Unique Horn

It's been a while. I've made promises in the past about updating Behold The Cheese and updating this blog. I haven't kept them. The more I think about it though, the less I update, the more I surprise you. If you subscribe to this blog through RSS, it still gets to you when I update.

Behold The Cheese now has a brighter, livelier background color. I've also changed the main banner to say, "Cartoons and Comics by Arthur Hovinc". I think it sounds more like a modern Web site banner.

I've got a new cartoon up called Unique Horn. It's very stupid and I love it. I hope you do too.

As a treat for keeping all of you waiting so long for any kind of update from me, I've included some ridiculous sketches in this post.

This one has a Starfish excreting cheese and an apatosaurus, among other things.


This one is my attempt to draw pants and clothing properly. I got sidetracked.


I'm hoping I can keep updating this blog and draw more cartoons. As soon as I can figure out time management, we'll be rolling.

-Art

Inappropriate Nuts and Updates

After over a month without posting any cartoons, I've finally put up a new one called Inappropriate. It's sketchy, it's stupid, and it's everything you would expect from Behold The Cheese. It's even one of those sketches I posted Wednesday!

I've got a two-parter in the works, and it should be up soon enough.

My goal for Behold The Cheese is now to update every Friday. If I don't stick to that goal, please make sure you complain about it. While I love drawing and I love finishing a new cartoon, I don't start one unless I'm

1. inspired, or
2. nagged.

I'm planning on making this site a serious venture, and I need all the nagging I can get.

Smell ya later,
Art

Navigation Improvements

I just updated Behold The Cheese to have better navigation options. All cartoons (besides the first and latest ones) now have links to the first and latest cartoons. I've also added some arrows to the navigation links to make it a little clearer to where they lead. I was inspired by the FAQ section of VG Cats.
If you've got a smaller screen, you might also notice that breezing through my cartoons just got a lot easier. I made the links between cartoons point directly to the cartoon on the next page. That way, once the next page loads, you won't have to scroll down so much to reach those links. Give it a try!
 
Also, here's some evidence I have been working on cartoons. I don't think I'm going to make most of them into polished versions, but if you like what you see, I may reconsider!

I've drawn out a few more ideas that are ready to become cartoons, and you'll see those in their final versions.

-Art

HUGE UPDATE!

I spent a lot of time today giving the site a major overhaul. I think I made a Web site that's easy on the eyes, with a relaxed, hand-made feel to it. I wanted to make it look a little bit more like the sites of my favorite Web comics, and I think I succeeded. Let me know if you like (or don't like) the style changes!

The biggest change to the site is in the Archive Directory. In the past, I used that page as a jump to pages with long trails of cartoons. I reckoned that the "directory" should work a little harder for visitors to my site, and I cataloged every cartoon. Now, if you know what cartoon you're looking for, just visit the archive page, and you can find it with one click! I want to stress that I put this new page together for many hours straight today, and there may be errors. If you find a broken link, let me know, and I'll fix it up!

Finally, I have a new cartoon. (I used "finally" in two ways there.) I didn't reveal it in the last blog post because I needed to surprise you with something. You can find it at the New Cartoons page on the site. The URL is http://beholdthecheese.com/newcartoons.

Thanks for being so patient!
Art

New Style Update and Cartoon Progress

Hello out there!

If you haven't had a look in a while, visit http://beholdthecheese.com to see the work I've done to update the website's look. I'm pretty happy with it overall. I think each section is much more clearly separated from the others. I'm also happy that not everything on the site floats in white space. If you like the updated look, let me know!

Unfortunately, I may be the ONLY one who signed up for that creating comics class. No, it's not in my head. In fact, you can see the flier here. If you are interested in taking the class, you should definitely sign up. The bookshop who's hosting the class told me that they need at least 5 people to register. Now, if the class doesn't actually take place, I'm still going to produce new cartoons. I've been working on several new sketches already.

I think it's a little unfair I've been holding my so-called "sketches" for new cartoons hostage. I've decided to include snippets of them below. They're in ballpoint pen.




I've kept the punchlines out of these scans, but that gives you the opportunity to let your imagination run wild! I may also have a few other surprises with regards to cartoons, but I hope these sketches whet your appetite at least a little!

Stay tuned!

-Art

Update on Style

You can probably see that the design of the blog has changed. I thought this look was simpler and less gaudy. Even though the template for this blog is originally from Blogger (I'm not that great at Web design yet!), I edited some features to make its style consistent with the home page of Behold The Cheese.

If you visit said home page, you'll see I did touched up a few things. I thought, even though the site is consistent in its gray color scheme, people are supposed to come to the site to have a laugh or too. The gray was too dreary. I think the orange headers and aquamarine links make the site look more playful, and the feel of simplicity on the page remains. If you like the new look, let me know! I'll continue to to design the site so that it pleases the eyes and invites laughter.

-Art

Web Site Style and New Cartoons Prospects

Hello everyone!

Before I begin, I'd like to recommend Head First HTML with CSS & XTHML to anyone who wants to learn how to make basic Web pages. You can find it on Amazon here: http://bit.ly/2cHv5H. If you've followed my site and my blog, you've probably noticed how it's improved over the past couple of months. I have to give credit to the authors at Head First for the book's accessibility.

Today I finally dived into the CSS sections of the book, and with the knowledge from those chapters, I finally change the blue hyperlinks to a calm gray. I also made the headers on the page less enormous, added a new header for the dates on cartoons, and put in some line spacing for the (small amount of) text on the site. Any experienced Web programmer may scoff at how trivial these actions are, but that doesn't matter to me. I'm happy the site looks more professional even with such small changes. I'll continue to update the site's appearance as I read through the book.

Now, on to cartoons. The website is designed to host my cartoons, and yet I only have one cartoon posted (and drawn!) for the year 2009. Don't think that I'm giving up the trade, though. I registered for small class on creating comics that I think will help me create better flow. I made my first attempt at paneling with my March 6 cartoon, and I'd like to continue in that style. Rest assured, I have several ideas floating in my head about my next cartoons. Most of them are complete in the idea phase, and some are even drawn in pencil, but before I post any more cartoons to the site, I want to harbor a few more skills from this class. I'll try to update this blog with my drawings from the class every week.

Thanks for your patience,
Art

Woo! Standards!

Hello all,

I'm writing to say that Behold The Cheese is now 100% standards compliant. I spent a good amount of time last night learning about DOCTYPEs and namespaces, and why standards even matter on the Web. I'm proud to say that after a little bit of work today, the site is in tip-top shape. You should also find the font on the website a little bit more pleasing to the eye.

The next step for the site is to make it slightly prettier. While black and white serves the purpose I want for the site, I think I could learn a little bit about divs and CSS to make the site even easier on the eyes. You should see some progress on that in the beginning of May.

As for new cartoons, I have a few pencil versions already drawn. I'll ink them up very soon.

-Art

First Cartoon of the Year!

Hi all,

It took me long enough, but I've finally drawn up a cartoon for this year. It's posted at Behold The Cheese under "New Cartoons". As a treat for all of you who have waited patiently, I wanted to show you some of the creative process I go through via a series of pictures.

I started to draw myself having writer's block, but I thought that if I could take the time to do that, I could just as easily draw a new cartoon.

Then I had the idea to draw a comic strip. I've always admired comic strips, from Dilbert to Calvin and Hobbes to Farside, and I used to draw my own comic books when I was a kid. I tried again to practice the art of comics, and this is what I came up with. I needed some practice.

Then I came up with this one. I thought it had the vibe I was going for, but the execution wasn't right.

I tried again, but the girl looked like she had a mullet and the boy looked like he had a divot in the back of his head.

I then said, "Let me just draw a rough draft in pencil so that I don't have to keep doing this!" The girl came out a little too brawny for the purposes of the strip, but the ideas were all there.

I ended up with this one. I thought it came out great, except that I realized I don't know how to spell "SCHOOL". I hope you enjoy it too!

-Art

New Archive Section

Hello,

I've added a new section to the website. If you click on the "Archive" link anywhere on the main page, you can view all of my cartoons from 2007 and 2008.

My goal is to get a good number of cartoons in this year, or else the 2009 section of the archive might be a little empty! (So far, it's ENTIRELY empty!)

Harder to see from your end, but I've cleaned up a few things with the organization of the site. Even though my knowledge of CSS is limited, I think the site looks pretty good for the purpose it serves. The GoDaddy.com banner is gone, which was my biggest gripe.

I planned on getting the pictures of my new tools up a few weeks ago, but my camera had no battery at the time. Now that it does, I'll take some shots of my drafting table, my pens, and a new cartoon as it develops.

Now for that new cartoon... stay tuned.

-Art

Happy New Year from Behold The Cheese!

Hey Everyone!

Glad to bring in the new year with you! I'm not sure what we can expect from the economy this fiscal year, but I am hopeful for the Obama Administration. I hope you spent some time over the Holidays and New Year's Eve chewing the fat with friends and family.

The next couple of months might get hectic at times, but I know I will have more time to draw cartoons on a regular basis. If time permits, I'll give the website itself a well-needed makeover. Luckily, I've gotten compliments on the "clean" look of BeholdTheCheese.com. Really, just about anything looks clean when nothing's on it. The first thing that has to go is the GoDaddy.com banner that offsets my novice CSS skills. I will have to pay GoDaddy.com for hosting, but to me it's worth it. I vow to never have advertisements on BeholdTheCheese.com. The website has been and always will be funded from my pockets and the generous donations of others.

I plan to upload photos of the fabled brush pens and drafting table I mentioned last post. They do exist, and I'll be sure to give the evidence of that soon.

Looking forward to the new year!

-Art