The Bleeker Blog

Pen Problems...

2009-06-25T15:14:00.002-04:00

I think my Wacom Intuos 3 Grip Pen has a finally packed it in. It was working fine last night but this morning the first switch is sticking. It just selects everything all the time. Maybe it's the humidity...? Has anyone else had this problem?

Time to order a new one...

Toronto Comic Arts Festival 2010 Announced!

2009-06-19T12:12:00.002-04:00

I just heard that the normally once every two year Toronto Comics Arts Festival will appear next year as well.
The Festival Director Christopher Butcher writes on the official blog...

"That’s right, the next Toronto Comic Arts Festival will be held Saturday May 8th and Sunday May 9th, 2010, at Toronto Reference Library. YOU HEARD IT HERE FIRST. And yes, we know that's Mother's Day… All of the cool moms read comics."

I had a fun time at this year's show so this is great news! For the full article go to torontocomics.com

Today's Comic

2009-06-14T01:18:00.002-04:00

Looks like there's a problem over at GoComics. Some comics aren't loading including today's Bleeker..so here she be...

Uggg

2009-06-11T12:28:00.003-04:00

This is what my head has felt like the last couple of days. Can't beat the fun of inking with a sinus infection.

Today's Bleeker

2009-06-10T15:09:00.002-04:00

For some reason today's comic didn't load on GoComics. It's on there now but if you missed it, here she be.
Dang computers!

Article in Die Zeit!

2009-06-05T17:06:00.002-04:00

There's a feature article on Bleeker in this week's Die Zeit newspaper!

For the last year, Bleeker has appeared in every issue of Germany's largest national weekly newspaper (2 million readers weekly) so it's fantastic that this is my first major paper interview.

Thanks to Catriona for the article!

Very cool!

Bleeker In Textbook

2009-05-26T11:52:00.003-04:00

After spending my years in university doodling in my textbooks, Bleeker is actually now officially in one!
Several Bleeker comics were included in the latest edition of Becoming A Critical Thinker A User Friendly Manual (Canadian Edition, Pearson Prentice Hall) by Sherry Diestler and Colleen Mahy. It's a blast to be in along side The Far Side, Calvin and Hobbes, Hagar The Horrible and others.
Many thanks to Colleen for including my comics in her book and Kathleen McGill for championing them in the first place. Best of luck with the book!

Bleeker Hits 25,000 Subscribers

2009-05-21T11:28:00.003-04:00

After almost 1000 comics, I'm really pleased to announce Bleeker now has 25,000 daily subscribers on GoComics. That's something I couldn't have imagined when I started online almost three years ago.

Thanks to everyone for reading...I feel like we're just getting started!

If you swing by GoComics you'll notice a great new design to the site. Congrats guys on the new look!

Snappy

2009-05-20T13:09:00.003-04:00

This guy/gal appeared on the side of the driveway today!

For those of you who don't know, this is a Snapping Turtle...and you can guess how they get their name. This one is about 14" or 36cm and they can get much bigger. I'm not sure if this one is about to lay eggs or not. If it does I'll try and get a few more pictures. Very cool to see!

Check out the Georgian Bay Biosphere website to learn more about this species at risk.

Another (sketch) Book Completed

2009-05-16T16:21:00.004-04:00

Here's the last page of another sketchbook. Nice to finish it with a page of doodles (...although a killer set of story notes and completed scripts would've been better.)

I like to use these 8 1/2 x 11 inch black hardcover sketchbooks because they don't fall apart on me like the coil ring ones do. They have about 160 pages and are sturdy enough to write on or balance your coffee mug/Guinness/iPod Touch...sometimes all three!

Above is the sketchbooks required to draw almost three years of Bleeker (The Hoover book was before the name change obviously) Whenever I'm stuck I'll pull out one of these books and scour through it for ideas. I flag unused ideas with Post-it notes or red ink. Sometimes it'll take a year or more for an idea to work it's way into a comic...sometimes never.
Okay, enough chatter, onto book number 4!

2009 Toronto Comic Arts Festival

2009-05-10T23:40:00.006-04:00

I had a great time roaming around the 2009 TCAF on Saturday. It's too bad this show only happens every other year. After I left I immediately started kicking myself for not picking up more stuff.

The Book Signing Area

It was great to see all of these cartoonists surrounded by their work. Two of the people I got to meet were Brendan Burford, who had the latest edition of his comic anthology Syncopated available and his wife Rina Piccolo who's responsible for the very funny daily comic Tina's Groove.

Looking forward to 2011 TCAF

2nd Place...I'll Take That

2009-04-21T12:28:00.004-04:00

I found out yesterday that my editorial cartoons have taken second place in the province wide newspaper competition...woohoo!

I totally missed the awards banquet though...bummer...

The Week In Last Panels

2009-03-27T13:57:00.002-04:00

Nibs I Have Known....

2009-03-26T12:17:00.003-04:00

I go through a lot of drawing nibs. I'm not sure if I press too hard or what but they tend to have a short life span with me. That is perhaps the reason I have a hard time tossing them in the garbage (...I have an ever growing jar of used and abused nibs. ) Sometimes I'll spread them out on the drawing table and wonder what to do with them...a nib sculpture?...an exciting "Original Bleeker Nib" raffle?...Christmas tree ornaments...?
...ok, back in the jar and back to work.

The Week in Last Panels...

2009-03-20T12:08:00.003-04:00

Ah...grandparents are special...

CCNA Better Newspaper Award

2009-03-17T11:09:00.002-04:00

Some cool news...I just found out that my editorial cartoons in The Parry Sound North Star, have taken third place in the CCNA awards. The Canadian Community Newspaper Association holds an awards gala every year to celebrate the best community news from across the country. My cartoons competed in the Best Local Cartoon, Under 10 000 Circulation category.
Congrats to the other winners!

The Week In Last Panels...and Twitter

2009-03-13T11:56:00.003-04:00

I thought I'd see what it was like to gang all of the last panels from the week together...almost makes sense...

Now follow news, ramblings and other junk on Twitter
Lots of exciting Bleeker stuff on the go...more to come!

The Life of a Gadget

2009-03-08T11:53:00.002-04:00

Thank You Photoshop!

2009-03-05T10:18:00.002-05:00

Funny how you can come up with an idea, plan it out, draw it...and still screw it up.
The above scene was supposed to be the result of Skip and Karl's attempt at arm wrestling...except I bandaged the wrong arm on Karl.
After a bit of surgery I was just about to load the comic when I realized that I hadn't moved the little "pain" star to the other side...and I had a spelling mistake...

Bleeker Passes 19,000 Subscribers

2009-03-04T00:05:00.003-05:00

I'm happy to announce that, as of today, over 19,000 daily subscribers get Bleeker through GoComics. Many thanks to all for reading!

Messy Sketching 1

2009-02-26T12:06:00.003-05:00

Here's a look at how messy my sketching can be sometimes. I must have tried at least four different background ideas for this panel. The blue pencil doesn't erase very well so sometimes when I start inking I'll pick the wrong line...and then the air is kinda blue.

This is one of those panels that you really look forward to inking...if you're into inking.

Two Years On GoComics.com !

2009-02-06T11:46:00.005-05:00

The first Bleeker on GoComics, Feb. 2007

It's hard to believe but it's true...Bleeker is celebrating two years on GoComics (!?)

789 comics later, Bleeker now has almost 17 000 daily subscribers.

Hopefully 2009 will be another exciting year for this comic strip and it will continue to grow. When I first launched it on the web in July of 2006, I said I would give it six months to see how it would do....

Back then, two years sounded like an eternity...now it seems really short.

Thanks to everyone for reading!

Bleeker Two years later...

The 2009 Toronto Comic Arts Festival

2009-01-23T11:33:00.002-05:00

TCAF 2009, May 9th & 10th, The Toronto Reference Library

The 2009 Toronto Comic Arts Festival website has just been posted. Check out the guest list and check back for events as they're added. Should be a blast!

Skip Bleecker

2009-01-17T21:54:00.004-05:00

About a week ago I got an email from someone named Skip Bleecker...what are the chances?

He asked me how I came up with the names for my characters. Well, after a few emails back and forth, we realized we were related through my maternal Grandfather's side...!? (I'll say it again...the web is a bizarre place)

Bleeker is my grandfather's middle name, except for some reason my Great Grandmother dropped the "c" from the name. (I found that out last week as well) The Bleecker's can be traced back to 1658 when Jan Jense Bleecker arrived in New Amsterdam (now New York) from Holland...quite an interesting family!

Skip Bleecker is an accomplished ceramic artist who lives and works in Michigan. He recieved his M.A. from Central Michigan University in 1987. He describes his work as...

"...Most of my work consists of wheel thrown, RAKU or High Fired porcelain, forms based on organic patterns of microscopic and macroscopic organisms.

Some are based on seed pods, teeth, pollen, sea animals, squash, and other forms, but as the development proceeds, they merge and take on new forms of possible and imaginary organisms."

Raku is an ancient form of Japanese pottery. Here are a couple samples of Skip's pieces...more can be seen at his website http://www.skipbleecker.com/

It was great getting to find another branch of the family...thanks Skip!

Bleeker Article

2009-01-08T11:22:00.002-05:00

My local paper, The Parry Sound North Star, did a nice little article on Bleeker being translated into German for Die Zeit.

Bleeker article page 1

Bleeker artcile page 2

Thanks to Jack Tynan for the shout out and Catriona McLaughlin for the kind words!