Chapter II of SGT BENBO in the works

With the weeks going by, and that go's faster as one might think,
i already started work on the second chapter on the adventures of SGT BENBO a little while back, 

with the first 6 parts done and done. I have two more to color, and then draw out and ink, the scripts that i did when the site went live for the first time.

those sketches of the benbo comic i make in a dummy book, usually i sketch on a blank peace of paper, but with this series and with the Follow The Norm series i found out that it is way easyer to draw sequentials in a book.

Now with the first book done last year and now the second one going well, because of that the dummybook is full, i need to get another one specially for SGTBENBO.. this is on my to do list, after i finished this remaining batch.

I hope that when the first chapter is done,
there is enough interest to realy print a book, (on my own or maybe there is a publisher that sees fit to print the book) any case i would love to see Benbo in stores world wide..  just aslong i make the desisions on every little step in the process, i already have the template and in what format / size the book must come, it's a cool format to boot.. 

At the 'stripfestival breda' i've let people see the first chapter, in book form.
(the webcomic wasen't live before then, after that i got anctious to get it live)
but reactions of people that seen the book where so positive, that it made me feel good.  so i'm sticking with it.. (even if no one got my vision..i still would've stuck with it, but nonetheless, it's nice to know other people can get behind my work and in wich mold i put things)  i'm not that much of an outcast afterall ;) 


tomorrow i'll color the two remaining strips,
and probably start with the first two scripts in the book that lay before me.


for now,

i'm signing off,


Toon On!
  
 

1 Year anniversary of SGT BENBO

yes, it's already been a year since we've met out sergeant


i've started thinking about doing a comic on him before ofcourse,
sketching, and character designing etc.

But the first legit comic strip became a reality around 16 october
(not counting the sketching and inking, i'm talking about the scanned originals:) )

Almost a year later!! i've managed to get my website online for the world to see..

After the 'introduction' series of the comic was long done,
we had some off time, and since the site is live, now we are sitting around the table again, to talk about his adventure abroad (for him abroad anyway) ..And well adventure... 

To him it's probably wasting time, seeing his whole career was one big adventure and now has to sit on a chair at a table telling story's of how he liked serving his country..


Regards

Roland & Ben

Benbo flyer in the Library

After 4 episodes online on the benbo site,
i felt it was time to get some readers in the vicinity of where i live to the benbo site, that aren't gun toding explosinon lovers like guy's in the USN.

So i thought about making a fold-out banner, 
I went to the library with this question, and basacly they said, 
"That's a nice idea, about the banner we need to talk it over with the staff,
but, if you can fix a flyer i will hang that up A.S.A.P"

well. as you know i'm not one to linger on stuff like this,
so, i went home made the banner, made the flyer,
got it printed out laminated it, and went back to the library..

the dude that opend, wasen't the dude that i had the talk with,
and he said, come back monday..


i did, and BAM, he placed the flyer above the comic section, on the wall
what seemd like all in the same second.   


and when the real banner arives.. what to do with that
where to place it.. i know i'm taking it with me at conventions, but what to do in the meantime... any ideas? ;)



Toon ON!

The Sarge is live and kicking !!

Back in 2011
early to middle 2011,

i was creating a comic,
i was working for a small local newspaper. did the DTP for them,
the paper was illustration and comic free, so during our meetings when i first started working there, i spontanious mentioned that i draw aswell next to graphic design and DTP.

they where interested in my drawing capabillity, and let me know that maybe i could do a comic for there paper..

after hearing that, i got loads of inspiration,
and got cracking on a comic, seeing i'm kind of a gear nut,
and have loads of respect for the army, navy etc, etc, and at that point i really had a head full of it.. still do.. ( if i wheren't doing funny books i probably would be a grunt of some kind, but the creative spirit had the upper hand)

anywho..

i got to work on some character design's
and had a rough idea about the story in my mind..

And the next 6 months, i was creating what came to be SGT BENBOit was i gues december 2011 when i was finished with the introduction of the sarge, and i was real happy with the out come.
(His war story's are so cool, they sould make a movie out of it, he has plenty of years behind him of cool story telling, he's a tough love kind of guy, not real talkative and when he does it feels like he whants to rip your head off..)

anyway, got the story done, and i thought, this newspaper can't handle Ben,
so, what can i do for ben's efforts, him telling his war story'.. i can't let it be for not.. so, i went webcomic on his ass.

got the name, etc etc, and seeing i'm a noob at CMS etc etc, i couldn't make the site, and had no one really to help me out...

 After almost a year on hiatus,
i figured out what to do with the site, when i went to a little comic convention in Breda and talked with some guys, and they talked about webcomics
got home, had a nice weekend, and the monday after i got cracking on the site, deleted everything on the old site, loaded a basic CMS, and searched for the right theme, and bingo, i got the site running, close enough to the design i was looking for. Not 100% satisfied, still needs some changes but it will do for now.


even have a donation button,
i'm the last one that wants that, always thought damn beggers with there donation drives all over the internet..  but after standing in there shoes like this, i get it,  i mean, that website doesen't pay for it's self, and let alone the production time i have with making the comic.. so i thought i can hold up, with the possibility of getting the website killed (RE: no funds for the website)
or setting my pride on the side, and just placing that donation button on benbo's site.. i did it, and i will see what will happen with it..

i will tell every one, every penny wil go to benbo, so i can tell his story for him, and for all the fans out there.. ( probably 1 or 2 at the moment) wich include myself.


So i would say to end this blog,

go check Ben out at his place, maybe leave a comment
he will appriciate the hell out of it, he may come over as a hardass, 
but has a heart of gold..

  I'll hook you up:

Website: 
www.sgtbenbo.com
facebook:
www.facebook.com/SGT_BENBO
Twitter:
@SGT_BENBO

Have a blast
and remember..

Read em' Share em' Bagg em' and Tagg em' 

Toon On! 

Strip festival Breda2012 (day1) A complete succes

Had a kickin' time at the "strip festival Breda" yesterday (09-09-2012) 

Met a whole bunch of new guys and gals that are in the bizz

hope to refresh these contacts soon, with crumpets and tea ;)

At some point talking for 2 hours?! with Jan. my legs went sour from standing still the whole time and still had a good time chatting up a storm.

Windmill comics was at the show to, 

had some interesting talks with the guys at that table,

so hopefully there will be a continuation..

well, hope there will be a continuation with every one i've met yesterday.

Before the day got at an end, i went back in nerd mode,

because in the begining i've seen a few AKRIA books 

(the original epic comics prints)

wich i adore, and need to get 100% complete in different forms..

Soo, i went back to see if they where still there, and eureka! not a one sold

so i got the books i thought i didn't have.. and let the one that i knew i didn't have stay there, (the dude asked way more than it was worth)

so i got a couple other ones...  when i got ome i went to my book closet and what ya know, i had 4 of the 5 books already :(

so the hunt is still on for the missing books (but, that's the fun of it)

Thanks to the friends who went with me and thanks for diner (the late BBQ was a blast) some of us saw falling stars, others a T-Rex in a guys backyard.... and people tell me i have to much imagination ;)

Toon on!

Strip Festival Breda 2012

This up comming weekend we will be attending the "stripfestival Breda"
in...well, Breda.

this time it's in an un official capacity,
hopefully next year, when "Follow The Norm' 
is finalised we will have a booth / table there.

This weekend we will walk around, chat with other artist, do a little hobnobbing, have some laughs, and to show our artwork to each other.
all in all to have a fun time.

hope to meet some cool guys and galls and expand our Network.

Maybe we will see you there,

Have a good one.

Toon on!


Regards the

Moon-Toons Staff

Some of you might already have guessed
Moon-Toons works with in the english language,
although, it's a dutch company.

reason for that is
Most of the Dutch folk is not really comic/ illustration oriented

(they think it's for kids, it's childish...
Not knowing The Avengers grost $125 million during its three-day opening weekend in North America...and yeah it's a movie.. but it's a comicbook movie..makes us comicgeeks feel good that we got most of the 'normal folks by there balls when it comes to entertainment.. an no i have nothing to do with that movie but still, it feels good.)

so, i'm not really game for that negative vibe from these dutch folk's.
Looking down at our work and that of my colleagues, so i choose to work in english,
instead of my native toungh, because my american bretherin overseas, love comic's like strips, animation. and like it on a higher level that the people here in the BENELUX the guys that do like them .. 

ofcourse there are exeption.

but what is your (the reader of this blog's) opinion on this

Is it cool that we choose to work this way,
to try to get my work across to more people like this,

or should i stick to my own language,
and let the dutch folks read my work first ..And be glad if they will read it.

Thanks

Toon on!

The first [test] book of Follow The Norm is done!

After one of the worst weekends / weeks in years,

the first [test] book of Follow The Norm is done!

After a week of checking, and that F*cked up weekend

the book is printed for us to go lobby with..

hopefully the story will get people interested, interested enough to let the book get some screen time in exibition rooms..

my plan is to pick the most ecstatically pleasing pages out of the book

blow them up to giant size on hard presentation grade cardboard, and let those be presented to the public. With ofcourse some explanation about the expo / book, so that visitors know what is going on.

Next to the big pages, i made a big banner to hang up so it's now way possible that people will mis the expo when it is on it's way.

i hope to get an exposition near 

-Waalwijk / Drunen

- Den Bosch

- Tilburg

a few weeks ago i was thinking if this go's well,

maybe i could go for amsterdam, of for that matter a place near friesland

but the last option i'll think i'll pass on.

I like to get a spot in those city's at a gallerie for example even a nice theater will be a verry good place for the book to make it's entrance

If you readers know of a nice place for us to expose this book, be it in a galarie or a theater, anywhere there are artie things going on, i will take those option in to account..

same go's for galarie holders, if you want to show this to your  public,
please, by all means. Contact us via E-mail

we'll be happy to take the time, talking about possible options.


Thanks for taking the time reading this


Regards

Moon-Toons crew

Follow The Norm facebook banner..and some jibba jabba

This one is up for a while now on Facebook, but I wanted to place it here on my blog aswell, to keep every step documented as we go along.

some designs where not like they are in the upcoming book,
but close enough, the banner says, "work in progress" after al.

for me at the moment while working on 'FTN' the story is evolving with every page and go's places where i never thought they where going,

meaning that i don't know what the next step is going to be of these characters, don't know if others work like this, i know illustrators like campbell, or someone else for hire to illustrate a script that does his work like asked of him.. but one that has creative control in the story.. i wonder if they are surprised by the outcome of there own story while they are writing it.

after working on this book, i can certainly say.. yes. i'm surprised by some steps the characters take, and how the story evolves in front of my eyes

i think it's cool that my own work surprises me the way i does
it keeps it interesting




sincerely


Moon-Toons

And now for something completely different.

Some of you might already have guessed
Moon-Toons works with in the english language,
although, it's a dutch company.

reason for that is
Most of the Dutch folk is not really comic/ illustration oriented

(they think it's for kids, it's childish...
Not knowing The Avengers grost $125 million during its three-day opening weekend in North America...and yeah it's a movie.. but it's a comicbook movie..makes us comicgeeks feel good that we got most of the 'normal' folks by there balls when it comes to entertainment.. And no,
i have nothing to do with that movie but still, it feels good.)

so, i'm not really game for that negative vibe from these dutch folk's.
Looking down at our work and that of my colleagues, so i choose to work in english,
instead of my native toungh, because my american bretherin overseas, love comic's like strips, animation. and like it on a higher level that the people here in the BENELUX the guys that do like them .. 

ofcourse there are exeptions.

but what is your (the reader of this blog's) opinion on this?

Is it cool that we choose to work this way,
to try to get my work across to more people like this,

or should i stick to my own language,
and let the dutch folks read my work first ..And be glad if they will read it.

Thanks

Toon on!

Follow the Norm: update

Update time fella's, 

we've been busy with the Norm story for the last couple of days / weeks.

It's taking some shape,
the real meat and potato's of the story is wanting to burst out, but we can only do so mutch.

Hope there are people that are getting pumped to read it when it's finished,
maybe we do a itunes download or something, any case,
there is going to be a print version, not quite sure how where going to do that,
and if it's financially doable, but where giving it our best shot :)

ToonOn!

the Moon-Toons team

working on the Moon-Toon comic

#step1 sketching the outline:



Some page sketches i'm doing, try to figure out what's the next step in this story.

writing, sketching as i go along

Published with Blogger-droid v2.0.4

Postcard: UPDATE

Our Postcards are complete :)  iff one wants a set, just follow the instructions on the banner
and send us a mail with the ones you want, and where you want them shipped to

( shipping costs differ outside the BENELUX )

thanks and, Toon On!

And now, what to call her..

Well guys, here she is, our Mascot,
help us think of a name for our her!
Out of all the send-ins we will pick one 'winner'. #toonon #pickaname

How to do that?, well easy.
go to our facebook fan page, and replay to the "And now, what to call her" post
or, you can replay to our tweet with hash tags: "#toonon" / "#pickaname"

..or simply replay to this post on this blog 

easy right.

the prize is:  drumroll... knowing you helped naming our Moon-Toons mascot :D

The Moon-Toons twitterlook: Collorfullcoollness in 2012

 

For the non twitter followers:
Here is the brand new interface of our twitter account
thought it would be nice to document all these little changes,
just to see how it looked like when it started out.

HEY, Guess what!!

Like the banner says.. "HEY GUESS WHAT".

The postcards are officially on sale,
for 1,50 euro's a piece (and 4euro shipping and handeling)
You can show your love for Moon-Toons!

real glad how they turned out, 3 of them are still available,
the other two that are sold out right now, those are being re-orderd.

if you want them, go to our website and follow the instructions from there.

the numbers that are places on the images of the cards is the reference point
so, place the number and how many of the items you want in a mail with your contact / shipping info
to sales@moon-toons.nl

(No shipping out side of europe as of yet.)



thank you


Moon-Toons
pop art | Photography & Graphic Design

btw:

I am patenting the terms " Toon on' and ' Toon off" for myself this second

I have my own slogan thingy, and that's awesome!

Toon off

Published with Blogger-droid v2.0.4

our first update

Well, moon-toons.nl just had it's first update, the look is nice and clean, that's how we like it, but it needs something more, like a CMS and so on.. but this will suffice for now.  Toon off.

Published with Blogger-droid v2.0.4

Moon-Toons mascot

A few weeks back, i started to think moon-toons needs a mascot.. so, i started to design one, i'm now at the point of thinking, maybe i don't really need one, but maybe i can create a story implementing the mascot.. I have a neat idea to do so, thinking of placeing the entire story on a page devoted specialy for the story of the mascot, on our main website.. Only thing is, can't think of a name for the character...  Creating a Whole entire universe is a piece of cake.. but thinking up a name fitting a self made character is hard? .. life is strange..

Published with Blogger-droid v2.0.4

Moon-Toons sebbie

And here she is,

the 1st Moon-Toons esq Sebenza
it's got our company colors and everything, aint it sweet
 

Thanks to Lisa and the CRK team,
hopefully in the near future there wil come a real
official Moon-Toons sebbie.. 

Heather, thanks for putting up with me mailing the whole time :)

Beste mensen,

Na lange afwezigheid
komt er nu weer wat schot in Moon-Toons,
er word nu hard achter de schermen gewerkt aan de officiele site (moon-toons.nl)
en natuurlijk de facebook en twitter metgezellen.

binnen kort zal werk van Moon-Toons in de verkoop komen,
dus hou de site in de gaten voor de verdere vorderingen.

Natuurlijk zijn we ook bereid om klussen weer aan te nemen,
zoals character design voor uw cartoon / game projecten,
storyboards voor een reclame, clip of film project.

DTP werkzaamheden waaronder gepersonaliseerde geboorte kaartjes, uitnodigingen noem maar op.


Vergeet op facebook ons niet te 'liken' en be nice and share ;)


Gegroet