Read Comics in Public Day

Green Line Cafe, 43rd and Baltimore, Philadelphia, PA

I found the declaration and timing of this 'day' to be a little odd and slightly amusing, especially with the brouhaha being stirred up by the whole Glenn Beck rally on MLK's 'I Have a Dream Speech' anniversary. And I guess I've never been ashamed of reading comics in public anyway, I've done it before, and I'll no doubt do it again. My experience has been that no one has noticed or cared, or even realized that I was reading a comic. Maybe I've always gotten strange and hateful looks while I was reading, who knows...

However, I understand the purpose of the day, and so if it helps to raise the visibility of comics in the public domain, so be it. On my weekly excursion to Green Line Cafe, I brought along two books by Jason, Why Are You Doing This? and The Left Bank Gang. Jason is fast becoming one of my favorite artists, and these two books could well topple Goodbye Chunky Rice from the top of my favorites list.

I love this quote from The Left Bank Gang, spoken by none other than James Joyce (as an anthropomorphic bird). When asked why he does comics, he replies: "It's the only thing I know how to do. I can't drive a bus or hit a nail with a hammer. I can tell a story in tiny pictures and fuck up my eyesight a little more every day."

This pretty much sums up my philosophy for comics.

Dogs!

Over the course of the past year, I've had a couple commissions that have...surprised me. I was asked to make cartoon portraits featuring pets, and more specifically, dogs. Don't get me wrong, I'm always flattered when someone asks me to make something for them, but in this case I was a little confounded. I don't consider myself to be an expert at drawing animals, and haven't really gone out of my way to draw them in my personal work. So, I found it a little odd when I was asked twice to do similar commissions. If nothing else, it forced me to actually incorporate animals into my drawing style, and they both turned out to be fun.
The above commission was pretty straightforward, just a simple portrait of two greyhounds. Nothing specific about background or action. So, using the reference photos given to me, I tried to figure out the personalities of the dogs, and develop a scene from there. According to the client, I came pretty darn close too!

This next one was a little more intensive. It was a larger size, with three dogs, and portraits of their owners as well. I was also asked to compose it after the cover for 'The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan.' However, since the couple doesn't live in New York City, I attempted to convey more of a midwest, neighborhood vibe. And as you can see in the background, I'm working with color line variations as a way to separate the foreground from the background. The final image was printed on a really nice fine art paper from iPrintfromHome.com. I think everyone, including myself, was very pleased with the end result!

So, all in all, if you have an idea and you think my style might suit your purposes, look me up. It could be dogs, cats, your family, those sci-fi characters you've been writing about for so long, or if you really want to get on my good side, one of my own characters. I'm always willing to it a shot.

BEAR VS. OCTOPUS

Most awesome thing I've ever drawn? Maybe...

Indiana Jones in watercolor

Indiana Jones
Pen & Ink, Watercolor

Another movie illustration, this one a little more intensive with the addition of watercolor. I kept it a little loose, and didn't worry too much about neatness and what not. I found it more enjoyable that way, frankly.

Random News and Notes

- 'The Ballad of Toby & Sara: Track 5' will make its full debut on my main website by the end of August. Like I said in the previous post, the pages are done, I'm just adding a grey tone to the artwork. As for an actual printed book, this may have to wait due to a certain lack of funds to do an adequate print run. I am, however, contemplating a Kickstarter drive. I'll keep you posted if this develops into anything.

- I'll be attending two more conventions this year. The first one comes up next Sunday, August 8, at PACC (the Philadelphia Alternative Comic-Con). Then, in September I'll be exhibiting at SPX in Bethesda, Maryland the weekend of September 11-12. If you're in the area for either of these, please stop by.

- I have a comic in the upcoming issue of Secret Prison, a free comic tabloid distributed around Philly. The comic met its Kickstarter goal, and is set to debut at PACC. If you're not in the area and would like a copy, email me and I'll find a way to get you one.

-I've never been to Comic-Con International in San Diego, CA, but I found Tom Spurgeon's overview of the most recent one over at The Comics Reporter insightful and observant, as always.

-If you're having trouble understanding Inception, this timeline infographic over at Deviant Art by dehahs might help you.

'Toby & Sara: Meetings and Greetings' dilemma

Back in April at MoCCA, I was offering a small, 15 page preview of the next 'Toby & Sara' chapter 'Meetings and Greetings.' I haven't heard back from many people, but the response was positive if a little bit hesitant. In this comic, however, I had announced that the remaining pages would debut in June 2010.

Well, June 2010 has come and gone, and July 2010 is about to close its door as well. So I'm here to say that the pages are DONE. I could conceivably lay them out and send a new book to the printer, or upload them to my main website. So, why haven't I?

As I was cleaning up and preparing the final pages, I couldn't help but think that, yes, these are good pages, but that an additional element would help immensely, something to really focus the readers attention on the characters, and to add depth to the visual settings of the story. My drawings can tend to become cluttered with a lot of visual information, and as I've learned from working on 'Supernova Lullaby,' the use of color and tone can help guide the reader in how they experience the comic.

Thus, I've decided to incorporate gray tones into these new 'Toby & Sara' pages. Below, I've posted samples of a few pages, both with and without the gray tones. I'd love to hear your comments, if you are so inclined.

Page 3

Page 14

Page 17

A couple things to watch out for in 'Inception'

First off, this isn't a review of Inception, there are already hundreds out there who have critiqued the film in both positive and negative lights. But as I was watching it, I noticed two undercurrents to the film that I thought worth sharing. As you probably know or can tell from my work, I'm a bit of a mythology geek, and so whenever I see or notice something mythic going on, I pay attention a little more.

So, there are two myths, both Greek, whose DNA flows through the story of the movie. One is the myth of the Minotaur and the Labyrinth. Christopher Nolan, the director and writer, by no means hides this allusion. Ellen Page's character in the movie is named Ariadne, who provides the hero of the original myth with the means of getting out of the Labyrinth and vanquishing the monster.

The other myth, however, plays out in a much more subtle way in the movie. The parallels aren't as literal as the Labyrinth one, but I couldn't help but see traces of Orpheus and Eurydice in the film. Orpheus, who goes down to the Underworld to retrieve his lost love Eurydice, only to lose her again. Nolan is much better at hiding this parallel, and in the end even subverts it a little bit.

That's all I'll say for now, just a couple hints before you see the movie (or see it again, as may be the case for many of you). I may go into a bit more detailed analysis at a later point, but I don't want to give away too much of the plot at this stage of the film's release. And truth be told, I'm not even sure how I would describe it from beginning to end.


(Oh, and in case you wondering, I really liked the film. An intense ride that caught me from the beginning and didn't let go for 2 1/2 hours. I can't think of any movies in recent memory that have done the same thing.)

Movie Illustrations Project (ongoing)

These are two illustrations for a project that I had good intentions to execute. The premise is fairly simple, do 8x11 drawings of characters from various movies, not only to practice my skills but to also have something to sell at conventions. Needless to say, this and that comes up, and before you know it, the project has fallen to the wayside. Wah wah.

So, these are the first two drawings that are the most developed. I'm tempted to add color to them, either with a set of Pitt brush markers that I picked up recently, or with watercolor (though I'm fearful that the water color would warp the paper). Though I'm kind of pleased with the black and white too. Decisions, decisions...

Johnny 5 from Short Circuit

Richie Tenenbaum from The Royal Tenenbaums

Secret Prison #2! Kickstarter! Help us out!!!

I’ll have a comic in the second issue of Secret Prison, a free comic tabloid based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. But right now we’re raising funds to print it, and we’re asking for your help! Check out our Kickstarter page, and come away with some awesome swag. But hurry, there’s only 10 days left!!!

http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1043760737/secret-prison-2

A few thoughts on the passing of Harvey Pekar

Earlier today, it was announced that Harvey Pekar, the acclaimed writer of the long running comic American Splendor, died at the age of 70. The news circulated through both major media outlets like the New York Times, and through the internet via Twitter, Facebook, and sites like the Comics Reporter. And for good reason, Pekar's presence on the comics and cultural scene helped shape what comics are today, and how they are regarded by major critics and everyday readers alike.

I never met Pekar, I don't have any enlightening anecdotes to share with you, that's a subject for others to relate. I've read a sizable portion of his work, but I probably should have read more by now. However, I was always touched by the honesty, humor, and reality that I found in his stories. That's a rarity to find even nowadays, which makes Pekar's work even more essential to the community as a whole.


To me, more than anything, Harvey Pekar is sort of a patron saint to any cartoonist who slogs through a day job they don't want be at, only to go home and work on comics that may or may not be read by anybody. It can be lonely work, and the rewards are few and far between, but Pekar's example proves that by continually doing the work and putting that work out there for people to see, you will find admirers, and new stories to tell and new avenues to explore. Maybe that's romanticizing his impact, but that's just what his work meant to me.

For every fast rising star over the comics landscape, there are hundreds more below hunched over drawing tables, writing and scribbling and sketching out ideas during those few hours between the paycheck job. Thank God we had Harvey Pekar to show us how to get it done.

Simon Schama's The Power of Art

I will confess here and now that I'm a bit of a jaded Artist. (Okay, I'm jaded about things in general, but still....). Call it the Curse of Grad School, but I have difficulty in finding warm affection for that thing called Art, even though I've been educated in it through and through and I'm attached to it as a livelihood. The 'Shock of the New' is no longer shocking nor that new, and the museums that house the Old Masters seem more like mausoleums than places of discovery.

So, I have to give credit to Simon Schama's Power of Art for at the very least forcing me to look again at the culture of Art, its history, and how it relates to me as a person in the 21st Century. I checked this out from the library with a bit of skepticism, but a couple episodes in and I was truly hooked, eating up all eight episodes in one weekend.

What was it that caught my eye? What made me a true believer? Was it the production, the artists, Schama's voice itself? That last part may not be far off, because I think what made each episode remarkable was the one thing that I always look for in a work of art: storytelling. Each episode opens and ends with a work of art by an artist, and then branches out to encompass their body of work and their personal history. In this, Schama is an impeccable guide, he knows how to spin a good yarn and to transform these artist biographies into a living, breathing narrative. And by doing this, Schama removes them from the pedestals of High Art and High Society, and shows just how connected they were to the politics, religion, commerce, and upheavals of their respective eras. None of these artists are saints, each of them is flawed, and all of them had to struggle to bring their visions to life.

Of the eight artists profiled, the one that effected me the most was Mark Rothko, surprisingly. Part of this was due to the fact that I didn't know much about Rothko to begin with, and I'm not immediately drawn to abstraction. But in the episode Schama confesses that he himself wasn't an immediate admirer of Rothko, that he too had doubts. This admission opened up the possibility for me that there might be something more with Rothko's work that I'm not seeing, that even doubters can become believers. And sure enough, I discovered that within Rothko's work there is a sense of contemplation, that Rothko is creating a place and space for the viewer to be silent in a world that no longer allows it. Schama states that Rothko treats every viewer as a 'human being, and what other higher compliment could there be than that.' One would hope that all Art would attempt the same.

There are other high points. Caravaggio's episode is excellent, and the Van Gogh episode digs deeper to understand the artist's psyche beyond just the 'tortured genius' argument. Though Schama uses 'genius' anyway, and actually throws it about just a little too much with all of the artists. But no matter, Schama is in love with his subject, and that devotion is clear through each episode. His goal isn't necessarily to educate, but to open your eyes to the possiblities that Art possesses, not only in the past, but one would hope in the future as well.

City Pages Illustrations

I made these illustrations for City Pages, a Minneapolis-St. Paul newsweekly, a month ago. All three were for an article about bad bus drivers. At first, I was going to have a unique bus driver for each illustration, but I decided to develop one character to use for all three, to bring some continuity to the illustrations.

Final Drawings and Thoughts on 'Lost'

Looking back over the past few months of posts, it would appear that all this blog has become are 'Lost' sketches that I've done either for myself or for friends. And so today I say to you, these will be the FINAL 'Lost' related sketches that I post FOREVER!!!

Trust me, I've enjoyed doing them, but I think it's time to move on...

Locke/Man-in-Black/Smoke Monster
I have to say, this aspect of Season 6 was a personal favorite. I loved the various double-crossings and cons that went into this storyline, and I felt it shed some light on the series overall.

Hurley
A classic image from Season 1

Crazy Claire
I really enjoyed seeing the return of Claire, but I felt that she was
underused in the season overall. I wanted to know more about her whereabouts in the three years we didn't see, and how her relationship with the Smoke Monster developed over time, which had creepy written all over it.

As for the finale...I really liked how they resolved the Island storyline, and in fact I was surprised they wrapped it up as tightly as they did. There was an element of tragedy to it all, but hope as well. And I was surprised to see that the Island is literally a cork, which leads me to believe that Jacob had at some point gone down into that well to see what exactly was down there.

But the Sideways storyline...I'm still trying to get it. I've read other synopses about the finale, and more and more, my thoughts lean towards the negative. At the start of the season, I was really into it, but to find out that it didn't have a direct correlation with any of the events on the Island (such as the Incident in Season 5) was a bit disappointing. What always amazed me about the various seasons of 'Lost' was how well the writers brought everything together by the end of a season, everything just clicking into place. I didn't get that feeling this time around, and maybe that's what I'm missing.

Aside from my quibbles though, I'm grateful to the series. The creative team behind it made the story that they wanted to tell, and as a fellow storyteller, I find that inspiring. I'd like to think that my life is just a little richer for having seen and experienced this story, and met these characters. I may not have had faith in the series all the time, but at the very least it kept me entertained, and gave me quite a bit to think about it. There's a lot to be said for that, especially for a medium like television.

And so... Namaste.

MoCCA Thoughts (A Month Later)

It's been a month since the MoCCA Comic Art Festival, and I have yet to put up anything publicly about the weekend. I guess it's taken awhile to process, and only now I have something really to say about it. Be forewarned, some of my observations may verge on cynical/depressive, but I think it's somewhat healthy to acknowledge some cons along with the pros of the convention.

Financially, the show was a disaster. I didn't come close to making back my table, let alone the money that I invested in producing books and swag for the show. But overall, I had a good time. It was my first chance to spend some quality time in New York since moving to the East coast, and I got to meet a few artists whose work I really admire. And I passed out a lot of promo cards for my webcomic and website, so hopefully this garnered some readership and will have some returns down the road.

And yet, I still have no idea what people look for when attending a convention. My tablemate had a small mini-comic about a cat that she was selling for $2, and she made a killing. People would come up, look at it, and literally become giddy right at the table because it was about a cat, and they had a cat, and they could relate to it. I'm not knocking it, it was a great comic and it deserved to be picked up by as many people as possible. But the lesson I took away was that you have to have something, whether a character or concept, that is simple enough for people to pick up and get immediately. That comic that you've been slaving over for months (or years) probably isn't going to cut it, and people are most likely going to stay away from long winded series unless they can get into it with a stand alone story. At the end of the day, people are still fanboys or fangirls. They may not be looking for Spider-Man or Iron Man material, but they still want something that they are familiar with.

Probably the best advice I got was from David Malki!, he of Wondermark fame. First, he said that you should become really good at what you're making. Master it, keep at it, and it will eventually find its audience. Second, he said to wait before producing books or merchandise until people start asking for them. This way, you'll have some chance at selling your product, and you won't be stuck with an enormous bill. I honest to god wish I had heard this before the convention, because sure enough, I had a collection of my webcomic and t-shirts at my table, and the majority of them are now sitting in boxes in my apartment. Granted, I'll have this stuff for future conventions, but there's no guarantee I'll sell them there either. Sadly, it's now sort of expected that you have merchandise along with a webcomic, even before the comic itself has had enough time to gestate. In any case, David's advice was enormously helpful, and while our chat was brief, I'm glad I approached him and asked for his advice.

My one regret is not approaching more cartoonists at the convention, some of whom I had met years before. Granted, being an exhibitor at these things can sometimes prevent this, but in some ways I still feel isolated within the comics world, and sometimes I feel even more so after conventions. More and more I realize that I need to nurture the relationships I have within the larger comics community. I can't expect friendships and professional relationships to form overnight, especially when I'm only seeing these people maybe once or twice a year, if I'm fortunate enough, and so I need to take advantage of the opportunities as much as possible.

So, there you have it, my thoughts on MoCCA. Some good, some bad. Onto to the next one...

Oh, and Kate Beaton is awesome. She makes comics about history. READ THEM. Hark! A Vagrant

More 'Lost' Commissions

Jack in the Hatch

The Smoke Monster/Man in Black


Charlie and Desmond in the Looking Glass