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.
