Gorilla in the Midst

Hey Primate Posse™! So last week I said I’d be off for a few weeks, but for the first time in ages, I spent some time just sketching and working some things out that had been bothering me about the comic. It was a great thing to do, because it made me realize that I really do enjoy drawing this comic when I actually spend some time making it look right rather than drawing (and inking) it as fast as I can. And I’ve sadly done too much of that lately. Anyway, I worked on sketching my characters and trying out some more dynamic poses – the results of which will show up a little more in future comics. I also went back and looked at Watterson’s inking and then spent a little time working on my own. It always helps to look at how Watterson inked C&H. I’m going to make a point of looking at some great inking every week. I think you can see an improvement in my inking on this strip compared to what I’ve been doing lately.

As for the subject matter of this strip, I really wasn’t sure how to deal with it. I’m not interested in getting in on the debate about what should or should not have happened during the incident – I really don’t know enough to have an opinion. For the most part, I just feel helpless (as I’m sure we all do) when things like this happen. So maybe to make myself feel better I could make a donation to a great ape charity and help some living non-human apes. And I’ve often thought that I’d give a percentage of merchandise sales from this site to a great ape charity, but… well, there are no such sales! So it’s time to open my wallet…

One last thing: there will be no comic next week as I’ll be in Vancouver and won’t be anywhere near a drafting table. Back in two weeks!