Epic FailThe TGT Podcast website just featured Epic Fail as one of their spotlights, so go and read what they have to say. They do a weekly webcomic podcast featuring interviews with some really top webcomic artists. It’s one of my favorate things to listen to while I’m working.
After much deliberation I decided to take the plunge and Henna my hair. I ordered 400g of Henna from a reliable seller on Ebay and ended up using 250g on my hair.
I mixed it up in a great big pudding bowl with orange and lemon juice until it was a mashed-potato consistency, then covered the bowl with cling film and left it to sit for around 16 hours. I added more orange juice to thin it, wrapped a sheet around my shoulders that I usually use for painting, and started glooping it on my hair.
I started at the back and tried to section it out as much as possible. It got tougher the more hair I added until it just became a muddy mess. I rubbed my fingers through it trying to massage the henna deep into the hair and glooped more on until it was thickly covered. Quite a lot of it splattered about and I ended up with henna on my face a neck which stained them orange for a while, but that soon disappeared. Unsure as to how evenly I had applied it I figured I’d done the best I could so I wrapped my head in cling film and proceeded to wait for four hours. I just drew and did computer stuff as per usual. I had to stuff the edges of the cling film with tissue paper to stop liquid-henna running out. It felt really warm and heavy on my head.
After four hours I ran a bath and soaked my hair in it. It helped get the majority of the muddy henna out and I showered the rest, washing my hair with teatree shampoo as I normally do but with extra conditioner. I figured all the henna was out when the water started to run clean. So I got out the bath, towel-dyed my hair, and ran off to my D&D game. I didn’t get a proper look at it til afterwards.
As you can see it is quite a difference from my dark-blonde hair! I’m pleased with the colour. I had worried it would look orange but it is definitely red! It seems really even all over and I don’t seem to have missed anything after all! I’ll be interested to see it in daylight and wonder how it will turn out in a few days time when it settles to its ‘true colour.’ Overall I’d say dying hair with henna is a piece of cake!
I found Henna For Hair a really useful resource.
Epic Fail just got a cameo over at The Apple of Discord. Martin seems to have found a mission that offers a reward this time! Go and see what they’re up to.
The Apple of Discord is a really fun comic that Amuletts would completely approve. It’s chaotic and unpredictable – you just never know what you’re going to get. It’s experimental and full of suprises. The recurring characters make The Apple of Discord enjoyable as a long-term read but there are plenty of random one-shots that make ‘dipping in’ rewarding.
And it seems it is their 1 year anniversary tomorrow, so Happy Birthday Apple!
The Thing is a web & mini comics convention that happens every year in the UK – and it’s on tomorrow, Saturday the 28th of March at 10am – 5pm in London.
You are going right? This will be my first ever comics convention and I’m really excited!
I know a few of the people attending from online but nothing beats meeting someone face-to-face. I haven’t got a booth – to be honest I wouldn’t know what to do with one – so I’ll be the person floating around with a sketchbook randomly molesting artists. To make myself recognisable to anyone specifically seeking me out I will be wearing fairy wings. Got that? Yes, it’s random and not related to Epic Fail in the least, but they are really easy to spot! So no excuses for not saying hello!
I’m going to set up twitter on my phone and send updates of what I’m doing throughout the day. I’m hoping to have lots of fun!
The webcomic WAR! is over. It ended last night when the remaining participants Life’s a Witch and Slightly Off Topic fell in battle leaving my nemesis Union of Heroes the sole survivor – and victor.
Epic Fail & Apple of Discord died together when Ant Guy turned out to be a suicide bomber. Who knew? Sadly this means I have no victory to celebrate and will not be making cartoons in my underwear. Disappointed parties – you know who to blame!
For me the contest was a push to get out there in the webcomic community. Prior to the contest I barely knew another webcomic artist. Now I have met a great deal and consider several to be good friends.
With Epic Fail being so new there was no way I would have started promoting it if not for the WAR! The rules contained a straightforward list of promotional activities. I’m proud of the fact that despite joining two weeks late Epil Fail was the WAR’s top promoter. I tryed everything… except advertising. I signed up for Project Wonderful but sadly never got any furthur. That’s something I intend to correct however, I have heard a lot of good things about it.
Things that really worked for me were:
Doing Fanart – FUN! You get to draw other peoples characters, and show them how much you appreciate them. They usually link back to your comic and might even reciprocate with some fanart for you. Most importantly you just made a friend for life!
Signature Banners – This means that every time you post to a forum there’s a link to your comic there. Loads of people click on it.
Twitter & other Social Networks – Just get out there and meet people – lots of people! They make it really easy to remind people your comic just updated and tell them any special news.
Many thanks to Frumph & Webcomic Planet for running the WAR! I know he put a great deal of time into it.
Henna is a plant whose leaves produce a red dye. It’s translucent and conbines with hairs natural tones. It’s supposed to be a very good conditioner, making hair strong and smooth. In addition to this it apparently soothes headaches and migraines (I’m a terrible migraine sufferer myself).
You can see from my picture what colour my hair is now. What would you call it – dark blonde? To be honest I’m not sure, it certainly used to be blonde but has gradually been getting darker. I’ve sort-of wanted red hair since reading The Song of the Lioness quartet by Tamora Pierce. The heroine – Alanna – was a huge role-model for me in my teens. My sister dyes her hair red and it looks really nice.
I have never, ever dyed my hair. I don’t like to fuss over my appearance and rarely wear make-up. If I started using henna would I be reapplying it all the time? How tedious is it to do? Is it worth it? Do you think it would suit me? I’d really appreciate hearing peoples experiences and opinions.
With one this or another – namely a migraine and internet troubles – the cameos for page 11 did not get done. These things happen sometime. I’m still working on it though, and so far it looks great! I won’t make the mistake of promising when it’ll be up though, because so far whenever I have fate has conspired against me. I’ll be twittering loudly and posting prominantly when it’s done so you won’t miss it.
Thanks to everyone who helped me in the webcomic WAR! by doing things to promote Epic Fail. As you know I joined the contest two weeks late and was therefore at a disadvantage. With your help, I not only made up that disadvantage but overtook everyone else in the game. At the end of the resource gathering phase I was sitting pretty at 4930 crystal points!
The comics have been embroiled in battle for about a week now. Here is a list of the fallen:
Bitter Tea Studios
Capes N Babes
Clan of The Cats
Diablito Del Ring
Doomed Media
The Glass urchin (whom I took down personally)
Oy
Phineus
Recombobulated
Unconscious Ink
You Me and Steve
I have avoided being a target… until now! Several sharks in the pool are collectively turning on me. But I’m not going down without a fight, and if I do I fully intend to take my enemies with me!
That said if I win the WAR! I promise to:
1) Post a picture of myself in a bra & panties (bribery is such an ugly word, I prefer ‘incentive’)
2) Create a celebratory animated video
3) Post a bonus page of Epic Fail related to the WAR!
In the meantime check out this interview with me over at the Soulless Machine. It has pictures and everything!
Today I recieved this brilliant, action-packed piece of fan art from Phil Shaw of Sacred Pie. It’s of Martin, Clodin and Amuletts versus a Cave Troll. I really appreciate the attention to detail here and especially the character nuances. It’s a wonderful mix of action and humour – I only hope I can do as well when I get to the big fight scenes! At least I know who to go to for advice.
Sacred Pie is an epic science fiction webcomic. It begins with a mysterious traveller stumbling through a portal into Sid, Roonas and Bob’s living room. Following a portentous demand involving the fate of the universe, he disintegrates on their carpet leaving a stain and several artifacts.
It’s the story of ordinary guys turned super-heroes with resemblances to Star Wars and The Last Starfighter. The art inproves as the story progresses with some experimentation along the way. There’s a lot going on which can be hard to keep track of sometimes, but if you are looking for variety and a comic that doesn’t take itself too seriously this is the perfect read.
I just got this fabulous piece of fanart from Sean Harrington of Spying with Lana. It’s of Martin, with his shirt off, looking extremely buff and attractive – as indeed he should! It’s nice for him to get the chance to show his muscles off as they are usually hidden by his armor.
Inked in black & white with red as an accent colour Spying with Lana is a titillating action webcomic with a hint of humour. It throws you right into the middle of the plot, with storys told on a case-by-case basis, generally involving sexy Lana getting naked along the way! The comics are grouped as a storyline per page so they are easy to read by scrolling down. So far they seem pretty stand-alone so this is easy to get into. You should definately check it out.