Sorry I haven't posted in a while...

Been busy at my real job, and working on layouts for the "Epic Jam" pages.

In the meantime, here's the latest strip from my webcomic "Geek Syndicate". You can click on the image to enlarge it.

I dream of afros...

I had a dream about this guy (before I drew him).

And my new project is...

This blog originated from a project I've been cooking up for a couple months now. Seeing as I have a finalized script for one of the stories, I thought I'd officially announce it here.

I've been struggling for years with the knowledge that while I am living pretty darn comfortably, there are people all over the world suffering. Compared to a large percentage of the world, I'm stinking RICH. But I just kept on doing my thing, playing video games, reading comics, and creating comics for fun. Those things aren't bad by themselves, but I was letting them become the throne of my life. I've been wanting to do more for a while, and I think I now know what that might be:

2-3 weeks ago, the family and I were in Washington DC, and my daughter Halle saw her first homeless person. We were following someone in busy traffic, and Halle saw him on the street holding a sign. She starting crying, yelling "Daddy, we have to HELP him!!". I couldn't stop, or we'd get lost in DC, but the sheer innocence of her reaction really got to me. I promised her, right then and there, that we'd figure out something we could do to help once we get home.

Since then, I thought "I don't know how to help the homeless. There are people that do. I, however, am really good at drawing and telling a story. How can I help the homeless with that?" So I talked to Halle, and we'd like to, under the banner "Creative Compassion", start a comics anthology, from which the profits go towards a homeless charity. I'm not sure which one yet. We're thinking maybe a local shelter. We could even interview the shelter and, via the comic, provide information on who people can help the homeless more. It would be a comic full of fun short stories, not necessarily super heroes.

So far I have the first script. It's co-written with my good friend Moses Garcia. It's called "Flowerhead", and you've already seen lots of the character sketches for that script. My daughter is slowly working on "Sungirl", and we should have one or two more treats up our sleeves. Most or all of the art will be by your truly. Hopefully this will at LEAST be an annual title, which will be a good 32 pages or so.

Right now I THINK we have everything we need for issue #1, but if anyone else is interested in submitting stories for the anthology, we always have issue #2. I'd love to give them a look. One thing I'll try and be up front about, and try not to sound like an elitist jerk, is I'm looking to have quality stories in the book, so I might be picky with submissions. I know it's for a good cause, but I want to make sure the stories are good. Also, we're shooting for all ages in tone. Anything from 1-12 pages. Afraid this is still a work in progress, so I don't know exactly what I might need yet.

I also am currently learning how much art I can produce, and how quickly. I might need some art in the future as well.

Also, anyone who is interested in helping with the comic project in other ways, I also could use interviews with shelters or the homeless.

Hope this project is a success, and everyone digs it.

Oh, and I'm thinking of calling the anthology "Epic Jam". Thoughts?

Sungirl's secret identity...

My daughter we pretty happy with the direction of Sungirl's costume, so I did some more. I inked the upper right image in like 2 minutes. Not perfect, but I'm suprised how well it turned out. Once again I learn I can produce good art faster than I think.

MORE Sungirl sketches...

The first two are the first sketches I did of Sungirl. She's changed quite a bit in 2 days. My daughter didn't really like the first few. She hasn't seen the latest one (3rd image down), so she'll have a surprise when I get home :)

Meet my daughter's new superhero...

SUNGIRL!!!

Another part of my upcoming "SECRET PROJECT"!

These are very rough. I'll post the previous sketches later.

9-21-10 bad guys and card players...

I'm reworking the dude I drew on 9-10-10. I like the guy on the bottom right the best. I like the upper right dude as well, but he doesn't seem very menacing.

Also some more card players.

 

Need a drink, sailor?

I'm much happier with my latest female drawing. Does the background seem too sketchy? I'm actually not hating it. I think I like this better than if I'd drawn all the lines super straight and perfect.

The lines on her right hand got a little too thick, but otherwise I'm real pleased with how she turned out. Especially her outfit and hair.

*UPDATE* My supervisor was just oggling over the girl in this sketch. Guess that's a good sign :)

Man, I need to get better at drawing women...

I still need to brush up drawing the female form :(

I'm pretty happy with the guy on the bottom left though. I'm also experimenting with shadows, something I shy away from too much.

Dave Sim says "Get out of your own way"

This is an excerpt from an article by Dave Sim that pretty much sums up something I struggle with to this day: Overthinking my art. I know I'm not posting a sketch this time, but I think it will help any other artists out there who struggle with drawing slowly.

"Stop trying to impress some art school teacher with a stick up his butt whose opinions you never respected from the time you entered his class until you left it ten years ago. Draw like you. Get a rhythm going. Draw what you like to draw the way you like to draw it. I spent a year trying to be Barry Windsor-Smith when I started Cerebus. Then I started trying to be me. People always comment on the jump in qualify in my artwork on Cerebus from the first issue to (fill-in-the blank; everyone has a different opinion). I didn't know how to draw accurately then and I don't know how to draw accurately now. I just do it until I like the way it looks and then I leave it alone. It is never going to be 'right'; the arm's too long, the eyes are a smidgeon too high, the hand doesn't connect at the exact spot on the wrist that it's supposed to, the folds in the shirt violate every rule of hanging drapery invented since the 14th century. Sticking to a monthly schedule for thirteen years, I'm a lot happier with the way I draw than I ever have been before. It still sucks. It's wrong. But I like it; and I'm the one who has to look at it for eight to ten hours a day. This is supposed to be FUN, dammit. And that's the biggest difference between drawing comic books and being a plumber. If you want to spend years learning the exact and precise way to do something, I'm sure plumbing offers you all of that you can handle; AND it's lucrative.
Get out of your own way.
Somewhere inside of you, there's an artist who wants to have as much fun as he can producing a pile of pages that look the way he wants them to look; telling the stories he wants to tell. Stop trying to go down the giant water-slide five inches at a time so you can enjoy it more and make it last; it's a SLIDE for fuck's sake.
Ahem.
For those of you who understand the preceding, go nuts. Let me know what you come up with. For those of you who still don't get it . . .
Just keep erasing that arm and re-drawing it. It should look fine by the time you're forty."

9-14-10 sketch...

Today's sketch is just two additional figures to my last sketch.

9-10-10 sketch...

Here's what I scribbled out over lunch. I think I'm trying too hard to make everything too clean. I like my art better when it's looser.

9-7-10 sketches...

Latest page got filled up (more doodles will probably fill up the empty spaces later).

I like the guy on the lower left a lot :)

Stuff from over the weekend...

No idea who the guy on the right is, but I kinda dig him. I'm learning to convey backdrops without going crazy on detail.