Updates for 11/07

Just a few quick updates on a few of the goings on in and around the FSC studios. I'll get into a little more detail when I'm not quite feeling so lazy. It is Friday after all.

ITEM: THE FSC STRIP SHOW!
The long awaited Altered Ego compilation book has been sent off to the printers. This is a full color book compiling the online web strip created by yours truly. AE was probably the most fun I've ever had drawin' comics and perhaps one of the best received pieces I've ever done. Who knows? Maybe there's a "season two" somewhere in the offering? Ya' never know. Just as soon as I get back a few proof copies and see that everything is "good to go", I'll be posting a link so that all the millions and millions of AE fans can rush out and get their copy. And copies for all those people that they really, REALLY like.

ITEM: FREE FSC T-shirts are now available!
In this day of the Internet, where everything is expected to be free and instantly available, and those things that aren't are either ignored or someone, somewhere decides to find a way to make it free, I've decided to get ahead of the game and give you the free stuff myself and to give it to you RIGHT NOW! Check out the FSC Store to get all the neat details and be sure to tell me just how cool I am. Tell your buddies too. You can't go wrong when the stuff is free!

ITEM: Scanner update.
Well ... I finally got myself a new scanner for the studio and ... it don't work Jethro. Or at least the software doesn't like my computer. I've got some of the best people in the room on it as we speak so expect me to start putting up more art (and stuff) sometime in the near future.

Now ... I'm off in search of coffee. Have a fantastic day.

Happy birthday.

Happy birthday to my younger brother (and programmer) Rich. If you haven't already sent him cash, feel free to send it to me instead. I'll make sure he gets it. No. Really. I will. If you're thinking what a great brother I am posting this, cool, but I'm thinking that now I don't have to buy him a card. Kinda' late for that anyway. O. Well. He'll have another next year. Birthday, that is.

T-Shirt designs.

Okay.

Everything needs a T-shirt and that means I need a T-shirt. Not to wear, I've got those, but to sell and to push the work. Art for T-shirt's sake. The problem for me has always been deciding what to put on a T-shirt. After much consideration and seeing some really cool vintage-looking, simple and clean designs on a few T-shirts, I decided that I'd go with that particular "look". If I get the bug, I'll do more but at the moment ... "Why?!" What's the point in creating a whole buncha' T-shirts and merchandise? All I'd accomplish is pushing even those few devoted supporters of my work over the edge. And since I ain't a big corporation, and just a little nobody, that doesn't seem like a great idea. Not to me, anyway. It's about respect. Give it. Get it. Doesn't matter which side of the drawing table yer' on. Besides, I've got better things to do with my time than sit around designing T-shirts all day. Well, not really, but I do like to sleep. Actually, I like to sleep a lot. Sleeping is cool.

That said, I've decided to give you a peek at a few designs for a couple of T-shirts. I hope to have them available online in the next week or so. When I do, I'll let ya' know.

Live.

For better or worst, this blog is now live and linked off Five Star Comics' main page. All fixes, tweaks and repairs will now have to be done in full public view. What a spectacle this will be.

Penciling 101.

I get asked a lot about my penciling. How do I pencil, what tools do I use, what size do I pencil in etc.? The quick answer to all these questions is that I use any kind of pencil and any kind of paper. I tend to do quick, rough sketches until I get a look that I feel good about. Then I take the pile of sketches to a light table and trace them off. This gives me a nice, clean page to put the inks on. If you don't own a light table, I highly suggest getting one. It saves a tremendous amount of time and makes things soooo much easier.

This piece was done for a Doctor Who convention I attended a while back in Wisconsin. The show's attendance wasn't so hot but I sure had a lot of fun. Which is a big reason I wouldn't mind going back one day. Whether I do or not is, as always, up in the air.

I'll get into more detail later but right now what I really want to do is see if I can't put up some artwork on this page. If I can't this is gonna' really be a sucky "art-blog".

Tweaking.

I'm still tweaking both the MORGAN STONE: KNIGHT-WOLF trade paperback and the ALTERED EGO collected edition. It seems that every time I turn around I'm finding something else I think needs to be "fixed" or improved or whatever. As it stands all that is left is the technical-stuff. Page layouts, LCN and such. I really need to get them done 'cause I've got a second (and a third) MORGAN STONE graphic novel(s) that I should be working on. They are both 80% complete but those extra 20% could take me forever.

Of course, in the meantime ... I've got "real life" to deal with. Meaning, bills, work, running a business (and in Michigan, this ain't easy!), work around the house. Of course eating healthy and exercising too. As I've gotten older I've found myself becoming more health conscious. As a result I've found myself getting skinnier. Thin feels better although I could sure do without everyone telling me that I'm too thin. I guess it's better than the alternative, huh?

I've been tweaking the design of this blog. I want to to be bright, clean and simple. Very simple. Sadly, too often simple equals lame and I'd prefer to leave lame for someone else. LOL I might just be fighting a losing battle on this one.

I hope to start putting up here artwork, sketches and the like. First I'll have to learn how and get a new scanner. My old one(s) have gone kablewy. Let me tell you, this did not aid my assembling the trades at all. Nope. Not one bit.

That's it.

What is a Zuda?

What is Zuda? Zuda is the online, webcomic imprint of DC Comics. Which means that it's the online, webcomic imprint of Warner Brothers.

The introduction.

I have, for years, kept a journal constantly at my side. My journals contain everything from my moment-to-moment thoughts to sketches, notes and ideas. Basically anything and everything that passes through my mind gets written down in my journal. What's the point of thinking if you don't record it? If for no other reason than to prove that I do indeed think. At least at times. It is always interesting to look through old journals and get a peek at what was going on in my life, and my head, a year or ten ago. I can view the step-by-step evolution of the stories I've written and the books I've created. Plots, synopsis, character, page and logo designs. It's all there. So many ideas and so little time.

I find that keeping a journal helps to keep my mind fresh and my brain empty. I hate coming up with (what feels at the time) a brilliant idea only to forget it by the next day. Journaling helps me put things away, always sure that they are still there, somewhere in the pages of my journals, should I ever decide they're needed. Mostly they're not, but sometimes ... sometimes they are.

Online is a different animal. Journalling online is not a private affair. Online blogging (as journalling is know) is a public spectacle, inviting strangers and familiars alike to take a peek inside your head and offer their opinions concerning the condition of your personality. It can be offensive and uncomfortable but it can also serve a purpose, filtered though my thoughts might be.

What really goes on inside the head of an artist? How are ideas created and what is the process that takes an idea and makes it real? My goal here would be to answer at least some of these questions, even if the answers only apply to me and my work. I'm not like any other artist. No two artists are alike. I've got my own process I go through creating work and my own goals and desires I'm shooting for.

So ... what can you expect here?

Time will tell.