No real stories. Just pages 12 and 13: I like page 13. It’s simple, fairly direct, and certainly one of the more spacious pages. On a related note, I’ve decided to forego the weekly updates and just do a “Payday Progress” blog. These will, of course, be specific to that project.
I’m pretty sure it was my age-out year of drum corps. I was walking across the gym at our housing site with my instructor/mentor/friend/boss, talking about… drums, probably… and we passed by one of my fellow snare players ramming beats on his pad. We asked him what he was doing and he said he was working on his chops. In response I said, for the first time, “Remember: technique first, chops second.” Technique, technique, technique. It’s … Read More
Late post again. While I am making progress on the graphic novel, it’s slow going. For one, I’m starting to nitpick over correctness, especially in perspective. Second, I’m in the middle of scene where character development via exposition is taking place. This is always an interesting thing for me to draw because it challenges me to come up with ways to convey conversation in a visually impacting manner. I have a few more pages left of … Read More
“With great power there must also come great responsibility.” -Ben Parker, from the pages of Amazing Fantasy 15 That’s right. I made a Spider-Man reference. Because it’s pertinent. You, the drummer, are the final say when you perform with an ensemble. You are the final, deciding factor in how a piece feels, how comes across stylistically, how the tempo moves forward. That is great power you wield, power to either be abused or to use wisely. … Read More
Missed Friday’s post again. Things are going well with the work on my graphic novel, Payday, though it’s slow-going. Not because I’m not moving along. There are some things I’m drawing that do take some time, but there are two factors that are impeding faster progress. One being my schedule. I draw for an hour and change every weekday morning, and sometimes on the weekend, depending on what other projects I want to work on. The … Read More
Last year, after a drumline rehearsal, one of the students was sitting on the floor practicing a piece of music. She wanted to audition for a snare spot pretty badly and her chances were incredibly slim. My friend, the caption head of this particular drumline, told her she basically had one chance to show him that she was worth giving a spot. She’d asked me if I could help her after rehearsal sometime, so there I … Read More
I’ve managed to stick to my morning drawing schedule (with the exception of yesterday, but there were good reasons), which I’m proud of. However, this Friday-update thing is, I suppose, too relaxed. I did a good job keeping up when it was every day, but with so much time in between I’ve tended to miss my Friday posts. In any case, here are three penciled pages from Payday (click on the thumbnails to view “full” size”). … Read More
I’m sure that most of us have read or listened to interviews with drummers that talk about how they used to “woodshed” for 8 hours a day, everyday. They loved the craft so much, and wanted to be so good, that they devoted themselves to such an intense practice schedule. Good for them, I say. However, I’m willing to bet that most of us can’t make that claim. Not that we don’t love the craft, and … Read More
For years now, I have wanted to write a book on drumming. I have, in fact, started one and it has been in the process of being written for, oh… I have no idea how long. At least since 2002. The problem is, I continued to learn new things since I started jotting down notes that it’s hard for me to say, “Yup, this should be included in the book.” And every time I revisit the … Read More
If you’re visiting the site during my redesign and you’ve come across weird stuff (I know I have), thanks for putting up with it. We’re almost done here. In fact, the last thing I have left to do is to create a stylesheet for IE users (and if there are any out there… SHAME on you! You should be using Firefox or Safari!). I’ve spent pretty much all night Friday and most of Saturday working on … Read More
I’m only on page 9, but that’s okay – I spent much of my time yesterday getting references for a panel I needed to fill in on a previous page. And boy, do I feel bad. I don’t mind tracing. It’s a good way to learn, and I often trace my own work when I’m drawing similar panels. But this time, I traced part of a photograph: the back right of a car. And for some … Read More
Like an idiot, I missed my scheduled posting last Friday. I fail. I did, however, maintain my comics schedule. In fact, as of today, I have 7 pages penciled, with the exception of a few panels that either need references or other special handling. In the coming week or so I will be posting some of the more complete pencils. So far, I’m having a lot of fun drawing, even though I have to get up … Read More
As part of my post-rehab regimen, I’m updating my comics progress on a weekly basis. Fridays will be post days, though that doesn’t mean I can’t post during the week if I have something to share. I had a good week. I have four pages almost completely penciled; I say almost because there are a couple things that didn’t get completed: things that need referencing, detail, or some other work. But, in all, four pages have … Read More
As I was drawing a page today, I was reminded about some thoughts I’ve had about timing in comics. I’ve had these ideas for a while and always meant to write them out, and I guess now is as good a time as any. I was looking at the page and on it I have a number of repeating images, a technique that is used to imply a slow passage of time. I also remembered that … Read More
I’ve been thinking about this for a while. I walked into my friend’s apartment the other day. He wasn’t quite ready to go out just yet, so I sat in the lounger to wait. I looked over to my left and saw the bookshelf, which contained, of course, many, many books. I immediately got up to see what he and his roommate were reading, had read, referenced, or had referenced. In other words, I got up … Read More
It’s 1:11 AM, Saturday morning. I did my rehab time on Friday morning like I was supposed to, but didn’t have time to post about it all day. For my last day of rehab, I started sketching out panels for my graphic novel project. A couple years ago, I played around with the idea of not scripting the story but instead sketching in a sketch book key panels I knew I wanted to include with the … Read More
I almost didn’t make rehab today. But here’s what I churned out about an hour-and-a-half ago: I didn’t get to draw this morning because I had to report to jury duty. Luckily, I don’t have to report back, which means my morning schedule can stay intact for now. Most of the sketches above were done using some reference material I have stashed away in a pull file. I was looking for faces I could use as … Read More
A new sketch! It’s been awhile since I posted a drawing. This is a sketch of the main character for the graphic novel I’m going to get my ass in gear for. I also started working on his wife. They’re not finalized by any means; I want to pull some references before I decide on the final look. But, once I get the look of each character down – and there are really only three main … Read More
More outlining today. I edited the graphic novel project I’m selecting to do and wrote a few more strips. Then I went to work and thought about things. Months ago I stated how important graphic novels were to me. And they still are. But I made this statement with the intention of not doing a web strip as I thought it would get in the way of completing a graphic novel. I really do want to … Read More
So far, the plan is that this be my last week of rehab and next week I’ll continue the same schedule sans the daily documentation. I did some more outlining today. I wanted to be as prepared as possible to work on the projects I’ve selected. There’s some apprehension, sure, but I can’t my rehabilitation, nor my need to do comics, go by the wayside. My dilemma over the weekend was whether or not to start … Read More
