Everything in Black and White

So for the past few months the vast majority of my work has been colouring. Which means my actual drawing had taken a bit of a backseat, particularly in light of the move. I resolved once more to get back on the wagon and have begun drawing daily, trusty moleskine in hand and a selection of ink pens ready to go.
Suprisingly, I've been most happy with the results I've been getting from bog standard sharpies. Anyway, here's some of my 'homework' drawings, done of friends and unfortunate strangers dining near me.

1337

I, like most people, can be incredibly cynical and negative at times. Like right now, but luckily I've learned to basically break through it and keep going...otherwise I'd be a much better gamer.

There's a couple of things I tell myself to get me out of ruts, and push me to keep it up. Here's some of them.

Don't forget your basics.
Anything that isn't continually pushed will atrophy.
You are not your job. LIVE A LITTLE. OUTDOORS.
You are nowhere near good enough to be satisfied. Get drawing!
You are good enough to put work out there, there are more published, less talented people out there.
Excercising and sleep are important. Make time.
Life doesn't stop because you have a deadline. No suggestions on that one though.
Research is worth the time. Always.
Whatever you do, see it through.
Be economical. Work smart, work hard, work well.
Play to your weaknesses, especially when drawing. You hate drawing poodles? Guess what your next job is gonna be...
Don't begrudge the success of others. Be happy for them, inspired by them and let them know it! Everyone has the same doubts of their own work.
The only difference between productivity and laziness is perspective.
Be proud of your work, and how you do it. That is time, and skill, and part of you. You work is a greater mirror to your psyche than you can ever realise.

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The reason for the title; I tried to post this as a facebook status first, and it said it was too long- 1337 characters was too many.

Wander my Friends

Yesterday I was reading Bunny, saw Alice in Wonderland for the first time and read a bit of Maus. Wanted to try something simpler.

Pay No Attention to the Man Behind the Curtain

This is largely a response to a conversation my dad and I had this morning. Actually, that was mostly on psychoanalysis of writers and critics, but in short, WRITING IS HARD.


I'm a fan of stories. Films, games, comics, tv, its more to me than just pretty pictures. Story is the key- and everything else is subservient to that in my opinion.

In that, I think being a professional writer is quite probably the most harrowing job I can imagine. Firstly, you're an IDEAS MACHINE. To constantly have to generate new concepts from the ethereal mist is harrowing, to walk a line between being absurd/incomprehensible and doing the exact same thing that's been done a million times before is a tricky one. Moving from project to project you also have to compete with yourself; what you've done before and what you hope to do differently/better/as well as. That's not even getting to the actual writing part.

Drawing from personal experience is always heavily on my mind when it comes to writing. Essentially, taking things that make me tick and putting a veiled version of it out there for the world to prod and poke. DO NOT WANT. But heck, that's part of all art forms, and if I had THAT big a deal I'd be off working in Starbucks.

Writing good characters is something that makes my brain go wobbly like trying to visualise a tesseract in my head (which led to a process of stop-thinking-like-a-human in that sort of scenario, but that's a whole different post). Keeping track of characters' conscious, subconscious and feigned thoughts is a delicate balancing act, and finding how much and how to tell it another parallel minefield of scary. They bear the weight of their imaginary worlds on their shoulders. Did I mention that I'm a tad dramatic at times?

That whole sort of thing is scary but enjoyable for me. I've been hacking away at Darklight, re-writing and tweaking bits over and over again for years. I'm not on a deadline.

Flow is the hardest thing for me to fathom in terms of writing. Visually, in static images and in comics to an extent its all laid out in front of you. You can, in one look, see how things flow and match your beats accordingly. Scrolling through documents...something I struggle with.

Getting that all within your word and pagelimit, something I haven't had to wrestle with before. I don't know if that makes it easier or harder, but with cramped space virtual and temporally, I don't envy professional writers one bit. I have had the pleasure of talking to/working with Tony Lee, and the sheer intensity of his schedule puts me in small panic attacks and makes me want to not bother him unless the world is coming to an end.

So yeah, much love for the writers.

(I hope to come back and do a piece on pencillers,inkers,letterers,and editors later. Probably colourists too, but that seems a little self indulgent)

Illusion of Movement

I did this a while back for the craic.



and this is nothing short of silliness.

...and this is an oldie, but I still love it.

Merry Christmas

Crikey, best intentions and all that. Been cleaning all day, and had a power failure earlier, so found the day over with literally NO drawing or painting done. So here's a couple of quick Santa themed doodles.

Merry Christmas everyone :D

It's not Christmas yet

I seem to be rallying against the changing of the years with some vehemence, as if magically I'll conjure something amazing before Christmas takes over my everything. Even now I'm receiving texts demanding I take part in the festivities.

But I ain't quitting. I think I'm back on the make-something-every-day bandwagon, although the landscape up above- whilst trying new techniques- doesn't seem like anything new.

The ship is close to older designs, but I'm happier with it than previous attempts.

I could rant and wax lyrical with all the moany emo crap, but its cold and depressing enough already. I've just over a week to sort my head out for 2011, and I'm gonna do my absolute best not to waste it.

But in case I DON'T make it back tomorrow, a very merry holiday to you all.