Chesca Hause

Making of "Mommy Forums"

I've been wanting to update this one for a while, but it was tricky because I really liked the original.  I actually still do, even after making the new version.  I'd say the original is a better "webcomic" because of it's simplicity, but I'm striving to make them read more like (un)animated cartoons these days, so I switched it up a bit for the remake.  

After breaking the speech bubble up, I realized it would benefit from having an extra panel so we can see her thinking...

Adjusting

 *Me phoning in for food*

Guy on phone: What's the name for the order?

Me: Fran.

5yo: No! Remember...? Your name’s Chesca now!

Furious 2yo: NO. Yaw names Mummy!

COMIC: Mommy Forums (Remastered)

Figured this classic could do with an update! :)

BONUS Panel

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Name Change!

OK guys, I'm making a big change!  From henceforth I shall be known as Chesca ("Chess-ka") instead of Fran.

It was my name when I was a kid and it always felt more "me", but then I grew up and thought Fran was what adults were supposed to be called.  I've now grown up enough to no longer care and I want to be Chesca again.

At the same time, I've been racking my brain trying to think up a name for my Mom Cat character and I just keep coming back to Fran.  It just fee...

Making of "Fly"

I'm afraid I didn't do a great job of capturing the progress shots on this one because I had to get the repeated frames down 1st before I could work on the action ones.  Probably more interesting though is to walk you through the main steps anyway,  

J had the idea for this one really clearly in his head, so he story-boarded it out for me.  I LOVED it, so I figured I'd just redraw it in my style.  As I did so, I ran into some issues with how they were sitting.  ...

COMIC: Fly

The shortest name for our longest ever comic!

Making of "Magic Word"

My 2yo randomly came out with this one the other day and I figured it could make a relatable (and hopefully quick!) comic.  

I knew the joke would really be in their expressions, so the biggest challenge was positioning them so you could see both faces.  I tried to make the 1st row all one panel, but the angle was a bit weird, so I broke it up into 2 panels.  

As the comic came together I became less confident about it's funniness, so I tried propping it up with a c...

COMIC: Magic Word

Another (almost) verbatim exchange with my littlest!

Making of "What Did He Do Now?!"

Another one that has been long in the making!  I had this idea back when my kids were in daycare.  My eldest is a bit of a troublemaker, so there'd often be an "Incident report" for me to sign at pickup.  My heart would always sink wondering what he'd gotten himself into now.  When it turned out that it was actually HIM that had been hurt, I'd always celebrate a little harder than I probably should have! (I always knew it wasn't serious or they wouldn't have waited till pi...

COMIC: What Did He Do Now?

Who else sees "School" on their phone and have their heart sink?

Making of "Dark Secrets"

J came up with this one while he was stuffing the incriminating bag of Baskin Robbins into the very bottom of the trashcan.  

I wasn't sure how to do the reveal in the last panel, so J drew a quick thumbnail for me.  I LOVED the angle, so I expanded on it.  It was a tricky one to get right!

I always have a lot of fun doing moody lighting effects.  I'll color the comic normally first and then place semi transparent layers over the top with the light and shadow c...

Making of "Overworked"

An animated GIF showing each step in the process.

This is a reoccurring issue when you have more than one kid, when one is good, the other becomes naughtier and then it flips.  Although TBH, today as I'm writing this, mine are both doing their best to drive me insane. 😬 

The language in this one has had some people raising eyebrows.  We're a bit of a sweary household, so I guess it doesn't phase us so much.  We try NOT to swear in front of our kids, but some...

COMIC: Dark Secrets

Sometimes things happen that can not be taken back...  😬

BONUS panel!

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COMIC: Overworked

Everyone needs a break!

BONUS Panel

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Recent Happenings

Apologies for being a bit quiet of late.  4yo managed to get himself kicked out of another preschool, so we've been scrambling to find him a new one.  Thankfully, it looks like it's all going to work out for the best, as the new one has a lot more activities to keep him busy and hopefully out of trouble!

Another big change going forward is officially crediting my husband, J Hause, AKA Ghosthause...

Making of "Baby Sister"

An animated GIF showing each step in the process.

The Apple screen recording has been updated and doesn't randomly stop recording without telling me, so I actually managed to video this one as well!  I'm going to edit the bits together and post a timelapse vid soon.

This one was a word for word conversation we actually had.  Not pictured is my husband pausing at the end and then reassuring 4yo that he was joking and we think he's very handsome too.  We'd never leave...

COMIC: Baby Sister

Another verbatim exchange, from our family to yours!  Our kid is a meme machine.

(DISCLAIMER: No kitten feelings were hurt in the making of this comic)

Making of "Doorbell"

An animated GIF showing each step in making this comic.

My husband came up with this idea a while ago.  Back then the baby cat was more of a baby, so it seemed out of character having him running about getting into mischief.  Since the redesign, he's really come into his own, so I thought it was time to pull the trigger on this one!

The comic came together surprisingly quickly -I actually managed to complete it in a day, which is pretty unusual!

I originally had th...

Doorbell

1st world cat problems.

Guess who spent longer on the bonus panel than the comic...  😅 

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Making of "Privacy"

An animated GIF showing each step in making this comic.

My 4yo told me he needed me in the stall with him, but was mortified at the idea of me seeing him sitting on the loo.  He insisted I turn away, got on with his "private" business and then let me know it was all clear to wipe his bum.  I couldn't help but chuckle at what "privacy" meant to him exactly! 

For the comic, it was visually easier to have her stay out of the room.  It was only after I sketched her...

COMIC: Privacy

Two Steps Forward, One Step Back...  😑 

BONUS Panel

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Making of "Cardboard Dreams (remastered)

An animated GIF showing each step in making this comic.

I've never been a big fan of remakes, but I realized that if I want to release a book with a consistent style, I'm going to need to remake some of the classics if I want them included.  Rather than doing a big clump of them later on, I decided to start peppering them in here and there between the new ones.

Compared to the "Copy Cats" remake, this one was hard to get going.  There was a lot "wrong" with the other one...

COMIC: Cardboard Dreams (remastered)

A remake of an oldie, but with a brand new BONUS panel!

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Making of "Prized Possessions"

An animated GIF showing each stage in the process.

The dialog in the first draft here was an actual conversation my husband and I had.  I tweaked it a little for readability.

The challenge in this one was getting everything to fit in the 1st panel.  I would have loved to get the guitar in as well, but I just couldn't make it work, so I put it in the bonus panel instead.  

COMIC: Prized Possessions

Sometimes my work is easy!  This is a verbatim conversation I had with my husband. 😆 

BONUS Panel

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Making of "Learning the Fundamentals"

An animated GIF showing each step in the process.

When my 2yo was a baby he used to watch a lot of Lord of the Rings with my husband.  At the time I joked that he'd learn the Middle Earth army names before colors.  For the comic, I wanted to use something a bit more recognizable, so I used Harry Potter houses instead.  

The original joke was just the baby identifying houses instead of colors, but it needed *something* else.  After kicking it around for a while,...

COMIC: Learning the Fundamentals

Got to teach them the basics!

BONUS Panel:

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Making of "Potty Training"

An animated GIF showing each stage in making this comic.

I read this fantastic tweet from @daddydoubts and immediately saw the comic in my head.  I messaged him to ask permission to use it and was thrilled that he said yes!

This was a pretty straight forward one, which I needed after the previous comic (and ...

COMIC: Potty Training

This is from a most excellent tweet by @daddydoubts  

Making of "Girls Night Out"

An animated GIF showing each stage in the process.

I have a hard time shifting gears when I'm out with adults and especially non-parent adults. 

My actual grievance for this was Puppy Dog Pals introducing a new (pointless! Boring!) puppy character -but as that show isn't terribly well known, I brainstormed with hubby about annoyances in more popular shows.  

Paw Patrol was an obvious target and we'd often talked about wanting a Boston Terrier character in ...