Tom Ray

It was the place I used to think about all I was going to do.

On this episode of the podcast, I meet Amie Waters . Amie has been making music and videos on YouTube for years and has turned it into a career. After going to school for music and putting out several albums Amie decided to dive in one year to really try and make music a career. After doing that for a time, Amie thought it wasn't going to happen and was about to give up when one of the releases did something big!  Listen to the podcast on Apple Podcasts | Google Podcasts | Spotify | RSS Links Amie Waters on YouTube  https://www.youtube.com/AmieWaters Amie Waters on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/amiewatersmusic Amie Waters on Twitter https://twitter.com/amiewatersmusic Support the show! Check out the vintage pop-culture items available in my eBay Store https://ebay.to/2vMYStC Check out the other things Tom Ray does too! :) - Tom Ray's Daily webcomic - Tom Ray's graphic novels "Then This Happened..." on Amazon - https://amzn.to/35SzQaJ - Podcast Music by Tom...

I felt like trying to draw an exaggerated version of one of those comic book novelty products ads. This one is for the Atomic Joy Buzzer. It has a wild-eyed pimply-faced kid with a wisp of facial hair. The kid just shocked an adult in a suit and tie electrocuting him and exposing the bones in the hand.

The edges touching the sides of my tongue is what causes it. I don't understand why?

This is the third video in a series about how I make books of my webcomics This is the 3rd video in a series I’ve been doing about turning the webcomic I post each day into my own paperback book that I can sell on amazon and more! In the last few videos , I went over how I started the comic, what I used to make the comic, how I chose the sizes for multiple platforms and for print, and the easy way I use google docs and google photos to help me get it ready for printing on amazon at the end of each year. At this point in the process, I’ve created a cover for the book by downloading a cover template from KDP based on the number of pages in my book. And I’ve added all the webcomics from the past year that I had backed up in google photos and imported them to google docs. Now I’m going to start the publishing process on KDP. Adding info for the KDP book The first step is adding the title info and author info. Plus a description of the book for the Amazon page. Also need to add a category...

It's like I forgot how they work.

I just thought that was interesting. Curious to see if they sell for that much.

This is the second video in a series about how I make books of my webcomics In the previous video , I gave some background about how I started my webcomic, how I add the images to my book with the help of Google Photos and Google docs. You can check out part 1 here -  https://www.tomrayswebsite.com/2022/01/making-book-of-my-webcomic-how-i-add.html In this video, I wanted to talk more about how my webcomic transformed from something I was just posting on my website to a thing that I could find multiple uses for. Now when I drew the comic I knew it was going to be something I would publish as a book, put on multiple media sites that people use, and sell at shows and pop-ups if I wanted to. Now each webcomic is being turned into several things. ( You can check out my Amazon books here - https://amzn.to/3qzSNdL ) How did I choose a size for my book? Since I started making these the 3 books I published of my webcomics have all been different sizes. When I was just posting it on my web...

I mean I waited 20 minutes so it's fair game right?

On this episode of the podcast, I meet Jason Lambeth . Jason is an artist and musician here in Madison. Jason paints, draws, and makes music. I actually heard about him from a video suggestion on YouTube he was on a podcast about running a cassette tape music label. We talk about his music background, running a label, and the inspiration behind what he makes.

The person was confused that we just wanted coffee. I was confused about everything else.

I wanted to talk about how I make books of my webcomic I started my webcomic in 2017 and made the first collected issue of those comics the following year. I did my own research and found out things through trial and error. Always wanted to show how I make these books and now that I’m putting together my fourth book I thought I would document the process in a series of videos. ( You can check out my Amazon books here - https://amzn.to/3qzSNdL ) How many episodes of my webcomic do I make? I try to draw a comic every day if I can. But I will miss a day from time to time. But when I put these together I assume it’s about 365 webcomics. Even though it’s slightly less but it’s pretty close. Where do I get the inspiration? I sit down at the end of each day and think about what happened that day. That’s why I call the series " Then this happened… " It first started out as a cathartic thing when my wife was diagnosed with breast cancer. The first book is of the year going through th...

I wanted to record it while I did it so I wouldn't forget anything.

Still trying to find the right balance for it though.

Everyone I've told this to asked me if I took any.

It's a shadow on an object. Physically it should be there but it looks better without it and that seems wrong.

On this episode of the podcast, I meet Xizhou Xie . Xizhou is a painter that lives here in Madison WI. We talk about finding her art style, getting work hung in galleries, and even turning her own home into a gallery for her artwork. Listen to the podcast on Apple Podcasts | Google Podcasts | Spotify | RSS Links Xizhou Xie's website  https://xizhouxie.com Xizhou Xie on Instagram https://www.instagram.com/xizhouxie Support the show! Check out the vintage pop-culture items available in my eBay Store https://ebay.to/2vMYStC Check out the other things Tom Ray does too! :) - Tom Ray's Daily webcomic - Tom Ray's graphic novels "Then This Happened..." on Amazon - https://amzn.to/35SzQaJ - Podcast Music by Tom Ray's band Lorenzo's Music , listen on Spotify https://spoti.fi/2JJF39Q

I kept thinking did we go to school together or something? I think his mask is why I didn't recognize him.

I don't know if it's those ridges in the steps creating an optical illusion or what. It was even worse going down them.

I take a look at some of the things I got to add to my vintage collection today. Headed to some estate sales to look for some vintage and retro toys, games, and books. One of the places was too fancy for me. But then I went to one that had some of the old toys I was looking for - including a bunch of Cabbage Patch Doll heads ? And at the end, I show one of my webcomic diary pages. This is a video of my daily life since I decided to sell collectibles and pop-culture items I collect on eBay, Mercari, and Facebook Marketplace to help support my art career instead of taking on freelance work. More vintage pop-culture items available in my eBay Store https://ebay.to/2vMYStC Check out the other things I do too! :) - Tom Ray's Art Podcast (interviews with artists) - Daily webcomic - My webcomic eBooks "Then This Happened..." on Amazon - https://amzn.to/3cQa0bz - Music at the end of this video by my band Lorenzo's Music , listen on Spotify https://spoti.fi/2JJF39Q - Subscribe...

I was scooping dish suds out of it for like an hour.

Horsey Headface drawing I made the other day for some reason? I was using the vector program Inkscape the other day. I was going to create an image for something else originally. I have a song single coming out and it needed some cover art.  So I fired up the program but when I first opened it I had my Wacom tablet hooked up and just started sketching something to warm up. For some reason I just sketched a boy waving "howdy" and dressed kinda like a cowboy on a ranch. I don't know why? Cowboy kid sketch I thought, "That's weird?" But then I was like, whatever and kept going.  So I outlined the drawing in vector shapes and filled them in with colors and stuff.  Then I had this. Howdy kid illustration And then I kept going. I gave it a green background and put some cloud lines in the sky. I roughed up the edges of the clouds with the object sculpting tool.  That tool randomizes the edges of the vector shapes. vector clouds illustration But then I just starte...

I actually think the person thought they were being witty.

On this episode of the podcast, I meet Tiffany Babb . Tiffany is a regular contributor to many online publications and writes about the comics and not just that but how the comic stories have cultural relevance.  Tiffany also just released her first collection of poetry "A LIST OF THINGS I’VE LOST" that was published by Vegetarian Alcoholic Press. Plus Tiffany also makes a diary webcomic called "All About Me".

Plus maybe others might find the process interesting?