Vinci & Arty

Vinci & Arty is a webcomic written by Candy L. Dewalt and Ryan Dewalt, and is primarily drawn by Candy with occasional guest comic strips illustrated by various artists. It is published once a week on Tuesdays on its own website. It features the daily life of Artisan P. Sunspot (Arty), a Yumar with a craving for Krispy Kreme donuts, and Richard Nicolaides (Vinci), an anthropomorphic raccoon attracted to "shinees".

The central events of the comic are parallels to the real life of the authors and the strip is usually in black and white. Although the title characters form a gay couple, much of their interaction is almost indistinguishable from a heterosexual couple (unlike many other gay-themed comic strips, where the "gayness" of the characters is often quite evident).

Vinci & Arty was first published in February of 2003. In November of 2005, Vinci & Arty introduced the AskArty Show, an Internet radio program that was until recently broadcasted every Wednesday through the LT3M website. The show is offline due to scheduling matters, but has not been abandoned wholly.

Characters
Vinci & Arty is a storyline-based comic and has its own set of major characters and supporting characters who reoccur throughout the comic. Characters include:


 * Artisan Patrick Sunspot (Arty) is, as noted by the title, one of the two main characters of the webcomic. He is a Yumar, a fictional aquatic-based feline characterized by yellowish fur and black spots. Often highly charismatic, his exploits are often mischievous and sometimes land him in trouble. Before attending college, he was known for his lack of anger management until a friend set him in the right path. While his middle name is Patrick, he sometimes tries to claim his middle name is otherwise, i.e. Precious, Perfection, or Pretty. Though content with life, he still has not overcome the death of his father.
 * Richard Nicolaides (Vinci) is the second main character of the comic who lives with Arty. He is a short raccoon who grew up in the Kolonaki Square district of Athens, Greece. His experience with speaking English is hampered by the influences of Greek and Italian he was exposed to while growing up. He is empathetic, but puts the well being of others before himself. Vinci is also characterized by his passive-aggressive demeanor, occasional sulky behavior, and a habit of diverting the topic of a conversation to something else if he wishes to avoid the subject at hand.
 * Peaches is the pet cat of Vinci and Arty, named specifically by Arty.
 * Mr. Coco is the childhood red panda toy of Arty, returned to him by his mother. However, the toy is also a vessel for an evil warlord bent on conquering and enslaving the world.
 * Nalya Sunspot (pronounced: 'Now-lee-yuh') is the mother of Arty and his sister, Kelly but also considers Vinci to be part of the family. Although she may not approve of everything about Arty's lifestyle she is easygoing and accepting. Usually cheerful, she can be quick to anger if crossed and possesses a great amount of personal strength in light of her husband's death and regular confrontations with her in-laws. Nayla also has a habit of wanting people to call her simply "Mom."
 * Kelpsing Sunspot (Kelly) is Arty's younger sister, approximately sixteen. "Kelly" as she prefers to be called, considers herself to be a misunderstood intellectual who is very wordy and over-analytical. While she is usually sociable to an audience, she is lonely and faces an identity crisis on the very aspect of not being a normal cheetah. She has even shaved her head and dyed her mane.