New WOMBAT RAPPER Tee-shirts!

A new tee shirt design featuring Doug as the Wombat Rapper has just been released.
It is only available during a three week Teespring campign, so you'll have to get in quickly to order yours.

There are several different designs and styles (tee shirts and sweatshirts), as well as different sizes and colours to choose from.

Purchasing one of these great tee shirts will help publicize the BUSHY TALES comic strip, as well as give you something really fun and eye-catching to wear.

     

To order your shirt go to: www.teespring.com/wombat-rapper

Missing BUSHY TALES Sunday Strip....

Last week saw the launch of BUSHY TALES on the GoComics website. It was a special week for us....except for one strange thing....

For some reason, the Sunday strip that was meant to appear on August 2nd simply failed to materialize! I don't know why it didn't appear. I have tried to find out but, as yet, no one has let me know what the problem/cause was. I am certainly hoping it was just a one-off glitch and does not happen again because, to be quite honest, the Sunday BUSHY TALES strips are my favourites....and I am really excited about introducing them to a whole lot of new readers.

Not only that, but the one I had selected to be the very first Sunday BT strip to appear on GoComics was one of my all-time favourites (and one that I thought a lot of people would really enjoy, too).

So....if you were following the first week of BUSHY TALES on the GoComics site and noticed that there was no new strip for Sunday....here it is now.

Enjoy! (And share it around, if you like.)

Well, that's it for this week.

Until next week!

Joyfully yours,

Ian

ian@bushytales.com

www.bushytales.com

"BUSHY TALES" Launches on GoComics!

The BIG NEWS for us this week is the launch of BUSHY TALES by Universal Uclick syndicate on the huge GoComics website. The strip joins some of the biggest names in the world of cartooning on the website and you can subscribe (free) to receive BUSHY TALES in your email every day of the week.

If you do join GoComics (totally free) you get your own comics page, the ability to save favourites and have various collections...as well as the opportunity of engaging and interacting with other comics fans and creators through the "comments" section for every cartoon featured on the site.

Alternatively, you can purchase a PRO Membership (for a small annual fee) that gives you even more extra benefits.

We would love it if you elected to subscribe to receive BUSHY TALES.....the success of the comic strip on such a website is gauged by the number of subscribers it has which, in turn, generates more advertising interest and other publishing opportunities.

And, besides, there are a lot worse things in life than receiving a free BUSHY TALES strip in your Inbox every day, aren't there?

To check it out, and subscribe, simply follow the link..... www.gocomics.com/bushy-tales


Thanks heaps! We really appreciate your support.
And please...don't forget to spread the word about BUSHY TALES to your family and friends...and help us with the 
wombatification of the world!

It's good to be back!

Well, I've had a few weeks off from blogging.....some time away on holidays, as well as a lot of extra work getting ready for the launch of BUSHY TALES on GoComics next Monday, July 27th....more on that next week. 
But now I'm back on deck and hitting the blogosphere once more!

27th ROTARY NATIONAL CARTOON AWARDS

This annual event was held at The Bunker Cartoon Gallery in Coffs Harbour last Saturday. It was the first time I had been able to go down and be there for the Awards night and it was a great experience. 

There were six different sections to the awards, recognizing some of the various types of cartoons (political, caricatures, comic strip, etc)....and, all up, over 600 cartoons were submitted. Each of the categories was very hotly contested and the quality of the cartoons was truly quite inspiring.

I had entered some of the BUSHY TALES strips in the Best Comic Strip section. 

Whilst I did not win, or get the runner-up award, I was very pleased to have one of the BT strips judged as one of the five finalists in the category. The strip that was so honoured is this one shown here.....

I really enjoyed drawing this particular strip and it was a buzz for me to have it presented as one of the finalists in the Comic Strip category, especially considering the exceptional quality of the other entries.

Next year I hope BUSHY TALES might be able to do even better!

I'd like to acknowledge the great job that Fran Stephenson and her team of volunteers do in organizing this incredible showcase of Australian Cartooning talent.

If you are down in Coffs Harbour, do yourself a favour and get along to The Bunker Cartoon Gallery, John Champion Way, Coffs Harbour. It is the only cartoon gallery in Australia and one of the largest cartoon collections in the Southern Hemisphere.

DOUG TAKES UP GOLF!....

Since the last blog (too long ago), Doug has taken up the great game of golf. You might remember he was struck by a golf ball driven by Snoopy when he (Doug) was on his journey back to his old home. It must have left an impression on him because it was soon after he arrived back at the Bluff that Doug started swinging the ol' clubs. He's not yet mastered the game (who of us ever does?) but he is enjoying it nonetheless. Watch out for Doug on your local course...you never know where he might turn up for a game.

Here are the first BUSHY TALES golfing strips....

Well, that's it for this week.

Until next week!

Joyfully yours,

Ian

ian@bushytales.com

www.bushytales.com

SUNDAY STRIP TITLE FRAME ART

When I started drawing BUSHY TALES it was initially in the Sunday strip format. It wasn't long before the daily strip was introduced, but right from the start the Sunday strip has always had a special focus for me.
There are many reasons for this....the extra space to develop a gag, the enhanced opportunity to create something aesthetically pleasing....and the BT title frame!

Different cartoonists have different approaches to their Sunday strip title frame. Some have a set panel/frame in which nothing ever changes, whilst others play around with their title and its placement quite a bit.

With BUSHY TALES, I have kept the frame size and the hand-drawn title lettering the same, but every week the background image is different.

From the very beginning I have loved having the opportunity to create a title frame that is eye-catching and artistically pleasing. Often, it takes me as long to draw (and colour) the title frame as it does the rest of the strip. 

The title frame sometimes alludes to the content of the strip, or sets the scene for it, but not always. Sometimes the title frame works just as a beautiful background scene before the story/gag starts in the next panel.
I also put a lot of time into working on the colours in the title frame so that they complement the colours of the rest of the strip. Usually, I colour the title frame last of all so that I can best achieve this effect.

Overall, I am very proud of the BT title frames. In fact, I have used them as page headers on the BUSHY TALES website to good effect, changing them every now and again for variety.
You can check out the BUSHY TALES website at www.bushytales.com

Here are some of my personal favourite BT title frames from the last few years. I hope you like them, too.

Until next week......

Joyfully yours!

Ian

ian@bushytales.com

www.bushytales.com

Some GREAT NEWS!!!!

BUSHY TALES Syndicated on GoComics!

On July 27th BUSHY TALES will be launched in a worldwide digital/electronic syndication agreement with Universal Uclick, the world's largest cartoon syndicate.
(No, this does not mean immediate fame and fortune...but it is still a very significant and positive move forward in the competitive world of professional cartooning.)

This will initially be on their GoComics website and then, subsequently, through other digital/electronic outlets.         

(GoComics, from Universal Uclick, is home to many of the most popular comics and cartoons in the world. GoComics.com is the web's largest catalog of syndicated newspaper strips and web comics, offering new, fresh and free content every day.)

This syndication contract is for digital/electronic use only and does not cover newspaper syndication. However, it is still the biggest and most exciting news for the BUSHY TALES strip yet....and we hope it will lead on to even greater successes in the months and years ahead.

The launch is still some way off yet but I wanted to make a little bit of noise about it.
When the launch date gets closer you can be sure we'll be making a much bigger noise!

WOOHOO!

A BLAST FROM THE PAST!

In the current series of BUSHY TALES strips in which Doug, along with Jack and Sugar, is travelling back to his old home (which was destroyed by bush fire), they have encountered many different circumstances and characters....but none with such a special (personal) significance as the most recently encountered character, KEG.

Keg, Doug discovers, is a turtle who lived near his old family home. In the big fire, his turtle shell was crushed by a falling tree, but he survived and eventually found a new home in a discarded beer keg. Hence the name, Keg.

The interesting thing about this new character is that he is not new!

In fact, Keg was the central character in the earliest of my published comic strips, many years ago.

He didn't start out as the central character, but he soon took over the old strip and made it his own.

The strip, KEG, appeared for a number of years in several newspapers in Australia (starting in 1980) before making way for my next, and more popular strip, PEARLY GATES.

Keg, the character, has always had a soft spot in my cartoonist heart and I thought it might be a nice little throw back to the early days of my cartooning career to include him as one of the "side characters" in the current story line 

in BUSHY TALES.
I am sure that no one else has made the connection, but it did have a bit of personal significance at least.

As an interesting commentary on how much comic strips have changed over the years, I have had to work out the colouring for Keg in this BT series....as I had never had Keg depicted in colour previously.

An old character...but freshly presented!

MEDICAL UPDATE...

Thank you to everyone for their well-wishes, prayers and encouragement in my recent double knee replacement surgery and recovery.

I am thrilled to say that the operation went very well and the recovery has been going great.

Apparently, I am way ahead of the normal rate of recovery for people who have one knee replaced, let alone two at the same time!

There is, of course, still some pain and discomfort but each day brings me closer to full recovery.

I am extremely thankful for all the support and feel very blessed to doing so well so quickly.

THE JOURNEY CONTINUES...

Doug. Jack and Sugar have been lost in the strange city as they try and find their way to Doug's old home (previously destroyed in a huge bushfire).

With a little bit of help (or not) from some more "borrowed" characters from other strips, our travellers finally seem to be getting back on track.

The visiting characters in this fun little "crossover" series-within-a-series are.......

SNOOPY from the PEANUTS comic strip by Charles Schulz.

LARSEN E. PETTIFOGGER the lawyer from the WIZARD OF ID strip by Brant Parker and Johnny Hart.

And, JOE and CRUNCHY, police partners from the JUMP START strip by Robb Armstrong.

Once delivered beyond the city limits, our trio of travellers will wend their way on to more adventures as they get closer to their destination. Stay tuned for the coming strips! 

For the record, it has been great fun for me drawing this series of strips so far....it has given me the opportunity of placing the characters into unfamiliar surroundings and meeting some interesting characters along the way. (And some of the other cartoonists whose characters I have "borrowed" have been very positive and affirming in their response!)

MEDICAL TIME-OUT

It might be a couple of weeks before the next BUSH WEEK blog comes out.....I will be going in to hospital for double knee replacement surgery.
The time in hospital and the subsequent recovery time from this surgery will mean a bit of a break in the publishing of the blog.

I'll be back with the next blog, or at least an update on things, as soon as I can comfortably do so.
Here's to successful surgery and swift recovery!

HELP US PROMOTE BUSHY TALES

Here are a couple of ideas on how you might be able to assist us….

•If your local, or favourite, newspaper does not run BUSHY TALES as one of its comic strips, why not drop the editor a friendly note (mail or email) requesting it?
Editors are interested in what their readership wants, so it might help to get their attention.

You could suggest the editor contacts me at ian@bushytales.com for further information.

•Share the BUSHY TALES strip with others on Facebook and ask your friends and family to “Like” the BT Facebook page (www.facebook.com/BushyTalesComicStrip). 

This will enhance the profile of the strip and spread the word about it.
We would love to have a growing online readership…and it will further increase the opportunities of print publication, too.

•Subscribe to BUSHY TALES at the GoComics website (it is entirely free) and receive BT daily online and in your inbox. Your support in this way will further advance the chances of broader syndication.
Go to www.gocomics.com/bushytales 

Of course, if your newspaper does take the strip on, don’t forget to drop the editor a line and thank him/her! Positive comments are few and far between…but very much appreciated!

And thank you for your continued readership and enjoyment of the BUSHY TALES comic strip. Long may you enjoy it!

The Sojourners' Journey Journal....

The Continuing Travels and Travails of Doug and His Friends.

A few weeks ago Doug, along with Sugar and Jack, set out on an expedition back to Doug's old home. He barely escaped some years earlier from a bushfire that destroyed his home and family. He remembers very little about his early life, so he has set off to fill in some of the missing pieces of his life's puzzle and to see what his old home is like now.

Unfortunately, what sounded relatively simple in theory is proving to be more challenging in actuality. Along the way (which Doug does not remember very well, anyhow) our three travellers entered a strange city, whereupon Jack and Sugar were abducted. But for the intervention of Wombatman, Doug may have been continuing on his journey alone.

Thankfully, the three friends are still together, but, together, they are still lost.

On the upside, they are meeting some very interesting characters as they try and find their way out of the city and on to their destination (wherever that might be).

Here are a few more of the daily episodes of their journey....

For those of our readers not aware of these other characters, they are (in order)....

• Lil (from the DIAMOND LIL comic strip by Brett Koth)
• Brutus Thornapple (from THE BORN LOSER by Art and Chip Sansom)
• Andy Cap (from the ANDY CAPP comic strip, originally drawn by Reg Smythe)

This coming week will see even more interesting characters, and surprise twists, featured in this series of "crossover" strips.

Stay tuned for more fun and games!

BUSHY TALES on GoComics

GoComics is the largest comic strip portal on the internet. It is the web-based arm of Universal-UClick (formerly Universal Features and United Media syndicates) and features a huge range of the world's most popular comics.

BUSHY TALES is (at the moment) featured in the "second string" section of the GoComics selection of strips....and we hope it will not be too long before we get an invitation to the "big table". We'll certainly let you know if and when this next step in the syndication process takes place.

In the meantime, you can register (free) to receive BUSHY TALES (and as many of the other great features as you like on the GoComics site) in your email...or just go online to read it whenever you like.

The website address is: www.gocomics.com

And if you want to find BUSHY TALES go directly to...
www.gocomics.com/bushy-tales

We'd be honoured to have you show your support for the strip in this way.

To be honest....we are thankful to everyone for any, and all, the support they can give! 

Cartooning has always been a tremendously competitive and cut-throat business, but I reckon it has got considerably worse with a shrinking newspaper market and everything being able to be accessed easily and freely online these days.
So, yes, your support means a lot to us. Thanks.

Till next time.....

Joyfully yours,

Ian 

www.bushytales.com