No more November

I can safely say that I'm glad to see the back of November - and not just because the weather's getting colder. A number of things have been grinding my gears for most of this month.
First, a minor gripe - YouTube. In their infinite wisdom, Google, who own YouTube, decided that in order to be able to see or make comments on videos, every user must have their YouTube account linked to a Google+ account - they're basically forcing everyone to join their poor excuse of a Facebook rip-off, not to mention asking for everyone's real names to keep track of them, and to be able to force-feed unwanted adverts down everyone's throats. I'm not having it, so I refuse to bow to the pressure. However it means I can't make comments or see any comments that make on my videos, though the only plus side of this as that trolls can't make abusive comments either.
So Google Minus, have some sense and return YouTube to how it was, otherwise you will just drive everyone away from it.
I also recently found out that when I joined Blogger (also Google owned), any pictures that I post on here got posted into a Picasa web album, which I never signed up for or wanted, so I'm afraid from now on I won't be posting pictures on this blog anymore - instead I'll link you to them.

On a more important note, this month I've felt like I've been put under more pressure from certain quarters to find a job - I'm still looking, but nothing is happening still, what more do they want me to do, prance up and down the streets in a suit and tie in front of every potential employer like a sheep in wolf's clothes?
I also had a "progress review" at the work programme session I attend every fortnight, and when I mentioned about how I'd like to do something art-related, I got referred to a self-employment specialist, with a view to possibly becoming a self-employed cartoonist...however, after the first meeting with him, all I got from it was that I'd get no startup help, and I'd get taxed to death on my profits. I can see why so many businesses quickly fail now...and I'm not sure I want to go down this route now, but I'm worried that if I turn round and say so, there might be consequences. Why does there always have to be a string attached? 

There's also been stuff of a personal nature I've been worrying about too...but I'm not gonna discuss those here.


There. Rant over. Moving onto the positive stuff now.

I took a trip in the middle of the month to see the Lumiere Festival in Durham - it's an arts festival where all the exhibits are outdoors, and based around light, I first attended it back in 2011, the last time it was held before this year, and while there were some canny awesome exhibits, the event was marred by crowd control issues. This time however, those issues had been addressed, as they had a "ticketed zone" this time, meaning people had to buy a ticket if they wanted to enter the ticketed zone between a certain time; those without a ticket (me included) had to wait until after a certain time before they could go into that area.
There were some good exhibits - the highlights for me were "Keyframes" (rows of stickmen "dancing" across a building through a lit-up routine) and "Aquarium" (in which the red phone box in Durham Market Place got turned into a fish tank) - but on the whole this year's Lumiere seemed to have fewer exhibits than in 2011, and as a result was less memorable, I thought. However, if they hold Lumiere again in 2015, I'll be sure to attend.
If you'd like to see my pics from Lumiere, click right here.

Also on the subject of trips and holidays, there's a couple of things I'm looking forward to next month - I'm planning to take the train down to London to actually see the sights of our fair capital city. I've only ever been to London once to pass through it (my times transitting through Heathrow Airport don't count), so it's about time, really. I'm also hoping to meet up with two friends from deviantART, Dracorum-Order and toonfreak8 (who's visiting the UK from the US this Christmas). I just need to get the train tickets booked...

Secondly, and I may have mentioned this already, but my girlfriend Nicole is also flying over from the US to visit me again, like she did last year - she'll be spending Christmas and New Year with me, and it goes without saying that I can hardly wait for her to be here - so close now. :)

Last but not least, here's some fancy formal artwork I did for FAC-AgentC's recent "Part of the Hive" art jam on DA: "The Not-So Ugly Bug Ball"

And not forgetting...hope all my friends from the US had a good Thanksgiving.

A question

Is it wrong to actually want to be noticed?

I used to be outgoing when I was a bairn - lively, talkative, happy, as most childrean are. But that was when I didn't know better.
As I got older and learned more, and had experiences that brought me down to earth, I quickly learnt that saying what I felt and making my mouth go wasn't the best way - I crawled further into myself, until I became much less talkative and shy, because I was conscious of the consequences of actually speaking up.
Now, when I go into a group of people, I try, despite my shyness, to be able to be part of it...but what usually happens is that I can't find the words to say, and because I'm too quiet, I just get drowned out and ultimately ignored by just about everyone. It's partly my fault, because I'm too much of a chicken to open my mouth and make myself heard...but it's also the fault of those in the group when they choose to do absolutely nothing to include me.
The end result? My frustration slowly builds and builds until I snap, and say, act and do stupid things that I don't mean - but I can't help it, because I feel like I'm being made to feel like I'm not wanted.

This is a problem I've had for a long time...I don't want to be the centre of attention. I don't want to brag about how "I'm so good at this, I'm so good at that", because I don't believe I'm that good at anything, and I'm not that sort of person...but at the same time, I don't want to feel like I'm always the odd one out, the one in the corner at the party while everyone else is enjoying themselves.

I try to be friendly to people, and make them feel wanted and welcome...so when people can't seem to do the same for me, it makes me wonder why I even bother trying.

So is it wrong to actually want to be noticed?

Autumn's here, and the paintballs are flying

Well, if it didn't feel autumnal last month, it certainly has done this month - the leaves are falling, the temperatures are dropping, and the clocks have gone back - not forgetting Halloween, of course.

I'll be honest, I haven't really got a great deal to say about this month, as it's more or less been business as usual for the most part, to the point where some days have just felt dull and grey, and not just because of the weather - the only break from the old routine was a recent paintball session with my brother and a couple of friends, which was only the second time I'd ever been paintballing (the first time was 9 years ago as part of a Business Studies course at school). There were just six of us playing to begin with, but we ended up getting joined by a group from a stag party, who were a little bit hungover, one of them was suffering from whiplash from being in a car crash the day before, and the stag himself couldn't play as he'd had way too much the night before, so quite a bunch there!
Anyhow, it was all a good experience, even though I soon found out how much I really, really suck at paintballing, and those paintballs didn't half sting! It's the taking part that matters though, and the whole day out was much needed.

The paintballing wasn't the only thing that happened that day - I also had a first, attending a wedding via Skype - one of Nicole's friends was getting married, and she wanted me and my brother to be there. Obviously we couldn't be there in person because of the small matter of thousands of miles of ocean separating us, but we made the best of it, and the wedding was absolutely fine.

And that's pretty much it for October - if you're celebrating Halloween, with costumes or without, hope you have a blast.

I'll leave you with some Halloween artwork - Bob & Flyer looking a bit more ghostly than normal.

 

Summer to Autumn

September - that time of year when the sunshine slowly starts to give way to falling leaves and that ominous wintry chill. Back in the day it would be a month I never looked forward to, because of the start of a new school term - nowadays I still approach it with trepidation, because it's the ending of my favourite time of year, and also the changing weather can really mess with the old mood. And relating to moods, this month has been up and down a bit (what month isn't like that?) - I'll get the downs out of the way first.

There's been days where I've made that mistake of thinking too much and it's gotten me all worried - but a big part of that is being aware of the rut I'm stuck in as far as trying to find a job goes, and I'm just tired of having a certain place on my back all the time to find a job. I wish I didn't have to deal with their you-know-what (something beginning with B), but unfortunately it's the only way I can get any income without having a job, so I have no choice. Anyone who's in the same situation will know what I mean. I'm just glad I have my drawing to keep me from going nuts.
Also, at the end of August into the start of this month, my grandma had to be taken to hospital, because she was complaining of sharp pains in her left arm - those pains were the onset of a major heart attack. Thankfully, she was in the right place at the right time, so the doctors were able to treat her before it had a chance to happen, which was a huge relief. I just don't even want to imagine what could've happened if she hadn't been.

This brings me onto the ups now - since the hospital visit, grandma is doing much better, she's getting out walking again and her heart rate is improving, and I know she won't let something like that keep her down. I'm just relieved she's on the mend now.
I had an unexpected gift this month - it was from my brother's girlfriend Jodie, who arrived back home after her 3 month stint over in the US working at a summer camp. She bought my brother a brand new smartphone, but he'd already gone and bought himself one, so she said I could have it. Needless to say, I'm quite happy with it, and I appreciate the thought too. I had been planning to upgrade from my old phone to a smartphone eventually, so this was a nice surprise.
I'm saving the best till last though - on the 28th, me and Nicole reached a milestone in our relationship...we celebrated our 1st anniversary. Neither of us have ever been a relationship for that long before, so that made the anniversary even more special. Too bad we couldn't actually physically be together on the day, but we did get to vid-chat over Skype. 
As I mentioned recently, we did exchange anniversary gifts in person, two months early, back in July - here's what I received:

 My 1st anniversary present from Nicole - a wristwatch

I loved it when she gave it to me, and I still love it now, vice versa with Nicole and the ring that I bought her - and it's the thought behind the gift that counts. I don't know where this past year has gone, but I know that I made the right decision to start dating Nicole, and at the risk of descending into slushiness, I'm grateful that we met and that we love each other, because we both mean a great deal to each other.

Last but not least, a bit of artwork - and this month also happened to mark 10 years since I created my two bug characters Bob & Flyer, more about that here.

"Bob & Flyer - Then and Now"

And that's that for September - wrap up warm, everyone.

Bob & Flyer

It's been a while since I posted something about one of my many cartoon creations (Snow Sam back in December '12), so it's about time I explained about the origins of what is pretty much my flagship comic - Bob & Flyer. And with it being 10 years ago this month that I created thse two, what better time than now?

It all started one day during a free period at school - that was something I did a lot back then, doodle random cartoon characters during free periods (and sometimes during lessons too), because I enjoyed it, something that hasn't changed to this day. At the time, I'd recently come across a cartoon series from the 90s, "The Itsy Bitsy Spider", and I'd been doodling the title character a lot. There was one episode of the show in particular ("Basic Insect"), which featured a load of bug characters as background extras, and I quite liked a lot of their designs. A few years before that I also saw the Pixar film "A Bug's Life" (which I highly recommend) which also influenced my liking for bug/insect characters, and to an extent, real life bugs/insects.
So with that in mind, that one day, I sat down, got a sheet of paper and doodled a little bug character, and at the time I decided he was a beetle. That character became Bob. I then thought that he could use a friend, another bug. Again drawing on the aforementioned influences, plus the many times of seeing bluebottle flies buzzing around in the summer and an advert for an energy drink that featured a CGI-animated fly smashing through a car's windscreen rather than getting splattered across it, I added a little fly character, who looked slightly more crazy than the beetle - this was the fly that would eventually be known as Flyer.

The very first sketches of Bob & Flyer, 2003

It really just took off from there - I started drawing them both regularly, and eventually made their first comic for them the following year, though that was confined to my sketchbook - I didn't make a digitally coloured comic for them until early 2005, which is when I joined deviantART and kickstarted my artworks as a whole - but that's another story. 

In the last 10 years I've made hundreds of Bob & Flyer comics, long and short, and really fleshed out both the characters in both personality and appearance. Part of what made me want to start making a regular comic series for Bob & Flyer is that I noticed that there weren't, and still aren't a lot of comics and cartoons that have bugs/insects as the main characters, and I think part of that is because they have such a bad reputation of being pests - I wanted to show that you can take characters that are percieved that way and make them likeable. 

Out of all the characters I have, I think I've drawn Bob & Flyer the most, and I always enjoy drawing them.

Now for a breakdown of all the characters in the comic:

Bob

The co-protagonist of the comic, Bob is the "straight-man", a sensible yet adventurous cockroach who shares a house with his best friend and room-mate Flyer. He's constantly having to put up with his roomie's crazy antics and is usually the one who has to keep him in line.

I originally created Bob as a beetle, to alliterate with his name, but I noticed in his design that he looked much more like a cockroach, so I decided to change his species - this was influenced by the character designs of "Roboroach", another cartoon I came across. This is also why Bob has no wings, as I originally designed him not to have any.

 

 

 

Flyer

Flyer is the yin to Bob's yang - in other words, he's the exact opposite. He's a crazy, hyperactive, wise-cracking and self-centred bluebottle fly, and he has a barely controllable addiction to nectar. He provides most of the comedy, and despite his big ego he and Bob are inseparable.

To begin with, Flyer wasn't nearly as crazy as he is now, he was originally a smart inventor type. His change to a more crazy personality was influenced by the character Blooregard Q. Kazoo from the cartoon "Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends", I thought a more wild, self-centred attitude was a better fit for Flyer than his inventor traits.

Flyer is quite possibly my most popular character out of any that I've created, and he's my personal favourite too - to the point where he's become my mascot and the basis for my username, and that's also him on the top right of this blog page.

Of course, Bob & Flyer aren't alone in their insect world - like every good comic, they have a supporting cast:

 

Leroy

A strong-looking but gentle-hearted beetle who always has many words of wisdom for Bob & Flyer - he's also a bit of a sports fanatic and an actor. He was created not long after I created Bob & Flyer, and he was inspired by a rough version of the character Francis from "A Bug's Life".

 

 

 

 

 

 

Cecil

A sweet-natured but timid caterpillar who is best friends with Leroy, and whose big dream in life is to become a butterfly, however that dream seems to keep eluding him. Despite his timid nature he is quite adventurous, much like Bob, and he's a keen artist. He was created at the same time as Leroy, and was inspired by one of the background characters from the aforementioned "Itsy Bitsy Spider" episode.

Dahlia

One of the comic's two female characters, Dahlia is a flowery damselfly with a sweet outlook on life, and is most definitely a "girly" girl. She was first created in 2006 for a mini-story arc which culminated in her becoming Bob's love interest, and was inspired by the wildlife series "Life in the Undergrowth", which was the first time I ever heard about damselflies.

Cracker

A streetwise, skateboarding and all round cool dude cricket with a laid-back attitude, Cracker was added to the cast in 2006, and was inspired by the cricket character Cri-Kee from the film "Mulan".

Willow

The second of the two female characters and the most recent addition to the cast, Willow is a black widow spider with a more tomboyish personality than Dahlia, along with a more crazier attitude. She was first created in 2010 and introduced in the story arc "Along Came A Spider", and without saying too much about it, Flyer had a huge part in her becoming part of the cast.

 

 

 

 

The Wasp Gang

Not surprisingly, Bob & Flyer have enemies as well as friends, and their antagonists come in the form of the Wasp Gang, a bunch of wasps who like to terrorise the bugs' neighbourhood. They're led by the crafty and calculating Zachary, and also consist of Zeke (the know-it-all and ladies' man), Rosetta (the token female), Wally (the brawn without the brain) and Diego (the wannabe gangsta-rapper type). Their first appearance was in late 2004 in an as yet un-released B&F comic, "Sting in the Tale", and I decided upon wasps as villains because I dislike wasps in real life, for obvious reasons.

 

 

So, that's all you need to know about Bob & Flyer - I've been drawing these bugs and their comics for a whole decade now, and I intend to carry on drawing them for a long time yet.

If you want to check out any of my B&F comics and artworks, simply head over to my DA page at http://bluebottleflyer.deviantart.com, or alternatively click here to go directly to the Bob & Flyer art or the Bob & Flyer comics folders in my gallery.

Thanks for reading, and in the words of the bugs themselves - "Keep On Buggin'".

From US to UK

I can't even begin to describe this past month - it's been a case of both the extremes.

At the start of this month I was still in the US, coming to the end of my 6-week trip there. Most of it was covered in the previous blog, but it's about time I mentioned the rest - that special place I mentioned? It was a little place down in Florida, you might've heard it...Walt Disney World. 
This was at the end of July, both me and Nicole flew down there, and I just can't put into words how awesome of an experience it was...we were there for 3 days, and while that was nowhere near enough time to see absolutely everything in WDW, we still made the most of it. We saw many different animals, hit the African plains on a safari and took a walk in the jungles of Africa and Asia in Animal Kingdom; had a brief but splashing time at Blizzard Beach; saw a show about animation, walked through a fake New York street and witnessed a Monsters University party at Hollywood Studios; saw Spaceship Earth, walked around the World Showcase, rode on the Journey Into Imagination and had not one but two high speed thrills on the Test Track at Epcot.
Of course there's one part of the park that we couldn't not go to...the Magic Kingdom. We covered pretty much all of it - Adventureland with its treehouse and lively Tiki Room; Frontierland with a boat ride to Tom Sawyer's Island and a late night ride on Splash Mountain (three words: 50 foot drop) and the Big Thunder Mountain Railroad; Liberty Square with its fancy buildings, classic steamboat and the Haunted Mansion; Fantasyland with its fairytale/circus setting and the classic It's A Small World ride; the futuristic Tomorrowland with the PeopleMover, a rain-soaked Tomorrowland Raceway (still enjoyable though), monstrous laughs on the Monsters Inc Laugh Floor and a close-up encounter with Stitch in his Great Escape; and last but not least, Main Street USA, with the classic American street and shops, plus that famous path leading up to the even more famous Cinderella's Castle, which was the backdrop for a spectacular projection and fireworks display, both were just amazing to watch.
It was my first time at any Disney park, and I'm glad I was able to get to visit one - the best part was that Nicole was there with me, and we got to spend our 10 month anniversary there too, which I marked by giving her a dragonfly pin as a present, in front of Cinderella's Castle. Guess there is a little bit of a romantic in me.
Say what you want about Disney, but at the end of the day, both me and Nicole thoroughly enjoyed our time there, and I would definitely go back again.

 Kilimanjaro Safari - Animal Kingdom

 Meeting Chip n Dale - Dale tried to hit on Nicky, while Chip raided my bag for nuts

 Adventureland - Magic Kingdom

 Big Thunder Mountain Railroad, Frontierland - Magic Kingdom

 Liberty Square - Magic Kingdom

 Tomorrowland - Magic Kingdom

 Fantasyland - Magic Kingdom

 Spaceship Earth - Epcot

 A taste of home - United Kingdom pavilion, World Showcase - Epcot

 Blizzard Beach

 Monsters University party - Hollywood Studios

 Not-quite New York - Hollywood Studios

 Main Street USA - Magic Kingdom

There was also another first a few days afterwards - I got to experience a live baseball game for the first time, the Bridgeport Bluefish vs the Sugarland Skeeters - the Bluefish lost, but regardless of the result I enjoyed the atmopshere of the game.
The last visit of my US trip was to Southwick's Zoo in Massachusetts - only the second zoo I've been to, and by far the biggest, with so many different animals, including a lot that I'd never seen up close before (e.g. kangaroos, lions, lemurs). The zoo also had some unique features - a chairlift that travelled over the exhibits, including an alligator pool; a forest where me and Nicole got up close to deer and were able to feed them; and a giraffe encounter, where we got to hold up tree branches for giraffes to feed on them, all of those were great experiences.

 The Bridgeport Bluefish and Sugarland Skeeters in action

 Skylift - Southwick's Zoo

Giraffe encounter - Southwick's Zoo

 Deer Forest - Southwick's Zoo

My last night in the US ended up in a hotel in Nicole's town, which me and her parents arranged on the sly without Nicole knowing, and needless to say she was very happy with the surprise. We spent the night taking a dip in the hotel pool, having a meal at an Italian restaurant, and some wine and snacks back at the hotel, and above all, spending some quality time together.

We were both dreading August 5, the day I had to fly back to the UK...and it was hard to let go, as anyone in that position will know all too well. My flights back home were a little on the bumpy side, but I made it back safely, mad dash for my flight back to Newcastle and all.
Arriving back at home felt alien to me, almost - even more so this time round, because it was the longest I'd been away from home. The jetlag had something to do with it as well, of course. It took me a little while to get back into the normal routine, but it all fell into place in time. I was happy to see my family again, and it was good to be back with my home comforts as well. I couldn't see out this summer without taking one last visit to my favourite beach at Tynemouth, either.
I can't say everything's been OK though...with being away there was bound to be issues regarding rent and finances, had to poke the council more than once about stuff, but I think it's all been sorted now. As well as that, the situation on the job front is the same as ever, absolutely no joy whatsoever. And something's also happened that makes me think that keeping my mouth shut is better for everyone - I don't want to go into it.
In the end, I just had the most amazing time in the US, it's something I will definitely not forget for a long time, and I'll miss being face to face with Nicole most of all.

Some summer themed artwork to leave you with:

Fyfe & Sparkplug: Summer Dragons

 

Summer in the States

Well, to say that this last month has been a break from the norm is putting it very lightly - as I type this, I've been in the US for over a month, and quite a lot has happened, which I won't be able to cover in huge detail here, so I'll try and give you the basics.
It's been great spending time with Nicole of course, and even though she's been at work most days we've still made the most of the free time that we've had with each other, and even though it probably won't hit me until the day I fly home, I'm gonna miss her being around. I think I'll keep the mushy stuff between me and her though, I'll spare you that.

 Me and Nicole

Been to quite a few places during this trip, some that I visited on my last trip in 2011, some that I hadn't been to before - Branford Point (mine and Nicole's favourite spot to hang out), Newport in Rhode Island with its beautiful beaches and coastline and an enjoyable cruise around the bay; Stony Creek - one of my favourite places from the last visit, still as picturesque as before, even more so as we got to take a cruise around the Thimble Islands there; the distinctive Mohegan Sun and Foxwoods Casinos; saw a terrific fireworks display at the Sailfest in New London; the bustling Boston; the sprawling Long Island with its scenic towns and beautiful coastline, including the Montauk Point Lighthouse; not one but two aquariums, both with a great range of sealife on display, in Norwalk and Riverhead on Long Island; and also not one but two separate trips into New York City, which was still as hectic as it was adventurous just as it was 2 years ago.

 Montauk Point Lighthouse

 Stony Creek

 Thimble Islands

 Easton's Beach, Newport, Rhode Island

I also met up with a few friends, some I'd met on my last visit, others I hadn't - those I previously met included most of Nicole's friends, her parents, plus Shane and Paula (PierreAndAndre and youlittlemonkey from deviantART respectively), and Shane's family; those I didn't meet last time were Ryan, Dawnsy, Victor and Paul (friends of Nicole), Ben (a fellow Brit who is also friends with Shane) and another deviantART friend, Rich (FAC-AgentC) - it was great getting to meet them all.

 L to r: Nicole, Shane, Paula, Ben

Back (l to r): Alicia, Paul, Michael, Crystal

Front (l to r): Ryan, Dee, Kristin, Nicole, me

I also have to mention how the weather's been - I was definitely not prepared for the humidity, much higher temperatures than what I'm used to back in the UK, though it made for some good walking days out to Branford Point, although I nearly overdid it one day. However I got the opposite as well, I was able to witness a thunderstorm approaching on Long Island, it was actually very cool to see.
This trip is not over yet - myself and Nicole will be taking a trip to Massachusetts on the last weekend before I leave, and before that I'll be getting to experience my first ever baseball game, and before that we're going somewhere special, which I'm not going to reveal until it's been and gone, but we'll be celebrating our 10-month anniversary while we're at that place.
I honestly don't know where the last month has gone, I feel like I've been in the US much longer than I actually have, and I'm really not looking forward to the day I have to fly back home (August 5) - but I'll have the memories.

I managed to do some artwork during this trip, so I'll leave you with this pic of Bob & Flyer, but not as you know them:

"Stoopid Bugs" - my entry for Granitoons' "Super-Stoopid Art Jam" on deviantART