience. Right now we have 45 of the 64 pages lettered. The pages are coming together beautifully and you'll be delighted with the final product. We're in the home stretch but this was an unexpected roadblock in progress. :(
I'll post another update later in a couple weeks, hopefully with better news.
So, sorry for the long wait without updates. I mentioned before that since these are true life stories that I draw without a script, that I was having a hard time finding and ending point for Crime in a Resort Town.
The key to all stories is to know when to stop since if you go on too long they all end in death. Bummer, dude.
I did finish drawing the story, now to shade and letter! I also want to add a few more, shorter stories as a bonus for the long wait.
Thank you to everyone that backed the campaign and for those that sent messages asking about how the project was going.
The single most important advice for new creatorsâŚ
There is a sea of advice out there for getting started in indie comics. We are surrounded by people on social media that are doing what we wish we could be doing. Some of them being as helpful as they can sharing tips and hard won advice, some puffing themselves up to appear bigger and more successful than they are, and those that want to take advantage of hopeful young creatives ready to sell you their âproven method for increasing your kickstarter total with their secret list of super backersâ.
Some advice is universal, while some is situational.
Just get started making comics, âfinishedâ beats an unfinished âperfectâ everyday.
Put your phone away at a con and interact with the crowd.
Start building an Email list of people interested in your work.
Start small. Make short stories not your 100 chapter masterpiece.
Sometimes it is great advice that can apply to anyone⌠While sometimes it only applies to certain people in certain situations. For instance, the biggest advance in my career was making friends with the letterer on the first indie book I worked on as the inker. We became fast friends, and when he started showing off pinups I did for him, people started hiring me for their books. That advice only really worked for ME in that particular situation. You canât just message him and ask to be his friend and expect him to start handing you jobs. (Trust me, people have tried! You notice I no longer mention his name in that story.) BUT, âbe the kind of guy people WANT to work withâ is universal advice that can benefit anyone.
My best advice for new creators is to start investing in the indie comics community. Get involved in discussions, start watching and commenting on podcasts, start making friends, and most of all, START INVESTING IN KICKSTARTER BOOKS!
You donât have to be rich, setting an affordable budget of just $10-$20 a month will lead to many benefits.
Read and learn: you will read so many interesting indie comics. Learn what works, what doesnât, and find inspiring new creators to follow.
Connection: reach out to the creators that move you. Everyone loves to hear people enjoy their work.
Be specific: âI love the way your use of color intensified the emotional impact of that sceneâ will have a bigger impact, and make your interaction more memorable.
A nice compliment can make a creatorâs day⌠an interesting, thoughtful comment just might make a new friend.
Kickstarter master class: you will see what works with successful campaigns and what doesn't. Study the layout of the campaigns, the videos, the sales pitch. Learn what resonates with backers and use it to improve your own pitch and campaigns.
Community investment: Regularly investing in other creators shows you are a committed member of the indie comics world, interested in seeing everyone succeed. Nothing says âIâm only out for myselfâ like seeing â3 created projects 0 backed projectsâ under a profile name.
First impressions: Most people that stumble across our campaigns will have no idea who we are, those little numbers under our profile name are the first thing they will see, we want it to show we are an active, vital member of the indie comics world.
Start now: looking to start a new professional profile in your business name? Start backing other creators immediately, so the new profile has some credibility in the community when you are ready to launch that first book.
School of Fish art stream returns!
Join us LIVE at 3:30 EST 2:30 CST Wednesday afternoon as we welcome Esteban Carrero of Ultra Comics as the new cohost for School of FIsh Art stream as we walk through a step by step tutorial on building advanced reusable assets for creating breathtaking background buildings in Clip Studio Paint EX. https://youtube.com/live/2W5aD1SsZN4?feature=share
Fans are loving issue 2 of Alice: Lost In Wonderland, and the messages are rolling in!
And just as quickly as issue 2 shipped out, issue 3 launches August 4th! Sign up to follow the prelaunch page today, and help us unlock prelaunch rewards. We are half way to unlocking the first reward at 50 followers that will send a FREE 3â sticker of the White Rabbit to all first day physical backers!
Sign up to be notified on launch today and help us unlock more FREE swag when issue 3 launches August 4th at www.gomrfish.com
Hi! Thank you for backing The Blank! If you enjoyed that spooky short story, then you'll love my 144 page horror comic currently on Kickstarter! Act fast, only 2 days left!
A beautiful house is cursed with the gift of life, it soon falls in love with its sole occupant, its own architect. Unfortunately for the house, the architect is oblivious to the houseâs sentience and finds forbidden romance with his doctor.
The house acts out in vengeance, setting off a tragic chain of events that ripple through the next century, entrapping a diverse assortment of couples each seeking their own romance.
As each pair of lovers grapples with their own romance, the houseâs grief warps their journey into horrific ends.
