Sorry folks, I’ve got quite a bit going on the next couple of weeks so I’m going to have to announce a hiatus on Hands Up. By that I mean I think it’ll take me another fortnight or so to release another page. I do have #11 laid out, I just need time to clean up/render, time which I really don’t have at the moment.

Don’t fret, I love writing Hands Up like a lot of you seem to love reading it – judging by the positive feedback so far. I do have at least one and a half more characters to introduce who I think kick ass in their own quirky way and I’m really looking forward to getting to those skits. I have about 9 more skits written which I’m happy to move forward with (and about 10 rejected skits – I’m very finicky when it comes to producing quality writing. I don’t believe in fracking around by publishing half assed skits). Shooting for a total of 20-25 pages for this “first season” or whatever you’d call it. Consider this a (sort of) mid-season hiatus? Like how Dr Who is on an oh-so-hatable hiatus. I know, I hate hiatuses. This makes me hypocrite and so be it.

For now the shoes have spoken and they say if I don’t get back to what I should be doing, I can’t buy them. Which means terrible doom. My feet will have to settle for what I already own, which would be blaspheme.

Till a fortnight (or so) Adieu!

Yay double digits worth of pages!! *Sigh* how do other webcomickers keep this up?

Anyhow, this was one of those pages I really pushed myself… which is probably why it took an extra week (in between finishing off some freelance work.) Someone remind me not to do another scene on a rooftop ever again if I can help it.

I haven’t solved my computer issues yet. It’s slow but it’s coping somewhat for now. I am planning to get my laptop serviced some time next week but I have to figure out if I can work around some new exciting freelance work starting next week. (Otherwise I’m gonna have to cross my fingers my laptop behaves for the next few weeks!) So regrettably, the outlook for a release of Hands Up next week is not looking 100% – so apologies in advance if I don’t release but will shoot for another page within a fortnight.

So I first learned this fact about the Sun a year ago. Yes, I lived in a reality where the Sun was made of burning gas up until I was 23-24 or so. Until I heard this song: Why does the Sun Really Shine by They Might Be Giants – on a wonderful podcast “It Might Be Science” by WNYC Radiolab. I like plugging Radiolab. Makes me feel smarter.

I always get paranoid I’ll get facts wrong with something I publish. But anyway, who knows. In 10 or so years they’ll probably say the sun isn’t only made of plasma but a large percentage of dark matter too or something. Oh well.

My computer has been really slow as of late. That’s my excuse. Which is why HU10 will be delayed… hopefully latest tomorrow night. Admittedly I should have started this page earlier. But I seriously thought I’d have enough time today. I can’t believe it takes me 5 minutes to open a new document!!!!!!

AND It took 10 minutes for me to tweet this news on twitter!!!

Anyway… RAHRAHRAH who cares.

Preview for the next strip. Least I could do I guess. Sorry guys.

Arghhhh!! It’s literally going to be 11:59 when I post this!

Thanks to my friends Andre and Albert who teach our group of friends sign language. It’s been fun learning so far and it’s really an nifty skill. Communicating to each other in middle of a loud dance party, from across the room, under water whilst scuba diving… etc.

And yes, this was indeed one of the first things I asked how to sign.

Why all the colours? Because I CAN! 8-D

No seriously I usually do my sketches in different colours so I can draw over them in a darker colour or black. Like I do in real life! Hurrah coloured leads for mechanical pencils!

*sigh* I know, it’s late. Sorry. It’s the cold. The cold I tells ya! I don’t function well in winter… I go into hibernation mode and I can literally sleep all day! True story.

Anyhow, if you haven’t read the article already, this probably totally didn’t make any sense. So here is the article:

7 Basic Things You Won’t Believe You’re Doing Wrong

And if you’re too lazy to read the whole damned thing, the basic gist is that; a> You’re not supposed to brush your teeth right after you eat – some of the acids in our foods help break down the harmful stuff on our teeth and gums, b> You’re not supposed to sit down when you’re doing your 2′s – the best position is to actually squat like they do in some Asian countries, c> It’s normal to wake up in the middle of the night. Don’t fight it, just relax, meditate or do other “recreational” things… then fall asleep naturally; and d> Taking daily showers is bad for your skin.

Last but not least, I may shift the day of Hands Up release to Sunday. This is because if I find myself working full time and not from home, I don’t usually have time to work on it during the week. So extreme case scenario, I’ll pull an all-nighter Friday or Saturday night. (Aren’t I so dedicated? Aww, don’t be too concerned, all-nighters are very normal for me.)

Time of day release will vary but I will aim for Sunday. If you’d like to know for sure, keep an eye on my twitter (@arutea). If there’s no word, it’s likely I’ll be late with my release.

PHEW! That was a lot of blah this week.

– Or rather this one in particular is a work in progress for a more detailed portrait of a basset hound. Yes, reference is being used – I’m making use of the dog photos book mum gave me for my birthday.

You know how you work on something which you thought was hilarious at first but you work on it for so long, it’s not funny anymore? That seems to happen with each of these pages but so far I’ve been getting pretty good feedback. So thanks to all my readers who motivate me to do this every week… it’s actually a strong motivator not to disappoint people by skipping a release.

Even if I’m late by 19.5 hours. *sheepish grin*

Well, I tried to get it done tonight but I think my brain and right wrist is just demanding me to go to bed. Won’t be a long delay, might be published Friday afternoon, latest Saturday I think! If I am allowed excuses, I blame my recent holiday in Melbourne which has made my week a little shorter.

Here’s a preview… this is my process so it’s extra special. This is at rough sketch stage, I’ve laid out all the text and speech bubbles.

By the time this is on air, I’ll be flying in the air somewhere above Sydney.

Will be back Tuesday, crossing fingers I’ll have time to do next week’s page! Eep!