what the comic books???

----questionnaire for graphic novel appreciation class i'm taking at BYU-----

1. Outside of school and your comics, have you written any fiction or non-fiction? Do you like to read prose fiction or non-fiction?

I've written down lots of ideas/concepts for fiction... maybe a little bit of non-fiction. I'd have to look, but it’s mostly fiction.

Prose fiction is usually where it's at for me, but I've read some pretty sweet non-fiction as well.

2. Would you say you have a good awareness of the history of American comics?

Sort of. I know a few of the major players, and am somewhat familiar with style changes and history, but when it comes down to it - not really.

3. Off the top of your head, could you name 5 artists who worked in comics before 1980? Do you have a favorite?

I could probably, but it’s kinda hard... I’m quite partial to Winsor McKay(sp?) only because I played the NES videogame based on his comic growing up (Little Nemo: Dream Master)

4. Could you name 5 artists who work or worked in newspaper comics?

Nope, but I could totally name a bunch of newspaper comics I like.

5. Could you name any contemporary cartoonists from Europe? Do you have a favorite?

A few. Fabian Schlaga is my favorite.. he’s mostly been a colorist on more indie-type stuff, but he’s one of my favorites.

6. Could you name any contemporary manga artists from Japan? Do you have a favorite?

Totally can. My favorite at the moment is between Eichira Oda and Masashi Kishimoto.. (this is excluding Akira Toriyama, even though I think he’s recently done some work)

7. Do you read European comics?

Mmmmm... not really. I know OF European comics, and comic people who are European, and am familiar with some of their work, but don't really read any of it. Sorry European comics.

8. Do you read any manga?

I used too... I’ve been meaning to catch up on Naruto for about a year.

9. Do you regularly draw in a sketchbook or write in a journal?

Yes on the sketchbook, no on the journal. I mostly just take quick notes off and on instead, but I guess that still counts as a journal… so yes on that too, sorta.

10. Would you say you have a good working ability to drawing with brush and ink? If so, how long have you used a brush? What types?

I would. I started playing with watercolors in high school, and once I came to BYU I was able to experiment with bristle and synthetic brushes for oil, acrylic, and gouache. I’ve started to experiment more with niji, and pentel brush pens just because they seem more practical to me.

11. Which magazines or websites do you regularly read in order to get comics news?

Word of finger from professionals I blog-stalk, and follow through deviantart.

12. Which magazines or websites do you regularly read in order to get news of current events?

I don't. Occasionally I'll run into current events accidentally through hap-hazard internet surfing. Sometimes I'll feel guilty about how ignorant I am of current events, and will then browse the links provided by my firefox internet browser.

13. Do you go to comic book conventions or festivals? If so--which ones?

Nope. I was planning to go to the San Diego comic con not too long ago, but I let some things (school) get in the way.

14. Have you ever sat through a portfolio review with a professional editor? If so, could you briefly sum up their message for you?

I’m pretty sure I haven’t.

15. Have you ever had your work published? If so, where?

Yes. A highschool newspaper, The Daily Chronicle, Deadmen Tell No Tales (issue3,) Forever Famicom album cover. I think that’s it.

16. How long have you been drawing?

Since before I started kindergarten.

17. Do you like to go to museums? Do you have any favorite "fine" artists, either living or dead? Film directors?

I like going to cool museums... Can’t think of any “fine” artists off the top of my head that I’m really into, but I definitely appreciate cool fine art when I see it. Favorite film directors = Stephen Chow, Guy Ritchie, Guillermo del Toro, and a few others I can’t think of at the moment.

18. Would you think it could be useful or beneficial to watch a film or films as a group and discuss it afterwards as it may relate to comics? Do you have a recommendation for such a film?

I would. Comics influence movies, movies influence comics. It makes sense. I also think there's a lot of similar story telling devices they both share. I don’t have any specific recommendations, but it might be interesting to watch clips of films that were based on comics and analyze if/why they were successful or not.

19. What ethnographic background do you have and how confident are you in acting as an expert of resource of that background?

I grew up in a predominantly white suburban residential area in South Jordan, Utah, so I like to think I’m somewhat of an expert on that kind of background. I also served a mission in the north of France and southern Belgium, so I’m a little familiar with the cultures going on over there among other things.

20. What comic or book or movie have you read/seen at least 5 times? And 10 times?

5 = (comic) Sharknife, Peng! (book)Maniac Magee (movie)Scott Pilgrim, Lord of the Rings trilogy, Kung Fu Panda, Time Bandits, Goonies, The Last Starfighter, the first live-action ninja turtle’s movie, Home Alone… I think I’ll stop there.

10=(comic) Dragonball, Naruto, Hellboy (book)ummm… don’t think I’ve got any (movie)ummm… probably Monty Python and the Holy Grail (after so many sleepovers, it adds up), and maybe Shaolin Soccer.

I drew JACK (as in "and the Beanstalk")

i should have drawn a picture of Jack squatting, just as a special tribute for that idiom.. but i digress.

HERE is a bunch of concept art i've been doing in a sweet class, taught by the one and only Jake Parker (who also happens to be THE man, and all around awesome drawer of stuff) where we're basically redesigning Jack and The Beanstalk. We have a huge list of characters, props, environments, story moments and stuff that we choose from, and take them all through quick passes to final.

so WATCH as the quality of these designs go from better to worse, as i am posting them grouped, but in reverse chronological order. lots of fun.

first up, Jack. prop is one of the Giant's butter-knives i thought would be cool for him to use as a huge sword.

just figuring out some props to go with Jack





The Giant






The Village (jack's house is WAY in the back on the hill as it starts to slope down)



Jack about to climb the beanstalk, leaving home for the first time




Jack's House






The Beanstalk (missing a few steps on this one... I'll scan them in and update later)



Jack's room




The Cow(will update steps leading up to cow later..)

more stuffs

long time no post. been drawing lots and stuff though. promise.
in no particular order, here are some pictures - most of which are based on true events that have actually happened in real life. really.

yes. i actually road a gorilla, and his name is solomon. unfortunately in real life, solomon is currently impaled by a long metal poll that keeps him forever moving in a counter-clockwise circle along with other helpless and equally impaled creatures from the animal kingdom.

the tentacles were originally going to be arrows... somehow, something went horribly awesome.

i saw two people on a scooter once. it sort of looked like this.

i saw somebody underneath a tree once. i also so a cooler looking tree earlier that day, and put them under that one instead

study of some photograph of a homeless dude. had very intense eyes.

doodle...

went to this concert outside once.. apparently not finished yet.

jack and the bean stalk , in a post-post apocalyptic setting.

final painted result of one of the funnest collaborations/silhouette games i've ever played in my entire life.

for character design class - all i had to work from was the description of him being an ex-sailor, having a peg leg, pale blue eyes, a round bronze face, and what hair he had left was scraggly or something like that. i took a few liberties with the rest of it.

unfinished painting about time travel from a class i had last semester.

finished painting of the unfinished one, from a class i had last semester.

also, this guy is still making awesome music with movies and stuff. you should probably check it out.

also, life is GOOD!!! you should probably check that out too if you haven't. more stuffs later.

autumn's evening breeze...

sooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo...... it's been a couple months.
time for pictures!!


(above) picture was an assignment/attempt to re-do/awesome-ify an OLD picture (below) done my last year in highschool?? still got some things to add in there, but i think it's going somewhere.. heh. really just trying to get the feeling of adventure there and stuff.. hope to get a lot more done on this before we turn EVERYTHING in.
colored pencils and gouache.. i didn't even know what gouache WAS back then, but i still tried to use it. haha..


got to copy something awesome for an assignment. i picked this. learned some cool stuff. copying is cool like that sometimes.

got to try and copy somebody's style on this assignment. i picked this guy. learned some cool stuff. copying apparently is still cool like that, sometimes.

ummmmmm..... what else.
oh yeah, leaves. LEAVES!!!! man. autumn has got to be my FAVORITE season of all time.. lots of mixed memories and nostalgia coming back and blowing by... like i'm being reminded of a billion significant things that have happened in my life at once, and not being able to notice any specific thing at all, really. kinda like these awesome LEAVES!!! heh. really though, been feeling some awesome positive vibes for the past little bit that i can't quite figure out... not complaining though. just happy.

FINAL RAWWWK!!!

final colored/painted version of the stuff on the previous post. originally this dude was gonna be a janitor when i started, but quickly transformed into what you see before you now.

also.. i was thinking of having somebody do a stage-dive in the back where all the light is, but make it look like they're ascending towards the heavens... though that seems so unnecessarily epic and AWESOME, that i may just do a separate painting for that. hahah.. so epic.

also.. i found a ten dollar bill on the ground in a parking lot a couple days ago, and am now just barely coming off of the good luck high. i was having such a lucky day, that by the time i picked up the ten dollar bill i was almost worried/confused how everything was going so well. i literally just stood there in the parking lot for about 5 minutes, just waiting for a voice of reason to come and explain everything to me. . . heh.

also.. K-Murdock and Mega-Ran released another goodie, to thank all the peeps who successfully helped destroy the goal on their epic kickstarter campaign they did this track aptly titled "thank you for listening." samples from Mario 3 - hence my little spin off the title screen for the single's cover art. love this - very chill vibe, yet emotionally penetrating at the same time. check it out.

RAWK!!!

RAWK!!!

had to paint this guy using only one color.. fun little exercise in the digital painting class i'm taking right one. black and white version below, obviously - unless you're absolutely blind to all color, then the illusion is lost, and they should both look exactly the same.

been experimenting with not relying so much on lines to describe form, etc. instead of the usual stuff i love to do. more of both to come.

WHAT THE DUCK!?

slow day at work.. started doodling to keep the sanity/not fall asleep. couple days later, enter THE DUCKDRAGON.

THE DUCKDRAGON feeds exclusively on ducks during migrational periods.
the ducks' real reason for the flying-v formation is that it's a defensive formation designed specifically to give them the best chance at survival vs. THE DUCKDRAGON. that is all we know so far.

ENGL 43

this was for the cover of an english course based on the book "Enchantress of the Stars" which turned out to have a pretty cool concept that helps you better perceive time and space and all that. i should read real books more often. . . ...

ICE COAT... GUY.

another random thing started at work just to fight off sleep, and keep the motivational juices flowing.. to me, little dude sorta looks like a weird mix between a black mage, an eskimo, and kenny.

your mom.

this was for some random... Scott Pilgrim drawing contest. the comic had a lot of 'your mom' jokes in it, so i thought i'd do one of my own. Mom - if you're reading this, this totally isn't you. promise.
also. The MOVIE was AWESOME.

summary (since i don't feel i need to bore you with every detail of my life at this point..) of random thoughts/observations over the past couple months since the last post, that i can remember off the top of the headt:

-over the summer, i did a lot of walking around outside during the day. listening to music and drawing stuff while outside = very relaxing. may do it some more.

-saw a little bird with a messed up wing. i only noticed because it let me get so close to it without flying away... then i realized it couldn't fly at all. the same day i was walking across a bridge and saw a homeless dude with his shirt off, chilling underneath a huge tree who's branches and leaves almost draped down over him like a huge curtain... made me think about the bird. made me think about what our 'wings' could be, and how messing those up can get us into some really unnatural situations.

-the ability to 'let go' of something good suggests that both 'good' and bad are moving. to hold on to any good thing in your life simply means to move with it and accept the direction it is moving.

-it's almost ridiculous how much music is really out there, is being made, and will be made.. it's impossible to find all of the good music out there, and not worth the effort to try. however, if you don't make any effort to pursue any good music - you wont have any. support good music and it will support you.

other random things worthy of note:
-went to a really cool costume party, and we all played glow-in-the-dark wiffle ball.
-Mario was on my team
-saw a car half-way in an apartment building/half-way out (they drove INTO the building on accident)
-someone was actually HIT BY THE CAR!! imagine that. you're just relaxing... doing stuff in your house, where you LIVE... and then suddenly... YOU GET HIT BY A CAR... crazy. sorta reminded me of Donnie Darko, except i'm not so sure the person who was hit by the car was hit by choice, resulting in the preservation and stability of the world in which we live.. or something like that.

alright. that's about it for now..
last thing. i was driving home sorta late a few nights ago, and caught the last minute or so of this song on the radio... loved the mood/lyrics.. all that. kinda funny how you can never really choose the exact time or source of inspiration, but it hit me. a nice extra little shove in a positive direction.