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Before I taught myself how to draw in a sketchbook, I did my best work on lined paper and meeting agendas. The blank page was too intimidating, or something.
As my bosses were really cool with me drawing during meetings and such, as I actually pay attention better. But with new bosses, and new VPs, I dropped the habit for some time.
Kick forward to new relationships forged with the aforementioned, and it seems I'm back in business!
Here's another Black Canary on her hog (cut free from an agenda, away from the words), and an actual agenda from a few weeks ago, where the drawings really only are fun in the context of "this is a meeting agenda."
I love being back in the stage where I can do this stuff at work!!!
***UPDATE***
Yikes, it hit me that August 1 was my decade-versary at MIT!
I had worked there, but decided to quit and move back to Saint Louis to write and draw on the cheap, giving dream-pursuit my 100%. After many 15 hour days of building my portfolio, I decided I could slow down to fewer hours and pick up a part time job for some steady cash. But, on a trip back east, an old boss offered me a great full time position I couldn't say no to. I thought I'd do it for 2 years, refill my coffers, continue get my work out there, and see where I could go.
At the end of the two years, I was having fun at work, so I decided to stay until I stopped having fun. By the time the fun ended, the economy had tanked, the freelancing assignments stopped flowing in, and my book sales dried up. But I still held a good job, and after throwing in many personal-life-family factors, instead of returning to draw full time, I bought my loft instead. A bit locked in!
But what a decade in comics, at the office and at home!
I continued my comics work nearly full time "on the side" writing, drawing, publishing 5 trade paperback collections and 3 graphic novels. I was picked up by 3 foreign publishers, ran a newspaper weekly for 18 months, had original and repurposed work published by Marvel, Fantagraphics, Oni, Seven Stories Press, and a half dozen indie anthologies.
At MIT, the team I manage has grown from me + 5 to me + 11, and our function has been expanded significantly. I've been promoted thrice. I've grown with each vice-presidential turnover. I treat each day with enough experience to know that I can't possibly know anything, and that I must continue to learn my industry. No absolutes, about anything, anytime, anywhere, anyone.
At home, I've seen my grandmother pass and had to put poor Aggie to sleep. I've moved 4 times, finally settling after purchasing my loft. I've helped design and renovate my kitchen and storage areas; customized a half dozen pieces of furniture; designed and built 10 case pieces; refinished 4 "yard sale" pieces, 2 Pascoe chairs, 3 Aalto bookcases, and 9 McCobb case pieces.
Inside my noggin, the decade started kicking the old me in the balls. The pendulum swung too far the other way, and the "journey" I embarked on was enormously helpful in keeping me more in the center, more balanced. My face has the lines it didn't a decade ago, but they're here with good reason.
Though I haven't been drawing much lately, and I keep telling myself I should, I just can't keep pushing the way I did 10 years ago. You know how it goes.
The past week was nightmarishly hot and humid in Boston. Not the best was to end Rich's bi-annual visit. But, we road-tripped to Newport RI one day, NH the next, and back to Boston in time for the weather to break.
A few weekends ago, when we were in NH for a few days, I was sketchbooking up a storm while relaxing. You'll recall last week's post was a result of overdue ketchup of "I'd like to see your take on Gatchaman," and this week's is the overdue conclusion of "I'd like to see your take on She-Ra."
Ah, She-Ra.
The '80s spawned many joint ventures between animation and toy companies resulting in the Transformers, G.I. Joe, Jem, He-Man, and She-Ra, and probably more. Literally cartoons/toys created in unison, a marketing and sales one-two punch.
She-Ra was the worst. Her cast was comprised of things the warehouse had surplus parts for:
Hong Kong factory floor manager: I've got some koala bears, some owl beaks, and some rainbow fabric.
Showrunner: Perfect!
She-Ra also had the perfect love interest, so unappealing to women as a man that he didn't really bother the feminists, and just homoerotic enough to keep all the little gay boys watching.
Turns out I love drawing She-Ra! Part Wonder Woman (warrior of peace and love), part Valkyrie, and all drag queen. Seriously, if there's ever a live-action movie, she *must* be played by a drag queen.
Another long overdue drawing in both the categories of "I want to draw ___" and requests I receive, "I'd like to see your take on ___." I've teased you with other primers, but here it is: science ninja team Gatchaman.
I, of course, was first exposed to the team as the focal point of the series Battle of the Planets, a drastic rescripting of the Japanese series for a US audience in immediate and desperate need for sci-fi after the runaway success of Star Wars.
This drawing took me a while to work up to; it can't really be a stand-and-pose drawing, since the characters are all similarly but distinctly dressed. And, with 5 of them having similar but distinct abilities, a fight scene is also a challenge. At the end of the day, I thought the task at hand would be to showcase their personalities as best I could.
And, a major challenge in the drawing in layers don't smudge the heck out of the original art. I mostly succeeded, with just a few smudges that cleaned up alright. Color would be good on this one someday, but it was a nice exercise. I'm somewhat pleased!
Oh—the blog post title comes from the mid-90s redux of the series. Richie and I say that to each other often, as well as a quote from Solaris, "You fool, you failed."
This July 4th feels even more special, with such advancements in gay rights. It's nice to feel proud to be an American!
To celebrate, here are the Star-Spangled Kid and Stripsey from Earth-TF (Tim Fish).
If you're familiar with the pair from the Golden Age of comics, you know they were something like rival "mystery men" who ended up joining forces to kick some Nazi butt. Weak.
On Earth-TF, let's say Irish rugby-player type chauffeur/mechanic is hired to keep fruity Ivy-Leaguer out of trouble when he's home on break. Joke's on Sylvester Pemberton's parents though, since they've hired closet-case Pat Dougan as body-guard. So, one night, stumbling out of a "gentlemen's club" in a back alley they inadvertently stop some Nazi villainry.
All jazzed up with the thrill of hero-dom, they get all patriotic and gay.
Better?
I'm told from time to time, "I'd love to see your take on ____." I have a folder of reference images and on rainy days, I dip in and fulfill some fantasies.
Among the top requests is Jem and the Holograms from Hasbro's doll line & TV show. Yah, I know I kinda Fd up her shoulder/back, and the drummer looks a little wee. Overall, it's a good warm-up piece for the club scenes I need to draw for my half-finished indie-rockers-with-baby OGN.
It's hard to think of a B&W Jem drawing since all the "truly outrageous" characters have crazy-colored wigs and awful clothes. But, I didn't have the giddy-up to color this. So...it's the
TRULY OUTRAGEOUS coloring contest!
1) Email me for the high res image.
2) Submit your colored version by Labor Day.
3) Judging panel of me will award places.
Prizes as follows:
3rd place: Tim Fish designed t-shirt
2nd place: Piece of original Tim Fish art
1st place: Dinner with me (paid for by me) when we are at the same con/city.
If anyone actually submits colors, I'll post them here.
It's that time of year again, when I start thinking about Arche-Lady! Well, that's a bit overly dramatic. Fish-philes know I worked nearly exclusively on my campy homage to super-herodom for nearly the entire '90s. Her series ended with her in an ageless coma, but 7 years later (ish) she was revived in an unpublished ditty that was to be the compilation of the entire series plus specials, etc. I really couldn't multi-task while working on Cavalcade of Boys, Strugglers, Young Bottoms in Love, Love is the Reason, Trust/Truth, Something Fishy This Way Comes, plus shorties for indie publishers and Marvel.
So, in true fashion to the series, I took a hiaitus.
Kick forward to 2011, the 20th anniversary of her first appearance in Ten Minute Cartoons, I revived my annual tradition of the special, with the Arche-Lady Special #11. I know a few people saw it at Ne York Comic Con October of that year, but if you weren't there, you probably didn't see it. And with literally zero con presence in 2012, I'm guessing you also missed the Arche-Lady Special #12. Bummer!
So now it's time for me to get excited about the Arche-Lady Special #13...I'm thinking of a break from both the Arche-Lady vs. the digital race of the MITAANS storyline as well as the Astro-Boy vs. the conjoined cosmic entity storyline. You may recall my sketches of Doctor Monkey-Face a while back...those are turning into a nice shortie. And since 2013 is the 20th anniversary of Arche-Lady's series proper (she lingered in Ten Minute Cartoons for a year-ish before busting into The New Adventures of Arche-Lady and Astro-Boy #1 in 1993), I was thinking to revisit a villain that graced the pages of episode 1, 2, or 3. Time will tell!
I'm not planning to do any cons this year either, except for attending TCAF in May, so I'm not sure when you'll get to read these gems!
Following up on all my business travel, and my enjoyment of the company of professional peers, I was intrigued by the goings-on at a NYC-school I interviewed with back in spring 2009. A lot has changed since then!
Through these conversations, I was convinced by my counterparts—and myself—to apply for an open position there. It was a great professional opportunity, and not a bad one financially. So I went about the evaluation process with personal factors: do I want to give up what I have ? do I want the NYC experience?
Along the way, it became increasingly clear, that while I would get a lot out of the NYC experience, I finally feel comfortable and "at home" here and with my life.
Though I've been in my evolving position at MIT for some time, before and since, I've moved around a bit. NH, Saint Louis, San Diego, CT, Boston, back to Saint Louis, back to Boston. Between the time I graduated college and bought my loft 3 years back, I lived in 15 different apartments!
While "moving" is a lot of work, it's not change and moving that was causing me anxiety in the decision making process; I've moved, I've relocated, I've changed, I've adapted. I know I can do that. But I've never felt comfortable before, and I often deny myself happiness for the sake of a new challenge. Before I bought my loft, the longest I'd lived anyplace since I left for university is two and a half years. Three years and counting in my loft is new frontier for me; comfort, and happiness is new frontier for me. So, in short, staying put is the greater challenge for me to tackle at this point in my life.
It was an interesting journey to reach the decision, and professionally, I am remorseful for it. But one must make these decisions, yes? I'll miss the opportunity to live closer to my many NYC friends, but every coin has a flip side, and in this case, it means I won't have the awkwardness of living closer to, hrm, someone who it would be highly awkward to live closer too! I hope someday I have the opportunity to live in NYC when the timing and circumstances are right...but for now, as the post title suggests, the chapter is closed.
For your delight, waiting for my train for my trip for my second interview, I spotted this ample lass in tight & short clothing. Like one of the fellows I sketched in Toronto, she sported a bolero length denim jacket. All the rage I guess.
