Saturday 31 May 2008

Kids Love Patti Smith

and you should too. This is so beautiful. Again.

Friday 23 May 2008

Non-Napkin Art


Perspective is really killing me. I don't mind learning elbows and nose-shadows and the breakdown of a sphere but there's something about false vanishing points and 90 degree angles that really gets my goat.

It all makes sense in theory... but then applied to reality feels like it's for the birds. AND it's fundamental!!!

At least I know what a horizon is!

More Napkin Art

Napkin Art

Thursday 15 May 2008

Ready Steady Go!!!


Gee whiz, practicing all this anatomy is really kicking my ass!

But I think it's paying off... slowly but surely.

It's funny how getting things so perfect and then adjusting one thing turns something beautiful into something hideous. It's as if ugliness is a hair away from perfect beauty. There's probably some truth in that.

SO after announcing the contest, my internet ran away and joined the circus and a bunch of other crap happened... blah blah blah excuses shmuses... From now until the 31st. Every day! No ifs ands ors or buts about it!

Ramones - I Don't Want To Grow Up

What do you get when you combine Dan Clowes, The Ramones, and some of the saddest/best lyrics?

Tuesday 6 May 2008

Foreshortening the Face

Who wouldn't want to foreshorten a beautiful woman's face?

Hey, TOPPLED IDOLS is announcing its first CONTEST!!!

To celebrate ONE YEAR next month... whoever leaves the MOST comments this month wins a PRIZE!!! That's right, an 11 X 15 picture of WHATEVER YOU WANT!!! Truckstop lasciviousness, Octopi attacking Abe Lincoln, your teacher in an iron maiden (band or torture device!), Mark E Smith sober, whatever your imagination can muster... I WILL DRAW IT!!!

BUT, you have to leave the most comments in MAY!!!

And tell your friends... I need to beat my personal best of 500 peeps checking out Toppled Idols next month.

We created it
Let's take it over!!!
Whatever happened to the punk rock dream?



LOVE LXVE LOVE LXVE

Monday 5 May 2008

Back to Square One

Save Now
I've been really studying the basics of character and perspective.

AND Dave Sim's Glamourpuss, which is absolutely stunning.

I still have a long way to go... but Andrew Loomis and Preston Blair made the most helpful books on how to draw. Andrew Loomis' books are all out of print. Preston Blair's are desecrated due to copyright issues. It's as if there's a school of hidden knowledge that is being purposefully obscured.

To drive the point home, on free comic book day (aka best day ever!) I got a comic on how to draw. It had some really terrible examples in it that I would have followed if I didn't know better. Worse yet, it skips steps, which could only frustrate aspiring artists like myself.

Why are they giving away terrible advice while hiding anything helpful?

Thankfully the internet and public library have the information you require. It just takes a lot of work. But it's no wonder there's so much terrible art in the world... if this is the state of things...

Sunday 4 May 2008

M Lamar's 7 inch Release


Oh, the vinyl looks so cool!

Here's the sticker I made last night what will adhere to the surface of the bag that will contain the 7 inch that Jack built.

Wait... what?

Friday 2 May 2008

As Promised


The eye from yesta' day. Where else could I get such delicate detail???

Is there possibly a Japanese nib better than these?

God bless manga!

A Head in the Hand is Worth Two in the Bush


Unless it's George W., that is!

Thursday 1 May 2008

New Tools!

So at the behest of a panel at New York Comic Con and looking at other people's work at Stumptown, I decided it was time to step my game up equipment-wise. I love my nib pens and got some Japanese nibs. I was looking for Holbein Maxon nibs, but there's only one place where you can order them. Since nibs have no uniform size, I have no idea which is which. I might investigate further.

BUT, a friend of a friend put up a little blog about cartooning tools and I tracked down "those Japanese nibs." They are super-smooth and really delicate. I LOVE THEM! Here's what I did:I'll put up this eye tomorrow to show you just how detailed and delicate they get. I'm blown away. The face was done with a Tachikawa N357C-3 and the hair with a T3-3. They're not much different from the Speedball nibs I was using before except that they have the sizes I need, whereas Utrecht has been out of them for months!

I guess they use nib pens to make Manga, so they have so many varieties. If only an importer would corner that burgeoning market! If anybody wants to go into business, let me know. Manga is HUGE right now and in three years everybody's gonna' be looking for these pens (if they know what's good for them!)

I also got a Brush pen. It's a Faber-Castell PITT pen. It's fine, I guess. I like using the real thing and having really black, thick lines. But it is easy to carry around (duh!) and I feel like it makes my drawings look more professional for some reason:

All in all, I'm really happy with both of these and would recommend them to anybody wanting to get some new tools to make good pictures.

Stumptown Comics Fest Table!!


Here's my table where I sat between David Chelsea and Robert Goodin, two amazing artists!
Thank you, Portland!

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