I need to get to work!
Also a couple of toy/object sketches for some paintings that are in the works:
Friday, September 30, 2011
New layout
Started a new 5 page story written by one of the friendly folks from Comics Experience.
I need to get to work!
Also a couple of toy/object sketches for some paintings that are in the works:
I need to get to work!
Also a couple of toy/object sketches for some paintings that are in the works:
Sunday, September 4, 2011
Dragoncon 2011
DragonCon looks like this:
Only there are MANY more people and they are spread out (no pun intended) in-and-amongst four huge hotels and about 8 city blocks in downtown Atlanta GA for the weekend. I was there for one day, Saturday Sept3. Not for the wild swinging cosplay scene, but to talk to some artists. Here's part of what happened and who I saw:
J. Scott Campbell
Well, he was there. I sat in on his session for a few minutes – mostly he was explaining his unfinished work on Wildsiderz and other projects that for various reasons were delayed or announced so far in advanced that they seemed delayed.
I was kind of looking forward to seeing him but… I walked out. He seemed like a nice guy and all but… well, that was about it.
I noticed later that there really wasn’t much happening at his table except for a line of people waiting. He had two of his printed art books (“White Hot” and the “Blue” book – looked like he had a total of maybe 5 copies) and nothing else. Folks were lined up to get him to sign stuff or talk to him I guess but again, no sketchbooks or prints, just a bunch of people waiting in line while he chatted. Seeing him kind of made me think about the possible downside of success in a way, that "hot artist" label probably makes people treat you differently and I suppose one has to find a way to deal with that. Again, he seemed like a nice enough fellow, and I do love his drawing style. I don't know why, but I really felt inclined to just leave the guy alone. Weird huh?
Glenn Barr
This guy is really an Artist (with the capital A). Nice guy too, Chatted with him about 'fine art" painting in particular and he was really encouraging. Kind of unusual to see someone I think of as such a accomplished 'fine artist' with such a decidedly low-key presence. He joked about how impressive his hand-made sign looked for the photo. He had traditional art school training and “re-evaluated things” after he got out of college. (Sounds like a very familiar story)
I am used to seeing his work and exhibition ads published in Juxtapoz and Hi-Fructose magazines. He said “Yea I was going at it pretty hot and heavy for a while there.” He seemed like quite the odd man out in artist’s alley, but really, he surely got more new eyes on his art this way than at an art gallery reception where the audience is kind of restricted to those already in the know.
Bernie Wrightson (and his wife Liz)
What a nice guy! Not to mention he was my personal childhood hero! We chatted for quite a while – he talked a bit about his technique using pencil, crow quill pen of sable brush “Rapidograph is a dirty word, don’t even say that word.” He says he’s never seen a rapidograph drawing where the line didn’t look dead.
I showed him my portfolio and he flipped through it, and said lots of encouraging stuff, which was an ego boost, but later admitted “I’m really not a good one to ask (for criticism) because I love everything.” His philosophy seemed to be “If you love it (art), do it, and do more... and more.” His message was the same one you always hear – and it is good to hear over and over because it is the truth – if you keep doing it you will figure it out. He said Jeff Jones told him once “the only time you’ve really ruined a drawing is when the page is totally black. He encouraged me to draw more, experiment more, and enjoy it.
I ended the day by going to his Q. & A. session at 5:30 where I discovered to my total amazement that Bernie Wrightson doesn’t read comics! I asked him what he thought about the changes in the horror genre in comics over the years – the disappearance of horror anthology titles like House of Mystery & House of Secrets. He said he had absolutely no opinion. He said, “When I read, I read books where the words are not in bubbles.” Later some other dude tried to get him to be critical of the general skill of current popular comic book artists, (Jim Lee in particular) and again he said that he had no idea what Jim Lee was doing, he doesn’t read comics, and he’s not particularly critical of others – Folks also tried to get him to talk about his worst experienced in the industry and got the same kind of response. He essentially said that while it is good to get pissed off once in a while and vent, his 40+ years in the industry has had ups and downs, not particularly big ones, and none worth holding grudges or obsessing over, He just focuses on doing the work. Serious food for thought there!
He also announced that he is working on a continuation of the Frankenstein story in comic book form written by Steve Niles that will be published in the near future (about 15 pages currently drawn). Very cool news. A dude from The Sidebar (podcast show?) hopefully recorded the session.
Comfort Love & Adam Withers
Fresh from their appearance on the Comics Experience Creator Workshop, they were as great in person as they were via the internet, and their table seemed to have a steady flow of visitors. I thanked them for sharing so much info with us – I missed it live but have seen most of the recording. Adam gave me a pretty through overview of The Uniques and I almost sprung for their big $45 collection of all the issues …almost. Still it was cool to see them in their element. I wished them continued success.
Mark Brooks (sorry no pic)
– I didn’t end up chatting with him much or buying anything from him at D-con – I wish that I had now, but I ran out of time.
The most amazing thing: He had a book of theses 8.5 x 11 finished pencils of comic book pages that I could not believe he was able to do so crisply, cleanly and small, actual size small! I should have bought a page.
I got his promo card though and had to settle for looking him up on Deviantart first thing this morning because they really got to me. How can he do that?!
– Immediately I come across a tutorial where he says he does his a lot of his drawing in photoshop with brushed he downloaded from here http://creativemac.digitalmedianet.com/articles/viewarticle.jsp?id=34412 that simulate pencil and chalk pretty well. Also there is a lot of really informative and well-drawn stuff on his deviantart page www.diablo2003.deviantart.com about his process in general. So much in fact, that I have to stop myself from going through it all right now, maybe later. The small pages may actually have been done in photoshop, which is not good or bad, just closer to my concept of “humanly possible.” Still, the guy is an incredible artists!
To be continued.
Only there are MANY more people and they are spread out (no pun intended) in-and-amongst four huge hotels and about 8 city blocks in downtown Atlanta GA for the weekend. I was there for one day, Saturday Sept3. Not for the wild swinging cosplay scene, but to talk to some artists. Here's part of what happened and who I saw:
J. Scott Campbell
Well, he was there. I sat in on his session for a few minutes – mostly he was explaining his unfinished work on Wildsiderz and other projects that for various reasons were delayed or announced so far in advanced that they seemed delayed.
I was kind of looking forward to seeing him but… I walked out. He seemed like a nice guy and all but… well, that was about it.
I noticed later that there really wasn’t much happening at his table except for a line of people waiting. He had two of his printed art books (“White Hot” and the “Blue” book – looked like he had a total of maybe 5 copies) and nothing else. Folks were lined up to get him to sign stuff or talk to him I guess but again, no sketchbooks or prints, just a bunch of people waiting in line while he chatted. Seeing him kind of made me think about the possible downside of success in a way, that "hot artist" label probably makes people treat you differently and I suppose one has to find a way to deal with that. Again, he seemed like a nice enough fellow, and I do love his drawing style. I don't know why, but I really felt inclined to just leave the guy alone. Weird huh?
Glenn Barr
This guy is really an Artist (with the capital A). Nice guy too, Chatted with him about 'fine art" painting in particular and he was really encouraging. Kind of unusual to see someone I think of as such a accomplished 'fine artist' with such a decidedly low-key presence. He joked about how impressive his hand-made sign looked for the photo. He had traditional art school training and “re-evaluated things” after he got out of college. (Sounds like a very familiar story)
I am used to seeing his work and exhibition ads published in Juxtapoz and Hi-Fructose magazines. He said “Yea I was going at it pretty hot and heavy for a while there.” He seemed like quite the odd man out in artist’s alley, but really, he surely got more new eyes on his art this way than at an art gallery reception where the audience is kind of restricted to those already in the know.
Bernie Wrightson (and his wife Liz)
What a nice guy! Not to mention he was my personal childhood hero! We chatted for quite a while – he talked a bit about his technique using pencil, crow quill pen of sable brush “Rapidograph is a dirty word, don’t even say that word.” He says he’s never seen a rapidograph drawing where the line didn’t look dead.
I showed him my portfolio and he flipped through it, and said lots of encouraging stuff, which was an ego boost, but later admitted “I’m really not a good one to ask (for criticism) because I love everything.” His philosophy seemed to be “If you love it (art), do it, and do more... and more.” His message was the same one you always hear – and it is good to hear over and over because it is the truth – if you keep doing it you will figure it out. He said Jeff Jones told him once “the only time you’ve really ruined a drawing is when the page is totally black. He encouraged me to draw more, experiment more, and enjoy it.
I ended the day by going to his Q. & A. session at 5:30 where I discovered to my total amazement that Bernie Wrightson doesn’t read comics! I asked him what he thought about the changes in the horror genre in comics over the years – the disappearance of horror anthology titles like House of Mystery & House of Secrets. He said he had absolutely no opinion. He said, “When I read, I read books where the words are not in bubbles.” Later some other dude tried to get him to be critical of the general skill of current popular comic book artists, (Jim Lee in particular) and again he said that he had no idea what Jim Lee was doing, he doesn’t read comics, and he’s not particularly critical of others – Folks also tried to get him to talk about his worst experienced in the industry and got the same kind of response. He essentially said that while it is good to get pissed off once in a while and vent, his 40+ years in the industry has had ups and downs, not particularly big ones, and none worth holding grudges or obsessing over, He just focuses on doing the work. Serious food for thought there!
He also announced that he is working on a continuation of the Frankenstein story in comic book form written by Steve Niles that will be published in the near future (about 15 pages currently drawn). Very cool news. A dude from The Sidebar (podcast show?) hopefully recorded the session.
Comfort Love & Adam Withers
Fresh from their appearance on the Comics Experience Creator Workshop, they were as great in person as they were via the internet, and their table seemed to have a steady flow of visitors. I thanked them for sharing so much info with us – I missed it live but have seen most of the recording. Adam gave me a pretty through overview of The Uniques and I almost sprung for their big $45 collection of all the issues …almost. Still it was cool to see them in their element. I wished them continued success.
Mark Brooks (sorry no pic)
– I didn’t end up chatting with him much or buying anything from him at D-con – I wish that I had now, but I ran out of time.
The most amazing thing: He had a book of theses 8.5 x 11 finished pencils of comic book pages that I could not believe he was able to do so crisply, cleanly and small, actual size small! I should have bought a page.
I got his promo card though and had to settle for looking him up on Deviantart first thing this morning because they really got to me. How can he do that?!
– Immediately I come across a tutorial where he says he does his a lot of his drawing in photoshop with brushed he downloaded from here http://creativemac.digitalmedianet.com/articles/viewarticle.jsp?id=34412 that simulate pencil and chalk pretty well. Also there is a lot of really informative and well-drawn stuff on his deviantart page www.diablo2003.deviantart.com about his process in general. So much in fact, that I have to stop myself from going through it all right now, maybe later. The small pages may actually have been done in photoshop, which is not good or bad, just closer to my concept of “humanly possible.” Still, the guy is an incredible artists!
To be continued.
Friday, August 26, 2011
Corrections
After some very awesome suggestions from the folks at Comics Experience I have reworked this page a bit in photoshop and made some changes for the sake of clarity. Now to step back and look at it from a fresh perspective.
...before moving on to the next thing.
This is a perfect example of why it is really good to get a crit in progress. I might have made these changes earlier on paper and ended up with a nice drawing instead of having to print it from the digital.
You live, you learn.
...before moving on to the next thing.
This is a perfect example of why it is really good to get a crit in progress. I might have made these changes earlier on paper and ended up with a nice drawing instead of having to print it from the digital.
You live, you learn.
Thursday, August 25, 2011
One page pencils done!
So I'm going to call this a page of finished pencils. It the Chicago Comic Con I chatted up some of the folks at Glass House Studios and saw some pages where the pencils were so tight and right that no inkier was required. Jinky Coronado's Banzai Girl pages are etched in my mind now.
So I got super inspired to try to kick my pencils up a notch.
...just keep swimming, just keep swimming...
Saturday, August 6, 2011
Decided to have a go at the Comics Experience August Challenge: The theme - "Birthday," the mission - an original story. This is what I came up with: thumbnailed last night, got this far today with the wacom tablet. The next step would be to print it out and do finished pencils over it on good paper if I were so inclined.
Tuesday, August 2, 2011
Wednesday, July 13, 2011
Getting color
After I told myself, and told myself that I would not worry about the coloring... I took a day to see how much coloring I could actually get done.
Saturday, July 9, 2011
Finished inking.
... don't think I'm going to try coloring this right now.
Maybe someday.
Next I'll have to put it all together and send it off,
then I'll hve to start somthing else...
Wednesday, July 6, 2011
Page 4 of 5
Finished the inks on the 4th of July, scanning and lettering done in 3 hours on the morning of the 5th
Saturday, July 2, 2011
Another Day...
...another page.
![]()
Last night I tightened up my pencils - almost enough - and inked the borders and most of the first panel.
Today: 7;00AM - 1:00 inking
1:00 - 4:00 - lettering, borders, clean up in illustrator, saving files.
I also managed to make breakfast for the family in the morning and help my daughter build a fort in her room in the afternoon.
Today was a good day.
Today: 7;00AM - 1:00 inking
1:00 - 4:00 - lettering, borders, clean up in illustrator, saving files.
I also managed to make breakfast for the family in the morning and help my daughter build a fort in her room in the afternoon.
Today was a good day.
Thursday, June 30, 2011
Page 2 inked and lettered!
I put nose to grindstone yesterday evening and today and got page 2 completely inked and lettered. Somehow I still found time to enjoy time with family and work out. I am amazed at that. This stuff takes time! I am getting used to the process somewhat, but I must admit that I am less than impressed with the aesthetic quality of the drawing. Actually there are a lot of little nit-picky things that I wish were better as well, but I am trying to stay focused on clearly communicating the story first and foremost. Looking at it now I’m wishing the lettering was a bit bigger too.
Oh well, on to the next page.
Tuesday, June 28, 2011
Friday, June 10, 2011
Good Find: Streetfighter 2 Raw Edition
I was in the comic shop the other day and I came across a few issues of Streetfigher 2 Raw Edition books. (click on that link to see a more thorough review)
These are really interesting, even for someone who has never read Streetfighter comics. What these books do is show only the finished pencils for each edition by Alvin Lee along with 'notes/commentary' on the process of creating each page from the writer and artist. In the last few pages of each issue the full finished script is printed.
Very educational... and best of all the drawings are tremendously well done.
These are really interesting, even for someone who has never read Streetfighter comics. What these books do is show only the finished pencils for each edition by Alvin Lee along with 'notes/commentary' on the process of creating each page from the writer and artist. In the last few pages of each issue the full finished script is printed.
Very educational... and best of all the drawings are tremendously well done.
Drawing Every Day
Since returning from heroescon (which was awesome by the way), I have put my lovely girls on a plane to visit Sweden, and have bees hanging out with the cat, drawing mostly all day, every day, for the last few days. I met a fellow who publishes an online comic called Hallowscream once a year that specializes in short illustrated horror stories. Needless to say, I stepped up ad offered to participate. He sent me a few scripts to read, I picked one and I am getting through it. Again, flying by the seat of my pants here, I have a finished file size and dpi, but otherwise it is pretty much up to me. I asked if I could change the pacing of the story a little bit so instead of 2 jam packed pages I will have 5, that roll along at a smoother pace...
And yes, so these last few days i have been drawing every day ...and I like it!
And yes, so these last few days i have been drawing every day ...and I like it!
Friday, June 3, 2011
Walking in Chalrotte
I Rolled into Charlotte NC yesterday evening and immediately took a stroll around downtown. It was real nice and clean and very hip and modern too. I was impressed. Especially due to the fact that in just a couple of blocks I passed the Harvey B. Ganntt Center/museum of African-American culture, the Mint Museum of modern art, a free live performance of Shakepeare in a park and a big giant shiny skull!
Above photo taken from the steps of the Mint Museum.
The view from outside the convention center... where I will be spending a lot of time for the next few days.
Nice.
Wednesday, June 1, 2011
In the Beginning...
Tonight I am on the eve of heading off to ole' Charlotte North Carolina to attend HeroesCon, THE big convention for comic book artists. I am excited and insane for running off and doing such a thing but with portfolio in hand and a suitcase full of art supplies I will drive off cross country tomorrow to meet some of my favorite artists of all time. (Bernie Wrightson will be there...among others!) I will miss my girls, but sometimes art people just gotta do crazy stuff...
And so, I figure, right now, I might as well get this blog thing started as well, and if I don't have a complete meltdown due to catastrophic art-nerd overload I will attempt to keep some king of regular record of events here for the next few days, to like, preserve the memories.
Before long the new artwork will begin to appear... and then I'll add some helpful instructional stuff, and weird things found on the web... and before you know it, BAM! world domination from the comfort of my dream home.
The future is now after all.
Let's do it.
ALSO:
Check the schedule of events here: http://www.heroesonline.com/heroescon/schedule/
Oh Man... There is too much good stuff!
And so, I figure, right now, I might as well get this blog thing started as well, and if I don't have a complete meltdown due to catastrophic art-nerd overload I will attempt to keep some king of regular record of events here for the next few days, to like, preserve the memories.
Before long the new artwork will begin to appear... and then I'll add some helpful instructional stuff, and weird things found on the web... and before you know it, BAM! world domination from the comfort of my dream home.
The future is now after all.
Let's do it.
ALSO:
Check the schedule of events here: http://www.heroesonline.com/heroescon/schedule/
Oh Man... There is too much good stuff!
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