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.

Silent Progress

  I haven't been posting, but "Avalir," named for the continent in which our story takes place, is coming along very nicely. ...Except for the fact that I haven't drawn a page yet... Let me explain.
  I actually have drawn one page. The first one. And it was so poorly drawn and unstable that I forced myself to a screeching halt, and turned to research drawing. I've been drawing landscapes, villages, villagers, studying and drawing clothing styles, etc. In short: I really need to improve before laying this thing down.
  I needed a more solid model of my characters, and needed to draw them ten thousand times in order to keep them consistent. These are my final say on Ferrit and Owan.

  I've been reading Darkhorse's Conan series, one: because it's freaking amazing(!), and two, to study the cities, costumes, poses, weapons, backgrounds, landscapes, etc. Lots to absorb and apply. But after all of that absorbing, to state the painfully obvious, drawing is the only way to get better at drawing. So hopefully from here on out I can apply the things I observe in my reading to my drawing.

  As for the story, Ben and I revised and reworked the first issue to make it more solid and, frankly, it's pretty damn good. We're constantly workshopping and developing ideas for the future, and I can't wait to get underway. Just gotta keep drawing.

Practice, practice, practice, practice practice! That's what will bring this thing to life.

P.S. On a side note, Today I finished a sketchbook! Sure, I have several full sketchbooks from years past, but this one was the first to be filled with diligent, regular, (almost daily) sketching. I opened up my next sketchbook, and man is that first blank page intimidating.

The Fun Begins.

  Oh boy am I excited about this one. My friend, Ben and I have always talked about writing comics together. We had a few good ideas going (see Cud and BenBen ideas from earlier), but we're really onto something now, and it's moving along at breakneck speed!
  Ben and I are both HUGE lovers of fantasy. Lord of the Rings, Dungeons and Dragons, Conan, The Elder Scrolls, you name it. Anything concerning swords, wizards, elves, dwarves, dragons, warriors, etc. could (and does) keep us talking for hours, almost as if we leave this world and adventure somewhere else, somewhere better.
   We decided we're writing a fantasy comic. For real. I don't know why it took us this long, but the idea finally punched us both in the face at the same time, and our heads EXPLODED with ideas! We each went home and wrote a few outlines of possible stories. The next day, we settled on a combination of stories we had each written, and Ben went to work writing our first issue.
  As for me, I had a lot of drawing to do. Our story centers around a blacksmith, forced by circumstance to become a warrior, and a ranger, a nomad that travels far and wide with nothing but a bow and his wit.
  First I started with the smith. I promise any resemblance to Ben was unintentional...*cough*

  The smith, Owan, came easy enough, on to the next. I've always favored stealthy archer characters so I couldn't wait to bring him to life. Here are the first attempts.

I really liked this look for the archer, whom Ben named Ferrit, much to my liking. I slept on it, and the next day I didn't like the design anymore. He looked too young, too innocent and fresh-faced, and, well... too much like me. Out with it, I said, and went for an older, more grainy fellow who had been around long enough to be wise and wary.

  After I had our heroes down, of course the next logical step would be to show them kicking serious ass. I made it so.

  I hope you like what you see. The most exciting part of this is that the first issue is completely written. Ben is an awesome writer. And even better, I've got the whole issue blocked out in thumbnails and ready to be drawn full-size in all its glory.

  The story is, and will continue to be great. It's not just action/adventure. Ben and I are story lovers, and a good story has to contain it all. Action, humor, romance, revenge, you'll find it in the yarns we spin. Be sure to stay tuned.

  We'll be setting up a website and uploading our comic to the web, and hopefully in the future, publishing it. Because that's truly how comics should be read.

Drawn to Drawing

  Hey there, world. Long time no post. I've been going through a large creative block recently. But I think things are on the up and up. Emmalee bought me an amazing book for an anniversary gift. It's called 'Kirby, King of Comics,' and it chronicles the life and career of comic book legend Jack Kirby. The book is fantastic, and has revitalized my passion for drawing comics.
  I've realized something about myself, and I'm not sure if it's a good thing or bad. I'm somewhat of an artistic chameleon. When I'm reading a comic book or a book about comics, I want so badly to pencil comics myself, and apply all my effort in that direction. Then I read a good book and want so badly to be a storybook illustrator. Then I watch an animated film and I want to animate, or storyboard, or design animated characters.
  I think what it all comes down to is this: I want to be part of a collaborative effort, telling stories through drawing. It doesn't matter the medium or the industry. I just want to draw for an audience, and share something. Hopefully it'll happen someday.

Ben Ben

So many gorillas. Just couldn't seem to find the right look for Ben Ben. He's the all-brawn, few-brains character in our comic idea. So I just kept drawing...

and drawing...

and drawing...

Then suddenly, BAM! I stumbled upon one I like. (below, on the right)

I did a few trial panels....

Not too bad, but still needs some tweaking. I've been told he should look a bit more stupid.