30 Days of Drawing… Day 3

30days-3

After his parents were killed in their limo when they were crushed by a vegetable truck owned by a farmer who sold mislabeled “organic” vegetables, young Peter Rabbit avenged them by confronting vegetable farmers and gardeners (a superstitious and cowardly lot) as… BUNNYMAN! (secret origin subject to change without notice)

OK- so I did a quick doodle and after thinking about how various artists have interpreted  Batman (or for those in the know- “the Batman”) especially with his cowl- this idea came to me.  I know I’m probably not the first, and I’m not quite sure about the colors, but it is only drawing #3 and who knows, this guy could make it someday when DC decides once again to reinvent their characters for a new audience.

30 days of Drawing… Day 2

“but” you say, “How could this be day two when  you obviously did not post anything yesterday?”  Yesterday started off with picking up Hemi from the Spa where he had been since we left to visit family over the holidaze.  Because of that I was able to DRAW this, but not scan it.   According the rather flimsy rules (filled with loopholes, thanks to my crack legal team) I met the challenge by drawing, and since Hemi was sitting on the scanner purring contentedly I chose not to disturb the best cat in the universe and finished this today.

As for the actual drawing-  It is Cecil taking on the role of the pre-52 Golden Age Flash.  The flash has always been one of my favorite characters.  I remember watching “Super-Friends” and always liked it when the flash made a guest appearance no matter whether he spoke really fast or really slow.  In  third grade I even had a red sweatsuit that I remember asking my mom to put a Flash logo on- it didn’t happen but I wore it when my friends would get together to talk about superheroes… Yes, I was trying to cos-play at age 8.  I wasn’t “immature” like the school wanted to label me, I was ahead of my time.

Back to the drawing- While still in my typical style I want to try some different things out including a minor amount of shading and I decided to use a halftone filter to make it seem even more old school.  What will “today’s” drawing be?  don’t know yet.

30days-2

Resolutions… we don’t need no stinkin’ Resolutions…

So it’s time for New Year’s Resolutions… each year I have attempted to avoid this tradition.  I try to come up with some kind of a creative challenge.  This year is no different, but I want to throw a twist to it.  I watched Matt Cutts’ TED talk this morning about challenging yourself to do something for 30 days.

I tried this in August when they had the 30 days of Geocaching challenge… it was more difficult than I had thought it would be and by day 30 I was ready to never geocache again!  So instead of some massive Resolution that I will never accomplish, I’m going to try to do 30 day challenges.  Some might be silly, others not so much.  January’s challenge is to draw something every day for thirty days. and publish that drawing here before midnight.  You might see a whole lot of Cecil drawings, but I hope that as the month progresses I will work on stretching myself and try different ways of doing things.  Inking or coloring differently, experimenting with design… I don’t know what the other moths will bring, but I figured this was an “easy way to kick it off.  So here is drawing #1.  Who knows what I’ll draw tomorrow.
30days-1

24 Hour Comic Day 2013- Epic Fail?

The table of creators for 24 Hour Comic Day 2013
The table of creators for 24 Hour Comic Day 2013

A couple of years ago I decided to participate in 24 Hour Comic Day, a challenge for comic book creators to make a 24 page comic book in 24 hours, I succeeded (kind of) with time to spare.  This I was not so lucky.

In 2011 I sat down at a table with a bunch of other  comic creators and in about 20 hours produced a 24 page comic book about Geocaching.  A comic book that due to exhaustion has never, and probably will never be published.  My process is to draw in non-photo blue pencils, ink, and scan my comic. In 2011 I had decided that I would create a simple black and white comic.  After completing it I then got talked into adding some spot color to my original art.  For the “blueline” to work, you can’t really add other colors.  I knew this, but I was tired and decided “Why not?” when I got back home I was too exhausted to fiddle with it, and have since moved on. I still have all the pages, but that’s about it.

Fast-Forward to this year- Same challenge, different location.  I spent yesterday morning running around dealing with things for my school district’s “Magnet Fair.”  The Magnet Fair is an opportunity for families to shop around and see what schools are offering.  In a lot of cases the parents already know, but they are double checking their decision.  From 1:30 to 4:00 I was helping to persuade parents that STEM would be a good choice.  Actually I asked one kid a series of questions about what they really liked… and then told them they should consider another school.  Then it was a quick stop back home to feed and comfort Hemi before heading out to the opposite side of town and be creative.

The 24 Comic Day event was held at Downtown Comics’ westside location and while it started at 5:00 it was recommended to get there around 4:30 to set up, I got there at 5:30… already off to a bad start, since when I first arrived there was no room at the table of creators for me.  I began by just warming up for drawing with a pad on my lap.  This was rectified when another a table was set up in the back.

Cecil looks over the finished pencils for upcoming strips.
Cecil looks over the finished pencils for upcoming strips.

As a participant part of the challenge is to start from absolutely nothing.  I don’t think it’s possible to not have a kernel of an idea floating around in your head, but you should come with nothing written down.  I had a few ideas: another Geocaching comic that could be sold to cachers at events, retelling the tale of Sue and my wedding from the proposal to the big day (to help the healing process), retelling the adventures of MINI Takes The States in a long form comic, or “something else.”  So I started to work on a MINI Takes The States comic, since it would be pretty simple to plot out.  I also decided to take the kid’s comics format used by Tiny Titans, Superman Family Adventures, and Little Hellboy.  Have smaller stories that all relate and build on each other.  Each story is a few pages, but the final piece links everything together.  I plotted this out ending up with around 12 different mini tales and started on page 1 and hit a roadblock.  After about 2/3 of the way done with the first page I just didn’t really know how to proceed.  So I stopped and attempted to regroup.  At this point a decided to try “something else.”

While not within the “rules of the game”  I decided that I was going to use this time productively and draw,  just draw.  When I’m home there are always other distractions, so being locked in a comic shop for 24 hours gave me time to draw, and not do much else.  I started working on some ideas that have been bouncing around in my head for a while, then I moved onto my notes for My Geek Odyssey.  I always keep a running note on my iDevices giving me a place to jot down any thing that comes to mind.  So I looked at this list, and started drawing.  By sunrise I had penciled around 14 strips and my hand was starting to give out.  I didn’t want to ruin what I had drawn so I stopped and decided I would not ink them until later.  I have the advantage of having a school vacation coming up and decided that I would take care of finishing these over that break.  I spent the next few hours drawing for some other projects and finally around 11:00AM decided to pack it in and go home.

So yes, I failed at the challenge, but I did get a lot done, and feel pretty good about what I have accomplished, some of it may work for the little projects I have bouncing around.  WIll I try again next year?  Of course.  What will I do differently?  A lot of things.  I want to start with a single idea, worked out ahead of time (I know, breaking the rules- but this isn’t as much about the challenge anymore as it is about using 24 hours devoted specifically to creating a final product).  Next- show up on time to get a seat at the table.  I had a great time talking with Paul and Jeff throughout the evening, and was really productive considering my modified goal, but as one of the other participants said- he was there for “networking.”  While this isn’t about networking for me, it is about a communal spirit that is hard to participate in when you are sitting at the “kids’ table.”  Actually it was probably more the “adult’s table” but you get the idea- when you are separated from the main group you can be really productive, and yet miss out on some of the camaraderie of the experience.  Being an introvert I’m not sure how much this is needed for me, but getting to know new people is part of the experience, part of the challenge.

A big thanks to Downtown Comics, Jeff Himes, and all the sponsors (Marcos Pizza, RAM, etc.) who helped make the 24 hours a lot of fun.

 

Besides the actual comic strips that you will see in time below are some of the other doodles I did.

Hey buddy… ya want a t- shirt?

SO while doodling today I came up with the design I’m going to put on the geocaching puzzle piece and decided to do it as a product design for the various My Geek Odyssey virtual store fronts.  Since CafePress & Zazzle both carry different items I went ahead and created the first round at the place that had what Sue wanted (a thermos) which was Cafepress.  If you see that you would like a design on something else please feel free to let me know.  If I can make it happen I will.  This also may end up a pathtag, but I need to consider what will happen when it is shrunk down to the size of a quarter.

The latest design for the various virtual store fronts... the gear makes it more steampunk- or something.

doodling…

A colleague sent me a link to a TED talk about the power of doodling-

something I have been aware of for years (see any notebook from any class, workshop, or lecture I have attended). but today I decided to settle back and do some refining of my characters. I’ve also considered adding a few to the cast as I expand stories.

While fiddling around with pencil and paper I did this little doodle that I felt was good enough to finish and post. I originally had Cecil holding a Newton (I still have one- it still works) but decided that would be a bit obscure. I then thought about a different caption- “with great power, comes great responsibility, and a black mock turtleneck.”

letting my mind wander with a pencil can be a dangerous thing.

 

Just playing- oh I pre ordered my iPhone 4S this morning… since my iPhone 3, while it still works, has seen better days.

 

More artwork… still no comic.

As I have said this week was just weird (and it isn’t over yet).  Besides working on the GeoWoodstock Playing cards so they could be submitted by the deadline I also needed to do some artwork for on of the Dr. Who caches.  I started working on these drawings and really wanted to get them finished as promised.  I still have two more to go, but I thought I should once more prove that I am doing artwork.  I will be working the remainder of the weekend getting comics done for next week.  for those who can’t wait and like Dr. Who  here is what I have come up with…

 

Thank you for your patience as I get a few of these little offshoot projects done along with my day job.

Late late late… whoops!

I have been working on deadline for the Geowoodstock IX playing card deck… See there was this auction and I won, and then a friend asked me to help with his design. This weekend I thought I would get drawing done, and it didn’t happen.  So today was the deadline (absolute final) and I needed to get these turned in.  So here they are-

The Red Joker for the GeoWoodstock Deck

 

Seven of Diamonds for the Geowoodstock Deck
The 5 of Hearts for the GeoWoodstock Deck

Queen of Hearts for the GeoWoodstock Deck

So I am sorry for not getting the comic out earlier this week, but with Sue out with the the girls this weekend I’m going to work on getting a bunch of strips done.

Happy Sunday! Design work continues…

After a great time at the Fall Picnic I decided I should post some of the sketches I made while there. So what does this tell you? I spent the entire time drawing instead of socializing? No, but I was trying to get some sketches done so I could get a few things off my plate… Of course not stuff that I needed to get done, but stuff I wanted to draw.
When I started this project I spent a lot of time whining about character design and how I just didn’t have any clue as to how I wanted the characters to look like. I have changed the characters throughout the summer and took a little time this weekend to hopefully come up with a model of Cecil that I can use in the future. Why Cecil? Why not me? To be honest Cecil is easier for me to draw, but also being at a caching event I had people ask me about Cecil’s pathtag and if I had a new one yet.

Cecil in Star Trek?
Cecil in Star Trek?

Now, of course, for some the question is “What is a pathtag?” A pathtag is a collectible signature item used in geocaching. No you don’t need one, but unlike some other options it is affordable, and you can design your own with just photoshop. So I have (or is that had) a few designs for “Professor Zoom” my original caching name. Then I created a few for Cecil since he caches too. Cecil started out with a simple design, and then I created a new version where his face glowed in the dark (radioactivity experiment gone wrong). Finally, a group called the “Jedi Council” opened up and Cecil had to join, so he had a Jedi Council tag. After the adventure of this summer (about 18,000 miles & hundreds of caches found and people met) I have run out of tags!
Cecil taking over the world!
Cecil taking over the world!

So either I go back and reorder (boring) or redesign…
I did ask for some ideas and these are no where near final designs, but I thought I would share them here first.
The one as Cecil from Star Trek would go together with the Jedi Council one, but… I wasn’t sure, so I just started playing around and that ended up with work on a “Cecil Archetype” or Master Cecil design, I did a few and ended up with one that I at least liked.

As I was drawing I realized that Cecil has ended up being almost a classic animated character design (his face).  So I tried another design thinking back to 1940’s WWII propaganda and came up with what I hope is a winner- I just need to tweak some details so what you are seeing is very rough, but I think it is the next tag-  the question becomes color and what other things do I want to do.

So you’ve read this log blog entry without seeing the final Cecil design…

Still a little rough...
Still a little rough...

I have some clean up to do, but think this is a Cecil design that I can grow.  Next Sue and me… Will I give up Sue’s hair?  Only time will tell.