Orson's short story begins!

I love train stations. I love riding on trains, and I do it several times a year (between Baltimore and DC, mostly, on the MARC). Do you guys like trains? Any good stories from your time on the rails?

P.S. If anyone would like to do guest art/comics for the upcoming hiatus, please send it to noel@noel-arthur.com along with the name you'd like me to credit you by and any links to your comic/site/gallery/dA/etc :)

Also also, Help me pick a postcard design!! You can leave your thoughts/choice in a comment here.

I like the one with Hugh the best because it's really cute and fun.

Both cards design are really nice but I think the one with Hugh is better too. First, it's less busy, which suits that kind of things better, also it does represent the comic tone a little more I think

Hi Noel,

I'm curious how long it typically takes you to do one page. I know that's a really hard question to answer and it probably varies a lot, but I'm slowly plotting out my own webcomic/graphic novel (also an urban faerie thing!) and have been wondering and worrying about the time commitment. (I know I'll just have to start it and see, but still, I'm always curious about other artists.)

I HIGHLY recommend the design with Hugh because it catches your attention with a unique creature design AND compared to orson, while he looks awesome, who seems to send a different comic idea. Your series seems to revolve around the fantastic floating over into our everyday lives which Hugh conveys by having a hairy body with the fish-like head. Please never stop, your style is wonderful!

Ahaha, everyone on Tumblr liked the Orson one, and everyone here liked Hugh! I went with the Orson one, though, sorry--mostly because a trusted friend who knows this kinda stuff mentioned that the Hugh one has a "kid-friendly" vibe, which I want to avoid! This comic is definitely PG-13 just for the language.

@Maisha It varies depending on my mood and the complexity of the page, but I would say anywhere from 4-7 hours. It takes about 1.5-2 hours to sketch and ink, mostly because I ink with a tiiiiny brush, which is way more time consuming than using, like, a micron pen. Then the painting takes several hours because of the nature of watercolor; I've got to wait for sections to dry before painting the ones next to them, or the colors will run into each other. I think it really depends on the artist, though, and how easily distracted you are XD.

The time commitment is why I currently only put out 2 pages a week. One of the things that surprised me was that 1/3 to 1/2 of the time needed to run a webcomic isn't drawing it! Scanning, uploading, writing descriptions, website maintenance, networking, advertising, writing the dang thing, promotions...all of that is also very time-consuming!

Don't get scared off by that, though, haha. I would definitely suggest starting it and seeing for yourself! If you can only update once a week while you're starting up, that's still enough. Lots of comics only update once a week, and bonus material or special features can wait until you have a bigger fanbase/be introduced slowly.

Good luck with your comic :D! I clearly love urban faeries myself, so definitely drop me a link if you do start it up :)

I like how you accept all kinds of people. Like how there is a girl with Ra'ala in the background (that's what we call here buraka or hijab...).

Thanks for answering at such length, Noel! I'm hoping to be able to work on my graphic novel thing while the babies I nanny take their naps. I'll be sure to let you know if/when my project launches!

My mind always flahses back to the time some random lady offered me Beef Jerky on the train. I have no idea why she did but I declined.