Printmaking...

The department head of Printmaking, Rimer Cardillo asked for one of my prints yestarday. As I may never see it again, I made sure to document it. I'm not incredibly attached to my work in printmaking, because right now I'm more focused on the idea than the product. And prints can always been replicated to some degree. Anyway, it was an honor. Here's the print.

In other news, the semester is finally winding down to a pace that is stress free. My one concern now is the summer, and how I will spend it. If I can do three pages a day for Suicide then I should be in good shape.

I've been trying to really spend a lot more time working on detailed backgrounds and better layout. My one problem is that I feel this comic blog would receive more traffic if I uploaded other projects, which quite frankly I'll be too busy to work on. Oh well.

Comic!

I've been tinkering with different papers, pens etc for some time.  And then it occurred to me after reading some Scott Mcloud that I should really be focusing on layout, backgrounds and detail.  A big problem with me is that I'm more concerned with the idea and less concerned with the product.

So while I take a lot from my work, others can't relate as much.

I'm perfectly capable of delivering good detail, it's just a question of pushing myself there.

So yeah.  I made a fun little comic about my girlfriend (and muse) and I.

Yup.

I'm still not 100% satisfied with some of the tools I've been using.  I find the Sakura Pigment marker a little sloppy, and not dark enough.

I actually bought a repitograph but I've been too scared to use it.

Right now frame borders are what's bugging me the most.

I more or less was at one with them by the end of the strip.

I (and others) don't mind the freehand quality of the frames, but some of these are simply not good enough.

Scrutiny!

Just a little something to chew on.

I was advised by Dr. Heinz Insu Fenkl that in terms of publishing my work I must split myself into two sides: the unassailable artist (always determined and confident), and the business side (receptive of criticism and inquisitive).

With my manuscript done, and school presiding over everything I do I find that I am only capable of having the business side, to which, ho boy! I've learned a lot, and I'm definitely fully capable of tapping into that perspective, but it is very tiring and a lot of work.

It's annoying, I really can't do any more work with Suicide (artistically) until summer.

Blah.

Meanwhile my classes are getting on my nerves.

Oh well. Bitch bitch bitch, right?

Here's a print I made:

New Artwork! (SCROLL DOWN FOR 1ST 4 PAGES)

This weekend I go to COMICON in NYC! Mainly I am attending to test the waters in terms of who's publishing what etc, but hopefully I'll get the chance to get some interest in my manuscript. In the meantime I've been working pretty hard readjusting to Bristol board and Sakura pigment markers. Here are the results of today's endeavors, hopefully by the end of summer I will have gotten Scott Mcloud's book and gotten my hands dirty in serious illustration.

The first four pages of "Suicide"

Nothing special

Finished editing the first edition. Now it's disc burning time and off to Kinkos. With nothing else to report I thought I'd include this photo of me, in the process of making the comic. Observe my hair. Observe how awful it looks. Make notes. Get inspired.

First Edition Finished! (yay)

In late September I began work on an intense autobiographical comic, I didn't know it then but that comic would consume my life until November. Right before Thanksgiving I managed to finish it at a whopping 42 pages (a personal record).

Only 8 pages in Richard Gere told me that if I continued the comic I'd be successful. And then again a couple weeks ago Liz Chaflin told me the same thing. Friends, artists and professors have all told me that I must get it published, which is exactly what I intend to do.

First things first is getting it copywritten. So it goes...