Monday, February 27, 2006

The Waiting

Since my next comic shipment from DCBS is still in the mail, I've been jonesing for some comics! Luckily, I have "The Pile" to go to in desperate times like this.

Dipping in to said pile, I came out with the Codeflesh trade. I got this recently at a local comic shop that was having a sale. No, really. A comic shop that actually had a sale on trades! It was a "buy 2 get the 3rd one free" sale. I picked up the Codeflesh tpb, Y: The Last Man vol4 tpb and the Whiteout: Melt trade by Rucka/Lieber.

Anyways, Codeflesh was a great little book! My main draw to it was the fact that Joe Casey wrote it. I've been really digging the Casey stuff I've read over the past few years, Automatic Kafka and Godland in particular. I was not expecting to like the art so much, though. I know Charlie Adlard's work through The Walking Dead book and I like it. It's just not amazing me, you know? But, his work in Codeflesh was excellent. I think the lack of grayscales in Codeflesh made Adlard work harder in giving Codeflesh's world more visual substance.

I really got a kick out of this book and wished there was enough support for it to see more stories.

Last post's title was a song title from:
Sign In Please by Autograph

This was Autograph's first and only hit.
80's hairband rock at it's best!

Friday, February 24, 2006

Turn Up The Radio

I'm pretty excited for this coming Tuesday. February 28th is the release day for the Newsradio Season 3 DVD set! Jackie and I worked our way throught the first DVD set in record time. The only thing that struck a sour note was the bad laugh track on some of the early episodes. But, that's a small price to pay for such comedic genius! Tuesday can't get here fast enough.......

Then we need to see the release of the 3rd season of Arrested Development!

Last post's title was a song title from:
Aftermath by The Rolling Stones

A Stones classic. But, I actually like Streetheart's version more.

Sacrilege, I know.

Tuesday, February 21, 2006

Under My Thumb

I know. I know. It's been a week since I posted anything new here. I'm sorry. It's been hard coming up with stuff to talk about, as I've been holding off putting any more Empty Chamber up. I don't want to show too much of it before it's ready to hawk. (insert wink smilie here)

But, I think putting up a rough layout is all right, yeah? This is the tentative rough layout for the next page. A. David still needs to sign off on it before I go to the penciling stage. He's such a control freak. (insert wink smilie here)


Sometimes, I draw the page as roughs on a thumbnail scale. Very rough suggestion of figures and locations. But most of the time, I do the rough panels on different pieces of paper and at different scales (usually close to the actual scale I want them for the page). I scan them all in and assemble them in Photoshop. This is where I'll make adjustments to the placement and scale of figures. This is the critical phase of the solidity of the page. So I take time to make sure the flow of the panels works with the dialogue and action.

As a sidenote, the Empty Chamber production blog (hosted by PopCultureShock) is shaping up nicely. ADL and I expect it to go "live" on March 1st! I do hope to see you all there. We will show you many a splendid thing each week!

Last post's title was a song title from:
Has Been by William Shatner

Ben Folds supplies the tunes. Bill supplies the words. There's a chilling song about Shatner finding his wife dead in their pool. You can tell he is speaking from the heart. Great album.

Monday, February 13, 2006

That's Me Trying

I was surfing my usual sites when I came across an interview with the creator/writer/artist of Robotika, Alex Shiekman. It was a very informative piece that contained one particular passage that I thought was very much relating to my current state of mind. From the interview with Alex:

Silver Bullet Comics: About how long does/did it take you to pencil an issue of "Robotika"?

Alex Shiekman: The first issue of "Robotika" took almost 6 months. I wrote and re-wrote, I drew and re-drew..... I was learning how to write and I was learning how to design panel-to-panel pages. In the end I just had to stop double guessing and get the issue done, my thought being that I will make the next issue better. Sometimes it's easy to fall into a trap of not willing to finish something because it is not your absolute best, and only the best will ever do. My approach now is: "I do the best that I can given my resources today, and I will try to do better tomorrow". That is probably the biggest difference between me as an artist today, and my approach to work 10 years ago.

I do the best that I can given my resources today, and I will try to do better tomorrow.

And that is where I'm trying to get to, in my own headspace. I tend to try for "perfection" in my work. I'm an all or nothing kind of guy, and if it's not my best work then I feel I've got to do it again. And again. And again, until it is right. It can grind my artistic progress, not to mention my projects, to a screeching halt.

I think it's becoming time to put aside the notion of making my comic art "perfect". It will never be "perfect" anyways, so why hang that albatross around my neck if I don't have to? I'm not saying I'm going to take the first thing that hits the paper. No, that wouldn't do anyone any good. But, I think it is time I let those aspirations of "perfection" go and focus on getting my best work out that time will allow.

At least I'll try to......

Last post's title was a song title from:
Running on Empty by Jackson Browne

Jackson Browne was one of those singer/songwriters of the late 60's/early 70's that had that laid back folk/rock feel going on. So he fit right in when he wrote a few songs for the Eagles' first album.

Wednesday, February 08, 2006

Running On Empty

I've been lax in updating this here blog. For that, I am sorry. I've found that my "blogging time" is lacking, these days, due to my focus on getting Empty Chamber finished up. I'm still a few months off from completing that goal (I know, I know), but I am making decent headway. The new pages are looking really good...... I may share some with you soon...... but, probably not here.

You see, I've got some very cool news regarding the future of how you all can get your Empty Chamber "behind the scenes" fix. The good people at Buzzscope.com have graciously offered to host the official EMPTY CHAMBER PRODUCTION BLOG! It's an offer that A. David and I enthusiastically accepted! I'm very excited to have been given this opportunity. However.....

The production blog is still under construction, so I can't really send you to it yet, but we do have our Empty Chamber Forum set up on the PopCultureShock Forum! This will be the place to ask questions, get updates and discuss Empty Chamber (and other stuff). I hope that, as the book gets closer to publication, I'll be seeing you over there on a regular basis.

Last post's title was a song title from:
Reckless by Bryan Adams

Local boy who hit the BIG time. To bad he decided to go live in England....

Friday, February 03, 2006

Run To You

It's that time of month again to order my comics from DCBS.com. I'm really liking this months' pickin's! Here's what's going on the list:
  • ELKS RUN #7 [FEB063248]
  • ROBOTIKA #3 [FEB062850]
  • DOOMED MAGAZINE #2 [FEB063130]
  • BATMAN YEAR ONE HUNDRED #3
  • PORTENT #2
  • AQUAMAN SWORD OF ATLANTIS #41
  • EXTERMINATORS #4
  • GODLAND #10
  • AMERICAN VIRGIN #2
  • CAPTAIN AMERICA #17
  • STRANGERS IN PARADISE #81
  • YOUNG BLUEBERRY: THE BLUECOATS
  • SHAOLIN COWBOY DARROW CVR #5
  • ULTIMATES 2 #11
  • NEXT WAVE #4
  • Y: THE LAST MAN: PAPER DOLLS TP
  • DAREDEVIL #84

I've added the product codes for those first 3 titles 'cuz I think that they are great books that need everyone's support.

Elk's Run is shaping up to be one of the best reads of the year! Robotika's first issue was excellent and the pages I've seen for the second issue look sa-weet! And the Doomed magazine is a must. It's got art by Ashley Wood and Tony Salmons! So look for those books in this months' Previews and give'em a chance!

Last post's title was a song title from:
The Southern Harmony and Musical Companion by the Black Crowes

This album was the one that made me sit up and take notice of the boogie band stylings the Crowes had going on. It was like hearing a brand new album by the Faces. It rocked and it rolled. The band was never tighter and the grooves were right on the money.