Alright folks, gather 'round! Your friendly neighborhood artist, Steve Rude (the one with the crippling art supply habit!), is back with a brand new sketchbook project: The Art of Steve Rude 2025 Sketchbook!
This bad boy's hitting crowdfunding in January, and lemme tell ya, art supplies ain't cheap. That's why your support is golden!
Speaking of gold, be sure to check out our Patreon page – those dedicated dudes and dudettes get some special deals during the launch.
And hey, while you're at it, head over to our launch page (www.steverude.com/2025skb) and sign up for the Backerkit livestream! We'll be dishing all the juicy details about the sketchbook and maybe even throw in a few laughs.
Now, to keep this humble dude motivated, let's hear it! What kind of goodies would make YOU excited for the next crowdfunder? Hit that poll and let your freak flag fly! (Select all that apply)
You did it, backers! We've officially smashed the $30,000 stretch goal! 🎉
This means you've unlocked:
The Alice Notebook: This beautiful 5.5" x 8.5" notebook features 60 blank pages perfect for journaling, sketching, or taking notes. It's yours to add to your pledge!
8 More Pages: The softcover editions now boast a whopping 88 pages of incredible content! (Hardcover editions still have all 168 pages.)
We need your help! Share this campaign with your entire social network. The more we share, the more pages we can add to the book!
Thank you again for your amazing support!
Get ready for a live studio session with Steve this Saturday at 1:30 PM Arizona Time!
We want to know what art topic excites you most? Learning to improve your art? Drawing emotions on characters? Something else?
Take the poll below and let us know!
Join us live on Saturday to find out which topic Steve will tackle next!
Happy New Year! It has been quite a busy holiday season (full of ups and downs), and we admittedly have gotten super-sidetracked with everything going on since... We have been pushing for an update on the International order shipping, and finally got a report this week:
All US and North American orders have shipped! If you haven't gotten yours check to see if your Backerkit survey is complete, or email [email protected].
UK/EU orders have arrived at the UK hub warehouse and should hopefully start shipping out next week! Frankly, 2 of the 4 palettes were received a couple of weeks ago, but for some reason, the other 2 were held up in customs this whole time... we don't know why or why they were separated, but they are now all reportedly at Zatu's warehouse and they should be processed right away. You should receive an Address Verification email soon in case you need to update your delivery address. If we can get notice of that mailing before they go out, we will let you know. Otherwise, if you need to update your address, please email [email protected] and reach out to https://www.qmlogistics.com/contactUs.html with the request asap to be safe.
AU/NZ order inventory should reach Aetherworks early next week, and they'll get those orders turned around as soon as they can. I imagine that should be within the next 1-2 weeks.
ASIA order inventory has been received at VFI, but unfortunately, a lot of centers and carriers have already closed down for Chinese New Year, so these may not go out until they get back from the holiday. We'll keep you posted as soon as we have confirmation.
I know it has been a long wait, but it's nearly over. Things have been a real rollercoaster and minefield since Thanksgiving, but we're on the other side of it all and taking this opportunity to clear our minds for the year ahead. We have lots planned and want to make sure you're all pleased and appreciated for your generous support.
We're heading to the annual Festival de la Bande Dessinée d'Angoulême next week, where we hope to see many of our friends and fabulous authors (including Jordan), hopefully with a stack of exciting new projects to bring back with us! We'll try to be responsive while on the road!
How do you feel about the current stretch goal system where softcover page count increases by 8 pages for every $5,000 raised? We currently have 88 pages which makes both softcover books saddle stitched (stapled) books.
The hardcover edition and the digital download will always have 176 pages.
If we fail to hit the $80k needed to print all 3 books with the full page count should we relaunch on Kickstarter? It would likely push the ship date out to May, but allow for further funding. Alternatively, we can have the goal reachable through Backerkit post campaign funding or simply realize we underestimated our community and need to reassess the goal to $40k. Completely reachable if everyone SHARES with at least 5 friends.
In our efforts towards more regular communication, we are here with another update! Though it’s a brief update, it does reflect good news and good progress.
Firstly, we have secured a printing partner! We’re in the process of receiving pre-press materials from them: cover and slipcase templates, options for our cover enhancements, etc. Once we have these, fitting the existing designs to precise specs is a pretty simple task of finalization.
Speaking of, we are still in the process of finalizing interiors. While we have successfully updated the lettering throughout the book, it was found that some of the dialogue is quite tight in the balloons and some of the balloons are quite big for the present dialogue. With permission from Marie, we’re now going back through the book to standardize these for a more uniform appearance. This and some other fine details should be the final bit of polish needed before we distribute the digital edition and send the book to print.
AGAIN, thanks so much for your patience. I never expected shipping to be delayed into 2025, but here we are. But the good news is that:
ALL SHIPPING IS OFFICIALLY DONE
Here are the details:
US shipping of Nuclear Strudel Chapter 1, Oracle cards, and stickers: DONE
INT. shipping of Nuclear Strudel Chapter 1, etc.: DONE
US/ INT. shipping of Quantum Marmalade Chapters 1-4: DONE
I really appreciate your continued support and love -- it means the world that y'all have stuck with me through thick and thin.
We have a lot more exciting stuff planned for this year, so stay tuned for more updates, art, chapters, and shenanigans. In the meantime, here's an early preview of what's next on the agenda:
Y'ov is back (iykyk) and more bloodthirsty than ever. Who knows what twisted science he's working on now. Can he be stopped? Find out as the QM narrative continues. (Look for more info/ updates March/ April this year.)
Hi folks! I wanted to check in, as it’s been a minute! Since the campaign ended, I’ve been working every single day on this project. Currently, I’m about half finished, so things have been progressing, but not as fast as I wanted initially. The book itself is all fleshed out and written, which took the bulk of the startup time, so now it’s been a question of getting all the art right. I’m now moving at a clip of close to a page completed a day though, so progress is picking up.
Anyway, as a thank you for your patience I wanted to share with you all the first 30 pages of the book. This should give you a sense of what it’s going to be like (although keep in mind this is still a draft so things may change a little in the final version).
Here’s a link to the PDF, enjoy and as always, if you have feedback, I’d love to hear your thoughts. Thank you again for your support and patience. I’m putting the most effort into this I’ve ever put into any project and I hope you all enjoy it!
Happy New Year! It has been quite a busy holiday season (full of ups and downs), and we admittedly have gotten super-sidetracked with everything going on since... We have been pushing for an update on the International order shipping, and finally got a report this week:
All US and North American orders have shipped! If you haven't gotten yours check to see if your Backerkit survey is complete, or email [email protected].
UK/EU orders have arrived at the UK hub warehouse and should hopefully start shipping out next week! Frankly, 2 of the 4 palettes were received a couple of weeks ago, but for some reason, the other 2 were held up in customs this whole time... we don't know why or why they were separated, but they are now all reportedly at Zatu's warehouse and they should be processed right away. You should receive an Address Verification email soon in case you need to update your delivery address. If we can get notice of that mailing before they go out, we will let you know. Otherwise, if you need to update your address, please email [email protected] and reach out to https://www.qmlogistics.com/contactUs.html with the request asap to be safe.
AU/NZ order inventory should reach Aetherworks early next week, and they'll get those orders turned around as soon as they can. I imagine that should be within the next 1-2 weeks.
ASIA order inventory has been received at VFI, but unfortunately, a lot of centers and carriers have already closed down for Chinese New Year, so these may not go out until they get back from the holiday. We'll keep you posted as soon as we have confirmation.
I know it has been a long wait, but it's nearly over. Things have been a real rollercoaster and minefield since Thanksgiving, but we're on the other side of it all and taking this opportunity to clear our minds for the year ahead. We have lots planned and want to make sure you're all pleased and appreciated for your generous support.
We're heading to the annual Festival de la Bande Dessinée d'Angoulême next week, where we hope to see many of our friends and fabulous authors (including Jim Bishop), hopefully with a stack of exciting new projects to bring back with us! We'll try to be responsive while on the road!
there is only ONE parcel left (sorry if you're the One Backer in florida!) that i somehow missed in my packing so need to reorder a few books for x.x if you're this person and just want a refund cuz youre tired of waiting hmu. otherwise i'll get it to you asap. BUT everyone else has been sent, all tracking info input, and i saw today from jay in the uk that the parcel arrived over there already. so keep an eye on your mailboxes!!
ANE was amazing, it always is. my next focus is to get chapter 9 ready for print - i won't be doing a fundraiser for that, however far more likely i'll try to squeak in some cloth bracelet design campaign before the tariff increases make working with manufacturers overseas absolutely impossible for small timers like me. lol. fuck this country but hey now you get angsty comics to read, thats something right!
if you haven't already, be sure to follow me on the platforms of your choice. who knows what our future together will bring.
i made a lot of accounts because that is what small time artists are expected to keep updated these days
and tho i dont have a forum, joining my kofi or patreon /does/ grant access to a discord. and there's always the MUD! im there every saturday night at least!
hang in there folks. bite back if you gotta. love ya. til we meet again.
I am super excited for everything 2025 has in store for me this year! I am blessed to be working on amazing new books with wonderful creators, working with new publishers, and launching the long awaited issue 4 of GREENZONE: Life In The Blocks! What will happen in the wake of the attack on station 46?! How badly was Virgil burned? Will Cpl Waters survive?! This and more will be revealed in Greenzone: Life In The Blocks Issue 4 “First Shift part 4” click the link to follow the prelaunch page and be notified when the campaign goes LIVE February 3rd 2025 so you don’t miss a thing! Prelaunch page is LIVE, click HERE to follow!
Join the live stream as we launch the kickstarter for issue 1-4 of GREENZONE: Life In The Blocks HERE.
