QlownTown online

QlownTown has arrived! The site is up and running, and the response has been overwhelming. I thought I'd feel somewhat ambivalent when it finally went live, since it took so long to get there. But the moment I was told that everything was ready and I could announce, I was thrilled! The whole day was spent excitedly sending out e-mails and Facebook announcements. One of my favorite e-mails of all those I received in response to the announcement was "Qongratulations". I've tried to avoid overusing Q as a replacement for C or K, so I was amused to see it appear where I wouldn't have thought to put it. I wrote back, "very qlever".

Now I want to write a QlownTown song, and maybe do a video for uTube. I already have the first two lines: "Everybody sing and dance/kick your partner in the pants." I mean this to be in the butt, not front, so don't start injuring other people in the name of QlownTown.

I'd like to animate it, but that'd be a lot of work--something which I try to avoid if possible. But dressing people up as clowns and taping them would be a lot, too. I may just draw stills to illustrate the tune. I predict a one-year turnaround...glaciers and I move slowly.

Someone commented that she likes the colorful look of the cartoons. I had actually noticed that they were brighter than most, and thought about trying to tone them down. You see, as I go along coloring them, I do whatever color seems appropriate for the item I'm filling in, rather than choosing an overall theme first. And drawing clowns, it seems only natural to do a red nose, orange hair, loud clothes. If it's a clown house, shouldn't the floors be purple, or the walls be pink? So it often winds up bright. But I decided it's nice to have that distinctive feature.

When it came to coloring the "Clown mobsters" cartoon, however, I realized it was still in black and white (I scan the ink drawings in grayscale, then switch to color mode), and decided that particular strip looked best in b&w--the whole noir look. Of course, the pies in the violin case might not obviously appear to be pies to some people, but I'll take that chance. And as time goes by, if I'm behind schedule, I may just leave a cartoon black and white...but coloring them is a lot of fun.

I guess in some ways I've never progressed beyond the little kid with crayons and a coloring book. If I am someday able to hire someone to color them for me, won't that be a cool job to get paid to do? There's probably a cartoon in that.

Speaking of cartoon ideas, if you have any suggestions, please post or email me. I'd love to do strips that apply to particular occupations, services, sports, etc. I can't pay, but you'll get to see your idea online if it's used. You could even buy it on a T shirt or whatever, and tell people it's a professionally-drawn custom cartoon that was done for you from your idea.