well i recently read a posting on dA where an artist who's work is pretty distinct had a an old pix of theirs traced then posted by the tracer.
now this is pretty common for artist these day on the net, to have this happen to them. it doesn't happen to me, and to be truthful, i doubt it will.
here's why...
1. I don't draw anywhere close to any "known" or any unknown, or "popular" artists. so i'm not inviting this to happen. it's by design, 100% on purpose. i'm so far from "whats hot" because i don't want this happening to me, it's not cool, and i don't want to deal with it. I've gone out of my way to have this not happen.
2. I do allot with how i get from concept to final color to put in measures to insure this doesn't happen. screen tones and where i place them in the layers of color, the angles i use, line weights, how i lay the color down with the wacom pen. Even my color pallet. ALL the things are to insure i never have to deal this problem.
so, just a short insight as to why my work looks like it does and why i don't have people just ripping my shit off, it's not as much because people don't like it, it's because they can't even begun to figure out how to do it ;)
Tuesday, March 18, 2008
Friday, March 14, 2008
031408
Well, i thought i'd talk today about "the Comics World" and what the major problems i see going on with in it.
In 2008 i feel, that no 2 artist work should look the same, and it shouldn't really. i mean lets face facts, with computer and wacom tablets, scanners and such, there really is on reason. we are at a point where we can create almost anything we can imaging, but we don't.
Why? lack of imagination, lack of vision, lack of talent? well thats a big part of it sure, but is it the artist who lack these thing? sure, in many cases it is... but not always.
Editors, publishers, people doing the hiring and signing the checks are really to blame and here's why.
Small publisher wants to put out a book, they think if the can find the next Jim Lee, their book will sell. Not so, because nobody wants piss poor Jim Lee, when for the same price or less, they can get the real thing, and with Batman in it no less. I see allot of post up with publishers looking for Joe Mad like, or J Scott Campbell ish or Jim Lee like artist... again, those guys are out of these publishers price range and they think getting a knock off will help sell the book.
Why? even if an artist draw "like" one of the formentioned artist, the second they open the book, and look inside and see it's just a poor mans version of, it goes right back on the shelf or table... real shit, i've seen it for 20 years.
I think this mind set is killing indy comics and making it that much harder for artists who have their own voice and style to make anyhead way. hell nothing hurts a writer more then to be saddle with an artist who's doing a rip of a big name artist, because now they are connected to bad knock offs. if the art is a poor mans, this or that, then would it stand to reason that the writing or story is also going to be a knock off or bad version of too..
think about for a second. if you see a team of superheros and it's drawn like piss poor Jim Lee, it's going to say "X-Men knock off" and we saw it in the 90's, nobody want's to read an indy book of some unknowns riff of the x-men, when for the same price or less, they can read the real thing.
sorry, but it's true. in fact because publishers don't grasp this is a big reason WHY diamond distribution keeps making it hard on indy comic companies to go threw them. they realize there is too much garbage taking up space in their warehouse. so someone who's trying to do something different, and build a fan bases by filling a void left in the market can't get in, because these other fools screwed it up by releasing knock off books.
everyone's sick of poor man's version of stuff and it needs to stop.
So, with that said, my partner in crime Derrick Williams and I are doing just that. Are work may not be the greatest, it may not be the best writing, or whatever, but you will never see us ripping off, working with people who are ripping off or doing thing that are poor mans versions of anything. you won't be getting charged 3 dollars for 20 pages of story that may never come to an end, with 12 pages of ads for shit nobody cares about.
Where changing the game by not going to diamond, our stuff will only be availible threw us, online and at conventions, where gonna build it slow, with quality and low print runs 1000 copies or so. no issues 1, 2, 3's and zeros or halfs. when you pic up a 16 page book from us, your getting 16 pages of what you paid for, art and story. and where also trying to keep the prices low, and resonable. we're trying to do it right and raise the bar a little, by not cheating the consumer.
and that's all the time i have for today, our first stop is Hero's Con in June, so tell all your friends to come out and see what where all about this summer.
we're willing to put our money where our mouth it, we talk the talk, and this summer you'll see we walk the walk.
$
In 2008 i feel, that no 2 artist work should look the same, and it shouldn't really. i mean lets face facts, with computer and wacom tablets, scanners and such, there really is on reason. we are at a point where we can create almost anything we can imaging, but we don't.
Why? lack of imagination, lack of vision, lack of talent? well thats a big part of it sure, but is it the artist who lack these thing? sure, in many cases it is... but not always.
Editors, publishers, people doing the hiring and signing the checks are really to blame and here's why.
Small publisher wants to put out a book, they think if the can find the next Jim Lee, their book will sell. Not so, because nobody wants piss poor Jim Lee, when for the same price or less, they can get the real thing, and with Batman in it no less. I see allot of post up with publishers looking for Joe Mad like, or J Scott Campbell ish or Jim Lee like artist... again, those guys are out of these publishers price range and they think getting a knock off will help sell the book.
Why? even if an artist draw "like" one of the formentioned artist, the second they open the book, and look inside and see it's just a poor mans version of, it goes right back on the shelf or table... real shit, i've seen it for 20 years.
I think this mind set is killing indy comics and making it that much harder for artists who have their own voice and style to make anyhead way. hell nothing hurts a writer more then to be saddle with an artist who's doing a rip of a big name artist, because now they are connected to bad knock offs. if the art is a poor mans, this or that, then would it stand to reason that the writing or story is also going to be a knock off or bad version of too..
think about for a second. if you see a team of superheros and it's drawn like piss poor Jim Lee, it's going to say "X-Men knock off" and we saw it in the 90's, nobody want's to read an indy book of some unknowns riff of the x-men, when for the same price or less, they can read the real thing.
sorry, but it's true. in fact because publishers don't grasp this is a big reason WHY diamond distribution keeps making it hard on indy comic companies to go threw them. they realize there is too much garbage taking up space in their warehouse. so someone who's trying to do something different, and build a fan bases by filling a void left in the market can't get in, because these other fools screwed it up by releasing knock off books.
everyone's sick of poor man's version of stuff and it needs to stop.
So, with that said, my partner in crime Derrick Williams and I are doing just that. Are work may not be the greatest, it may not be the best writing, or whatever, but you will never see us ripping off, working with people who are ripping off or doing thing that are poor mans versions of anything. you won't be getting charged 3 dollars for 20 pages of story that may never come to an end, with 12 pages of ads for shit nobody cares about.
Where changing the game by not going to diamond, our stuff will only be availible threw us, online and at conventions, where gonna build it slow, with quality and low print runs 1000 copies or so. no issues 1, 2, 3's and zeros or halfs. when you pic up a 16 page book from us, your getting 16 pages of what you paid for, art and story. and where also trying to keep the prices low, and resonable. we're trying to do it right and raise the bar a little, by not cheating the consumer.
and that's all the time i have for today, our first stop is Hero's Con in June, so tell all your friends to come out and see what where all about this summer.
we're willing to put our money where our mouth it, we talk the talk, and this summer you'll see we walk the walk.
$
Thursday, March 13, 2008
031308
Well it's been a few days since i updated things over here and I though i should take the time to get a few things out in the open.
First off, as a few of you may or may not know, i had a very bad tooth decay start up back in July. I've been in a great deal of pain for the last 9 months. yesterday i was final able to get the first part of a root canal done, which also is very painful. I'm sure weather intentional or not it caused me to be a little more then short with many people. over the past 9 months the infection moved up the right side of my head across the jaw line and upbehind my right ear.
I'm not going to sit here and say i'm sorry, because honestly, i'm not. anything i said I meant, even if it wasn't nice... because honestly i must have felt that way on some level, or i wouldn't have said it at all.
to cap it off i was betrayed repeatedly by someone i thought was my friend during this time... used countless times for their own petty entertainment, and as a result i've cut allot of supporters and "friends" out of the picture. I've quit commenting on peoples work around the net, left place where i posted allot of work up, pulled stuff down, etc.
I had somewhere i was going with all this, but i've forgotten because the percocet is kicking in and even though for the first time in 9 months i have not been in blinding pain it's hard to think and type right now...
i guess if your someone i've quit talking to or feel that you where un-justly included in or attacted to something thats happened within the last 9 months... i think i can finally more forward with some things again, and it's possible to reopen the lines of communication.
this doesn't meant i'll just welcome people back with open arms, or i expect all to be forgiven. it means i'm at a point where i'm able to be a little more rational since i'm not in blinding pain.
more on this later, but right now i have to lay back down and then complete a few commission for people who really have stuck by me through all this.
thnks for your understanding and remember new art will be coming sooner then later.
$
First off, as a few of you may or may not know, i had a very bad tooth decay start up back in July. I've been in a great deal of pain for the last 9 months. yesterday i was final able to get the first part of a root canal done, which also is very painful. I'm sure weather intentional or not it caused me to be a little more then short with many people. over the past 9 months the infection moved up the right side of my head across the jaw line and upbehind my right ear.
I'm not going to sit here and say i'm sorry, because honestly, i'm not. anything i said I meant, even if it wasn't nice... because honestly i must have felt that way on some level, or i wouldn't have said it at all.
to cap it off i was betrayed repeatedly by someone i thought was my friend during this time... used countless times for their own petty entertainment, and as a result i've cut allot of supporters and "friends" out of the picture. I've quit commenting on peoples work around the net, left place where i posted allot of work up, pulled stuff down, etc.
I had somewhere i was going with all this, but i've forgotten because the percocet is kicking in and even though for the first time in 9 months i have not been in blinding pain it's hard to think and type right now...
i guess if your someone i've quit talking to or feel that you where un-justly included in or attacted to something thats happened within the last 9 months... i think i can finally more forward with some things again, and it's possible to reopen the lines of communication.
this doesn't meant i'll just welcome people back with open arms, or i expect all to be forgiven. it means i'm at a point where i'm able to be a little more rational since i'm not in blinding pain.
more on this later, but right now i have to lay back down and then complete a few commission for people who really have stuck by me through all this.
thnks for your understanding and remember new art will be coming sooner then later.
$
Tuesday, March 11, 2008
031108
Well, it looks like i will not be at San Diego Comic Con 2008. Now i'm going to get right to the point as to why, I will not be at SDCC08 because it may effect other people you know. in which case please pass this link on to other people so they don't find themselves in this same boat.
SDCC08 had 110 small press tables and 180 applicantes. it took my partner in crime Derrick Williams 3 weeks of calling, leaving messages and sending e-mail, which never got returned to find out they where out of tables. so there's about 70 small publishers who are in the same boat.
If you haven't heard from SDCC2008, they your not going to, thats whats real. I doubt you'll get in on stand by, which is what the 70 or so people who are in limbo are in. this is a very poor practice by the 800 lbs beast, as many of you may know by now most of the other conventions around the country this summer, may already be filled.
I am truly disopointed in SDCC, because it shows how little respect they have for the people who really have helped it grow, because if your old enough to remember the haydays of comics, many of the small press publishers started out as fan, and bought 4 day passes when they where fans and honestly, the industry would not be here today, if it wasn't for the fans.
So, in closing, if this effects you, get busy looking for another convention to attend this summer before it's to late, you don't want to get stuck with a bunch of books and nowhere to sell them.
infact i may suggest Hero's Con in June, i'm not sure how many tables they have left, but everyone i've talk to is super nice, i know if they have an influx of people scrambling to get in, they'll "try" to do something, because thats what good people do. Also try the folks at Baltimore ComicCon http://www.comicon.com/baltimore/index.htm as of this morning they had plenty of space left, mostly because it's in September.
more on this to come.
SDCC08 had 110 small press tables and 180 applicantes. it took my partner in crime Derrick Williams 3 weeks of calling, leaving messages and sending e-mail, which never got returned to find out they where out of tables. so there's about 70 small publishers who are in the same boat.
If you haven't heard from SDCC2008, they your not going to, thats whats real. I doubt you'll get in on stand by, which is what the 70 or so people who are in limbo are in. this is a very poor practice by the 800 lbs beast, as many of you may know by now most of the other conventions around the country this summer, may already be filled.
I am truly disopointed in SDCC, because it shows how little respect they have for the people who really have helped it grow, because if your old enough to remember the haydays of comics, many of the small press publishers started out as fan, and bought 4 day passes when they where fans and honestly, the industry would not be here today, if it wasn't for the fans.
So, in closing, if this effects you, get busy looking for another convention to attend this summer before it's to late, you don't want to get stuck with a bunch of books and nowhere to sell them.
infact i may suggest Hero's Con in June, i'm not sure how many tables they have left, but everyone i've talk to is super nice, i know if they have an influx of people scrambling to get in, they'll "try" to do something, because thats what good people do. Also try the folks at Baltimore ComicCon http://www.comicon.com/baltimore/index.htm as of this morning they had plenty of space left, mostly because it's in September.
more on this to come.
Sunday, March 9, 2008
030908
here's the crappy cards i did for the breast cancer charity event on e-bay. just a reminder :)
also, i'll be cleaning up the blog a little too. some of you may notices that I haven't been updating anything other then my dA page lately. get use to it.
dA and here will be the 2 spots to catch the fresh and new art. Myspace and facebook are for work related reasons, but they are all updated with the same stuff as the dA page, just much, much later.
I only post comments, give advice and crit really anymore on the Blueline Comci board. this is for one reason. The artist over there want to be comic artist and are striving towards being "Draftsmen". In a digital world where tracing and coping photo's and 3d over poser wire frames is all the rage, i find it refreshing to see artist willing to work at becoming better, the right way. so i've chosen to focus my energy towards helping them get to there goal.
all other accounts are now just billboards on the internet supper highway, if you've hit those pages you'll see i haven't logged in since january in most cases, and have no intention too. why? waste of my time to be honest, and i really can't be bothered to pull the pages down or go back and forth with briandead admin.
what about the other blogs? yeah forget those too, sorry, thats life, deal with it.
Thursday, March 6, 2008
030508
well, last night i was in Washington DC, at the Velvet Lounge for the first DMV Music Movement "Netwroking and Open Mic" event. I think the turn out was good over all, one of the "rappers" clearly had no business being on stage and no matter how many of your boy's and peeps you bring out, it doesn't make it ok to just go onstage and act a fool.
by and large i think people had a good time and i think in this day and age "events" like this are important. I've been to several of these types of "events in the past 8 years around the country with much lower and less productive turn outs.
the next planned event for DMVMM is on the 23rd of April, 9:30pm at the Velvet Lounge, if you live in the DC, Maryland and Virginia Area, you should think about coming out and see what it's all about :)
by and large i think people had a good time and i think in this day and age "events" like this are important. I've been to several of these types of "events in the past 8 years around the country with much lower and less productive turn outs.
the next planned event for DMVMM is on the 23rd of April, 9:30pm at the Velvet Lounge, if you live in the DC, Maryland and Virginia Area, you should think about coming out and see what it's all about :)
Tuesday, March 4, 2008
411
well, i figure it's time i let people in on whats new and future stuff that's happening in my world.
currently i'm planning to go back to school for 3d game design or some related field... now i'm sure some of you think this is great... it's not, i would rather eat a bullet then waste my talent on such thing, but the reality is we live on a planet full of retards, people so base and sub human... primal that they lack the imagination to be able to enjoy anything that's not some 3d bullshit or hyper real, poser or photo trace garbage.
so i'm moving away from traditional art all together so i can join the rank and file drowns and scratch out a living... this "choice" has taken it's toll on me creatively and even the few projects still in the works are becoming harder with each passing day.
so i'll tell you about them real quick.
the first is KuzuGalz #1 28 pages black and white comic, color cover by myself and Derrick Williams, who's inking/finishing the last 3 pages and editing it down so i can script and letter it... i'm going to be creating a new cover image for it too.
the second is my half of the "Transform" flip book full color, featuring my OC Kei, both, "should" be done for Hero's Con.
San Diego, still no word, but since i'll be going back to school, i doubt i'll be going.
I have nothing new planned after i finish the above project, all energy will be focused on 3d, again, i'm so not ok with this, but i've got to do it.
my hope is that i will find some measure of peace once i have finished with the schooling, but i'm not kidding myself... everyday that i move closer to this i die a little more inside and become just a tad bit more numb.
currently i'm planning to go back to school for 3d game design or some related field... now i'm sure some of you think this is great... it's not, i would rather eat a bullet then waste my talent on such thing, but the reality is we live on a planet full of retards, people so base and sub human... primal that they lack the imagination to be able to enjoy anything that's not some 3d bullshit or hyper real, poser or photo trace garbage.
so i'm moving away from traditional art all together so i can join the rank and file drowns and scratch out a living... this "choice" has taken it's toll on me creatively and even the few projects still in the works are becoming harder with each passing day.
so i'll tell you about them real quick.
the first is KuzuGalz #1 28 pages black and white comic, color cover by myself and Derrick Williams, who's inking/finishing the last 3 pages and editing it down so i can script and letter it... i'm going to be creating a new cover image for it too.
the second is my half of the "Transform" flip book full color, featuring my OC Kei, both, "should" be done for Hero's Con.
San Diego, still no word, but since i'll be going back to school, i doubt i'll be going.
I have nothing new planned after i finish the above project, all energy will be focused on 3d, again, i'm so not ok with this, but i've got to do it.
my hope is that i will find some measure of peace once i have finished with the schooling, but i'm not kidding myself... everyday that i move closer to this i die a little more inside and become just a tad bit more numb.
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