I’m very excited to announce that work has begun on volume 2 of Entrepreneurz. That’s right! Clement and I are going to be working hard this year to bring you a whole new set of hilarious comics for your reading pleasure. So here’s a ‘making of’, written with our tongues lodged firmly in our cheeks.

Being the clever (not to mention good looking) Sunday inker that you are, you’ll have noticed that while Entrepreneurz is in French, today’s comic is in English. You may find it interesting to ponder, but a literal translation of the text in the comic might not convey the intended irony in French. It has created a bit of a problem for us! So if you keep an eye on the Entrepreneurz facebook page, you’ll soon see a French version of the comic that may or may not tell the same tale of tortured genius and passionate desk-stabbing. Bonus points for bilingual Sunday inkers!

And while we’re at it, a reminder for friends around the world that Entrepreneurz Volume 1 is on sale now, and all international orders placed through the facebook page will be autographed for free!

More news as it comes to hand. Pip pip!

Art Giraffe and Marcel Duchamp (that modernist mole) are enjoying a day in Red Square, Moscow. Fun times! And special thanks to Sunday inker Dieter, who suggested the location.

I hope everyone has a splendid 2012, full of adventures and cups of tea! Thanks for supporting Sunday ink, and let me tell you, there will some pretty exciting projects to share with you this year. I predict a 98% chance of good clean fun, with a 3% prospect of excessive pantaloons. That’s right- Sunday ink offers you mild amusement and dodgy mathematics, 42% guaranteed!

Pip pip!

It’s zombie poem day! Rar, brains. Actually, this little piece is the result of a zombie-themed poetry contest hosted by the talented Faith Erin Hicks. Her wonderful comic, Friends With Boys, is currently updating daily before its print release in early 2012. Check it out!

After composing my poem I decided it really needed some Sunday inky art to go with it. What fun! By the way, do you recognise the zombie chef? I was kind of going for Iron Chef French, Hiroyuki Sakai. Hmmm. Well, no mustache, but at least he’s holding a pear!

Pip pip and happy new year!

Update: Thanks to Faith for making me a winner! And congratulations to the other lovely poets, too! You can check out the post and their entries here!

Well, our old friend Art Giraffe is certainly enjoying his European tour! I wonder where else his travels will take him?

Pip pip!

It’s our old friend Art Giraffe! You may also notice his new meerkat pal. She is based on my constantly inspiring and energetic art buddy, Jennifer. Hi Jen!

After the work I did on The Mysterious Owl these past couple of weeks, I wanted to see if I could bring that level of subtlety to my paintings of Art. I think the tones are a little richer than the earlier pictures, while hopefully maintaining that original simplicity.

And a question for my lovely Sunday inkers! If you were a cartoon animal, what animal would you be?

The Mysterious Owl returns!

Here’s a little adventure that has been simmering in my mind this week- it’s the mysterious owl!

By the way, the fairy tree is a real thing! It lives in my beautiful city of Melbourne. Here’s some more information!

http://www.onlymelbourne.com.au/melbourne_details.php?id=10173

Pip pip!

Here’s a test shot for a new comic I’m working on with my friend Brendan. It was partly to try out an inking technique I’d seen in other comics, and partly to see if I could actually draw snow in a somewhat realistic manner. I think we’ll be ok!

For this picture I used references from Yoji Yamada’s The Hidden Blade. It’s a beautiful film, and definitely worth your time. The film is part of Yamada’s Twilight Samurai trilogy- a series of samurai movies that aren’t really samurai movies.

People often ask me, ‘Where do you get your ideas?’ And I say ‘Arrgh, get away from me! What are you doing in my suitcase?’

But it’s all quite simple, really. As everyone knows, ideas come from eggs. Not chicken eggs, of course, but eggs from that rarest of creatures- the marmafloss. Any schoolboy will tell you that marmaflosses are completely invisible, except in the dark. That’s why I keep mine in a shoebox under my bed. Also, I recently bought a new pair of shoes, so I had the box already. Which is not to give the impression that marmaflosses come free with every pair of shoes purchased at Gray’s Shoe and Boot Emporium on Haughton Street. Ha! What kind of simpleton would think that? Not me, that’s for sure.

Now, eggs in themselves aren’t ideas. So what I usually do is extract the idea from the egg with a syringe. Then I inject the idea into the thigh of a small frog.

Frogs have long been the medium of choice for mildly-amusing-idea-transference. So much so that up until the late 19th Century the general public was under the impression that it was frogs, and not marmafloss eggs that were responsible for inspiration generation. What fools!

No, if science has taught us anything, (and I think it has) it is that frogs are only of use to us once they’ve been kissed by princesses. Which brings us neatly to the next stage!

Unfortunately for the modern writer, princesses are in somewhat shorter supply than previously. This is due in part to the gradual decline of the monarchy on a global level, but I think we’re all agreed that the real reason is that princesses these days would much rather be respected anthropologists working at The University. But! Luckily for us this deficit has been made up by the daughters of wealthy industrialists hoping to legitimise their desire for validation by kissing as many frogs as possible; providing of course, that the photographers are present at the time.

One distinct side-effect of this recent trend is that the frogs no longer turn into princes upon receipt of their kiss. Instead, a visible majority appear to be transforming into hunky TV chefs, with charming smiles, cheeky catchphrases and frequent use of the expression ‘Here’s one I prepared earlier’.

All of which, if slightly bemusing, at least prevents the couple from breaking into song with woodland creatures and anthropomorphic household items.

‘But,’ I hear you cry. ‘What about the idea?’

‘Really? In my suitcase again? Don’t you have anything better to do?’

Well obviously, the newly formed TV chef bakes the idea into the crust of a delicious pie and I eat it for lunch. Then I take a nap and when I wake I’m all ready to write a new adventure full of hijinks, tomfoolery, and all manner of shenanigans.

Take that, Shakespeare! You infinite-monkey reliant rube.