Photo courtesy Jim Lujan Photographic Services, Ltd.
Over this past weekend, starting Friday April 23, I celebrated my birthday with a zest and vigor reserved for kid's birthday parties!
Why?
WHY NOT!? What's not to appreciate about life, and ourselves, as we get older? Some people don't try to acknowledge their own birthdays. I'm not saying you have to run around the neighborhood screaming "It's my birthday!" at the top of your lungs, but don't bury it in a fatalistic fit of denial. Getting older is just a natural step.
I'm glad, considering what can happen to any of us at any moment of our lives, to have been able to mark another year on this big, blue marble. As you can read from my blog, I have had a tremendous amount of fun and fulfillment in the past year, much of it stemming from being an artist. And like everyone else, I have to face the same things common to us all. Living issues, health concerns, family dynamics, relationships, struggles, setbacks, dreams and accomplishments. But unless you really learn to deal with it all, and learn from them all, how can you appreciate the great things you experience?
On Friday, I went with some friends to the Getty Villa, located on the coast in Malibu. They had an exhibit called 'AZTEC PANTHEON', featuring art from pre-Colombian Mexico. As my comic book EL MUERTO deals with Aztec mythology, I had read many books on the subject, but to see some truly amazing examples in person was quite an inspiring event. The exhibit runs till July 5, and I wholeheartedly recommend a visit. The Getty Villa is itself a beautiful treasure to behold, and if you go during perfect weather like I did, you'll double the enjoyment.
Later that evening, I went with my friend Irma to see THE LOSERS. The film was extremely fun, not too heavy on taking itself serious, for sure! Two of it's charismatic actors, Chris Evans (The Human Torch & now Captain America) and Jeffrey Dean Morgan (The Comedian from THE WATCHMEN), really made the film that much more enjoyable.
Saturday evening my good friend Jim Lujan (Ghettomation filmmaker) took me out for some classic burgers at Bob's Big Boy and some comic shop hopping! Our bar hopping days are way behind us now (if we even ever had them!), but we managed to make it to HOUSE OF SECRETS in Burbank, MELTDOWN COMICS in Los Angeles and GEEKS in Whittier. Picked up an eclectic stack of books myself, including Gilbert Hernandez's new THE TROUBLEMAKERS, Dave Sim's JUDENHASS and Bosch Fawstin's TABLE FOR ONE.
But the big catch for that day was this fabulous piece of art made for me by Jim:
He included a bunch of my characters from my current sketchbook, THE COMIC POP SKETCHBOOK. I was completely flabbergasted by this gift. Jim's often given me some really nice drawings, and this one has to top them all! It's always a great feeling as a cartoonist when someone draws one of your characters, but to see this whole family of Hernandez cartoon offspring was mind-boggling! A truly priceless gift, for sure. Thanks again, Jim. You're a true keeper!
Sunday found me at Trump National Golf Club in Palos Verde. Nope, I wasn't there to golf, but me and my friend Ted Seko (cartoonist extraoridnaire) went for a hike along the rocky coast at Trump National. The view of the Pacific Ocean is always stunning, and the talks Ted and I had about life and art were as monumental as the majestic cliffs we were walking across. Nothing like surveying your life right there where the mighty, expansive ocean is gently crashing into the rocky coastline. A dinner afterwards at an Asian seafood buffet led to talk about new artistic opportunities, and some geek speak on favorite comics and manga.
A pretty solid weekend, for sure. In between had some lunch with my parents and older sister, and a visit by my older brother. Family and friend, Life and Art, food and comics. A great birthday weekend, for sure. And I made sure to make it so. It makes getting older a real pleasure.
In my previous post about MANGA MUERTO (PT. 4), I talked about the cover designs. Now that I'm inking the new story, let me share some thoughts about this stage of production.
I always feel my favorite part of creating the comic book is the layout stage, where I'm actually drawing out the story in thumbnail form (very loose drawings of each comic book page, usually on 8.5" x 11", where I'm transcribing the story from my head to paper). It's at that stage where I can literally see the story played out in front of me. They drawings vary in levels of clarity, and there usually isn't any dialog, but all the characters are there and I can finally see the panel-to-panel progression of the story, page by page.
Penciling is of course the next stage, and I can't stress the importance of this part of the production. This is where I have to finalize each character's pose and expressions, and all background details need to be added in, using perspective, composition and other design tools to make each panel as clear as it need it to be.
Inking is yet another layer in creating your comic story. For me, it's in some ways the most relaxing. Now mind you, there are still many things I have to focus on, such as getting the right line weights and brush strokes, choosing the best tool for each drawing (brush, pens), choosing the best techniques for various textures (water, people, clothing, sand, etc). Inking is not, or shouldn't be, just tracing! Aesthetically, inking brings the figures, and the actual story, into focus.
Please excuse my terribly shaky camera shots, but here are two pages that have been inked:
FYI: These need to cleaned up (erasing pencil lines, some white-out to be added, etc) and then scanned, which will lead to some more digital clean-up then eventual lettering. (Also, astute EL MUERTO fans will notice the origin for Manga Muerto is different from the 'regular' Muerto story...). I get a real sense of completion when I get the pages inked, despite still only being half-way through the entire production of the final comic book story.
My style of drawing, and preference actually, is what we all refer to as 'cartoony' (I'm sure that's some aberration of the English language!). I like to create images as simplified representations. Any drawing, really, no matter how 'photo realistic', is only a representation of a real-life object. Even given the fact that I specifically meant to make this Manga Muerto story even more simplified, much more of a hybrid manga/Archie Comics aesthetic, than my usual stories.
Some cartoonist's whose work I really admire, and also take a similar approach regarding a simplified design (to varying degrees) are Gilbert Hernandez, Jason and Steve Ditko (top to bottom).
All artwork is copyright the respective artists.
What I like about Gilbert's work is the various ways in which he creates textures and patterns, solely with his inks. And these textures in turn create mood and atmosphere. Jason's page, in the middle, is rendered in pure black and white. His characters are clearly defined with only black outlines tracing the forms and parts of the figures. Placed against a black sky, they get further defined and pop off the page. Ditko's page shows a great use of black shapes defined by white contour lines, such as the man stealing from the safe. And like Gilbert, he's using stippled dots to create patterns and define space.
There are numerous other artists I could cite as great examples of working in black and white, but these three are among my favorites working today. Looking at others works shows me just how much can be done with a brush, a bottle of ink, and a blank sheet of paper. That one can use so few tools, and create a story with interesting characters and incorporate creative artistic decisions, that really keeps me working in black and white.
For anyone interested, I'm currently using a White Sable #2 brush with Dr. Ph. Martin's Black Star India Ink. Markers I use for smaller details are Copic Brush Pen and Fountain Pentel Japanese marker.
