Sunday, May 2, 2010
Sunday, June 21, 2009
I've been pretty busy, a lot's been going on in general and this poor little blog has been nothing but neglected... sorry blog, I've been a bad blogger lately, but things will change, promise.
I feel like I have a lot to talk about but I'm not sure where to start... I think I'll make a list, yeah that's a good idea, okay first list,
Things that have been going down:
1) Comics being drawn.
2) Internships being started.
3) Wolf packs being formed.
I've been working on the second chapter of my book at a turtle's pace... I mean painfully slow, BUT this time it's deliberate. I showed my comic at Mocca and was lucky enough to exchange emails with some editors from Top Shelf and First Second, I basically got the same response from both of them, in a nut shell the story sounded good but the art work needed to be tighter, so ,I'm really taking my time with the drawing of this chapter. I'm finishing pencilling the second page at the moment, the art has gone through a lot of changes, I figure by the time I can get my style and work on a more finished and consistent level I'll simply go back and redraw all the chapters before it- I know that sounds rough but personally there's already a lot of things I would want to change about the first chapter so I see it more as an opportunity instead of a set back.
I started interning with a photographer named Chris Chieco, once my family realized I was more than happy with flipping hamburgers and doing any other mindless job to support my art they weren't too thrilled. My brother basically pulled every string he had (and mind you the boy doesn't have many but he tries) and managed to get me an internship with one of his friends in hopes that I would learn something that would keep me away from clearing tables. I have to say overall it's been a pretty good experience, I've learned a lot about professional photography and I've been doing so much photo retouching lately that I'm not too shabby with photoshop now. I don't know where this internship will lead me but wherever it does as long as I'm making okay money and it doesn't involve food, I think I'll be pretty happy.
I've recently formed a cartooning wolf pack with Gabriel Pinto and Ben DeRosa (as seen below)
we were once lone wolves, making comics in our spare time but now as a pack we will roam through the comic circuit together. The pack has agreed to make Paul Pope and Mike Allred honorary pack members, their paw lapel pins and membership cards should arrive in the mail shortly. The pack currently has their razor sharp claws and pointed teeth directed towards Greg Land .... his studio will soon be ransacked and destroyed to prevent him from ever making comics again.
Second list,
Things that are on the way:
1) Studio space (aka parent's basement)
2) Art project: 26 Illustrations
3) Website
In the next few weeks I plan to move all my art supplies to my parent's basement, I've come to the conclusion that there's a very good reason why artist's have studios and it's not simply to draw in... it's to get the hell away from all those marvelous things that will distract you and eat away all your precious time. I don't know what it is but for some reason when you go to a place that isn't your home and designated for work, things get done, I can't fully explain the psychology of it all but working in an environment that isn't the same place where you relax is crucial. I find while drawing I'm constantly fighting every single temptation to goof off, drawing in your home from my experience is on the same level as exercising in a bakery, it just doesn't work- the temptation to eat cakes and pies while jumping rope and pumping iron is too great. I'm all about willpower, but in my opinion it's much easier to simply avoid the constant temptation than deal with it; not too mention, when I'm done working I want to be done, it's hard to relax while the pages you just finished working on loom over your head as you try to unwind. I'm not sure what my studio will be called yet, I know a name may sound unnecessary but cartoonists tend to be a wacky bunch, so instead of trying to ignore that tendency and come off as professional well adjusted individuals I'd rather embrace it and ham it up (hence the wolf pack)- I personally find it much more enjoyable to say "I was in the bat cave all day" than to say "I was in my studio".
I've been kicking around an idea to start working on some illustrations, the problem with comics is that they take forever and as images don't always speak for themselves, showing someone comic pages to me is the equivalent of showing someone some pages you wrote from the book you're working on, unless you see the whole thing it doesn't really work. My basic plan is starting sometime in July for one year to produce an illustration every two weeks (so 26 in total), the first week would be used up for drawing and the second for inking and coloring. I'm not positive what the majority of my illustrations will be made up of but regardless it'll be good practice and I'm tired of only having sketches to show instead of comics.
In exchange for working as an intern, Mr. Chieco has agreed to make me a website for my art. He's pretty far out when it comes to web design and all that, so fortunately sometime this year (I know I said the end of the summer but I'd like to have the second chapter almost done before I post it up) I'll have a professional looking website, with web comics and all.
Well anyway I should get going, I have some work to do and I should probably eat breakfast considering it's two now.
Till next time,
Alex
I feel like I have a lot to talk about but I'm not sure where to start... I think I'll make a list, yeah that's a good idea, okay first list,
Things that have been going down:
1) Comics being drawn.
2) Internships being started.
3) Wolf packs being formed.
I've been working on the second chapter of my book at a turtle's pace... I mean painfully slow, BUT this time it's deliberate. I showed my comic at Mocca and was lucky enough to exchange emails with some editors from Top Shelf and First Second, I basically got the same response from both of them, in a nut shell the story sounded good but the art work needed to be tighter, so ,I'm really taking my time with the drawing of this chapter. I'm finishing pencilling the second page at the moment, the art has gone through a lot of changes, I figure by the time I can get my style and work on a more finished and consistent level I'll simply go back and redraw all the chapters before it- I know that sounds rough but personally there's already a lot of things I would want to change about the first chapter so I see it more as an opportunity instead of a set back.
I started interning with a photographer named Chris Chieco, once my family realized I was more than happy with flipping hamburgers and doing any other mindless job to support my art they weren't too thrilled. My brother basically pulled every string he had (and mind you the boy doesn't have many but he tries) and managed to get me an internship with one of his friends in hopes that I would learn something that would keep me away from clearing tables. I have to say overall it's been a pretty good experience, I've learned a lot about professional photography and I've been doing so much photo retouching lately that I'm not too shabby with photoshop now. I don't know where this internship will lead me but wherever it does as long as I'm making okay money and it doesn't involve food, I think I'll be pretty happy.
I've recently formed a cartooning wolf pack with Gabriel Pinto and Ben DeRosa (as seen below)
we were once lone wolves, making comics in our spare time but now as a pack we will roam through the comic circuit together. The pack has agreed to make Paul Pope and Mike Allred honorary pack members, their paw lapel pins and membership cards should arrive in the mail shortly. The pack currently has their razor sharp claws and pointed teeth directed towards Greg Land .... his studio will soon be ransacked and destroyed to prevent him from ever making comics again.
Second list,
Things that are on the way:
1) Studio space (aka parent's basement)
2) Art project: 26 Illustrations
3) Website
In the next few weeks I plan to move all my art supplies to my parent's basement, I've come to the conclusion that there's a very good reason why artist's have studios and it's not simply to draw in... it's to get the hell away from all those marvelous things that will distract you and eat away all your precious time. I don't know what it is but for some reason when you go to a place that isn't your home and designated for work, things get done, I can't fully explain the psychology of it all but working in an environment that isn't the same place where you relax is crucial. I find while drawing I'm constantly fighting every single temptation to goof off, drawing in your home from my experience is on the same level as exercising in a bakery, it just doesn't work- the temptation to eat cakes and pies while jumping rope and pumping iron is too great. I'm all about willpower, but in my opinion it's much easier to simply avoid the constant temptation than deal with it; not too mention, when I'm done working I want to be done, it's hard to relax while the pages you just finished working on loom over your head as you try to unwind. I'm not sure what my studio will be called yet, I know a name may sound unnecessary but cartoonists tend to be a wacky bunch, so instead of trying to ignore that tendency and come off as professional well adjusted individuals I'd rather embrace it and ham it up (hence the wolf pack)- I personally find it much more enjoyable to say "I was in the bat cave all day" than to say "I was in my studio".
I've been kicking around an idea to start working on some illustrations, the problem with comics is that they take forever and as images don't always speak for themselves, showing someone comic pages to me is the equivalent of showing someone some pages you wrote from the book you're working on, unless you see the whole thing it doesn't really work. My basic plan is starting sometime in July for one year to produce an illustration every two weeks (so 26 in total), the first week would be used up for drawing and the second for inking and coloring. I'm not positive what the majority of my illustrations will be made up of but regardless it'll be good practice and I'm tired of only having sketches to show instead of comics.
In exchange for working as an intern, Mr. Chieco has agreed to make me a website for my art. He's pretty far out when it comes to web design and all that, so fortunately sometime this year (I know I said the end of the summer but I'd like to have the second chapter almost done before I post it up) I'll have a professional looking website, with web comics and all.
Well anyway I should get going, I have some work to do and I should probably eat breakfast considering it's two now.
Till next time,
Alex
Monday, May 4, 2009
Who watched the Watchmen?
Well, I recently came across the Watchmen's box office gross according to boxofficemojo.com, here's the link if anyone is curious enough: Watchmen Gross ,The movie didn't flop considering the international gross, but factoring in advertising and all that, it probably just broke even.
I wrote a blog a while back about my frustrations with the Watchmen movie and how I thought putting Zach Synder behind the wheel of this film ultimately doomed it, (I later took it down for various reason but regret the decision now) and it looks like I wasn't exactly wrong, but to be fair there were a lot of factors that hurt this movie.
I think above all else Warner made one critical mistake, you would think people who have been making movies as long as Warner would realize something as simple as this: You either make a flashy movie for the public or a movie with substance... not both. Warner doesn't seem to really understand this, they put a guy like Zach Synder, director of the 300 and the remake of Dawn of the Dead, behind a project like the Watchmen and expect it to do well? It's not as if the Watchmen has a big commercial appeal so I don't know what they were thinking.
The biggest complaint I heard among anyone I know who actually read the comic was that Zach Synder was directing the movie, so in one simple motion you just lost the people who had the biggest interest in seeing the film. To be fair though, this is common, I'm not one to think movie's should cater to the fans, but if you're going to blow the fans off then simply make a flashy film that will make money, don't try to sell it to the masses and the core fans at the same time, it doesn't work that way.
A pretty clear sign for me that the Watchmen was going to bomb was when I asked my brother his opinion on the trailer, it went something like this:
"Hey did you see the trailer for the Watchmen?"
"Huh? Oh yeah, that movie looks pretty stupid, the blue guy looks gay."
I see my brother as a typical movie goer, and I don't mean that in a bad way but he usually can predict what movies will bomb and what movies will do well simply by his gut reaction. When Speed Racer came out and I wanted to see it, my brother thought it looked dumb, Speed Racer flops.
(It still has a special place in my heart though)
When 300 came out and I thought it was going to be a joke, my brother is going on to me about how awesome it was, the movie kills in the box office.
I personally find it kind of funny that someone like my brother has the uncanny ability to predict how well a movie will do without even realizing it, while movie executives who get paid boat loads of money can't put two and two together and realize the typical movie goer has no interest in seeing this:
All I can say is... leave it to Hollywood.
Till next time,
Alex
I wrote a blog a while back about my frustrations with the Watchmen movie and how I thought putting Zach Synder behind the wheel of this film ultimately doomed it, (I later took it down for various reason but regret the decision now) and it looks like I wasn't exactly wrong, but to be fair there were a lot of factors that hurt this movie.
I think above all else Warner made one critical mistake, you would think people who have been making movies as long as Warner would realize something as simple as this: You either make a flashy movie for the public or a movie with substance... not both. Warner doesn't seem to really understand this, they put a guy like Zach Synder, director of the 300 and the remake of Dawn of the Dead, behind a project like the Watchmen and expect it to do well? It's not as if the Watchmen has a big commercial appeal so I don't know what they were thinking.
The biggest complaint I heard among anyone I know who actually read the comic was that Zach Synder was directing the movie, so in one simple motion you just lost the people who had the biggest interest in seeing the film. To be fair though, this is common, I'm not one to think movie's should cater to the fans, but if you're going to blow the fans off then simply make a flashy film that will make money, don't try to sell it to the masses and the core fans at the same time, it doesn't work that way.
A pretty clear sign for me that the Watchmen was going to bomb was when I asked my brother his opinion on the trailer, it went something like this:
"Hey did you see the trailer for the Watchmen?"
"Huh? Oh yeah, that movie looks pretty stupid, the blue guy looks gay."
I see my brother as a typical movie goer, and I don't mean that in a bad way but he usually can predict what movies will bomb and what movies will do well simply by his gut reaction. When Speed Racer came out and I wanted to see it, my brother thought it looked dumb, Speed Racer flops.
(It still has a special place in my heart though)
When 300 came out and I thought it was going to be a joke, my brother is going on to me about how awesome it was, the movie kills in the box office.
I personally find it kind of funny that someone like my brother has the uncanny ability to predict how well a movie will do without even realizing it, while movie executives who get paid boat loads of money can't put two and two together and realize the typical movie goer has no interest in seeing this:
All I can say is... leave it to Hollywood.
Till next time,
Alex
Sunday, May 3, 2009
Friday, May 1, 2009
I just finished my thumbnails, I wasn't able to get those two days of solid work in like I planed but my thumbnails are done at least, I plan to start drawing the second chapter sometime next week, or if not the week after, time will tell. I think I'm likely going to be drawing a little faster now, so I don't expect the pencils to take as long as they did on the last chapter.
My thumbnails are drawn pretty crudely, little notes are scribbled along the side of panels sometimes so I can later understand what I was going for, but overall I would say drawing out more detailed thumbnails has helped me get a good feel with where I'm going visually with the comic. By the end of my thumbnails I just got so tired of drawing simply for speed that I took my time with one of the drawings- I think it's clear from that sketch that I'm drawing from a different place right now, I'll post it below.
I'm not certain where my style lies with this drawing but I like it, I found as I was drawing it I paid some attention to style but that wasn't my primary approach, I really just drew it the way I wanted to, trying to pay more attention to accuracy this time than style.
I'll post up where I'm at with the comic next week, at the moment I'd like to say about 25% of the work is done, but creatively laying down the foundation is one of the hardest parts in my opinion- I'd get more into the creative process but I'll leave that for another time.
Till next time,
Alex
My thumbnails are drawn pretty crudely, little notes are scribbled along the side of panels sometimes so I can later understand what I was going for, but overall I would say drawing out more detailed thumbnails has helped me get a good feel with where I'm going visually with the comic. By the end of my thumbnails I just got so tired of drawing simply for speed that I took my time with one of the drawings- I think it's clear from that sketch that I'm drawing from a different place right now, I'll post it below.
I'm not certain where my style lies with this drawing but I like it, I found as I was drawing it I paid some attention to style but that wasn't my primary approach, I really just drew it the way I wanted to, trying to pay more attention to accuracy this time than style.
I'll post up where I'm at with the comic next week, at the moment I'd like to say about 25% of the work is done, but creatively laying down the foundation is one of the hardest parts in my opinion- I'd get more into the creative process but I'll leave that for another time.
Till next time,
Alex
Tuesday, April 28, 2009
The Kindle bad for comics?
Considering the popularity of webcomics and comic blogs in general I think it's safe to say the internet and comics go together like peanut butter and jelly, yet for some reason DC comics is seeing e-readers like the Kindle as the harbinger of death.
In this short video:
DC expresses its concerns and fears over the kindle and similar devices, believing it will put the comic book industry to rest. Before I get into my opinions on that, I'd like to first share my opinions on the comic book industry in general.
First off I'd like to say I never really read DC or Marvel comics growing up, I dabbled a bit but I didn't really get into North American super hero comics until my freshman year of college, I read super hero comics like a zealot for about two years or so and a pretty bad taste has been left in my mouth ever since. DC and Marvel have created this weird system, where consumers are expected to go into a comic book store every wednesday, buy single issues marked at I think three dollars or more now so they can read basically 1/10th of a story that will eventually come out as a graphic novel anyway... and they think the kindle will ruin the industry? Call me a cynic but that doesn't sound like much of an industry to me.
I personally don't believe the printed book will ever die out, there's a collectible aspect to it, and printed art work will always have a look to it the computer can't offer, but I don't think it's a very practical way to deliver content.
The world is changing and the comic book industry has changed with it- I think in a matter of only five years the publics opinion on comics has changed a great deal. I think webcomics, manga/anime and this glut of comic book movies has made people become very aware of the comic book medium, even if they wouldn't like to be. The average person is not going to bust their hump to download comics for free, casual readers are not zealots, they won't join forums to download comics from that are filled with people debating the exact percentage of adamantium in Captain America's shield, it's not going to happen. So instead of trying to figure out a way to stop comics on e-readers, maybe Marvel and DC should figure out a way to take the publics genuine interest in super heroes and create comics they'll actually want to read. In the video above it's mentioned that "people should believe this stuff should be paid for, and they don't believe digital stuff should be paid for." No, it's not that people don't think digital stuff should be paid for... it's that they believe YOUR stuff shouldn't be paid for, whether it's a printed version or a digital one.
My brother has seen all of the Spider-Man movies, the Batman movies, The Hulk, Iron man and pretty much every other mainstream super hero movie out there, but he will never in a million years set foot in a comic book store and I don't think it's because he doesn't like comics- I think it's safe to say if my brother is impressed by my pages he likely wouldn't have a problem with reading professional work if he found it entertaining. Call me crazy but I don't think the average person wants to walk into a comic book store and pick up an issue of Batman to only ask the gentleman behind the counter "Who is Tim Drake?" "Wait this Batman isn't Bruce Wayne?" and "What the hell are infinite earths?"
You can't honestly expect an industry to sustain itself when its characters are creating more and more continuity every single day and their stories will basically never end. So instead of crying over the Kindle and other e-readers maybe the geniuses behind motion comics should realize only 0.5% of the population will actually care enough to learn all the little useless piece of information required to read mainstream comics in the first place.
Personally, I can't wait for comic book publishers to start sending comics to me via a device like the Kindle... there's just one problem, I rarely read mainstream american comics and it's not because I don't like comics or super heroes. I could probably write a small novel on my complaints with comics in the United States (not that I don't think there are great american comic book artists and writers) but I won't get into it because I simply don't have the time or energy to discuss it. If DC is wondering why their industry is going to fall apart well it's not because of the Kindle, it's because you've buried it into the ground. If within the next few years Marvel and DC stop making comics trust me it won't be because of e-readers, it will be because you make a product nobody wants to shell out money for.
It's not rocket science.
Alex
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