 |
| Benicio Del Toro: Digital |
 |
| Natalie Portman: Digital |
 |
| Javier Bardem: Digital |
 |
| Jeff Bridges: Digital |
 |
| Maya Angelou: Digital |
 |
President Obama: Digital
President Obama: Watercolor |
 |
| Muammar Gaddafi: Digital |
 |
| Fast Company Illustration: Digital |
 |
| Fast Company Illustration: Digital |
 |
| Fast Company Illustration: Digital |
 |
|
| Fast Company illustration 'United States of Design': Ink & digital |
|
Big Tree: Watercolor & color pencil
Salty Dog: Watercolor & color pencil
Illustration for Kafka's 'A Country Doctor': Watercolor & color pencil
"Thinking of Home": pencil
 |
| Whoopi Goldberg: Watercolor & color pencil |
George Clooney: Watercolor & color pencil
 |
| Conan O'Brien: pencil |
 |
| Dick Cheney: Pencil & digital |
 |
| Nancy Pelosi: Pencil & digital |
Jesus. I knew you were good, but...I know your more "untrammeled" style from the pieces you had in Graphic Fiction volume 2 and that old Raw...can't remember which number, I, uhm, sold it in a moment of pecuniary desperation...do you still make comics?
ReplyDeleteRespectfully,
Ant
Hello Ant- I'm back to doing comics after a long absence from doing art in general. I became dependent on the steady weekly paycheck and that just about sucked the creativity out of me for 17 years. Even though I continued to draw, there was little produced in terms of work for publication. I'm just finishing a children's comic for Francoise Mouly's Toon Books line and have some other, more personal, ideas which don't yet have a home in print, but may make it onto this blog. I did 5 pages for Hotwire 3 which came out last year, and you can see a video presentation of those strips on Youtube (links found on this blog).
ReplyDeleteI'm on Facebook, and have some sketches posted there, if you want to check them out.
And you? Do you dabble in the inkwell?
Thank you for the comment! I really appreciate it!!!- Jayr
Hah "dabble" would be right! I'm currently drawing a comic for a harm minimisation website to highlight ways in which needle exchanges in England can be improved--it's taking a bloodly long time...drawing comics is hard!...or, at least, it is for me!
ReplyDeleteIt's wicked to hear that you're doing something for the Toon Books imprint, it's obviously aimed at children, then? Is it drawn in a different style to your comics? I ask because I was pretty fucking blown away seeing the illustrations on here--knowing you as "the brisk-sketchy-crosshatching guy" (in my own head!) it was great seeing such a breadth of technique and all these lovely, "soft-edged" crayon drawings were a nice surprise in that context.
I'm going to set up a new Facebook account as I haven't been able to log in to my current one for some unfathomable reason. However when I do I'll check out your sketches ASAP!
I can certainly relate to having the creativity sucked out of me...
Funnily enough I'd ordered Hotwire #3 off of Amazon a few days before I wrote that last comment, completely forgetting that you were in it ( I always check out the pdf's and preview videos for Fanta stuff that I like the sound of); anyway, it came this week so I read your strip first. Good stuff, sir! Is that rapidograph on top of Conte crayon, or something? I fucking love the last page...especially the last two panels, the hunched posture contrasted with the energy of the little boy...brilliant. The story seems a lot more grounded in reality than your earlier stuff (like the strip with the guy in the boat who proceeds to do some sort of surgery on the woman's talking corpse(?)...I think I missed something, there...).
Oh I've gone on too much! Sorry, and sorry for all the questions! Hope it's not too much of an imposition and thank you very much for taking the time to write back to me! It's really appreciated!
Respectfully,
Ant
PS--Do you know that you're featured in Sammy Harkham's new Crickets comic as a: "Good Cartoonist(s) Gone"? He only lists your Raw and Snake Eyes pieces...I suppose he doesn't have the latest Hotwire...
Sorry it's been so long since I responded, Mr: V.
ReplyDeleteYeah...drawing comics is hard. But for people that love it, it's too strong a compulsion to ignore. During the time I was away from it, I always kept ideas tucked away, knowing I would come back. However, a lot of them are no longer relevant to who I am, and therefore have to come up with new stuff. Comics is kind of the way that I see a story. Not being a writer by nature, as I think most cartoonists are, I need the intertwining of words and pictures to express what I can't write.
The stuff in Hotwire was done with a combination of ball point pen, wash and pen & ink. I love the ball point pen for rendering. It has a great range of line quality. A lot of the color work posted here is watercolor and color pencil.
The Toon Book project is for kids, but it wont be out this fall, as we had hoped. The story is under revision and we are hoping to get it out in spring of 2012. It's drawn in a different line style, which is very different from what is on this blog, or my previous strips.
Lately I've been trying to put a little portfolio of of drawings of media personalities ( celebs, politicians, the usual gang of idiots and heroes ) and I've been using the Wacom tablet/photoshop for most of it. I find it astonishing how comfortable I am with the process! The line quality I achieve has so much range! They look like pen and ink sketches, or etchings with drypoint, but they are 100% digital! I've posted a bunch of them on my facebook page, and should probably put them here as well . But because I'm in denial of the power of using the computer for making art ( I love looking at the tactile surface of original art too much ), I've replicated some of these sketches in pen and ink. The result of the pen and ink is not as fresh. There is less fear working on the computer. Everything is easy to fix! There are millions of pros and cons, but one thing that is undeniable is the editing power of the computer.
Anyway, you gotta keep the comics coming, from your end. Good stuff, Mr.V! What's the address to that web comic you mentioned?
Best to ya!
ps- Thanks for the heads up on the Sammy Harham comic. I found a forum or something on the web and was happy to see Mark Beyer, an old long-lost pal from the Raw days, mentioned and posting on there.
Hah now I'm the one responding late! Thanks for the kind words, Mr.P! I'm really intrigued to hear how comfortable you are with the Wacom! I've never experimented with one, myself--I love the "skritch" of the crow-quill and the slick, sproingy responsiveness of a loaded sable brush on Bristol board! BUT I understand the allure of a drawing tablet--as Ken Dahl wrote on a ComicsComics thread, a computer and tablet is basically unlimited drawing supplies. And with technology now it's getting nearly indistinguishable from a drawing made in the "analogue" manner. Sounds like you're getting the most out of it--I guess that's the thing, the fact that that fear, that timidity, is no longer a part of the equation. 'Cause Bristol board is expensive! I'm pretty amazed that your computer work is "fresher" looking--and that's not me trying to cast aspersions on YOU, by any means--more reflecting my scepticism of the technology!
ReplyDeleteI have always drawn but didn't make comics for about 8 years...it's something I've always loved, I got caught at age 3 as I'm sure most people who love the form do. It's kind of heartening to think of people like Baudoin and Darwyn Cook, guys who didn't start making comics until they were in their thirties. Not everyone is an early starter, I reckon!
Wow, ball-point pen! Not summat I could ever imagine myself using but I certainly can't argue with your results, sir! So the Hotwire stuff is grey wash, not colour? I only ask because I've read of cartoonists converting a colour wash to black and white for printing, and vice versa. When I was doing my A-levels I got hooked on using these cheap Staedtler disposable technical pens with non-waterproof ink--my art teacher used to try to get me using dip nibs all the time but I was always : "Yuck, no way!" I would've saved myself A LOT of hassle if I'd taken her advice!
Urm STILL haven't made a new Facebook account...I got a big parcel of comics yesterday--praise e-Bay! The whole Good Girls series by Carol Lay, the first three issues of Graphic Story Monthly, an issue of Prime Cuts,a recent Crumb Self-Loathing Comics, couple of Jeremy Eaton's Whot Nots, couple of Mark Martin's Runaway Comics, Nexus Alien Justice (I love Steve Rude's drawing so much--he's really the one artist from my childhood who I still rabidly follow, even though my tastes changed completely in my late teens--not uncommon I'm sure!!!) and four Detective Comics from '88--I would call it a guilty pleasure but I can't, they're issues I got when they came out, sold when I started reading "alternative" stuff, and have bought again in a nostalgic attempt to recapture the fusty newsprint magic of my innocence! And say what you want but Norm Breyfogle draws kinetic action like a dream! One of the best Bat-artists ever, if you ask me! Oh and two "Poot's" by Walt Holcombe--such a nice bloke and a great cartoonist, I talked to him on facebook quite a bit. He's another guy who needs to make more comics! Last thing he did was a page in that big Kramers Ergot--I think he was quite chuffed when I spotted an homage to Dadd's "Faery Fellers Masterstroke" in it! Any of my purchases familiar to you?!?
Whooo this was a long message! Thanks for your perseverance in reading my mangled prose!
Oh I've scanned the "Good Cartoonists Gone" from Crickets--if I can't post it on this message then I'll put it on my blog under the heading "For Jayr Pulga" if that's okay with you? Just thought you might like to see it, if you haven't already.
So thanks again, Mr. P! All the best to you and yours--
Ant
Very very unik ...
ReplyDelete