Draw like the pros!

This video shows the drawing technique of French comics artist (though I suppose that'd be BD artist, since he's French) Emmanual Guibert. This is the technique he used on his forthcoming English-language comic, Alan's War.

This video has been making the rounds on a lot of comics blogs, but maybe you don't read a lot of comics blogs, right? The video is just a bout a minute long, and it's fairly mind blowing. Artists, and the methods they use to achieve the effects they desire, really can be magical. Enjoy.

Activity on Gear School blog

This is just to say: Nuria has made a couple of posts on the gearschool.net site, in case you're interested. Both contain a piece of art so, you know, that's cool. You should check 'em out. Now that she and Sergio are in full swing on the production of the next book, there should be more activity there.

Thank you. That is all.

You can say that again...

Whether you are a Republican or Democrat, this little video might prove instructive. How many new ideas were presented in the debates? Not many, apparently. Via one of my new on-line obsessions, 236.com, I give you Synchronized Presidential Debating:

Get the latest news satire and funny videos at 236.com.

A half-birthday is so a thing...

This is just to say: Oscar turned six months old today! He's been outside the womb and in our lives for SIX MONTHS. Who'd believe it?

I have to say this. Prior to having Oscar, I was pretty ambivalent about having offspring. Umm... Ambivalent to hostile, actually. I also never wanted to get married, either. Then I met Melissa, and wanted nothing but to get married. And then I wanted to have a wee one with her, and that led to Oscar. I could never have imagined the rush of love I feel for him, and for the life he's given me. I've been trying to think lately exactly what this feeling is, and the closest I've been able to come to it is this: I feel like a broken vessel, unable to contain all of the joy within me. Everthing that I used to do for selfish reason (i.e., achieve success in comics; move on to other, more lucrative forms of writing; travel), I now either no longer want to do, or I want to do them, but only because it means that it will lead to greater security for my family. I believe that it would be impossible to explain to someone without children what this feels like.

So, happy half-birthday, little Mister. I can't wait to see all the things we can accomplish.

More photos

As promised, I've uploaded more photos to our flickr page. That brings us up to date photo-wise.

Next project: videos!

The first line of defense

This is the kind of thing we get up to 'round these parts. When the sun becomes distant and weak, and the temperature begins to drop past the point that will support human life, we build honking great air canons that fire pumpkins with enough velocity to destroy derelict automobiles. We are simple folk. With access to air compressors and orange squash.

This video comes from the Statesman Journal, the paper for which my wife works. It was produced by Chris Hagan. I dare you to watch it and not smile.

I wanted to embed the video here, but the Statesman's embed code is broken beyond my ability to fix it. Instead I will direct you to the video on their site and drive up their hit count.

Photos, finally

After much too long, I've finally uploaded new photos to our flickr page. 58 new photos, to be exact. And that only takes us through the middle of September or so. More photos will be posted soon.

More auction items

I belong to a group called "Comics Industry for Obama." I think the name says it all. And if you are not of the voting-for-Obama persuasion, then I hope we can still be friends. If you share my preference for president, then I would like to direct your attention to an auction that the group is holding as a fund-raiser, all proceeds going directly to the Obama campaign. Among the items up for auction, which include pieces of original art by such comics greats as Mike Mignola, is a set of books signed by yours truly. Please check it out.

And a reminder that I still have a set of books up for auction by Girl-wonder.org. You should take a look at that auction as well.

A milestone?

Did anyone notice that that last entry was my 200th?

Who says I can't commit to anything?

Me @ the Village

"I'm a man, not a number!"

Some time ago, I answered twenty questions for the Comics Village web site. Those questions and responses are now up. I join fairly illustrious company: Ian Gibson, Dave Sim, and Bryan Talbot, among many others, have all answered questions. There's also a lot of other great content up there for the comics fans. If you've never visited the site, I'd recommend you remedy that.

Auction action

Mr. Todd Demong and I gave several items to Girl-wonder.org to help them in their efforts to raise money. Todd contributed a page of art and a signed copy of the book, and I gave a signed set of all my books. If you'd like to look at these items or learn more about the auction, please just go here. Girl-wonder is a great organization and they could use your help.

I even have a title in mind

Between 1998 and 2003, my family and I went through what I guess could be called a tragedy. I don't really talk about this. Even those folks who are closest to me probably don't know the whole story. One thing I've never thought about is exploiting the story professionally. So, I was very surprised when I found myself wondering yesterday what the story would look like as a comics memoir.

I tried to ignore it for a while, but even today, I find myself thinking about the structure of the tale. And I've been thinking about it in those terms: a tale. What would need to be revealed first, second, so on.

In comics, memoirs like these are often the purview of the writer/artist. I'm thinking about Fun Home by Alison Bechdel and Epilepsy by David B. I am not an artist of course, but that would be an interesting problem, wouldn't it? Attracting an artist to the project who would fit visually. What exactly would be in the project that they would find attractive?

I think as far as publishing goes, that the project would be sort of a no-brainer. It seems like exactly the kind of projects that large publishers are looking for. Thinking about it in these terms makes me feel a little slimy. How many times have I looked at an ad for a new memoir and said, sarcastically, "Boy, I wish I'd experienced some horrible tragedy so that I could get a book deal." Now that I'm thinking about it seriously, I feel like a hypocrite. Of course, I can't help but think about the commercial potential of any project I might consider. It's second nature to me by now.

So, I suppose, I have to consider why it is I want to work on this project. It is not simply to have a commercial project (believe it or not, it's never only that). I've found myself thinking about this time in my life more and more lately. It almost feels like something that needs to be exorcised. But that's not right either. It's an episode that has certain power over me, mostly because I haven't examined it closely. Perhaps, once I have looked closely at it from all sides, it will no longer have a hold over me.

And of course, there are more feelings in play than just mine. My brothers, my sister, at least one ex-girlfriend, inlaws. I'd need to speak with all of them about this, right? They were all involved and will be affected if a book about this period comes out. How does one handle that?

There's a lot here I need to think about. And I few people with whom I should talk. More later, I promise.