New WHYs page up!

Today on The WHYs: Bad timing.

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The WHYs updated today!

Today on The WHYs: Explanations forthcoming?

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The WHYs updated today!

Today on The WHYs: Looming disaster.

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East Portland Holiday Bazaar

Hey Portlanders, I will be tabling at this event on Saturday!  I'll have zines, prints and a couple crafty items.  There will be lots of super rad folks there, so be sure to check it out.  More info here.

New WHYs page today!

Today on The WHYs: Real smooth, Luisa.

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A WHYs update!

Today on The WHYs: Cornered!

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New WHYs page today!

Today on The WHYs: Luisa fails her evasion final.

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A WHYs update!

Today on The WHYs:  Luisa is being a bummer.

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A new WHYs page!

Today on The WHYs: What a mess.

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WHYs Update!!

Today on The WHYs: The awkward, tired drive home.

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WHYs Update!

Today on The WHYs: You're just making things worse.

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A slightly late WHYs update!

Today on The WHYs: Things just got hella awkward.  Sorry this update is a day late!!

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The WHYs updated today!

Today on The WHYs: Real reassuring.

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The WHYs updated today!

Today on The WHYs: Being a good friend.

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The WHYs updated today!

Today on The WHYs: Who hasn't cried outside of a dance club?

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The WHYs updated!

Today on The WHYs: I lied, I lied to me too.

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WHYs Update!

Today on The WHYs: I left the only home I knew, I stayed alive and I found you.

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I'm doing a month of fan art over on my Patreon!  A new character every day!

New WHYs page!

Today on The WHYs: Do the D A N C E.

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I'm doing a month of fan art over on my Patreon!  A new character every day!

New WHYs page today!

Today on The WHYs: Sparkle time!

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Update #3!

Hey all!You may have noticed I did some reworking on my Patreon!  I wanted to make early updates more accessible and make the $5/month level a little bit sweeter for y'all.  If you are a $5 patron and don't have copies of Mushroom Guardians or Milkyboots #15, please message me your address and I will send them to you.
And now, news:
-I got a new job!  It's at a local arts and crafts supply store.  It's giving me lots of ideas for things to make.
-I just finished a 10-day house/dog sit.  Running back and forth between the new job, my house and the house of the pup was pretty exhausted and I ended up spending a lot of time playing Diablo 3* to recover instead of drawing.  Here's a weird thing about other people's houses: they don't usually have good drawing spaces haha.  I'm glad to be back at my house and have enough time to make it to my studio.
-I got into Short Run!  I'll be up in Seattle November 5th, hopefully with a new minicomic or zine.  I didn't get into Emerald City Comic-Con, but I didn't really think I would.
-I'll start my "Month of Favorite Characters" project (available for $5+ patrons) on September 1st.  First up: the biologist from the Southern Reach Trilogy.

Things I've been enjoying:
-#trashcake plays Bioshock Infinite.  Writer Soha Kareem and game dev Scott Benson play Binfinite, talk about problematic themes and writing decisions, and make jokes about ghost queefs and man-sized raccoons.
-Your Black Friend by Ben Passmore (Silver Sprocket, 2016).
-Stay Crazy by Erica Satifka (Apex, 2016).

Thanks for reading! <3 p="">

*Smashing barrels and bashing monster heads is pretty good stress relief.

The WHYs updated today!

Today on The WHYs: Feel my heartbeat 🎶

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There's a New WHYs Page Today!

Today on The WHYs: A nice little surprise.

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Blog Post #2

Hey All,
Well dang, it's been a week for me!  I was double pet-sitting this weekend, plus going home to give Lyra her medicine, so I've been doing a lot of running around.  The exercise has been good for my brain chemistry, so that's been nice.  Next week I'll be taking care of a bulldog, a cat and a rabbit!
I've had two job interviews, so things are looking up in that department.
In creative/doing stuff news:

• I put my diary comics zine up on etsy.  It's $3 and includes all the comics I did for my Patreon supporters.
• Free Code Camp (the site I was using to learn code) jumped way too far ahead for me, so I am supplementing it with Codecademy and some YouTube tutorials.  I'll cobble together a portfolio site eventually!
• For Patreon supporters, I am hoping to put together a sketchbook PDF this week and start another month-long project.  I am thinking of doing 28 days of my favorite characters this time.  These will probably be collected into a zine for Short Run in November.
• Haven't done much writing, either for the WHYs or for my Twine game.  Hopefully next week.

Things I've been Enjoying:

• rachelsarahlevy's mixes on 8tracks, particularly the "x was 20 Years Ago" ones.  I listened to them while cleaning and got sent into a Tori Amos spiral.  Little Earthquakes is a really good album!
• Noel Heimpel's Ignition Zero is on hiatus so now is a good time to catch up before the epilogue.  Gorgeous queer urban magic comics.
• Austin Walker's games writing, particularly "Real Human Beings", "Me, On the Screen" and his first impressions of No Man's Sky.  His writing is aware in a really personal, enjoyable and intelligent way.
• Everything O Horvath does.  Weird queer fantasy illustration and comics, populated by chubby cuties and futuristic horrors.
• My friend and wonderful human being Kevin Czap's Kickstarter.  Czap Books puts out the best comics, for real.

A WHYs update!

Today on The WHYs: A nice drive down the coast.

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Just a reminder:  

You can support The WHYs on Patreon for early updates, PDF comics and process posts.
Or, you can follow me on twitter! Or tumblr!

What Is Up

Hello friends,
I've been thinking for a bit that I should get back into the writing part of having a blog, and maybe it would be cool to do 'what I'm up to' posts on my Patreon as well.  So here it is! 
Summers have been bad for my depression the last couple years, and 2016 is no different.  The fact that the planet seems to be careening towards disaster isn't helping either~but I'm managing it for the most part.  I'm medicated, sober and pretty good at self-care.  It's been hard to want to work on art, so I try to focus on that when I'm having a good day.
Other than that:

• I've been dog sitting A LOT.  It'll be nearly a month straight by the end of August.  It's fun and I like the pups.  Also I get to explore new neighborhoods.   I do miss my cat and sleeping in my own bed though.
• I have a new studio/desk space at XOXO Outpost.  If you live in Portland (or elsewhere) you might have heard of XOXO Fest.  The Outpost is a sliding scale open workspace.  It's been nice having a place to focus, even though it's been hard for me to make time to get there with all the dog sitting.
• I got into Short Run!  I did not get into CALA, Hiveworks or the Adventure Zone fan anthology.
• The WHYs is going well.  I am still trying to figure out if I can do it more than once a week.  We are into the homestretch of the first book, so that is exciting.  I realized I kind of back-loaded the first book - a lot of stuff is about to happen.
• My cat Lyra may need radioactive iodine treatment!  The good news is it will completely cure her thyroid condition.  The bad news is it costs $1200.  A lot of money for a person on unemployment.  I might do a gofundme for it?
• I've been slowly teaching myself to code using online resources.  I can't do a ton, but it feels pretty cool to be able to understand some of it!
• My twine game is coming along very slowly, but I am still working on it.  I may have been a little overambitious with my first game, but overambitious is my jam.

Things I've been enjoying:

• Pretty much everything at Sushi Ichiban that isn't sushi - taro and sweet bean buns, sesame balls, lychee, miso.
• Friends at the Table (podcast) and Stream Friends (Let's Plays).  Smart, funny and awesome folks all around.
• Doing puzzles while listening to podcasts.
• Viridi (a succulent growing game) and Eidolon (a gorgeous walking/survival sim/mystery set in the post-post-apocalyptic Northwest) by Seattle-based Ice Water Games.
• Everything Suzette does.

Well, I think that's it for now!  Thanks for reading.  I'll be back next week.
-VA

Milkyboots #15 for sale!

My latest collection of diary comics is now for sale in my etsy shop!  If you don’t want to use etsy you can email me, vlpaine at yahoo.

New WHYs page today!

Happy August, y'all!

Today on The WHYs: Joyride, anyone?

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New WHYs page today!

Today on The WHYs: Fancy Dress Luisa!

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WHYs update!!

Today on The WHYs: Breaking the rules!

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New WHYs page today!

Today on The WHYs: This looks like trouble.

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Upcoming Events:
July 9: Portland Zine Symposium.

WHYs Update Today!!

Today on The WHYs: Oh hey Mara.

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Upcoming Events:
July 9: Portland Zine Symposium.

WHYs update!

Today on The WHYs:  The all phone chapter.

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Upcoming Events:
July 9: Portland Zine Symposium.

Milkyboots Sketchbook Vol. 1 now available

You can get it in my etsy shop!  $2.00 plus shipping! <3 br="">

Chapter Six Cover!

Today on The WHYs: A new chapter starts!

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Upcoming Events:
July 9: Portland Zine Symposium.

CAKE this weekend!

Hello y'all!    I will be at CAKE Chicago tabling for Sparkplug Books this weekend!  I will have copies of my new sketchbook zine for sale.  This is one of my favorite fests and it’s free and open to the public, so be sure to check it out!  Info below:

Chicago Alternative Comics Expo (CAKE)
Saturday and Sunday, June 11 and 12, 2016
11 am – 6 pm
Center on Halsted
3656 N Halsted
FREE and open to the public!
http://www.cakechicago.com

New WHYs page today!

Today on The WHYs: Everyone loves baby goat videos!  Also, CAKE is this weekend!  Will I see you there?

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Upcoming Events:
June 11 & 12: CAKE.  I'll be tabling and possibly on a panel.
July 9: Portland Zine Symposium.

The WHYs updated today!

Today on The WHYs: No need to be nervous, maybe?

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Upcoming Events:
June 11 & 12: CAKE.  I'll be tabling and possibly on a panel.
July 9: Portland Zine Symposium.

New WHYs Page Today!

Today on The WHYs: Gee thanks Paul.

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Upcoming Events:
June 11 & 12: CAKE.  I'll be tabling and possibly on a panel.
July 9: Portland Zine Symposium.

Linework NW this weekend!

Hey all!
I'll be tabling for Sparkplug Books this weekend but also! will have a couple other things going on.  On Saturday May 21st, I will be part of a party/reading at the IPRC in celebration of Linework.  The readings will start at 8:45.
On Sunday May 22nd, in addition to tabling, I'll be part of the panel "Genderlines in Comics and Illustration" from 4-5pm.  The panel is being moderated by Sarah Mirk from Bitch Magazine!  Should be interesting.
Please come by, Linework NW is a really great, fun festival and it is free & open to the public!

Page 121 up today!

Today on The WHYs: Trying to get some answers.

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Upcoming Events:
June 11 & 12: CAKE.  I'll be tabling and possibly on a panel.

New WHYs page today!!

Today on The WHYs: Examining Makewell's desk.

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Upcoming Events:
May 21 & 22: Linework NW.  I'll be tabling and on the "Gender in Comics" panel.
June 11 & 12: CAKE.  I'll be tabling and possibly on a panel.

Page 119 of The WHYs is up!

Today on The WHYs: What's it take to make her happy?

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Support The WHYs on Patreon!  I am losing hours at my job this month, so May would be a great time to pledge on my Patreon!  I'd sure appreciate it.

Upcoming Events:
May 21 & 22: Linework NW.  I'll be tabling and on the "Gender in Comics" panel.
June 11 & 12: CAKE.  I'll be tabling and possibly on a panel.

The WHYs page 118 is up!

Today on The WHYs: A meeting with Makewell.

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Support The WHYs on Patreon!

New WHYs page today!!

Today on The WHYs: Mission fallout thoughts.

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Support The WHYs on Patreon!

I did a video of inking this page.
Also I was interviewed this week!

The WHYs updated today!

Today on The WHYs: Back to the base.

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Support The WHYs on Patreon!

Inking Video!

I did a (kinda long) video of inking page 116 of The WHYs!  Check it out!  Let me know if there are any other drawing things you would like me to make videos of.

A new WHYs page!

Today on The WHYs: Kit makes a new friend.

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Support The WHYs on Patreon!

The WHYs updated today!

Today on The WHYs: Takeoff!

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Support The WHYs on Patreon!