Project: Rebuild hoodiegypsy.com --- Status: Underway

Hey, everyone! Thanks for checking into things here! Also, thank you much for the emails - HUGE encouragement. ^__^

So I just wanted to update you guys and let you know that I'm still working on the site rebuild AS WELL AS continuing work on the newest pages. That means that when hoodiegypsy.com goes back up, there will be new Skipping Tomorrows stuff up.

Once again, thanks so much for checking in on things, and in case you haven't been following it, http://christianmanga.com/gameplan/ is a great read - check it out!

hoodiegypsy's host is DEAD

I have no idea what's up with my site host, and I'm really sorry for the downtime. As soon as I can contact them, I'll try to get to the bottom of things. Actually, if this was going to happen, it happened at a good time since I'm still scanning in the next chapter's line art.

My brother just got married and I've been really busy helping out with that, so ST had to take back burner for the last week. I have NOT relapsed into non-posting oblivion again. ^__^

Since there won't be a new page up for at least a week, here's some appeasement art. This may not interest any of you, I don't know, but I personally love it when artists include concept sketches in with their projects/publications. I'll have to track down the very first sketches of Shawn and Emma, but for now, here's some of the clothing notes I made.

Page 103 - Your Painting -

Pg 103

Oh yeah. That painting. *wink*

THANK YOU for sticking with me all this time! Every one of you readers mean so much to me! You're the *reason* I'm doing this whole webmanga thing! Two more chapters to go of old art - then the last chapter will be CURRENT ART! I'm pretty excited if you can't already tell. If you're curious what my current art looks like, the "100 Page Thank You" is a kind of example. That was actually one of the many sketches I have of Shawn and Emma in my travel sketchbook. I just scanned and colored it as a thanks. Couple questions for those of you who would be willing to give feedback:

-Think I should re-open my Deviant Art account?
-If I put up a gallery of sketches (ST and non-ST stuff) and finished art, would you look at it?
-When I start my next project (immediately after ST is done) do you want a say in which one I start, or should I just pick a project and go with it?
-Is anyone having problems with the current layout? Any way I could make viewing the comic easier? How's the loading time for slower connections?

Think that's it. Again, thanks so much!

Page 102 - I'm Starving! -

Pg 102

Please don't mind my lack of background. Not much to say about this one other than I'm sorry for the pic of Emma the bottom. I didn't redraw, but I wanted to. The page just went up that much quicker. -_-

Pg 100 - *gulp* -

Pg 100

Totally falling asleep ... I'll revamp this post later. ;)

Pg 100 - No One's Perfect -

Pg 100

Page 100! Thanks for sticking with it, everyone!

I'm back from vacation and hope to maintain a semi-normal updating schedule.

099 - Dense as Guys in Manga -

Pg 099


GASP! The "L" word!!

And I don't know about you, but a bit of comedic relief is like ... a fan blowing cool air into a stuffy room. ;)

098 - Something Unspoken -

Page 098

So while it's kind of a tease for two characters to completely miss signs of one being attracted to the other, sometimes ... they really do know deep down inside how the other person feels. And yeah - that's what Jen looks like with no hair dye. It was actually very hard for me to color her that way. o.O

Speaking of Jen, she made a cameo in my submission to this year's Comix 35 contest called "The Greatest Witness." In case you didn't know, I am a Christian. ^_^ And just so there's no confusion, Skipping Tomorrows is not a Christian Webmanga (although, if you're looking for some, I got a list of links for ya!) and "The Greatest Witness" is not part of the Skipping Tomorrows storyline. I drew Jen to look older on purpose to fit the role of host and yes - that is new art. Hopefully it looks a bit different from the Skipping Tomorrows line art. ^^;

097 - Felt Safe

Page 097

Not a whole lot to say other than sorry for the angst - I'm pretty anti-angst, I frown upon emo, and do my best to keep even my most serious subjects lighthearted. However, here we are at the root of Shawn and Emma's feelings, so I kind of had to be serious for a couple pages. Oh, and this is kind of not humble at all, but I really like the pic of him grabbing her. Sometimes when you draw something and then you hold it up to look at it, you feel like giving out a bit "WOOT!!!" That was way back when, and I still like that particular part of this page. :P

096 - Not With Me -

Page 096

Well, this might be my favorite scene in the entire story right here. Not so much as the actual artwork, but the event itself. ^_^

I really don't have much to comment on this page other than the second to last panel is a good example of the contrast of Shawn and Emma's skin color. Shawn has always had a slightly pale tone to his skin, while everyone else around him has a healthy, normal color. It was supposed to be a subconsicous reminder of his sickness ... but not now that I mentioned it ... heh heh. ^^;

095 - The Weight of Memories -

095

T_T Poor Shawn, first I make him moody, now he's crying. Kinda emo-ish if you ask me. :D

If this looks like a breaking point in the story, it is. If you've been kind of snoozing along, I hope the rest of the story wakes you up a little, because it's "all downhill goin' from here."

094 - A History Lesson -

Page 094

MAJOR PLOT REVELATION! WOO!!

Ok, in case Jennifer and Jen looking exactly alike and having the *same* name didn't tip you off, maybe you caught the bright blue eye color hint. I hope everyone can read the aged article text. It's been a while, but if you refer to page 10, Jennifer mentioned that Minnie had a weird sickness. I'm still learning a lot about storytelling, but one thing I LOVE is details - eye color, vague mentioning. I think the greatest compliment that a webcomic artist can get is if people actually remember something from page pages, RE-READ your comic, and then notice the fact that you had the entire story in mind and organized from the very beginning. I never want to "trick" my readers so much that I have to draw flashbacks to justify an event. I have plans for an upcoming comic with a lot of big twists, but I will always leave breadcrumbs on the trail. :) Um yeah ... how's that for rambling?

093 - Sinking In -

Page 093

In case anyone ever wondered what my opinion on the subject is: Cloud and Tifa forever. If you don't have a clue as to what I'm talking about, and you didn't see a cameo in page 93, don't worry about it. :)

Anyway, the writing for this page was kind of tough because Emma's thoughts are kind of all over the place - her feelings, her problems, his feelings, his problems. Oh, and that first panel is what I think a moderately throbbing headache looks like. ^^;

Oh, and there's actually another cameo in this page - the super helpful librarian is actually Robyn from Offsides.

092 - Close -

Pg 092

Sometimes ideas are really hard to convey with words, and even harder with art. I hope the idea of this page comes across clearly enough. Pretty much, they got a little too close and both of them kind of freaked a little. So, in case you haven't figured it out, there's a little chemistry going on between Mr. Truid and Miss Luthain. And I'm very happy with the bottom panel. He's such a cheery kind of happy-go-lucky guy, but I love drawing a sulking Shawn. I guess it's just easy to make him brood. ^_^

091 - That Worried Look -

Pg 091

I had a lot of fun with the layout of this page and I actually like most of the frames in it (for once). Waaaay back when I was still toying with the idea of Skipping Tomorrows, I sort of sketched up a rough wardrobe, and Shawn's hoodie that shows up on this page is one of the first items of clothing I designed specifically for the comic. I like to use a lot of blue on Shawn and a lot of green on Emma - so it brings out the eye color. A lot of detail is lost when the pages get shrunk down, but that's life, I guess.

Chapter 8 Cover - Echoes -

Chapter 8 Cover

The name of the page is "Deep Sleep." It was a sketch of Shawn that's been hiding in my sketchbook forever, so I decided to use it for a cover art. :)

Pg 90 - Cheated -

Pg 90

Nothing much to say about this one, other than I like this page. Finale pages are always fun to do for some reason, and I like drawing Shawn with his hood up. ^_^

Pg 89 - You Knew -

Pg 89

Normally I love the pages that have Sherri on them, but I don't like this one. (I feel like I say that about every page ...) My reasons for not liking this page : I dressed Emma as a granola nun and the ugly clinic walls are back.

Pg 88 - No Right -

Pg 88

This page was inspired by a quick sketch I did of Emma and Shawn (in church of all places >_>) and I liked it so much I decided that a photo set of them would be cute. I have the original sketch somewhere, I'll try to find it and scan it, because I like it better than the final version. I'm honestly pretty sad how this page came out - I'm not happy at all with the photo set. Oh well. -_-

Pg 87 - The Little Things -

Pg 87

I don't like this page. I don't like the art or the script. Honestly, the only reason it's up and colored is because I like the way the lower left hand frame came out. (Emma is in a bandanna again!) I hope Emma doesn't come off as rude in this page, but I thought it'd be cute for her to call him Mr. Truid when she was annoyed. Notice that Shawn is drinking an orange drink to begin with ...

Pg 86 - Special Guy -

Pg 86

This was actually one of my favorite scenes when I was piecing Skipping Tomorrows together. Initially, this family had a little bit bigger part, but when I was trimming down the script, I decided that even the names weren't important and they were kind of shifting the focus around too much. So, they are now the nameless blonde family that lives in a shelter!

Also, Emma had lines in this page too, but I ended up just clipping them all. Now I'm not so sure ... she almost NEVER talks in this chapter! o.O

Pg 85 - The Kind of Heart -

Pg 85

This page was (in the script and layout) combined with the next page. I have no idea what I was thinking trying to cram all of that in on one page, but there was just no way it was going to work. Oh, and that's tinfoil around the hot dogs. It's kinda hard to color tinfoil, I discovered. ^^;

Pg 84 - Best Friends -

Pg 84

It's hard to tell, but Emma is hitching a ride on the cleaning cart in the first frame. She's also fun to draw in a bandana. :P Oh, and I've done a horrible job bringing it up from time to time, but Emma *is* a clutz, so of course Shawn wouldn't want her near the crystal.

Pg 83 - To Talk or Not to Talk -

Pg 83

Not a whole lot to say about this one. These next few pages are kinda scrap bookish, which is why I decided to post them all at once. Don't want people dying of boredom between updates. ^^;

Pg 82 - Conned for a Con -

There was another missing frame in this one that just didn't fit in the layout. Sometimes it gets a little frustrating to draw and color something, only to have to scrap it in the end. Oh well. This is just a fun filler page, I guess. (I didn't have to change Emma's hair color either time :P) In case you don't know, the first cosplay (costumes) is of the Legend of Zelda Ocarina of Time (really shows the line art age, doesn't it?). The second is of Saint Tail. I doubt that Emma would have been comfortable in the Saint Tail costume, so she's dressed as Meimei at school instead. The pic below is the one that didn't make it. It doesn't make any sense without the dialogue, but I dunno ... thought maybe someone would be curious to see it.

Pg 81 - The Second Time -

Oh look ... Jen's hair changed color yet again. Kinda like that horse on the Wizard of Oz. Not much to say other than I looked forward to coloring this page for a while and I'm glad it's finally posted. Those sketchy characters are fun to draw. ^_^

Oh, and the text got shrunk past legibility - the book that Emma and Jen are looking at is The Complete Works of Jane Austen. Originally, the layout called for a text bubble over Emma's head saying, "Look, here is the character I was named after." However, I thought that was a little redundant since it's no big secret I'm an Austen fan, and that tidbit would only matter to other Austen fans. So yeah ... Emma is named after Austen's Emma.

I was listening to "La Corda d Oro Primo Passo" Brand New Breeze from Kanon. (If you've never heard of Kanon and don't care, don't bother with the link. That link is for people who saw that I was listening to music from Kanon and panicked. ^^;) I just love the lyrics for this song - it fits ST very well, I think. Very pretty melody too.

Pg 80 - An Artist? -

I depise backgrounds, can you tell? However, as much as I hate to draw attention to it, I hope everyone notes the fountain. To quote the artist notes from Kaoru Mori in his *Emma series "That's important!" Also, the painting girl has a name and is actually a cameo ... I'm just not at liberty to tell what series she's from!

There was another picture that was supposed to be in the layout for this page, but I messed with the text and then it didn't fit. So then I had to go back and rearrange the layout. It was great fun. -_- Anyway, that's the missing pic, up there.

I kinda like drawing Shawn's hair loose, but I think this is the only time it makes it in-comic outside of him sleeping/special art.

The music I was listening to when I put this page together was Jade's "1000 Words" from FFX-2.

* Kaoru Mori's Emma also wears glasses and seems to have a similar personality to my Emma. At first I was all bummed - I didn't want people to think that I copied the character. Emma is a very common (and pretty!) classic name, and the glasses thing is just an interesting coicidence. That being said, "Emma" is a wonderful series so far and if you like Victorian dramas, check it out!! At least read it in the bookstore ... I mean ... buy it! The dancing girls rule! (Holy cow, CMX manga is a branch of DC ... DC actually puts out stuff worth reading! ... Sorry, I'm a Marvel fangirl ...)

Pg 79 - Still Here -

The old script is really making me wince through these next few pages, but there's only so much I can do as far as making text fit into the layout that I drew the line art to. I know the collage/medley thing is a little tedious as far as hoping for an update with more story, but I hope you bear with it. Initially, this medley thing that is comprised of chapter 7 was all supposed to be the bulk of the story. Chapter after chapter logging Shawn and Emma's daily life ... I dunno, it seemed like very draining filler content after I went over the script (draining to me as the artist and you as the reader). So, I scrapped the layouts and scripts and just chose the highlights to squish all into one chapter. Call it streamlining or call it lazy, your choice. ^_^

As for comments on the page ... there's not much to say. I'm not happy with it - it was a page I was dreading. There was supposed to be a Princess Nine cameo (Izumi in the batting cages) but she got lost behind the balloons and it drew attention to the crappy chain-linked fence - so that layer got canned.

So about the old art

As you may have seen me whining in announcement posts, all of the line art for ST (Skipping Tomorrows) is anywhere from 2-5 years old. Some of it makes my cringe - bad enough to start to try to redraw everything. However, after deciding that ST was going on an extended hiatus (another one *cough cough*) for me to redraw, I got a couple emails from people who asked me not to bother (thanks for the feedback, btw, much appreciated ^_^). I guess the old art didn't bother them, and that was good enough for me. I have all the line art up to chapter 10 drawn (and have had for 2 years now), and that will mark the last of the old art.

So this post is a sort of disclaimer/apology for the current state of things. I'm tweaking the line art a little as I color it (all coloring has been done as the pages are posted, coloring work matches the dates at the bottom of each page) but most of it has been left alone. I'm pretty excited about working on the last 2 chapters (yeah, there's gonna be 12 total, so we're already past the halfway point!) with new everything (updated script, new art, new layout) and I hope to really boost the quality for the final steps of ST. Now ... let's just get through these next 3.5 chapters ...

Well, it's not a forum, but ...

I've had more than one reader request a forum to discuss Skipping Tomorrows, but I'm still pretty web stupid when it comes to web languages things (you can tell that just by looking at my simple hand-written code for hoodiegypsy.com) and I'm really not interested in maintaining a forum at this point. Besides, I move slow enough on the pages as it is -_-. So, after toying around with my DA account (inactive, don't even bother looking it up, there's nothing there), myspace, and LJ, I decided that I liked Blogger the best. It's clean, stable, and there's not a lot of ad junk floating around to make it look cheap.

Someday there may be a forum but for now, I hope blogger works out for everyone. It's going to take me a few weeks to get a beat down with how I'll set things up, title headers and so forth. So readers (all 5 of you) let me know what you think.