I have a brand new, much more functional online store to unveil today!

Alex Heberling Productions Store

Thanks to Zen Cart, I no longer have to deal with unwieldy PayPal buttons for each and every product I want to sell online!  Go check it out, there’s a ton of stuff (Garanos and otherwise) that’s on clearance, so you can get swag for super cheap!

This is a brand new venture for me, since I’ve never used this software before, so there might be some kinks to work out while we’re getting started!  Everything should run pretty smoothly, though. ^_^

There’s a new vote incentive up on TopWebComics for today!  It’s a close up panel from today’s page.

This week will wrap up Part 17 with page 468.  I will then be taking a 2-week break to edit and start drawing the final chapter, and then Garanos will resume on March 1st.

Hey guys!  It’s the post you’ve all been waiting for– the results of my 5th anniversary fanart contest!

I was so happy that so many of you submitted fanart for all my comics, and it was tough to choose the winners, but here they are!

First Place: Jenna

This beautiful costume/CG art really went above and beyond for the contest!  Jenna included an explanation with the artwork as well:

At about the time the contest was announced, I was in south India, watching Bharatanatium dance performances.  In this classical south Indian style, solo dancers do pantomimes of various Hindu stories.  Upon seeing one performance of the story of the goddess Durga, I immediately drew the connection between Garanos and Durga.

When a demon is ravaging everywhere and no one else can handle it, the other gods summon Durga and lend her their powers and weapons.  All of the statues I have seen of her look almost demonic.  As a demonic savior, she vanquishes the demon.  Garanos herself is almost a demonic savior, having been possessed by the Harbinger’s powers.  My model here, Danika, as a Bharatanatium dancer and is posing in one of Durga’s classic poses.

The clothing is styled after more traditional Indian dress, similar to what dance performers would use, though simpler in Garanos’s style.  I patterened and stitched the shirt myself by hand since I don’t have a sewing machine here.  The gloves are made of a pair of knee-high socks that I cut up and sitched together.  The pants are some that I wear everyday, though the color has been altered digitally.

To give credit to where credit is due:

Spider stock by Falln_Stock
Special thanks to my model Danika and Brian & Sonia for repeated use of their front yard

Second Place: Catherine

This rendition of Shepherd and Winter was just wonderful.  I loved the almost watercolor-y feel of the blues on the whites.

Third Place: Jorge

Jorge’s 3D rendering of Styx outside Maryoku’s house was very creative!

All Entries

Here are all the entries I recieved!  Thanks again to everyone who entered!

Fashions of Garanos, by AyaBlue

Garanos and Styx, by Cathinca

Winter and Shepherd, Darryl and Dana After Hours, and Geilen’s First Night, by Karin

Garanos, by Rebecca

Garanos and the Harbinger, by Russell

Garanos, by Sharon

Geilen, by Shira

Hey folks!  I’ve been rather quiet this week over here in the blog, so I thought I’d post.

There is still a week left to enter the fanart contest!  I’ve only gotten three entries so far, so I hope to get some last-minute ones in my inbox this week.

This coming weekend, I’ll be in the artist alley at Ohayocon, Ohio’s largest anime convention.  If you’re in the area, please come by and say hello!  I give free mini buttons to readers to come to my table. :D  Dave Lister, Dirk Tiede, Brian Foulke, and Studio Akumakaze are also going to be there, so if you’re fans of any of these comics, it’s a fabulous place to find us all at once. ^_^

I have a couple links for you guys.  First, I was on the newest episode of the Rampage Network Community Podcast, so go have a listen!

Webcomics I want to share:  Hero Academy and My Cardboard Life.  They need some more readers, so I want to share!  [EDIT: Link to HA is fixed now!  My bad.]

And don’t forget about the fanart contest!  I’ve recieved two pieces already.  Do you guys want to see them as I get them in, or wait until the deadline and see them all at once together?  I’m leaning toward the latter, but I’ll put them up now if you guys want me to. ^_^

So, as I said in the comment on today’s page, I came home today all pissed off about UPS, but then I sat down to read the comments on the new page, which cheered my up quite a bit.  I spent about 8 hours on this page, which for me is a LOT.  The last time I needed to spend 8 hours on a page was in September of 2008, when I was still using my old method of coloring pages.

This page was EXTREMELY complicated.  If you’ve ever watched me on my Livestream channel, you can kind of follow along and know that my Photoshop file setup is something like this, from top layer to bottom layer:

• Dialogue
• Panel Borders
• Environmental effects (the slight color shifts that are different for each scene.  Inside/outside, night/day, etc.)
• Special Effects (fire, for example)
• Highlights
• Shadows
• Flats
• True Colors
• Backgrounds

So imagine doing that same process for each and every piece of page 456.  I mulled it over for days before I actually started coloring it, and that honestly seemed to be the most painless, simple way.  *passes out from exhaustion*  This page was essentially 9 seperate pieces of art that occupy the same space.

To sum it up, I was very glad you all appreciated it, after all the work that went into it.

And now I’ll rant about UPS for a moment.  Or several.

The apartment I live in makes it very annoying to get deliveries from UPS and FedEx.  It’s got communal hallways, but a locked front and back door, and no intercom system.  Supposedly the UPS and FedEx people have keys to get in the front door, but it’s not always the case.  A lot of the time, I’m not home to receive deliveries whenever the trucks come by, so I invariably end up going online with my little flyer and have the packages held at the distribution center, and I drive out to pick them up myself.  I think in three years there have been five or less times that the delivery driver has both had the key to get in, and came at a time I was home to sign for the package.

Well, a week ago, I ordered more parts to make buttons.  I buy my button parts on eBay, from 68mr (an awesome seller, much cheaper than buying from Badge-A-Minit) and he ships them with UPS.  I missed the delivery the first time, but yesterday, when they were going to try a 2nd time, he never came.  Or so I thought.  Today, I got home from work to find a new InfoNotice with “FINAL ATTEMPT” marked, and a helpful circle drawn around the part that says “For more info, go to UPS.com…”

The guy didn’t even knock on my door yesterday, let alone leave a new notice.  That was what got me pissed off.  So then I had to drive out to the pickup center only to find out my package was still on the truck, and wouldn’t be back for a couple more hours.

I do have my button parts now, but DEAR FREAKING JESUS is UPS a hassle for me.  And I’m an incredibly patient person, after working so many retail and service jobs myself.  After my many hours of fuming today, I think I’m justified in passively hating that delivery guy.

Next time I think I’ll just ask 68mr if he can ship USPS.  They’ll just leave boxes at my door for me. ;_;

I wanted to point you guys towards the Comic Creator’s Alliance, a group charity drive organized by Laura Innes of The Dreamer, to raise awareness about human trafficking.  The CCA is taking donations which will benefit Love 146 and Gracehaven, a local Ohio safehouse for human trafficking victims.

For your donation, you will receive a wallpaper featuring female characters from over 80 comic creators’ work as a thank you gift.  Though I wasn’t able to contribute artwork, I’m absolutely throwing my support behind the CCA.  Please check out their website, and consider donating to the cause.