41. Sleeping Beauty ( and End of the Arm Saga)

Happy Valentine's Day!

38. Sketch Day

I got lost in webcode yesterday so I'm making today a sketch day. But fear not! By my count we have 2-3 more strips of the "Daisy loses her arm" story. Then we're on to other storylines because I have about a gajillion of them.

Happy Thursday!

D.Z.

36. Chibi-Vision

And that's how Rico became a zombie.

Your art lesson for the day is about "chibi" characters. "Chibi" means "little" in Japanese and refers to the Japanese comic style of rendering your characters in small, cuter versions. Check out Harry Potter and his friends in chibi form!

(image by camlost)

See y'all next week!

D.Z.

35. Friendship

And welcome Demelza! She and Gatz have been besties since the 1990s when they met in online forums on AOL. (AOL is that service that everyone used to dial into the Internet back in the day.)

This last weekend, I read the very popular Scott Pilgrim graphic novels series. In the back of one of the volumes Bryan Lee O'Malley discusses all the steps he takes to draw one l'il comic. Likewise, Faith Erin Hicks over at Friends With Boys did a post on it recently, too. They both talk about how through trial and error they came to their current methods, but even with their present-day skill set, drawing comics takes work!

As you may have noticed, I'm using pencil now because I find it's easier to draw in details. Also, I think it's helping me learn how to draw my characters better. Today's strip took an hour and a half to sketch, draw and shade. Then I spent another 30 minutes or so cleaning it up in Photoshop. Before I even draw a strip, I try to have a dummy script written out. Then I think about how I'd like it portrayed a lot.

See you all Thursday!

D.Z.

34. Character Talk

It's a sketch day here at Daisy and Gatz because I'm still trying to nail down the design of our new character. If you've been reading since the beginning, she made a brief appearance HERE. I haven't drawn her in awhile, and the way she appears in my head isn't translating completely to paper. I have four pages of Demelza's face decorating my table just as of this morning. The above sketch is the closest I've gotten.

If you've read the cast list, then you might not be surprised to learn our be-coated character of Tuesday is Demelza, Gatz's BFF. He called her to hold his hand through this operation, and like any friend, she's come. Demelza's always been a character I planned to have in the strip, and I had planned for her to first appear here. What I didn't expect was for Tiffanie, our mad scientist, to also show up—she was a spur of the moment creation.

Anyway, like any long-term vampiric relationship, Demelza and Gatz's friendship is complicated. I plan to have a grand old time with them once Demelza cooperates and allows herself to be drawn.

But bonus! I've been sketching our characters, and because we haven't seen Daisy in awhile, I thought I'd let her have a moment.

See you next week!

D.Z.

P.S. Hi to all the Figgies from Figment who stopped by to read Daisy and Gatz. You kids are great!

32. Operation

31. Through the Ages

Welcome everyone! To 2012 and a new year of Daisy and Gatz. I hadn't done any drawings related to this strip until this weekend, and guess what I learned? I missed drawing these characters and stories. So I am glad to be back.

When I first started this strip, my main goal was to maintain an update schedule. Toward the end of 2011, I started getting really frazzled by it; I was basically writing and drawing each strip the day it had to be posted. I would like to have a cushion—strips are made at least a week or two before they're supposed to be posted. I think this means I'll produce better writing and art, and I believe it will be a win-win situation for you and me both.

So what does this mean? I am still aiming to update Tuesday and Thursday. If I can't, I'll try to post sketches or other fun things to show you all that I am working on Daisy and Gatz. 


(Are you new to the story? Start at the beginning!)


Thanks for checking back! Let's have a great 2012!

Cheers,

D.Z.

30. Mad Scientific Pedigree

For this strip, I did some research on mad scientists on Wikipedia and Cracked.com.

Happy Holidays everyone! Thank you so much for reading my little comic. Hope to see you sticking around for the new year!

Cheers,

D.Z.

29. Dr. Who

Ooo! Here's a mysterious character using Google Voice. How tech of them!

As I mentioned in the last post, updates will probably be erratic during the holidays. So look to your RSS feeds by adding this strip to it or to the Daisy and Gatz Tumblr to stay in the loop.

Cheers!

D.Z.

28. Paperwork

Gatz doesn't know when Daisy was born, and in all honestly, he probably couldn't pinpoint the day she died. Neither could Daisy, I assume, as she was in the midst of being bitten by zombies.

As the holidays approach and crash down upon us, expect the update schedule to be a little spotty. I'll try to keep up a T/Th postage as best I can!

Thank you for your patience and happy reading!

D.Z.

27. Aftermath

I'm a little late tonight because I tried to get to my Christmas shopping extra early. Can you believe its almost the holidays?

See you next week!

D.Z.

25. Sketchiness

Based on her year of zombification, I've always assumed that Daisy was some kind of Southern belle. She and Gatz met in Atlanta so I don't think I'm taking a wild leap with that guess. Please enjoy your sketches! It's been a week full of finals for me, but I'll be back next week with a storyline that I've wanted to do for awhile.

Happy weekend!

D.Z.

24. Mi casa es su casa, no?

Last Thursday was Turkey Day here in the United States. I was in too deep a food coma to notice that I missed my update, but thanks for checking back today!

D.Z.

23. Favorite Things: Gatz

I didn't know Middle German, which is where I imagine Gatz is from, so I went with Middle English instead.

Happy Tuesday!

D.Z.

22. Favorite Things: Daisy

When I asked my grandfather what the difference between perfume and cologne was, he said, "Well, cologne starts with a 'c.' "

That's just your wisdom for the day. Here's your previews:

• What does Gatz treasure?
• I believe I will mention the "kids" again.

Happy weekend!

D.Z.

21. Celebrity Commentators

Thanks for reading and see you all Thursday!

D.Z.

20. Traditional Values

Apologies for the lateness! Work went long. Winter decided to give me a cold, and other totally rational excuses go here. But I think the strip more than makes up for it because it has important implications!

First, we learn that Daisy and Gatz have . . . an origin story of which I have most of the juicy details.

Second, there are kids? To be perfectly clear, none of them can be attributed to Daisy.

Third, I can't use the possessive form of nouns! There is a spelling mistake in today's strip, and for those of you who catch it, you get the comforting feeling of superiority that goes with it.

On another note, readers who are obligated to read this strip (my family) seem to not watch or read as many vampire-related things as I do. So I hope the following chart helps. To those obligated readers: This is pretty much the vampire canon that serves as the foundation of this strip.





(Draw by Ben Douglas)

No previews for next week because I need to do some writing!

Happy weekend!

D.Z.

19. Reality Vs . . . .

This one's rather sketchy because I had to finish it ASAP, but it gets everything across that I wanted. Or at least, I hope it does.

The apple in the cover is definitely an homage to Twilight. Because of the book' success, almost all covers in the YA section are now ripoffs of it, and publishers are even using it to market other types of literature, like Wuthering Heights. It's pretty funny. See?

But no matter how much Gatz may or may not have cared, he'll never be able to leave behind he vampire and zombie tropes as he embarks on his literary career. I don't know if Daisy would've wanted to be on the cover, anyway. But the publishers most certainly would not have allowed it.

Ah! Realistic truths! C'est la vie.

See y'all on Thursday!

D.Z.

18. Happy Halloween

In hindsight, I probably should have posted this on Tuesday, but I didn't watch It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown! then, anyway. I remember watching that every Halloween when I went trick-or-treating. Now that's also making me think of some of my favorite Halloween-themed episodes in recent years. The TV show Community has three really great ones! What other show out there can make ABBA songs relevant to a zombie outbreak?








My other favorite Halloween/film noir episode in recent years belongs to the late and lamented Pushing Daisies. Olive Snook is the best! (Jump to Youtube here to watch a funny clip.)

Your preview for next week:

• I'm not sure on which day, but you'll be getting a peak at the official cover of Eternal Love.

Happy weekend!

D.Z.

P.S. Don't forget about our new tumblog!

17. Flashback: House Hunting

Yay! It's my first page-length strip. This was a hard one to design because I wanted the layout to be visually interesting. Hopefully, you're not too lost by the order of events.

As you can see, Gatz isn't above using his and Daisy's supernaturality to their advantage. That's why he's brought out the fangs, albeit in a friendly way. At this point, I'm not sure if Daisy's aware that's he's doing it, or at least, she might not be noticing right now. She's pretty excited to be house hunting, considering the lairs they've kept in the past. But I get ahead of myself—that's for another day and another strip.

Happy Tuesday!

D.Z.

Oh yes! We now have a tumblr in case that's easier for you to follow. Some of you may notice the "in which-ness" of the posts, which I am borrowing from Patricia C. Wrede's excellent Enchanted Forest Chronicles quartet. Princess Cimorene is the best! Thanks for reading!