Page 49 preview
There’s very little chance Page 49 will be up on time tomorrow, due to other claims on my time (as usual). The pencil work is done, though, and the ink work is just started, so I expect to have it up by Wednesday instead.
For your patience, though, here’s a preview of the first panel : )
No update this week
There will be no usual update this week, as I’m having certain problems at home that needed attention.
Instead, if you can, I ask that you take a look at something over on my main art site.
The problems I’ve mentioned are of the financial variety – to the point that I’m having a lot of trouble paying bills, including heat and rent – so I’ve put out a call for donations. If you choose to donate, you will be “repaid” in art.
Click here for more information (and examples of what art repayment is available).
Thanks as always to all of you for reading. There will be an actual Tock-related update, even if its not a full page, next week.
Page 45 for Tuesday.
Due to some technical difficulties with my home computer, page 45 will be up tomorrow, Tuesday January 8th, instead of today 
Holiday update plans
Tomorrow was supposed to be a page day, but the holidays have intervened, and I’ll be out of town before I can get the next page done. So above is a consolation Tock pin-up with some seasonal flair. Page 44 will be up on Monday December 31st, making Page 45 the first page of the new year (which works perfect, btw).
Thanks to all of you for following this story of mine. I appreciate every one of you 
And below, if you like spoilers, is a little preview of the very next panel.
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I hope you all have a great, and safe, rest of the holiday season!
Update: Page 42 will be up tomorrow
As usual, life has intervened with my comic plans, so page 42 will be up tomorrow instead of today.
In the meantime, here’s a preview:
Sketch – Tock being pretty
Life has interfered with comic-drawing time this week, so things haven’t gone as planned, exactly. I really want to make sure I get the next page right because of reasons, so instead of rushing things, here’s Tock being distracting as usual:
Page 42 will be up between Wednesday and Friday of next week, at the latest.
Notes/design for the trap Tock’s in
Obviously it was tweaked a bit during the process of drawing the last page, but this is what I had in mind.
Also, fun fact: originally the trap was going to grab both Tock and Bumble, but I couldn’t figure out how to make that work well enough. As it is, it works better for the story, anyway.
(You’ll see what I mean in about 3 pages.)
Slight change in updates
There’s going to be a slight delay in updates for the next couple of weeks, as I catch up on some paid commission work.
If you want to see what I’m up to in the meantime, I’ll be posting progress on those commissions and some work that’s already finished over on my website and my Tumblr.
Also, I’m thinking of switching the official update day from Mondays to Wednesdays. Any thoughts?
Thanks as always for your patience
Post delay
Just a note to say this week’s page will be up a little later than usual, in interesting of producing quality work. Thanks for understanding, and as always for reading
Sketch – Not the Best Week
Tock demonstrating how my week went (in general, with a few notable awesome exceptions). I meant to get Page 35 finished in time to immediately follow page 34, but that didn’t quite work out. It’ll be up next Monday instead.
Sketch – Tock with Faerie
This will more than likely be finished in full color eventually (really, once I decide what color Tock’s hair is).
Also, anyone who lives in/near the Ithaca NY area may be interested in knowing that I have an art show going on. Three of the seven pieces I’m displaying relate to Tock’s world, and two of those haven’t been posted anywhere online yet. The reception is tomorrow, Tuesday June 12th, from 5 to 7 pm. If you’re able, I hope you consider stopping by
Upcoming update schedule
Okay, some good news and bad news:
Good news first – I do have my computer back! Which means I’ve gotten some updates scheduled again, starting with Page 31 for next Monday, May 7th.
Bad news – its still not totally fixed. The original problem was that the monitor died, and its a laptop, so that’s kind of a big deal. I’m using an external monitor as a short-term solution, but its already driving me crazy (I’m constantly looking left as I use it) so I plan on taking it back to the shop very, very soon.
That said, Page 31 is now scanned and set to post on Monday.
The week after, May 14th, will be a filler sketch while the computer is (theoretically) in the shop again.
The week of May 21st, if I have my computer back and in total working condition, should be Page 32. And at that point, we’ll be back to regular updates (again, if everything’s fixed and shiny).
Thanks, as always, for your patience. Hope you look forward to Monday
Missed update and further delays
This is just a quick apology for the missed update today. Unfortunately, my computer is out of commission (again) and I didn’t schedule the update before that happened. This also means that I can’t access the files for the update either, so I can’t post from another system or schedule anything else to post in the meantime.
However, I do promise that something new will be up as soon as my computer is back to functioning.
Thanks to everyone in advance for your patience – I know this comes at the worst time, since I just came off a hiatus, but hopefully its a quick fix and we’ll be back to new material soon.
Tock returns early!
Earlier than expected, anyway.
None of my ideas for Gurukitty’s “Once Upon a Time” anthology have worked out at all, and at this point, its too late for me to start another one (the deadline is March 30th). As is often the case, timing between that and what’s going on in my life is just bad. Honestly, I’m quite disappointed – I very badly wanted to be a part of that project, as it speaks so much to me, but I need to accept that its not going to work out and move on.
That said, the silver lining is that “Tock the Gnome: The Rescue Quest” will be returning sooner than I planned
I’m still going to hold off on bringing back pages immediately, due to certain circumstances in my personal life (more on that at my illustration site tomorrow), but for now the tentative return date is March 1st.
Thank you all so much for your patience during this – even though the reason for the hiatus didn’t work out as planned, I still swear it will have been worth it.
“Rescue Quest” on hiatus
As I mentioned before, current circumstances at my support-job have been really messing with my schedule and draining my energy. This has made it very difficult for me to produce any art work, especially for “Tock.” I’m officially back to Page updates now because I didn’t want to disappoint anyone. But the truth is that the situation has not improved much.
On top of that, I’ve been presented with the opportunity to participate in the “Once Upon a Time” anthology, which – if I get in – means I’d be getting my work published. That would be a first for me, and its a subject I’m really, really passionate about, so its kind of a big deal. The problem is that I definitely don’t have the time/energy to focus on that and continue updating this comic on a semi-regular basis.
Because of all this, I’ve decided to put “Tock the Gnome: The Rescue Quest” on unofficial hiatus, just until my submission for Once Upon is complete. I hate doing this, but I think its for the best and – very importantly – I am NOT abandoning this story or these characters. I still have a lot to say with them and I intend on seeing it through, even if it takes a while.
Submissions for Once Upon are open until March 30, 2012, so we’ll be back to page updates the week after that at the very latest. In the meantime, I’ll still be working on world-building for “Tock,” so please keep watching/reading for bonus posts like that. Also, if anyone has anything they’d like to submit as filler (guest comics, fanart, etc.) please send them to rachelillustrates@yahoo.com, subject: “Tock the Gnome Filler” (thanks in advance to anyone who sends anything in!). And if you’re interested in seeing any of my other illustration work, including design work for my Once Upon submission (if they’ll let me post it), please check out my website/blog, Tumblr, or deviantART sites.
Finally, I want to thank you all for your patience. My circumstances make it difficult to update as regularly as most other webcomics do, but I appreciate each and every one of you that’s stopped in and taken a look. Please keep an eye out for those world-building posts (including the sketch series I started posting last week) and I promise, in Spring, it will be well worth the wait.
~ Rachel
Upcoming Filler
Life has gotten a bit complicated recently, and will probably remain so for the next couple of weeks. As such, the next three weeks will be bonus work (finished pieces too, not sketches) while things calm down.
Thank you for being patient with me. Page 29 will be up as soon as its done.
And please check out the Facebook Page, if you’re so inclined, for more up-to-date reports during the wait.
Page 22
This might be my favorite page so far.
Also, I recently registered the comic on TopWebComics.com and thewebcomiclist.com. Click here to vote for Tock on TopWebComics!
Page 21 Preview
Real life has put me behind on comic work this week, so Page 21 will be a few days late.
In the meantime, here’s an exclusive sneak peak.
Continuing Weekly Updates
Greetings readers! Now that the “Tock’s Parents” filler is complete and I’ll be resuming regular page updates, I’m going to be trying to keep a weekly schedule from now on : )
This doesn’t necessarily mean there will be a new page every week, although I am going to try for that. At the very least, there will still be a new page every 2 weeks, and sketch work, information, or an “Ask Tock” feature on the weeks in-between.
Thanks as always for reading, I hope you like what’s to come!
Page delay, beginning of Filler
As I mentioned in the “Ask Tock” post a couple weeks ago, I’ll be posting filler material again soon, due to a big cross-state move I’ll be making at the end of the month. The original plan was to post one more page before the filler, but that isn’t working out as planned.
So, instead, I’ll be starting the filler material next Monday, April 18th. I am sorry for the delay on the pages, but with everything that has to be done before we leave, its pretty much unavoidable. Still, I have something interesting planned to keep you entertained until life gets settled again.
In place of normal updates, I’ll be sharing the story of two characters we won’t get to meet in-canon for a while:
Tock’s parents.
From now until June 6th (when normal updates resume) I will be posting weekly updates about these two. Information will be paired with sketches, giving a look into how they met, and how they brought Tock into the world.
I apologize for the delay on the main story, but if you like back-story, this will be well worth it. Thanks for reading!
“Ask Tock”
Hi everyone! Some of you who also watch my DeviantART site may have noticed me mention that I’ll be moving at the end of April. What this means for “Tock” is that I’ll be posting some filler at the very end of April/most of May (don’t worry, there will be something posted every week during that time to help make up for the lack of pages).
The good part of this is that after the move, I should have a little more time on my hands to work on the world this story takes place in. I can’t promise anything yet, but here’s what I have in mind for when we return to regular updates:
Every other week or so, when a page isn’t scheduled to go up, I’d like to start an “Ask Tock” section. This would be for any questions you, the readers, have about the story or the world – any holes you see in it, for example. I would take one of these questions and answer it with a drawing on non-page weeks, which would make even more information available to you, and hopefully be entertaining for all.
If you’re interested, please comment here, and/or send your questions to rachelillustrates@yahoo.com. And as always, thanks for reading!
Holiday schedule change
Seasons greetings everyone!
Due to the many, many distractions/obligations of the holidays, “Tock” will be updating a little differently for the next week or so. On Monday the 27th, instead of the next page release, I’ll begin posting bonus material about the Gnomes of Tock’s world. Several posts are planned, including sketches as well. Regular updates will resume January 10th, 2011, at the latest.
Accidental schedule shift
Hi everyone. It has come to my attention that somewhere along the line, I started posting my updates on Sundays instead of Mondays, as I originally planned. Sorry about that, and from now on, pages will update every Monday again.
Page 8 will be up tomorrow morning. In the meantime, here’s a sketch:
Thanks for reading!
Some thoughts on PIPA/SOPA
I try not to talk about too many of my own opinions here, since I’m just trying to tell a story. But what’s going on with PIPA and SOPA makes me nervous, as a citizen and a webcomic artist.
Please take a moment, if you can, to watch this video. It explains the situation in a more visual way, for those of us who do better with that (rather than reading articles about it, that is).
The bills, both of them, are worded vaguely enough that many of us who post creative work on the internet for a living could be penalized harshly for even referencing something copyrighted by a major corporation. My own work here directly references another series in its title alone, and while I try to avoid direct references in the art itself, they sometimes pop up as homages to things that inspire me – not in the interest of EVER ripping something off, simply and purely in honor of those things, hoping that my readers might notice and appreciate the nod in that direction.
I’m honestly not sure how much at risk any of us would be for these kinds of references, but what I’ve learned so far worries me enough to speak my part. If any of you follow my more personal work, you’d notice that I also draw a lot of fanart. Again, as homages – never to insult or make money off of someone else’s work. But it seems the way these bills are working, there is a HUGE potential for abuse on the part of the corporations and the government.
So please, if you have a spare 5 minutes, take a look. Educate yourself.
SOPA appears to have been shelved for now, by the way, but PIPA is up for vote on the 24th.
Thank you.
January 22, 2012 | Categories: Bonus images/information, Notes/Announcements | Tags: art, censorship, commentary, internet, PIPA, rights, SOPA, webcomic | Leave A Comment »