Okay so maybe a longer pause than usual...

The computer problem I had earlier was more or less rectified within a few days of the issue.
Long story short, I had to buy a completely new machine. Lucky for me all of my old data
was successfully transferred, so it's almost as though nothing ever happened.

The reason why I have not updated this blog in so long is because my BFA thesis show is coming up soon. Actually, it's tomorrow. Needless to say I've been very busy planning, arranging, managing...anything you can think of I've probably done it or given it thought.

There will be pictures of this show posted soon, so stay tuned!

My last semester is finally dwindling down to the point where I can see the end of the line.
I got my cap and gown, I took my last quiz, and I'm rather low on cash.
Then again, that's what summer jobs are for right?

Only this won't be a summer job, it'll be a bonafide full timer.
With luck I'll get on my feet en0ugh to create a website within a year or two.
If that doesn't end up happening then you can rest assured that I am working
on Suicide, my first graphic novel. In the very least I'll have updates on that.

My apologies for not updating sooner. It's been chaotic.
Sooner than later I'll dump a bunch of comics here.

I've been doing work for my school newspaper, but I found that I had to practice
limiting my comics to four frames. It's quite a challenge to make an engaging comic with that format. I found that I either ended up with one-liner punch lines or nonsequitor gags.
This of course is okay, because that roughly describes the comedic flow of practically every four panel comic ever made. The problem is making them actually funny.

It took a lot of comics until I made one I liked...and it turned out I didn't like that one too much either after a while. Like I said, I'll eventually post these comics (good and bad) on here.

Time for class!

...

Justin Hubbell

A brief pause.

I've been updating relatively frequently, I've noticed. I expect within a year to have my own website. This blogspot will become obsolete. But for now it's doing its duty quite well.

That said the lull in updates is sadly going to continue. Though I have recently been churning out a fun bunch of four panel comics, my computer (just today!) up and broke on me.

I can of course use the school's computer labs for scanning and photoshop, but there is some kind of block against uploading media. I'm sure this is to protect the school's reputation against nefarious amateur porn directors. Something like that.

I've never been able to upload comics from a school computer.

I'll keep you posted.

Good vibes in regards to the computer are always welcome.

So sayeth Justin Hubbell

So...

I was thinking about time travel, and I thought (much like my father) how neat it would be to travel back and vacation in prehistoric ground. My dad chose the Cretaceous, but I'm all about the Paleozoic Era.

Then it occurred to me that I'd be sharing my space with some of the largest arthropods that ever lived. Considering I practically have a stroke every time I'm within ten yards of a fiddler crab, something tells me I wouldn't be able to handle the local wildlife.

I have a special love for Eurypterids, but I'm pretty sure this comic perfectly illustrates my reaction to actually seeing one.

Justin Hubbell.

INTERIORS FOR SALE

Here's how it goes. You mail me a check, I mail you an interior!
Yes! An interior of your choice, custom made and lovingly flourished!

Wash + Dryer included! Heat and Electric included! Wireless internet! My signature!

To order your interior email me at: hubbel99@newpaltz.edu

An interior is something that can bring happiness to your life. Take the reaction
of this fine fellow as proof!

Contrary to what may seem like photographic evidence, neither of us were drunk in these scenes. What you are seeing is pure INTERIOR ELATION™

Backgrounds and bios

I've been wanting to give my blog a little makeover, so I looked into getting custom backgrounds. I have since discovered that there are oodles of free backgrounds to be had online specifically designed for blogs. I have also learned that most of them are for girls.

I wanted something sleek and dark, but all I found were these amazingly intricate patterns, all of them bright with floral fruity motifs. Pink Victorian wallpaper with stitched trim and strawberry stickers...cute happy go luck ghosts swirling over multicolored tracing lines...

It was all so damned sappy. But in looking into all this I realized that the coding used is actually quite simple. And so I shall endeavor to create my own background. We'll see how that goes. But I was also able to edit out some things that annoyed me. The top dashboard is, for example, no longer that awful blue strip that screams "THIS IS BLOGSPOT."

I digress.

While taking Senior Art Seminar with Venetia Dale, one of the exercises was to write an artist bio, which I have just now supplemented over the "about me" section. I wrote one, and three other comic ones. Here they are:


Justin Hubbell is most well known as the premiere graphic novelist of his time. After his work on Suicide, Manhood, and Race, he left America with his wife to pursue independent work in the Bahia, Brazil. Justin Hubbell is a native of Rochester and thinks that the city "is not so bad."

Justin Hubbell has attended school for the past seventeen years. Though he is known for his work with comics, the artist states that "I really haven't lived much yet," and is looking forward to life outside of college. He aims to publish his graphic novels.

Justin Hubbell was born on cold December afternoon. His mother has remarked that he didn't put up much of a fight. This makes sense considering that Justin Hubbell has a hard time bench pressing anything over 30 lbs.

Justin Hubbell is known for his mastery of the Unreal Tournament gladitorial circuit. Now retired, he currently spends time training disenfranchised youth how to properly operate forklifts. He may in fact, be a moth.

An interior from the heart!

For my beloved Alex.

•••

Interesting discovery. I wrote a post on how I was invisible on Google. No more! I looked up Justin Hubbell, and found myself at the top of the list...complaining about how I was invisible on Google.

I suppose it would be a good practice to somehow insert my full name into each post.
How does one do that with panache?

I have no Justin Hubbell clue...

Ah the politics of pens...

Since winter break I have fallen desperately in love with my fountain pen.

I would like to get some new nibs but I shall always remain faithful to the original.

The problem with fountain pens, however, is the line quality you get when scanning them. This was most evident to me in the latest comic.

If you look (and you don't even have to look carefully), the line edge has this sort of fuzziness to it. This is because nib of the fountain pen presses into the paper instead of rolling on top of it. The edges left on the embossing get picked up by scanners, and as a result the line quality is not quite as crisp as when I was just using Microns.

Just look at the comparison.

Fountain Pen Scan

vs

Micron Pen Scan

Oh well? What's a guy to do?

Reading over some of my favorite graphic novelists I'm always shocked at the lack of detail in the drawings. Comforted too.