APE: Alternative Press Expo

Attended the Alternative Press Expo for the first time on Saturday and had a grand time. The event highlights those in the indie press industry, as well as independent creators and bigwigs like Fantagraphics, Top Shelf and 4D Entertainment.

I met every creator that I really liked and now have some great autographed books. With the exception of Keith Knight and Andy Ristaino, all of these folks started out as web cartoonists and either published their own books themselves, or in the case of Kate Beaton, got picked up by a major publisher.

Best of all, the event was small enough to get around fairly easily but large enough to not get bored. And they had the typical comic convention things - how to get started, learning the craft, etc. etc. which I skipped since drawing comics is not my thing but it's good that those events are around for the folks who like them.

And now for the calvacade of photos:


Obligatory crowd shot. The convention center was much bigger. Best shot I could get.



Ben Costa, Xeric winner and author of Shi Long Pang The Wandering Shaolin Monk.



Kory Bing of Skin Deep fame wearing her super cool Indiana Jones-esque hat.



Keith Knight of The K Chronicles, Th(ink) and The Knight Life. I got a book and a free cookie.



Academy of Art University's very own Kevin the Lab Tech of "Funky Bat" illustration.


The one and only Jeff Schuetze of the semi-autobiographical jefbot. Cool thing about Jeff, his card swiper wasn't working so he sold me the book for the $16 in cash I had - $4 off the cover price. Thanks Jeff!



My friend Dan of Lamp Post Inc. and his comic Chelsea.



The fabulous Kate Beaton of Hark! A Vagrant.



Lead character designer Andy Ristaino of Adventure Time with one of his own creations.


And what con would be complete without cosplayers? Especially Dr. Venture and Dr. Girlfriend.

AAU Animation Drawing Workshop

Every Friday the Animation Department hosts a workshop for students where they can practice their life drawing skills. More importantly, the model serves as a template for your own characters. Right now I am improving my gesture skills but soon I want to start incorporating my own characters into the poses. Below are some 2 - 5 minute sketches from the past two weeks done on 18 x 24 drawing paper with Col-erase pencils:

Thoughts on Animation I

I am currently taking Traditional Animation I and while I am enjoying that class it is kicking my butt. I knew that animation would be difficult, what I did not anticipate was how much timing and spacing played into animation. Things that vaguely made sense in books are beginning to come into sharper focus, but I admit that 1s and 2s, anticipating, drag, timing, spacing and the like can be quite confusing. Add to this watching the work of some of my peers, which is downright phenomenal in some cases and not so great in others.

What I constantly remind myself is that:

a) Everyone is in a different place

b) I am there to learn. If I already knew this stuff I would already have a job.

It is evident that everyone is in a different place. Some people come from an animation background and have a better understanding of the principles. Then there are people like me who gained everything they know from watching DVDs and reading books. Fortunately, this class can be the great equalizer. Even things that seem outstanding are picked apart by our professor - he sees the issues we do not. It's amazing what he is able to see that we miss.

Interesting enough, the simplest animation tends to be the best. By simple I mean the projects that forgo fancy hair, clothes, eye blinks etc. and focus solely on movement. My goal with my project was to accomplish both. I created a pretty simple character - basically a stick figure with mutton chops and a turtleneck - and am trying to get him to move in a way that does not resemble animated grated cheese. I've found that for every smooth movement there are quite a few that appear jerky.

Sometimes the animation is pretty good. Other times it's irritating, other times disappointing, especially when my aspirations are so high. Growing up with Disney, Warner Bros. and Don Bluth cartoons sets the bar pretty high. Now when I watch cartoons I am simply in awe. Hair blowing in the wind! Delay with movement of clothes. Multiple characters interacting with each other!

Weirdly enough, half the time I feel like I am not competing with my peers but people who already have jobs in the industry, aka people who know what they are doing. What gives me hope is that the people I admire started animating before I was born, so by the time I am their age I will be much better than I am now.

Overall though I am going to continue to grind my way through the process until I have something I can truly be proud of. Then I will continue to animate until I have something else. Then one day I can look at my first animation tests, have a good laugh and continue working on other projects. I will say this though - I am definitely not bored.

An Evening with Craig Thompson

San Francisco's very own Cartoon Art Museum celebrated the release of Craig Thompson's latest graphic novel "Habibi" this evening at 7 pm. It was a delightful showcase of Thompson's artistic endeavors as well as an in depth look at how the artist created the 600 + page tome. That's right folks - 600 pages of gorgeous art. Not only is the line work beautiful but Thompson was open and honest about feelings of doubt, writer's block, and how he persevered through the seven year undertaking.

After describing the process and themes of the book, he answered a generous helping of questions from the attentive crowd of all ages, ranging from who inspired him to how the Islamic themes in the book have influenced his own perception of the world and its' peoples. He noted that while he understood a great deal about Christianity, having grown up in that environment, he knew little about Islam and Muslims before starting his epic research quest (something he likened to procrastination). As he worked on the book, he became acquainted with many Muslims who later became close friends. They offered him advice as well as helped him translate many of the passages in the graphic novel from English to Arabic. Thompson also studied the Koran in English, and the novel is filled with passages relating stores such as the tale of Abraham's sons Isaac and Ishmael.

Currently I am on page 20 of his work and I am thoroughly enjoying every bit, from the lavish ink detail to discovering the deeper meaning of the stories being told. And as a fan of "Blankets," one of my all-time favorite novels, graphic or otherwise, it was quite exciting to meet Thompson in person. I found that comic book artists in particular are fascinating people, and it is refreshing to know that there are individuals out there who still love using pen and ink to create. Computers are wonderful devices, but they cannot replace the tactile beauty of watching pigment soak into a page. Praise also goes to the Museum for showcasing a truly talented artists. The general public often thinks of men in tights whenever comics are mentioned. Superheroes are awesome and no one compares to Spider-Man, however there is more to this art form than caped crusaders, and I salute an institution that widens the eyes of the public.

Thompson is an honored guest at the Alternative Press Expo this year, so if you were not able to attend the Cartoon Art Museum's lecture, it is worth your time to visit APE and hear more about Thompson's artistic process and purchase a few books as well.

Clothed Figure Drawing - John Dillinger

Clothed figure drawing today. Got one good drawing out of it. This is the John Dillinger pose. Very 1930s gangster.

Masters Portrait Assignment

For my head drawing class we chose a Master artist and recreated their work on 18 x 24 paper using a material of our choice.

For my project I chose artist Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio. The portrait is the head of Judith from Judith Beheading Holofernes which is on display at the Galleria Nazionale d'Arte Antica in Rome. I particularly like her expression of concern and disgust. Here is the portrait created by Caravaggio:



Here is my portrait, created with General's charcoal pencils HB, 2B, and 4B:



As you can see from my portrait and the real thing, I elongated her face and need to fix the shadow on the right side of her head. Also the tilt of her face is not quite right. I am quite pleased with my progress and had a fun time working on this assignment. Our next Masters project is due in two weeks and I will post that one as well.

Dr. Sketchy's

I am greatly excited that there is a Dr. Sketchy's right here in downtown San Francisco. Summer fun!

Clothed Figure Drawing

Here are some fun drawings from last week's clothed figure drawing class. Gotta love the costumes.

BART Drawings

Here are some people that I drew while I was on BART. Hoorah for public transportation.

FA 602 Head Drawing Class

These are some drawings of various heads that I did in Han's FA 602 Head Drawing class here at the Academy. I highly recommend his class - he's an excellent teacher, very patience, and he gives great tips on how to draw a human head.

I am very pleased with the results. This is the first time that I have ever had to focus on drawing the head on life models. The head is difficult for me to draw, so I always saved it for last, and as a result the face look the way that the model actually looked in real life. The faces below are not exact but you could at least
tell that I was trying to capture the essence of the person.

I firmly believe that anyone who wants to master art should take a class. I know there are a lot of so-called self-taught people out there, but everyone I've ever admired or met in person has had at least one teacher, as well as having spent hours practicing and reading books. I have advanced more in the past month than in the past year working solely alone. You improve not only by listening to the teacher but also seeing the work of other students. In this class we are not only learning about proportion and perspective but also how to properly capture light, which is also new to me. So by the end of class I will have a better understanding of how to apply value.

All of the drawings are done on 60 lbs. drawing paper using HB and 2B General's Charcoal Pencils.Here's the first human head that looks half-way decent:



The next two that look OK:



Close ups:





The next class session:



Close ups:





And believe it or not this is a picture of the same woman as above. Difference is that one was done in 20 minutes, this one in an hour and a half. You can clearly see the difference the extra hour makes:




And after seven classes we get this:



Close up of the best one so far:



And then backtracking to this. I colored in the main shadow and cast shadows too dark so her face looked like an anatomical study of muscles for awhile. Corrected it as best as I could:

What happened to Sketchbook Month?

You may have noticed that I have not posted anymore drawings for March is Sketchbook Month for the past two weeks. Reason being that although I adored the contest and seeing everyone else's drawings, with the exception of the Sym-Bionic Titan Fan Art, I did not feel that my drawings were up to par. I recently watched How to Train Your Dragon for the third time and while listening to the commentary, was quite impressed by the years of work that went into the story, and by the boards and character animation. The acting in that film is superb, and that, along with several animation books I have been reading, inspired me to spend less time on the blog and the internet and more time at the drawing desk. So instead of posting something at the last minute everyday, I have been spending a few hours each day working on characters for my upcoming comic, Welcome to Oceanside. And when I say work, I mean working on poses and expressions that I have never done, and trying to achieve the same level of quality that I admire in the works of some of my favorite artists, like Glen Keane and Mike Mignola.

The one thing that Sketchbook Month taught me is that it is indeed an excellent idea to draw everyday in order to hone one's skills. Rather than just hash something out, I've been spending a lot of time on fluidity of motion with my characters, construction lines, and making sure that the characters maintain a consistent look from drawing to drawing. I feel great about my progress and look forward to sharing what I have done in the next few months.

I expect to launch my webcomic, pending class schedules and work, by June and to update two days a week. That will be quite an undertaking but I am certain that my storytelling skills and art will vastly improve the more I push myself to be more creative with my style.

Farewell Sym-Bionic Titan

Sadly my newest favorite animated show is being cancelled. That's right, according to the good folks at Cartoon Brew, Sym-Bionic Titan has bit the dust after one season. They say that although the show received excellent ratings, it failed to deliver enough money in the toy sales department. That is absurd. It's a show about a GIANT ROBOT fighting GIANT MONSTERS. With WEAPONS. It has Awesome-Toy-With-Karate-Chop-Action written all over it. I've never even seen any merchandise in the stores for this show. Did they market it? Did they even have prototypes? Who knows. There goes my dream of interning for the show while I am in school.

Sadness.

On the other hand, I am certain there is more to this story than not enough toys. Avatar: The Last Airbender did not have a ton of merchandise and they ended up making a movie out of it. Not a very good movie, but they got a movie deal. Teen Titans didn't start getting tons of merchandise until much later in it's run. Heck, even Generator Rex (which I like very much) is just now getting action figures at Super Target. Who knows what goes on in the minds of TV executives. Hopefully though, they will have the good sense to at least put the episodes in a nice DVD set.

So Titan now joins the pantheon of shows I love that ended before they truly hit their stride:

Rest in peace, Firefly.
I bid thee well, Spectacular Spider-Man.
(Update - April 5th - found out that Spectacular Spider-Man actually had 2 seasons. Fantastic! Hopefully Season 2 will be released sometime this year.)
So long and thanks for all the fish, Pirates of Dark Water.

You will be, and still are, dearly missed.

March is Sketchbook Month Day 18

Fan Art week ends with this sketch of a distraught Lance after learning that his general is a Mutradi spy in "Escape from Galaluna."



And check out the other great entries for Day 18 here.

Sym-Bionic Fan Art Part 3

Fan Art week comes to a close with these sketches of everyone's favorite galactic hero turned high school student, Lance, from the episode "Escape from Galaluna."

March is Sketchbook Month Day 17

And here is my favorite sketch from "Under the Three Moons" -



And be sure to check out the other Day 17 entries.