Back to working on my art

Hello, world. Jason here. If, somehow, you made your way here randomly, welcome. I last posted two years ago about "doing a thing" and to stay tuned. Well, I am in the process of doing said thing, as over the last year and a half or so, I've taken up drawing again; through working on my comic book/web comic (both?) called The Purple Pioneer.

I've managed to pencil twenty-one pages, and inked about sixteen of those, so far. Back in 2011, I seemed to be complaining a bit about being a bad inker. I love how, as you get older, you get wiser and more patient with yourself. Initially, when I first started this new journey into "comic-ing" (as my oldest son once called it), my pencils and inks were pretty rough. See, after around 2013 or so, I pretty much gave up on comics. Sold mostly everything comic-related that I owned. I kept some Spider-Man comics from when I was a kid, mostly for keepsake purposes. But I was out. This comic that I was "hired" to work on never panned out.... I remember I wrote a full script for the gentleman I was hired by, and drew at least two pages of art, with (to my younger self, crappy inks). The whole project got scrapped and I never got paid for any work. At the time, it was fun. I remember a couple times in there, while talking to people and asked what I do for a living, I told them my day job is a District Manager for printing services, and my night job was a comic book artist. Like I said, it was fun :) But that didn't last long.

Shortly thereafter, my son, Hayden Lawrence, was born December 1, 2011. As I write this, he is thirteen years old now. Wow. Between there and now, we moved to a new state (Wisconsin) in early 2013, and in late 2015, I welcomed my second son, Landen Matthew. Landen, as of January 2025, is nine. I'm still married, thankfully, to my wonderful partner, lover, and companion, Clarissa. This year we celebrate our eighteenth anniversary.

Between 2007 and 2013, I worked in the printing industry. When I first started, I convinced myself that getting into printing would help my art career. Over the course of six years, financially, it was a disaster, which led me to leave and move to Wisconsin. Far less expensive than San Francisco, and a slower pace of life. I got a job in sales as a Printer and Copier salesman. During that time, I finally realized that wanting to "draw comics" and art, in general, as a job was holding me back far too much, and, in its way, sabotaging my life. I gave it all up, out of necessity. It was driving me nuts. How could I want something so badly, but not work hard at it to achieve it? As of that time, I literally no longer considered myself an artist. Sad. But had to be done for me to grow, I think.

Financially, while my job and income were better than years prior, it still was not good enough. We had to live with my mother-in-law because we didn't make enough money to get our own apartment. There is nothing wrong with that, but at the time, it was a decent situation and thankful that she let me live with her for those early years in Wisconsin. Ultimately, in 2016 I realized that I'm approaching my forties and I make less than $40,000 per year. My wife, who did the stay-at-home-wife thing for a good three or four years, started to pick up odd jobs here and there, ultimately, at one point, she had at least four different gigs going on... which pretty much accounted for full-time work, overall. It helped, and I guess if we stayed in our situation, at the time, and continued to live with my mother-in-law, paying pretty inexpensive rent, it would have been fine. More than fine, if anything. I realized though, that if I want to better myself, get out of this job rut I was in (I was not a great sales person), I need to do something to shake things up. So I went back to school in the Fall of 2016 to pursue an Associated Degree in Software Development. Ironically, I did that part time until Fall 2018 when I realized my time as a sales person was probably coming to an end (writing was on the wall--I was not very good at Sales, like I said). I kicked up my studies to full time, and still somehow managed to work, too. Nonetheless, in March 2019, I finally got fired from sales due to low sales performance, and in May I graduated from school with an AA degree in Software Dev. That July, I transitioned into my new career as a Software Engineer.

Then 2020 happened. That March, my work made us all do the remote work thing, which I pretty much did for over three years there. Around this time, well, my wife and I thought about, and succeeded in buying our first home, where we live to this day. I've also since moved up in my career, and make pretty good money now. On paper, life is good. No reason to not be happy.

But I started to miss drawing.

So that is where I'm at now. Originally, I wrote a first issue script of twenty pages, but later decided to make it forty. I am doing it for me, for my soul. It makes me happy, even if I just draw and work on the book twenty minutes in a day; because I get busy. After all, I'm a man maintaining my marriage, raising two young boys, working a full time job.... not a whole lot of time for "me". But, I've been making time.... and I love that I figured it out.

I can't help but have an end goal in mind for this whole thing. I think I'll put it on Kickstarter. For a $1 pledge, you get a digital copy of the book. Who knows if it will sell, or make my any side-income. As the saying goes, if you don't try, it will definitely never happen. There is literally no downside to any of this. Love it.

What has also helped me, is realizing and accepting that all my art is perfect for me. Anything anyone ever creates, whether its a drawing, sculpture, painting, digital art, whatever... its all perfect. The only time it wouldn't be is if you are creating for someone else. But if you do it for you, nothing you create is wrong. That attitude has helped me get over these humps of self-doubt, especially early on when I first got back into it. For what it is worth, comparing those early pages, to stuff I've done recently... well, there is a very obvious improvement. Funny how consistency in taking time to actually draw can do that. I'm not a bad inker, anymore, in my humble opinion.

It's early in 2025 yet; we'll see how long it takes me to get this 40 page comic created; but then I have to digitize it, format the book, and figure out if it's going to be B&W or color. If I get to that point, I look forward to whatever I decide.

Life is too short. We only have right now. If you have a passion/goal/dream, whatever you want to call it, start pursuing it today. Start right now. Take the time and make it part of your life. And do it until it feels wrong if you don't..... just make sure you still pay your bills on time. :P

Take care,

JT

I’m doing a thing…

 Long time; it’s been eleven years since I last posted anything here. If you somehow made it here and are reading this, check out this space for more stuff coming soon. Life is good :)

Too hard on myself...?

Okay--maybe I am being too hard on myself in regards to the inking. I'm kind of a perfectionist, I guess. I just watched some youtube videos on inking, and they were awful. I'm certainly better than those guys. I found a small wealth of micron pens, and I was using those last night. Maybe I need to go the route of a ink nib pens and/or brushes, opposed to technical pens. Get better line weights that way, anyway.

Guess I'll try it again tonight. Zoinks.

Another day...

Not feeling so great today. Last night was a disaster. I tried to ink for about an hour, but it was coming out horrible. I think I am biting off far more than I can chew.

I am a penciler. That is my strength. Unfortunately, I am not very strong at inking. I don't think I can wing it with rough layouts and finish with inking. I still want to give it a shot, but I think I will have to pretty much do full pencils before putting ink to paper, which will take more time. I guess I don't have to be a picky about erasing erroneous lines until after the inking is done, which will save some time, but still, this is a blow to the ego.

I just need to sit down, buckle down, and draw. Last night, I didn't get home until close to 8pm, because of my full time job obligations. Not really an excuse, but between eating dinner, spending time with family, showering, shaving, doing some chores, the art gets pushed way down the line; in this case, until past 10pm.

I wish I could afford to hire an inker to take over that responsibility, but with my making $60 per page, well, I am pretty sure my publisher won't be willing to pay someone else to ink it, so I'd have to hire someone on my own, and take money out of my own fee (which isn't really an option). So, I'm stuck with myself. I'll just have to accept that I'll have a few crappily inked pages to get through before I start to improve. (but man, it sure would make my life easier).

I also have to remember that ALL artists start with the same demoralization. As long as I keep with it, I'll improve. I mean, what did I expect? I literally took years off of drawing and art. I'm lucky I still remember how to hold a pencil, let alone someone willing to pay me to draw.

I have to have faith in the process. Keep drawing. Keep improving. The artwork doesn't have to be a Rembrant or Picasso; just get paid and move on.

Time Commitments

I haven't gotten nearly as much done with the artwork as I wanted, unfortunately. It's tough. Hopefully what I am experiencing now is just growing pains to get used to drawing and commiting to the artwork for a set number of hours per week. Hopefully.

I've laid out the first page, which is a "splash" panel, meaning it is one giant frame. I am doing it to introduce the reader to the environment that the story takes place in. Lots of different levels, lots of perspective in play. It's not an easy page to draw. I don't have a light table, so I am pretty much forced to either keep the vanishing points on the 11x17 sheet of paper I am drawing on, or tape pieces of paper to the sides of the artboard, and get my vanishing points that way. It's crazy. One of my vanishing points is so far off the page that I needed to tape together three sheets of paper to the artboard, and also tape together two rulers, so I could even reach the vanishing point. Sheesh.

I am also having some anxiety with the inking. It makes sense to make rough layouts with no real detail to them, and just get those details laid down in the inking stage. Otherwise, I am essentially drawing the same page twice. I am not nearly as confident in my inks, so it's tough to get myself to sit down and do it. I'll get it done, but let's just say I am happy that the deadline for this book is months away. I have inked before, and more or less understand the bare fundamentals, but still, haven't done it too often.

It's funny. I look at other artists as examples of what is possible. For example, I know Todd McFarlane, back when he was drawing Spider-Man, has stated that his layouts were essentially just blobs, to show roughly where the people are standing. He does all of his details and drawing with ink. Am I stupid to think that if he can do it, then so can I? Besides, if I am trying to get faster, I need to take shortcuts. This seems like a good way to save a couple hours.

My time went okay, over the 3-day weekend. I took Friday night off to spend some time with my wife, but Saturday I drew for a good 4-5 hours. That's okay. But, again, I did spend some time pacing the house to get over some mild anxiety with the art, but overall, I did at least, as I stated above, get the layout done for the first page. Sunday was tough to get anything done, which was mostly my fault; I could have done more in the morning. In the afternoon, we were pretty much gone all day at my Father-in-law's place, and didn't get home until close to 9pm, as I recall. Monday we went to a SF Giants game, so no work got done at all. Hopefully, tonight will fare better.

I've adjusted my time frames a little bit. I think so as long as I can get 60 pages of art done between now and November, I'd be pretty happy. I plan to use the money I make from this gig to help pay down some debt before my baby is born. If I get more done, great, but 60 pages would bring in enough money to make our lives a lot easier come the end of November. Also, I'll still be able to meet my publisher's plan to get the comics in stores in January, and still have at least another issue in the bin ready to go (and hopefully another one close to being done, as well).

I'll let you know how tonight goes. Hopefully, I'll get some inking done.

DC's New 52

DC Comics announced last month that, this Fall, they will be relaunching their entire line of comics books; there will be 52 new titles (they love the whole 52 thing), each starting with issue # 1. A collector's dream. A great jumping on point for new readers. But, alternatively, a great jumping OFF point for current buyers. It's funny, that I think more new people who haven't purchased a comic book in ten years will likely be the majority, but the faithful that have been buying for those said ten years will quite possibly jump off the wagon and move on. Funny.

Comic book collectors, or the popular term "Fanboys" or "Fangirls", just love to complain about comic books. In fact, I heard of a major protest, picket line and all, happening this year at the San Diego Comic Convention, protesting DC's relaunching event. Again, funny.

I have always been a huge fan of comics. But, I've evolved somewhat, I guess. I've always been more of a fan of the creator's, the artists and writers, than the characters represented therein. Now that I am actually involved in creating a comic book, and seemingly, I really hope, a new "comic book" universe, I am no longer a fan, per se, but an actual pro working in the industry. Which, possiblily, if all goes well, could lead to future work with the larger comic book publishers (Marvel or DC). Maybe I am being very naive, but I've always kind of known, hey, if SOMEONE gives me a shot at creating a comic, I will not let them down, and the train will keep on going. The momentum will likely not stop, so as long as I have work to produce.

Anyway, my point. My point of all the above goobley gook, DC and Marvel have always been in direct, somewhat fierce competetion with each other. There have been times when they've done books together, and collaborated, but lately, it's gotten to be a little more cutthroat (in my opinion). DC is making a huge push to be the premier comic book company, and outdistance Marvel. And, it could quite possibily happen.

DC is also making a huge push for digitial distribution. And for the first time ever in the industry, they will be offering brand new issues for digital sale through their website on the same day as the actual comic book at stores. So, if digital sales begin to improve, and especially if digital sales begin to overtake those of the comic book stores themselves, this could lead to just 100% digital distribution, and comic book stores will be left with 1/2 their sales just gone.

DC recently made another comment about how those that do not have comic book stores near them, or can't get to them for one reason or another to get their weekly fix of new comics, can simply log on to their website and buy the digital copy. Now, I think comic book stores RELY on people to drive through bad weather, 20 miles, after work to buy their comics. If these stores, again, relied on those that live within 5 miles of their store as their sole customers, again, they would close. Man, what a fragile industry.

So where does that leave the small publishers? Image, Dark Horse, Boom, IDW, they pretty much follow in the dust trails of Marvel and DC, because without the "big two", there would be no comic book stores. If DC or Marvel suddenly decided to either go 100% digital with their output, or stop publishing altogether, then the other publishers would have to follow suit, because comic book stores would cease to exist. They could not stay open. From a business standpoint, well, the comic book store owners must have a TREMENDOUS amount of faith in Marvel and DC, to stand by them and make sure they are taken care of. I just have my doubts that they will stand by them, especially since the larger parent owned corporations have taken a notice of comic books since Hollywood has invested in the brand and characters.

I just think, in the 21st century, business will not take care of it's own anymore. A little cynical, I know, but with a pretty bad economy, and with most businesses just trying to survive, can they afford to be nice to a smaller sub-industry, and give them what they want? Maybe it's always been that way. I don't know. I've only been a working adult for 7 years or so. I don't know.

I say this because Marvel and DC are the ONLY reason comic book stores still exist in America. I believe it is only a matter of time before either one stops publishing comic books, and goes digital.

So, small publishers would have to either close down, or also go 100% digital. Comic book newstands at your 7-Elevens and Safeway and AMPs are gone the way of the dinosaur. Sure, some are still around, but the vast, vast majority do not carry a comic book rack. So, you certainly can't rely on selling your products in those outlets.

I think I successfully lost complete track of what my point was. Let's just call all of that venting, and be done with it.

:)

Maybe my point is that the comic book industry is very fragile. It'll be interesting to see what happens over the next few years.

The Direct Market of 2011

Warren Ellis recently wrote on his website and interesting snipet about the current status of the direct market of comic books (ie: sales through comic book stores):

"For as long as I’ve known him, Dan Didio has believed the key to a resurgent DC is reclaiming all the readers the commercial medium lost in the 90s… It’s all about accessing that hypothetical lost fan base. The impression the recent statements have left is Dan saying “comics used to sell loads back then, let’s do that again.” And that can’t happen in print.Comics used to sell loads back then, yes. But a big part of that — and this is the part he isn’t mentioning — is that there were ten thousand comics shops back then. And now there are, optimistically and rounding up, about two thousand. There simply aren’t the number of outlets left to sell the kind of volume comics could shift in the 90s.

The gamble here is this: that hypothetical lost fan base is older, has credit cards and disposable income, and an internet connection that can bring the DC Comics section of a notional comics store right to their desks. That, in fact, digital comics services will do the work of those eight thousand stores that don’t exist anymore."

It's a shame, but true. Comic book sales are very limited to the number of comic book outlets actually open to sell your merchandise. The 1990s were a comic book boom, because, well, as you read above, there were 5x more stores actually open, so, theoretically, that would mean 5x more sales.

Interesting to see where the comic book industry will be in 10 years.