older art

Back this winter, I offered free ink commissions for the first five people to comment and ask. Four of five were taken. One went to Snab, one went to a Famous Artist Whom I Admire, one went to an old art school buddy King Ben (which I still have to deliver, btw), and one went to Rambler.

Snab's commission was the hardest and took the longest, Famous' was the most daunting, King Ben's was the most specific and Rambler's request was the most vague:

"...how about something involving tea, yoga, and either a carnival mask, an avocado tree, or a camp/bonfire? Extra points if you can fit in a veiled reference to LotR

How about that?

Well, Rambler's kindly lent the piece back to me to scan for all of you:



I only got the tea, yoga and the campfire, and the LotR refrences aren't in the least veiled, there are two of them.

Also, the Page One Hundred Contest is still going on. Did I mention that shipping is free? What do I have to do to get some comments, post art nearly every single day this past week?

of course, I could post a Green Lantern-A-Day like Rawls (go back and look at his Hulk Month, too)

listening to while posting: "Waking up is hard to do" by +/- (good band, bad name for search engines)

art and music: Sweet Enemy indie music superstar

I've been working on the "The Dharma Bums" Page One Hundred... page and this song came up on iTunes.

It's a ska version of Rush's "The Spirit of Radio" that I was working on a few years ago. I got stuck on the bridge and it has languished. I wrangled Sweet Enemy into singing on it; she's got a pretty good voice when she wants to use it, which is almost never. (Since I have a horrible singing voice, I think it's like having a Porsche 911 and leaving it in the garage). The classic slightly-bored, slightly-annoyed indie-girl sound isn't an affectation, she really didn't want to do this. She's probably pretty happy that I haven't gotten the bridge worked out yet (the problem is that the bridge is, itself, in a ska/reggae sound and I'm trying to figure out how to make it into a different sound. It's proving elusive.

Here's the unfinished version. It was created in Garage Band. Bass and guitars are by me. The drums were hand-sequenced in Garage Band by me. The voice is Sweet Enemy, of course. Since this is unfinished, the mixing is spotty at best, so don't judge it too harshly.



Also, The Dharma Bums is moving slowly. I've decided to try to emulate one of my favorite artists, Michael Cho. His style is so singular, I had to see if I can think like he does. Look at his work. He is able to think and visualize both positively and negatively at the same time. It's not just about line, or color, or shape, but all at once. He's awesome and I totally acknowledge that I'm copying his style just to see if I can.

One sticking point is that I haven't touched gouache in about a decade, but I'm working hard to remember how to use it. Another is that I discovered (the hard way) that the ink I'm using is not waterproof and bleeds when thinned gouache touches it. Lovely.. What do you guys think?

Panel Two:


Panel Four:



And remember, the Great Page One Hundred Giveaway. Leave a comment on that page or mention 'Page One Hundred Giveaway" on these comments for a chance to win.

Listening to while posting: "Tank!" by Yokko Kano ('Tank' is better known as the 'Cowboy Bebop' theme)

I'm terrible at surprises

I just can't wait and give them away too soon. I'm selfish that way.

This is a small side project I was sketching out while taking a break from the next Page One Hundred: "The Dharma Bums". Which is finished, pencilled and waiting to be lettered before inking.

In these days when cheesy 80's sci-fi becomes re-imagined, often with harder, more naturalistic edges, I got the wild hair to suggest another re-imagining. It's going to be a full-color fake comic cover when I'm done. I was going to wait to post until it was all colored, but I liked the sketch so much that I wanted to post it before I wrecked it inking.

I thought about using this as the contest for the original Page One Hundred art give-away. But that would have been too easy for people of a certain age so, I'll just use it as part.

The contest is simply to leave a comment. After one week, I'll print out the names, throw them in a hat and pick one at random. The winner will receive their choice of one of the previously completed Page One Hundred pieces or a new one from the book of their choice. If that person can guess the name of the show I'm re-imagining, along with the names of the characters, they get a free smaller crappy drawing of my choice to go with the main prize.

Yay.


(click to enlarge. It looks better bigger)

Lee Sargent asked about my lettering of the previous Page One Hundred. I used the ever old-school Ames Lettering Guide. It's pretty easy to use basically, but hard to use for real. The included directions are cryptic and while there are some videos on YouTube, but they amateur at best. However, even basically, it's easier than measuring and lining with a ruler.

Listening to while posting: "Width of the Circle" by David Bowie

Page 100 Number Two!

Here's the second of my Page One Hundred Project pieces. Page 100 of "Small Gods" by Terry Pratchett.



Learned from this one:

1) I hand-lettered it and while you can read it, it's a bit small. I think a heavier line for the type might help as well. Learning the Alvin lettering guide might also help. The tortoise lettering was done by Sweet Enemy (The tortoise in the fourth panel is stylized on her suggestion as well).

2) Hair. I need to practice light colored hair. I did use a brush to do the hair which is unusual in itself. I usually only use one sort of tool per drawing. This is not a good thing and I'm trying to break the habit.

3) Drapery. I have to get off of my but and draw more drapery.

4) drawing a background separately seemed to work pretty well.

The original text:

Brutha lay on his back among the sails and ropes somewhere under the decking. It was hot, and the air smelled of all air anywhere that has ever come into contact with bilges.

Brutha hadn't eaten all day. Initially he'd been too ill to. Then he just hadn't.

"But being cruel to animals doesn't mean he's a... bad person, " he ventured, the harmonics of his tone suggesting that eve he didn't believe this. It had been quite a small porpoise.

"He turned me on my back," said Om.

Yes, but humans are more important than animals, " said Brutha.

"this is a point of view often expressed by humans," said Om.

"Chapter IX, verse 16 of the book of --" Brutha began.

"Who cares what any book says!" screamed the tortoise.

Brutha was shaken.

"But you never told any of the prophets that people should be kind to animals," he said. "I don't remember anything about that. Not when you were... bigger. You don't want people to be kind to animals because they're animals, you just want people to be kind to animals because one of them might be you."

"That's not a bad idea!"

"Besides, he's been kind to me. He didn't have to be."

"You think that? Is that what you think? Have you looked at the man's mind?"

"Of course I haven't! I don't know how to!"

"You don't?"

"No! Human's can't do--"

Brutha paused. Vorbis seemed to do it. He only had to look at someone to know what wicked thoughts they harbored. And grandmother had been the same.

Whew. This turned out pretty good. Next up is The Dharma Bums by Jack Kerouac.

I'm thinking of another give-away to help me grow in my art. Not another free ink drawing to the first five takers like last time but something more contest-y. I haven't got a contest-y thing yet, but I think the prize will be a choice of either one of the Page One Hundred projects already complete, or doing a Page One Hundred of the winner's favorite book (unless, of course, the book is awful).

How's this strike you guys? If even one person expresses interest, I'll come up with a contest. Sound off, people!

Listening to while posting: "Broadripple is Burning" by Margot and the Nuclear So and So's (jeezum. I had to go back twice to get that right)

sorry

No inking of the next Page 100 Project piece.

What happened was I decided on Tuesday to re-draw some of the panels. Turns out that I didn't notice that I'd measured the height some of the panels and threw off everything. Since I did these panels separately, I didn't notice until I was nearly done pencilling. The recovery process cost me some time.

I have however lettered the dialog for one of the two characters; Sweet Enemy will be doing the other character. Lettering is much harder than drawing, really. The trick is to not try to just write, if you do, you'll get sloppy.

So, to apologize, here's a scan of the oldest drawing I still have. My mother dates it to when I was in first or second grade (back when there was still a "Y" at the end of my first name).



Check it out. You can sort of read that I had written US.A.F on the side of the truck in pencil along with two pencilled riders in the truck. I really dig the driver.

Listening to while posting: "Over the Waterfall" by Michelle Shocked (in my head)

I'm such a tease

I just finished the initial pencil of my second Page 100 Project piece: Small Gods by Terry Pratchett. I'll be hitting a final pencil Thursday (tomorrow I'm racing my first mountain bike race of the season) and inking Friday. The biggest challenge is that I'm going to be hand-lettering the whole thing and it's chock full of dialog.

Here's a teaser. It's the third panel and I'm really happy with this as I'd never drawn a tortoise before**



See you in the future!

Listening to while posting: A red fox in our woods screaming out his/her territory bark. Sweet Enemy and I were just on our (thankfully second story) deck trying to track the critter through the woods with a MagLite. We caught glimpses of two forward-facing eyes in the trees about ten meters away, but we didn't know exactly what it was until we found this audio clip.

Last Thursday was a black bear trying to climb the deck at 3 a.m. I'd just chased some raccoons off the deck and heard the shuffling. I ran up with the light already to chase raccoons off and looked over the deck to see a big 'ol bear turn his big 'ol bear booty and take off into the woods. I was just slightly taken aback ;)

I love living here.

**It was remarkably hard to find a book on just tortoises. There were books on turtles, sure, but All I found were two pictures of tortoises in a turtle book. Sheesh. Even living for a century in some of the harshest places on Earth doesn't get you your own book?

current project, current news

Firstly, Sweet Enemy and I are test-driving a new cat. He's a fat gray tom with notched ears and funny light gray stripes. He's very vocal and prone to growling (which means nothing, apparently. He will growl while purring and while bumping you and acting all lovey). He's the cat of SE's cousin and needs a new home as her two boys are having trouble understanding that cats aren't plushies and her husband doesn't like cats**.

He's nervous and hid under the bed most of the day, but seems to be adjusting. A bit. Updates to follow.

Currently, I'm working on Page 100 Project. I first saw this on Drawn and it is the genius idea of artist Jason Turner.

What you do is take a book, open to page 100 and make a comic page of that page. It's a challenge, especially in a dialog-heavy page, or a scene-setting page. I've got three planned. The first is from Sabriel*** an fantastic novel by the inimitable Garth Nix.

Here's the text:

"...of wide, low steps, carved with intricate patterns. Whether they meant something, Sabriel didn't know. They weren't charter marks, or symbols of any language that she knew, and she was too tired to speculate. She concentrated on one step at a time, using her hands to push down on her aching thighs, coughing and gasping, head down to avoid the flying snow.

The path grew steeper still and Sabriel could see the cliff-face ahead, a huge, black, vertical mass, a much darker backdrop to the swirling snow than the clouded sky, palely backlit by the moon. But, she didn't seem to get any closer as the path switchbacked to and fro, rising further and further up from the valley below.

Then, suddenly, Sabriel was there. The path turned again and her little will-0'-the-wisp light reflected back from the wall, a wall that stretched for miles on either side and for hundreds of yards upward. Clearly, these were the Long Cliffs, and the path had ended.

Almost sobbing with relief, Sabriel pushed herself forward to the very base of the cliff, and the little light rose above her head to disclose grey, lichen-veined rock. But even with that light, there was no sign of a door-- nothing but...

Here's the pencil:



Here's the ink. The black background hasn't been put in in real life, yet, but I plan to. I want to have these as actual pieces of art to hang. It should keep me from cutting digital corners as I've done with the previous comics.



The other two I have in the works are Small Gods by Terry Pratchett (this is pencilled, but not inked) and my favorite Keroac novel, The Dharma Bums

More to come!

Listening to while posting: Bernie flopped on the floor behind my chair purring; he's out from under the bed!

**I've never understood disliking cats. I don't own a dog, but I love 'em. I love cats, too. What's wrong with a cat. It's like a vibrating pillow you have to feed occasionally. What's there to dislike? Litter box cleaning maybe, but that could be considered less gross than big piles of poo in the yard (or a dog that pees on his own front feet like my sister's late German Shepherd)

***I'm posting no link. This is because any synopsis would ruin the book. It is so original and non-derivative that any synopsis would make it seem stupid. I will only say that it is a fantasy novel, but I'd be very, very surprised if you've read one like it. I used to sell books and every customer I recommended this book to came back to thank me. Go buy a copy today.