The Whole "Power Lust" Thing....The Real Truth: Chi Energy = Power

The truth about me and power is, we're good friends. Yes, I'm very powerful. But truthfully, I'm not technically obsessed with power. I'm just very good at controlling power, and I'm good at sensing and being aware of chi, energy, or "power levels" in things and people when they cross my path. I have a certain kind of psychic or 6th sense for spiritual, emotional, and physical power. I'm both very powerful and very aware of power, especially power in others. 

Clocking in At The End of the Month

Okay, if I count the amount of Art Journals, Sketches, Drawings, Comic Book Pages, Script Pages, and Fiction Pages I've created this month, between July 1st and July 30th.....

My output amounts to around 215 pages of art and writing material for the month of July, so that's 1 month of output and productivity I've been keeping track of so far. 

So technically I'm producing a book a month for July. 

Followers: Put the Peddle to the Metal

"Huh. They still followin' us?"
"No. Pretty sure they're not."
"Good. I think we LOST EM in all the subplots."

Random JM Art Lesson: Artwork With "Appeal"

There's a qualitative element of drawing which I like to call "appeal". If a drawing has beauty, is aesthetically pleasing, or is dynamic and pleasing to the eye in general, than it has appeal. Appeal is not to be confused with detail or complexity, as there are plenty of detailed drawings that are still nonetheless very aesthetically unappealing and ugly. When you draw, it helps to be objective. Do you get a gut reaction from your art that tells you in your gut your drawing is pretty to look at, fun to look at, or aesthetically pleasing in some way? Then yes, your artwork or a part of your artwork has appeal. Don't just like drawings because you drew it yourself. You have to be able to objectively sit back and say, if I was a stranger who never saw any of my work before, I'd still say I like the way this artwork piece looks. THAT...is the nature of appeal.

Manga and Indie Comic Books, and How They're More Alike Than We Think

Article:

American Indie Comics & Korean and Japanese Manga

Seperated At Birth?

Similarities and Commonalities

Growing up, the two types of comic books I read the most were not fantasy and superhero, but instead black & white, pen & ink indie and manga comics. It wasn't until after I had been reading both for a while that I noticed how similar they were in certain ways, particularly in format.

·       Both used finely drawn and rendered pen and ink artwork

·       Both were designy and stylistic

·       Both could be dark and fanciful

·       Both used a lot of  black ink and a technique I would later come to know as "spotting blacks"

·       Both were in black and white and used black and white artwork for the majority

·       Both dealt with mature and adult subject matter like violence and sex

·       Many indie comics creators such as Frank Miller, Scott McCloud, Jhonen Vasquez, Paul Pope, and Rob Schrab modeled their sequential art after the kind found in manga.

·       Both mediums, genres, and style use a creator-friendly approach, where the creator approaches panel design like a filmmaker and auteur.

The main difference between the two "different" mediums was not so much format but genre and style. Their design forms looked different, and yet they share so many similarities. 

Manga and American indie comics are often one and the same, especially in format. 

First 500 pages are free

After that, you can buy the printed version...

Drawing and Writing

Writing has always come naturally to me. I'm naturally inclined to write, just as I am naturally skilled and talented at writing and words and driven to write. I don't need a million compliments just to know I can write. 

And yet I have such a difficult time drawing much of the time. I'm not naturally skilled at art the way I am with writing. Drawing is 100% work. Writing is 100% play. It really is that simple.

Drawing Progress comes slower than literary progress.