A friend of mine introduced me to a food track that sells, quite possibly, everything. From burgers and salads, to Korean BBQ, burritos, tacos, pupusas, tamales, and just about everything imaginable. This magical truck sold the best burger I’ve ever tasted, it had pastrami, it had bacon, and it had guacamole. It’s artery clogging, sure, but I’ll be damned if it isn’t delicious. It’s the burger made of perfection.

Oh… magical food truck, how I love you.

This is the first appearance of young Mr. Jacob and his wife since “Flashin’ Back” from the second chapter of Somewhere in SF, back when it was drawn in black and white with a different technique. It’s nice to see old (young?) characters updated in color. It really shows how similar Mr. Jacob’s wife is to our lovely Natalie. The blonde hair, a love of the color pink, and very energetic.

This page is a throwback to the incident that ended the first chapter of Somewhere in SF, “Dusting the Dirty Room” wherein Jenny accidentally walks in on Brandon receiving a blowjob from Sara. This week takes us back to 1987, where Mr. Jacobs and family walk in on the young Jenny blowing her then boyfriend, the Gardener’s brother. It doesn’t seem to bother Jenny too much for some reason.

After three weeks of nothing but guest art and filler, Somewhere in SF is back to glory. This week’s page deals with a little relationship quarrel between Dr. Hotness and James. We’ve all been there, cooking dinner for that special someone only to have them not show up. It’s a horribly depressing thing, which is why I’m extra sure to only cook enough for me and nobody else.

Experiments with depth of field are found in both the second and third panels. The second panel is more focused on Dr. Hotness’ reaction to the James’ telephone call. The third panel is mainly an accident. While editing, I accidentally blurred the lineart for the background in that third panel. It looked good, so it stayed in.

Also, the background color should feel a bit more vibrant.

As for me, I’ve been buying video games non-stop. Last week, I bought Tropico 3, next week I’m buying Heavy Rain. The week after that? I’m buying Yakuza 3. Sadly, I’m not gonna be able to play any of them any time soon. Oh, well.

Today is Valentine’s Day, a day where lovers embrace each other to celebrate their love with flowers, dinners, and adorable plush toys. It’s also the day where those without a significant other can wallow be happy in their loneliness.  Naturally, since I’m a webcomic artist, my night will consist of drinking red wine while listening to smooth jazz and downtempo lounge music. All in all, a good night for me.

But I digress, let’s get back to discussing the comic update. As you might have noticed, I missed this week’s update as well. All the Rush albums and Coca-Cola in the world couldn’t finish help me finish this week’s page. The bright side? The comic is almost done and will be ready for next Sunday’s update. Whooo!

This week’s filler comes from the talented Ryan Estrada, the man behind Welton Colbert, Aki Alliance, and Frank. As of right now, he is competing for a contract with DC Comics to fund his latest series, Sci-fi Drive-by. It’s a fantastic read, so go vote for it over at Zuda Comics. Best of luck to you and your comic, Ryan.

It’s no secret that Natalie is absolutely madly in love with the Gardener. What an attractive blond heir to a multi-billion dollar corporation would find attractive in a homely gardener from one of those Latin American countries is a mystery. She got more than she bargained for after giving the Gardener her Valentine’s Day gift and apparently, it really doesn’t matter to the blond ditzy billionaire.

Oh, and watermelon chocolate pizza sounds revolting.

Somewhere in SF comic updates: “Celebrity Doppelganger Week”
(or the comic that makes you think of the characters IRL.)

Guess who stepped in to save Somewhere in SF from another week of nothingness? None other than Claire Leona, whoo! I was wondering what she was talking about when she mentioned a “Celebrity Doppelganger Week” but after looking it up, it has to do with Facebook and look alikes!

Poor Jenny, no Asian-American actress from the 90s looks like her. Off the top of my head, I can’t name anyone. After a little exploration, maybe Melissa Ng Mei? Speaking of which, why would Natalie want anyone to think she looks like Tori Spelling? Then I realized, “Oh yeah, she used to be alot cuter back then!”

Second week in a row of missed Somewhere in SF updates. What could be the culprit of these missed updates now? The answer is quite simple, really. Final Cut Pro and making a booklet. All of my time has been taken up by cutting segments of film in Final Cut Pro, trying to make a workable film based on the mountains and mountains of footage I’ve shot. You’d think editing would be easy, just toss a few clips, add a few fades and BAM, you’re done. Well, it’s not and I’ve never realized how big of a faux perfectionist I could be, alas, that’s just the way it is.

Taking up the spare time I have in between Final Cut Pro and sleeping is that Pregnancy booklet I’ve been working on. I’ve taken too long editing the damn thing to get it perfect. After it got reviewed by the hospital council in it’s near completed form a while back, it’s almost ready to go. At the moment, with two of my undertakings currently finished, I feel like an absolute boss. A sleepy one.

Somewhere in SF comic update: “Gossip SF”
(…or the guest art, as drawn by Claire Leona.)

This week’s SF adventure with Dr. Hotness and James will come next week as I was not able to finish it in time for today’s update. In the meantime, enjoy this awesome guest art by Claire Leona featuring Sara, Jenny, and, Lucy in a schoolgirl ‘Gossip Girl‘ type style that seems to be charming American airwaves.

Wheeeeep!

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It’s cloudy outside, the gentle winter breeze is playing with the palm trees and my plastic chicken with it’s crazy legs that move as dictated by the wind. Tomorrow, the skies will be gray, the streets will become wet, traffic will get slower, and motion will be determined by flowing red and white lights passing by.

What does rain have to do with the next track of The SF Chillout Sessions? Well, nothing short of being the title of the song featured. From 2007’s Rise comes “Rain” by Samantha James, a beautiful and delightful electronic dance-pop singer.

Electronic and organic never seem to go hand in hand, just listen to countless electronic/dance bands out there. Yet the same can’t be said about Samantha James. From the lush grooves of “Rain“, the apparent soul influences, the R&B styling, and James’ sultry voice fill the soundwaves, a laidback and mellow sophisticated jaunt that is surprisingly danceable and filled with depth, a rarity.

“Rain” is the 2nd track of The SF Chillout Sessions.

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It’s been a while since the last update to The SF Chillout Session, in fact, it’s been a WHOLE decade since the last update sometime around August 26th.

To welcome back  The SF Chillout Sessions, we introduce a man from Warwickshire, UK. A man with an amazing raspy voice that sings soul with an earnest and laidback passion, a cross between Stevie Wonder and Rod Stewart. That’s probably the best way to describe James Morrison’s music.

From 2006’s Undiscovered, comes “You Give Me Something“, a soulful acoustic blend of laidback pleasantness. With a memorable chorus hook that ranges the gauntlet from soft and warm to maddening, and well-written vocals that showcase Morrison’s talent and manages to not be absolutely sappy as fuck.

“You Give Me Something” is the 3rd track of The SF Chillout Sessions

Since it’s been a while since the last update, here’s a little recap.

3.) James Morrison – You Give Me Something
4.) Mutya Buena - Real Girl
5.) Toploader – Dancing in the Moonlight
6.) Jason Mraz – You & I Both
7.) A Man Called Adam – Barefoot in The Head (Acoustic Mix)
8.) Richie Havens & Groove Armada – Little by Little
9.) Amethystium – Etheral
10.) Soularia – Show Me
11.) Jane’s Addiction – Jane Say
12.) Primitive Radio Gods – Ghost of Chance
13.) Nicolay & Darien Brockington – I Love The Way You Love
14.) Air - La Femme d’Argen

Somewhere in SF comic update: “As Summarized by Sara”
(or the comic where sara is hit on by a creepy man.)

My throat is a little scratchy, my nose a little stuffy, I’m listening to KCRW 89.9FM, and I’m drinking some refreshing ice cold water from a see-through Coca-Cola glass. The comic is queued up and ready to be posted and I’m ready to fall asleep, fully aware that I’m gonna wake up feeling absolutely terrible and sick. Ah, the absolute downside of spending the entire week filming in rain.

Worth it? Absolutely.

A guy flirting with a pregnant, engaged, woman at a bar. Creepy right? Not as creepy as buying this pregnant woman an alcoholic drink as an icebreaker. I’m pretty sure that the Gardener would have something to say about Natalie pretending to be pregnant with his babies. This page pretty much assembled itself, mostly due to the fact that BigFish drew the characters almost perfectly.

The background was originally much brighter but I added a filter and dimmed the colours a bit. Originally, the background found tooth and nail with the characters for exposure and this made the page feel… noisy. After dimming the “lights” of the background (per say), this made the main characters pop up

Since I finished the page yesterday, I’ve been using whatever free time I have during this busy week working on that pregnancy guide that was supposed to be done by OCTOBER of LAST DECADE. (…even though I’ve already pissed away the money that I was paid on advertising I haven’t used on Project Wonderful and buying BigFish something.) You know the drill, fixing up small art mistakes, correcting grammar, and double checking the info. This guide has to be perfect if it’s gonna have my name and SF’s characters in it. Perfectionist, away!

Damn, Corrine Bailey Rae has a beautiful voice.

Somewhere in SF comic update: “Where Did We Go Wrong?”
(or the comic where James reveals too much info!)

The background, the twilight San Francisco Bay skyline, was added at the very last minute, like just moments ago and I’m pretty happy with how it looks.

So, in this page we have Lucy trying to find clothing to look pregnant, all the while wondering how her life got to that point. (Hint, hint: I think it might be the alcohol?) Meanwhile, James, wonders why the hell he even tries dealing with Sara’s bullshiy. A gay man going after his brother’s fiance? Ohhhh.

By the way, I added a slight white outline to the characters.

I’ve redesigned Jenny’s room which is apparent in this update, as to why Lucy would be looking for pregnancy clothes in her room, I don’t know. Speaking of which, right behind Lucy I drew an Nintendo 64 box which is not visible in the 3rd panel itself. There was a Nintendo 64 box in the original version of Jenny’s room.

On the topic of Land Rover.

While recent models of Land Rovers are brilliant vehicles, the older models were rugged, powerful SUVs that tackled mountains without breaking a sweat… but driving them on city streets wasn’t a good idea. Not to mention, the Land Rover Discovery, the specific model that James owns, was prone to breaking down.

And break down it did.

Somewhere in SF comic update: “The Three Other Candidates”
(of the comic where Sara reveals her pregnancy!)

A new year brings a new shading style to Somewhere in SF! Shading is now done by covering the skin tone with a darker shade and then lightly applying the original skin tone in different layers. It’s easy to do but requires a bit of time. Either way, the difference between the two styles is staggering.  The characters now have a little more implied weight and depth than the previous incarnation of the shading style.

So… it’s been a while since the last update, huh?

After a few weeks (or is it months?) of not updating the SF blog with something, I’ve finally decided to give the big ‘ole blog some love. Logging in to the WordPress control panel after some time of inactivity brought upon the following image. That’s a lot of spam that I probably won’t go through. I’m not even sure if I’ll delete it at all.