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Here's a rundown of what all I've been off doing:

- My Personal Site has been Updated.

I've had a personal website dating back to the late 90's. It has gone through a number of revisions over the years. This one is Version 6. Past versions were more or less all done in the most basic of basic HTML with some CSS for extra spice. Great for desktop viewing... not so much for mobile.

That's where all this work came in.

I spent some quality time fixing up, pairing down and basically making a more professional looking website (something more along the lines of what I'd build for a client way back when) and I did it using Flexboxes and other fun tricks to make it both as slim and as mobile friendly as possible. This last batch of work was getting my Archives and my Shop in order. Check 'em out if you want to see what all the fuss was about. I could use the eyes to refine and fix any errors I've missed from working on it for so long. = )

- I kinda' sorta' scrapped my plans for a new Biff site.

This one broke me. I'm good at what I do. I'm not the best but I'm no slouch either. That said, the direction I was going in for a Biff site rebuild that could also rework itself into a mobile-friendly view was not working out. Like... at all. -.-

I wanted the desktop version to be a cleaned up and modern take on what I have now. I was coming from a place of brand new code in a fresh file free of the various bits of trackers for dead sites and soon-to-be-useless add-ons. It was, like my Personal site, being built with mobile in mind. This meant taking advantage of one of my fav properties of Flexbox - the ability to manipulate the stack when I change screen size using CSS alone. I can literally rearrange how boxes of info stack and flow on the screen at different resolutions. Horizontal elements can be stacked vertically and in a way that works best visually. Vertical elements can shift to use of the screen real estate better than collapsing in to fit the long thin portrait view of a phone.

That is where things broke down. This is where I realized that I would need to build a separate mobile site and completely change my approach to the desktop site if I wanted to have the comic easily serve the two very different platforms without looking like two Very different sites. That or I make a bog standard site that looks just like everyone else's with a Biff-flavored theme to it.

As you can tell, my pride as a site builder won't let me give up and take that latter route so easily. That and I personally hate that tactic knowing I spent years doing my level best Not to do that for folks who paid me to build their sites. Like with my personal site, the least I can do is treat the rebuild of the strip's site with the same care and attention that I'd give a client who Isn't me.

So I scrapped what I had and I'll pick it back up once I draw out something that fits my needs. So far, the only things being saved from that last attempt are the header and footer. In you know webpage design, you know that's pretty much nothin' in the bigger scheme of things. It is, however, less work and a place to start visually so... a win? o.O

- -- - -- ~ -- - -- -

That's it on all that stuff. With the updated HoA site came new artwork. You can find that on my Instagram and the various other art sites I'm at.

I haven't gotten around to other images like the 'Saltwater Girlfriend' piece or even the new Mog Squire I was working on for (and on) my Tablet PC Thingie. I saw how long it had been since my last proper update here, realized I was Really blowing any good will I had earned after having such a good run earlier in the year and made a solid push to either get the non-artwork things done or figure out what needs more planning for later.

As it stands, I have two strips in the can and ready to go. I'm finishing the pencils on a third tonight. I'm Hoping to either have started work on or have inked a fourth strip before Sunday so I'm ahead by a fair margin. Gotta' build that buffer up again.

Thanks to those who have stuck with me during this longer than expected break in the action. I hope folks enjoy the stories coming up.

'Till next time! = )

- Website Updates:

Slowly but surely they are coming along. I've spent most of my time working on the missing pieces of the main House of Amill site. It's slowly evolving from a random place for me online that's existed in some way/shape/form since the late 90's to a more adult-looking place to find info about myself and my projects. The hardest part has actually been the 'Projects' page and deciding which of these things I sank a lot of time into over the years is still a viable thing I would like to expand on at some point in the future. You want watch me squirm, have me review and decide which of my pie-in-the-sky ideas live and die.

It... it was not fun.

The Biff site is a different beast altogether. I'm kinda' building it out to be used on a different CMS (Content Management System) from what I've been using pretty much the strip's entire run. It's nothing like what I got now but I'm using the skills I learned at my last proper job to rebuild it. It shouldn't look too outwardly different but, under the hood, it'll be a whole new beast. I Really want to show folks what all I have and I'm very tempted to just moving things over to the new site code using the current CMS as a stop-gap but I'm holding off. Making twice the work for myself isn't a great idea but it also wouldn't be the first time I've done just that, either. We'll all know soon enough if I break down and do so. = P

- Mermay Project:

You might be wondering why you haven't seen the finished Mermay pic yet. Easy... I never finished it. I wasn't getting the control I wanted doing it on my Tablet PC thingie so I decided to leave it be and print it out later so I can do the rest of the artwork traditionally. I'm quicker on paper than I am on a PC and I know it. My tablet skills are improving but I'm not willing to flail on a pic I want to see done by tying myself to a single medium. If I can get the lines done better and faster on paper, that's where I need to be. If I can play with color more in SketchBook, that's where I need to go afterward. It just means it'll be a bit longer for that to wrap. Kinda' like my dancing demon, my Time Mage Moogle pic, the Parcel piece and the rest of the digital pieces I've started that haven't been finished yet.

- Mog Squire:

You've probably already seen the newest pic I've been working on - a Mog squire. It's coming along. I don't really want to put too much time into it as it was more of a "Something different to do and maybe get a wallpaper out of it"-type of thing. I finished the pencil sketch and saved out a new working SketchBook file for later. Like all my random pics, you can find them over on my Instagram page.

- -- - -- ~ -- - -- -

That's pretty much an update on the things currently in progress. Notice how I haven't mentioned the strip yet? Well... that's because I haven't started on the next story bit yet. The strip book is on the table so-to-speak. It's on the side. My watch and its dead battery are in the part where I work. So... a watch battery swap, a quick wipe down (it's a funky graphite mess for some reason) and I'll be ready to go on that. My goal is to get the first strip of this story bit done by Sunday. I'll hold it until I'm a good way into the story bit so I have that buffer again but I Do still want to hit the old standard of completing a strip a week.

And that's about it. You know what I know. You also don't know what I don't know: When I'll be back to regular posting again. I may not be able to set a stable date yet but trust that I will keep everyone in the loop.

'Till next time!

Seriously... I'm taking a break for a bit. Going to try to not have this be for too long but I have stuff that needs doing. Stuff like working on the code for the next version of this site (and finishing updating the rest of my Main website).

Another thing I want to do is to rebuild the Comic Buffer. Turns out that, when I had that wiggle room, I was a little more freed up to do things I normally wouldn't. Things like take time to get details right since I don't have that mighty need to rush things out the door to update on time. Same with trying out different expressions and basic acting stuff that I tend to let slip when I'm in a hurry. Not that my strip has much large expressions or heavy acting normally but it's nice to be able to push things a little without a time constraint. = )

Time to do the usual stretching and whatnot. Also snag a sandwich or a bowl of cereal. I got my laptop down on the couch and I'm ready to work in some minor comfort.

'Till next time! = )