Bloop Print for Southern Maryland Comic-Con
The Southern Maryland Comic-Con is this Sunday and Bloop’s cartoonist Steve Conley will be there. Here’s a look at the early pencil drawing of the print he’s making for the show.
Click the image to see a larger version.
You can learn more about the Southern Maryland Comic-Con here:
www.somdcon.com
Three New Convention Appearances Added
Bloop’s writer and artist, Steve Conley, will be appearing at the Southern Maryland Comic-Con (Jan. 29) , Megacon in Orlando, Florida (Feb. 17-19) and the Annapolis Comic-Con (March 24-25). For info, links and the full 2012 calendar, check out: http://bloopstree.com/appearances/
Why the changes to the first page of Bloop?
Bloop’s writer and artist Steve Conley shares some of the thinking behind the changes seen in the revised first page of the Bloop graphic novel.
Why all the changes? A lot of reasons. I wanted Bloop to feel smaller. In previous versions, he looked too big and bouncy as he bounded through a very Earth-like forest. In this version, he’s quite a bit smaller and the two planets in the sky clearly show that we’re not in Kansas any more. Another important change was that Bloop isn’t loaded down with gear. He still has the bucket with his book and all his tools, but he no longer carries a suitcase. His rolled-up blueprints are now in the bucket as well. I wanted to free up at least one of his hands so he has more opportunities to gesture and “act.”
Regarding the over-the-top detail and texture of the environment, this book is years in the making and I feel like readers deserve a lot of effort on every page.
I hope you like it!
– Steve
Creating a new Bloop Logo
Bloop has been around for more than ten years now (I know! Crazy!) and his logo recently had a redesign.
You can see the original version below as well as some one the rejected designs below. I thought the original logo was a bit too clunky and was showing its age. I’d heard a few comments from people thinking the antennae make it look like I’m ripping off the Shrek logo, but hey, Bloop had his logo first and I like the character they add to the design. 
The idea was to create a friendly, playful logo, and keep it easy-to-read. (Concerns with some unused designs was the worry that it could be read as “blop” or worse, as “blood” – Yikes!)
The final design was partly inspired by Walt Kelly’s various logo treatments for Pogo.
– Steve
Virginia Comicon this weekend!
I’m afraid I won’t be able to attend this weekend’s Virginia Comicon. We had a family medical emergency here so I’m not going anywhere. Hope everyone at the show has a great time and I hope to be able to make it next year! — Steve
Annapolis Comic-Con
Had a great time at the Annapolis Comic-Con! They had a great first-year show and they’d already announced plans for another show in 2012! Thanks to hosts Ben and Steve for the great event!
Above are some sketches I did at the show. Click to embiggen!
– Steve
And the winners of the first Bloop Original Art contest are…
Chosen by random drawing:
Bloop Sketchbook Original Art: Amanda Shields
Sketch card winners: Cindy, Tyler, John, Anissa and C. Christian
We’ll be having more contests in the future! Thanks again to everyone for taking part!
– Steve
Celebrating 10,000 Facebook Fans with Bloop’s Sketchbook
To celebrate 10,000 “likes” on Facebook, I’ve put together a downloadable sketchbook featuring behind-the-scenes art just for you fans and friends! The cover illustration was created just for this book.
You can view it on the page here or you can click on the download icon on the Scribd toolbar below to save to your computer, iPad or other tablet.
Thank you again for all your support! You are all the best! – Steve
View the Bloop Sketchbook in Full Screen mode