Website is running again!

Update: the server is now back up and running. The store is working, and I can process orders again. Yayy!

Seems my host's server went down tonight, and is undergoing maintenance. The site should be back up and running by either tonight (2/29) or tomorrow morning the latest. I am also locked out of the site, so I cannot answer questions about orders until the site comes back up.

Update: Seems their server is completely down, and the weekend is preventing the delivery of needed parts. The last update has a "hopeful" up time of Monday 10am CST

Thank You all for Supporting "grOw"

The first week since the release of issue 5, which marks the series finale of "H2grOw", has come to an end. I want to thank all of those who helped support "grOw"! It is your support that allows me to make works like this. It is a VERY time intensive undertaking, and without your purchases, there would be no way for me to sacrifice so much time.

I also want to thank all those who have helped me stop illegal distribution of "grOw" across Forums and chat rooms. I have stopped many illegal links. Just this week, I was happy to receive compensation from the Dakota County District Court in Minnesota on behalf of someone who tried to buy "grOw" with a stolen credit card — and was caught. The court ordered payment, and he now sits in jail.

I wasn't able to post this message until today. This week was hectic beyond belief. The first week of a new release is always busy, monitoring orders, helping those who forgot passwords, changed their emails, or resending download links to those people who's email servers don't seem to like the auto-generated e-mails that contain download instructions for their orders (ah, hemm... "Yahoo!"...*cough, cough*).

Speaking of late-arriving (or even never arriving) link emails, when you order, the email link is sent out automatically within a few seconds. How long it takes to get to your inbox depends on your email server. Some just don't like the link emails. Sometimes, it may wind up in your Spam folder. If you do not receive a link within 3-4 hours (for the really slow ones...ah,hem.... "Yahoo!" *cough, cough*), then, please send me an email and I will email you back your link. I know many people literally order, then load up their email program, and the link is there — that fast. Others take a few hours.

Another reason for the late response is that I was crushed with "real life" work deadlines this week. I knew this was coming, so I really pushed for issue 5 to be complete by last week. However, I had no idea it was going to be as bad as it was. Luckily, it has calmed down noticably (with a whole month's extension).

So What's Next?

1) I started scanning that old BE/GTS/PE/VE/Lactation/Sex comic I did yeaaarss ago (even before the well-known "Wishful Thinking" series at my BEA Gallery). I will soon post it at my FREE gallery. Mind you, it's old, rough, pencil-only but absolutely hormone-driven stuff.

2) The next release will be three grOw/stories! I am still reviewing which stories they will be. I have a few in mind, but I feel they require a little added writing. Some of the dialogue is just a little too quick.

3) I've been planning a 4-page FREE color comic. I have just recently finished the storyline and sketched out the thumbnail page layouts. Sometime during, or right after the new grOw/stOries, I will release this. A way of saying "thanks", and to give those who have not purchased a comic, and are curious about them, a free sneak peak at my work.

4) I've done some GTS collages at Giantess City. Check out these links: one and two.

5) And, I hope to do another FanTITy morph at my BEA Gallery.

grOw#2, issue 5, "Losing Control" — RELEASED!

YES, finally issue#5, "Losing Control" has been released! It was delayed a few days due to numerous proofreading fixes, as well as a last minute, crushing "real life" work schedule. You can click on the small cover preview above to see the larger size. I hope you enjoy the final chapter of "H2grOw" !

You can get it at: www.bustartist.com

Issue 5 is now complete. To Be Released Soon!

Yep, page 92 has been finished! Again, the preview is somewhat vague and not as descriptive as some of the previous previews — but, hell, it's the last page! :)

It is really a satisfying accomplishment. I checked my computer's "H2grOw" directory (a whopping 7.66 GB of information for this series alone) and found one of the first files for this project: a PDF that I made as a "reference manual" for all of the characters. This file was dated July 2006. Nineteen months later, the series is complete. Compared to the first grOw/cOmic ("Milk Farm"), the pace set here was overwhelmingly faster.

"Milk Farm" took 5 years, and was only 52 pages long. But then again, that was before my foray into BE (and other body modifications) comics was "tested". When I was only on page 10 or so of that comic, it was hard to say if I had the mental strength, conviction, and motivation to put so much work into an untested project. It had its ups and downs (there were periods of about 4-8 weeks at a time — and once there was a 6 month period — when absolutely nothing was worked on). But in the end, it was the supportive fans like you that helped make it possible. Without your support, these projects would be impossible for me to create. My guestimate for the amount of time this series took: anywhere from 500 to 750 hours (I meant to keep accurate track this time, but got caught up in the work, and not the red tape). I could never do that without financial support of those who have purchased my books so far. I simply could not "afford" the time. Thank you.

Technology definitely helped to increase productivity. A new Wacom pen tablet (an 11" x 6" Intuos3) really helped increase both speed and quality in April 2007. This was right before the start on issue#3. Issues 1 and 2 were hand drawn in pencil (as they ALL were); but, when it came to redrawing the lines after scanning the pencil, it was done with a mouse. While I have had 16 years of mouse drawing and photo-retouching experience to that point, the Wacom made a huge difference. As of issue #3, the pencil drawing stage was much less refined. Why? Because with a mouse, I had to trace the refined pencil drawing exactly. As good as I was, my "tight" mouse-drawing skills did not match my hand-and-pencil drawing skills. I needed the tighter lines in the pencil stage to keep me on track. With a Wacom pen tablet, I was able to cut out the refining pencil stage, and combine it into the "digital ink" stage due to the Wacom's capabilties.

But not just technology, but practice and technique refinement added speed and quality as the issues went on. I think back to my "method" in issue 1 and compare it to issue 5. Issue 5's production method has to be at least 50% faster, and more than twice the quality. I'm happy with that!

So, now it's on to the final stage: post-production. This usually lasts 1 to 4 days. It includes proofreading, correcting, PDF assembly, store configuration, and release. You can check either here, at my website store, at the BEA (Forum and my Gallery), the Process, or at Giantess City for the notification when Issue#5, "Losing Control" is released.

Thanks for joining me on this ride!

Page 91 complete. ONLY 1 MORE TO GO!

Yep, page 91 is finally complete. It was another intensive one, with shading, new backgrounds, and multiple characters. A busy 2 days at work didn't help things get done quicker, either. But, yes, there is just ONE more page after this one. Page 92 will take a little more time, since it also has a totally new background that I have to create. Then, it's going through the final processes before release (proofreading, making the PDF, setting up the store, etc). I'll make the announcement here at my blog, and at the BEA (Forum and my Gallery), as well as a few other Forums. Hang in there!