Hair we go...

Having recently uncovered the secret of creating time-lapse videos of work unfolding in Photoshop, many of which I've admired in the past, I thought I'd test it out for myself on my entry to last weekend's Caption Competition. The challenge was the "anything goes" category, on the theme of 'Hair', and once I'd come up with my idea, I turned on the recording software and lost myself in Photoshop, finally completing my cartoon forty minutes later.

The result was then dropped into Windows Live Movie Maker, and speeded up by x16, music and closing credits added, et voila, one animated short, charting the process of a drawn gag from start to finish. And although it subsequently caused a little controversy over the legitimacy of posting an entry to the competition this way, it still managed to poll enough votes to win, for which I was surprised and delighted in equal measure.

I hope you enjoy it. I'll certainly be recording and posting more if you do...

Your Last Chance...

As I write, there is literally only 24 hours left for you to claim any of these great perks by supporting the Hairy Steve Campaign. It's been wonderfully successful and inspiring so far, and I can't quite believe it's already nearing the end, and I'll soon have no more Hairy Steve enthusiasts to 'Zombify'.

The hard work really starts now, with a race to continue bringing you the remaining pages of the comic on schedule. I hope you'll be forgiving and understanding if our target ever falls a little behind - the last thing we want to do is rush things, sacrificing any quality in order to hit self-imposed deadlines. That said, it won't be for want of trying if we have the odd hiccup.

Meanwhile, as I've said, if you'd like to grab yourself any or all of the above, and give us a last-minute push, you have less than one day in which to do it. By the time you next have breakfast, it could be too late. You don't want to have your porridge sprinkled with regrets, do you?

Do you?

(please note - some things in the picture above are approximations. i.e. the comic hasn’t been printed yet, obviously, so this is just a mock version, but everything else is real, three-dimensional, and waiting for you. PLUS, every single contributor gets their name in the comic credits, on the 'Thanks Page'.)

Badges already...

These are so exclusive and hot-footed from Badgeland that not even I have any of them... yet! But we've had them specially made as a thank you for the fabulous support so far for our Hairy Steve campaign , and they will added to the goodies that all funders who have contributed over $20 receive. Jamie's got them all securely stored in his safe right now, and I'm waiting to find out if I have to actually make a donation to the campaign to get mine. He's thinking it over.

Meanwhile, more zombies have escaped from my drawing board, and made their brain-sucking way to the Hairy Steve Gallery. This one will be joining them soon, along with several others. The Army mobilises...

Hairy Steve - the continuing story... um... continues!

Page 3 is now up and running! Well, more falling than running, if you know what I mean. If you don't, then have a look at the latest page.

Meanwhile, the latest in our Zombie funders has now emerged from the shadows. We shall be publishing more of these very soon on the campaign website, and it's not too late to walk among them, whilst becoming part of this exciting project, and receiving lots of other stuff into the bargain, including original artwork by Jamie Smart and me. All details HERE.

Heeeeeeere's Jimmy!...... (with permission)........

Page Two of Hairy Steve is up... EARLY!!!

We couldn't wait. www.hairysteve.com

And here's the very first of our Zombified backers. Step into the light, Cathal...

Hairy Steve unleashed...

That's it - after a short delay caused by the unexpectedly rapid outburst of enthusiasm, good will and financial support, Hairy Steve has today been officially launched to the world, and you can see the first page at hairysteve.com . Up above, you can see me trying to look mean and moody alongside the beast himself (no contest!).

After five years since the first page was drawn, it's a tremendously exciting moment for both Jamie Smart and me, and not a little nerve-wracking, since I still have two thirds of the comic to draw, along with a whole heap of artwork for the 'perks' people have generously contributed to in order to help fund this thing, and be a part in its creation.

So the pressure is on, but with the warmth and encouragement that has enveloped Jamie and me like a warm blanket, it's good pressure, and a challenge I'm really looking forward to, every line of which I intend to enjoy to the max.

And it's not too late to play your part if you want to get on board. We may have reached our initial target already, but so long as people are happy to contribute, we'll be more than happy to work on those perks, and are already thinking up new ways to keep this whole fun hairball rolling along, gathering as many others into it as we can. The enthusiasm we've garnered so far has been addictive and a really positive force for moving forward. I can't stress enough how vital that has become.

I'm particularly going to enjoy turning some of you into zombies as one of the perks of funding process. Below is an example of just how I'll be doing this. If you'd like that to be you, the Hairy Steve webcomic will tell direct you to how to go about it, or you can head straight to our Campaign HQ for the full details of all the different ways to join in.

Thanks again to everyone who has done so this far, and I hope the fun keeps rolling along!

Day Four in the Hairy Steve House...

Jamie Smart and I have been absolutely blown away and humbled by the early reaction to our Hairy Steve campaign. Not only have we had numerous messages of support and good will from loads of lovely people, but we've been staggered by the level of contributions, which saw us reach our publication target within four hours of going live on this three month campaign. Not only that, at the time of writing, we are just over three days in, and forty dollars short of our overall target for the project.

That is simply mind-blowing for us. In fact it has caught us on the hop so much that we are now having to apologise for not actually being ready to launch just yet. The artwork is ready to unleash, but poor beleaguered Jamie hasn't had time to build the website for it yet. This will be done as soon as possible, and we're really, really looking forward to unleashing Hairy Steve on the world the moment it is done, even more so after the enthusiasm we've been bombarded with over the past few days.

Naturally, we're not going to be too upset if we go over our target , but we are already looking at ways to use any surplus funding to keep the Hairy Steve campaign alive, fun and rewarding to our family of contributors. We're all in this together, and that, for me, is what excites me most. The support of people who are happy to play a part in this project is fabulous and very inspiring.

Above is a small taster panel from one of the early pages, and below is the original pencilled cover I drew five years ago...