Hey, remember when I said Doodze is returning with new webcomic episodes soon? Yeah, about that…

I’ve been thinking about this for a while, but I think I need to pursue something else right now. There are few reasons for this.

For one thing, I have other stories to tell and it’s hard to focus on more than one comics project at the same time. But another issue is that over the course of several years doing Doodze, it never really gained much of an audience. I’d like to see if, starting fresh with a new project, I could create a comic that catches on with more people. It’s not just about the money, but it would be nice to get something back for all my investment. If comics could be my career some day, I’d be grateful, but I don’t think that’s going to happen if I don’t take a risk and try something new. I’ve learned a lot over the past few years making Doodze, and would like to try to put those lessons into action with a new project and see how far I can take it.

All that… Plus I have a new project I’m working on that I’m pretty excited about. But I’m not going to say much more till I’m ready to put it out there. I will say, though, that of you like Doodze, you’ll like this new thing too. My hope is that it can become everything I’d originally envisioned Doodze becoming.

So… all that to say, I would love to tell more stories with the Doodzes, and maybe I will some day; but for now, it’s time to put it on the shelf indefinitely.

As I said, I am working on something else, and hopefully can tell you more in the near future. So if you’d like to be kept in the loop, why not join my email list? I promise not to spam you, but only email when there’s actual news. Just drop your email address in this form and click subscribe:

You can also follow me on Twitter and/or Facebook and/or Tumblr. And while I’m throwing links out there, here’s one for my spiffy new portfolio site.

Also! In November I’ll be taking on a couple of artistic challenges. One is ArtSoundoff — a daily art podcast challenge. I’ll be recording short daily updates with a show I’m calling the Art Boom! Behold my quickly-doodled logo…

Meanwhile, the Doodze book is still available. Click below to buy. Gift-giving season is coming soon, you know!

Lastly, let me say this: Thank you, especially to my long-time readers, for following Doodze! And thank you if you’ve already bought a book too! It does mean a lot when people take an interest in my work, read it, share it, and so on.

I hope you’ve enjoyed the ride… and that you’ll join me on my next artistic adventure! Keep in touch!

– Robin

That’s right! New Doodze episodes are on the way! Stay tuned for more news by following me here or on Twitter. In the meantime, you can download the above image as a desktop wallpaper over in the Store… along with a few others. Of course you can also buy a copy of the Doodze book there, too.

The other day, I posted some early Doodze-related sketches. Here are a few more from way back when…

Here’s a random Doodze with a Gargamel-like evil wizard… Something that never happened in the comics… although I imagine that human beings will appear someday.

This is an early thumbnail sketch. At this point, as you can see, the houses are not bamboo-shoots, and I was probably still thinking that Doodzes would live in a human-less world.

Here’s a slightly more refined pencil version of one of those thumbnail pages. Again, note the houses.

I recently found some old sketches that might be of interest to Doodze readers… from WAY back 5 or 6 years ago when I first came up with Doodze. Take a gander, if you will…

Early proto-Doodzes… though at this point they didn’t have a name or their own concept. I was actually in the middle of creating a totally different webcomic that never happened, and was coming up with various weird creatures for that story. Out of those doodles, Doodze was born.

Note the size…

I’m pretty sure it was this drawing, or one like it, that made me decide to make the Doodzes into tiny Smurf-like people. I just loved the idea of them living in bamboo shoots.

Check out this recent sketch of Eddo and Patchy:

I drew this last week for our contest winner. He should be getting it, along with a signed copy of the Doodze book, soon, if it hasn’t arrived already.

That, my friends, is a good question!

It’s been almost a year, I think, since Doodze book one finished serializing here on the site. And at several points I’ve blogged or tweeted that new stuff is in the works. I may have even been bold enough to say “Coming soon!” Well, if I was so bold, I apologize for now living up to those claims.

The thing is, the first Doodze book suffered from too much improvisation, which resulted in a LOT of editing once it was supposedly done. I want to make sure I have the story worked out ahead of time this time… and it’s been taking longer to get there than I’d imagined. I’ve probably been guilty of over-thinking it to the point of taking the fun out of it. But I think I needed to put it down for a while so I could come back at it with a fresh perspective.

Well, I think I’m actually close to knowing what I want to do now, and where the story is going next, and (the hardest part of all) what to do with the all-important first act. I learned a LOT through the process of making Doodze book one, and through various books, blogs, podcasts and so on that I’ve taken in over the past several years. Trying to APPLY what I’ve learned has taken some work.

Meanwhile, I’ve also been playing around with some other, non-Doodze-related ideas. One or more of these may take priority over Doodze from time to time… BUT I do still intend to tell more stories with Doodze. I’ve come to love these characters, and want to get back to regularly putting out finished content.

So… I’m not going to make any bold promises just yet. As you’re reading this, I’m away from home and not able get “down to business” just yet. But HOPEFULLY I can make an official announcement soon, and HOPEFULLY that’ll mean new Doodze.

Meanwhile…

PLEASE: If you’re a fan of Doodze, could you share a link to the site or the book? And if you’ve bought a copy yourself, why not upload a pic and link here? If you let me know where it’s posted, I’d love to see and share it.

And, if you don’t want to miss out on the latest Doodze (and other me-related) news, please subscribe to this blog or follow me on Twitter (Doodze and Me) or Facebook.

THANK YOU so much for reading! Hope you’ve had a great summer.

Pete Davies! A reader in England who tweeted to win. Pete, as it turns out, is a fellow artist. Extra cool. I shipped this book and sketch to him today…

Update: I started this contest last week, but for some reason the system I was using to run it isn’t working. People were getting errors when trying to enter so… I’m ending that and starting a new, simplified contest. Read on…

Share the Doodze love for a chance to win!

That’s right! I’m giving away a free, signed copy of Doodze — A Tiny Epic (the book), along with an original piece of art (a sketch of a Doodze character of your choice) by yours truly.

There are now TWO, simple ways to enter: (1) Re-tweet THIS. Or, (2) comment on this blog post (but be sure to leave your email address so I can contact you!)

The contest ends FRIDAY night (Aug. 7 ’15) Japan time! (Friday AM in North America) Those who’ve already commented on this post will be included.

In celebration — and promotion — of the release of the Doodze book, I’m releasing a series of desktop wallpaper for PC and Mac. Go on over the Store page and check them out!

200 pages! 14 chapters! Bonus sketchbook section and other goodies you can’t find online.

Now available from these online retailers:

Amazon (US)

Amazon (Canada)

Amazon (Japan)

Barnes & Nobel