Hello dear readers!
I hope this newsletter finds you well.
Indeed, I hope it finds you at all! MailPoet (the plug-in that allows me to send these blog posts out as emails) temporarily suspended the function after I got hit by another wave of spam-bots.
Oh the joys of the modern age. Hopefully everything should be working properly again by now.
Anyway, let’s get to the latest news.
Patreon Update: Additional Monthly Commission Slots!
I’ve added an extra slot for each of my monthly commission tiers on Patreon.
The $10 tier lets you claim a simple character portrait commission (which I refer to as a “Doodle”) every month for personal use. The $15 gets you the same thing, but the Doodle can be for commercial use as well.
Here are some Doodle commissions I’ve done over the past few months/years that I’m particularly proud of.
If you’d like to support my work, get the monthly art asset packs AND be able to claim one of these commissions every month, join my Patreon HERE.
First In-Person TTRPG Club Meeting a Success!
Exactly a week ago today, my wife and I hosted the very first TTRPG meeting at our local co-op.
We spent most of last Saturday in a kind of excited and anxious haze, before walking for 45 minutes in the rain to get to the co-op in town.
After a cup of tea and about half and hour of waiting (we arrived early), people started to turn up!
In the end we had five players, two of which were a mum and her 11-year-old daughter.
These two were the last to arrive and we had already decided to play a one-shot of Call of Cthulhu. Fortunately both mother and daughter – who had never played a TTRPG before – were both on board with some pulpy cosmic horror. Our youngest player had a lot of fun making use of her character’s formidable strength and handy revolver. She “ventilated” an attacking fish-man with gusto.
I had been particularly worried about potentially having to run a game in Italian with strangers. I’m not a very experienced GM, and the games I have run in the past have all been my own. Furthermore, while having been born and raised in Italy, I still consider English my first language.
Fortunately, everyone at the table also spoke English, so I was able to hand the reigns to my much more experienced GM-wife. Now that I’ve met the players, I think I should be ok running a game or two in Italian.
Hopefully this will become a monthly event. With any luck there will be more people next time, and we can start organising multiple tables.
Leaving Discord, Part 2: Welcome to Pennyspace!
So after fiddling and farting around with neocities for a while, I learned that a forum functionality was not possible. Neocities does have a tremendous amount to offer in terms of customisation and creativity.
However, having decided that what I most wanted was that late 90s to early 00s forum experience, I decided to use a free hosting website and build my own forum.
Behold: Pennyspace! A little corner of the internet dedicated primarily to art and TTRPGs, but with room for chatting about all sorts of things.
I’m hopeful that this forum will become what I always wished my discord server could be.
I have personalised it as much as I can. I even created my own icons and emojis!
I love how easy it is to organise and search for things. I especially love how this is a space that I run, and that isn’t beholden to yet another social media platform or big tech company.
If you’re looking for a slower-paced, algorithm-free place to chat and share cool stuff, Pennyspace might just be for you!
Albo News: Zine Proof Copy & Exploring the Alboverse!
My first proof print copy of ALBO arrived on Tuesday.
The orint quality is good, and the paper is thick enough to allow colouring in the illustrations without bleed. To be safe I tested both felt-tip pens and pencils, and both worked great.
The only issue is that the minor paper shifting during print is more visible with the borders I added.
While the borders looked nice on the computer screen, they also make the pages feel cluttered in print.
So, I’ve made a new version without the borders and ordered a new proof copy!
This week I also drew some concept art for the first of the settings I want to write for Albo.
I’m once again revisiting a world-building project from last year. The basic premise is an alternate history, between the early 80s and early 2000s, that saw a technology boom based on eldritch sorcery from another dimension.
This character would be the protagonist of a pokemon / digimon style creature capture cartoon and video game. I think she looks suitably “saturday morning cartoon”-ish, yes?
Media Spotlight!
Before I get to the usual list, a special shout-out goes to my wife and her brand new travel blog website:
The Slow Travel Express.
She’s published a few posts already, so if you’re interested in sustainable travel and alternatives to big tourist-traps, check out her website and subscribe to her newsletter too!
- Steve Shives discusses a Superman story that I now really want to read – Superman: Peace on Earth by Paul Dini and Alex Ross.
- Another great Ska cover by Jer of Skatune Network of the Pokecenter theme.
- Two more Cartoon Cartoons: the gory horror short Duck and the delightfully cosy and whimsical Foools. A true testament to the versatility and wonder of animation as a medium for telling stories!
- Hugh Lashbrooke just published a companion for the Pokemon Trading Card Game.
- A very happy birthday to Sister Rosetta Tharpe, the inventor of Rock & Roll!
- I recently stumbled across this album by Equip, Discovery. It is entirely made up of retro edutainment CD-ROM audio samples. It’s surprisingly relaxing and inspiring. In a very similar spirit, be sure to given a listen to Louie Zong’s new release, the weather channel vaporwave jazz album, Strange Weather.
That’s all for this issue!
As always, thank you so much for reading.
One last reminder that if you feel like supporting my work, you can buy something from my website or itchio, join my Patreon as a paying member, or commission me.
If none of the above are doable for you, please consider spreading the word about my work to your friends!
New subscribers to the Penflower Post get a special discount code to use in the shop, as a thank you.
Until next time,
– Penflower
