Long time

So I'm back. It's been a while since I posted anything but things have been a bit tough these days. I have been busy drawing my cartoons and adjusting to my new job.

Official "coming out" date

Okay, now I know the date that one of my characters will be "coming out." The date will be June 7th and will carry on for a few weeks after that. Some of my main characters will have difficulty adjusting and some will be more welcoming. It is not a a coincidence that the character comes out the same month of PRIDE 2010 here in New York.

Buzz about the "coming out" news

Yeah, so I've talked to a few friends about the situation regarding one of my characters from "Cafe con Leche" coming out and it and I have got nothing but positive feedback. Not sure when I'm going to debut this event but a friend suggested that it coincide with Pride Fest 2010 here in New York City, which is June 27. Since that's a Sunday, I think that I would probably start the series on a Monday and carry it through a couple of weeks.
The decision to introduce a gay character was a tough one for me. I realize that I may be alienating a few people, but at the same time it really carries with the "Cafe con Leche" theme of diversity. The strip centers around an inter-racial couple which is already controversial in some places.

Possible new book.

The quest begins. In the first stages of looking for a publisher for a "Cafe Con Leche" book.

One of my characters comes out.

Hi all:

It's been a long time since I wrote a blog entry. I'm just writing to let you know that one of my characters in "Cafe con Leche" will be coming out of the closet in June. Not saying which one, but its not a main character. I've been thinking about doing this for a long time. I think its tailored for my strip.

Finally!!! A day off.

Hello all.
Sorry its been a while since my last entry. Lots of turmoil going on here in DC. Not even going to mention the craziness happening at TWT. We'll get through it. I hope.
I've been working like a mad man lately, but now I have a day off. Just sitting here cooking vegetarian pasta and contemplating which cartoon to draw. Oh, I might just make a trek out to Whole Foods to pick up some...um....food.

The birth of "Militant Malik"

I never thought I'd utter these words: I actually like DC. There, I said it.
Yes, my heart is still in New York City, but I must say that living in the District of Columbia has definitely changed my cartoon "Cafe con Leche" for the better. There is something distinctly edgy about the District, not to say that NYC was edgy. But its a bit different here. While in New York, my focus was on writing about the relationship between main characters Trey and Maria and how they got along. Looking back that was probably a bad idea.
Since coming to DC a year ago I've put the focus squarely on Trey and surrounded him with a cast of characters that come straight from my experiences in DC. The biggest success has come from a character that I call "Militant Malik." This character has definitely added some spice into the mix. Malik is dashiki and combat boot wearing self-described pro-black militant and professional street protester. I got the idea of Malik from my very own neighborhood in DC. You see, I live in the Chinatown section of downtown, a hub for tourists and such. I typically make a trek to my gym, which is on the corner of 7th and H st. Nw. I noticed that almost every Friday afternoon a few brotha's dressed in quasi military garb gather and literally get up on soap boxes and yell to the top of their lungs about all-things black to commuters. I found this fascinating, since I've never seen this display in any major city. I almost instantly began to think of creating a character based on this. Malik was born.
I wanted to thank the fellas for giving me the inspiration, but that probably won't go over well.

Coming out of the closet to my mother

No, its not what you think (though there's nothing wrong with that either). I came out as a vegetarian, and my mother almost lost her mind. You see, my mother is sort of a traditional African-American mother from south Georgia. I grew up on her black eyed peas, collard greens and regular helpings of fatty stuff such as ham hocks and pork chops.
My family grew up on meat and lots of it. I don't think that there is a single vegetarian in my family, so you can prolly understand her surprise. I thought that she might faint as I described to her the reasons that I went veggie. I've been a vegetarian for about 4 months now but I just neglected to tell anyone in my family.
The reason for the shocking header (Coming out) was that I was so floored by my mother's reaction. You'd think that I just told her that I was gay and was running off with my Rupaul. I don't think that I'd ever heard my mother gasp over the phone. It was weird. It was strange. We got through it.
I'm really not looking forward to Thanksgiving in the Gary household. Me and my 6 siblings sitting at a table filled with all kinds of meat products that I can't (won't) eat.

Getting ahead

Man, didn't know how good getting ahead on my toons felt until now. I've finally put some distance between my deadlines, and now I can concentrate on doing other stuff. Like (gulp) illustrations. I gotta admit I'm a little nervous about this new childrens illustration venture that I'm about to embark on. It would be better for me if I hooked up with a writer, but a good writer is hard to find (for children's books that is). I'm going to have to do this solo, so we'll see what happens.
In the meantime, I've got to think about moving again. My lease is up and I'm just not willing to pay to live in downtown DC anymore. Looks like I'm Maryland-bound.

2 cartoons to go.

Good morning! It is almost 9:00 and I'm about to start drawing yet another cartoon. I'm trying to rush things through so that I can spend the weekend doing some illustrations. This might be tough though, but I think I'm up to it. Gotta finish my coffee now.

New Venture

Lately I've been thinking about getting into something new. Well it isn't actually a new idea, but I guess I finally found motivation to take it seriously. For years I've been trying to break into the children's book illustration industry but lacked both the motivation and time to pursue it. I've finally found both.
I've done a bit of research and emailed a few associates in the industry and now I'm raring to go. The big thing now is finding time to do it. Carving out time from drawing 14 cartoons and a full-time job is going to be difficult, but I'm determined to do it. I think I have a good style for it, but now I have to just work up my portfolio.

Weekend update

What's up? It was a an interesting weekend of relaxing and chillin. Now I'm at work. Haven't started thinking about my cartoons yet, which is really bad. I'll prolly start drawing tomorrow, but there are other issues to deal with in my life. Im not feeling really motivated at the moment, but I'm sure that'll all change once I sit at my drafting table. That's it for now.

Question answered

Just heard by from my new editor. Apparently there was some mix up with the folks who run the website. All is well for "Cafe con Leche." Thanks for all the support.

Something's fishy

Got some emails from some readers (thank you all) about "Cafe con Leche" not being updated on the Creators Syndicate site. I did a little investigation and found that nothing has been up since Monday. I'm sure it's a glitch, but I did fire off an email to my new editor there. We'll see what happens. Would want to be the last one to know that I got dropped. That would truly suck.

Back in the saddle

I finally decide to get off my butt and do a little blogging. Sorry about the very very long delay, but I had some personal drama to deal with. Things seem better now and I'm pretty focused. Things are actually going well at my job too. Kind of an unexpected surprise, but I'll take it.
Anyways, sorry folks (both of you).

Time for a book

I've been contemplating putting together a Cafe con Leche book. The problem is that its going to be difficult finding the time to do this. With two cartoons, a full-time job and school I'm finding things a bit stressful. But CCL has been in publication for 2 years now and I think that it has sort of a cult following. Now if I could only find a publisher.

Changes to Cafe con Leche

As some of you may already know by now, My strip "Cafe con Leche" has gone through some substantial changes. At first the focus was on lead characters Maria and Trey and their relationship. Now I'm focusing squarely on Trey. Narrowing my focus gives me more flexibility and it seems to be working. Now all story lines run through Trey, including his relationship with Maria, his cousin Ray-Ray and his mother.
The writing in the comic strip has also changed. I used to lean on the safe side but now things are more cutting edge. I'm trying to push the envelope and also make it more authentic. Most of the experiences that you'll see Trey going through come from personal knowledge. With a little ad-libbing on my part.

My afternoon

Sitting here at Busboys and Poets having a cup of coffee and thinking about cartoons. I'm starting to have more success with Cafe con Leche and I'm glad. A large media group in Canada just bought the strip, so the pressure is on to produce.

My life

Sorry for the lack of posts lately but my life has been crazy in the last few weeks. As much as I love my Flash class, it's killing me. Trying to manage that plus my 2 cartoons and a full-time job is tough. But its necessary due to the economy. If I ever intend on surviving this economy I have to do what ever is necessary to upgrade my skills. Particularly on the web side. It doesn't stop with Flash. I'm planning on taking a Dreamweaver class this summer and an advanced action scrips class after that.

Daily toon

Today's "Working it Out" cartoon.