Finally have all my new studio gear, 11" x 17" scanner, new printer, makeshift light table, big ass drawing table, T-Square, triangles, book on perspective drawing, book with facial expressions of babies through teenagers, bookshelves for all my various sketchbooks, reference books, philosophy, comics, japanese, fantasy and sci-fi novels. Woot!!Finally can get back to drawing. Worked on the ins and outs of perspective. I knew the basics, but I actually learned a few things I didn't know about. Like the diagonal vanishing point that lines up perfectly through the boxes created by the main vanishing point or points. It's kind of magical how everything measures itself out so perfectly.Just wanted to get back into drawing so I did this quick one of a friend. I think I am going to incorporate some of these shading techniques and loose, quick line work into my next set of pages. I want to bring in a little bit of my drawing style I use in my every day drawings. I think it will make my drawings a bit more lively and interesting.
Now I am going to work on drawing a few girls and a few fashion ideas. I like looking at what people wear and I am looking forward to drawing some cool clothes on some cool cats. I want to make people stand out as individuals and not carbon copy cut-outs filling up a background. I want to create living environments that are as much an integral part of every panel as the main characters.I'm going to spend this weekend incorporating all I have learned these past few days into my new pages. Should be lots of fun!!
This submission process is a lot like dating a new person for the first time. You'll get all nervous and excited the first time you ever get a good response from an editor. Similar to working up the nerve to ask someone for their number and then having them give you their digits. Then the butterflies in your stomach go all pitter pat and make you giddy. Oh my gosh!! Yay! Yay!
Then you'll send in some more pages and start waiting for a response, refreshing your inbox repeatedly waiting for a reply. Similar to calling someone you like for the first time and getting their answering machine. Are they screening their calls? And when they don't call you right back you start picking up your phone throughout the day checking to see if it is still working. You'll start wondering if you said something to offend them or if something happened to them. Oh, man. Oh, man. Butterflies all over again!!
I haven't heard from CB yet on my latest submission. It's only been three days and he had a ton of submissions to go through. He could have quite possibly not even gotten to it yet. I'm sure he had hundreds of submissions to go through after announcing that Marvel had a bunch of new projects coming up. All I do know for certain is that he has seen my submissions twice and he liked them both times. So, overall, good news.
BUT, he did tweet this the other day, "Got some sample pages in this morning that made me scream, 'Don't they teach perspective anymore?!' Work on your perspective, kids!"
While there is nothing saying that this is directed toward me specifically it did make me go back and look at my pages and re-evaluate them. I did see a few places where my perspective was a little off or contradictory or twisted in some way that could have been done better.
I see this as a good thing. I only got positive feedback on my first two submissions, nothing really negative at all. And it is the negative feedback that really helps you grow as an artist. Without negative feedback you are pretty much going to keep doing the same thing, using the same techniques, hopefully still honing your skills but not pushing yourself in certain specific directions. When you get negative feedback it gives you something to focus on which allows you to push yourself in a new direction and add new techniques to your repertoire. I plan on taking my pages to conventions and having them critiqued forever. Even after I break in. You can always improve.
Unfortunately, they didn't teach me about perspective in art school. There was one class over perspective, but it wasn't a mandatory class. Everything I learned about perspective was learned from various art books. Speaking of which, you can learn nearly everything you need to know about art from art books or just by simply looking around you and drawing from life. There are tons of resources out there. And with the net there is easy access as well. You should also follow CB on Twitter as he is always giving advice on breaking in and links to artists and writers with insights on improving your work.
I actually used to be a math guy. I took honors calc and physics and got pushed up a level in my early math classes. When I started college I was an engineering student. That lasted for all of one semester when I said screw numbers!! I'm gonna follow my childhood dreams and make some art!! And I never understood how anyone could be an architect with all those straight lines and measuring. ugh.
So, now I am researching and refreshing some perspective techniques and redoing my previous pages. At least pages 2-4. I'm still super excited. As it stands I have gotten two amazingly wonderful reviews from Marvel. So even if CB was talking about my pages I have still taken two steps forward and one step back. And I wouldn't even consider this a step back. Learning and honing a technique is a leap forward!! Rock on!!
~barry
I have been working on some new samples to submit to Marvel. I am almost finished. I have decided that I am going to go ahead and do the entire Runaways script. I will be sending them into CB in a day or two. I didn't want to be the overexcited fanboy so I have given a few weeks before contacting CB again. I'm looking forward to his comments. I'm loving the Runaways. Such fun characters. And Chamber is fun as well. I am looking forward to drawing the two teams at the end of the story. Really looking forward to drawing Darkhawk.
On a side note my Shadowcat painting was won on EBay by Steve Kriozere, co-producer on Nathan Fillion's new show, Castle and writer/actor/producer of other various shows. He even wrote an episode of Sliders. I used to love that show. 8) Woot!
OK. I am on the last page of this script so I better get at it. I hope everyone is having a great day!!
~hop
Here is a drawing I did of DC's Trinity. I did it freehand with no references. I haven't drawn too many DC characters, but have wanted to for quite some time. This is my first attempt at drawing Wonder Woman. I think her features a bit too round tho. Something to take into account when I draw her next time 8)
When I was showing my work at Emerald City one of the things that Bob Schreck mentioned was foreshortening, using perspective on the human body. So, I have been practicing, practicing, practicing foreshortening. The first three are done with reference photos of myself and the fourth one was done freehand.
I also did this drawing of my head at crazy angles for more practice.
A quick fantasy sketch with an Orc Wizard, some ninja Elves and a Dwarven Tinkerer dude. Something that I drew during my break at work.
And a sketch of a girl that also came into work during my lunch break.
The next thing on my agenda is another 5 page submission from the sample scripts CB sent me. More than anything I want to draw comics so I better draw some comics, eh? 8) I am also still working on my own stories, but they are still in the developmental stages, plot, character designs, settings and props and all that.
Peace Out!
~barry
Here is the painting I did of Shadowcat for the Full of Pryde show this Thursday, May 7th, at Flaoting World Comics here in Portland. I had to finish up my submission for Marvel so I was rushed to finish this before the deadline. I spent about 12 hours on it, about the time it takes to watch all 12 episodes of Deadwood Season One. 8) I would have liked to have spent a little more time on it, refining the details, but overall I am pretty happy with it. Looking forward to the show!!
