Weekly Inspiration 4: Nature

 Taking a side step from art, this weekend I went on a scouting/camping trip. Not scouting like boy scouts, but scouting for game for the upcoming archery hunt. It's so nice to get away from the cities and go back to our roots. When I go camping, I go as high and far away from other people as possible. I take only what I need, and leave no sign I was there.

Filling up my water bottle from a natural spring

  Nature and the wilderness inspire me more than anything else. If you climb high enough, you can find pure beauty that has yet to be ruined by mankind. It's kind of sad to be ashamed of ones' own species... but that's how I feel. When I find an old beer can or a candy wrapper while stalking along a game trail I think I could maim the litterbug without any remorse. How could someone defile such beauty when it's so easy to put your trash in your pocket and take it home with you?
  I'm an outdoorsman. A naturalist. I don't understand why we as a species have separated ourselves from nature. Why do so many people feel it's our destiny to build cities and towns on every square foot of earth? Why do we feel we need to dominate and control other animals instead of live life beside them? We are, after all, just another species.
  It is not man's role to overcome nature, but to live in harmony with it, just as every other species does.

Weekly Inspiration 3: Northlanders

  Violent. Gritty. Gory. Yet somehow soft and personal. I love Northlanders. It's a series that chronicles adventures of Vikings, and their unfortunate victims, throughout Europe circa 1000A.D. 

  How does it inspire me, besides just being a beautiful series of comics? The use of blacks. Not making a racial statement here, I'm talking about the inks. I've heard my hero, Ralph Bakshi, say that black is the most important color for a cartoonist, and I took note. But Northlanders really made me see it.  Huge blots of black ink make up a lot of the pages in these books, and it's funny that your mind doesn't find it odd. Black just works. It tells your eye, "This is a dark area," and your mind just fills in the blanks. Definitely gonna look back on these while doing Avalir.

Weekly Inspiration 2: Actors

  This week I read a lot, and was inspired by a lot. But nothing topped tonight. My beautiful and talented girlfriend Emmalee is part of a high school alumni drama performance. During my years with her I've become friends with most of the people involved in the drama department, and they all inspire me greatly. I've also realized that, even though I can't act, sing or dance, we're a lot alike. We all have a passion for bringing characters and stories to life. The only difference is the tool we use to manifest our stories. These talented artists use their bodies and voices to breathe life into characters; and I use pencils, pens, and colors.
  I really respect every person I've met in the drama department. Their passion is an inspiration to me every time I see them on or off the stage.

Weekly Inspiration 1: Lankhmar

  I've come up with an idea that will hopefully keep me blogging regularly. Weekly Inspiration. Every Friday I'll write a post about something I read, watched, saw, experienced, etc. that inspired me artistically.

  As for this week, I just finished reading the first book in the Lankhmar series by Fritz Lieber, Swords and Deviltry. Fritz was one of the early guys to jump on the sword and sorcery wagon started by Robert E Howard (Conan).
  I first was introduced to Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser in the comic adaptation my Mike Mignola (of Hellboy fame) and Howard Chaykin. After reading that great work I had to hunt down the novel. 6 bucks on Amazon and a short wait later, I dove into the story.
  The book was great. A goal of Lieber's was to make his heroes a little more human than, say, Conan or Tarzan, and he did it well. In short, Swords and Deviltry is about two young men, one a red haired barbarian from the north named Fafhrd, and the other a small-framed wizard's apprentice from the south named Mouse, who later calls himself the Gray Mouser. The first two-thirds of the book is separated into each hero's backstory, which end with them each finding a lover an heading toward the great city of Lankhmar. The characters meet in the last third of the book and become companions, embarking on an exciting adventure fighting the city's Thieves' Guild. The story ends with them leaving the city, down-trodden and heartbroken.
  The book inspired me in many ways, giving me a ton of material to apply to Avalir. Everything from Fritz' writing style, dialogue, descriptiveness etc. will have an impact on our comic. I especially loved his sense of character-building.