Spring update and My Artist Journey, Pt.1
Hey friends and fans! Spring is here and hopefully you’re getting a good taste of the warm weather wherever you are.
The creative projects keep moving forward as we are nearing the halfway point of Hellforce: Golum with page 11 headed to the colorist as we speak. Still on track for a November Kickstarter, but there might be a soft opening in the works (fingers crossed!) so more info on those plans in the coming months.
More immediately are the cons, starting with Silver Age Comics Con in Reno! Bez Krila and I will be there for the fifth year of this amazing weekend full of fans and fun. This will also be the first year we’ll be featuring the first book of the Hellforce series of which Bez created the cover. This is a rare chance to get both of our signatures on this 1st issue book! You can pick up advanced tickets here: https://www.silveragecomiccon.com/tickets
October is a 2-fer with the Scattered Con happening at Comics and Collectibles in Sacramento the 2nd weekend in October and Ohana Con the weekend after at Blue Lake Hotel and Casino! For the Scattered Con, this will be fans only chance this year to get signed books and merch from me, Jason Dube, and James Burton as all three of us are planning on being there for Scattered Comics’ 35th anniversary celebration. As we get closer, I’ll post more updates, information, and links!
Speaking of James, his Kickstarter for Ballad of Nod #3 is about ready to launch! Fey continues her journey to find Patches as she ventures deeper into Nod. Fortunately, she’s not alone, and as the dangers grow more serious, the friendships strengthen as well. Be sure to click on the link and be the first to reserve a copy and back the project! https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/dmginc/the-ballad-of-nod-books-1-3-rage-falls
My Artist Journey, Part 1
I have recently—and quietly—started getting back in to graphic art projects alongside my writing, and thought this would be a good time to reflect on my journey so far, why I stopped drawing, and why I’ve rediscovered it as well as the struggles and joys of relearning the craft.
As much as I enjoyed my four years at Colfax High School, I had a real hard time figuring out what elective I wanted to take. We did this Freshman Elective cycle thing where we tried out an elective for several weeks and then moved on to a different one. Metal shop, horticulture, woodshop, photography—all just didn’t feel right. So I went with the one that seemed it was going to be the least daunting--beginning drafting and art with Mr. Coverston.
We would begin the day with quarter sheet of paper and a drafting pencil. We would have to copy down the quote on the chalk board onto our sheet of paper utilizing the standard drafting font. Mr. Coverston would the collect these pages and grade them on their accuracy, spacing, consistent lettering, etc. We’d get these returned to our folders at the end of the week. Next, we work through some of the exercises in Drawing on the Right Side of the brain by Betty Edwards. This was the version I had as a student:
I gotta say—this book was revolutionary for me. I had never seen art or experienced it in such a way as was presented in this book. It was truly eye opening. My works were far from the best in the class, but I felt free. Shading, using smudge sticks, working on cross-hatching, pen, pencils—all of these were amazing tools at my disposal. Working on Bristol board and velum paper were open fields to play. The period went by too fast.
As the high school years flew by, I met some incredible artists who inspired me to do better in my colored pencil and pen and ink mediums. The advanced drawing class was probably the most gifted and talented I had ever experienced as a student—high school or college. And the state noticed as well. The state fair used to have a category called Industrial Arts with several sub-categories—wood, metal, drawing. During my junior year, a lot of us entered the contest, and I’ll never forget going to the fair making a beeline to the exposition buildings and finding my work hanging alongside all of the other winners—all my fellow classmates—claiming all awards—1st through Honorable Mention. It was a proud day to be a Colfax High School art student.
An important community project was the annual Colfax High School calendar which served as a fundraiser for the art and drafting classes. Each year, we’d comb through old black-and-white photos of the various foothill communities, from Auburn to Gold Run, and we would draw and them with 15 or so making it to the annual calendar. I had about three make into my senior year calendar, and even had a few show up after I graduated! For that reason, I received a senior award for Production Illustration. Gotta say I was proud but really scared standing in front of my peers to receive the certificate!
So that the 1st part of my art journey, and you know how somethings don’t quite work out? Yeah, that’s part 2…to be continued!