Wally Wood and If I Knew Then

I've been sick and busy so I haven't yet posted this week but I am enjoying working on this blog and it doesn't feel like a distraction-the way other attempts to blog have historically. I learned a lot this week and much of it came from Steve Lieber who is the closest thing to a mentor in comics that I am likely to have. He is very generous with his time, resources and knowledge. The other day Steve asked me if I had ever heard of Wally Wood and, like Alex Toth, I had heard the name in interviews and peripherally through other comics culture contexts. I had never seen the art and once I did it was like finding that puzzle piece that you needed to complete the frame of that bigger picture-let's say a puppy and a kitten in a basket of fall flowers.

Wally Wood is the direct link between my favorite contemporary artists ad the larger illustrative ethos of the past. The tradition of great illustration that started to unravel in the mid 20th century was still a palpable influence on Wood and his contemporaries. This guy knew about form, function and storytelling in all the important ways. Steve said he would be like a holy grail of artists for me an he is right. Wood does all the kind of line making that I like, exciting design and pulpy subject matter that could give just about anyone a campy thrill. His work can be found in old anthologies of EC comics and in snippets here an there on the internet. His sci-fi stuff is unbeatable; you can see Mingola and Nowlan reflecting it in their work.

I have posted is 22 panels that always work-a guide that Steve and other studio members showed me to help my design sense and eye for page layout:



The funny thing about going to the studio is that everyone who is there with regularity is working professionally in some capacity or another and it makes me feel like a kid in a room full of adults talking about things I can't understand. I am reminded of being in college and my thoughts on computer-based work during that period. At the time it seemed like something that was specialized and had too many hurdles for me to jump. Expense and frustration with the interface were a few factors that kept me from investigating it but those things seem like cop-outs now because of how helpful it could have been. I was also young and pulled in many directions. I wanted to make comics but I didn't come back to that until after I had been through 4 years of school and by then I had fallen in with indie comics makers who were very DIY/low tech and computers didn't factor in much. After meeting a bunch of people recently who use them regularly it has confirmed my suspicion that traditional drawing skills are (commercially) secondary to good design, web savvy and the ability to improve your imagery with computer based tools. I've seen people who couldn't render very well take a goofy sketch and manipulate it digitally into an impressive piece of work.

I am chasing the techno-train down the tracks as it has already left the station. My hope is that I can continue to learn some of this new information and combine it with my solid understanding of form and analog techniques.

I don't think it's too late to get good but it does seem like I didn't have much foresight. I've got a bunch of catching up to do.

Alex Toth is the Yoda of Comics

Monday I went into Periscope because I wanted to spend the whole day amongst the pros and see what an actual full length day there would feel like. I had been working for a while on a page of CVA (cavemen versus aliens) and I was asking Steve Lieber about composing panels and he asked me in return "have you looked at much Alex Toth?" I had seen a snippet here or there and likely dismissed exploring it further as a function of youthful stupidity. He then proceeded to show me two different examples of his work-one was a romance comic that had more dynamic fluidity than 10 contemporary comics put together and a fighter pilot story reprinted in the 80's that was so bad ass that it left me feeling like a ham-fisted clod.

Toth is like a kung fu master that just sat you down using only his thumb. He is so good at directing the eye and conveying mood that you really have to be looking for it to see how it works. The thing that is apparent immediately is the story-not the technique. After I had been looking at his stuff for about 20 minutes I wanted to redraw everything I'd ever done.

That was Monday. I've been absorbed by thoughts of Toth since then.

Learning about this guy made me feel simultaneously hopeful and sad. I'm sure the Germans have a word for that.

Tuesday we were fortunate as a nation to have a brilliant, charismatic, articulate, purpose driven, empathetic Democrat sworn in as the first black President of the United States and a vile, contemptuous buffoon barely worth mentioning eschewed into the dust-bin of history. Hallelujah. With our awesome new President at the helm I feel like good things are ahead. I feel inspired to be better at life. It sure is refreshing to be excited about your country.

As for today I worked on some pages and both Ron and Steve complimented my progress. That felt nice. I really do like everyone there and so far this is the best thing I've done for myself since moving here.

With the help of Colleen, Jonathan, Ron and Steve I'm going o get myself a wacom tablet and start doing some digital stuff. Time to join the 21st century.

Look for my first clumsy attempts right here once I get that tablet.

I've posted a few Toth pages here for any of you who are unaware, like I was, how brilliant this guy is. A master at reducing forms their essential components and not losing the power of communication

Internship!

I got an internship with Periscope studios that starts Monday. I'm excited and a little nervous about it because I want to do well and get the most out of it. There are a lot of guys I admire who make up the roster there and I am curious to see what their working style is like. I'm also hoping to get crits on things that will advance my understanding. The last good crit I got was from Steve Lieber at last year's Stumptown comics fest and it was through the conversations I've had with him that my work has improved and that I'm lucky enough to get in with these fine professionals.

I'll give an account of my work with them if everything goes according to plan. I'm crossing my fingers and trying not to take anything for granted.

Nathan has set up this Blog for us and as we go along I'll be posting artwork and such to accompany my posts. We have talked a lot about what kind of stuff will accompany the blog, though we've got a few concrete ideas, there is sure o be some random stuff that pops up here and there too.

Welcome to the blog everyone and please tell your friends if you like what you see or read. We love comics and we will continue working hard to make things worth reading and looking at-it would be nice if there were people to look at and read them.