SexuaLobster

Fernando and the Disk of Chaos - Episode 3

Here's the three together:

Episode 1 

Episode 2 

Episode 3 

I almost can't believe this is finished.  I started the series back in March, and I've spent over 3 months of solid work time on it.

A lot has changed since March, mostly on a little site known as youtube.com, which I was unfortunately too dependent on.  I won't even both trying to monetise this when I publish it.  

The next thing I need to do is to go back and tweak the first two episodes, and then edit them together into a seamless 7 minute cartoon.  There are a number of things that occurred to me only after I finished the first two.  For example, I found an empty picture frame in Episode 2! (see if you can spot it)

Now that it's done, viewing the three together feels great.  I think it's good work and I'm glad I made it, but it's a terrible introduction to the characters.  I wonder if I should have put the time into something that is more accessible, something that would interest people not already familiar with Fernando.  Something I could send to a network or a video on demand organisation and they might be like "ooh yes we'll have more of this".

I also need to decide what to make next!  Although this isn't the end of Fernando and Gooseman, I think I should take a break from them and try something else.  Here's the short list of things I've narrowed it down to:

Bush Friends (an animation of this comic I posted a month or so ago)

Pro: Something totally new and different

Con: It's massive

Horse Person music video

Pro: Its a good tune and it's something normies might like.

Con: It's a one off music video so it doesn't build on to anything or lead anywhere.  

The Four Horsemen - Famine & Son (My girlfriend suggested this today)

Pro: It's a good script

Con: It's really foul, and also the characters are really detailed and I think I'm in the mood for something with simpler designs that I can animate more.

Another idea was storyboarding Fernando and the Phallus of Glycon, which I wrote about a while ago, my half hour Pleasure Island epic, which unlike The Disk of Chaos is accessible to new viewers and I still think is the best thing I've written.

Pro: Great way to get something huge started.  Accessible Fernando!  One of the things I want to make before I die.  And I could die at any time.

Con: Too big to actually animate, could fry my brain.

There's a couple of other things but those are at the top of my list right now.  Your thoughts and suggestions are welcome!

Finally, I want to thank you all for supporting for my work yet again.  This gigantic beast of a cartoon would not exist without you all and patreon!  I hope you enjoy The Disk of Chaos, and I'm sorry if you don't.

I will share the edit of the three together when it's done, which will hopefully be the final version of the series.

Almost there...

Happy new yeaaaarrrrrr woo!  Mine was pretty laid back.  Drank some tasty beers, saw some somewhat underwhelming fireworks on the beach.

I'm on the home stretch for this beast.  Here's some unusual backgrounds I painted today for the wack part near the end:

Also I finished two more pages of the Fernando comic adventure.  Rather than post them here I'll link you to narration of the entire story so far, starting from the start.

Ok, I'm going to try and finish the penis explosion shot before knocking off tonight.  My next post might be the finished cartoon.

so much stuff in this post zomg

Here's a work in progress of this shot so far, after each time I spend time on it.  First, the animatic version: 

Now the second version, which I've posted before.

Now here's where I'm up to.  The background is still rough and the explosion and particularly the smoke is unfinished.  I was going to go for a huge nuclear pillar of fire and mushroom cloud but to be honest I'm balking at how long it would take.  I'm not done with the explosion yet though, I think it needs a bit more oomph.

I rewatched the first two eps and what I've done of this one together and it really energised me, I think it will be a great cartoon when it's completed and stitched together.  However, I believe I've made a number of pacing mistakes.  I need to go back and give it a lot more space, and put some more time into getting the sound right.  It is the way it is now because I wanted to peg it to the music, but now I think I'd be better off adding extra bars to the music so the whole thing isn't rushed.  I'll have to re-time and re-export a lot of stuff and it will suck but it needs to be done.

Also here's the latest comic page:

It’s a good thing your reflexes are still sharp my friend” said Fernando in an assured and sultry tone. 

He then slapped the protester with the back of his hand in a way only a long time harpoon-wielding manwhore could. Both firm and authoritative, but it still made you feel safe. “Because a leathery hell awaits us...” Riccardo Catindig-Stagg

I have another page to draw before making the next video and asking for suggestions. 

I'm also drawing another straight ahead story like Bush Friends, since I'm happy with how that turned out.  This one is about the bubonic plague and bingsoo so far.  I'm challenging myself not to include any sexual humour since the last one was saturated in it and I want to see if I can do something good with this writing technique without relying on the sexylols. 

You probably got an e-mail about it but just to get it out of the way, patreon decided against changing the way they charge patrons, so yay, they listened!  Good for them.  And a reminder: I won't be triggering the patreon for December, but I will when I finish this third Disk of Chaos episode.  After that I feel at this point like I might animate Bush Friends but I won't commit to anything yet.

I'll probably post again before christmas but perhaps I won't so for all of you who celebrate it, have a good christmas and enjoy your time off however you spend it!

Patreon fees post

You will have received an e-mail from Patreon about changes to the way fees are charged.  My understanding is that Patreon will push the burden of processing fees on to you the patrons. 

I don't agree with the change.  I think Patreon's tactic of adjusting the displayed pledge amount to reflect an approximation of what the creator receives after processing fees and dead pledges are factored in is a better way of dealing with the issue of creators receiving less than the whole pledge amount.  (In my case it was always optimistic but anyway...)

This is the copy of the short note I sent them to register my disagreement: 

Hi,

I just want to let the Patreon management know I don't agree with the fee changes because I think keeping the pledge amount straightforward (you pledge $1 you pay $1) is part of why this platform works.  Thank you.

As I was writing this post I received a very quick reply from a Patreon person who basically said thanks for your feedback and here's a pre-written explanation of why we're doing this no matter what you say!

So maybe it's a good time to let you all know what my situation and intentions are regarding patreon.  I've switched it to per cartoon because I currently have a day job (i'm drawing storyboards on a children's cartoon show, and although I do have some creative input with regards to film language and character acting it's not something even vaguely like my regular cartoons, although I will say I think the show will be worth watching because the scripts are often surprisingly good and funny but I digress), and I think and hope I can finish my next cartoon, Fernando and the Disk of Chaos - Episode 3 in January, at which time I will trigger the patreon.

I gave it my best making my own content full time over the last 2 years, and during this period your pledges were my main income.  It was a wonderful period, and I am grateful and thankful to you for supporting me.  However I found that I was earning less than 2 years ago when I started patreon, with less engaged subscribers.  And of course there was the whole youtube removing ads from my cartoons thing, that was a huge factor. 

Long story short I need to take this work while it's on offer.  I do find myself day dreaming about films I'd like to make while I'm at work and on my lunch break.  I've got a couple of ideas of things I can try in 2018 but first I need to finish the Fernando toon.   I'm not done making stuff, but I need to recharge for a while, because towards the end there I was starting wonder if I'd have to train up in something else or move somewhere to find work. 

That's where I'm at!  If any of you want to reduce or remove your pledge because of patreon's fee changes I understand.  Thanks!

Bush Friends

I thought I would share a writing exercise I tried over the last few days where I improvised a very rough storyboard.  

When I saw The Kingdom of Dreams and Madness a few years back, which is a documentary about Studio Ghibli, I was amazed when it said that Miyazaki wrote his films in graphical form, so he just ploughed into it and the story just happened.  I do recall him saying he might have a vague idea of what he wanted to happen, and some of his films are adaptations so obviously it's not always that clear cut but still the fact that he wrote even some of his films that way blew me away.

So I thought I'd give it a go, but in a very rough form to test the idea out.  So if you choose to read it, please forgive the extreme dodginess of the art.  

I started with the idea of a story featuring some of Australia's natural wildlife (that slipped my mind later though because there are a few fox characters and we don't have them).  The main characters are a Koala and a Cassowary.

Looking back at it, I think Brett's flashback loses the momentum of the story a bit.  In a future version of the story, I'm sure I could come up with something more effective but smaller there.  Anyway, thanks for reading!

Amazing post with sweet stuff in it!

Here's some juicy WIPs (work-in-progressessess) for you.  Contains some spoilers for those of you who haven't read the comic.

The BG for the title gif is half finished, I'm going to change the colour of the mountain range because it's a bit intense but otherwise this shot is almost there.

This guy makes a return. (The gifs are quite fast btw, I can't seem to get them to play at the correct speed.)

If anyone has a link to a good pillar shaped anime explosion, preferably but not necessarily turning into a mushroom cloud, I'd like to see it.  I had a quick look but could not turn up anything good.  I can do an explosion without a reference but 2D effects aren't really my strong suit and a reference would help.  You can see some elements from previous explosions I'm going to reuse but I'd like the main event to be new.

Also here's the latest video from the collab comic. 

Quick note: I animated this for Benny. He appears to have botched the export so it's only available in 360p, which is a real shame, but it might look all right if you're watching on a phone.

Now that I'm bearing down on finishing the Fernando toon (not imminently but kinda soonish) I can start to think about what to do next.

I have written a fair bit about Fernando and the Phallus of Glycon, my half hour Pleasure Island odyssey (I'm also writing two other long form Fernando & Gooseman stories, not super actively but they are creeping along).  One idea I had was to make a polished animatic of the whole thing, with first draft voice acting and music.  When complete I could use it to pitch a potential series which, lets face it, sounds really weird.  This is how it comes across in text:

An aging gigolo (Fernando) and a sociopathic hustler (Gooseman) must retrieve a powerfully erotic relic in order to save a remote island resort from a bloodthirsty cult of gimps.  

Perhaps that sounds good to you...?  Now imagine you are a completely regular person who has never heard of me or my cartoons before.  A nice animatic will clearly spell out what I want to do.  If I couldn't convince anyone to fund it, and I didn't feel confident I could crowd fund it, I could just publish it, and people could view the story in a raw form.  At least in that scenario it will be out there and I will have given it my best.

I could also try this but with the Mongoose Man episodes I've been very occasionally chipping away at.  These are 2-3 minutes rather than 30 minutes.

Another option is to keep making cartoons, either by myself or perhaps even using some of the patreon funds to hire an animator to help me with the grunt work.  I've still got a while to decide.

So now a question for anyone who's made it to the bottom of this post.  Are there any House of Squid comics that you think deserve to be animated, or any of the recent Fernando and Gooseman tracks from the podcasts that deserve a music video?  

New pages

Ferno toon is moving on slowly.  I think I can finish it shortly after christmas.  

I think my storyboarding job is going pretty well, I've started on the third episode.  My first episode was pretty shaky compared to my second but they seem happy enough.

Here's the current part of the collab comic I'm working on.  I'm going to do another page before asking people for more input (I thought I'd try making more pages out of the suggestions).  If you've been following you will have seen this first one: 

hi-res 

Fernando arrived at the main plaza, seeing the various stalls being set up for the evening.

He spied a tent bearing a sign reading "Walrus Pit Restoration Society." It was Gooseman's project after the pit was closed. Someone had to fight for the walruses! Even if they DID cause the crushing deaths of several tourists.bigtasty67

 hi-res  

Gooseman's gaze piereced the manhore as he approached. Reaching down into the stall he pulled out a bucket of grease and dipped his hand without breaking eye contact.

"Fernando its a good thing your here i need you to slather yourself with this foul smelling liquid and use that body of yours to round up some patrons. 

Before a reply could be given Goseman pressed his slimy finger upon Fernandos tender lips.

"It's for the walruses." he said.

Jossue Diaz

 hi-res  

Fernando eyes of passion blazed with anger.  Gooseman bent backwards to avoid Fernando’s swinging fist coming toward him.

“I told you I didn’t know what Cabrito was when I ordered it!" he snapped.

Cabrito is Spanish and Portugese for roast goat kid.  Gooseman had known exactly what it was, and Fernando knew it.  CoverEye

On the audio side of things I have been completely slack with regards to recording anything.  Instead I've started playing classical guitar again.  I'm trying to learn "Cordoba" by Isaac Albéniz.  It's very hard!  For me, anyway.

Update...about stuff?

Firstly, sorry for disappearing for the past 3 weeks.  I've had two jobs, and have also had to sort out my yearly tax bulldust in that time.  But I'm going to finish one of the jobs this weekend, so I'm looking forward to resuming the Fernando comic and also Gooseman's lactation song.

I've been given another episode to do on the show and my first one seemed to go down well.  They screened the animatic, which is my storyboard edited together with voices and sound, and another episode last night after work.  I very rarely see my work combined with other people's and it's even rarer for me to be present when my work is screened somewhere.  

So yeh, I wanted to let those of you who are interested know it's quite likely I'll be working on the show for some time, but now that my evenings and weekends are free I will be able to resume my projects, including the Fernando cartoon.  I've written a new patreon landing page text to let new people know.  However long my absence is, no one will be charged during this time, and when I do return, I'll post well ahead.  (I'm going to keep posting anyway when I have project related stuff to talk about)

Thanks again for supporting me and my cartoons.  When I return to animating them seriously, I think I need to come back with a clearer action plan.  

My music videos seem to be what does best on youtube, but they don't take me anywhere in terms of opening new opportunities.  Making series appears to be how to best advance my career as a director and writer, but nothing I've made recently appears to have been just the right thing.  None of my attempts to generate longer form or regular content have appeased the youtube beast (and I am tired of trying).

I love writing and wallowing in the Fernando & Gooseman universe that I and the viewers have created, but what is the best way to animate some nice big juicy adventures of theirs, and is it wise to even attempt this feat?  Obviously the most pressing thing is to finish the final episode of the Disk of Chaos series.  I will keep plugging away at it when I can.

That's what's on my mind.  I hope you're all doing well!

Switching Patreon to "per cartoon" again

I've started storyboarding an episode for a kids cartoon show.  No one will have heard of it yet because it's new, and also I think they might prefer if people working on it didn't post about it, so all I'll say is that it's for really young ones, I think maybe 4-6 years.

I don't know if they'll offer me another one or a more permanent arrangement, it will depend whether they like what I do on this one.  I think it's going ok so far but I only just started.

It's a local job, and the first time I've ever worked in an animation studio (not to mention on a TV show).  All of my creative work before now has been from home.  It's been good, the people are nice, I haven't made a single enemy yet.

So I'm switching Patreon to "per cartoon" and it will not trigger this month, because I will only have spent the first week on the Fernando toon.  This time I definitely won't switch it back! (I waited until the job commenced this time after my own goal last month).  

By the way, for anyone wondering, my only options for patreon are "monthly" or "per creation", I don't have any other mechanism to turn it off (except deleting it).

Thanks everyone, I will keep working on multiple Fernando centric projects on evenings and weekends as I can, and will keep you updated on my movements.

Fernando's Amazing Podcast - Episode 7 - Boss Man

In this episode our heroes experiment with new segment ideas and then roleplay deep into the dungeon of Fernando's mind.

Here's the video 

Download links to previous episodes:

Episode 6 

Episode 5  

Episode 4 

Episode 3 

Episode 2 

Episode 1 

Boss Man track  

Pleasure Island comic jam

We're up to 10 pages! I've made a video of the story so far.  If the timecode link above doesn't work, here's another one if you want to skip 5 minutes of me talking about page 10.

I'm almost finished the next podcast, I'll have that to share in a few days.

Here's a shot from the final Disk of Chaos episode that has so much stuff in it Flash will not export it as a .swf (playable flash file).  There's a few crowd shots in this from different angles, cause you know, I enjoy pain!

Boss Man (new track)

Here's an early version of my new collab track, sung by Fernando.

I'll probably tinker with it a bit more, maybe mix it better.  Also I'm wondering if I should change the plurals in the first part and make it about one single employee rather than multiple employees.  

If this one doesn't float your boat, here's the start of the next one, which is intended to be sung by Gooseman and is showing early signs of being about male lactation.  The responses to this one should be fun.

Lyrics:

Tuesday, I wake up tired, everyone who pisses me off gets fired!

They try to talk back but I glare at them, cross

I yell "GET OUT, YOU SCUM, I'M THE BOSS!"

They say "no longer, you're just a joke!"

I grab 'em by the neck and begin to choke

I look to see life drain from their eyes

But the glint of arousal takes me by surprise- Ben 

Hump day, my crotch on fire. 

No one safe from my strange dessires- Myst ZER0 

Thursday i wake up strong i put on my thong and i stroll along- Studsii 

It's tough running business to cover up debts,

Selling used bandages, and cheap meds.- CharlieFlagg 

I need that coffee to caress my lips

Sweet brown nectar that moves my hips

The pot is empty, my hope is shattered

To my sleepy brain this was all that mattered

I step outside, my eyes are bleary

The lack of caffeine makes my body weary

I slap my money on the coffeeshop counter

Perhaps the barista won’t survive this encounter

Extra large with a double shot

He hands it over still piping hot

I knock it back and I know I can thrive

1st degree burns make me feel alive

I stare the barista in the eye 

now he's slapping my ass and I'm stroking his thigh- bigtasty67 

Friday afternoon, it's almost over.

My musk's everywhere, I lost my composure. - Dennis Pellagrino 

Friday night, I lather in butter, hoping the scent will make hearts flutter. - Meta Nexus

"It's grounhog day, and my eyes get blurry

welling with tears, at the thought of Bill Murray. 

Could it be that I empathize- with a role of a man I idolize?" - sgt.Mango Garcia 

Sunday, I'm out on the boat, my unwashed shorts are chafing my scrote.- RO bear 

But all of this pales to last september, 

Something so horrid I scarce remember - bleesev2 

Then, in December, I jerked on my member, my hand sending me to sweet surrender - Justin Cruz 

Patreon drama (switching back to monthly)

A week ago I wrote a post explaining why I was switching the patreon to "per cartoon".

Well, a week later I feel like a first class fool.  I had two jobs lined up for the second half of this month, and both have been delayed.

I've found that the biggest challenge of freelancing apart from finding the work in the first place is that clients will happily line you up for a project but not tell you if they experience delays on their end.  After repeatedly asking I've discovered that both of the projects I thought I was about to start when I wrote my last post have been pushed back to next month.

I did make the music video I mentioned in my last post for a musican in Sydney (which is finished now and at this stage will be out 1 November), but I've spent over half of the month on Fernando projects (episode 3 of the Disk of chaos series, Episode 6 and 7 of the podcast and the comic jam).

So I'd like to switch the patreon back on for this month after all, and also apologise for the mixed messages.  To reiterate, I feel stupid and dumb, and also left a bit high and dry by certain people.  I wrote the post thinking I'd be proactive with communicating with you, but then the darned things didn't happen.

As for next month, if the jobs actually do begin (one in particular is quite large, 4-5 weeks), I'll switch back to "per cartoon".

Switching back to "per cartoon"

Hey everyone,

I want to let you know I'm switching the patreon back to "per cartoon".  So you will not be charged for this month, and probably not next month either.

The reason is that I've accepted a couple of work projects this month, so the cartoon is not my primary project.  I have spent a decent chunk of this month on it, but still, it wouldn't be right.

I'm working on a parody cartoon for a musician (which will be out early November), and also I'll be making the pilot cartoon I wrote about a few posts ago.  I'll continue to dribble time on the Fernando toon and also the comic jam and podcast when I can.

I'll keep you updated on the progress of the Fernando cartoon.  When I finish it, I'll have finished all three episodes and I'll be able to show a lot of my work from this year to everyone.  When that's done, I'll see how it goes and reassess how best to continue.

I have two pitches in progress at the moment, if either of them happen I'll have something exciting to tell you about in November.  One is a grant application to make some music videos, another is the Mongoose Man series I wrote about earlier this year.   I don't know what the chances of either happening are, but anyway my gears are still turning.  

Thanks again for all of your support!

Fernando's Amazing Podcast - Episode 6 - Escaping the Chapterhouse

On youtube  

Yes!  It's still going.  I'm experimenting with using the footage from one of the comic pages on the video to see if it is a bit more engaging than Fernando on the deck.  Also I've got some new segments planned for next time. 

Hey Man! (Podcast song)  

Episode 5  

Episode 4 

Episode 3 

Episode 2 

Episode 1 

Also I'm up to page 5 on the comic collab. 

Podcast song (better title pending)

This one took me the most time of all the podcast collabs, but I think it could be reasonably said to be the best one (My favourite is probably still Breaking my Heartichoke though).

So yeh I'm still slowly dribbling time on the next podcast episode, now that this is done the rest is comparatively easy.  I'm spending more time than I really should on my new side project, the greasy comic jam (new video up last night).

Also, any ideas for a good title for this?

Here's the lyrics:

Hey man have you had the chance to listen to my podcast yet?

Two dudes on an aimless quest braving troughs both vast and wet  wmfivethree

Sensual passion sheltered in the internet  Jacob Boyko

Buttery topics, smooth as silk,

I am the breast--my words, the milk.

Dare you dream of such dairy treasures?

Plead I, yes, "partake the pleasures".  Lithoxene 

We read and answer your dearest questions,

Heartfelt stories and weird suggestions. BΣN

YouTube quality standards are at an all-time low,

So my manwhore friend and I present our new and original show.  BΣN

It's all right as podcasts go.

We forever sail the ocean,

Smoothly going with the tide,

A pack of wild and gorgeous dolphins

Always (swimming) at our side. BΣN

We talk about dairy, we talk about goat

I think I have scurvy, we may die on this boat  Goblinoid

Our sexy voices take away your breath

Everyday we're closer to death.

If you donate some money right now, we might make it to the next episode somehow! 

ShadowAkatora

New comics!

I've started a new comic jam, I'm running it both at youtube and facebook if you'd like to join in.

Here's the story so far:

Fernando gazed upon the glistening tourists frolicking on the white sands of Pleasure Island's main beach.  Their carefree joy grated against the turmoil that surged like a swollen storm inside of him.

Then came "apricot", a large man who had a fetish for ripping human hearts out those he hates. "YES! THIS IS GETTING ME SO! FUCKING! WET!" He yelled as everyone ran, screaming in terror. Everyone; aside for Fernando. Olin Moore 

To the surprise of Apricot, Fernando dove in to the ankle deep surf, beaching himself like a new born dolphin. Taking advantage of the momentary pause, Fernando scooped up a handful of small shore crabs and tossed them at Apricot's exposed nipples.  Drew Knudson

***They lost a lot of detail shrunk down to fit the patreon post, check them out full res here:

http://greasymoose.com/comics/newjam/03.png 

http://greasymoose.com/comics/newjam/02.png 

http://greasymoose.com/comics/newjam/01.png 

I've been making process videos out of each page as well.  I'm aiming to draw a page every 3-4 days as a side project.  I always enjoy doing these but last time I did one I picked an art style that was too time consuming and I am ashamed to admit I left everyone hanging.  For this one I'm trying to keep the art style simple(r) with a limited colour palette.

I will write posts every so often about how the story is progressing, but I won't write a post for each page because I know it can be annoying getting too many patreon post e-mails.

I will also share this creation from a comic jam I took part in the other day.  The theme was Rocko's Modern Life (an old Nickelodeon cartoon show about a kangaroo if you haven't seen it.)  

 It's unfinished...but it kinda works as is. 

The gif at the top is Fernando greeting his audience from episode 3 of the Disk of Chaos.

Disk of Chaos Episode 2 MP4

Here's the MP4 for Episode 2, cheers everyone.

Episode 2 sound track.

It uses a lot from the episode 1 track, but there's a new middle section and I really like the way it turns back to the main theme at the end as the avian antagonist's identity is revealed.

Fernando and the Disk of Chaos - Episode 2

Here's episode 2!

And here's episode 1 - if you have the time, watch this one again (or for the first time) before watching Episode 2 as they run directly on from each other.

I'm already on to ep 3, I've done a fairly rough animatic and I'm starting on the assets.

Thank you again for supporting another of my cartoons!  I know working on series like this means you only get the true payoff with the last episode, but I seriously doubt I have the mental strength to tackle a project this large all in one go.  Breaking this into thirds has made it doable, and if I can make this work, there are other large and beautiful projects I'd like to animate when this is done.

Also, keeping this private is turning out to be a great motivator for me.  I'm keen to finish the third one so I can show the whole thing to everyone.  At the end I will make a glorious super edit of the series as one cartoon.

Fernando and the Disk of Chaos update

I'm almost finished episode 2 of The Disk of Chaos.  I've come back to thinking i'll publish it in three parts in the usual manner, but I will make a super edit of the whole thing for patrons and anyone who wants to pay like $1 to stream it (assuming I can figure out that side of it).  But I won't publish the first part until the I've almost finished the third part so they come out close together.  This second part is shorter than the first but there's a fair bit of action.  I've storyboarded the third part out and it will be slightly larger than this one I think.

I didn't realise I could embed multiple images in a patreon post, I swear you couldn't do that until recently.  So that's cool, my posts will be full of gifs now.

By the way I know I've posted this link heaps of times, but in case anyone has missed it, this is episode 1.  For now it's just for you to see, please don't share it yet!

Episode 5 of the podcast received a lot of love from the listeners, although it still did not generate a huge amount of listens.  But that's ok because looking back I have 4 interesting Fernando and Gooseman tracks that have come out of this project, and it's expanded their characters and backstories.  I've written most of the next episode and I've written but not recorded the next song, so there'll be at least one more.  It's actually really fun to write and make the song, it's just the acting and the editing that can be a drag. 

I have agreed to animate a 5 minute pilot episode of a cartoon for a producer I know.  My work is supposed to start in mid September, so if it does, and isn't delayed for ages, I'll switch the patreon off so no one is charged.  If it is delayed, which often (usually) happens, and I spend the month working on patreon projects, I'll leave it as is.  It's not just for some random dude, the guy and his company are legit and have made other stuff, so there's a decent chance it will become something.  I shouldn't say anything about the series idea, I'll just say I think the concept is good. *edit* it's not my concept or scipt, i'm just animating it.

In other news, I cleverly went out when I was coming down with a cold, and made it much worse than it would have been, so I've been filled to the brim with mucus all week, but I'm almost back to normal now.  Now back to hammering at this cartoon.

Fernando's Amazing Podcast - Episode 5 - Nips & Chips

Previous episodes:

Episode 4 

Episode 3 

Episode 2 

Episode 1 

Here's the new version of the Nips & Chips track, I changed it somewhat since posting it a week ago, it's got some harmonies now because I felt Gooseman's part was kinda bad...not sure if it's any better though. 

This might be the last one!  Or I might continue it but infrequently.   It will depend on the reaction it gets when I upload it, and how many people listen.   

I am really keen to keep doing song collabs though (even if they don't all turn out great), but I don't need the podcast to do that, I might go back to using the Greasytales channel.

Nips & Chips (New track)

This is the new track from the most recent podcast collab.  It's still an early version, I may or may not refine it a little still.  I'm pretty happy with it, I like to find new ways to present Fernando's rhymes...even if it's not close to the best track I've done.  The next track collab will be another Gooseman tune.  

I kinda dropped the ball a bit with the podcast,  I've recorded maybe 80% but haven't started cutting it up yet.  It's mostly because I had a bit of a creative blockage with this track, but now that I'm past that I can keep going with the rest of it.  I've written it so that it could be the last episode, a path will open up for Fernando & Gooseman to leave their situation, stuck on a leaky tub in international waters.  

Ferno update

The next part of Fernando's strange adventure is coming along nicely.  I've done most of the character assets in this next part, there's no sound yet because I'm putting my sound energy into the next collab song project (I only have so much sound energy).

The above gif depicts the key poses of Fernando's ongoing battle with the psychic puppers (animation and backgrounds to come).  There's a whole other third part after this scene, I've completed the animatic for it but I think I'll try and completely finish this scene first, which includes Fernando's first meeting with the Antagonist, so I can show you guys and also compartmentalise it better in my brain, in other words so it won't become a huge sprawling mess that feels too vast to finish.

I was interviewed for this article about Australian youtubers.   It's not a direct link, you have to scroll down and click on the field that says "Youtube", they display the article in a strange way.  I don't sound particularly successful or intelligent in my quotes...wait, maybe this is the real me!

On a semi related note I wanted to ask, does anyone watch or have any interest in animated sketch shows?

I was thinking of combining some recent cartoons that came from comic collaborations into a short compilation to pitch to, I dunno, whoever.

My current arrangement is:

Cat Arms
Razor Blades
Meth Orcs
Let's Go Clubbing
Revenge of the Manatees 

The show concept is called "House of Squid", which is the name we gave our comic collaborations.  I would need to make 4 simple squid-themed interstitial things to break it up, and think about some kind of title display.  I'm also thinking of dropping Let's Go Clubbing because I think it's a bit weaker than the others and I don't think a pilot needs to be extremely long.  

But the thing is, I don't actually watch sketch shows myself so I'm wondering if this is an enticing pitch.  I know there's the Triptank show but I can't think of any other recent animated sketch shows, it doesn't seem to be a thing outside of triptank at the moment.  I'd pitch the sketches as having reoccurring characters like Cat Arms or Treshtog, and they'd occasionally meet or share a scene.  So basically the Monty Python show template, which has been done 10,000 times.  

Razor Blades mp4

Here's Razor Blades as a nice mp4, cheers guys.

Razor Blades soundtrack

Although the soundtrack for Razor Blades is not spectacular or flashy, music of that nature was not what was needed to enhance this tale!

Family Bliss  – this is an altered version of the music from “Knife Dance” which is a cartoon I made in 2012 if anyone remembers that.

Billy goes to camp  - I had some good times with my software’s library of guitars here. They don’t sound real or good when you arrange them in a chord (so like 3 or more notes at once), but they sound ok if you pick off simple melodies like this.

Parent’s Flashback 

Credits rock - I had the "Billy goes to camp" track in thecredits, but my girlfriend suggested it felt flast after the last shot and that I should add some metal. Well I'm no good at metal so I made some dadrock instead. This was surprisingly fun to make. I should try making a whole rock song in this style...even though it's not the sort of music I like listening to.

Razor Blades

Public version <-please share this version if you share it at all!

Thanks everyone for supporting me in making another cartoon of dubious qualities.  I have a feeling some people will hate this one, but I think it turned out well.  Way longer than I thought it would be (I thought it would be about 60 seconds long and wouldn't take long to make cause I'm a dumbass).

As I mentioned in my last post I'm back on my usual wagon again, working on the quite large Fernando and the Disk of Chaos cartoon.  Currently I'm animating Fernando fighting off some psychic Peruvian dogs (spoiler: he does it nonviolently with love in his heart).

Razor Blades and other stuff update

Apologies for the lack of updates this month.  I was aiming to finish Razor Blades around now, but it's going to be early next month.   I pictured it as a 3 week project but it's blown out a bit.  I thought itd be a 60 second film, but it turned out to be 90 seconds...  Another facepalm moment.

I still can't figure out whether it is good strange or bad strange.  I watched it yesterday and I thought  "this rocks!" then I watched it again just now and I thought "aww, it's flat."

I've shelved my audio side projects (podcast and associated song, new moancore tracks) and I'm ignoring all other temptations until Razor Blades is finished.

After Razor Blades I'm going to go hard on Fernando and the Disk of Chaos until it's done.  I needed a break from it and I feel refreshed and ready to headbutt it again.

There's a new grant from the local government film agency opening next month.  The amount of funding available is flexible (there's a set total amount and they'll split it up between however many teams they choose), and I'm trying to decide between three possible pitches:

- Fernando and the Phallus of Glycon 

Pro: Already written, so they can see for themselves that it is awesome.  Existing characters, easy to demonstrate has an audience.

Con: It's huge so probably too big for the scope of the grant, or if it was successful I'd have to do it in a limited style (might have to be a Metalocalypse style heavy reuse type of thing.  I'd take that opportunity over it not existing at all).  Also I'm halfway through an existing Fernando toon so it would be weird to shelve that to work on a new huge Fernando toon.  Weird!  

- Groanstaff

Pro: Uh...can't think of any.  It's set in the early middle ages, it's about a bard who has a staff that groans, not sure how appealing that is.  I've written two and a half episodes so if they like what I've done on it...  I should probably figure out how to talk this one up more if I'm going to write a pitch around it.

Cons: Numerous.  Big, expensive to do well, no local relevance, untested concept (this could be a pro depending on the attitude of the judges).  

- Collab song series.  More music videos along the lines of Calloused Hands, Final Form, Tobey Maguire.

Pro: Can show the previous ones are reasonably popular.  Really strong audience interaction.  Can link to Horse Person and Breaking My Heartichoke as examples of decent songs that I could use.  Can be tailored to budget size, big budget = 10 music videos, small budget = 3.

Con: Ummm I dunno, if they don't like my music then I'm sunk, and you know most people have terrible taste in music so it's unlikely the judges will hear my stuff and be like "hell yeh we need to fund this guy".  Also there's no thread or plot that runs through the songs, but that could be viewed as a pro...?  Also they tend to be dense, short projects and I know the previous grants had ridiculous expectations for length, the last one wanted 30-50 minutes with a budget of $30k AU, made over a short production period.  I didn't bother applying for that one.

The criteria emphasises that they'll look favourably on concepts that benefit the local scene, so I was thinking I'd pitch that they co-fund and I'd continue to use Patreon for the duration of the production period.  I'd pitch it so that most of the grant money goes to paying local animators.  That way I could produce things faster and give some work to recent graduates.  Yeh!  No one loses!  (except the taxpayer, but they lose no matter what)

After typing that out it feels like the collab song pitch is the strongest.  I'd most like to make the Phallus of Glycon, even though I know that animating something that large would probably drive me insane. 

So yeh that's what I'm up to.  

Fernando's Amazing Podcast - Episode 4 - Artichoke my Dong

Here is Episode 4 which contains the best roleplaying you'll find in all good book stores and a whooooole bunch of Artichoke content, which I know for sure is what is very hot right now.  

I'd like to link to the previous episodes but the patreon post functionality seems to be limited today and I can't link to anything so I'll just paste the address of the previous episode which has the links: https://www.patreon.com/posts/fernandos-3-at-12493961 - I'll fix it later when Patreon is feeling up to it.

Artichoking it up

Here's a fresh and nutritious new track if you will let it into your heart. 

(Joke explainer: artichokes have hearts.  I could have also gone with "heartichoke".)

This is another collab song from the podcast.  

In other news, episode 4 of the amazing podcast is going to be MORE AMAZING than the previous ones, which were all amazing.

I've got about 90% of the dialogue recorded for Razor Blades.  I've done 99% of the character assets and have started on the animation.  I pictured it being a 60 second cartoon but turns out it's more like 90 seconds.  It's in that messy phase in the middle when sometimes I'm like "oh no it's a piece of crap and its not working" but I think this one will pull together and be interesting.  Not sure what I'm doing for the music yet.

I haven't decided on a title for this track yet.  Either "Broken Heartichoke" or "Artichoke my Dong".

Here's the lyrics if you need them:

I'm not telling any more jokes, 

We are out of preserved artichokes

Can you go to the store?

Poor and stranded on a hateful ocean

Hunger pangs fill me with emotion. - Mark Russell

I am desperate for more!

No drink can meet my need,

Not whiskey, juice nor tasty mead. - Legend of Anowon

Meaty leaves all slathered in butter, 

Their touch sets my heart a'flutter - kaiawase

I walk full of aggression 

Down this path of leafy obsession - Grushpea

Oh please God, hear me plead.

I shall offer you my seed. - Legend of Anowon

So tangy and so pungent, coated in slimy unguent - Toothygrin 

Starvation impending. - Rota Abyssian 

Peel it back, leaf by leaf,

A steady rhythm will make me queef - Mr. Epic Noah

Poverty unending, - Rota Abyssian 

I could marinate them in tea, 

Or just rub them all over me, - straydogontheroad 

Open your ears to this terrible song 

It’s time to artfully choke my dong - Grushpea