COVID, Creative Writing, and Comics

Experimenting with Procreate

UPDATES

It’s been a while since I’ve posted—and I have been busy with school since then. It takes up most of my free-time—time that I would normally use to develop projects or even just spending it on family. I know that having a degree will help me, but I'll admit, it's been rough from time to time. While I find my literature classes interesting, they can be taxing. That said, I'm gaining new tools in my repertoire and I believe it's improved my writing.

Work has been… well, work. Thanks to COVID and the lockdown, we’re serving a reduced and specific purpose and our team has shrunk considerably. Working from home has advantages and disadvantages… lack of social contact has really affected me the most, though. I miss casual contact with coworkers as well as making new friends from simple proximity and conversation. It’s a hard deal… but deal we must. I've known many people who have had the virus- many have suffered, and I just found out that a family friend passed from it.

Lockdown has given me a chance to rewatch all my favorite comic book movies, and some new shows such as WandaVision.  Everytime I see that Marvel Studios open my hair stands on end. It inspires me to create!

 

WHAT'S HE COOKIN' NOW?

As I have been writing, I’ve been eyeing some of my shelved comic book projects. I love comics, have a fair-sized collection, and if you’ve been reading this blog you’ll see I’ve flirted with it for a very, very, very long time. I wanted to be a comic artist early on, but wrestled with my slow development and short attention span, and discovered other avenues of artistic expression. But, things come full circle and I am back at home, while being at home, and writing the first issue of my new comic line.

Joseph Crowfoot will return!

 I am planning on making this title my flagship piece. The plan is to create six issues that can be compiled into a graphic novel, but if I can garner some interest, I will definitely submit it to some comic publishers. We’ll see if I can cut the mustard on it. Regardless, this is my calling- it combines all my previous passions for storytelling, visuals, drawing, design, cinematic sequentials, it simply has it all.

I’m experimenting with some technologies- such as using an iPad and Procreate (see the main image above), but I’m also working traditionally. I will say that my emphasis is on story—front and foremost.        

So… when can you plan on seeing something? I know I announce projects and then they end up dying. Not this one. I plan on sticking to it because I’ve had this character for many, many years, and have even talked about it in passing. Without delving into any spoilers (I want to finish the first comic- no point in spreading empty hype), I will tell you this: it’s occult detective series who happens to also monster hunt; it will reprise Joseph Crowfoot from Corner of the Mind’s Eye—the main character from my first feature film attempt. He’s not the lead character but will be a regular in this new series, and he will have the same powers. This is the same character, but 15 years later, so he’ll be about 53. Here's a clip from one of our rehearsals on the COTME set: 

I'm excited for this series because I have the first few books planned. I am working vigorously on the script to meet my self-imposed deadline of February 21st, at which time I'll start the art. Much of the character design is finished- like I said, I have been working on this for years. The lead character is female, and very, very capable. 

It comes down to this: I need a finished product to act as, well, a product to sell, and to double as my portfolio for my career. Yes, I am going to school for creative writing, but that ties right back into this, comics, my first love. However, like I had mentioned above, I want something to show- PAGES to show, no empty hype! I expect that my skill will improve each issue. I am looking into distribution avenues including self-publishing. 

In the end, I want to entertain you. The trick is doing the work.

 

 

Kicking up the Settling Dust

Inktober 2019 came and went- and I actually managed to post a piece of art every single day. To be fair, I didn’t follow any prompts; I simply used a list for illustrations I needed for a table top card game I had designed, and when I got bored of that I did whatever. You can check out my Instagram profile to see the fruits of my month of madness.

That said, I wanted to continue to create creating ink illustrations. I don’t want to lose the huge gains I made improving my skill, and it gave me time to think about what I want to do. I am caught in a world between filmmaking and drawing. I seesaw in it because I like doing both, but if I want to gain true mastery I know I need to drop one or the other. The thing is I don’t want to.

That said, above is a drawing I did of a character from one of my feature-length screenplays which I want to adapt to graphic novel. I like the way she turned out, and it is close to the style I plan on making my oneshot comic. I originally had another idea for the oneshot, but I might go with this paranormal-noir script I have.

I just need to refine the idea into something workable. It always goes back to writing in that regard.

Right now my two main influences are Mark Schultz and Paul Pope. The two are extreme opposite when it comes to execution, but I find that love both styles and want to incorporate their art dna into my next project. I don’t know if it will be successful, but I intend to have fun exploring it!
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Inktober so far…

I am falling behind on these prompts. I am two days behind- partially because of some impromptu overnight plans this last weekend, but more because I am drawing a blank (pun unintended, but approved).

I've noticed a few things while attempting Inktober—I have a long way to go with the particular inking style I want to master, but my default technique is actually decent.

Creative block is my current struggle. Between home life and work projects, my artistic well is running on fumes. Despite distractions of everyday life, many of my ideas are from personal projects that I’m not ready to share publicly... and it's pushing me into a self-imposed block.

I’ve had a hard time with the official prompt list; though many other lists are a bit more literal on WHAT to draw, I haven’t had much inspiration. Again, like I said, I’m drawing a blank.

Here are some of the better daily ink drawings. Hopefully, I can come up with something decent fin the next couple of weeks.

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A world of Inktobers…

Brush pen illustration by Juan Maestas, Copyright 2018.

I have been using a Faber-Castell PITT artist pen, soft brush #199. I love it. The point is fine, the bristles are soft. The ink is dark. And I found it at Michael’s for only $5.

I’d rather ink with a brush, but it’s a messy affair- and clean-up is brutal. With a brush pen, you get the experience. However, it’s water soluble ink… meaning that it’s not waterproof and erasers pick up the ink when you try to rub out pencil lines.

I had been teaching myself how to ink for years. I was trying to develop my confidence as nervousness leads to shaky results.

One way to gain confidence is to draw with a ball point pen: I filled up an entire small sketch book with hundreds of messy pen drawings. As I was feeling more confident, I moved on to crowquill. I would also use india ink mechanical pens, but you get no flexibility in the line.

It’s been a few years of on/off use, and you’ve seen me post some stuff before. Now that Jake Parker has released the Inktober 2018 list (here’s a print friendly copy) I am going to use the brush pen as much as possible. Follow @InkTober and @JakeParker on Twitter and Instagram!

A print friendly version of Jake Parker's Inktober 2018 list.

Exorcising Old Ghosts with Brush, Pen, and Ink

It’s been an interesting few months since I’ve updated last. I have been working diligently in my sketchbook—which I will share with you right now (most of these lifted from my Instagram).

You can see I’ve been working hard at inking with traditional tools instead of the India Ink Pilot pens- which I love, but are inflexible when it comes to line thickness.

I’ve also been experimenting with style. Here are some cartoony ones that I had done a number of months ago, as well as an homage to G.I. JOE fan art. It is what it is… nothing is really refined. I also took some time to work on some pages from Brian K. Morris’ Masked Pilot story.

My largest project is an 88-page graphic novel. Accountability to myself is difficult; I have a wife and family, and a very demanding full-time job, and other responsibilities- I have precious little time to myself.

From time-to-time I get inquiries about working for a project. I’m humbled that people find my work valuable and appealing. However, when I join up, my personal projects are put on the back burner, and the result is an immense backlog of stories that remain hidden on notebooks and hard drives. I need to be selective. It is difficult.

With so many stories that I want to tell, I needed to cull my library of writing. I had a few contenders, but in the end, one stood out: my monster huntress story. Yes, the concept not new, but the character and synopsis are unique. Horror isn’t much my forte, but I like monster stories set in exotic locales, and my strategy to finish is to focus on ONE character doing ONE job- a personal struggle I share with the main character. I'm not ready to show her off yet, but I hope to have something by this fall.

A friend of mine told me a monster hunting story sounds therapeutic… maybe it is. I’ve dealt with many who have burned me in the past, so perhaps this is a way to exorcise old ghosts. I’ve certainly paid my dues… so now it’s my turn to get out there into the world.

Finding Focus

My signed copy of Spawn #9.

I had met Todd McFarlane briefly at the 1994 San Diego Comic Con. "Met" probably isn't really the most accurate word- he signed my copy of Spawn #9 (first appearance of Angela). At the time, I was more interested in meeting Greg Capullo, who was Todd's first penciller other than himself who worked on Spawn.


I came across this interview of him on Youtube by Complex, and have realized a number of very strong points that are helping me bring my focus ever sharper. I am dropping my games for now- I need to focus on the sequentials, and I am going to concentrate on ONE property... and I know which one.

Things have been rocky this month- my father-in-law has passed away and that's been rough. We are laying him to rest next week. Some other family items have come up, but life happens while you make other plans. The trick is to stay on course, and this video helped solidify my goals.

The Perpetual Chase

A few things have happened recently that really cemented my resolve in the direction I should be following; my one true path, so to speak.

I had left my day job a couple of months ago- the original intent was to hone my illustration skills. As it were, I was given an opportunity to work with a friend; while it's a great opportunity for anyone that wants to move into that industry, it simply wasn't the right fit. Aside from that, it clearly demonstrated to me that I had detoured from my original intent of becoming an illustrator.

I know I have a way to go. I tell myself "Gee, if only I had been working on my draftsmanship I'd be pro by now." That's true, but I forget that I have also been working on my storytelling ability through filmmaking. I like to write, but I also love visuals. I have been told BY AN INDUSTRY PRO that I have a firm grasp of storytelling sequentials on par with those working as pros.

So, all this work has not been in vain, and it's an unfair assessment that I don't have any qualifying skills. It's a matter of doing what I was meant to do. In the end, I just need to work on my execution and polishing skills. I'll get there. It's a matter of practice, which I do daily.

Here's an example from a webcomic I had attempted a few years ago, aptly named Tales from the Lost Skies:

I am going to resurrect TFTLS as a personal imprint. I have a number of short stories that would work, including my work with Brian K. Morris and a few other personal projects I had worked on.

SO- I'm writing it here- it's a personal challenge to get going on these and I want some accountability. You can expect these stories as short oneshots (some with cliffhangers):

Queen of Spades
Yasmine
Sirens of Proxima
Ceres Gambit, read my original story
Masked Pilot, written by Brian K. Morris
Unnamed monster hunter story

I am moving forward with becoming a comic book artist. I have printed out the mantra and hung hung this on my wall: I can plan all I want, but without a body of work, I am nothing. GREATNESS CANNOT BE ACHIEVED WITHOUT OBSESSION.

Bleak and bold, but it motivates me.

Here we go!

Popular Comics #1

inDELLible's first issue. Cover by Steven Butler.

Here's a panel from the story I illustrated: Captain Tornado!

The folks at inDELLible have published the first anthology TPB, calling it Popular Comics, Issue #1. I have a 5 page story inside written by Bill Cain called Captain Tornado. I only pencilled and inked the story, colors were by Jared Prophet and it was lettered by industry veteran Daerick Gross, Sr. Cover is by the legendary Steven Butler! It's available on Amazon.

Daerick also acted as the art director of the project. He has been great in giving advice and critique and I feel like my artwork has been evolving under his guidance.

I originally had a second story, but life intervened... however something will come of it! Stay tuned!

Bought a brush pen... leaving comfort zone.

I hadn't posted for a while, so this update is more of an attempt to say "yep, I'm alive and busy behind the scenes!"
 
Here's a head study I executed with a brush pen... mostly to see what kind of tight control I could have with details. The image is about three inches tall, to give you some frame of reference. I've been drawing for years and have played with brushes off and on. This is the first one that turned out halfway decent enough to show off.  

I bought a small round Pigma brush pen from Hobby Lobby (not endorsing the store, but it's nice alternative to Michael's.
I've played around with a sable and Higgins ink before- but really only about 3-4 total work hours messing with a brush in all my time doing it. I'm not a fan of clean up so I've never really hassled with it. This one was after about a half hour of inking different heads.

I need to start posting current images!

A funny thing happened while at the comic book store...

Example of Colin Wilson's excellent use
of lighting and solid draftsmanship.

There is a comic book shop about two miles from my work which I'll occasionally go do during lunch. I'd go more often but I'd become broke very quickly.

Because I don't go often, I'm not really keen on what's "hot" or up on any current story lines. I'm an artist, and buy only books based on if I like their art.

So I found a few, but one in particular- The Rocketeer Adventures 2 had a story in it where I loved the art. When I got it home I discovered it was by artist Colin Wilson, who've I'd admired for years and years! Of course I liked it! He's done everything from Blueberry, to Judge Dredd, to Rogue Trooper, to Star Wars Invasion (Incidentally, the last time I went I found Invasion and picked it up because I liked the art- and again discovered it was Colin).

One of the best things an artist should learn is to discover not only what catches their eye, but why. I like Colin's use of detail, the realism in his backgrounds, props and vehicles, and his characters... and the use of his camera shots.  The artwork feels alive.