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CURRENT - 2007 - 2006 - 2005 - 2004 - 2003 - 2002 12.13.2007 I've been trying to absorb media (books, movies, comics) that have critical acclaim, but I somehow missed. I'm in the middle of Will Eisner's Contract With God. It's as beautiful and brilliant as people say, but incredibly sad. A heartbreaking group of hardluck stories. I've got a collection of Arthur Conan Doyle's Sherlock Holmes stories warming up in the bullpen on my bookshelf, and I'm planing to have a double feature of renting Apocalypse Now (Which I've seen, but only once) and Hearts of Darkness. Heartbreak, Murder, and Madness... it's the most wonderful time of the year. Happy Holidays.
10.14.2007 Ok, No more vows or hubris about deadlines. I was looking at some of my old updates and I noticed the first one I put up this year... "The book will be finished before the end of 2007... This I VOW!!!!" Well guess what? There's no way in hell I will be done by the end of '07. I'm only 5 pages into inking, which will probably take 6 months. I'll be lucky if I make any of the summer cons for 2008. And considering that artist alley booths at San Diego are usually gone 2-3 months after the previous show, I doubt I'll be there, either, unless I can worm my way into getting someone to let me share their table/booth. I need to get off my ass and get busy!
9.25.2007 The pencils are done. I have completed drawing a 140 page graphic novel... now I just need to ink it (Ha!) A small rest for the wicked. I think I'll take a few weeks off, veg out, and do a couple of stand-alone art pieces before diving into the laborious task of inking the damn thing.
8.15.2007 I wrote my epitaph today... "That which he did not say in life, was better left unsaid" Blame my co-workers for the morbid conversation which lead to this.
7.22.2007 As a kid I never liked Superman comics. I loved the movies and various cartoon incarnations. Hell, I even dressed up as Superman for Halloween when I was in kindergarten... those who know me personally will get a laugh out of that. But I didn't really start reading comics until around 5th or 6th grade, by which time my pre-teen cynicism was will established and growing at a monstrous rate. By that time, Superman held little interest for me. He was too perfect, too powerful. There was little room for dramatic conflict and emotional growth, in my mind. Obviously, any long time readers could have pointed out several stories to prove me wrong, but at the time, I was more enamored w/ flawed characters like Wolverine or the Punisher. I wasn't even much of a DC fan until later in high school when I started reading Vertigo Books like Hellblazer, or some darker DC Elseworlds like Kingdom Come or Arkham Asylum. In recent years, I've come to enjoy a good Superman story here and there... Birthright by Mark Waid, Superman/Batman by Jeph Loeb, a couple of JLA stories. But I still didn't have love for the character the way I did some of my favorites from back in the day, like Ghost Rider. I had a dream the other night, which has changed my perspective on the character. The details of the dream aren't really relevant. I watched the first part of a simple Superman story play out. I was merely an observer, as if watching a TV show. The point of the dream is that Superman was placed in a situation where his brute strength wouldn't resolve the issue he was facing. In all likelihood, it would make things far worse. What was truly important was what he chose to say and do, how he interacted with people and convinced them to change their behaviors. The original criticism I had of the character is that he was too god-like, but upon waking from this dream, I realized, for all his power, he can not take away our (humanity-at-large's) free will. He can stop bullets, knock nuclear weapons out of the sky, wipe out a dictator's army, move planets... ... but he can't reach into our hearts and souls force us to be kind to each other, to have mercy for each other, to have a genuine desire to ease the suffering of others, to sacrifice personal comfort, greed, and ambition, for the greater good, to embrace those different from us and get them to embrace us... All of the complex social ills that prevent the human race from moving forward as one. ...That is the never ending battle he fights. It made me think of our current diplomatic/military problems in the Middle East. It feels to me that a parallel exists. The United States has the most powerful, technically advanced, well-trained military on earth. Our destructive potential is almost unquatifiable... and yet, with all of our "Superpowers" we still struggle with this conflict. Sure, a few well placed nukes could level Iraq, Iran, Afghanistan, and North Korea... but to what end? To create more enemies elsewhere in the world? To have other nations unite against us, in fear that we would respond with deadly force, toward any nation that disagrees with our ways of thinking? To create an internal police state where people fear to disagree w/ their own government, lest they be subjected to the same silencing? To go back to Superman, imagine not an entire administration, congress, and judicial system dealing with all these issues, but one man. If anything, it's his restraint and judicious use of power that makes him all the more interesting and complex as a character. Furthermore, it's the way others (heroes and villains) respond to his actions. The fact that he can motivate others to try to be better or in less fortunate situations, restrain negative behavior from fear of reprisal I think I like him more now.
6.23.2007 Just finished a short story called The Rage Box. Read it here. Needed a little something to break up the monotony of working on the graphic novel. I gotta tell ya... the short story format is really starting to grow on me. It's a shame most of the stories I've written over the past year are 80+ stories. Well, maybe I can do a little condensing. Trim the fat, as it were. Ok. Tired. Gonna go rest now.
5.04.2007 Lux Aeterna... It's a song from the Soundtrack to the movie REQUIEM FOR A DREAM. I came across it while watching the trailer for the new Danny Boyle film, SUNSHINE (which looks awesome, btw). I found the song incredibly gripping. And then I noticed that it's also being used in the commercials for the last few episodes of the TV show LOST this season. As much as the show has disappointed me this season, I can't seem to stop watching... and it has been picking up a bit. ... but the song led me to composer Clint Mansell. I looked up the song on iTunes and it turns out he did the soundtrack for another Darren Aronofsky film, THE FOUNTAIN, which I loved. It's a challenging, heartbreaking movie, but it's very moving, as well. After sampling a few tracks, I had to buy it. The Soundtrack to THE FOUNTAIN has been in heavy rotation on my iPod, and I think I'm gonna have to get the DVD when it comes out in a few weeks. awesome...
4.02.2007 At latest count, I'm on page 115 of Eye of the Gods... 25 pages to go. I've got a full head of steam built up and working on it nearly every day. Hard to find time to work in some stand alone art pieces here and there, but I've been trying to stuff in a simpler, "Flat color" style, as opposed to a fully rendered, airbrushy kind of thing. I still like that look, but it depends on the piece. More recently, I've been trying and posting both when I really couldn't decide. That's the lovely thing about working digital... the infinite canvas of possibilities. I do miss working traditionally though. At some point later this year (after the book's done) I'm definitely gonna get back into doing some acrylics on canvas. For the first time in a long time, I feel like I'm living in something close to a balanced life. Getting enough exercise/sleep (almost), Getting personal artwork done, Getting the dayjob done, even spending time w/ friends. Let me tell you... living in the balance, It's damn exhausting! Currently listening to: Lounge Fly by STP
3.18.2007 The
age of miracles, assent of man in strident tones. Rubicon by Killing Joke
3.10.2007 Just plugging away... drawing and painting.
2.06.2007 I have reached the 100 page mark on the graphic novel. That's the good news. The bad news it that i've got 40 more before I'm finished PENCILING! Then I've gotta ink the SOB, scan the pages, add tones. In short, my estimated date of spring 2007... yeah, that's not gonna happen. Considering it's taken me almost a year to get this far, I don't expect to start inking until sometime in April. I have gotten faster, though, so who knows? The good news is that since
I've reached this grand benchmark, I can finally go back to doing a
few standalone art pieces. I was pretty good about doing one per month,
but once I hit around page 80, I got obsessed w/ breaking the 100 barrier
and let the other artwork slip.
1.02.2007 How I
wish, how I wish you were here. Running
over the same old ground. - Pink Floyd Making progress feels good... I'm on page 84 of the graphic novel. I still have a significant amount to go, but closing in on the 100 page mark is fueling me. Inking this thing is gonna be a bitch, though. I was hoping to squeeze a few more pages out during the week between X-mas & New Years, but I think the extra rest I got during the time is keeping me on pace. It took the first half of the week I had off to get my mind unwound enough that I could focus on anything for more than 5 minutes at a time. The book will be finished before the end of 2007... This I VOW!!!! Feeling extra creative, as well. Here and there, I've constantly been coming up w/ ideas for new paintings. The only thing missing is my time machine.
CURRENT - 2007 - 2006 - 2005 - 2004 - 2003 - 2002
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