Page 49
This is one of those moments where I’m sure, if logic prevailed, Bumble would try to have Tock committed.
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 : )
Sketch – Newlyweds
Confession time: The reason page 46 was a week late was because all my creative time that week went to a different project.
That project was something with which to propose marriage to my girlfriend of 9 years.
I had also drawn this to post as the filler piece that week (instead of the sketch I ended up posting), but life intervened and I ended up having to push my plans back.
But I’ve now asked her, and she said yes <3 So here this is finally too.
(If you don’t remember from before, these are Tock’s parents.)
Sketch – Eleanore and Tock’s Mother
My creative energies and time these past couple of weeks had to go to other things, so Page 46 will be up next Monday instead.
Instead, here’s something happening “off-screen”:
Tock’s mother, as seen before here, questioning Tock’s friend Eleanore, as seen here, after she finds her gone.
Page 44
Hot off the presses, but still officially the last page of 2012 
Have a great, and safe, New Year’s!
(Note: You also might notice that the Orc’s hair is a bit different now. I found the white linework in it, as originally seen in page 42, waaaaaaaaaaay too distracting. So that page will be updated later this week as well.)
Page 42
And here it finally is.
-
Also, I made the file a bit bigger than usual, in order to make Bumble’s speech bubble legible. In case it isn’t though, he’s saying “Oh, all my rusted gearsprings.”
And as long as this size shows up okay, I’ll be keeping them this large from now on.
Sketch – The House of White
More of one of the characters from this earlier bonus piece, with two other characters from her own story.
Again, what’s going on here will connect to Tock’s story eventually too, so I hope you keep them in mind.
Page 39
Aaaaaaaand we’re back to the argument they were in the middle of when the bird attacked, basically.
Page 37
And we finally get to see Tock’s outfit from this part’s cover page in full! Probably my favorite clothes to draw so far.
“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
Page 27
Announcement – “Tock the Gnome” now has a Facebook page! ‘Like’ to get updates and bonus information
Page 26
It was pointed out to me recently that Tock hadn’t referred to Bumble by name in-canon yet. So here’s that, later than intended.
Character profile images – Tock and Bumble
As previously seen in-progress.
Head on over to the Characters page in a day or so to see these individually with character information!
