Quickee
Very happy with the busy. Getting a lot accomplished, and working very late hours, which I’ve been handling well enough. Today, however, I am doing the zombie artist dance. Walk into taboret, walk into door, walk into wall. I think I left some body parts behind, not sure.
It’s been so long since I have done regular work for the Big Two (whoa several years) that I had forgotten how long it takes to do clean ups, uploading, etc. So, I spent the whole weekend just erasing pencil lines, making tiny corrections, and fiddling with art on Gone to Amerikay, and still didn’t finish. Not a complaint, it’s just I’m going to have to be a little more careful and aware of the old time management. I’m going to add two days into the schedule each month for this sort of thing. It’s not hard work, it’s just amazing how much time gets spent trying to see every little error/line/smudge before it goes off to the publisher. Sheesh. How quickly we forget! 
I’ve gotten a lot of nice comments on the new digital paintings, and I agree with the critiques that the hair looks a little airbrushed. I don’t really have the time to fiddle with the pics as much as I’d like, but if I ever get around to publishing them, I can make refinements. I am delighted with the oil painting-like effects I can get for skin, though. Once you get the hang of this digital thing, it’s a lot of fun.
Not quite all that with my work on buildings yet, but I expect to have some set conceptual work to show within a few weeks. I decided to do all of my digital painting practice around A Distant Soil themes, which would not only be good for my digital skills, but might be fun for readers here. It’s easy enough to paint nature digitally. Surprisingly easy.
Here’s some comics industry whatnot: a fan behaving very badly. And he filmed it so everyone could see how clever he was. Ha Ha, his IQ is in the stratosphere, for he has challenged the might of Rob Liefeld and managed to make Liefeld comic’s most sympathetic figure of the week. Every pro has been through something similar with some frustrated goofball at a convention, and none of us are going to engage in schadenfreude over this. It’s all too tiresome. I am not going to link directly to it, but Heidi has the news and reaction here.
Honestly, if after 13 years you’ve been carrying on a mass of resentment like that over someone you don’t really know, you don’t need to film yourself doing anything except being strapped into a white jacket and carted away in an ambulance.
Happier news: our buddy, writer Arlene Harris has a new blog.
And Happy Birthday, Marvel!
From J, this link to outtakes from the old Siskel and Ebert TV show.
BTW, at SpaceWeather.Com, coverage of the Perseids Meteor Shower.
August 11th, 2009 at 2:07 pm
I’m glad things are going well for you, Colleen. Sometimes being busy is far better than the alternative (especially when it’s work-related).
As your skills with digital painting improve, do you ever see a time when you’ll do the majority/all of your work in that form, as opposed to on paper/bristol board?
That “fan” sure is a piece of work. I’ve seen that story covered on several other sites. What’s also horrible is that some were defending him; saying how he did what they all wanted to do. A real class act there.
If I don’t like someone’s writing and/or art, I just don’t buy it. I don’t spend money on stuff I don’t like just so I have something to gripe about. 13 years is a long time to be holding a “grudge” for something the artist didn’t even do personally to the guy. What’s Liefeld supposed to do, issue refunds? Bad case of arrested development and I can understand why some pros are wary of going to conventions – due to nuts like these.
August 11th, 2009 at 2:43 pm
Hey Jeremy,
I don’t know if I will ever completely give up working by hand, but one thing is certain, digital painting is a heck of a lot faster.
The sole commercial advantage to working by hand is the value of the original art. If the value of the original art does not exceed the time saved by doing the work on the computer, then you might as well use the computer.
There are a lot of things I can’t do well yet, but the learning curve is straight up. Within a year, I will be painting with greater technical proficiency digitally then I ever did by hand.
Inking and penciling: not necessarily a huge advantage yet. But I am forcing myself to do these paintings cold, with no preliminary drawing scanned in, so this is helping me to become accustomed to the machine.
That whole Leifeld thing is just plain nasty. In a way, I’m glad the guy showed just what pros have to put up with at these personal appearances. Vandalism of our art, nasty notes left on our table, fans harassing us when we are trapped in elevators.
Going to conventions is not in any way profitable for most creators. We do it to help promote our books. I make more money staying home working. If we are going to go to a show and get harassed by some weirdo, there’s no reason to go at all.
You can meet 100 very kind people, and just one weirdo can put you in a mood. And then you have to smile and wave. Takes nerves of steel.
At a show like San Diego, I may experience no more than one bad incident out of 1,000’s of people, so I don’t want to give the impression there’s a flood of horror out there.
Alas, the bad incident last time was somebody vandalized my lovely, brand spanking new hardcover of Tori Amos: Comic Book Tattoo, the night I left it behind my booth – carefully hidden, I thought. Someone used a sharp object to scratch up the slipcase.
August 11th, 2009 at 3:14 pm
Thanks for the link to the new blog. Now I have to fill it with things
I remember that thing with the slipcover last year. And I remember someone else taking art off your table with the excuse “if it’s just sitting there it’s free” or something like that. Made me want to stand there on the corner with a frying pan and a scowl.
August 11th, 2009 at 3:20 pm
Oh, man.
At the only Wondercon I ever attended (1998?), a man walked up in front of Jimmy Robinson and put a sign on my original art while I was not at my table:
“FREE POSTERS, PLEASE TAKE ONE”
Ha ha.
Jimmy snatched it off, so no harm done.
But yeah, the old snitcheroo of the original art. That was nice. I wonder if he tried that at the Alex Ross booth.
Last year, someone decided it would be cute to go sit at my table at the NYCC while I was on a panel and scrawl stuff on some art and in a personal notebook.
This year, I was moved to a more secure location right next to my agent where they could keep an eye on me. No incidents.
August 11th, 2009 at 5:12 pm
Well, I’m over 18 and harbor resentment towards what certain politicians have done to the country, but I think the stakes are different there. This guy’s just a case of arrested development, the less said the better.
Going digital: baby steps. I use Photoshop for relettering and punching in some values here and there, but that’s about it. Odd because I teach Photoshop.
Though I tend to rush my work, I still prefer Bristol and brush/crowquill to just about anything.
Glad to hear the new book is going well- the new one with Ellis, or did I miss something? Can’t tell you how many times I’ve read Orbiter…
August 11th, 2009 at 5:54 pm
I’m with you, so far no advantage to Photoshop over pen and ink on Bristol. Maybe later when I get better at rendering buildings.
The new Ellis book is not finished yet. About 20 or so pages to go.
Very pleased you liked Orbiter!
August 11th, 2009 at 5:55 pm
BTW, must learn computer lettering. It’s ridiculous that I still do it by hand.
August 11th, 2009 at 8:07 pm
Oh cripes, Peter David blogged about a fan who decided a memorial service was a good time to tell him they didn’t like his writing.
http://www.peterdavid.net/index.php/2009/08/11/random-acts-of-rudeness/
Man, that’s cold.
August 11th, 2009 at 9:30 pm
Yes, because that’s exactly what Steve Rogers would want, for you to go up and harass an artist. It’s not like he’s a big fan of respect, or that being an artist he advocates respect towards them -_-. [/nerd]
It just boggles the mind, y’know? I mean, why would I spend my time deliberately trying to hurt someone’s feelings when I could be in line to talk to a creator I love?
(also holy cow Mark Gruenwald DIED ON MY BIRTHDAY)
August 11th, 2009 at 10:12 pm
Great point, Scotty.
If this guy is so worried about showing respect to comics CREATIONS, then why doesn’t he show some respect by living up to the values those ideal characters represent?
Want some truth, justice and the American Way in real life?
Act like it.
And…wow, sorry about that. Didn’t really know Gruenwald. I heard he was a stand-up guy.
August 12th, 2009 at 4:13 am
I am glad to hear that you have been able to get alot of work done, I am looking forward to “Gone to Amerikay”. Getting one of those creative infusions is great, being riding high on creativity, being able to see it come to life in front of you is a priceless feeling.
Mr. Yellow Hat(sounds like some codename from LOST) is a loon. Now I look down upon Liefeld and his abilities, why people buy his comics, I don’t know or care. But yeah, something is rotten in Denmark when respected comic book authors come to the aid of Rob Liefeld, something real rotten.
August 15th, 2009 at 12:22 pm
Hey there! Did you get a chance to see the meteor shower? Our area was pretty much rained out.
I’m glad to see you’re enjoying the electric medium. It can’t replace original art, but it is a whole new playground. I understand artists are now selling rights for people to display their art in virtual spaces on various 3-D social-networking environments.
August 15th, 2009 at 2:39 pm
Howdy, Kitty!
No, the clouds obscured all. Bummer! I heard it was a good show this year!
I figure any artist who can’t do some digital art is going to be out of work within a few years. It’s not that clients require that you do digital art, but they do require that you have technical chops for prepress.
I had an incident just last week where I did not understand the prepress requirement of a job. Took just a few minutes to clue me in, but without some knowledge and the right equipment, it would be no-go.
I’ve had a couple of editors ask me to turn in original work, simply because they never get to see it anymore.
Others don’t even want to look at it. they don’t care how the work was done, they just want something they can print.