Caricatures

I haven't taken a lot of pictures of the caricatures I've been doing at work. But I'll probably start taking more, just so I have a record of my progress. I took a few today. Man, I've never drawn so many freaking whales, dolphins and sharks in my life.


Then I did a sketch of Bono for a couple of guys from Germany. I guess they were here for the U2 concert this weekend. They apparently kicked off their world tour in SD. But these guys were pretty desperate to get a caricature of Bono. It's actually a demo we had on the wall, and I just redrew it. I'm not fond of his chin... looks like a pair of testes.

And then here's some sketches from the other artists at my job OF the other artists. Pretty funny stuff. The first one is my boss Rick. Looks just like him.



--Will

Sketches

Something clicked last night when I was sketching in my sketchbook. I didn't even want to stop drawing. Every face seemed much more fluid and controlled. At least with faces. The handful of tips and tricks that I've been shown since I've been here are really making my art much cleaner, and easier to produce. One of the tips was to make solid objects out of groups of other objects. Like the teeth are all one object, the hair all one object. and then you add texture on top of that. It's really making everything more dynamic looking. I wish I were able to get the same result from drawing the figure. But that will probably have to come from the Atelier. I am breaking the mold a bit at work and drawing more detailed bodies for my caricatures. But it's frowned upon. Quick and simple is the formula they want. But I fear it will make me lazy and doesn't help me to grow at all. So I'll take a few extra minutes per drawing in order to get the practice.


MORE

--Will

One Night at Macgregers - Sketchbook Session - 3/25/2005


Last night was the most incredible experience I've had in a long time. It was humbling. It was inspiring. I can't wait to do it again. We had six artists at the bar last night, myself included. Court Jones was there, as well as Kage, Wardell Brown, my manager Gabe Hunt and my Managers, Managers, Manager Steve Fishwick.


Man I don't even know where to start. I guess the beginning is always a good place. I got off work at about 8... and had the worst night at work. It was awful. The most beautiful day so far, the park was more packed than ever, my friends were making $600 and $700 dollars. And I barely made $150. I didn't even make minimum wage on my commission. I'd blame it completely on the booth - location - bad displays - The booth feels like an after thought - bastard child of the company. But I'm sure my attitude had something to do with it. I tried to have a good attitude, but it's hard when the park is crazy busy, and so is everyone else, and I can't even get people to sit down for a free demo. And everyone seems to have the same problem with this booth. It's frustrating. But whatever.

So I was in a bad mood when I got to the bar. That quickly dissolved. One look at Steve Fishwick's sketchbooks, and I was in a whole other world. He seemed genuinely interested in me and my work as well, which was cool. Turns out he's also Christian. It was the first spiritual conversation I've been able to have since I moved here (Even at church... lol). It's been getting lonely in that aspect. Almost all of the photos I took were of pics from Steve's sketchbook.


I quickly realized how much I was going to learn in the next few months. Not just a little, but a lifetime of how I was learning before. Just watching other artists draw - This caliber of artist draw. Watching what they see. What they're looking for. What their process is. I did two sketches and put my pen down. I was so humbled. In awe. And they're able to draw with anything. No special pen, or marker. They do use those, but they don't need to. It's incredible. And each new medium they experiment with brings a new life to the art. Steven Silver talked about that in his panel at Comic Con last summer. Last night I saw it in action. Also, it turns out that Steve is best friends with Steven Silver. And Court and Kage are good friends of his as well. man.

About an hour in, we moved from the patio to a table in the corner inside. I ended up sitting between Kage and Wardell. I watched Kage draw for about a half an hour. So meticulous. So clean. And I started talking with him. I told him I couldn't draw anymore. He said he was there 3 years ago. He met Court and Steve then at an NCN convention. He'd been doing caricatures for 6 years already. Suddenly he felt like he was starting completely over. Which is how I feel now. Like last night... was the first day of a whole new career. Ironically, my friend Gabe asked to borrow one of my pencils to draw with. I let him use my Mars led holder from Germany. The one that I'd drawn more than 50 comic pages with over the last 4 years. It vanished. It was the most bizarre experience. I know he didn't take it, it just disappeared. But funny enough, I'm not upset. As I was driving home I was thinking what the universe meant by it. It made me smile.

So the night was great. Lots of funny stories. Kage did a sketch of me. Lol. I really need to get in shape, I can't take too many more of these caricatures of me. It's still funny though. They ended up sketching nearly every person on our end of the bar. The funniest thing - gabe did a sketch of one girl. And it really looked good. He wasn't making fun of her or anything. But she flipped out. Heh. Started cussing and screaming and threatening to sue. I'd never laughed so hard in my life. Apparently her boyfriend, is an agent/pimp for some porn stars that were at the table. And she seems to have some.... issues. Lol. And the agent kept saying if anyone took a picture of one of the pornstars he'd have to charge $fiftybucks. Ahhhh... California. The girl stewing in the blue is the one that threatened to sue. The creepy guy in the back ground pointing at my camera is the pimp. And the girl with the big... well I'm sure you can guess who she is.



Steve brought a book with him from an artist that works for the company in Florida. His names Joe Bluhm. This guy is incredible. He's only like 24. But he has this incredible Talent. Court said he did a demo at the convention last month on how to do digital caricatures. Joe sat in on it for about 15 minutes, and later that day did a full portrait for Court on his laptop using the instructions court gave him. Amazing. But the funniest part about Joe is that he doesn't give a crap what people think about his drawings. He exaggerates how he wants. He just draws what he sees. Some people get really mad and yell. But a lot of people don't. In fact he holds the record for highest sales in that park. But he gets a LOT of flack from some of the other artists at the park. One artist in particular, named Charlie. Who seems to be the butt of a lot of Joe's jokes. The funniest part, is how crappy an artist Charlie is. The 3rd pic is a sketch that Charlie did of himself. Lol. And Joe used it to illustrate their differences.


More Work Caricatures

So I left the bar in a daze. Excited, nervous, inspired. It was good to talk to Kage. It was good to see that I'm not alone in how I feel right now. That others have been here before, and that it's just a temporary thing. But also that I have a lot of work to do. It doesn't happen by itself. I need to draw as much as Fishwick and Silver and Court and Kage and Wardell and... I need to have as much fun doing it as I saw last night.

I feel like a whole new person. I did attempt to look around for my pencil one last time. But I finally let it go. But on the way to the parking lot, Steve told me that Kage had brought a box of those Zebra pens for him. The one's I've been fiending over. And Steve gave me a couple. Yes.


Time to draw.
FULL ALBUM

--Will

Mainstream

I worked with a guy yesterday that's actually working in the mainstream as an inker. I was really looking forward to meeting him. A few of the other artists had mentioned that someone from Seaworld was working for Wildstorm and Aspen at one point. Turns out today was his one and only day at the park this summer and we were scheduled together. That mixed with a long night of rain at the park making it a slow night, meant I got to ask lots of questions. It was interesting. It was also neat to watch him do caricatures, he was very slow - but each one was a work of art. They all looked like inked comic book art. Lol.

Anyways, he's a San Diego native, and has been at the comics thing a while. His first break, it sounds like, was an internship with Mike Turner when Aspen first started. Basically he would drive from here to Marina del Rey (in LA) and later Santa Monica when they made the move there. And do ink assists for the guy that was inking Talent Caldwell's work at the time. I didn't get much story on that. It's right after Mike's bout with cancer and complicated split with Top cow. So it sounds like it was very hectic there. I think that's the same time that Mike offered me to do a submission for a possible internship. It would be funny if we'd both ended up there at the same time. I guess we were bound to cross paths one of these days. Turns out my roommate dated his best friend. So they know each other. Not to mention that he goes to the Atelier too. He said Mike Turner's mom got him to start going there cause she takes classes there. Lol. Small world.

So he interned for about a year as far as I figured and had to leave the studio when Talent quit. No work - no internship. He said he may still get work down the road from them though. Then he started interning some with Top Cow in Santa Monica and Wildstorm here in La Jolla. But it sounds more like hanging out every once in a while. And currently he's doing some spot blacks for some Marvel work.

The most interesting part for me was getting more insight into the mainstream mentality. I've heard guys like Matt Hawkins explain to me about the mainstream style. How he could only really give me constructive feedback on this certain style and anything else was out of his realm. Really it seems like it's not really art per se - it's style. From talking with this guy it's all taught. It's all technique and standards. You're not really trying to grow as an artist, you're trying to remain consistent with a style. It's weird. Kinda hard to explain.

It's heavily rendered, detailed backgrounds, lots of splash pages. Supervisuals. And it's rarely something people just bring to the table. I mean an artist has to have something to get in the door. But for the most part it's all apprenticeships and internship that pass the skills on. Grown in-house. It's not a quick or easy process. It takes a lot of discipline and skill, and really just doing what you're told and doing what you gotta do. But most importantly it's meeting people at cons and making connections. And not giving up. This isn't the first guy that's told me he had to do a few years of internships(no pay - lots of boring grunt work) in order to get the prestigious gigs. Top cow is one of the easiest companies to get in the door. But the hardest to get work from. But if you go through the process you're all but guaranteed a job with any of the top companies. Because TC's standards are so high and demanding.

So it was neat. I don't think I'll be seeing much more of him, but it was cool chatting. He didn't seem all that interested in me or my work, but the other guys said that's pretty much normal with him. He did really like my pirate pages. And even asked if he could have some of the pencil copies I had with me to ink. That also tells me there's really something with the art style I used for those pages - if he and Mike Turner... and seemingly everyone I've shown them to, seems to really like them. I'd say it bodes well for the future.

Does it seem like my posts are getting longer? Sheesh. I guess cause I only have an hour to write my posts, and don't have time to pare them down like I usually do. Sorry guys.

One last thing...

I'm going to a sketchbook session tonight after work. I'm stoked. A lot of artists are gonna be there. Including a caricature artist named Kage, who owns a chain of caricature kiosks in Japan. They do their caricatures really weird. The basically draw people like inanimate objects. But they end up looking exactly like the person. It's like making a big guy into a house - or a car or something. Really weird. Court gave me a Zebra brush pen when I first got here - it was one of a bunch of Zebra pens that Kage brought him from Japan. And I am so freaking in LOVE with this brush pen. It's the same one that Brian Stelfreeze showed me at Aggiecon a few years back. And now I have one. But I've already used it so much that it's starting to run dry. And I'm desperate. It's like a drug dealer giving me my first vile of crack for free then leaving me hanging. I've called every art store in San Diego and North Coastal and NO ONE has it. At this point I'm considering a quick trip to Japan to buy a few boxes of these. Jeeeez.

Moving Forward

I had a long talk with myself yesterday about why I'm here. I've been contemplating quitting SeaWorld to do sketches at restaurants on the weekends, in order to free me up to draw comics during the week. But I decided after my long talk to stick with the original plan. Changing circumstances - is and probably will always be my major weakness. I try to adapt and "outplan" but it never works out for me. So I decided to stick with the plan I've been focused on and praying about for the last nine months.

Opportunity seems to be what sets me off on these strategizing tangents. In this case the catalyst was potentially doing a comic book mini-series for APE. I was already second guessing myself to begin with. Money's tight, and still a week away from my first paycheck. And so far my commissions have felt anemic. Add to that the gloomy attitude around the whole crew here right now. I was really riding my brakes over the whole plan. Which I guess is why (symbolically) I had to get my brakes completely replaced. I needed to find a new mechanism for controlling my momentum quickly or the whole vehicle was gonna be in big trouble. Hokey I know, but relevant.

So I realized that I was getting caught up thinking short term. And that's what I was reacting to - not reality. I am learning a lot right now. In a very specialized way that I can't get anywhere else. So six months isn't going to kill me. My goals were to get six months in at seaworld and two quarters (and as many classes as I could afford) at the Atelier. And to finish two short books in that time that I've been chipping away at for years. There's a few other goals here and there. But for the most part that's it. This is really an expeditionary venture. Establishing contact with the natives. Getting my bearings with the geography and setting realistic goals and expectations for future endeavors.

It looks like school and work will let out/up at about the same time (mid sept) which means I can get back to Lubbock just in time for the fair. And even better I'll be a freaking ninja at doing caricatures that I can really capitalize on the fair. Then I can start the mini-series and what not in Nov/Dec. And when I move back here in January I can try something besides seaworld. Who knows, maybe I'll even be able to live off savings for a while and just focus on comics. Guess we'll find out, huh?

So anyways, I went into work with a much better attitude yesterday after my little talk. Had a lot more fun with it. And I actually made $650 ($175 commission). I'm not sure but I think I that's in the top 3 (out of 15) of everyone at the park last night. I'll have to check on that. I've improved a lot each day. And they seem to be less worried about me selling now (I guess cause I'm selling) I told myself that I wouldn't change my personality just to meet some quota here. I can't be as aggressive as some of these guys. It's not in my nature. Luckily I seem to do fairly well with whatever the hell it is I do. Lol.

In non-drama news...

Found out there's a sketchbook session friday at a bar downtown. A lot of the guys from the park are going and invited me. There's supposed to be some other amazing artists there that I'm really looking forward to meeting. Can't wait!

--Will

Moonlight Beach


I went to the beach today. So far I've not gone more than a day or two without going. I think it represents to me why I'm here. The timeless struggle between the waves trying to overtake the beach. Somedays it gets closer than others. It feels like life. The waves are our everchanging lives - somedays stronger somedays weaker. And the beach the unchanging - everchanging world.

As I write this I'm sitting on the cliffs overlooking moonlight beach. I give each sense a turn at the wheel. Starting with the sound of crashing waves on the beach. It's deafening. I imagine hearing that for a lifetime. How beautiful and haunting. The irony of how, like water, it drowns every other sound. I listen deeper. And I hear something else. Something I never expected. As the waves seem to suck back into the ocean and roll away I hear the sound of rolling stones, clamoring to find a new hold in the shifting sand. From the cliffs I hear the birds. They're a different kind of bird here. No chirping, or singing, its a playful laughter. Almost like children. The gulls are wild, not living off of man. Scooping up shells and fish from the shore as the wave rolls away.

Then I suddenly feel cold. The wind is ice cold blowing off the ocean. It seems to compliment the burning sun as it mixes with my skin to create a magical awakening sensation. It leaves me conflicted. Wanting to put on a coat because of the chill, but yet not even cold because of the warmth from the sun.

Suddenly a voice pulls me out of my trance. I look around to see a woman screaming, as she walks down the long hill to the beach below. "I want my %$##* settlement!" I laugh. Then I notice the benches that I've been sitting on aren't just benches. They have golden placards memorializing people that have lived here and died. Like a holy gravesite for surfers and cliff dwellers. It's touching. I find my self envious, I would much rather be memorialized on a bench on a cliff overlooking breathtaking views, than some gravestone in a crowded anonymous grave yard.

Then I notice a guy standing on the cliff, longingly looking at the riders on the waves. He's impatient. I ask him where he's from. Russia he says. Been here a year. Learning to surf. Cant wait to get off work so he can catch some waves before dark. He's a kid inside. I can see it. I feel very much akin to his longing. Then I notice a couple, elderly, eating sandwiches from a basket on one of the other benches. I wonder to myself how many sunsets they've seen from that bench. How many conversations have they shared listening to the sound of waves in the background. Then I hear a faint voice from the beach below... "I want my %$##* settlement!" I laugh again. As I return to my car I see a pair of guys sitting on the tail gate of their truck working on some sort of project. One of them leaps from his seat and charges a flock of seagulls, sending them fleeing into the wind. His grin is infectious.

It's a whole other world. A whole other world.

--Will

Comic Book Conventions.com

Apparently someone from the site www.comicbookconventions.com linked to my WizardWorld LA Con Report. Stoked. I've gotten about 80 visits in the last day to my blog from the site. Pretty cool. Thanks to whomever.

--Will

Brakes, Breakers and Flying cars
(Sorry to backdate posts like this. But they're actually journal entries, I just didn't have time to post this weekend.)

Today was a little rough. My brakes have been going out since I got here. The grinding noise was (pardon my pun) wearing on me. I finally went to go get them fixed today since I had a day off. $300 bucks. Ouch. And that cuts really deep into my budget. But what can you do? Luckily, before I could get too much in a funk over it the universe gave me a big smile.

A flying Delorean. Nothing brings out the kid in me like BTTF. "Hello! McFLY!"

So while I was waiting for my wallet to be molested, I spent some time walking down El Camino Real (funny side note: I once lived on El Camino Real in Houston too). I did some great caricature sketches at a little coffee shop.

I stopped into a surf shop. The guy that owns the place looks like he's in his late 50's. I told him I'd just moved here from Texas and want to learn how to surf. Turns out he's from Clovis. And he remembers going to Lubbock cause it was the big city. Needless to say, he was very enthusiastic about me being here instead of there. And even more enthusiastic about me learning to surf. He told me all the ins and outs and tips for getting started. Pretty groovy. At least I know where to start now. It's actually been hard to find people to talk about surfing. The surfers are too busy surfing. So I sit on the beach every other morning and watch longingly as they're out there on the waves. And everyone else either used to surf and don't care about it anymore. Or they barely go to the beach to begin with. I'm a little surprised really. It seems like every SD native I know takes this place so much for granted. They have no idea.

I guess if you've lived anywhere your entire life - and have never experienced anything else - it's impossible to truly appreciate what you have. I've had it all and nothing before. So I try to seize beauty where I find it and try to appreciate what God gives me. But I've fallen into complacency many times before, so I can relate. In fact I think it explains why I was stuck in Lubbock for so long. I was too busy blaming Lubbock for my problems - when they would have been my problems no matter where I was.

Speaking of finding beauty - a friend of mine told me where to go to fall in love with Mexico. And it's not far from here. About an hour south of TJ. I think that's something I need to plan into my life sometime soon. The more time I spend here, the more beautiful it seems to get. I could do without the traffic and a lot of the people. But the ocean, and mountains and hills and trees and everything... it's the reason I started drawing, because in my head I could live somewhere like this. It's incredible how sometimes I'll drive past a mountain or a hillside here and see that it's the living likeness of something I'd tried to draw at one point. And they're visions that still live in me. Hopefully I can bring them to vivid creation now that my skills have met their muse.

--Will

The Day job

(Sorry to backdate posts like this. But they're actually journal entries, I just didn't have time to post this weekend.)

I finished my first week of work. And now the weekend has come and gone and I'm starting to get a little perspective on this whole thing. Overall I like the job. Especially because of the people. The stuff I don't like seems to be (mostly) good for me in the long run. Pushing sales - hustling Customers - Upselling. Good for me. It's good for my commission and good for my career. And I need to learn how to naturally do it anyways. The disciplined drawing - also good for me. Cleaner, more thought out lines. I need that.

But there's stuff bothering me. Mostly that all these amazingly talented fantastic artists... seem to be stuck. Almost all of them. Either they're waiting for something to happen, trying to make it happen but nothings happened yet, or afraid to take the plunge, or... they just plain don't know what to do. The job has definitely helped each of them artistically. And really the general consensus is that everyone's happy. And the community, you can't beat being friend's with all these people that do what you do in such a unique artform. Incredible.

But I can't shake the feeling that I don't need to be there. Go figure. I'm not quitting. I'm just trying to understand what I'm feeling. I want to like the job, but... I don't really like the job. I guess that's what it comes down to. They implemented a lot of changes just before I got here and it seems to have sapped a lot of the love and fun from the job. I can see it in the faces of the people I work with. It's more business than art now. They didn't even have time clocks till a week ago. Talk about paradigm shifts. It's a whole other beast now. I could see myself falling in love with the job the way it was before. But not like this. I don't want it to be just a job. But so far that's what it feels like it is.

But even without all that. I want to be a comic book artist. Plain and simple. And while this may make me a better cartoonist, and make me lots of money over the summer and make me part of an artist community. So will the school (except the money part) and so will doing comic books. Right now I'm working 9 hour days, 5 days a week. Add 1 - 4 hour round trip (depending on traffic) commute. That's a long day. Doesn't leave much life for anything else. Really I picked the wrong place for where I'm working. Especially since I'm only taking classes 2 days a week where I'm living. But ironically, I don't feel like I'm living in the wrong place.

It also sucks that I might not get to get off for Comic-Con. Since everyone there wants to go it's hard to get off for the entire weekend. Which is what I was hoping for. That sucks.

I don't know. Thinking out loud I guess.

I've come to a new goal for myself. To surround myself with successful people. And successful in the way I want to be successful. I'm looking for people that did it on their own terms. Not neccessarily through the system. I've never been good at being a system kind of guy. So wherever I spend my time I need to make that a priority.

--Will

Wizard World Los Angeles 2005

Wow. What a great show. I'm starting to really like these Wizard World shows. This is the third one and they just seem much more laid back and definitely more comics related. I'm really glad I was able to attend. And best of all I didn't have to set anything up or take anything down. In fact I was just there one day out of 3. very fun. I didn't really do all that much. I spent the majority of the time in artist alley talking to people. Met some folks I'd never met before. And lots I had. Talked a while with Franchesco. He gave Luis and I a great pep talk at Wizard World Texas. He's always inspirational and upbeat.

Then I met Ale Garza... again. Apparently I've met him 3 or 4 times but never knew who he was. I thought about getting in line to see Alex Ross. But didn't know exactly what to say. Figured the opportunity would present itself again some day. Hung out some with the YAC kids. I work with them at Seaworld. I sort of like them even more at Cons. Just cause they look like excited little kids at these shows. Bought all the books of people I know at work. Great stuff. One guy blows me away. I had no idea how good he was at this.


Had lunch with an insane middleaged comic psycho. It was... entertaining. I think they need more seating in the food area. And maybe a special section for lunatics. He spent 20 minutes ranting about how there shouldn't be Pornstars at the con - except he knew them all by name and movie... creepy.

I traded a bunch of sketches from other artists, bought some more books I've been wanting and this great dvd on how to color on the computer from the TOP COW master Brian Haberlin. Can't wait to get a computer so I can watch it.. lol.


After the show the APE guys all went out with Franchesco and the couple that runs Hurricane comics and a few other artists, writers, people. IT was a blast. I've never had a night like that. Just being there with a dozen other people that make a living making comic books. Fantastic. We traded sketches and jokes all night. I'd say it was the most fun I'd ever had at a convention. And I'm really glad I was able to go.

FULL ALBUM
I tried to label all as many of the photos as I could.

APE ENTERTAINMENT

Ape was founded by David Hedgecock about a year ago when he partnered up with two other small press veterans. Brent Erwin and Mike Hall. There's so much freaking publishing experience in this group. Brent has 'literally' done it all in the industry. He owned a store for 7 years, worked for Diamond distribution for 5 years and has been publishing comics the entire time. Best of all he's worked for Wizard Magazine the last 5 years. So needless, to say he knows everything and everyone in the industry. Plus he gets some killer hook-ups through wizard. Like con booths, ad discounts and oodles of PR.


I really, really enjoyed talking with David. We have a LOT in common. And he seems to have the same affinity for beautiful places as I do. And he's also a transplant himself. Moving from Northern California about 12 years ago. He lives in Oceanbeach, the neighborhood I was really wanting to live in, but couldn't find anyone to give me feedback on it. It's one of the last great surfing communities here, and he's still into surfing. So I'm stoked. Lots in common. He also introduced me to a great jazz singer named Madeline Peyroux. She sounds like a modern Etta James. Check her out.

It's funny, he called me on something as we were driving to the show. He was asking why I was going to the school. My roomate asked me the same question and it threw me off. My usal answer is "to get better". But both of them got me thinking about why. Apparently, I had a few glaring misconceptions before moving here. Both are quickly being dispelled.

1. I need to improve artistically before I should start making comics for a living.

2. That school and seaworld would help me start making comics quicker.

Both sound stupid now that I see them in writing. But still, both are half true - like all great lies. But neither are necessary. School and seaworld can help me get better. There are opportunities to do comics with both, and they can both help me improve artistically. But really...

"The only thing that will help me make a living as a comic book artist is drawing comics!"

I still look forward to what I'm going to get out of this school. It's important to continue to grow. But not at the expense of my purpose. And I've been getting close to doing that.

Anyways, that all leads me to this...

Brent told me they want to publish my pirate story as a mini-series and graphic novel. In color. So the only thing holding me back is getting it drawn.

--Will