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As promised, a new 6-page comic begins today!
Our most recent assignment involved adapting excerpts from the blogs of soldiers stationed in Iraq and Afghanistan. “Stars” is the result of that process. Those of you with a keen eye will detect a lot of visual influence from Sergio Toppi, the masterful Italian illustrator and cartoonist. His inking techniques and page layouts blow my mind, and this was an attempt to replicate some of that dynamism on the page. It was also an opportunity for me to play with nibs again after a long stint of inking with a brush. Some good things happened, some messy things happened, but on the whole I enjoyed myself.
Here goes!
While it’s lovely to take pride in one’s work and rest on the old laurels a little after turning in something on a deadline, I really do love the little voice in my head that says “Oh man, fuck that project! This is where it’s at” as soon as I sink my teeth into something new. It gives me a feeling of jet propulsion where each new piece is another step towards that great big magical state of artistic competence in the sky.
I’ve been having a load of dynamite conversations with people in the last few days about art, creation, culture, spirituality, craft, dedication, and other Big Things. It has my brain in a whirl, but I’m also in mega productivity mode to ink 18 pages this week. So far I’ve tackled 3 on one project (a 6-page piece that I’ll start updating on Monday), and 5 on the other:
These are the opening pages of the 12-page prologue to Wherefore, my graphic novel. The finished pages (what you see above plus lettering and inkwashes!) will be on display, along with notes on my process, at Reed College starting November 3rd. There’s a little artist’s talk and an opening that afternoon, which I’ll post details about soon, but mostly I’m just really excited to finish all this inking so I can start sharing with you guys via the magic of the web.
Hang in there. Things are going to get crazy around here in the next couple weeks.
Quick nonsense for today. My piece from the secrets-themed 20th issue of Stumptown Underground.
And here we have it: the dramatic conclusion to Fenton’s 4-page spotlight.
And that’s that! Since this comic was completed in a rapid dash for a deadline there’s still a lot more painting to be done to bring it up to snuff, so I may update these images sometime in the future with cleaner meaner versions. But for now, in typical style, my next comic will probably be about something completely unrelated to this! Get ready for excitement and…I don’t know. Manatees? You tell me.
In the department of exciting news, I have a piece in the upcoming Top Secrets-themed issue of Portland’s own Stumptown Underground! This is my first anthology inclusion so I’m extra thrilled and would love to see your grinning faces at the release party this Friday. The shin-dig goes down at In Other Words (14 NE Killingsworth St.) this Friday from 7-9pm. Hope to see you all there!
What’s a poor wartime photographer to do?
Second page of the Fenton project. Feast upon it with your succulent eyebits!
To whet everyone’s appetites, here’s the first page of a short comic I just finished about Roger Fenton’s photographic exploits during the Crimean War. The comic is partly a response to this piece in the NYT, which discusses In the Valley of the Shadow of Death, Fenton’s most famous shot. This was some wild speculation about where the image came from with a healthy dose of artistic experimentation thrown in. I’m getting more and more excited about watercolors these days, and wish I’d had more time to tackle painting this, but I may still go back and add some more detail. The inking was all done with a fountain pen in a sketchier style than I generally go for. Any thoughts on the difference greatly appreciated. I’ll post another page tomorrow. Enjoy!
