Original Art Sundays # 31: placeholder: In Hand

Next page is done but not scanned. Will post tomorrow or Tuesday.
Just to stay on schedule, here's an inventory piece I've always liked!

 

I've always enjoyed this piece. One of my most successful forays into what I've come to call meditative surrealism.

I used to think that the lady in hand was oblivious to her surroundings, but I've come to think that she accepts them contentedly!

Within 48 hours: A Private Myth, p. 7.

Original Art Sundays, No. 13: so benull...

Well, it was a slow week, art-wise. But I did manage to get some sketching done while my student (!) was taking his exam.
The sad part for me is that while I can do such interesting work with just scrap Bristol from the cutting table and a rather fluid Jetsream brand black pen, so much of the line quality is lost in the scan unless you want a mountain of artifacts. I used to hate that sketchy stuff. Now it fascinates me.
Couple of my favorite experimental things here- the form defined by shadow (beginning of the first tier) and the mood piece drawing on the old saw of doing a continuous line (end of the second tier).
Also, a potential new character sprung out of nowhere- the French skeleton in Tier 1. You can tell he's French by the mustache. I'm sure I've seen something similar somewhere along the way, so I suspect he'll be a spear carrier in a future story.
The alien lovers reaching across space are part of my Poe pastiche. Another one that's been in the works for years.
Finally, a couple pop ins from the happy fish, Maggie's mule, and a VERY loose sketch of The Surrealist Cowgirls holding hands and ready for action!
Eager for 24 hour challenge this coming weekend. This week promises to be quite hectic!

Original Art Sundays, No. 12: Surrealist Cowgirls, p. 11

So ends another Surrealists Cowgirls adventure!
So many things to fix on this page: I left out their vests! Rather crude drawing in Photoshop to throw them on. Drawing with a mouse is like doing fine detail work wearing boxing gloves. it can theoretically be done, but it's not a very good idea most of the time. It worked out OK here.
Also reworked a couple word balloons, along with digitizing most of the text. Dropped a holding line for the support text at the top of panel 2. The flow is much better without it.
Overall, rushed and flawed though it is, I like this story. There's a charm to the characters, even Sparth!
Next: who knows, Highlander? Sorry, segued into a bad movie reference.
I'll either post some recent sketchbook pages next week, or begin a new story. I have a couple things in the hopper, but with 24 Hour Challenge 2 weeks away, I might stall until I have something bigger to post again.

Original Art Sundays, No. 11: Surrealist Cowgirls, p. 10

Boy, the work gets loosey goosey at about 2:45 AM!
Big energy page, very loose, crawling with errors. I fixed a few in Photoshop but was more interested in preserving the energy and attitude of the page.
Addendum: somehow there was all kinds of gunk on the page when it was posted. I've cleaned it up and reposted it, for your reading pleasure!

It begins anew....

My Digital Photo student didn't make it in today, ostensibly due to a job interview, so I am well caught up on grading and such. Having a minute, I contemplated the future of my darlings, The Surrealist Cowgirls.

In my musings, I checked and discovered that the next 24 hour comic challenge is a mere 3 weeks hence!

As I will have just finished posting the current story at the point, perchance I'll participate again. Let's not kid ourselves, of course I'll jump in.

Since I'm not teaching there this semester, I don't know if it would be appropriate for me to attend the MCAD shindig. But I'll go again, and I'll get another odd little story out of it. The Cowgirls, maybe a Speedy Ricuverri story, maybe the Flameheads (no Flameheads stories have been told since 8th grade- yikes!).... There are so many other stories to tell!


Here's a shot the impressively smart and talented Barb Schultz took of me at last year's MCAD event!

Original Art Sundays, No. 10: Surrealist Cowgirls, p. 9

The Bugs Bunny moment. "Of course you know this means war!"
Fixed a few late night errors on this one- corrected some funny-shaped word balloons, popped vest textures into the last panel.
This one uses one of my favorite visual devices, the Holding Arc of Darkness, a spot black that spans multiple panels on a single tier. I don't know if it's his creation, but I first became aware of it in Terry Moore's Strangers In Paradise.

Original Art Sundays, No. 9: Surrealist Cowgirls, p. 8

After midnight on a busy (and mostly successful) day, so technically it's Sunday.
This was a very late-night page, got a burst of energy on this one. I rather like the layout, with the shape of the cave echoing the top of Sparth's head.
Popped some heavy blacks and messed around with fonts more than I should. It works, but you really have to click the thumbnail to see it properly.

Original Art Sundays, No. 8: Surrealist Cowgirls, p. 7

Well, it says p. 8, but it's really p. 7.
Some of the gags area bit on the nose, like the foothills.
Lord Sparth's conflict with Babcock harks back to a story I began ages ago as a solo Babcock story. Its intended destination was a webcomic contest put on by Dark Horse, who I would dearly love to work with on something. I've sent out feelers on editing jobs with them, called a couple times, and despite getting postive feedback on my ideas from the editor at San Diego, had no response to the communication.
Well, these things take time, I suppose.
Anyway, been thinking about the Cowgirls a lot lately, and the fun I could have expanding their world.
possibilities.....

Original Art Sundays, No. 7a: Surrealist Cowgirls, p. 6

Extra post to get back on schedule with the Cowgirls!
This is still part of the 24 hour comics challenge.
Okay, this is the point in the night where I begin to get a bit punchy. Note that the page numbering skips a page.
In naming this post, I'm reminded of the beginning of the Monkees' Daydream Believer, in which Davy asks for a room number and "7A!" is shouted at him.
Just 'cause I'm short, I know.
Needless to say, I found my pen drive at work. The world is safe for more of the Cowgirls- for now.
Once again, blacks honed in Photoshop, some gradients and textures added just for increased weight of the page.

Original Art Sundays #6: Surrealist Cowgirls, p. 5

The story takes shape, as much as a silly story can.
Again, some added Photoshop values just to give the page a bit of weight. Also, I'm leaning more and more to digital lettering. It's somewhat austere compared to hand work, but legibility is the watchword.
Maybe I'll take a page from the book of Waller (and many others) and create a digital font based on my own best characters.
Notice I did not replace the hand lettered caption of Maggie's mule. I like the convention of perpetual joy and innocence in the mule/whale. He has several functions in these stories.
1. he always smiles.
2. he sums up the situation in one word, always a thought. He never speaks. Much like some of the animals in Oz, we don't know if he can or not, but we know he doesn't.
3. when necessary, he saves the day!

Original Art Sundays #5: Surrealist Cowgirls, p. 4

Here we go with another Cowgirls page!
At the time I was doing this one, I'd done three pages in two hours and was starting to feel a bit rushed. No excuses for the work, just reporting in.
The story is a mish-mash of a couple stories I'd been kicking around for years. I really wanted to avoid the "Scooby-Doo panic moment" but there was no way around it. Besides, even though it's a cornball, it's kind of fun.

Original Art Sundays #4: Surrealist Cowgirls, p. 3

Couple quick notes:
Aside from cleanup and some spot values, I am resisting the temptation to rework these.
I am replacing all the non-dialogue text with digital lettering. I had a devil of a time settling on a font. I'm leaning towards Futura right now, but as there is no non-dialogue text on this specific page, it's moot for today!

Original Art Sundays #3: Surrealist Cowgirls, p. 2

The Cowgirls are great fun. I get to draw whatever comes to mind, really let loose, and find out who the girls are as I go. They always surprise me.
My one regret is that I have such a wild time doing them that I rush the art!

Original Art Sundays #2: Surrealist Cowgirls, p. 1

This is page 1 of an 11-page story I did as part of the 24-hour comic challenge this year. I made it for 14 hours.
These are some of my favorite characters. I haven't done any work on them for years. It's long overdue!
Next year, if I do the Challenge again, as I hope to, I won't work full size! Most everyone else in our cadre was working on rather small sheets. Sean Lynch was doing his usual lovely dry brush work.
This work is fast and sloppy, but with the time constraints, all I really cared about was the energy and the wild ride, as subsequent pages will show. I always want to do the best work I can, but my primary focus with this was having a wild, joyful mind come through on the page.
That, and I wanted to get as much done as I could as fast as I could!
next week: page 2!

Trosper!

Time to explain where the title comes from, part one.
This is Trosper, the grinning elephant-pig-child of Jim Woodring. Well, not so grinning in this image. Trust me, he has a great grin.
Woodring delights and terrifies with incredible and sublime dream imagery.
Woodring's also a really sweet guy who loves Fleischer Brothers cartoons!
I was lucky enough to meet him in San Diego last year. As soon as I can get at a scanner, I will post the Trosper sketch he did for me!