Writer-Artists-Author Exercise: "Pick An Illustration, Add Words...

Okay. Here goes. Here's an illustrated short story, using newer artwork of mine....

THE CATACOMBS:

Wielding my blade, I felt ready for any obstacle. Any obstacle, that wasn't this.

Eventually, I made my way to the catacombs. I'd heard about this place, but had never actually seen it up close, or at all really. These places were famous for their deadly traps and nasty dead ends, or so the ancient legend in the data-sphere goes. But we all know better than to believe what we read online, right?

As I wandered about the various corridors, I could hear the echoes of my footsteps ricochet through the dusty, sand covered air. If you were a pharaoh, this would be your tomb. Good thing I'm not a pharaoh.  

Comics? Web comics? OEL Maga? International-World Manga? What is it???!!!

Anyway, I've been pretty busy drawing some comics in the last 12 or so months. Here's my manga and sequential art portfolio (well, a lot of it anyway) as it stands.

-BTW, 

from now on, if I do publish my own manga online, it will be here, on my blog, so check back for more updates with each passing month or so. I tend to do a few comics pages a month, but I'm aiming for more by the next 2-7 years. Trying to work on a schedule plan for producing new comics in the future. I know some of these are sloppy, but my philosophy is what you produce isn't as important as the fact that you CONTINUE producing and keep at it each week, if not every day. 

Now before you go HATIN' ON ME ALL OVER THE DEVIANTART or WHATEVER it is you kids do nowadays, keep in mind, I'm not emphasizing pure drafting ability here. I'm emphasizing storytelling. Truth be told I can dream up and poop out shit that looks 5,000 times PRETTIER than some of this if I really wanted to and was doing individual illustrations and designs

Lest we forget, I'm the guy who drew THIS:

As I was saying, drafting ability isn't as important as working hard at your storytelling and sequential art abilities. I could do a million of that noir type thing, but I realized, it's not about how pretty your drawings look all the time. It's about sequential art and VISUAL NARRATIVES. And drawing illustrations is NOT the same skill as drawing comics pages, as I quickly found out upon attempting that very thing hundreds of time in my offline pen and pencil archives. Many artists online are the best illustrators and Photoshop users IN THE WORLD, but when you get to see them attempt drawing actual comics and sequential art, (you know, 2 to 3 panels or more) they're no better than people like me. BUT it's important to realize, it's important to at least TRY. 

So without further ado, more recent comics pages...

Hmmmm.....

Doesn't look too bad. I'm fairly happy with it.

Okay, I'm convinced. I guess I WON'T be retiring from the comics industry forever after all.

I Really Don't Know If It's Me Or My Generation That's The Problem. Sometimes I Worry, like a Mother, About Family

Sometimes I feel concerned about my nephew and niece. I worry about my brother, and if he can handle the responsibility of parent hood at such a young age, and in the long run. Actually, it's not that young of an age, but it's still young by my parent's standards.

I feel bad for my nephew and niece, knowing I'm not the same likable kind of Uncle my own Uncles were growing up. I don't devote the same kind of time my uncle devoted to me. Part of it is my brother creates a cold, distant aura around his own family. It MAKES IT hard to get involved. I feel a bit sorry for that family.

But never mind me complaining. Enough about my problems. Let's get back to talking bout anime! Yeah!!

Top Collectors Items (IMO)

1) Comic Book Floppy Issues
2) Trades of Comic Book Floppy Issues
3) Saturday Morning TV American, French, and Japanese Animated Series from 1982-2005)
4) 16 and 8 Bit Video Game Boxes and Cartridges
5) Back issues of Old, Then Popular Magazines (Anime Insider, Gamepro, Nintendo Power, Wizard)
6) Classic Computer Video Games
7) Classic Pulp Literature
8) Episodes of Classic 90s and 80s and 2000s TV Shows That Aired in France/Japan (Code Lyoko, Martin Mystery, Oban Star-Racers, Totally Spies, Anything by Marathon)

Old Pirated Shows....

I spend a LOT of time looking for pirated DVDs of shows that were broadcast during and cancelled during, the 90s, 80s, and first decade of the 2000s (Everything from Duckman, to Juniper Lee, to Doctor Kats, to Swat Katz)....PURELY because I'm a huge fan of them and am in desperate need of something of superior quality to watch...that isn't anime of course. There may be a lot of unlicensed anime out there, but at least it's available in SOME form to watch online. The same principle does not apply to Retro Nostalgia American Animated Animation.

Not trying to pull ANYTHING really, I just like really old shows from the high point of TV productivity.

MINE MINE MINE!!!!

Here's Every Art Book I've Ever Owned by Someone Else....

Here's my first cover I'm going to show: The cover of an art book a promising new star on the Franco-Japanese art scene (up there with Thomas Romain). Raynart Tradnor. Famous for his or her DeviantART account. I bought this book from his or her Lulu store. Raynart, apart from being incredibly talented at art and storytelling, is a very kind person in real life too.

Now onto all the others....In No Preferential Order, I can't emphasize that ENOUGH.

Every last one of these is an art book classic by art book standards. 

That is exactly why I... 

COLLECT THEM ALL!