Some years ago, at the request of a family friend who had known the cartooning I'd done as a teenager, I drew a dozen or so cartoons for a marriage guidance course. Out of those cartoons appeared a couple of characters who seemed perfect for their own comic strip.
I started drawing some strips featuring this new couple, known only in my mind as ‘The Guy’ and ‘The Girl’, as they navigate modern life as a married couple.
Five strips became fifty, and I felt like I had something that could become an ongoing creative endeavour. I even submitted it to some syndicates and along with some straight out rejections, got some encouraging feedback.
However, it (obviously) never quite made it to the big time, and ended up sitting in my drawing file for a few more years as life rolled on. I eventually started colouring a few strips, potentially for use on another webcomic web site, which ultimately never went anywhere.
Recently, I dug them out again. On taking another look at them I finally decided to heck with it, I’m going to put this thing out there on Twitter just for fun.
And so, just like that, my long shelved comic strip 'Up the Hill' is finally seeing the light of day. You can check it out on Twitter here.
It’s sometimes surreal, sometimes sexy, and hopefully funny as it observes the challenges of modern relationships. I’ve posted three strips to start with, and will be adding new ones three times a week, on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays.
When the 'historic' strips in my file draw have come to an end, I'm hoping to be able to continue doing three strips a week. In any case, I’m looking forward to it stretching and challenging my creativity anew!
Come and join me 'Up the Hill'!