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Monday, July 17, 2006

So I've entered "Her Super Ex-Boyfriend," in this Webcomic Battle thing, and your vote would be appreciated. (Click on Battles.)

Thursday, July 6, 2006

Check back on Saturday for an extra update! We'll be returning to the storyline on Monday.

Saturday, June 29, 2006

This comic has replaced Thursday's. Unlike certain webcomic artists who draw sad girls in snow, I don't like to leave filler in the archive. However, if you ever want to check it out again, it's in the Extra Art page under Strip Hacks.

Happy Canada Day!

Thursday, June 29, 2006

I have a sort-of-job where we sometimes go for weeks without work, but when we do have it, we bust our asses. This is one of those weeks. The new comic will be up on Saturday... Until then, I leave you wirh beard-related humor.

Monday, June 26, 2006

To say that TG was a work-in-progress would be an understatement. That said, it's not surprising that I'd want to mess with the format a bit from time to time. I've found myself wanting to experiment with full-page comics again recently, so I decided to go with an updated version of TG's original format. Though today's comic is your standard four-panel, the upcoming storyline will give me an opportunity to try different page layouts. And even for normal strips like today's, I have more room to work with, which produces a better-looking comic.  I still like to work with the horizontal format, though, so you may not have seen the last of it.

Also, if you followed a link here for a PVP / Penny Arcade crossover, that file is now here.

Monday, June 19, 2006

Treading Ground has been reviewed over at Robert Howard's Tangents. Check out what he had to say!

Also, I'm trying to come up with ideas for a new donation gift pic. Any suggestions can be slapped on the Tagboard or e-mailed to me at tenmazero at gmail dot com.

Thursday, June 15, 2006

After enduring a lot of birthday-related travel over the past couple of days, I was just going to put up some filler tonight. Instead, I stayed up working on this comic until 3:30AM, because I am clearly insane.

However, I can't let this sketch of me go to waste. This comes to you courtesy of my roommate Kim.

Thursday, June 8, 2006

I've colorized a couple of old strips. I seem to be doing these in random order when I realize I need to change something, but I plan to eventually have full color in every strip in the archive.

Thursday, June 1, 2006

I will be at MetroCon in Tampa this weekend. Though I'm not there in any official capacity, if you see me wandering around the con, by all means come say hi! I'm not too hard to spot -- I'll be the largish guy wearing the only Treading Ground hat in existence.

I'd also like to give a special thanks to those of you who have donated thus far. You guys are fucking awesome, and it's sincerely appreciated.

Saturday, May 20, 2006

Since I'm currently pretty much jobless, I've finally decided to get in on this whole "donations" idea. But I'm not just going to ask people to donate without getting a little something in return (unless they REALLY want to.) I expect to have new donation gifts available periodically, so get them while the getting's good!

Also, updates have returned to the classic Monday + Thursday schedule, with the possibility of extra stuff on Saturdays.

Thursday, May 18, 2006

Picking up right where we left off...

Tuesday, May 16, 2006

Holy shit! Someone drew Nate!

Emma (formerly of Drawn+Quartered) and I have been patting each other on the back lately. Unfortunately for her, she inadvertently took five times the recommended dosage of tanning bed time the other day and got a little crispy in the process. Ouch.

Although she no longer updates D+Q, I've found the HemmerBlog to be mighty amusing. Thanks, Emma!

Thursday, May 11, 2006

Quick overall site update this time. Restructured the archive and put the extra art where it belongs, and switched out the TagBoard in an attempt to be rid of popups/unders. While I was at it, I figured I'd post this Boondocks "crossover" I did a while back as filler.

Fanart for this comic has become voluminous enough to warrant its own page. You guys kick serious ass.

Also, new haiku. Sort of.

Monday, February 27, 2006

I exist as a conduit for better artists.

Mzacher sent in this super-awesome fanart of Rose today after some encouragement. Peer pressure... It's not just for drugs anymore!

Thanks MZ!

Friday, February 24, 2006

So awesome.

Imagine my surprise when I found this superb Rose fanart in my Inbox this morning from Josh Phillips of Avalon and Two Eighty fame! Considering that doing fanart for his comic was what got me started on this whole webcomic thing in the first place, this is one hell of an honor. Thanks, Josh!

Sunday, January 15, 2006

As promised, another new comic. I was experimenting a bit with the art style when I drew this. Not sure if I'll keep drawing Nate that way.

Sunday, January 8, 2006

Seeing as how Josh updated Two Eighty, I decided to cave in to peer pressure. Next guaranteed update will be Sunday, January 15, 2006.

Tuesday, October 4, 2005

Many are the WTF? moments born on Livejournal.

Monday, September 19, 2005

More Ai Yori Aoshi fanart, this time of my favourite character, Tina Foster. Sorry for all the filler, but at least I'm drawing.

Tuesday, September 6, 2005

Fanart of the character Aoi Sakuraba from the manga and anime series Ai Yori Aoshi.

Friday, May 13, 2005

I've been sitting on this comic for a while, but I got tired of checking the page and seeing my plump representation of Kurtz every day.

Still no word on an official date for a return, but I figured this was better than nothing.

Sunday, May 1, 2005

I've purged the archive of all the fan art and extra/OOC art.  It's been given its own page, aptly titled Extra Art.

I've also added two new comics to the links on the left, Atland and the Perry Bible Fellowship.  You should totally check them out.

Also, it is worthy of mention that Scatterplot is back and Chris hasn't missed an update since he came back from hiatus in January. The comics are well-drawn and funny, and he doesn't run his mouth about it AT ALL.  That's an example we'd all do well to follow.

Tuesday, April 19, 2005

Thought you guys might be interested in seeing a little of what I've been up to lately.  If you read Penny Arcade, I'm sure you're familiar with their little rivalry with Scott Kurtz's PvP.  This is just me extrapolating on that little conflict and testing out Kurtz's comic-making style in the process.

Tuesday, April 19, 2005

I'm working on new comics.

I don't have a date for you yet, or an idea of what my update schedule will be like, but in the meantime I figured I'd post this guest strip I did for The Shallow End as filler. 

This is the result of me getting my first sketchbook ever.  It's pretty basic, and I expect the new comics will be more detailed than this.  But hell, it's a start!

Saturday, March 19, 2005

The comic is still on hiatus, but I did manage to get this piece of fan art done, so I decided to post it as filler art.  This is the character Candy Cane from the PlayStation 2 game Rumble Roses.

Also, if you look to the left, you will notice a new Haiku.  

Sunday, December 5, 2004

I do check the tagboard every day, so I understand your concerns about the lack of an update.  However, I unfortunately just don't have anything to report.   Lately my time has been consumed by ye olde day job (where we are immersed in the bullshitinous and time-consuming process of moving to another location,) as well as other aspects of life, and I haven't been able to get back to drawing.  

It's something that continues to eat at me, and I really don't want to give up on making comics, but I need to find the best way to fit it into my life in a permanent way, while not eliminating the rest of my life in the process.  Right now, there just aren't sufficient hours in the day.  That will change one day, but I have no idea how long it's going to take.

Tuesday, September 7, 2004

Dear Motivation,

What's wrong?  You never contact me anymore.  I know we've had our problems, but I was hoping some time apart would do us good.  Can we at least be friends?

I'll be awaiting your reply.

Love,
Nick

P.S. - Mravac Kid says hi.  

Saturday, August 7, 2004

As you might have gathered, I'm having some troubles lately in regards to the comic.  I'll be honest -  laziness is a factor.  But there's also fatigue, poor self-confidence, and writer's block contributing to an overall lack of motivation.

To be honest with you, TG hasn't been fun for me to do for quite some time.  Trying to make the updates in time has caused rushed scripts and crappy art on more than one occasion, and webcomic format is something that I've always had issues with.  Therefore, I'm currently planning to work on some other full-size comic book projects (when I get my shit together, that is.)

Where does that leave TG?  Well, there are a few possibilities.  One idea is that I could sacrifice art quality somewhat and continue doing the strips in a rougher format, directly from the tablet.  That would allow me to work on my other projects simultaneously.  Another is that I could redo TG as a full-size comic book, concentrating mainly on Rose and Nate's relationship.  I've grown weary of certain elements of the story, but I'd like to see the work completed in one way or another.

I still have some thinking to do on the subject, but I need to let you know there probably won't be any updates on this site any time soon.  All I know for sure right now is that I plan to create a new site to host my other projects on, as well as mirror the TG archive.  This site will go up once I finish my next project, a 15-20 page comic, and I'll be sure to drop the link here.

Thursday, July 1, 2004

Some personal business has come up, and I'm going to have to miss a few updates.  Sorry for the lack of a warning.  I hope to have something up by Monday, July 12.  

Thanks for hanging in there. 

Monday, June 28, 2004

This comic is being posted as filler right now because I need to take some more time to work on the current storyline.  It will be placed into the archive at a more logical date later on.  I don't normally like to jump around from home to work, but since I couldn't settle on anything for the next script, I have delivered unto you Purvous. 

Thursday, June 24, 2004

Hopefully this update proves that I'm not slipping.

Bonus points if you can name the movie.

Monday, June 17, 2004

This update is filler...  I had the shittiest weekend ever.  Things should be back on track by Thursday. though.

Thursday, June 17, 2004

Now taking applications for a background artist.

(No, not really.  Though it is a pain in the ass.)

Also, the Cast page is now up to date.

Monday, June 14, 2004

In addition to the new comic, something compelled me to do this.  No telling if others will find it funny, though.

Monday, June 7, 2004

If you're a new reader or just forgot what the hell was going on, refer to this comic.

Saturday, June 5, 2004

I added a newsbox and created an advertisement of my own.  It's similar to the banner, but with more detail.  You can see it here if you'd like.

Monday, May 31, 2004

I got this update up just before 4AM, which is unusual for me...  Usually when I actually have the drive to do a comic, it's up by midnight, but I had a lot of planning left to do on this one, and the damn thing took eight hours.  I need to remember to split these comics up into two nights of work, like I've done previously..

The Rose fanservice should be worth the wait, though. 

Thursday, May 27, 2004

This one is dedicated to Marcus, wherever he is.  (I'm still not over losing that trench coat, though.)

Monday, May 24, 2004

Argh, I can't believe it's been two weeks since I last updated!  I figured I'd go ahead and go the extra mile and colorize this strip, even though there's nothing really special about it.  I am really digging this new coloring technique, so I'm probably going  to start doing color full-time.   I think it makes the comic look a lot more vibrant and professional, even for mundane exchanges like the one you see here.

Added a new comic to the Recommended list.  Josh Phillips of Avalon fame has started a kickass new comic called Two Eighty.  It's somewhat similar to Treading Ground, but wisely contains more chicks.  Damn you Phillips.

Thursday, May 20, 2004

No update.  Brain broken.

Monday.  Yes.  Monday. 

Thursday, May 13, 2004

I'm on vacation and heading out of town, so the next regular update will likely be on Thursday of next week.  I'm going to see what I can do about getting some filler done for Monday though.  As I will be utilizing foreign implements, I can't really guarantee anything.

Monday, May 10, 2004

Update.  I thought the joke was kind of weak, but we'll see what happens.  Now Phil and the rest of you that got sicked out can put TG back into your favorites, though.

For those not in the know, Krystal is what we have in the southeast instead of White Castle.  They are basically the same restaurant.  I don't know why either. 

Also, the Tagboard is down at the moment, but believe it or not it's not a problem on my end.  I'm one of several victims.  In the meantime, why not check out the Forum?

Thursday, May 6, 2004

I've yet to get up the motivation to actually get back into the story, but I did manage to come up with this OOC comic.  If you're wondering what the hell all of this is about, I've provided some additional information.

Oh, and for those grossed out by this, fear not.  We'll be neck-deep in cute girls again shortly.

Monday, May 3, 2004

Cross-promotional filler!  I owed Phil some fanart from his "Ugly In The Morning" rendition of Rose a while back, and this is what I came up with.  I think it turned out rather nicely.

Real comic on Thursday, hopefully.

Monday, April 26, 2004

New comic.  And I finally remembered to update the haiku.

Thursday, April 22, 2004

I wasn't able to get a comic done tonight, but I'm working on one for Monday. 

Thursday, April 15, 2004

Next week's update will likely fall on Thursday once more, as I'm heading out of town for the weekend.   

Monday, April 12, 2004

Normally this would be one of my comic-drawing days, but I ended up having to work.  Since I couldn't get a proper comic done, I figured I'd post this character design as filler.  This is Tracy Winters, Nate's direct supervisor at the store.  She will appear in the comic shortly.  (FINALLY some more females will be showing up.) 

There will be a new comic on Thursday.

Thursday, April 9, 2004

Heh, leave it to Phil to take the status quo and crap all over it.  :-)  

Thanks for the fanart, man!

Monday, April 5, 2004

A new comic, though I can't guarantee more than once a week updates at this point.  I'm going to try to work through my creative blocks, because I don't think the total inactivity is helping, even though I still haven't completely ironed out the problems that are bugging me.

However, I do have some other news to report -- Treading Ground now has a forum, thanks to Phil of TSE.  It's already pretty active considering that it hadn't officially been announced yet.

This week there will be a Thursday update with some more fanart, so please be sure to check back.

Wednesday, March 10, 2004

The hiatus continues, but I do have some new fanart to show off.

My reasons for not being able to return to the comic right now include lack of available time, lack of confidence as an artist and writer, lack of speed, and a major dissatisfaction with the current product.  I'm going through some serious issues that relate to Treading Ground and my art at this time and I haven't even been able to get myself to draw the guest comic I planned for The Shallow End.  (Which has also been added to the links on the left.)

I know I've probably lost a shitload of readers at this point, but all I can say is that the comic will continue and reach its conclusion, but I'm not sure what form it will take when it returns.  I'm thinking of doing full page comics in the future, which would possibly involve knocking updates down to once a week.

And I was going to be one of those comic artists who didn't do this sort of thing... 

Monday, February 23, 2004

Since I suck, I spent the entire hiatus basically just working and doing other things, and hadn't come to a conclusion about how I wanted the strip to progress yet.  So instead, I shoved Rose out in her bra and panties to distract you until I can get my sheeyot together.

Again, this is an OOC (Out Of Character) strip, meaning it's not part of the established storyline.  OOC strips are the only times I'll ever break the fourth wall.

Thursday, February 19, 2004

Treading Ground will return on Monday, February 23.

Tuesday, February 10, 2004

comicgenesis is in the process of switching servers after their main server imploded.   Currently, comics are not updating and everything is generally pretty screwed up.  

Unfortunately, it looks like I am going to have to put Treading Ground on hiatus for the time being.  It may even end up being a month or so, but I will work on building up a decent cache of comics in the interim.

In order to make this as bearable as possible, I've set up a Notify List, which you will find on your left.  Sign up and you will be notified of each comic when I am able to update again.

Sunday, February 1, 2004

Regarding my forced hiatus...

An ice storm passed through my area early last Monday morning.  The storm knocked out power to the town, and my house was without electricity for six days.  I don't think I'll be able to update Monday, considering the cleanup that still needs to be done, but there will definitely be something Thursday.

Sorry for the delays, and thanks for hanging in there.

Monday, January 26, 2004

I was in Atlanta over the weekend and consequently didn't have time to prepare a proper comic, but I did manage to come up with this one-framer before I left.

Saturday, January 17, 2004

Many many thanks to Mzacher for this awesome fanart!   Thank the Australian climate for the kickass summer theme of this pic.

This is the first piece of fanart anyone's sent me, and damn, it's a whopper.  But if anyone else has thought about doing some TG fanart, don't get scared off by MZ's insane talent.  Fanart always makes my day.  I'll probably make a habit of posting fan works (if and when I get any more) and other additional art on Saturdays.

Thursday, January 15, 2004

Ugh.  I hate to do this to you, but this strip won't make complete sense unless you're familiar with that anime title or if you wait until Monday and read the next comic. A crappier cliffhanger there has never been.  I had another, more well-known title in mind for this strip, but I couldn't use it for reasons I'll discuss later.

Holy crap!  Fanart!  I've just received some ridiculously awesome Rose fanart from Mzacher.  It will be posted on Saturday, so be sure to check back!

Thursday, January 8, 2004

Scatterplot is back off of hiatus.  Go check it out.  You'll laugh.

Monday, January 5, 2004

It's convenient that I never established an update time.  Comics are posted at midnight on Mondays and Thursdays as a general rule, but it could be as late as 4AM sometimes (I keep a gefickt sleeping schedule.)  If you want an alternate way of checking for updates, feel free to Friend me on LiveJournal, where I provide notification and a lazy link with each new comic.

I'm going to put up my Links section as a separate page pretty soon so that I can say a few things about each comic I link to and provide non-comic links as well.  In the meantime, check out The Shallow End, run by my fellow bastard out of Carolina, Phillip Lagas-Rivera.  He's got some hilarious stuff going on there and the art visibly improves with almost every comic.

The haiku this week is a reference to the anime Outlaw Star.

Thursday, January 1, 2004

Happy New Year, folks.  The comic was a little late tonight, but you were out enjoying yourself and not sitting on the computer waiting for your comics to update, weren't you?

...Weren't you?

Thursday, December 25, 2003

Christmas cheesecake.  I've been neglecting my perverts for far too long, and they may very well be the core of my audience.

Enjoy your holiday, everyone.

Monday, December 22, 2003

Unfortunately, I was unable to get a new comic done due to being out of town for the weekend.  Be sure to check back on Thursday.

Monday, December 14, 2003

Change is afoot.

Well, not a hell of a lot of change, but I had to get rid of that damn Thanksgiving update.  

At any rate, you'll notice that I switched over to a horizontal format.  This should allow me more flexibility as far as frame number goes.  My only complaint is that I feel kind of cramped.  On the other hand, I should have an easier time getting these done, which means I'll be less likely to miss an update.  We can only hope.

I also want to thank each and every one of you for coming to check out my comic, especially those of you who comment on the TagBoard.  Comments make me genki.    

Thursday, November 27, 2003

Happy Thanksgiving to my American readers.

This is the first Treading Ground OOC (Out Of Character) comic.  I don't intend to do these very often, but every once in a while I'll have an idea that's pretty funny, but I can't work it into the storyline.  Hence the need for extra, non-canon strips.  And even though it's not Thanksgiving in-story, my update falling on that date was too good to pass up.

The guy in the image is Food Baron's Store Manager, Bill.  Since he just showed up in Monday's comic, I wouldn't blame you for not recognizing him.

Tuesday, November 25, 2003

Look, look!  An archive of comics.

Monday, November 24, 2003

Like any comic with a continuous storyline, sometimes I have to settle for merely amusing rather than out and out hilarious in order to move the story along.  This is one of those times.

In other news, new haiku up.  

I added the web-manga Deity Permit to the links.  Like me, she's just starting out on comicgenesis, but unlike me, "her drawing kick asses."   It's a nicely done manga-style comic that's actually funny, and that being the case I'll put up with the lack of an update schedule. 

You can expect a site redesign coming up shortly, whenever time allows.  Who says girlfriends are only good for sex?

Saturday, November 1, 2003

I added a TagBoard.  This will serve as a forum-like thingy until I have enough readers to justify having a real one.  So if you like the comic, think it sucks, or just want to run your mouth, feel free to hit it.

Just a few more updates to the layout...  New Haiku of the Fortnight up, and I added Penny Arcade to the links.  I was pretty much assuming that everyone already knew about PA, and the two or three hits they might receive from this little site would be drops in the bucket (lake, even,) but what the hell.

Treading Ground is now going strong.  The next two comics will be in full color, since I'm introducing a new character.  I'm trying some new shading techniques, so let me know what you think.

Tuesday, October 14, 2003

The Cast and About the Comic pages have been added.

Monday, October 13, 2003

After much deliberation and procrastination on my part, the Treading Ground website is finally open.  Please bear with me as I get used to the way comicgenesis works and get everything updated.  The place will become a little less barren shortly.

The first three comics are in color, but the bulk will be grayscale, with the occasional colored comic.  I'm starting with Monday and Thursday updates, but with any luck I will be able to go M-W-F after a couple of weeks.

Also, the plan is that my art will become steadily less craptastic.  :-)