The Making of the 2015 Holiday Manga

In keeping with requests from my loyal readership, here is the "making of" for the 2015 Holiday Manga. The following steps and associated pictures explain my very un-scientific process at completing a manga. 

Step 1: Find relevant portions of Fullmetal Alchemist that portray roughly what I'm trying to draw. This is for several reasons, including my limited time and limited talent - I'm pretty decent at revising an existing work, but have difficulty "seeing" the layout and characterization on my own. Plus, it is significantly faster for me to use existing work.

Step 2: Develop the layout and story for the page.

Step 3: Pencil sketch each panel to make sure it will fit and makes sense.

The Industrious Hygienist's 2015 Holiday Manga - pencil sketch and layout planning.

Step 4: Ink each panel with changes in the outfits and facial expressions as needed.

The Industrious Hygienist's 2015 Holiday Manga - inked product just before full coloring.

I'm pretty dang proud of the center middle panel. The hatching and ink work turned out much better than I anticipated. I'm less proud of the right hand lower panel - the only excuse I can give for that panel is my 100-pound Alaskan Malamute being bored and nudging my elbow while I was drawing. Close-up of my favorite panel is below.

The Industrious Hygienist's 2015 Holiday Manga - snatching the "last perfect gift."

Step 5: Color in the panels using, you guessed it, Crayola colored pencils. I'm pretty low tech with my art. A smaller version of the final product is below for your enjoyment. 

The Industrious Hygienist's 2015 Holiday Manga - sketched, inked, and colored.

I hope you enjoyed this "making of" blog. I'm working on new art and posts for 2016.

The Making of the Healthcare Security and Safety Week Cartoon

At the request of some of my readership, this is a quick "making of" blog post regarding the Healthcare Security and Safety Week cartoon posted October 11, 2015 on this blog.

First I started with the idea: "Ooh, I want to make a cartoon of my team members to recognize their awesomeness during Healthcare Security and Safety Week." The idea happened for two reasons: 1) It's been a couple months since I last drew anything and 2) The cartoons usually make my team chuckle. Plus, a cartoon of yourself is better than a water bottle or other random IAHSS merchandise, right?

After I decided a few weeks in advance that I'd like to reserve a Saturday to work on the cartoon, I attempted to find time to make the cartoon over several weekends, but to no avail. It turns out that holding three jobs (full-time safety officer, part-time professor, and occasional consultant) makes it difficult to also have hobbies. 

That brings us to this past weekend, where I dutifully ignored the pile of laundry, dishes, and student assignments needing to be graded. Since I knew I would only have a few hours in which to complete the cartoon, I started my research by finding a page from Hiromu Arakawa's Fullmetal Alchemist manga that fit the style I needed for the cartoon. This is lazy art, yes, but it's part of improving my art skills.

I happened upon this gem in the 10th volume of Fullmetal Alchemist, the first one I picked out of my bookcase, and the second page I flipped to. It was meant to be!

Scan of title page for Chapter 38: "Signal to Strike" from Fullmetal Alchemist.

This had the number of people I needed (sans Black Hayate, the dog), and most of the heights I needed. I quickly sketched out a pencil version to see if the design would work for the healthcare security and safety team I was trying to represent. 

Quick pencil sketch/draft of Healthcare Security and Safety Week cartoon based on Fullmetal Alchemist.

Obvious changes - the sandwich became a radio, one of the characters was shrunk down to a more accurate size, and clothing was modified to be what the team members usually wear. I kept the cape for our Director - it added a nice bit of flair and a conversation piece for the characters. The I started to ink out the characters and color with colored pencils. I'm still pretty low tech with my art, so manga pens and colored pencils are what I work with.

Fully inked and half-colored, with proposed captions above the characters.

I hate drawing hands and shoes. So most of them are hiding their hands (as per the Fullmetal Alchemist source material) and everyone has the same shoes. If they ask, I'm thinking my answer will be that we're all wearing safety shoes. This is also my first time drawing the Industrious Hygienist (me) as a regular person rather than the "hero" in blue and yellow coveralls like in my other manga. I'm the one with glasses, and I usually dress for work in pants and a button up shirt with cardigan sweater. The fully inked and colored version is below.

Fully inked and colored, captions removed so they could be done on the computer.

I sent the picture above to a fellow team member, requesting a review for accuracy. She (the one wearing orange) mentioned that the dude holding the radio is usually wearing an orange watch band rather than black as pictured. So after scanning in the picture, I made some minor edits in Paint (again, I'm pretty low tech with my art) and changed his watch band to be an orange color. I added the thought/talk bubbles and title using MS Publisher and saved the file as a PDF and JPG. The final, finished version is below. We'll see what they think of their cartoon selves. 

Happy Healthcare Security and Safety Week from the Industrious Hygienist!

Bored in Asbestos Refresher Class?

I spend a lot of time in continuing education classes, including annual asbestos refresher classes. Some of the classes are a regulatory requirement and others are topics I'm interested in. Certifications such as the Certified Industrial Hygienist (CIH), Certified Safety Professional (CSP), and Certified Indoor Environmentalist (CIE) require a certain amount of contact hours for continuing education.

In a given year, I devour an average of 100 hours in conferences, refresher classes, and continuing education as shown below:

• Asbestos Building Inspector: 4 hours per year
• Asbestos Contractor Supervisor: 8 hours per year
• Asbestos Management Planner: 4 hours per year
• Asbestos Project Designer: 8 hours per year
• Lead Risk Assessor: 8 hours every three years
• Lead Project Designer: 8 hours every three years
• Industrial Hygiene Ethics: 1-2 hours every other year
• American Society of Safety Engineers (ASSE) Safety Professional Development Conference: 3 days every other year
• American Industrial Hygiene Conference & Exposition (AIHce): 3 days every other year
• Local Arizona ASSE Safety Professional Development Conference: 8 hours every year
• OSHA 503 Update for General Industry Trainers: 3 days every three years
• Indoor Air Quality Association (IAQA) Chapter Meetings or Webinars: 8 hours per year
• HAZWOPER Refresher: 8 hours per year
• Hazardous Materials and Waste Transportation Refresher: 10 hours every three years
• Hazardous/Toxic Waste Management Refresher: 8 hours every three years
• Other interesting continuing education courses: 8-16 hours per year

I recently spent part of a morning texting a friend/client (at their request) to help them stay awake in asbestos refresher class. This got me thinking about all the times I attempted to keep focused during class in the 8+ years of various asbestos refreshers, to little avail.

Attendees to asbestos refresher class can be very disruptive, using the class as a vehicle to network (loudly) with consultants, contractors, and building owners or representatives. Sometimes they'll spend the entire day texting and emailing, jumping out of their seats to take a call in the lobby, speaking just loud enough so the rest of the class can see how busy and important they are. Others open up their laptops and just work on projects during the refresher class. If there are snacks or coffee provided, you're guaranteed to have some obnoxiously loud slurpers or chewers. 

Here's some of the ways I quietly and unobtrusively entertain myself during asbestos refresher class:

• Play "Free Rice" on my cell phone - less obvious than some of the other cell phone games, just as addictive, and your learning helps contribute to donations of rice via the World Food Programme
• Doodle all over my refresher class notes
• Make up my own acronyms (EPA, AHERA, MAP, NIOSH, OSHA, etc.)
• If desperately bored, I'll go through other continuing education courses on my iPhone or iPad, like the CDC Biosafety QuickLearn lessons, California Department of Public Health Continuing Education Courses on Lead/Mercury/Coccidioidomycosis, and University of Minnesota School of Public Health's free online courses in public health

And, of course, I'll pay attention to new letters of interpretation or interesting arguments, answer questions when prompted, and complete the end of course test or assessment in record time.

I drafted this latest Industrious Hygienist manga during the text session with my friend/client, hope you enjoy it.

The Industrious Hygienist is never bored in asbestos refresher class!

Holiday Manga - 2014 - Part Four

Please enjoy the next installment of The Industrious Hygienist's HOLIDAY MANGA.

Here is the finale, Part Four (of Four) for the 2014 Holiday Edition:

The Industrious Hygienist's 2014 Holiday Edition Manga - Part Four

The Exceptional Spouse and I are looking forward to spending the holidays with family and friends, especially the events where Shadow (Alaskan Malamute) gets to come along.

Thanks for continuing to read my blog - expect more safety and industrial hygiene related posts in 2015 and beyond.

Holiday Manga - 2014 - Part Three

Please enjoy the next installment of The Industrious Hygienist's HOLIDAY MANGA.

Here is Part Three (of Four) for the 2014 Holiday Edition:

The Industrious Hygienist's 2014 Holiday Edition Manga - Part Three

More to come by the end of the year.

Here are links to Holiday Manga from previous years for your reference and enjoyment:

• 2011 - Holiday Manga - Part 1
• 2011 - Holiday Manga - Part 2
• 2011 - Holiday Manga - Part 3
• 2011- Holiday Card
• 2013 - Holiday Card

If you want to review more of my favorite holiday safety tips from industry experts, click here. As always, thanks to Hiromu Arakawa for the Fullmetal Alchemist character stylings. 

Holiday Manga - 2014 - Part Two

Please enjoy the next installment of The Industrious Hygienist's HOLIDAY MANGA.

Here is Part Two (of Four) for the 2014 Holiday Edition:

The Industrious Hygienist's 2014 Holiday Edition Manga - Part Two

More to come by the end of the year.

Here are links to Holiday Manga from previous years for your reference and enjoyment:

• 2011 - Holiday Manga - Part 1
• 2011 - Holiday Manga - Part 2
• 2011 - Holiday Manga - Part 3
• 2011- Holiday Card
• 2013 - Holiday Card

If you want to review my favorite holiday safety tips from industry experts, click here.

Holiday Manga - 2014 - Part One

In keeping with previous years, I'm doing another series of The Industrious Hygienist's HOLIDAY MANGA!! As a reminder to some of my more impatient :) readers, each of these one page drawings take me between six and eight hours to complete. So, I am working as fast as I can with the limited free time I have available.

Here is Part One (of Four) for the 2014 Holiday Edition:

The Industrious Hygienist's 2014 Holiday Edition Manga - Part One

More to come by the end of the year.

Here are links to Holiday Manga from previous years for your reference and enjoyment:

• 2011 - Holiday Manga - Part 1
• 2011 - Holiday Manga - Part 2
• 2011 - Holiday Manga - Part 3
• 2011- Holiday Card
• 2013 - Holiday Card

Thoughts from AIHce 2014 + a new manga!

Howdy, all! I recently returned from the American Industrial Hygiene Conference and Exposition (AIHce) in San Antonio, Texas. It was my first time at this conference, which is a little embarrassing since I am a Certified Industrial Hygienist (CIH) and have been practicing industrial hygiene for 8 years now. But conferences are expensive (!?!) and this year I was self-funded - paid my way entirely from my Spore Consulting, LLC budget. Yay for small business success!

I signed up for the Personal AIHce Liaison (PAL) program at AIHce, and, admittedly, had low hopes for the program. I thought, "Why would someone who has been coming to this conference for years want to hang out with silly little me and show me the best things to do?" It is the first year for the PAL Program at AIHce, and in my opinion, it was a resounding success. My PAL checked in with me every day, made sure I knew when the "cool" parties were, introduced me to some spiffy new people, and even bought me lunch one day. 

To say thanks for my PAL's attention and efforts, and to remember the new colleagues I met, I drew a new manga. If you're new to this blog, the art (actual drawing) is mine, but the character stylings are borrowed from Hiromu Arakawa and Fullmetal Alchemist - my most favorite manga and anime. 

The Personal AIHce Liason (PAL) Program at AIHce 2014 was great!

New Manga! Re-branding The Industrious Hygienist

Hiyo, loyal readers! Per the request of several of you, I bring you a new manga of the Industrious Hygienist. I haven't had a chance to learn my Anime Studio software or Bamboo Splash tablet yet, so this one is old-fashioned, hand-drawn goodness. 

I was going for spunky, but she turned out a little sassy. :)

The Industrious Hygienist - latest character art (manga) for rebranding!

Hope you like it - next time I get another four to six hours of free time, I'll draw another action-oriented and funny manga. This one only took about three hours. I'm trying to re-brand the Industrious Hygienist into the hero of the manga rather than the "person who things happen to" in the manga. As always, eternal thanks to Hiromu Arakawa for creating Fullmetal Alchemist and the style of manga I imitate. Wish me luck!

Spoggles

So, for those of you not in the environmental health and safety field, I feel I should do a quick follow-up post for the manga I just posted. In section #2 of my latest manga, "The Industrious Hygienist: Keeper of the Safety Box," I use the word "spoggles."

Spoggles is, I admit, a strange word.

This term made one of my report reviewers giggle while reviewing a report, and she commented that it couldn't be a real word since it was so strange. Sorry, W.H., it's sort of a real word. (TRUTH: I thought my clients were making fun of me when they first asked if I had spoggles in my safety gear bag.)  

Spoggles is an industry term for safety eyewear designed to prevent airborne dust and debris from getting in our eyeballs. Airborne dust and debris is a leading cause of eye injuries in today's workplaces.

Spoggles = Safety + Goggles, with a random "p" thrown in there since "sgoggles" or "sagoggles" or "safoggles" sound even weirder. Or maybe it means something else. (?)

Hornet DX "Spoggles"

An example, the Hornet DX. No, I don't own stock or anything in the company, I just think they look comfy and about as cool as you can look in safety glasses/goggles.

The glasses/goggles are supposed to seal up against your face (via the foam inserts at the interior edges of the lenses), and keep dust out of your eyes. Some fun potential issues with spoggles, and reasons why people sometimes choose not to wear their personal protective equipment (PPE) when doing work in a dusty environment:

• the glasses fog up
• the glasses can get scratched so it is hard to see
• the foam can get "smushed" (technical term) and be less effective
• when you take off your glasses, the dust that was at the top and sides/edges of the glasses (and in your eyebrows) can fall right into your eye anyway
• some people think they look nerdy (also a technical term)
• the earpieces can irritate the heck out of the back of your ears

But looking nerdy and having to take care of your PPE and using good personal hygiene while at work are a small price to pay compared to losing your eyesight or getting a nasty infection in your eye from contaminated dust.
?????

Keep a supply of spoggles on hand. With some lanyards. And some no-fog.

?

I thought about posting some horrible pictures of eye injuries, but I think I'll keep this post more light-hearted.

So, to sum up: spoggles are real. Spoggles are good. Spoggles may save your eyesight. Wear them if you have them.

The Industrious Hygienist Manga: Keeper of the Safety Box

Hi all! There have been lots of changes in the Industrious Hygienist's life lately (hence the sad lack of posting and mangas). Before I entertain you with tales of moving out of town, selling a house, finding a rental in the new town that would take my giant dog-beast, and convincing my employer that I can telecommute effectively, I bring you a long-awaited manga.

Special thanks to the people featured in this manga (you know who you are). I love coming to your facility, working my tail off, and hanging out with y'all. I numbered the way you are supposed to read this one - I haven't done a manga in a while and my formatting is wonky and not entirely logical. 

The Industrious Hygienist: Keeper of the Safety Box

Once I find my *new* and *shiny* software in my unlabeled :( moving boxes and convince my brother-in-law to part ways with the Bamboo tablet I allowed him to borrow, I plan to venture into the realm of digital art.

As always, thanks to the artists/creator of Fullmetal Alchemist for creating such wonderful, drawable characters. Eventually I will be able to draw some original characters, but until then, I will borrow/edit/copy/attribute/love your characters.

"Hmmm, your characters look a lot like another manga I have seen..."

I need to give kudos where kudos are due. (Now I want a KUDOS bar, dangit!)

Until I get better at drawing, my characters will continue to resemble the characters of Fullmetal Alchemist (FMA to crazy fans like me), my #1 favorite manga and anime. #2 is Vampire Knight, which I am only slightly embarassed to admit.

Hiromu Arakawa is responsible for both writing and drawing FMA, and she is amazing. No copyright infringement intended, or any of that legal nonsense. Every artist knows that you only get better at something the more you do it, and the best way to improve is to replicate the work of artists you enjoy. So the better I get, the less my characters in The Industrious Hygienist will look like FMA.

On a side note, my husband and I attended the Phoenix Comicon in May 2011, and I had the opportunity to meet Vic Mignogna, the talented voice actor for Edward Elric from FMA and Zero Kiryu from Vampire Knight. We waited in line for about an hour and a half to meet him and have him sign one of my FMA books, and it was worth it! He was the most pleasant individual I have met in a long time. They were selling his CDs while we were in line, and I was able to get the last one (which made the teenagers behind me very sad). We're going again in 2012 and hope to see Vic and Michael Stackpole (fantabulous author from Phoenix) there.