Food_Salad

Here is another food cartoon.

I think I can legally call it a comic since it has more than one panel.

The issue is about how choosing salads and greenies over burgers and other juicy, meaty things is a simple way to help the planet.

So now I feel guilty--however satisfied--after eating cheeseburgers.

Tasty, tasty cheeseburgers.

Thanks a lot.

Reuxben

Fun_MoreGilda_Dvp

More Gilda development sketches.

This was the very first draft, all starting from the hair. I really wanted to use the hairstyle, but longer hair won, as it usually does.

Left: Tuning the hair.
Right: Beginning emotions practice.

A four-step hairstyle note.

What I thought was the final version before stumbling on a Hikaru No Go chapter in a manga sampler I got at Comic-Con '07.

Reuxben

Fun_Boarding1

We had a bunch of whiteboards around Swing Space, so I drew stuff when I couldn't sleep or when I went roaming around the wretched building during study breaks.

Inspired by the Iron Giant.

Having a bad day.

Doctors.

Zombie love.

Northern California was great, by the way, but now we're back south again.

And counting down the days till Japan.

Reuxben

Food_Bill

Here's the another Food cartoon for the Rudd Center.

It's about a bill that would ban obese people from certain restaurants in Mississippi.

And this is my first time photoshopping my own stuff. So if you can't tell where, then good for meager me.

By the time this thing self-posts, I'll be in Northern California.

Hopefully all's well, future me.

Reuxben

Fun_16Tons

This is based on the song "Sixteen Tons" as sung by the Yale Spizzwinks(?).

Well, I'll be returning to my Northern California homeland Thursday for a relative's graduation. It'll be nice to be back north, although I seem to enjoy the road trip more than the destination.

The last time I went back was in the gooey summer between high school and college, when I was just getting information on Yale: mailings and packets and names.

The journey was thrilling then; I wonder if anything has changed.

Reuxben

Fun_PurpleRock

Heads up, Batman, it's sketches from the Purple Crayon's Midnight Madness/Senior Show plus the Battle of the Bands 2008.

Sadly, there weren't many usable sketches from the Crayon's year-end show, but it was a heartwarming send-off for the Crayon's sole senior, Benji.

Alright, well, I got depressed walking back after Benji's exit speech, partially from having witnessed something great in his final performance, but mostly from seeing him leaving friends.

It freaks me out that there's no guarantee I'll have anyone see me off when I graduate, especially seeing the absolute opposite in his having a gang of Crayons, who he was a true asset to, plus a room full of people eager to see him do what he does.

It's also frightening how he can commemorate four years with the Crayon, while the only potential four year groups I've got are the Record and Quizbowl. But the former has soured into a reluctant, pained loyalty and I've basically quit the latter.

Anyway, it would have been great if Benji's final show were as riotous as the WildnOut show, but of course it was easily better than the Ex!t Players or the Viola Question.

But come to think of it, it was eerie how the final skit was Benji in a room alone trying to fall asleep.

* * *
Battle of the Bands 08 was alright.

This Theo fellow popped out of nowhere with a band and even sang!

That was worth the ticket alone, just for the shock!

It sounded like they said the band was called Nyquil, and I admit they were kinda putting me to sleep. I really, really wanted to like the band, but they just weren't too engaging that night.

It was a bummer that this guy's band, Catch, wasn't playing.

Goodness knows there were way too many meh bands playing. Why not get surer bets up there?

. . .

A few pre-frosh came up to me throughout the night to check out my sketchbook. Flattering.

One pre-frosh, a landscapist, thought I was 2012, too.

If only.

Farnam...

I wish I could relive Freshman Year for half a decade.

The newness, the welcoming, the uncertainty, the auspiciousness.

Getting lost looking for JE, Commons, WLH. Exploring JE. Figuring out the Law School.

Giving fake names, knowing everyone doesn't know everyone yet.

Having the I'm-a-freshman excuse.

Still thinking I'm a high schooler.

Finding my feet before fitting in.

Being caught up in all the lore.

Thinking that the Record's great.

Following mighty juniors.

Knowing that FroCos are there.

Meeting my first suitemates, thinking this'll be perfect forever.

Well, anyway.

I've been trying to draw this guy in action for a while, but never seem to catch him long enough.

It's a shame that the Sandy Gill Affair's audio seemed to have died. They really deserved to win, if not be a finalist. And not even Mad Mad Prophets placed. What were the judges thinking?

If you were to judge this band by their performance that night, no, they shouldn't have won, but that was because you couldn't hear anything. Based on their past performances and their monumental improvement, they had enough credibility to warrant a bump in whatever score the judges blindly assigned them.

This lady's band was so not first place-y. Boring acoustic stuff.

Who actually enjoyed this performance so much that they said, "Hey, let's put them in Spring Fling over these other clearly more entertaining bands"?

It makes zero sense.

Mad Mad Prophets, Sandy Gill, and Catch (which didn't play that night) are just plain better; why didn't anyone recommend them?

I cannot figure out how anyone with a clear conscience could have ignored those bands and picked Z's band, who I'm sure is a nice person, etc., etc. but also robbed more deserving groups of play time.

Oh, the girl at left was ninja-ing her way around photographing bands and stuff.

I think she was with one of the bands, actually.

A 2012. How lucky. He has no idea. I think I hate him. He gets Freshman Year next year. Watch him be in JE. That's all I need.

I think this guy was in a band called Flocks, or as I read later, Flux.

Well, that's it.

Closing thought: Battle of the Bands, you are a mean, shameless joke.

Reuxben

Fun_HarrySpiders

This is like an inside joke:

Near the middle of Freshman Year, a Spanish classmate requested a Final Fantasy drawing. I asked for an alternate since I had limited time due to FOUR classes and being involved with the Record AND Quizbowl (one busy Freshman). The chronic self-loathing hadn’t set in at that point.

She’s also a Harry Potter fan, so we agreed on this drawing. She gave a seemingly throwaway “Thanks!” and to this day I don’t known if she actually liked the drawing. I look back on the drawing and cringe a little, but back then it was pretty good.

So Freshman Year, whenever we’d bump into each other, she’d give a passing nod or reluctant, cramped smile. But this year it became complete stranger status, even when facing head on.

While we’re by no means friends, we’re certainly not strangers: we discussed the piece thoroughly, I handed her sketches to approve, we talked about FF, Potter, etc. It’s not like we'd never spoken. So while I'm accustomed to being ignored and cast out, especially this past year, I really don’t buy this denial.

The other day she headed toward the BK dining hall with luggage and I didn’t hold the door because I thought she was off to her room. Who brings luggage to lunch?

She does. So I felt horrible for not holding the door. I thought about apologizing in person, but I can’t speak to people. Maybe email? Better yet would be a throwback to that year-old drawing. Plus I could redeem myself through how much I’ve improved.

At best an ice breaker, at worst an ignored email that would just perpetuate what we already practice.

Well there you go.

Reuxben

Fun_PixieDust

This is an unused cover for the collected edition of Darling Find.

So sophomore year is finally over for me in just about an hour.

My consolation prize is thinking of all those stupid freshmen who couldn't stop time. Enjoy Old Campus while you can, jerks; it's over. You'll be forgotten and 2012 will be Yale's latest darling.

...Take care, safe trips, etc. etc.

Fall on your tongue like pixie dust, just think happy thoughts and we'll fly home. --Gerard Way
Traffic will tank over summer, but I'll keep posting art. Plus I'll be in Japan soon.

Reuxben

Fun_EmCeeArrrr

Friday night was My Chemical Romance, with Taking Back Sunday and Drive By, at Madison Square Garden!

These are my intermission/train ride sketches!

It was weird seeing what other fans look like, I've seen so few.

Depressingly, there were tons of mini fangirls, like at the Umbrella signing last Comic-Con.

Is MCR just *Nsync singing about death?

Right, so first up is Kelly emo-fangirled out. The MCR gloves she's wearing were quite popular. The chain was straight up Kingdom Hearts, son.

On the train to New York, threads revealed who was show-bound. Some nutty fashion out there.

But on the train back, these two girls sat across from me and chatted across the aisle with this lady minding her drunk husband, passed out nearby. All MCR fans!

So I started sketching stuff based on the girls' conversation; one girl's learning guitar. The guy's hair is inspired by the dark guy from Billy Talent.

They didn't realize I was riffing off of their conversation, but they enjoyed watching me draw, so I started entertaining for three.

Before the show, the fangirls seated behind me were debating over whether or not to buy these "Dr. Seuss" hats that the cotton candy vendors were shucking.

Intermission sketch between Drive By (meh) and Taking Back Sunday!

A revelation I had after MCR played Dead!. There's a ! in the title.

Pre-show sketch.

Rockers are remarkably punctual!

Drive By started three minutes after the 7:30 curtain.

This was my first real concert, but I was shocked at how late people arrived. If you paid for a ticket, why wouldn't you come for it all?

Train sketch.

I wanted to like Drive By, but they just weren't exciting, save their last song.

They pushed their CD and the other bands' greatness a little too much.

It was like they weren't even going pretend anyone might be excited to see them.

Aang train sketch.

I couldn't think of an expression, so I made him shocked.

Since the girls enjoyed my drawings, I thought I'd surprise them with a drawing to take home. After finishing the following train sketch, I realized I ought to draw one for each.

So I drew up a rough Black Parade drum major from fuzzy memory. They reached their stop before I could finish so in the fray I only ripped out the less impressive drum major for them. So they only got one sketch after all.

Plus ten grown-up points to me for safely navigating my way to Madison Square Garden alone.

Reuxben

Penny_DoomsdayVaultIII

This is the interior artwork for the Penny Dreadful's "The Doomsday Vault," part three of three.

Fun returning to this character, especially since I didn't think I'd ever draw him again. And it was fun trying out more perspectivey stuff.

Easter Eggs: Yale in cracks.

Fun Facts: He has a bump on his head.

Right, so today is My Chemical Romance! It'll be my first real concert and I am quite excited. I just hope I don't get lost or mugged or both.

Reuxben

Penny_FinalCover

I was honored to be asked to draw the Penny Dreadful's cover for its third and final issue. As a Sudler funded project, it wasn't meant to run forever, unfortunately.

Anyway, this captures a scene from the Doomsday Vault series.

Easter Eggs: On screen MCR, MCS, MTG, pikachu, and question sleep [Z?]. Skull steam, too.

Fun Facts: I thought of Livewire from Superman for Cindy's hairdo. Also, I actually got up and tried to model for that running pose. It was tough and dorky.

Reuxben

Fun_ExitLow

These are sketches from the recent Ex!t Players' Senior Show and the even more recent Low Strung reading week show.

I prefer my improv purple, of course, but just to be safe, I decided to check out the Ex!t Players one more time. My memory had not deceived me, they are not worth paying to see, and they do get tedious too often.

Aside: this started out as a sketch of Gregor, but I started spinning it into something original.

It baffles me that the Crayon doesn't charge or at least didn't this year, especially when Ex!t and the VQ do. I visited the Viola Question a couple of times during their 12 hour marathon, and perhaps because of the enormous, commendable task they weren't that strong, but still...

I've always wanted to go to a Low Strung concert, especially since we don't seem to have a rock-themed a capella group, so I decided to check these guys out. It was pretty enjoyable. This guy is apparently their leader?

This guy had some wacky hair.

Before the show started, I started sketching this since no one was on stage. I continued sketching after the lights went out and it came out pretty well considering I was drawing by slips of moonlight through the window.

Ok, more polished stuff to close the week.

Also, Friday is My Chemical Romance at Madison Square Garden, which will be my first time seeing them performing live, and I hope to get some sketches there, but we'll see what happens.

Reuxben

Fun_Scrunch.df_MO

No more Herald till next year, so to maintain Fridays' specialness, I'll run more spectacular, non-sketch stuff on Fridays. So please enjoy the making of Scrunch.

First I type up a script then transfer it to paper and slice it up into manageable, numbered sections for easier planning.

Next I make little thumbnails of what I'm thinking for the page's layout, which often takes multiple tries.

I'll rough out key expression or gestures on this page too, so that I don't lose the original idea hours later--a full page can take me as long as 12 hours to do.

For example, this sketch was to figure out the top panel's pose.

I wasn't sure how to end the comic, but it finally hit me to do an Oda-like face scrunch, which I penciled into the thumbnail.

Thursday afternoon after class, I begin the longest phase: penciling.

While drawing, I hit upon another ending after the face scrunch idea, a frame dissection featuring the whole cast.

The ending felt end-y, but with space for interpretation, so I went with it, plus it allows everyone to say goodbye while capturing key expressions.

Here's the inked page. At this point it's around 2am, oddly early for me.

Drawing a weekly comic is bittersweet; you can't wait to get it done, but it's a little sad knowing it is done.

All that's left is clean up and coloring.

At 3:37am, I head off to scan the final page.

It was a big relief to be done, but again, a little depressing.

Well, I hope you enjoyed the run while it lasted.

And I hope to do even better next semester.

Reuxben