Fanart Friday: Star Wars

Hey Kids!  I’ve got plans with some people tomorrow so I’m putting this up a little early.  Also I’ve been rather busy so I didn’t have time to put up a completed piece so here’s multiple pieces!

Anytime I draw semi-serious it always looks a little, manga-rific.

"Hope the old man got the tractor beam shut down or we're in for a real short trip."

I've never been able to draw Vader's helmet...EVER!

STAR WARS SON!

That’s right it’s everyone’s favorite trilogy before that bearded neck decided to go rebuild his legos. I would talk to you about how Star Wars is the biggest influence in my life and how it helped me find the friends I have today, but why would I tell you about your life.

 I’ve constantly been afraid that I would become George Lucas.  I kind of think it’s every artist’s personal nightmare to become a hack.  I see a lot of myself in the little weirdo; I’m ambitious, I want to control the stories I tell, and I love cheesy dialogue…mmmm…cheese.  I think the fear comes from having this sense of “it just isn’t what I imagined.” I’ve been told that every work an artist does is “80% perfection.”  A good chunk of artists would disagree with me and claim it to be lower.

Which is a little voice in every artists head, “it’s not good enough!  You should do it again!  Keep adding enough proverbial flab that would clog the arteries of even your most hardened characters!

If you want to be a good artist you have to set these fears aside and just push through with what you have then move on to the next piece.  Just strive to make the next work better than the last and you’ll find yourself improving vastly.  Don’t worry if it’s good enough for other people; worry if it’s good for you.  It’s a balancing act though, think too much about what you want and not enough of your audience at all and you will end up just failing.

Going back to George Lucas though, he get’s far too much credit for “creating” Star Wars.  Great movies like that are only created through a collaborative effort between many, many talented people.  The idea that all of Star Wars was just his will is a little preposterous.  The only reason he’s done some less than reputable work as of late is because he’s George Lucas and no one dares question him.   Boy’s got too many of dem Yes Men. (cue Jim Carrey joke.)

It is an interesting thought that he might have had an entirely different movie in his head and what came out was something he despised but everyone loved.  That seems to be a trend with quite a few artists I’ve talked to.  The project they poured their heart and soul into ends up being dwarfed by the shadow of something they took maybe five minutes to work on with little thought behind it. 

I’m a big believer that the world is fueled by dramatic irony and I try to plan my life around it if possible.  

Also, here's a couple I drew when I was watching a movie with some friends.  

GUESS THE MOVIE! 

"That rug really tied the room together."

Some Brush Stuff

I need an actual scanner.

I've been practicing with brushes on some old comics.  Here was a little story about the main character of my upcoming webcomic meeting a scientific wizard who makes...odd things. 

I'm trying to find out which I prefer; traditional or digital.

I usually do digital inks, which I like, but always tends to look a little stiff.  Traditional has life but lacks the cleanliness I like, but that will come with practice.  Both are still fun though.

Fanart Friday: Silent Hill 3

 

SILENT HILL!!

That movie sucked.  

So Silent Hill 3 is wonderful.  I've always enjoyed that game.  Good stuff.  

Going back to my last post.  That was just an exercise in futility.  I write those sometimes when my head gets a little to crowded.  Sometimes I share them sometimes I don't.

Gotta work on more stuff, I'll give you an update later this weekend

Stream of Consciousness

I do poems like these sometimes.

Well, here goes...

This is the moment that presents itself onto the world.  The time for the greatest of our minds to hinder the generations that have come before us.  To stop the forwardness and the evident cosmos that encapsulates their dreams.  things that have no value, now the most priceless in our collection.  Their brilliance shining like a diamond in the night showing the true side of our own frivolity.  Instant gratification unbroken to the power of the toiling geriatrics in the field.  Lost.  Lost is the word that holds the world.  Just as it's been and just as it always will be.  The illusion of control always seen, spoken of, conceptualized, but always in the air.  The words on the paper float off and set the earth in motion.the paper stacks and the body withers.  Nubile are the forms who enter the fray, surrounded by the schematics of ash and decay.  Tears help to lubricate the soul, to break down the potential into the kinetic and give rise to that which could never be imagined.  The paper melts, the aspirations and illuminations of the old blossom through baptism of the soul of the fresh.  Crescendo is the sight, the life of plan rejoices to it's apex causing a cacophony that envelopes the heart.

Pain.  Agony breaks from the rapturous form.  Sweltering boils and soars pop fizzles from the open wound of progress.  The unrelenting pain slows the mind.  Hinders the progress.  Brings kinetic to potential, but the fear frees potential.  Aches the soul.  Drives the mass forward.  Broken is the mind as it swirls and falls as the tempest in the night.  The squall that cannot be stopped and will never be.  The emotions at the keep forcing the logic back.  Corralling the unstoppable leviathan onto it's intended path.

Sights, sounds, smells, feelings, and thoughts.

Ideas.

Horizontally potential until spring-boarded into the kinetic.  Corralled by idea.  Moving forward so you don't stop.  Backwards is the other way to move.  Not preferred, but movement non-the-less.  Too slow, the rhythm is erratic and lacking of any syncopation.  Quality is only the truth of the masses and cannot quench the thirst that drives you to victory.

Sadly it's lost to the bard.  Only to return at it's own mercy.























I want it back.

Fanart Friday: Scooby-Doo

Alright sports fans another new Fanart Friday submission, this week it's Scooby-Dooby-Doo!  I just did that.  Scooby is SO hard to draw!  There is something about that dog's head that is just unfathomably difficult for me. Derpy-derpy-doo! is more like it...sheesh.  

I love the new Scooby-Doo: Mystery Incorporated.

It's so nice to actually have some Character development from our favorite super sleuths.  It is actually pretty surprising that these characters have survived throughout the decades without any real development, strike that, any interesting development.

I watched the formulaic original Scooby-Doo all the time as a kid and loved every second of it.  I saw the formula when I was little but it didn't bother me any because I was young and that kind of thing hadn't begun to shatter be suspension of disbelief.  That and I had a huge crush on Velma.  I'm not afraid of it either; ask any guy out there who likes girls with glasses what the most likely catalyst for the obsession, nine times out of ten it's Velma.

The New Scooby-Doo Movies was the best thing on television!  Every time I watched the opening credits I hoped and prayed that it would be one of the episodes where the gang met up with Batman!  It was usually the Harlem Globetrotters though, they weren't as funny to me.  I used to watch the old 60's Batman on TVLand also, so when Batman and Robin teamed up with Scooby and Shaggy, I was in heaven!  I always loved asking my dad who each of the guest stars were each episode.   I really enjoy learning about pop culture and it's history.  There were always some great ones: Johnathan Winters, Mama Cass, Three stooges, Don Friggin' Knotts!

NIP IT IN THE BUD!

 Then I got older and the shows got weirder with scrappy-doo...oof; and don't even get me started on that whole Thirteen Ghosts of Scooby-Doo nonsence.  Flim Flam is a human Scrappy-Doo, who is already in the show!  Two of the same characters, why!? He was stupid, small, and annoying, just like Scrappy.  "Ho boy guys I'm fulla piss n' vinegar!  Let's go on an adventure!"  I think he had an annoying catchphrase like every other cartoon character and I'm sure that every time it was uttered it chipped another piece of my innocence away revealing the cynic within.  I'd like to find the executive who thought this character was so perfect for this show that they had to get rid of Velma and punch him in the eye.  Vincent Price was awesome though.

Con artist! More like yawn artist. Amirite?

What's New Scooby-Doo should've been put down out the gate.  That was just awful.  The characters were just boring rehashes of the original cast.  Nothing new was attempted.  It was just a cash grab.  I didn't think the show could get anymore pedestrian than the original show. The mysteries weren't even interesting.  Yeah, it's a show for kids and they should be easy, but not less interesting than what's going on in the dryer.

HU-DUUUUURRRRR

They have a lot of great call backs to these old shows in Mystery Incorporated as well as treat them as canonical (even the awful live-action movies).  Vincent Price (Maurice LaMaurche) is Scooby and Shaggy's favorite horror movie actor.  There're tons of movie references, caricatures of 70's icons, and the voice actors have a lot of fun carrying on the Hannah-Barbara tradition of their characters being parodies of other comedians and character actors. Speaking of voice acting, did you know the guy who played Shaggy in the live-action movie plays Shaggy in the show?  Hand to God!  Casey Kasem plays his dad though which I find hilarious. Oh, and Lewis Black's in it too!

Anyway, I'm rambling.

More Webcomic Stuff

Alright ladies, gents, guys, dolls, and what-have-you; I've got some new things to share!  First of all, finished my coloring (yay me).  Turned out pretty good if I say so myself.  God I love drawing explosions, it's so much fun!

I thought I'd also show you guys an example of my thumbnails.  This is a little chase scene from chapter one, where Gallant (our frog hero) sword fights with a pirate on the back of a scooter.  If you have a hard time reading it, join the club.  My hand writing becomes illegible when I get excited about what I'm writing. 

I'm getting pumped to start drawing all of this.  These thumbnails have really made me explore fun angles and compositions to give the best reading experience.  I hope it turns out at least 80% as good as it is in my head.  If not I just keep trudging on through.

Getting used to this working style has been endlessly confounding.  Trying to make sure I accomplish something each day as well as making sure what I'm accomplishing is substantial has been really difficult.  I believe i'm doing well, but at the end of the day I always feel like I could be doing a whole lot more.  I shouldn't worry too much though.  This will probably be my last summer without a job for the rest of my life, so I'm going to be productive as well enjoy myself as best I can.


Also, warm-up expressions for you and your kin.

I'll see you guys again for Fanart Friday!  What will it be this week?  Subscribe so you don't miss it!

Work in Progress...Yo

Here's what I have so far for my little brush test I posted on the 30th.  I'm going to try to finish it as quickly as possible for you kids to enjoy.

AWAY!!!!!

Subscriptions and Twitter

Hey guys this is going to be a quick one. 

I just added the ability to subscribe via email to this blog.  I'm not very good at this kind of thing so if you subscribe and your having issues just let me know and I'll take care of it the best that I can.

I also got a twitter account which I have a little widget for it on the side bar.  So if you're interested in following just head over the twitter and get to it.

Also an update on the deer who lives in the cow pasture from the last post...he's dead.  Turns out he thought he was actually a cow and became territorial.  He started attacking the calves so the farmer shot him.  North Carolina! 

So I just have comics to do. 

Fanart Friday Challenge: Kim Pine

Sorry guys for the unprofessional photo.  Out here in the woods of North Carolina there are no scanners, so I had to use my phone.

Me and my friend Sheila have this weekly challenge to draw some random fan art on Fridays (hint's Fanart Friday).  This week is Kim Pine from Bryan Lee O'Malley's Scott Pilgrim series from Oni Press.  Speaking of giving credit where credit is due, I kinda "borrowed" the background as practice intending to tweak it to my own thing but it ended up being way to close to his, so I should give credit to the artist known as Shonuff44 on DeviantArt.

So it's been a while since I updated so I'll let you know what's going on here in the woods.  I'm still waiting on confirmation from Out of Our Minds Studios here in Winston Salem on a potential internship position.  In the meantime I've been writing and thumbnailing the webcomic and I'm on schedule for the month...so far.  I'm also inking some pages I've drawn for an anthology and getting ready for other projects that are making their way down the pipe. 

I keep myself busy because there isn't much to do otherwise.  Have you ever been to North Carolina?  There's not much here.  There's a deer who lives in a cow pasture near Gumtree road...That's about it.  So it's making comics...or staring at a freak deer who doesn't understand the concept of freedom. 

He may just have security issues, who knows?