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bcbwrick
[24083199]
[2012-10-29 16:14:37 +0000 UTC]
(United States)
# Statistics
Favourites: 17; Deviations: 53; Watchers: 28
Watching: 11; Pageviews: 12272; Comments Made: 828; Friends: 11
# Comments
Comments: 25
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Discovered a gem. ABSTRACT is an 8-part Netflix series on different aspects of design that really takes a holistic approach. Worth watching more than once! I started work on the Tiger illo and did sketches for The Spider and the Mountain comic book cover. I ended up with several false starts and maybe eight versions until something settled in. I will set the cover design aside and see what percolates when I go back to it. RICKΒ
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I completed the painting in acrylics. It is part of a collage piece. I hung it in my office because I wanted to look at it every day. Now, I am getting the feeling it needs a cool color to balance it more because right now it is neutral and warm. I spent some time yesterday working on four ink drawings as a warm up that turned out pretty well. The warm ups are part of a series of animal illustrations - which is something I have not done in a while and want to get back to. There are nine currently in that series: Rhino, Crow, Bison, Armadillo, Moose (these are done), Tiger, Lion, Wolf, and Turtle (just roughed in ready to ink). Doing the warm up gets me itchy to start The Spider and the Mountain which is a 24-page comic story. RICKΒ
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While I am figuring out how to start the inks on The Spider and the Mountain - I am finishing up a painting on canvas that I started before I left New Mexico. This unfinished piece has been patiently waiting for me and has been recently signaling that it wanted to be worked on. I will post some examples when it is further along or finished. RICK
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Pencil artwork is now mostly completed and scanned. I am trying to figure out how to handle a single page, a pivotal page in the story. I keep having day dreams that I am going to add pages at that spot and expand the story. I need to make a decision soon because eI will be working on the inks soon and need to have the story elements all in place. I will post The Spider and the Mountain WIP items here as time allows. RICK
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Brutal week. I have been updating pencils for a story I am working on called The Spider and the Mountain. I want to keep the pencil work on the medium to light side in order to do most of the work in the inks and colors. It is still slow going. I am also trying to decide if I should keep the current page count or expand one section out - which is what I am leaning toward. This will be a mix of traditional and digital techniques and repeat panels. Something I have not really attempted before - a kind of story experiment. RICK
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Don't forget that comics are a storytelling medium. While splash pages, covers, illustrations, and even commission work can look great, the real test is in creating a narrative and allowing words and pictures to combine in exciting ways. Comics are about ideas and not just slick images. RICK
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What is the idea you are trying to express? Many times I will get to a state of finish and look back to see how my original spark was treated. They do not always work as intended - a few are improved along the way but many ideas can become buried with technique or cluttered with side issues or other distractions. If I am doing a color piece for example, it can be easy to have a nice drawing start to compete with too many strong colors. My rule of thumb is that a little pre-planning goes a long way toward eliminating problems later in a project. Also, don't rush the finishes. RICK
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I am sometimes asked about what pens and brushes I use. I know that this is also a question that I have when I talk to other artists. Sometimes, when looking at a finished work, understanding what tools were used to make it will create a more complete picture. When I ask, it usually means that I am interested in the process of how the art was made just as much as I am concerned about the finish. RICK
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Students seem to want to only use cartridge pens/markers to create work. I generally only use those for sketching and not finished materials because they don't have the flexibility of a sable brush or dip pen. In the end, this will create a lack of line variety and flatten otherwise perfectly good drawings. RICKΒ
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I guess it's normal to say thanks fore waching me? Soooo? Thanx
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Fairly normal. You are welcome. I have a few friends that are very serious about photography so as a cartoonist, I try to keep up with cool pics. RICK
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I do not accept all commissions. Write "Commission Request" in the subject line of an email describing your request to get a quote. bcbwrick@gmail.com
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School begins again. Campus is filling up and fresh minds are off vacation and back to studying. RICK
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It is pouring rain here today. It is a lazy, cold afternoon and I find myself sketching in one room then walking back and forth to the computer to check on something in another room. My office/studio is starting to take shape again. Most of the art materials have found a home. I am trying to conquer the mountain of business items wedged into the space and make sense out of books, comics, sketchbooks, and electronic gear. There are also dozens of decorations, photos, and sculptures that need to be displayed. If I had three times the space, I would, squid-like, take the shape of it. Ah, there is also a huge mountain of teaching materials and samples to straighten out. RICK
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I had avoided certain areas deliberately and with some level of planning while putting my drawing class together. My line of reasoning has been simple. To overload students wth complex materials while teaching art, making comics in particular, seems counter-intuitive. The meal can only be bitten off in pieces anyway and should be chewed a little as you go along. Learning takes time, practice, and patience. There needs to be respect for the materials and the process. I am reminded of how many lessons I learned, big and small, through time release. Sometimes, I would have aha moments many years later. That's what my teacher was trying to show me.... I am starting the second half of the semester. There is an enormous amount of material I want to cover and much of it is planned out. I also want to try to drum up not one, two but three workshops this summer. STill, something is nagging at me, a component of teaching this material that is important and I have willfully ignored. Immersion. One of the ways in which art infected my life is through immersion, being thrown into the deep end of the learning pool. Careful planning has excised that visceral feeling. When I teach I can feel it but that seems just to be just an immersion in the teaching process. As a kid, I went through various stages of reading, enjoying, copying, recreating, exploring, and developing my sensibilities. With luck, hard work, patience, stubbornness, and some guidance, I have been able to mature my outlook further. This was not easy and took all my time, everything I had. Then, there were the countless, unceasing hours of practice and trial and mostly error followed by sometimes sloppy or destructive "critical" analysis. Much, most, all of what I have now is a result of this hands-on feed back loop. What experience can I really distill for my students? How do they approach the materials and why should they care even a fraction as much as I do about it? I am going to scrap what I had planned for the second half. Just toss it. Even though I have spent the last few years building it up, maybe BECAUSE I have spent that time perfecting it, I am going to toss my plans out and start anew. I wonder where this will lead me?
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Mid-term! Only one student left to take it and then it is time to post grades. WHew. Each semester it is a hassle to get them all in the room at the same time to take their tests. Getting to the "fun" part of comic storytelling next: shot selection and panel progression. Final projects are already started too. Looks like some interesting stuff brewing.
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What makes a comic book a comic book? Discussed components of comics with class last night. You can't build 'em before you know what they are made out of...Will already be working on a mid term test for the students. Can't be too hard or too easy and just based on lectures and notes in class. Will probably include drawing figure notations as one of the elements.
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Class starts up again. Bit of comic history and economics. Figure drawing next. Thumbnails and storytelling looming right around the corner....
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I will be concentrating my artwork here as a place to showcase annotated sketches of work in progress, particularly aimed at my students. Other avenues for my finished work to be shown as a gallery are coming to bare before too long. Watch this space for works in various stages of completion. RICK
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Will be adding different types of materials as time allows.
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