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Ed's script says Max should do a tail wagging dance while he's on the phone. The ONLY way I could interpret it was through an animated gif!

Enjoy!

Mel

Max - Octopus?!

In a comment left by Ed in the previous sketch post, Max was drawn as an octopus! I actually had forgotten until he mentioned it. Hah.

What's important is that I found it and I can share it with you all! I guess it did look too weird. Enjoy! :)

-Mel

Original Female Cast Designs

In the beginning, the idea was to make the characters look anime inspired but it didn't feel quite right to me. Getting direction from an editor or anyone you working with you can sometimes go against your gut instinct. But actually drawing out all the ideas help decide what looks best or doesn't look good at all.

What helped me, was drawing a round of ALL the characters, and going with the flow of the ones that looked best.

The therapist's design was the first and final desi...

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Thanks to everyone who wrote in and left their ideas, opinions, and suggestions, 

and even those who even thought it should be end for Squishy. :)

We really appreciate hearing from our Patrons!

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Share your thoughts! 

Let us know if Squishy should survive!

The road to failure is paved with success!

Greetings My Cagents!

Just an update. So far we've only heard from Nickelodeon's Animated Shorts Program with the following auto e-mail a few days after we submitted:

"Hello!

Thank you for submitting to Nickelodeon’s 2016 Animated Shorts Program! We appreciate you taking the time to tell us about yourself and your project.

We are currently reviewing all submissions and will be following up with you further once our submis...

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"Chopper and Hops" Update

Well, we got our first feedback on "Chopper and Hops". It's from the animation studio Frederator (currently of 'Adventure Time' fame, previously of everything from 'Dexter's Lab' to 'Fanboy and Chum-Chum'). The response was...less than we'd hoped for. :D  

"Hi Ed, and thanks for submitting "Chopper and Hops". 

Unfortunately, we're going to pass. 

Overall, this lacked a focus and a clear, character driven st...

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More tomorrow!

Chopper and Hops: SUBMITTED!!!!

Well, we did it! We submitted 'Chopper and Hops' to the Nickelodeon Shorts Program. 

You're probably saying to yourself,  "Well, that's that. Good for you", but wait...there's more...and it's probably the BIGGEST part of submitting. There's waiting! And the possible, and probable, rejection! 

Everyone always thinking that  I'm being negative when I say things like that, but I'm not. I'm being honest. You are more likely to b...

Chopper and Hops 3: Final Character Designs!

Hi all,

Above are the final character designs Melissa did for our 'Chopper and Hops' pitch. I placed my initial sketches underneath to show the contrast...and why I work with Melissa whenever possible! :D (NOTE: That is the same rabbit, Chopper, in the pic. Just in a different pose, and with a little color testing).

Mel has already finished the storyboards and is putting some finishing touches on them.  Sadly, doing them in time for tomorrow's deadline has me...

Chopper and Hops Part 2: Character sketches!

Hey kids, 

In my continued attempt to take you step by step through my and Mel's working on a project, I bring you part 2 of our submission for the Nickelodeon Shorts Program, the first character sketches and my and Mel's e-mails back and forth. The Images above are from those e-mails and referenced in the text below of said e-mails. 

This is the best part. I love Mel's ideas. I love this part, prior to the rejection, where the ideas flow. This is the...

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Chopper, Hops, and Bittercup: Our Next Project

While, yes, we still hope to do our ‘My Cage’ spin-off webcomic ‘Cute Force!’ (see https://www.patreon.com/posts/2895144 and https://www.patreon.com/posts/2982253), truth is the time constraints right now are too great for us to do it the way we want to right now.

So, we decided our 3rd project together ...

Sketches - Norm's design progression

Here are some classic sketches of Norm. Definitely one of the hardest characters to design. Our old editor wanted Norm to look kind of "anime/manga". Even thought the editor did his research, I still fought with him, hahaha, explaining that the Japanese make their comic strips no different than in America. Except for the horizontal/vertical orientation....and reading left to right....

anyway (that can be debatable...)

The editor wanted Norm to have spiky hair and I wanted Norm to...

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We made it to strip number 50!! Whoo hoo!! I know we've been quiet at times but we really enjoy being able to continue the series! Thanks to everyone who stuck with us, supported us, and even spread the word. You've all been the best and a great inspiration and motivation to keep going! Stay tuned for the extras, although they've been updated less frequently, they're piling up here on the side! Thank you all!

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Writing Roller-Coaster

Hi My Cagents!

It's Ed Power.  I haven't updated personally for awhile because I had several months of training for my day job, but I've been in my new position now for a while, and should have more time now.

One of the things I did recently was apply for Nickelodeon's  Writing Program with my wife (also a writer):

 https://nickanimationstudio.com/writing-program 2016-03-07 15:49:33 +0000 UTC View Post

Golden Squishy Award!

Today's Golden Squishy goes to Anthony Dean's website, http://www.anthonynotes.com/,  and the following posting: http://www.anthonynotes.com/2016/02/10/cage-back-webcomic/ 

Thanks Anthony! This Squish is for you!  

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