Another day, another tease

Color test

I don't think I ever posted this one (looks like I posted the scan of the pencils a while back) and it's probably been too long since I uploaded any art. My legions of fans shall not be left wanting!

This is a bit of a test (lots of stray marks and color, some areas not really developed) trying to duplicate some techniques I've seen other guys use (OK, mostly Ben Templesmith and lots of guys trying to imitate him as well). I was trying to incorporate some of that style of techniques but then I kind of went my own way with it anyway. It's mostly a failure but I'm posting so people can see some of the steps along the war to the finished product which hopefully will finally drop in the next month or so (TEASE!).

I've mostly avoided using color in my work until recently, but the ease of coloring with a Wacom tablet and Photoshop and the free color afforded by the web there's no reason to not try to do the next project in color. While this has some touches I like it's nothing like how it will actually appear. My style has changed a few times just looking at different methods and styles. The hard part is limiting yourself and that's why so much computer coloring (including this example) turns out so bad.

Status Update (or: Selling Comics at Reptile Shows)

Reconnected with my Red Flag Publishing partner-in-crimes against humility, James T. Hitchcock aka Biff Humble aka OB1 Shinobi. He's R.F.P.'s Editor in C.H.I.E.F. (Correctly Hustling Information, Education and Funnies). Jim also owns an exotic pet store and spends his weekends schlupping newts, hamsters and other critters and the accessories to keep them alive across the midwest. He wanted some copies of the new issue of Red Flags because I kept telling him to put up a display to test how the reptile show audience might respond to an indy horror comic. Heck, I wanted to test how ANY comic might fare outside of a comic book-only venue, where there've been stuck since news stand distribution, head shops and indy record stores died. It just so happens that we self-published our particular comic with all its limitations. It's an imperfect study which maybe will say more about the quality of our book or our salesmanship than the venue and audience.

I never understood why comics couldn't be made that appeal to other audiences outside the direct market and then marketed to them in other venues besides direct market comic books stores in strip malls behind windows covered with Magic the Gathering ads (and 10-20 bohemian shops one the coasts and a couple major Midwest cities that sell 90% of indy comics). But anyone who tries it is basically in for a one man battle against the indifference and ignorance of the world toward comics. But now more than ever it seems both possible (due to manga, webcomics, the recent GN boom and even popular superhero movies) and necessary (due to not only the Great Recession but also to the fragmenting of the market with DM shops doubling down on the Big 2 and "indy" comics now becoming slight departures from the Big 2 such as IDW and Boom Studios as opposed to Fantagraphics and Drawn & Quarterly).

I don't know that I know yet much of anything but I did make some initial observations after attending half of one reptile show. We only sold and gave away a handful of books with a hastily made sign letting the people shopping for iguanas know about our self-published horror anthologies.

First, I couldn't help but notice the similarities and differences between a comic convention audience and reptile show attendees. Both are obviously different elements within a wide variety of "nerd culture" that would include video games, sci fi, horror movies, etc. I also didn't realize how much of the audience at a reptile show is a repeat crowd. I guess I forgot these things tend to be monthly affairs, more like a flea market than a convention. I wonder if the repeat nature of the business and the familiarity that ensues will help sales. Jim seems to have a large customer base and made a lot of contacts here. I guess we might get the same thing if I can ever afford to hit some comic conventions.

Here's some art as a thanks for listening to my musing...

When will you meet Mr. Smith?

The first story I ever did in comics was a 5 page short story about a man who at first appears to be a typical hired assassin named Mr. Smith. It was originally done for a horror and noir comics contest- the winner would be published as a backup feature. A story about a murderous teddy bear won.

My art, being my first real attempt at drawing comics, is rather crude but the story by James Hitchcock is a very dark and haunting take on what it means to be trapped by fate in a situation you despise but can't seem to break free of. I had planned to add in some spotted blacks in Photoshop, being afraid to cover up the line work with a short deadline and not wanting to have to draw lost details if I didn't like the results, but I just ended up over-shading the whole thing a sort of muddy middle grey which sort of captures the moral ambivalence I suppose but didn't nearly do enough justice to Jim's awesome script. It really deserved some dense blacks to portray the bleak and grim emotional vibe of the story.

After we lost the contest we decided to not let the story go to waste and that's when we jumped into self-publishing, creating the Red Flag Publishing empire and launching our Red Flags anthology with a first issue that contained the full "Mr. Smith" story along with the first part of a longer story which has yet to be completed called "Snatched" in which an FBI agent and a reporter investigate a series of mysterious child abductions. The second issue of Red Flags was published on-line at Web Comics Nation (and can be located with the link at the top right corner of the sidebar on this page).

You can read the Mr. Smith story for free by clicking here.

Work on a day off

So, as I posted last time around I now have Mondays off of the day job. I spent most of the day trying to ignore the Internet while working in Photoshop. Mostly, I scanned old drawings and worked on a couple of them, trying to improve my coloring techniques which I've never been happy with. I also worked on a logo for a friend I can't show yet and most of the drawings I worked on ended up being for the Secret Room blog (*must be 18 to enter) where I post my more adult-oriented glamour girl art and dirty drawings.



All in all my first Monday off was a good day. I tried to divide my time equally between various projects, including getting some housework done (so the wife doesn't pressure me to find a part time job- the hard part will be making sure I work enough hours the other days to keep my paychecks roughly equal to what they are now) while also working on enough art projects that I feel I actually accomplished something. I've got to make sure I actually accomplish stuff at home on my day off and don't get sucked into some on-line game or Twitter or something equally useless and time-wasting.

Then again, I can't put too much pressure on myself and expect to get 100 pages of comics drawn or something equally ridiculous. I did want to spend more time actually drawing than I ended up. I have a bad habit of playing around with too many layers and layer options and textures and backgrounds, etc. once I get a drawing into Photoshop. I end up over-working stuff that was essentially a sketch or character study.

So, my plan is to spend the first couple weeks acclimating to my new schedule, blogging a bit more and trying to come up with a plan. I have so many projects in my head that I can't possibly get to them all. The hard part will be sorting them out, figuring out which are ready to go and which need more time and planning. I plan to pick a couple projects each week to push forward and keep rotating until I have an idea where everything stands and which seem the most possible, promising, and fruitful. In the meantime, enjoy a selection of old sketchbook stuff worked to death in Photoshop trying to add color so it doesn't look so bland on the web...

Being downsized has its merits

So, thanks to the horrible economy and the fact that I work in the newspaper publishing business I now find myself with a new work schedule which means I am down to a 3 1/2 day work week and might lose some money from my weekly paycheck at a time when my family can hardly pay its bills.... and I'm happy about that! I now have a 3-day weekend including a Monday where my wife will be working and my son will either be at school or daycare (where my wife works). I will have to work 11-12 hours days to make up the lost time taking Monday off so that will be a grind but I'm looking forward to it in a weird way. For the last year all my comics projects have ground to a halt because of work and life. I have a tough time coming up with ideas or sitting down drawing when also trying to listen to my son tell me about his battles in Star Wars Battlefront or my wife is talking to me about which kids in daycare wouldn't take their nap. So, I will enjoy the extra day off and the time to hopefully get off my dead arse and start producing some art!


Anyone who looks at my recent flurry of posting and compares it the archives will notice I've been trying to post more here lately, this was an effort to hit the ground running with my new schedule. I've also been posting a lot at my art blog for dirty pictures. Hopefully as I enjoy my increased time off and get more drawing done I can break out the scanner and post some more art here which is something I haven't done enough of in the past.

The piece I posted was from last year's sketchbook which I scanned and played around with in Photoshop. More to come!