Gobo Gazette

Happy fourth birthday, Dante! I mentioned I was only going to do two Instagram posts this year and I couldn’t even follow through on that. I guess this will have to do (and yes, I’ll remember this when you ask for the keys). And to anyone wondering, I’m not a monster. We are going to have a very happy fourth birthday party… in just a few moments actually.

In addition to the two Instagram posts, I speculated about whether I was going to attempt Inktober this year. Well, I have decided I will be skipping the 2021 October event (yeah, I know if can be done all year round and not just in one month). I am battling to get the buffer back up and have been failing to increase the depth of files. There have been a couple moments since the beginning of this year were I felt I was going to miss an update. Thankfully, it hasn’t come to that but I am still rushing to have strips ready. There may come a time where I will have to skip an update. I still hope to post 51 comics this year. Things might just have to spill over into the next year.

Let’s leave it at that for now… I have a party to attend.

With 2020 being such a crazy year, I am surprised how quickly it became October and, with that, Inktober! It has been so crazy, I thought I would share my day one entry instead of the official logo. Wait a moment? Is this a Pokémon crossover? Yes, but with a very important disclaimer… and with a macron instead of an acute accent. While Pōk is shown here attempting to catch a Magikarp without a Poké Ball, the images I do for Inktober are mostly non-canonical. So if you were expecting the Gobos to be blazed by a Charizard, don’t hold your breath!

This will be the third Inktober for Gobo Gazette, my fourth in total. While Inktober has changed with time (you don’t have to do it just in October, check out the alternative guidelines) the basics are the same: a set of inked pieces of art, each based upon a keyword. Tired of getting only one Gobo fix each week? In October you get a bonus seven per week (roughly speaking)!

As mentioned, the image here is just a teaser – to see all of the art for Inktober 2020, you’ll need to go to the Gobo Gazette Instagram page. And if you want to see my Year One Inktober art, check out this album on my personal Facebook account. Following GG’s Instagram is just one way to get updates. The others being Facebook, Twitter and via RSS feed. Check those out if you are into social media… and please share!

Stay safe out there!

I want to wish my son, Dante, a happy third birthday! I think it is very interesting that, of all the methods to do so, the first way I am doing so is virtually. When I was growing up, you either got a phone call or a birthday card if someone wasn’t going to make it to your party. Now you get a text, email or post on social media. Maybe it’s just me, but I think the personal touch is lost in this digital age. It feels pretty… automated. Like this post. I am creating it the day before and scheduling it for upload today! But now that I think about it, it is kind of like handing an analog birthday card to the mail clerk. People still do that. Right?

But I digress. I am very happy that my boy has such a wonderful imagination and seems quite oblivious to the world outside our windows. I am not saying we don’t get him outside. We do. It’s just not so easy with a shelter in place order. Perhaps he gets it from his family. Everyone at home is riding this thing out quite well. I can only hope the same goes for you. I think the key is to make sure that you set time aside to imagine. To play. Living in a small apartment, you realize that you don’t need a large space to have fun. Just remember that staying at home might be tough but it is helping everyone out right now. So, if you are family or friend – or a regular viewer of Gobo Gazette – and you want to wish someone a happy third birthday (or whatever number that might be), do so virtually. Stay safe out there!