Having taken the other weekend off from getting any artwork done I was back to starting on issue #16 this last week.
I’ve already plotted out the book, scripted the opening and closing pages that bookend the story, and even got the first two pages drawn!
What do you think of the opening page?
And hey, with issue #15 all done and dusted but no conventions in sight I’m thinking of releasing it for free but more on that soon!
Bear hugs!
I realise it’s been a while but I’ve been busy ripping on through issue #15 (having still to add those final speech balloons to a couple of panels in issue #14 but hey…)
I can actually happily say that issue #15 is all but done with only the ‘Previously’, ‘Next time’ and sound effects to be done!
I’ve even gone back and updated the cover (because I wouldn’t be me if I hadn’t!)
On the left was the original cover that I put together way back when I originally finished issue #14.
Now going back to it I had a few issues…
First of all, was Lloyd and Bear smiling or in shock? And hey, what happened to their teeth?!? I also felt that Lloyd’s head was a bit squished and in correcting that I had to lower him a bit in the panel which in turn meant re-positioning Bear which ended up with the only half the poor guys face showing! Not cool!
Then I felt the bottom panels background was lacking and then I decided I wanted to redo the shading of the Shoal (and obvious colour correction) PLUS out heroes ship needed a bit reworking so I figured I may as well just start from scratch!
What do you think?
I figure by the weekend I’ll be good to start with issue #16 so I need to get my writing hat on!
More soon! Bear hugs!
So Upton Naturals is a Chicago based company that offers a range of vegan foods and one of them foods is Mac & Cheese!
So straight off, let’s discuss the food prep for this! You have two sachets; one has the already cooked elbow (yay!) macaroni and the other has the sauce. Just add both to a pan and heat away while giving it a wee stir to ensure you coat the macaroni with the sauce and you’re done! (I believe you can use a microwave for this too but as we lack a microwave I might have ignored those instructions!)
And seriously, even without a microwave it only takes several minutes to prepare although it is advised that you can leave it for a little more (like I did) if you want it crispy (although it’s super hard to hold out those few extra minutes as the smell coming from the pan is soooooo good)!
Man, I really do love that there’s an option on how you want the texture of your mac and how easy it is to do!
But the prep is that easy and you might think that this means the actual meal won’t be that great but no! There’s a really great bite to the macaroni no matter if you cook it for the normal length of time or just that bit more!
And the flavour of the sauce? Well, there’s a strong nutritional yeast thing going on here but it’s backed up with a nice level of warmth from the spices. Nothing too strong, just enough that it feels like my belly is getting a big hug with every bite I take!
As you can see in the picture the sauce isn’t that creamy and certainly has no stretch to it but on the positive there is enough to cover the macaroni (and hey, IT PROPERLY COVERS THE MACARONI) so overall that’s a win for me!
And man, for such a tasty and easy to make meal that really gives you the feels of a great comfort food I give this a strong
Why only four macaronis? Man, I just want that wee bit more mac in a serving! Is that wrong?!?*
If you want to learn more about Upton Naturals check out their site but be warned, although some of their products are available here in the UK this sadly isn’t one of them! Whyyyyyyyyyy?
(Nor is the Mac & Cheese with Seitan! Boooooo!)
But hey, if you can get your hands on this and you’re vegan, veggie or a meat eater I would TOTALLY advise you to check it out (and for extra wrongness why not add some (vegan?) hot dogs!)
*No. No it isn’t.
TV shows where people shake hands, give hugs or have any kind of physical contact feel like their from a distant era.
I miss that era. ↓ Read the rest of this entry…
So to be honest I’ve been thinking of branching out in to doing store bought Mac & Cheese reviews for a while but with what’s going on now in the world this seemed like the IDEAL time to do this! But hey, where to start?
Well, after a couple of purchases and a lot of ip-dip(ing) I decided that Charlie Bigham’s Macaroni and Cheese with Crispy Pancetta would be the inaugural meal of choice for my home Mac & Cheese reviews! But, was it a worthy choice? Read on!
