Canister X – A.P. FuchsWriter, Artist, Creator
It’s been decided that I’m dusting off the notebook for Secret Project No. 3. I wrote it a long time ago and now it’s time to turn it into a piece of art for you to enjoy.
What Secret Project No. 3 is, is my little secret until reveal (however, the details of this project were revealed on the Behind the Scenes tier on Patreon).
I’m confident you guys are going to dig it when it comes out.
Onward.
Ideas are a funny thing. Sometimes they come to you fully formed; other times they’re a few ingredients short of a full recipe.
This happened to me recently.
If you know me, you know I operate on a Loose Skeleton approach to ideas. An idea comes but it’s often missing the main tissues that connects the whole thing and forms a complete picture.
Yesterday (I think), a skeleton of an idea for Project Rebuild grew some muscle and took shape. After, I was able to step back and take a good look at that shape and see if it was viable or not.
It was.
There are still some finer points that need to grow on this idea, things like its skin and overall aesthetics, but the bulk of the idea is complete and, I suspect, the rest will be sorted out on the drawing board.
Here’s the point: Don’t dismiss an idea just because it’s missing its meat and potatoes. Like any meal, it all begins in the kitchen as loose parts that will later be combined to make a dish. Some ingredients you have in your pantry, some are hidden away at the back of the shelf, others you need to go to the store for.
Bottom line: Write the idea down and let your subconscious do the work of adding more things to the pot and getting it cooking. You’ll be surprised as to what comes out.
Status Report – 061520:
This morning, I uploaded a new chapter of Zomtropolis to Patreon. In this chapter, we meet the girl of our story. You can start reading the book and also get access to the entirety of Gigantigator Death Machine by going here.
Went nuts yesterday and binged Project Rebuild and crossed a major hurdle. Basically, the galley review of the new edition of Blood of the Dead is now complete.
Today, I plan to do some comic stuff but I’m not sure in which capacity as I have a couple items sitting in Photoshop that need completion.
I also need to take a gander at the new format for The Canister X Transmission because we completed The Long Year Five over the weekend and Year Six starts this Saturday. Please join us by going here.
We also have some backend things to attend to but I’m not sure on the order just yet. One thing at a time.
If you have any questions, please contact me here.
This has been your Status Report for 061520.
Status Report – 061120:
It’s been primarily cloudy up here in the Great White North over the past few days, which suits me just fine as I prefer cloudy days to sunny ones. This isn’t an indicator of mood but rather I find cloudy days cozy.
The ol’ brain is still coming online as I type this so I’m not 100% sure how the day is going to shape up. I might take a break from Project Rebuild today because I have a few items that need to head out the door in the near future, namely the final issue of The Long Year Five for The Canister X Transmission. It’s mostly written but I need to add a bit more to fill the double issue. Though we’re getting down to the wire on it, if there’s something you’d like to see in Issue 260, please drop me a line so I can include it.
We’re still ahead of scheduling in regards to Fredrikus, but I have a fresh page scanned in and prepped for coloring so we might venture into that today. A new episode airs tomorrow so go here to get caught up.
Yesterday, a new article went up on Patreon, this one getting into whether one should keep a creative schedule or not. That can be accessed here via the essays tier.
This has been your Status Report for 061120.
Status Report – 060820:
I hope everyone had a good weekend.
This morning, we put our effort and energy into Project Rebuild, then we ran a business errand, then promoted Fredrikus on Ello, got a start on this week’s double issue of The Canister X Transmission–in which we celebrate the end of The Long Year Five–then got onto this blog. What’s after, if anything, I don’t know. As usual, we’re still fooling around with new workflows due to COVID-19 and the new paradigm.
Regarding this week’s upcoming edition of The Canister X Transmission, the invite is there if there is anything you want to see in that issue. Please shoot me a note sooner rather than later so I can try and include it.
Sitting on the drawing board, at present, is Episode 18 of Fredrikus. I believe it’s Episode 4 that is set to air this Friday. It’s a two-parter giving more of a backdrop to Fredrikus’s way of life in the After Time of Earth. Go here to get caught up and be sure to tune in this Friday for the episode.
Stay well. Stay safe.
This has been your Status Report for 060820.
Project Rebuild Update:
This is just a note to say that Project Rebuild has resumed. A few health lapses put the project on hold as well as a few things outside of my control. The good news is my health is in a better place so I’m able to dedicate the appropriate amount of time to it. The main goal is still to have Project Rebuild be the overarching project for 2020. The only thing that has changed are the specifics to the timeline (like release dates).
Anyway, I’m eager to get back into this because it’s an important piece of my overall publishing puzzle.
Status Report – 052720:
We’re a little off today but nothing too bad. Namely just tired.
This morning we uploaded a new episode of Fredrikus both to Patreon and to the main comic site. This episode will air in early June.
I’m also giving thought to Project Rebuild and a loose timeline for it since 2020 as a whole screwed up the original schedule. I have a skeleton of a timeline and I think having a quasi-rigid/quasi-fluid structure to it is a good move at this juncture. I’ll try not to throw out any dates in case 2020 has more surprises but I will do my best on my end to be timely with the whole thing.
On the agenda for today is making more comics and I think I know what next week is going to generally look like as well. In the meantime, need to finish off the current week.
Anyway, here are some links to some terrific creators. You’d do well to check out their work.
This has been your Status Report for 052720.
Soon, my on-line offerings are going to go through a change-up because THREE project launches are happening all around the same time!
This was not planned.
The three things:
1) Launching Fredrikus
2) Launching a new serial novel on Patreon
3) Launching Year Six of The Canister X Transmission
I suspect my work schedule is going to shift for a short season at that time so I can spend my days doing the necessary Web stuff to get this all going. That said, creating will drop to second tier as these roll out so I can properly get them out from the studio and into the world.
Formal announcements to occur around the time of the launches.
Regularly check back here on the blog to stay in the loop. My door is also open if you have any questions about these upcoming project launches.
Just a note to inform you there is a newsletter delay this week due to TinyLetter’s site glitching. Until it’s resolved, I am unable to send out the most recent issue so I’ve blogged it here in the interim and will send it out proper once I am able to, which might mean this week you’ll be getting two editions of The Canister X Transmission close together. If the problem persists due to possible staffing shortages on their end, then we’ll just air the newsletter here until things get back to normal.
There’s a first time for everything.
Here is the latest edition. It is dated yesterday.
Newsletter:
Issue Two Hundred-fifty-two – April 18, 2020
Hello and welcome to the 252nd issue of THE CANISTER X TRANSMISSION, a weekly newsletter from a schlub up north who offers you strange ramblings every week.
How is everyone?
It has been a busy week. Lots of tasks. Lots of work. Lots of prep. Lots of thinking. Lots of stress. Lots of accomplishment. Lots of, well, lots.
And here we are.
Oh, and I made bread.
Work log:
PROJECT JACKASS (title reveal below); uploaded a sneak peek to the Behind-the-Scenes tier on Patreon showcasing one of the opening pages of PROJECT JACKASS in full color (link below); shot and uploaded a new video to YouTube, which announces PROJECT JACKASS’s real title and quickly takes a glimpse at the artwork and offers a brief premise (link below); blogging; and administration.
Quick note regarding this newsletter: Issue 260 is the final issue of The Long Year Five. We will do something special at that time. As always, the invite is there if you want to see something particular in that double issue. Just shoot me an email and I’ll see what I can do.
In blog headline news—and once information known only to my patrons on Patreon—the title of PROJECT JACKASS was revealed! PROJECT JACKASS was a place-holder name for an upcoming webcomic from me called FREDRIKUS, which is about an anthropomorphic dog in a dystopic sc-fi world. Phew. Now I can finally refer to it as an actual thing and not some project document (which is actually a combination of multiple documents including a notebook for the stories).
Blog headlines:
Various Bits from the Net – 041220
Status Report – 041420
Project Jackass Title Revealed: Fredrikus
Fredrikus Social Media
New Fredrikus Behind-the-Scenes Post on Patreon!
On Art and Never Arriving
Fredrikus Webcomic Announcement
Status Report – 041720
As you can see from the above headline, you are invited to like and follow FREDRIKUS on social media so you can be notified when the strip airs. Please do so. More details about the webcomic to be revealed in due time. Watch the blog to stay current. I will admit, it’s high time new things started to roll out from me and warming up the machine for FREDRIKUS is part of that journey.
I’m thinking that the next thing to roll out from me is the Inktober 2019 sketchbook I mentioned in a previous issue. PROJECT REBUILD is taking some time due to elements beyond my control and I don’t want to leave you hanging.
Side note: As much as my blog has been retooled on the back end, sometimes the theme acts up and reverts to black text on white rather than white text on black. If you come across this, don’t worry. I’m still troubleshooting the issue with the hope of taking care of it once and for all in the near future. Just check the blog as per usual and you’ll be fine.
We’re also gearing up for the new serial novel to air on Patreon because GIGANTIGATOR DEATH MACHINE is almost complete. Watch the blog for the announcement and be sure to get in on the ground floor by becoming a patron today for just a buck. The entirety of GIGANTIGATOR DEATH MACHINE will remain on the site so come time for the new serial novel, you’ll have two novels to read for the price of one. Awesome deal. Please take advantage (it also helps keep me fed). Link below to subscribe to what is essentially the Netflix of literary entertainment from a book and comic guy like me. Thank you in advance for your support.
Also going on, but not worked on this week, is PROJECT COBALT. This is a big one and an important one, and a lot of thought, trial and error, and work has already been put into it. I’m suspecting a latter 2020 rollout, but keep that fluid for the moment. The world is in upheaval on multiple levels and things are in constant flux as we combat this invisible enemy (amongst other things). But yeah, PROJECT COBALT, man. Onward.
For a good while I’ve had the marketing materials for a YouTube subscription drive, but we’re not quite there yet in terms of the channel’s relationship to other things. However, I’m a firm believer in groundwork and foundation and I’d like you to be a part of all that’s planned for the channel plus what’s already there. Please use the link below and subscribe. Your subscription will eventually lead to me monetizing the channel, which in turn will fund more comics and books and the stuff I put online for free. But it all takes time and time, in order to do this job full time, requires money. The subscription costs you nothing other than 5 seconds—which I recognize is your valuable time hence why I try and create interesting content in the vein of Heroes and Monsters—and will go a long way toward keeping the media machine running. Thank you in advance again for your support.
With Year Six of this newsletter fast approaching, I’m getting eager to see how the new format will work, how it will flow, and, ultimately, what it will do for you as my reader. I hope you enjoy the new format in 8 issues.
In other newsletter news, Year Four was obviously completed a long time ago but was never published. It is still the plan to release it along with The Long Year Five. Also soon, my how-to book, GETTING DOWN AND DIGITAL: HOW TO SELF-PUBLISH YOUR BOOK, will be going out of print. Please grab your copy now. The principles and methods apply to both books and comics. It is also ideal for creators on a budget who are unable to afford fancy formatting programs. It walks you through formatting in MSWord for both print and electronic editions in a tried-and-tested procedure that is quite simple to follow.
We’re also noodling with the social media broadcaster for FREDRIKUS because I’ve never run a broadcaster for anyone but myself and since good ol’ Fred can’t work the thing himself due to his paws, I’m stuck with the job. Hopefully it all works out. Speaking of which, the broadcaster has run out of broadcasts from that time I loaded ’er up good so that will have to be addressed in the coming week or two as well, but I’m toying with some new ideas. Not that the old ones were bad, but as it is with this game, doesn’t hurt to try new things.
Okay, I think the above about covers it for this week. Lots of commercials, I know, but we’re at that stage in the grand plan.
Rollout soon.
We’re finally getting there. Isn’t that a thing?
Take care of yourselves and each other. In the end, it’s on us about how we treat people.
Have a good weekend. Make bread. Send me some.
– A.P. Fuchs
All the New Things, MB
As usual:
Patreon – Where I post an ongoing serial novel, essays on the creative life, behind-the-scenes secrets, and general jackassery.
Canister X – Where I’m blogging during the week.
YouTube – My channel that needs your subscription and views to help it grow.
Ko-fi – A Tip Jar designed to cover the costs of the free stuff I put on the Web (daily blogging, this newsletter, YouTube videos, and artwork).
End transmission
Project Jackass Title Revealed: Fredrikus.
A while back on Patreon, I gave my patrons a patron-first announcement (a perk to being a patron), which was the reveal of the true title of Project Jackass.
Project Jackass was the placeholder title for an upcoming comic strip series from me called Fredrikus.
Fredrikus is that dog you see on the cover of Canister X Comix or throughout my Inktober 2019 sketches. Fred the Dog was a character I created during my time in animation school way back when animation was done on stone tablets that you’d throw past a guy at rapid succession to create the illusion of motion. (Har har.)
Fredrikus is structured as episodic strips, ranging between a single-panel gag and a couple comic pages, and is a mix of humor, heart, and a little bit of social justice with a dose of cynicism.
The plan is for the strips to be collected at some point in comic book format for collectors.
As for how this thing will be published–as in the business model–we’re looking at making it a webcomic (with the aforementioned print version once enough–or close to enough–have aired). The goal of the comic is to simply create an anything-goes comic playground where I can noodle with ideas and styles and experiment with the medium. There’s a general overarching plot to the whole thing, but readers can jump in at any point and will have no trouble piecing it together.
I’ll reveal more of the premise at a different time, but if you like dystopian sci-fi with some of the monster and superhero stuff I normally do, you’ll dig this.
Release is still a ways off, but plenty of strips are written along with some fun side material, and the drawing phase is about half complete in regards to where I want to be before launch.
Stay tuned . . .
