Salem Jack: DONE!!!

FINALLY!!!!




Waiting for Bill's approval but, PHEW!!!

I guess I really can finish things.

And now just for fun:




WHEEEEE - HAW!!! Now that's a Friday Night!!!

Somebody out there does care!

Took me a little while but I finally came across this response to my entry in the Examiner's Triangulation Challenge of this past summer. I really take it as a testament to my efforts that someone took something I did so way off base.

To tell you the truth, I've been feeling a little down of late. I feel like I've just been spinning my wheels for some time. This turned out to be just what I needed to pick me up.

I mean, I got called a douchebag for cryin' out loud. How awesome is that?

Salem Jack: does this painting ever end?

Snuck in some more work on the book cover this weekend, between copiuos amounts of chores and other middle-class drudgery.




Got the boys blocked in. At least we seem to be in the homestretch now.

New Webcomic Examiner

Hooray! Huzzah!

A new issue of the Webcomic Examiner is up!

My own contribution to this issue is a look at the use of music in webcomics. Click the link on the front page after you see what else is there:

September 30, 2005-- In celebration of the tenth anniversary of webcomics as an artform, The Webcomics Examiner is conducting a roundtable on the Artistic History of Webcomics. In part one of a two-part series, T Campbell, Eric Millikin, Shaenon Garrity, William G., Mike Meginnis, Bob Stevenson, Eric Burns, Wednesday White, A. G. Hopkins and Rob Balder join moderator Joe Zabel in exploring the medium's creative evolution, with profiles of Charley Parker, Pete Abrams, Scott McCloud, and many others, in the latest issue of The Webcomics Examiner.

The Webcomics Examiner is a quarterly forum of reviews, interviews, and critical articles evaluating webcomics as a fine art. The free-access website is at http://webcomicsreview.com.

This issue also headlines a major interview with Dinosaur Comics creator Ryan North. In a conversation with Mike Meginnis, North describes the origins of his unique, graphically-arrested series, and explores issues of art and language with remarkable candor and sophistication.

Also this issue:

* Cartoon Art Museum curator Andrew Farago speculates on the role of museums in preserving webcomics culture in "Curating Webcomics."

* Tim Godek hears the sound of music in comics, spotlighting Cat Garza, Neal Von Flue, and Kean Soo in "Click to the Beat."

* Andrew Wade chronicles the creation of a webcomic in "Diary of a Web Artist, by Someone Who Isn't."

* Alexander Danner reviews Steven Charles Manale's series Superslackers.

This issue's cover is by webcomics legend Cat Garza, creator of the critically-acclaimed Magic Inkwell series. The cover is accompanied by a soundtrack by Squarepegz, featuring Zen Boodamasta and Unknown Souljah.

Am I Still Here?

Are you?

It seems to me lot of blogs are like the detritus of the web. Online public diaries filled with boring minutia and self indulgent complaining. There's a voyeuristic kick to reading these blogs - peeking in on someone else's life - but it wears off quickly. A lot of bitching is what it usually is. And usually bitching about nothing.

Not to say that there aren't blogs that are interesting or even useful . Ther are interesting people out there and people whose opinions have some kind of merit (did you think I was talking about your blog up there? No, no. I love your blog). Generally it seems that these kinds have some kind of focus, though, other than on themselves. It seems these blogs have some kind of purpose.

I wonder, lately, about the purpose of this blog. I started this blog for webcomics stuff. I opened it to comment in someone else's blog. I used it to try my hand at the composition of reviews. I announce my infrequent projects in it. I had hoped that it would be a way to keep my hand in the community, somehow - keep a more regular presence on the web.

It's been nearly a month since my last post here. Is this blog really necessary? There are outlets to say what I want to say about webcomics in forums and other peoples blogs. I continue to write for the Examiner and Comixpedia is still an option as well. I've released just one short comic since June (when my baby was born). I have little time to spare daily. Ideally that time should go more to actually making comics than just trying to participate in the culture.

Webcomics is something I've come to care about quite a bit in the last year or so. I enjoy feeling like I am contributing to the community (as it is), and I definitely have a lot of opinions on webcomic matters. But this blog has deteriorated to a slow trickle of nothings. I don't have time for anything else. I barely have time to read webcomics anymore. I don't want to worry about updating this blog just for the sake of updating.

I'm leaving it open for now. I'll finish my process on the book cover (though I'm not sure if anyone cares) and I'll announce my occasional comics releases (though I'm not sure if anyone cares). I'm not ready to let go of this outlet, though it seems less and less likely anyone will read it and less and less likely I'll even get the chance to use it.

But I wonder if I'm just contributing to the flood of worthless trash out there.

I don't know. Maybe I'm just bitching about nothing...

Salem Jack: Two for the price of one!

It's been a while since I posted any of this process but that doesn't mean I haven't been working on it.

Here's what it looked like up until this morning:



I have a bit of a problem with my perspective here. Note the two li'l guys unloading the boat. This happens to me quite a bit, actually. I get the perspective right in the drawing but then, like a teenage son, it just kind of slips away while I'm not paying attention. I ought to know better by now.

Anyway, here's how it looks now:



The perspective's fixed but... hmm... my scan looks kind of crooked.

I guess I just can't win.

More Brushpen Fun!!!

Hi there.

Would you like to take a peek inside my sketchbook?

Well, sure. Who wouldn't?



I'm having fun with this new brush/pen! I should've started playing with this years ago.
The drawings are character sketches for a story tentatively called I Lost My Voice. You'll see the yellow peanut guy again. Except he probably won't be yellow.

Or a peanut.

Anyway, still doing Tree City next...

You want a fight, Colbert? ...BRING IT!!

Just made it over to Comixpedia.

It seems Welton Colbert has it in for me.

I would fight back... but my retainer you see...
I can't take the risk...

not that he'd lay a finger on me. Two hits, you know what i mean...

but my parents paid a lot of money...

otherwise I'd totally kick his ass...





i'm not afraid...

my new inking technique is unstoppable

Starting work on the new Tree City.

Some time ago the pen I was using to ink the Nick Stevens segments of Tree City just kind of putzed out on me. I've tried out various other pens but I couldn't get the variable line weight I wanted. I think I finally found something I can at least live with.

It's one of these here dealies:



I've tried inking with a brush from time to time but was never quite comfortable with it. This Micron brush/pen gives a similar effect as a brushstroke but can handle more like a pen (I know, hard to believe...). The nice thing is I can get the varied weights of a brush and it's a lot more portable.

So here's the first test shot of the new Tree City (in color - albeit limited):



We'll see how it goes.

Not cut out for the webcomics life?

So you've probably already heard about it.

Everybody else has.

here it is almost 7:00 and I still don't have a fully formed, well thought out and most importantly cogently expressed opinion on it.

Really, you people never cease to amaze me!



I'm never gonna make it in this world.

Salem Jack: the sky isn't falling - but nothing's holding it up...

More process. Actually been like this a little while but it's new to you, right?



Working back to front here. Sky's done, mid-ground's done, boat's next (lota detail work).

And, yeah, this is as far as I've gotten. Good thing Bill didn't set a deadline!

Salem Jack: UNDERPAINTING? Who does a #*%! underpainting for acrylics?

I do, that's who!

Underpainting is usually reserved for oils which are more easily transparent and the bottom layer might actually affect what's on top of it. Acrylics are more opaque (unless they're watered down which doesn't work very well) so an underpainting is usually not necessary.
But...
This is a pretty high profile job for me and my sketches were a little, well... sketchy, so I was a little nervous.
I blocked things out with and underpainting to give me a better idea of composition and value while I work.



All of this will be pretty much completely covered by the time it's done, and it will look very different.

How do i know this?
Because I've already done a bunch more work on it.

But you guys don't get to see it yet.

BWAH-HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!



(sorry)

Well, hello.

It's been a while!

So what have I been up to lately?
Well as you know from my previous entries, my wife and I had a baby a little over a month ago. Everyone is doing fine. We are all happy and healthy and she's such a smart little bugger. As you can imagine she keeps us pretty busy.

In addition to my baby responsibilities, my day-job has also been soaking up a lot of my time. It's good that we're busy in a time when a lot of factories are laying off or shutting down (at least in my area) but all the overtime eats away at my "leisure" activities, namely making comics.

Well, drawing comics, I should say. My work duties don't take an enormous amount of mental acuity, so I normally have a good five-to-six hours of good thinking-time a day. That and the accessibility of my notebooks and sketchbooks have allowed me to stock up on plenty of stories and ideas. I have a good backlog of 15-20 solid strips - some short and sweet, some more involved - that I need to find the free-time to draw.

For right now, I've started on the Salem Jack cover ('cause it pays). I'll post the process to that to here. After that, more Tree City (the first chapter - in eleven parts - is completely scripted and laid out, the remainder just needs fleshing out). The rest is kind of up in the air. I've got so many ideas to work with.

Anyway, here's a comic I did find time to draw. Nothing to write home about, really. I've scripted a number of these shorter ones which I'll release from time to time between major projects. I hope it brings you some momentary amusement or something.

Man! Are Babies Small, or What?

Thank you to all who sent well wishes in the past few weeks. This has been a very busy and exciting time for all of us.

And now, because one person demanded it...

MORE BABY PICTURES!!!


So small!!


OOOOH! Lookit the teeny-tiny little fingers!


The obligatory family foot portrait.

And just in case any of you forgot just how cute my baby really is:



All together now. One... two... three...


AWWWWWWWW!

A Different Kind of Baby

Markus Müller's "baby," Infinite Canvas, has a new release today (v1.3).
Somebody try it out willya?

I'm slowly working on new comics around the baby's schedule!

I'm a new father. Bear with me.

And because my daughter is perhaps the most beautiful baby in the world,

I present Miss Sophie Alexandra Godek:




(taken on June 27th. the date on the pictures is wrong. it's the stupid camera. it couldn't possibly be my fault)

And because somewhere and at some point I said I would,

Pictures of the nursery:




Gorgeous, gorgeous, all around!

I'm gonna try to keep a lid on all this picture posting before I annoy you all with my overwhelming dad-ness.

Everybody else can stop trying. We have had the world's most perfect baby.

It's a girl.
Born Monday evening at 7:09.

(no fancypants digital stills for you. straight-up, old-school Polaroid!)

Rachelle was amazing!
I've never been more proud of her than I am right now.

Mother and daughter are both healthy and doing well.

Father is tired. So tired...

The Past Still Haunts Me (or Bad German Comic)

The new comic brings up some old memories.

I was talking to Markus the other day about my high school German class and how I managed to pass it without actually learning a lick of the language.

I used to draw little comics for my teacher, painstakingly translated to really bad German (via looking up pretty much every word). Herr Caputo took a liking to me and to these really bad little renderings. Since we were a public school with virtually no accountability he could get away with just passing whoever he took a personal liking to, regardless of their actual knowledge.
So bad art and horrible language skills actually got me through my foreign language requirement and, therefore, my High school diploma.

Anyway, I still have some of these drawings laying around so I thought I'd post 'em up.

Backstory: This was done in to a short production of the Snow White story my German class was putting on.

In case you're wondering I played the mirror.


(click to enlarge)

It might be... It could be... IT IS!!!

I've posted a new Infinite Canvas comic up at my site. It's only been what.. four months?

It's a three-panel gag-strip type.

Or maybe it's not.



I like to think of it as a joke with two punchlines.

anyway, enjoy...


(Special thanks to Markus for helping with the translation...)

Salem Jack: narrative, oh narrative...

Bill liked the sketch but some things didn't make sense to him.

If the boat was passing by or leaving the dock (in other words moving at all) then the boys should have been paying more attention to it (this being the middle of the 1800s there wasn't much else as far as entertainment, I guess) but if the boys were looking at the boat their backs would be turned to the viewer.

I liked the boys casual glances at the steamer in the previous sketch but Bill says they would have been more interested than that. He thought maybe the boat should be docked and unloading cargo. This is a process that would take hours (and be pretty boring even by 1800s standards) giving the boys plenty of time to devote to other boyish passtimes (fishing and skipping stones, in this case). You can see the boys' faces and it makes more sense (with regards to narrative.

Anyway, you can't really make any of that out in the new sketch, done quick and loose for composition:


and, by the way, that's not the typeface he's going to use or anything. I just dropped that in for the basic idea.

You know, you're probably getting sick of seeing basically the same sketch over and over again so I think I'm not going to post any more process until it's further along...