#i still gonna like finalize everything all I’ve done is the composition and a rough sketch of the expressions

[llumimoon]

I just sketched out the last comic page of The Talk…….. the end is in sight guys

[yosajaeofficial]

JUNE UPDATE

WASSUP BROS AND HOES, IT’S ME, YOSA FRICKING JAE. BACK AT IT AGAIN WITH ANOTHER UPDATE ABOUT THE JMC 🔥🔥🔥‼️‼️‼️

Last time, I remember saying it’ll be different and things will spice up, and I am indeed gonna provide more stuff piled into these updates because the debut comic is taking so long. I wanna make sure you all get full when consuming these updates instead of being like “oh, nothing happened lol”. I have a good chunk of shit to talk about that’s outside of the comic itself, but it’s like behind the scene stuff about it :3

With that out of the way, let’s finally get started!

The Comic

(W.I.P OF THE OFFICAL DEBUT COMIC)

The comic is slowly making progress, the first thing that’s changing is me showing progress of the comic itself and giving ya’ll w.i.ps in order for me to give you guys content to look over, and because I just want ya’ll to see it yk? The honest truth is that it’s moving slow because of burnout. It was huge and made me wanna give up on the comic and leave the fandom, I was struggling for a good while but my best friend told me it was best to take a break and recharge instead of pushing further. They told me to do something else so I can regain my motivation and passion for the project, and she was right, because I’ve been having fun hanging out, watching her play Stardew Valley, and letting loose without the pressure for the debut comic to come out. I have to prioritize my health and well-being before anything else, and I know the comic will be done!

Also for you all to know, the team I had disbanded, and right now I don’t have a full official one to help with the debut. I have amazing friends that have helped look over the script, one did some sketch compositions, one helped fix up grammar in the script. They helped me greatly and I’m so grateful for them and their loving support even through all of the rough patches. For the most part, I’ve been doing everything on my own, and it can get stressful easily because of how much I’ve had to change my plans and shuffle around when the team disbanded. I’ve been the one doing the scripting, sketches, lineart, color, management, and just everything. Even if I try to act like things are fine behind the scenes, I definitely got more anxious and depressed after events occurred, so this break (not hiatus) has helped me recharge after going through a bit for this comic. To end this section on a good note, I’m feeling so much better and I’m recharging absolutely greatly, I even renewed my love for Donnie after a friend drew him 🦐 Sooooo…The JMC is still in good hands.

Bonus Content: The Villain

YosaJae, what is this? This is the section that’s hella new, the place where I show you guys some cool concept art, ideas, and plots that show the origins of the JMC or even scrapped/cut content. Today we’re gonna talk about the villain of Arc 1. Fun fact, two were created at the same time but one of them was finalized to be the primary villain for Arc 1!

(First ever concept art of Archie Gomez)

Here he is! The cat himself, ✨Archie✨ I needed some variety and needed an anthropomorphic character since Rise has lots of their mutants and yokai. Archie was a character that was a lot more serious and hella threatening but he was toned down after more arcs were created. For some reason, I included freckles because I originally thought, “Ginger people…..” then included the freckles to make him more recognizable. Let’s just say that they weren’t as rememberable as I thought because I forgot them after a while-

Fun fact, Archie was originally gonna be a native Spanish speaker but not be able to speak English. The actual conflict was gonna be about the turtles and Archie fighting due to language miscommunication, but it was later scrapped because of the issue with translating each of his sentences and being truly accurate with his dialogue. He also at first was a one off character that would never return, but he was popular that he became the reoccurring bad for Arc 1.

(Archie Gomez Evolution 2022-2024)

Archie had went through a good bit of design changes over the years and I changed him to be more easier to draw by giving him a more unique silhouette by drawing his head as a pentagon instead of a circle. The transition was at first a circle to triangle, but then the shape was too complicated to recreate so I had to go with a pentagon (as an accident at first too). That changed him A LOT but I was hella happy with the way he turned out because he started to look more unique and iconic. Pretty cool, eh~?

Aaaand that’s it! Thank you all for stopping by and coming in to read this update! I hope it was fun to go through and very refreshing. I wanna make my updates more like this instead of what was said above. Especially because this is taking so long, I wanna be able to go over behind the scenes with you all since ya’ll at least deserve that; I can’t keep being mysterious about the comic since it is taking years for it to be made, but it’s trial and error so I gotta do this in order for it to be worth the progress. I’m strong, I can do this! Hopefully your day/night is amazing, and take care until next time 😋🫶💜

[stranger-who-writes-fiction]

Aaaanyways, I wanna put on my comic-art-nerd hat and talk about panel-to-panel action in that Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow preview because yes, I have been staring at it for days, and yes, I will continue to do so until it is released next month! XD

LET’S GO:

I apologize in advance for the funky formatting, there’s an art to tumblr text posts and I...have not mastered it. XD

It’ll go image, then analysis.

Also, just to be clear: I’m not doing this so much to be like, ‘WOW THIS IS GROUNDBREAKING, STUNNING, NEVER-BEEN-DONE!’ In fact, many comics do the things I’m gonna highlight/geek out over! Rather, it’s more about, like. Appreciating the construction of the pages, panels, etc.

Okay, so! Page 1, the SPLASH PAGE

Okay, so, admittedly, I don’t have a ton to say about this opening image, largely because it is one single illustration as opposed to a series of panels. But even then! It quickly establishes that we’re not on earth--the foliage, rock formations, and GIANT WOOLY FRIEND(?) give that away. Also! Said rock formations and wooly friend’s horns frame our new character RIGHT IN THE MIDDLE OF THE PAGE, letting you know that even though she is tiny, she is important. And, I will just say, I love the dust effects on the ground. The repeated semi-circle shapes evoke the feeling of rhythmic, galloping hoof beats, even without actual movement or sound. Lovely.

And now, PAGE 2!

So, I’ve highlighted panel 3, but before I get there! Panels 1 & 2 do such a nice job of giving us an idea as to the actual, physical size of these two characters, as well as the power dynamic at play. This random dude takes up the WHOLE DANG PANEL with his bulging muscles and is framed in an up-shot; in panel 2, Ruthye is not only shown from above--we’re literally looking down at her--she is also relegated to the bottom half of the panel. Additionally, it’s a great way to show the action of her turning to pull the sword from her belt, obscuring it from both our view and his, to bring out the ‘big reveal’ in the next panel.

Speaking of! Panel 3! Our establishing shot! We’re introduced to the full interior of this tavern. We see where everything is placed--walls, furniture, and perhaps most importantly, the various patrons!

Establishing shots are so important to have in visual media because they help us, the reader/viewer, to orient all of the various components within a sequence or scene.  

It’s also helpful for the artists because then they can better maintain things like screen direction and continuity.

If we don’t have a shot like this, then subsequent action can become confusing to the point of distraction.

YOU WOULD BE SURPRISED how often this is neglected or forgotten in comics! Scenes will change abruptly and it’s like, ‘wait, wait, where are we?’ 

ADDITIONALLY, the establishing shot not only gives us basic spatial information, it ~sets the mood~ XD Setting! Atmosphere! Genre! It’s all here.

I mentioned this in my prior post, that the art gives off some intense fantasy vibes, what with the organic shapes, rough textures, and color palette.

Folks who’ve read advanced copies have described the book as a fantasy/western; that extends even to the series title design! The designer revealed that the western look of the text is deliberate.

So A+ to the art team for NAILING IT!

Okay, on to page 3!

Not a ton of notes on this one, but that’s only because the prior page has done such a solid job of laying out the space, as well as the relationship between these two characters WITH JUST WITH THE ART. (Okay, okay, the words help too. XD) Once more, we see this big brute tower over Ruthye, panel- to-panel; he’s always ‘large and in charge’ regardless of the angle. Even in that final panel! Ruthye is the largest element because she’s closer to us, but the guy is still positioned ‘above’ her, literally talking down to Ruthye from over his shoulder. 

(And HMMMM. That unassuming stranger in the back there, underneath the lanterns that seem to act as an arrow pointing right at her...could she be...important?)

(Her tiny size would seem to imply that she isn’t...AND YET...)

PAGE 4!

MMMM them FRAMES within FRAMES!

Okay, but before I get into that, I do wanna briefly mention panel size and shape.

All of these pages (save for 1 and 7, which are full-page illustrations) pretty much stick to a very traditional panel structure. Each panel is completely enclosed, and there is zero variety in terms of shape. It’s all rectangles.

BUT. The size and orientation change--take, for instance, that ‘skinny’ horizontal panel up top, the way it perfectly suits the ‘shape’ of the elements/action being shown. It’s a close on Kara’s wrist/hand, reaching out for the sword in the guy’s belt. 

I mention this because often, writers don’t dictate stuff like panel layout in a script. They will give the artist the number of panels, and what needs to be included in each one, but the actual, overall organization of the page? Totally up to the artist.

So! Really knowing what you want to highlight and convey is key, because you can use the panels’ size/shape/relation to other panels to ENHANCE those images, like that sword grabbing up top!

AND! Another thing I love about that panel in particular is the way that Kara’s hand and the sword make a tiny frame for Ruthye! Who is, again, VERY TINY! 

I keep mentioning the size thing because it’s a nice bit of economical visual storytelling; the child character is going to be smaller than the adult characters anyway, but by calling attention to it repeatedly, we as the viewer are constantly reminded that this kid is small! She needs help! She needs to be protected! Which is like, the whole premise of the inciting incident. XD Good stuff!

(Also more dot eyes in comics that aren’t humor comics, please.) 

There’s another frame down in panel 3 as well! Evely uses this device several times throughout this sequence; it’s such a great use of the multiple swords in the scene, AND shows that she can really pack all of the characters in there without cutting any of them off/obscuring them behind various objects.

And like, NO TANGENTS, which takes some serious skillz.

ESPECIALLY when you consider all that beautiful linework. LOOK AT THEM INKS.

...In particular, look at them inks in panel 5! The shading on the booth is done in such a manner that the ‘grain’ of the ink defines the perspective. We’re looking down at Kara, from above. This is a helpful little bit of orientation, as there’s not a ton of room around Kara to have any other perspective lines to help sell the angle. 

ALSO, NOTE THE POSITION OF MR. BRUTE IN PANEL 4, AND THEN KARA’S EYELINE IN PANEL 5. It will be important in...

PAGE 5!

Allow me to explain:

In panel four on page 4, we see the guy reach for his sword, his body language revealing that he’s intent on moving towards Kara.

In panel 5 on the same page, we get that lovely down shot of Kara looking right up at us, the viewer. But also, the implication is that she’s ACTUALLY looking at Tough Guy, because in the next page, we see that he’s positioned himself right above her to swing that sword down!

(My apologies for the poor attempts at drawn annotations.) 

There’s no action lines cluttering up the beautiful art; Not-Conan’s hair, rather, acts as the action line/guiding ‘arc’ so that we can better follow the movement.

Kara, likewise, doesn’t have any action lines on her, but her posture and hair act as visual cues to tell us that she slides over in the booth, out of the way of the sword.

In particular, the way her right shoulder/arm draws closer to her body, and the way her left hand comes up to offset the way she’s now positioned, really sells the ‘slide’. 

More beautiful indicators of movement in panel 2; the hair, the action line on the sword, the torn fabric of Kara’s shirt.

Panel 3 brings more FRAMES WITHIN FRAMES! And, actually, as I’m looking at it? I think it could be argued that we actually have a FRAME within a FRAME within a FRAME!

First frame: Panel border, natch.

Second frame: Goofus’ sword, arm, and face frame Kara.

Third frame: Kara’s arm and sword work with Goofus’ head again to frame tiny Krypto.

LAYERS.

And now, a note about colors!

I said before that I love the palette at play. The earthy tones give the entire setting an organic feel--this is not a high-tech locale! We’re dealing with natural materials here.

BUT THEN THOSE BLUES!

Not only do we get that nice split complementary thing happening with the yellow, but it also signals the blue of Kara’s costume, a little hint of which is revealed in the final page.

And, like. It’s night time. XD

(I just gotta say, love the cold blue outside the window next to Kara’s table, contrasted with the warm yellow of the interior. Even though this is a bar, there’s still that element of like. Coziness.)

Also! Even though the overall palette is heavy on the yellows, Kara’s hair is more saturated and leans towards a warmer yellow, while the rest of the yellows in the scene are cooler. Thus! We have CONTRAST! Our eyes are drawn right to her.

And I know--I KNOW--that SG comics twitter already hates King because Kara’s DRINKING and personally I want more of the story/context before I pass any judgement but I must admit, the shapes? In panel 5? With Kara drinking in the foreground? 

I kinda love it.

Also mmmm-MMMM, more of them SOFT BLUES.

Okay. PAGE 6!

Now THIS PAGE is what inspired this whole endeavor.

Because, okay. If I’ve not made it clear by now: I read a lot of comics.

And I generally enjoy all of the comics I read!

But, what I’ve found lately, is that if I don’t enjoy a comic, it’s because I, as a reader, find myself confused by the art.

Confused as in, the art is hard to follow.

That can be because the color design/ink work doesn’t have enough contrast, or the composition is muddled, but most frequently?

It’s poor panel-to-panel action.

When there’s no flow/connection between what’s happening in one panel vs. another, suddenly it’s on you, as the reader, to do a lot more of the work as you go through the scene. And sometimes! We don’t even have enough visual information to DO that work!

So when I read this, I was like, ‘ah, thank you, an easy flow of action for my brain to appreciate.’ XD

AND SO. Panel 1! Same stuff we’ve been seeing! The ink work, hair, clothing details, etc. all work to show us which direction each character is moving. Kara’s arm and jacket all point to her slamming that mug in the dude’s face; dude’s sword serves as a GIANT ARROW illustrating the path of his stab.

Not much to say on panels 2 and 3 other than: FACIAL EXPRESSIONS! And also, HAIR!!!

PANEL FOOOOUR!!!!

Love. This. Panel.

Again, I really love that there are no action lines slapped on top of this gorgeous art, all of the movement is conveyed in the inks, body language, clothes, and so on.

Like. There’s a conscious decision, here, to not have Kara’s hair obscuring the dude’s torso, and that’s good! Because his belt/uhh...kilt? Skirt? Is showing us the speed and direction of his jab; if Kara’s hair were in the way, it would break up the flow.

BUT THEN HOW TO SHOW THAT KARA’S DIPPING FORWARD???

Note the ties on her cuff, and the inks on her jacket!

There’s nothing special happening with Krypto, BTW. I just circled him because he’s a Good Boy who deserves to be noticed.

Panel 5, more of the same, the inks telling us how these characters are moving through space. ALSO, the length of the lines conveys speed without needing to add something distracting/obscure the art with a ‘blur’ effect.

Final panel! I. LOVE. THIS.

Particularly the movement in Kara’s hair, just. Beautiful shape language.

But in addition! You’ve got that LOVELY line of action in Kara’s spine as she flips him over, the sword likewise curved in the direction of the throw.

And of course, the dude is crumpling in the appropriate direction, bent in the middle as he collides with the table to--quite literally--complete the circle.

Also, just. The characterization here, is PHENOMENAL.

People (read: irate fans on twitter) have expressed concern (read: complained) about Kara having a sword. Some have even gone so far as to suggest that Kara’s basically a murderer now, because she’s using a weapon.

Never mind the fact that in an episode of JLU, Supergirl used both a sword AND a gun to defend herself while in Skartaris because she had no powers. 

Except we see here that Kara DOESN’T USE THE SWORD to take the guy out, she uses his own force against him. She only uses the swords in the FINAL PAGE in a type of ‘yield’ fashion.

(This particular ‘fight’ sequence reminded me of Brainy’s fighting style in the show so of course that added to my overall enjoyment.)

Like, Kara’s got no powers here, she very well could have used the sword to defend herself, and would...kinda be justified.

But she didn’t! 

Like. Even drunk and therefore out of it, Kara 1.) Steps in to help that kid and 2.) doesn’t use superpowered lethal force on the guy. (I mean, she can’t use her super powers anyway, what with the red sun, but you get the idea.)

And like, the flourish there, of the arms, the way the jacket swirls around her, like a gymnast sticking the landing, GAAAAAHHHH I just love it. It’s great.

Okay, FINAL PAGE, #7:

I mean. What more can I say? EVELY AND LOPES, MAN.

Just some top notch art.

(Also get it guys, it’s a LITERAL shirt rip! XD)

(And look! There’s that tiny bit of blue!)

But anyways, if you’ve made it this far, I applaud you, and thank you for indulging my desire to just. Geek out over one of my favorite comic artists drawing one of my favorite comic characters.

And just to like, reiterate, I’m not suggesting that this comic is THE BEST EVER or that it’s going to redefine the medium, or anything. XD Everything I’ve mentioned here is...pretty basic storytelling mechanics. Watch any movie, and you’ll see all this same stuff at work.

RATHER, this whole post is more about...admiring two artists who clearly know what they’re doing.

And they’re doing it so well! :D

TL;DR: I’m so excited that the Supergirl book has Evely and Lopes, guys. So. Excited. 

[shellheadtmarc]

“Glad to have disappointed you.” (mac)

And there it is.  He’s been waiting.  He’s been waiting, because it always ends up like this, doesn’t it?  There’s a large part of Tony - more than he wants to admit, that’s spiteful and vindictive and petty - that wants to turn around, and ask Mac what, exactly, he thought he was signing up for?  What kind of person, who has the moral obligation (and make no mistake, Tony very much sees it as his moral obligation) to do the right thing, turns a blind eye?  Who acts that selfishly, like the decision was even a decision to begin with?  Because for Tony it hasn’t been.

There’d been literally no hesitation, once learning Austin was ill, getting worse, and asked to delve deeper into the secret side of the vault for answers.  There’d been no hesitation on taking the cure back to the vault’s infirmary and handing it over.  For him there just simply hasn’t been a choice.  There hasn’t been a second thought.  He hasn’t regretted his choice for a second.  If the disease survives his new enhancements, it’ll be a miracle.  He can run full scans once he gets back to the lab, analyze his blood composition and compare it to previous tests to keep an eye on the FEV.  And he’s healthier, by far, than anyone born to the wasteland, vault or not. 

There’s never been any question for him.  He doesn’t, under any circumstances, let a kid die.  If it costs him, it costs him.  He’s fine with that; he’s always been fine with that.  And he can admit, sure, it’s not fair.  Nothing about anything anymore is fair.  He’d love to have his cake and eat it, too.  He’d love for the world to go back to the way it was and never have to worry about another feral ghoul or deathclaw or raider again.  He’d love to go back to taking down arms dealers and international terror organizations.  He’d love to even - on a smaller, more down to earth and reasonable level - be able to say this is the last time I’m putting on the suit.  To say this is the last time I put my ass on the line for something bigger than me.  To settle down and tinker and never have to consider sacrificing himself again.  He’d honestly love that.

But it’s not him.  He can’t pretend something isn’t happening, and even if he can’t fight it, even if he knows he can’t win, he can’t leave it alone, he can’t turn a blind eye, he can’t ignore it and pretend it’s not happening.  He has to do what’s right by his own moral compass.

And it scares him a little.  It scares him a little every time he follows what he sees as the right thing to do - self-sacrificing or not - and has it put back at his feet like he’s done something wrong.  Like the moral imperative he’s been following since waking up in the cave in Afghanistan with a magnet in a hole in his chest and hooked up to a car battery is wrong.  Like every time he does what he considers right, and does what he can’t stop himself from doing even if he tries, he’s pushing the people he cares about further and further away, because it is reckless.  He’s aware it’s reckless.  He knows he puts himself at risk but…At the end of the day, he’s just one guy.  Sure, he’s got a brain made for this world, made for rebuilding, made for fixing, made for envisioning a better future.  But he’s still just one man, who lives under an umbrella of guilt of his own doing, because he should have been better to begin with.  And there’s no way for him to put that in words he can make anyone born to this world they have now understand.  It’s not the smart thing out here, following that compass, but it’s what he’s got.

At this point it’s literally all he knows.  He’s bent enough of his personal moral code that he can’t give that up, too.  He can’t let some kid die because Vault-Tec turned out to be shady as fuck, and their supposed safe havens for the nuclear apocalypse turned out to be anything but.

Most of all, he hates feeling scolded for trying to be a better person.

He says nothing for a long while - he needs to let it go and he knows that, fighting about it now is nothing but a fight to have one, it’s over, it’s done, he’s made his call and he couldn’t take it back now even if he wanted to, which he doesn’t - keeping his eyes focused ahead as his feet find the road to carry him back, eventually, to home.  Or what passes as close to home these days.  Because there’s nothing he can say to get the gist across of why.  Why he’d put himself at risk like that - and especially not explain the other, less savory bits of himself that he doesn’t know if and when he should talk about, if ever.  There’s nothing he can really articulate in any way that matters to make it less alien to someone that lives in this world the way most people have to.

What does he say, that he’s not afraid of death?  He’s not purposefully seeking it out, no, but when it comes he’s not going to cry about it.  He doesn’t even have the hope of an afterlife to fall back on, and he still won’t shy from it.  Does he say that if he doesn’t keep doing what he does the guilt will literally consume him?  That what keeps him awake at night has nothing to do with what he’s been forced to do in the wasteland to stay alive, but everything to do with all the times he’s failed, even when he’s tried to do the right thing?  That he reason he paces the floors late at night or disappears into the lab for days on end has nothing - nothing at all - to do with anything in the wasteland itself, and everything to do with his own shortcomings as a person.

He doesn’t think it will garner any sympathy from MacCready at all - and he doesn’t want any.  But he also doesn’t think that particular mode of thought will make any sense at all to a culture that’s become so centered on surviving they can’t understand what it’s like to actually live.

Because this isn’t living.  Not by a long shot.

“What do you want me say,” he finally says, probably long after the moment has passed, but for all he tries to tell himself not to kick that hornet’s nest, to let sleeping dogs lie and let it blow over, he can’t.  He can’t, because he can feel the disapproval.  And if he’s going to feel it, he might as well earn it.  “Huh?  What.  If you’re expecting me to say I’m sorry for not letting a kid die, you’re gonna be there a while.”

He can’t wrap his head around that, anyway.  MacCready?  He’s a fucking father; the father of a sick kid, no less.  Logically, to Tony, it makes no goddamn sense.  Sure, the wasteland’s rough, whatever, but when you have the option to do something like that, save a sick kid, you take it.  You take it and you don’t get mad about it, and you don’t regret it.

He should let it go there, but he can’t.  He can’t.  He spins around quickly, walking backward since the road is mostly undamaged and there’s a clear line of sight.  “Did you…Do you really expect me to live with that?  No, sorry, ma’am, I can’t give you this one of a kind fix it because gosh.  I might get yelled at even though I’m physically better off than anyone in this shithole outside of the popsicle from Vault 111 and have a much better chance than she does handling this.”

Bloodwork.  He’s going to need to do bloodwork.  Analyze.  See what can be done to at least contain it, if not eradicate it, if the FEV doesn’t do its job.

He spreads his hands, but it’s not a gesture of truce.  “What.  I did what I fucking did.  I had a judgment call to make and I fucking made it.  Hey, guess what.  I’ve lived through worse.  Do you think this just magically appeared one day?  I literally have a hole in my chest you can put your whole fist in.”

He taps the arc reactor shining through his shirt.

“I lived through a nuclear apocalypse.  A case of the sniffles is literally the least of my worries right now.  If you’re gonna throw a bitchfit, at least make it a bitchfit worth having?  Because this is a non-issue.”

fallout 4 starters : accepting : @gwinnetts  02/10

[unproduciblesmackdown]

hey man your comic stuff?? fucking amazing do you have any tips for a novice child artist such as myself

hmm!!! thats a good question if i have any advice at all…i dont really draw things in comic form that often because of how slow i am…its a whole project for me lol

also natch im just an amateur at all of this vs people who like…pay attention to how to do things really well and/or draw comics on a regular schedule &/or get paid for it and all. so seeing this i was immediately trying to think of like, advice ive seen from random professionals on twitter & stuff & i’ve tried to moreso shake it down to the stuff I’M actually doing when i draw a comic. which is a bit tricky because of my small sample size & the fact that i dont have any kind of consistent process or technique unifying all the comic-type stuff i draw

like sometimes its just a few floating sequential drawings and other times is definitely more like, really thinking of it in terms of how i’m going to structure it in Comic Form & use the format to adjust my presentation of whatever idea i have

like i know ppl whose Job (officially or just by their own standards) to do a bunch of comics pages will do a script of scenes to decide what goes on what page and sort dialogue / action into panels & describe how things will look etc…and then do like maybe really rough layout pre-sketches, then the first rough sketch for a page, an optional more cleaned up sketch layer on top of that, and then the final lineart

i sorrrt of do a version of that, in that i am generally sitting on a Comic Idea for a while before i even start getting into the business of thinking through how it’ll actually work. i have to make sure that im “committed” enough to the idea to wanna make more than one drawing for it, and that i think i have at least a vague notion of how i could put it into a comic. sometimes i DO end up just putting the notion into a single drawing or condensing it into like, 2-3 lil floating drawings or w/e. coz a lot of the times the idea starts out really vague, often with one “moment” that serves as the whole inspiration & that i then try to build a scene/sequence around….a lot of the details beyond that can be really vague in my mind, like the setting or dialogue or who’s involved or what happens or the pacing or extra events or etc…basically Everything is real amorphous for a while

so yea step 1 is me having this one idea and trying to decide if building a scene around it would be a better way to present it vs just having one drawing, & if i think i can actually effectively carry it out….which is in reality even less fancy than it sounds…i just sit on an idea for a while & never get around to actually focusing on it / putting down any of the thoughts abt it that im formulating. but the upshot of me putting it off for forever is that i do end up with a kind of mental script / layout for a comic before i start it…..but even the extensiveness / format of these unwritten scripts varies a lot for me

like, a few times when i have made something that’s maybe longer than just one page &/or something ive been mulling over for an extra long amt of time (which tends to be stuff that is starting out w/ heavier than usual ideas) i’ll like, actually write down what happens page by page, even plan out specific panels, maybe even put down a few rough sketches of certain parts. i’ll have the Main Moment which is the idea that started the whole thing in the first place, but what tends to happen is i’ll come up w other moments that i think could lead up to / frame / follow the main moment, and i pretty much just decide how they all fit into one cohesive piece. so what my “rough drafts” look like for these more extensively planned ones—still really not that exhaustive, i only put things to paper when im basically done enough w my ideas to be just about ready to start actually making them—can vary in their actual formats (e.g. simple chronological bullet points of events, a few drawings, a rough sketch of how the whole thing might look), the core of it is basically just me finding a way to nail down how i’m going to arrange the Moments i have and how i’m going to lead one into the other…….like for things with enough pages / panels, i’ll tend to focus on which Moment will end each page &/or each line of panels, then have an idea of which other Moments i’ll need to put on which of those pages, and kinda figure out how to pace things

again that all sounds like maybe i have a real process…..I Do Not

im kinda lucky in that i think i have a decent sense for composition without having to struggle over it too much. so a lot of times i can leave a lot of that up to be felt out as im actually doing the rough lineart for the first time. i also often don’t nail down panel arrangement that carefully & also make it up as i go along a bit, which is probably not something anyone should emulate. someone was saying something about how some certain page layout of like, 3-something-something panel rows looks best, i dont know. i’m guessing, as with all things, nobody can say “always do this / never do that,” but i think staggering odd/even numbers of panels in each row is always a good guess. just makes it easier for them to read more distinctly at least, surely

sometimes i DO think about certain panels when i wanna frame a certain “shot” in a very specific way. but im just kind of doing whatever. i know vague rules like that wide shots / negative space slows down the pace, vs tightly cropped / small panels / packed w a lot of visual info tends to read as a faster pace, more chaotic. i dont quite go too wild about that sort of thing tho, because for me as a reader, a lot of times really tight shots that are like cutting between 5000 different angles rly fast all in a row, sometimes it is absolutely unreadable to me, as in i do not understand the visual info at all. it feels like the equivalent of how action movie editing keeps hanging on to the “incoherency = intensity” vs just me tuning out until the scene is over & missing details b/c i just am not getting anything out of it

thats not much of a factor for me coz i dont really ever do things with extended sequences of movement / action or whatever. i’ll keep things in one place. i’ll like to do smaller, “quicker” panels moreso to like, show simultaneousish details / to extend one moment…..occasionally i do Big Panels for a moment of higher intensity / impact too. btw putting a High Intensity moment in a super tiny panel is always really funny for the contrast of it all. i dont think ive ever done it, but it is

ummm…….also planning where your speech bubbles will go is good. i dont do that enough, but i should. most of the reason i dont have a more proper, organized process to anything i draw is that i just dont have the focus / patience to slow down for More Planning vs just going ahead and drawing it. jokes on me, since some quick vague planning can make it a lot easier on yourself vs just diving in and struggling w something for ages

uhhh also since im not that fantastic or mindful of panel layout? sometimes i’ll make a point of just having uniform rectangle panels of the same size/shape, so i only have to really worry about the layout within the frame. this is mostly good obv for things with not that much shift in pacing throughout it or action or whatever…you lose the advantage of how panel sizes can affect the tone of a shot or something & probably cant get that detailed in ur drawings but that is often Fine By Me

when i do use the uniform rectangle structure though, i kinda have to focus more on each individual panel, vs like, knowing ok, these three moments are going on this page, i have a vague idea of what’ll connect them, just make up the individual panels as you go along. this does mean that i have to kinda think more about what justifies each panel….how its different from the ones before & after it or how i might want it to be similar to “hold” a shot for a beat or w/e or draw focus to a small movement, what’s actually going into each panel, if i can/should condense two panels into one, etc. its still a lot of playing it by ear, i dont have solid rules of how i think i should do it each time

even when i do have a like whole plan for something im drawing i’ll often make more changes as im actually making it. sometimes its deciding something would be more effective, sometimes it’s just “hey this would work too & be easier,” and thats definitely fine. nobody knows the change you made, and Easier isn’t necessarily Worse anyways. convenience is good where you can get it

ive also definitely had specific comic artists formatting/framing styles in mind when i specifically wanted to use that while drawing my own stuff. like the way i’ll draw maybe a kind of horror vibe (more diagonal lines / “fractured” panels than i’d normally use, quick tiny shots of different smaller details, that kinda stuff) is gonna be different from when its a calm & quiet tone. where i dont really get too creative with the panels really & keep them pretty steady

and then that one time i did a largely nonsequential sort of panel collage b/c the marge simpson anime gave me great inspiration for how to combine & present a bunch of vague notions i had floating around all into one page. it was a good accomplishment & thats unsurprising because the inspiration i was using was That Good. thank god we can all benefit from each others good ideas and knowledge & work & all that. it does help to jump on a feeling of “wow what a cool comic i wish i could make something like that.” just go ahead and make something like that…

ummm this is all on the technical side-ish still but i dont really know what to say abt the kind of stuff that makes me wanna draw a comic in the first place vs just putting the idea into a regular single drawing…usually it Is kind of a more nuanced moment that i think would be better presented within some amount of context and buildup and all that. i basically exclusively draw emotions….and sometimes theyre better shown with some amount of action/dialogue, or at least a few different shots or something. i dont know if this area is helpful information or anything anyone would benefit from knowing about, or even if i have anything to say about it…is it all self evident maybe? idk! i do think i communicate emotions best through comics…not that each one is “here is my mood!” or talking about me at all, but i was for example trying to communicate about an abstract emotion, i think i can draw about it better than talk or write about it or anything. i DO sometimes draw more directly from my own specific feelings/experiences for things, but mostly when i think it can be relevant…i cant really do anything all that directly autobiographical, even casual diary comics or whatever. thats what my text posts are for… but i have been interested in how to convert these huge emotional issues that i’ve been v familiar with into a few pages or panels and how to present its impact in the simplest, straightforward ways i can manage…sometimes i think its worked for sure…..i feel like i gave a more Relatable sense to a certain experience by putting it in comic form than any of the times ive discussed it as a personal thing at length via text. like i said i communicate best via comics probably, despite not drawing them all that much coz im too damn slow lmao

speaking of, i’ve kind of been like “what a waste” abt the fact that i dont have like, a proper approach or regular strategy to thinking up comics before i draw them, but i think theres something actually okay to be taken from that lol……just that i know if i got too caught up in trying to plan it all out perfectly before getting into actually drawing it, i’d be making it into a bigger project and slowing myself down even more & i’d risk dropping it partway through or just never getting started at all. so if i have a less than perfect end result, at least i have an end result, and ive finally got that one idea out of my head in some way. and i feel like some of my comics do work out decently enough….a good handful of times ive been surprised w how well some ppl receive them

so i think it is good to just go ahead and dive in. i did that once w an idea i’d been sitting on for like half a year, and i think it turned out good enough. i just knew i could easily spend months and months more turning over all the details, which might make it Better, but would also mean that yknow, i’d never actually get around to making it b/c of feeling like it had to be ideal. so i simplified it a bit, used a uniform panel layout, did little drawings, and just got it drawn out in an afternoon or two. and now at least it exists lol. and ive sort of come back to the same idea in a way…if i feel like it turns out i wanna elaborate on something more, i can just make another pic/comic built on the same theme, who’s gonna care or stop me

i also try to focus on what lines are/aren’t necessary to avoid things being confusing or just pointlessly cluttery….this isnt a big issue b/c i dont often bother w bgs. dont emulate that either lol…….but im not doing any Serious art so its no big deal to me if im not “good” or not progressing as spectacularly as i might. i dont need my drawing abilities to be that amazing here. but bgs still serve a purpose beyond being a “skill” or whatever so im trying to include them more, aka occasionally, at all. still hardly ever. but sometimes you at least need like one halfassed establishing shot yknow. anyways

mmm this has all been kinda vague and i’m trying to think if there’s anything more specific i could/should talk about!! i dont know. i dont have a good perspective on what its like to look at my art while not being me lol & what ppl might think or what stands out to them or whatever. rip

sorry this is so long, i dont really have ppl wanting to know abt my Processes or drawing thoughts or whatever so i’m kinda jumping at the chance to talk about this sort of stuff after having been actually prompted to. but i dont know if i’ve said anything at all!! i dont know if any of it has been helpful

“tldr; i dont really know what im doing, but go ahead and jump into actually making them as opposed to feeling like youre ready / you know the best way to make a page, because nobodys ever ready or can say This Is The Best Possible Version so just go ahead and use whatever process feels like it makes your life easier, while still actually making the damn comic” is my whole thing, i guess

i dunno, if there was some specific thing you wanted to know abt that i didnt talk about / talk about well here, feel free to ask me to specify because i totally will, which is both an invitation and a warning obviously

sorry this is so long everybody…….writing an essay & by the end of it not being sure if ive given any info at all is part of my whole Thing

[thepakalakids]

Week 17 - Gavin - Wrapping Up

Oh, man... What a semester. Here’s an update on what’s going on:

This Week

I was still feeling overwhelmingly stressed over the week (and not the kind that makes me want to push forward and work hard). I still found it really difficult to focus on animation, so, rather than doing a poor job on two of the most important shots in the film, I just lined and colored another shot.

However, after so much frustration, I finally finished my art class and screenwriting class on Wednesday, and I have to say I’m feeling a lot better. I still have Producing, a speech to write, and my last week working for Brittany, but my head feels so much clearer that I think I’ll be able to finish more than I expected by next Thursday.

Just before posting this, I did a bit more compositing, did a layout of the credits, and added a tiny bit of animation based on a suggestion from Maia. Vicky is currently starting work on a rough sound cut for class tomorrow, so maybe we’ll have some sound to show during class!

For Next Week

Some goals I am setting for myself by next week:

I want to finish the very last shot of the film. I still think I need more time to think and study the final giggling shot, but I should be able to accomplish a walk cycle.

Suky should be finishing the long shot of Pākalā Village next week, so I just have to figure out some distant wave animation for that.

I want to get the end credits finalized. I believe all the text is correct, but I’m going to spend time with fonts (and getting more assets from Sophia) to make it look nice. I’m also not really liking the “Software” card after putting it in, but I’ll keep it there for now to keep the timing for when I have to put in the IndieGoGo card.

I’m FINALLY going to do that Master Use License. Oh my lord, I keep putting that off.

Retrospective

Wow, I just hated this semester. I hate the pandemic, I hate online classes, I hate Zoom. I hate that I lost all semblance of passion and ambition, and I especially hate that this is how I’m ending my college career. It sucks, and it’s been breaking me apart for months.

The Pākalā Kids, despite being the most simple in concept, was becoming my favorite and best film to date. While Midnight Showing was the culmination of everything I’ve learned in ACM, this film took the most important things: Story and Animation, and took a much deeper dive into them.

I’ve spent the past four semesters developing my voice as a filmmaker, and I did find it along the way. The Pākalā Kids is my first film that’s 100% told in that voice (and is well animated... sorry Down the Red Dirt Road). Once finished, I can see this film being my calling card for a long time.

Speaking of Down the Red Dirt Road, it feels like my ACM filmography has come full circle. I’ve always seen The Pākalā Kids as the thematic sequel to that film, and it’s cool to see how far I’ve come, but also how strong my artistic voice has been from the start.

I wish I had been able to finish, and I’m so sure that if I had been able to keep up my enthusiasm and drive, I would’ve been able to finish at least all of rough animation. I know I was riding on the promise that Pua Warriors would be done near the end of April, and I had planned to go full Midnight Showing force with the whole crew to finish Final and Color.

Oh, plans... What a silly concept.

Well, I didn’t get to finish, but what I did do has been incredibly strong. I truly believe that The Pākalā Kids is one of the best displays of character animation in recent ACM years. There are some shots I finished that I didn’t know I could even DO. A lot of that really is owed to the characters, who took a life of their own. As fun as Angel was to animate last semester, he was never quite as developed as Lani and Dixie, and I think strong characterization is the key to taking character animation to the next level.

Moving Forward

Of course I plan to finish the film. My goal, if I get help with Final and Color, is to finish it by the end of May or on the first few weeks of June.  Both Suky and Vicky are willing to stay on the project longer, which I am incredibly thankful for.

HIFF submissions are due near the end of June, so I want to be finished well before then. Hopefully I’ll be able to fundraise for other festivals too, though. I already have a strong list of festivals I want to submit to. Just in case, I’m going to save some of the existing budget for submissions.

To be very honest though, if HIFF ends up moving online this fall... I will seriously consider submitting for next year instead. Midnight Showing has been accepted to three now-online festivals (if you count ACM Showcase) and it kind of hurts watching it this way, knowing the ungodly amount of work the crew put into it. Hearing the live reaction of a theater audience is so much better than reading livestream comments or receiving a text about your film. I don’t think my little heart could take that for HIFF.

In terms of other projects: Well, first, I’m graduating! I hate HOW I’m graduating, but at least I’m done with these online classes. I’m coming out of ACM with 6 proper short animated films (4 of those I’ve directed), which is so much more than I ever expected. Looking back, I made the most of my time in ACM, and I’m proud of that. I’ve met so many great filmmakers and friends in this major, and I’ve grown so much with their help.

After graduation, I’m going to take a quick break and come back with a fresh mindset. I’ll continue working on Pua Warriors and see that project through. I also want to finally focus on putting together my portfolio website.

At the end of June, I mayyyy or mayyyy not be working for a certain streaming serviceee. I dunnooooo. Trying not to get my hopes up, but I got a bit of good news last weeeek!

And finally, I wrote a really solid screenplay in Joel’s class this semester. I showed it to Noe and Jared (and Alex, who’s in my class)... and I guess we’re gonna make it? It would be really cool to start development and pre-production this year, and perhaps turn it into a funded independent film. It would be pretty ambitious though. I would love for this to happen, but I’m gonna focus on these current films first.

With all this on the horizon, the future is looking just a little less frightening. So much is still uncertain, but I have hope.

[unit8amg]

Final Evaluation

Context

This project was just a big experiment on my end just to know what I'm actually capable of doing and it turned out to be my best “still” piece by far. The purpose of my work in the creative industry was firstly just to be used in a cinematic trailer for a game but now that I've expanded the model and made it possible for anyone to download, it can truly be used for anything in the world. The model, however, is quite big; if you're counting it by polygons, mainly because of the hair as each of the strands, are a 3d object in the triangular pattern with means it has 3 sides for each strand which is made up of 4 sided polygons, so, for example, just the front portion of the hair, it has 10000 strands and 15 segments, 3x15=45x10,000=450,000x15=6,750,000 polygons, and that's just one section of the hair. What I'm trying to say is that it's extremely tasking on the computer to simulate all of them one by one that's why I disabled it for the project, if they want, they can always enable it.

At first, I didn't know how to do most of this stuff but with enough time and experimenting, I was able to create this peace. for example, it was my first time; doing sculpting, using hair, creating garments (marvelous designer), and using substance painter for more than just applying a bunch of materials and calling it a day. Now that I know all these things, I feel like I can make a piece that is 10x better and that is what I will try and work on in summer. So when I do, I will focus on improving the eyes especially as I feel like that is what was lacking in this project. The eyes did not look as real as I hoped and the look of the makeup was also quite mediocre and I should have researched the look of it a bit more. The next piece I'm thinking of only creating the bust to create a headshot of the subject. it will follow up with the same theme which was cyberpunk/sci-fi, however, this time go into much more detail.

Research

I think I've done lots of research and from that was able to create this piece. I had lots of varying sources of research (which are in my bibliography) ranging from the look of the skin, clothes, weapons, lighting, style, etc.

I'm gonna be honest, I could've done a lot more sketched but I already had the whole idea planned out in my head and just wanted to get to work as it would have taken some time to draw literally everything I was thinking of for this project (which was a lot). the ones I do actually have aren't really too much of use other than the arm anatomy experiments and the swords. I did add them in my final project it's just that I didn't create a mock object for each of those drawings as it would've taken way too much time.

Currently, for my research I use; Twitter, Behance, Artstation, and Pinterest as I think it has the most varying sources on the web. I don't think I would change the way I research as it worked completely fine on this project, however, I would maybe look into more websites that are like that or something along those lines. Having multiple websites for research is a huge bonus as it allows you to get things that the other websites don't have, as Artstation and Behance are art oriented. while Pinterest is just a plethora of a little bit of everything.

Problem-solving

I had a handful of problems while creating my project. my first problem was that I didn't like how my 3 weeks of work went, this resulted in me scrapping everything and starting again. I had another hiccup when my hair decided to bug out and completely break resulting in me having to completely redo it. I'm not angry about it as the new hair came out better than the previous pair I had. Then I had many less crucial bugs that I had to tackle like the UV mapping for the clothes was not working as it made all of it transparent which I had to fix by manually selecting areas I wanted to be that transparent pattern. This was an important addition as I didn't want the clothing to be completely bland. I wanted it to have some real-world characteristics which I was able to achieve by adding branding, the branding I used was Nike. I've had another problem with the skin of my character. at first, it looked oily and unnatural. I fixed it by altering the roughness and specular maps to be a bit more contrast between the blacks and whites. this helped it to bring out a little more detail in the groves for the skin and the bumps used on top. I think the lighting had a play in it as well, so I changed my environments HDRI and created some light sources to give highlights on more important areas like the side of the cheek, the eyes, and the rim light for more highlights on the hair and show off the translucency I created for it and the skin, you can see this because the tips of the hair are white and the ear is red due to the Subsurface scattering.

I think I learned many things due to these problems and how I can now deal with them, I now know how to deal with skin, hair and clothing if they break. This ensures me to have fewer errors and a more straight forward workflow. To fix these I will now know that I cant add extra geometry to the object with area selection as that breaks the math, ill know that the skin needs more contrasting textures and that I need to incorporate my alphas (transparency) within them.

Planning and production

I think my planning was decent, I had a mood board for each subject if it was, for example, the sword, character look or, an overall style of the composition. It was enough to get the whole idea of the model I was making which in the end looked like I wanted. to be honest, looking at it now I would've changed some bits like the eye makeup and some adjustments to the eyebrows as they currently look like they're a bit too low to be realistic, it was a bit of a pain to work on it as the scene was quite laggy and my selection brush was not properly selecting object faces.

I would do a lot of things differently in my future projects like having a more efficient workflow for the hair, this would mean using the symmetry tool on it so it would be easier to control and manipulate because then you only need to focus on one side of the head and perfect that as it will then result on the other side too. I would also try and work on the clothing a bit more as I've only got the basics down right at this moment. considering ill be doing the same style for my next project I will try a bit harder to create a more cyberpunk feel as this one right now only gives off a small amount of that. In that case, I will try and go a bit more overboard with all the tech and create something more interesting.

Practical skills

I have learned “soooo” many new things during this project if it was, for example, marvelous designer or substance painter. It was something completely different than to what I was accustomed to, I'm used to creating visual moving environments but I decided to change some things up and create a modelled character. because of this, I'm now more comfortable using the new tools in my disposal for any other project I create, and you can trust me, I will.

A lot of things went into this project, things that took me years to learn, and things that took me weeks, I other words, I've still got far to go into perfecting all these new tools. That's why I'm doing a new project in a week or two. I want to also learn more advanced and hard surface modelling for more tech-oriented things like futuristic goggles or what not.

Evaluation

I evaluated my work as much as I could while also including as much detail as I could. I don't want to talk about something that wasn't relevant to the post so I included only the important parts. I could add more text but I feel like it’s unnecessary.

I try and describe the things I'm talking about so people would have at least some understanding of what my process was. for example, the process of the software I was using or the way I did something to achieve my outcome.

Presentation

My blog is decently structured but even if it wasn't there would be any way to change it so I would have to delete my posts and add them again which is quite annoying. That's why I want to and will present my work on Behance as I have a lot more freedom to personalise the look and feel of the project.

I'm going to continue using Behance for my final pieces and I guess I'm going to work on when and how I post my posts because as of now some of them don't really line up in my timeline as I had posts waiting to be done as drafts which then result in me not being able to post them in time as I have other things I have to post as well.

[attnzine]

Tesa Burch is a painter and multi-media artist who is deeply involved in organizing art shows in the local area. In her recent work, she explores incorporating toys, taxidermy elements, and other found objects into her painting.

See more of her work at http://www.instagram.com/lets_lets

Again, I’m hoping to post a more final version of this interview when I get some more free time, but until then, please enjoy the rough version. - Ed.

Keep Reading >>

ATTN: How does art fit into your life? what does painting do for you?

TB: In a general sense, I do it whenever I have spare time. I have to make time for it or I get really upset and frustrated… I would say a lot of it is catharsis, and just liking to do things that are technical, I like to play with the technical side of it, too.

-and just playing with different materials, you mean?

mhm. I’m a collector of items, so collage is really important because I find very strange things and then try to move them into art process. I’ve been translating a lot of taxidermy items lately, trying to get more into that. The taxidermist thinks I’m nuts, he’s like, “why do you want the odds and ends?” [laughs]

I’ve got alligator backs right now that I just purchased, bear claws are pretty much my favorite, they’re really pretty and purplish… alligator teeth… I got a goat skull I wanna do something with. So unique objects and moving those into process. And then with drawing and painting, it’s mostly like, trying to do technical things with the figure, ‘cause for me I like my art to have a difficulty level that isn’t easily reproducible or maybe someone can’t tell exactly how it was made.

-So along with the taxidermy, you’ve also been experimenting with adding found objects and toys into your painting. What do you get out of that practice that you don’t get out of your “regular” process of 2D drawing and painting?

It’s more sculptural, I like the additive / reductive process to it… I like building off of the wall and 3D has always been a fascination of mine. I guess I’m super interdisciplinary as far as things go.

-Yeah, I think that’s apparent in your work, for sure.

Yeah I’m all over the place, which maybe I’m not perfect at any of it, but… [laughs] The toys came about because I have a three-year-old so the toys are around. I really liked the horses and then I started splitting them so that they would face each other. It creates an aggressive look where they’re facing each other and looking at each other or passive and looking away. A lot of my themes in my artwork deals with love or male/female interaction in romance, so they’ll have titles that are talking about either - you know, is this a good thing or a bad thing? One was called, “We’ll Either Lock Horns or Join Forces”, so it’s the two pensive horses looking at each other like, “what are we gonna do?” [laughs]

-Horses seem to crop up in your work a lot, do they have any particular meaning to you?

I guess it’s just a techincal, classical theme. There’s a regality to them, they don’t smile, they’re not a goofy animal. And they’re just hard to draw or reproduce. There’s a million muscles in their face.

-And lot of your work has a dream-like, stream-of-conciousness quality to it. What’s your process when working out the composition of a piece? Is there a lot of planning and sketching involved or do you prefer to just sort of dive in?

It depends what it is. Sometimes it starts with like, a little metaphor that I want to pose figures to look like, and then sometimes it’s just materials process and I just add poetry to it and it pops the meaning on. The collage is definitely intuitive, but it’s just building… when you’re using found objects, you just gotta go through things and it’s what you come across. It’s very much going and selecting and then getting in a vein, and you run out of things, you find more… I’ve got objects I’ve held onto for years and I dunno what I’m gonna do with them, but they’ll get added to a new piece of work, you know, and I’ve had it for ten years.

-How do you know when a piece is done?

I definitely spend long periods of time on things. I’ve put things on display and then taken them back apart and they’re still in the works. I’ll think they’re done and they’re not. [laughs]

Knowing when it’s finished - I mean, it’s definitely more with the drawing and painting there’s a stopping point I can pinpoint. With the collage, I dunno, it gets to the point where you just can’t glue anything else on there. [laughs] The puzzle strategy of building the materials into each other has really started fascinating me lately.

-It sounds like a lot of your process is just about observing the formal qualities of the materials themselves and just seeing what they do with each other.

Yeah. Sometimes it’s pre-planned, but my collage is just like painting, it’s just using objects.

-What have you been working on lately? What kind of ideas or themes have you been interested in most recently?

I’ve been getting really into risk-taking more, and independence…

-As a subject matter?

Yeah. Questioning the self and decision-making process. It’s all very emotive. I used to get into political themes, but I really don’t do that a whole lot any more. It’s a general theme of apocalypse if I do. [laughs]

-So now you’re sorta taking it, like, inward. Your subjects are more about abstract feelings or emotions.

Mhm. I have tons of sketchbook work and poetry is a huge part and when I keep coming back to something like broken-hearted love poetry, it’s like, “I should be doing that as a theme in my work”.

-You’ve participated in and helped organize a number of art shows over the years. Can you talk a little about what it means to organize and participate in the local scene?

Everything, you know? I’m not one to display in galleries where I don’t feel super comfortable with my work in relation to other works. We’re in a small city, so finding a gallery that you know, is just all… crazy? [laughs] You know, contemporary styles, very dark styles, it doesn’t necessarily sell in a, you know…

-In a beach town.

Yeah. So the art shows come about from just wanting to get my friends and family members who happen to be artists locally out of their caves and get their amazing work on display. It’s like pulling teeth to get them to put it out there sometimes. [laughs] Like, “come on, let’s do this show, let’s get it out there.” It’s awesome, we gotta show this to people and unify people who do things that are strange.

-I think it’s a valuable service. Otherwise I feel like it’d all just be watercolors of the beach… which, like, has a place but there’s so much more…

Yeah. I always try to put the word “local” in all of my art shows, so people know that locals are doing things you’re not gonna see elsewhere… it’s just a matter of exposure. Getting in the newspaper is really fun, too. Like, I still get proud of myself when do a show and I get in the paper and I got some weird stuff in there.

-Yeah, I always get a kick out of seeing local shows advertised, cause it’s like,

“This is not what’s normally in this magazine.”

-Yeah, it’s the only time you’re gonna see that stuff in the Arts and Lifestyle section.

Yeah, and that’s a thrill for me.

-Any artists whose work you’ve been into recently?

I’ve been looking back at Henry Darger a lot, his tracing and his use of color. He was a recluse janitor who painted a world theme in books, I think they discovered something like seven thousand watercolors after he died. Glandelinian and the wars between - yeah, the girls all have butterfly wings and it gets really morbid at some points too, when the battles are taking place, there’s torture in it and everything… it’s the balance between the beauty and the darkness, which I get to in my work, too, you know?

And recently I’ve been looking at Julie Mehretu, she does drawings and installation-style murals, and applying projections over each other and layering work like collage and using it as drawing. She does a lot of architectural style stuff, too, which I like.

-Read any good books lately?

I mean, I read The Help recently, like, a best-seller. When I get on a reading kick, I wanna read like, Holocaust history. Elie Wiesel, I just read his trilogy - The Night Trilogy, which is really dark, it’s him surviving concentration camps.

Here lately, I’ve been trying to read back through my own sketchbooks because I’m doing a sketchbook show coming up. So that’s been predominantly the books I’ve had my hands on, going back through my stuff I’ve done over the past - I said ten years in the paper, but I think have about fifteen years of books, it’s ridiculous.