Der-shing Helmer

MI Stuff- Arrowhead

I hate this guy actually haHA...

Arrowheads are one of many classes of Martian dragon worms; predatory worms known for their aggressive hunting style. They are potentially one of the largest known animals in the Mare, but it's hard to say for certain since they are extremely flexible and their length variable. Not to mention that their "anchor" is often rooted inside of deep fissures and impossible to accurately measure. They are soft bodied and muscular.

For the most p...

MI Stuff- PSA

Just some relationship advice

TM Ch4: original thumbs (part 1/3)

Hello :] I felt bad about not updating TM as often, so let's delve into the Meek bible... here are the first 15 pages of the original thumbnails, made way back in the ancient year of 2007. I think about 80% of this chapter was entirely redone because of tone issues, logic issues, characterization issues (ETAN), etc. But some of it stuck around, including the scenery and plot markers. Anyways

I'll continue sharing the rest of the chapter when I'm able! The first 1/3 has been pretty much cov...

MI Stuff- Featherduster concept

Well, that was his actual name before he was christened Thighfungus, haha. He has another name but you'll have to wait for that.

I was going to write a little about the biology but... I don't want to spoil anything else!! cuz where's the fun in that*? But, this temperamental guy is sticking around for a while. And believe it or not, it serves a narrative purpose other than making people feel really uncomfortable about their own legs.

I was thinking of maybe doing a more ...

Streaming now

Streaming the next Meek page from now until about 2 hours from now!

Stream located here: https://picarto.tv/shingworks

PICK A COMIC

You can pick a choice here

That's right, I lied to the normal readers, you guys actually get to pick the variable bonus update for this week. I'll check the poll tonight after the Meek update goes up, and we'll go with that! (If you pick "meow" I am already angry at you, lol)

Also I'm streaming very soon, but I'll post that separately since ...

TM423 Preview/ heads up

All these strange new things!!

Heads up for tomorrow as well: gonna be doing an art stream sometime in the afternoon PST, and also decided to usurp my own plan and poll you guys on whether you'd like an extra MI or an extra TM update this week (originally was just going to do TM, but I feel like the MI contingent might want the update focused there instead). Given that both comics are going some weird and interesting places, there's really no bad option for any of us :]

Streamin' soon

Let's do an inaugural stream at 130pm PST (about an hour from now)... gonna flat and color the stupid Meek page that will be posted today. Feel free to stop by and watch the progress and maybe chat a bit as well :] Future streams will be more involved, I hope, but gonna keep it simple to start since I haven't done this in a while.

You can watch the stream here in a bit!

TM422 Preview

Wednesday's page!! Just a preview as I work on it, will hopefully be up at a reasonable time tomorrow~

I also posted the MI update for Wednesday already, in case you're into that: http://www.marecomic.com/comic/ch2-page-12/

August Patreon review: more comics, more rewards!

Hi guys!

Thanks so much to you wonderful August Patrons :D We've reached the $2250 milestone, which means a total of 10 updates this month! This includes our normal 2x updates, and then a bonus update each for both MI and TM. MI will have its bonus this week, and TM probably next week since... things, haha. I'm also lying a little; MI will actually update an inadvisable 3x this week, because I can. So there. Lots of comics.

Last month was what I'd optimistically call a "test...

MI212 WIP/Preview

A preview of tomorrow's MI update, it's a bit different than other pages I've done before... trying for a visualization of pain and anxiety.

I always base my idea of pain off of a near-death experience I had a few years ago. I got to experience an entire night where the pain was so bad that I sort of lost control of my body and don't really remember actively doing things, I just sort of ended up on the bathroom floor, or distantly watched myself clawing at my own skin trying to make a ligh...

August 2015 Patreon supported

Thank you so much for the support this month!

Patreon commissions! and other news

Hi guys! Just an update from me: if you ordered any sort of Patreon commission for the month of August (full-body, a legschilla date, or anything else!), you will be receiving that on or before the 31st, if you have not already. If you never replied to your reward email but...

MI Stuff- "Garbage Bag"

Taking a closer look at page 3 of this chapter... I made the first panel intentionally difficult to read (even deleted the lineart for tentacular aqua-pancake for the final), but there has been some weird shit happening in the background already. This is also why he went flying through the water on page 2, got caught in passage of this big flatty. Anyway, thought you guys would like a look at curious friend.

MI Stuff- Due Diligence 1/4

Some loose side comics, not relevant to the main plot or anything, just for fun. Also to answer that question everyone asks about Mike since "it's complicated" is a boring reply. Will probably be 8 pages total, will post more in a day or two.

Humans are hilarious~ [high-res]

Some SU fanart... idk man I just like these guys

I guess click on image for the larger size

TM Stuff- Etan and Tanome

Etan, like a lot of mixed-race persons, never felt truly comfortable or accepted amongst his peers. Resigned to feeling like a perpetual outsider, he decided to go to Caris as a theological student and missionary and fully immerse himself in a new surrounding. He was surprised to find that he was considered more of a curiosity by the locals than a threat (or, as he often felt in the Territories, an

awkward social burden). He eventually settled in the largest southernmost coastal city of Copaz...

MI207 Preview

The last panel was full of too many kittens so I had to censor it for now~

MI206 Preview

Bonus Mare page for the week B] Pencils this time, not inks... nowadays I pencil with a fat brush (usually 2-3x larger than my inking brush) to force myself to work on shapes/ movement and not detail overmuch.

This scene is kinda easy to draw but the actions took a while to settle on! Readers who noticed his leg was looking strange in previous pages were... right...

The 6th Milestone and beyond...

Hi guys!! Another "we did it gang" post :D yayyy! The next reward comic, my submission to Iron Circus's Sleep of Reason anthology, is now posted for all $5+ Patrons. You can get it right here!

What lies ahead now? Well... honestly I am expecting the total pledge amount to start trending downward for a bit as people start to receive their July rewards. Then probably go back up as I add new rewards and more folks g...

Sleep of Reason Comic

And here you go: our 2k milestone reward comic! The Untimely Death of Smokey II came out in the Iron Circus anthology Sleep of Reason in 2014. I was trying some new things, but the content is pretty much par for the course for the kind of weird stories I like to write :p

MI stuff- Braid

First off... I'm gonna start posting bonus story/ dev stuff for both comics here and there... If you don't like receiving email notifications for these, click on Edit Account, then click X where applicable to mute them~

Dr. Young-Jin Braid is a Korean-American programmer working on the LEVi project with Dr. Fisher. Despite being at Devotion for several years, Braid is the only character that doesn't show up in the comic at any point. She was transferred by the company they work both for, A...

TM417 Preview

Whew! Been dealing with some computer problems today (the dreaded Cintiq charging issue, which I thought I had lucked out of). So that means the colored page may be up a few hours late but... you guys get to read it :] Hopefully the colors will be up soon!

July Rewards

Hi guys!

Thank you so much for making the launch of this Patreon a success, I have been truly overwhelmed by it. I'm just writing to let you know that I have sent emails out for all $10+ Patrons, so I can deliver your rewards to you! For everyone who pledged $20 and higher, you also got a form to fill out, to expedite your commissions or service.

Everyone in the $10+ reward tier gets to be listed on both The Meek and Mare websites! So please fill that section of your fo...

July 2015 Patreon supported

Thank you so much for the support this month!

Milestone 6 and Snowball in Hell 2

Wow, another milestone reached :] $5+ Patrons can now find a PDF of the second issue of Snowball available for download here.

I can't believe it's only been about a week since launching! It's also nearly the end of the month. Donations are processed at the end of the month, so if you ordered a limited reward from me (any of the art or tutoring), I will be contacting you over the weekend so I can start on fulfilme...

Snowball in Hell II

The continued adventures of our stupid hero (?) and his stupid hostage~

TM416 Preview

A preview of the upcoming page!

Some technical notes:

You'll probably notice that the bg elements look fucking gross, haha. The reason is that I like to close off all my lines. That way I can select and fill them extremely fast when flatting. In anticipation of using my layers a certain way, I don't *need* to have clean/ non-overlapping lines, but I masked some of them off so you could actually read what is going on. The final layer arrangement after flatting will look like this:...

Fifth Milestone reached! (plus: secret tutorial)

We reached the 5th milestone over the weekend o__o This one was especially important to me because it completely covers my cost of living (rent, gas, food, health insurance, etc) for one month! It is such a relief to know that my life will be extended for 30 more days, haha.

I didn't originally have a reward for this goal planned, but because I am so grateful I am posting a secret tutorial for you guys! This one was done for the fine folks at 2015-07-27 07:45:07 +0000 UTC View Post

Thumbnailing tutorial

A tutorial on thumbnailing for comics, featuring our chinchilla friends as usual. This tutorial was client work meant to show off some of the many things you can do with Autodesk Sketchbook.