Elizabeth Gilbert

I found this tonight over at JohnAugust.com

While I admit I don't know who Elizabeth Gilbert is or anything about the wonderful book she wrote, listening to her talk about creativity and how to celebrate the days when inspiration comes and survive the dark days when it doesn't is really worth twenty minutes of your time.

Just some great advice that I really took to heart.

From the Vault: EXIT 6 1997, 1989

In 1997 I self published a book called EXIT 6.

It was the story of two kids, Keith Howard and Courtney McKay. They were your average, every day kind of people. Except Keith was a vampire and his family of vampires had kidnapped Courtney's younger brother.

Hey, in this day and age you have to meet new friends somehow.

The series ran for three issues before I ran out of money and had to stop production. A fourth issue was completed and a fifth was fully pencilled but they never saw the light of day (ha ha vampire joke).

I had the initial idea for EXIT 6, or, what was then called "Keith Howard - Vampire" (I know, I know...with catchy titles like that how have I not won a Pulitzer yet?), when I was seventeen years old. It took me three years of art school, years as an assistant artist, more years working for Marvel Comics, and then a two month drive across the country to Boulder, Colorado before I'd finally get the story out there and into the hands of the public.

But, I finally got that first issue done and printed and put it out into the world.

And, the result?

Looking back on it now it's probably not as bad as it seemed at the time,. But, at the time, it felt like I had ultimately failed at a dream I had held for ten years. I had put a book out there into the world and, somehow, I hadn't become and overnight success.

Oh, I had some really nice people say some really nice things. I was considered for an Eisner Award but missed being nominated by just a little bit. I was nominated for the Russ Manning Most Promising Newcomer Award, which was a great honor, but lost to another artist.

And, as for the sales? They just weren't there.

Like I said, looking back now it probably wasn't as bad as it seemed. Of course, I can look back now as a guy who has made a decent living as an artist, has a condo bought with money made from art, and a great woman in his life who thinks he's as talented as the day is long. But, back then I couldn't see the things I have now out on the horizon.

I only knew that I gave the dream my best shot and it didn't work. But, I'm still glad I gave it my all. I'd rather go through this life knowing I tried and failed than wonder what would have happened because I never tried at all.

I'm not sure if I'll ever revisit EXIT 6 or the characters in those pages. They lived with me for over ten years before I finally put them to rest. Maybe, in ten more years, I'll be ready to see if they have any new stories to tell me.

Here are a few of the first sketches I ever did of Keith Howard in a large, oversized art pad that I used to drag to school. I was seventeen years old. I still can't believe the way I drew back then. Oh, if only I knew what the world had in store for me!

More Pages from the OilCan Drive Script

These are the last two pages I ended up finishing before I had to abandon the hundreds and hundreds of pages long graphic novel for OilCan Drive.

The third page in the book transitioned from Ryan telling the interviewer his story and right into a story about a long dead rock star who was a voice for his generation.

Of course I was channeling a bit of my love for Kurt Cobain into this page. Over the last few years I've read a number of biographies of Cobain and, each time, I hope the ending of the new book gets better than the last one.

But, of course, it never does. It always ends bad.

So, I figured, in my world, maybe Cobain faked his own death and was living out in the middle of the desert somewhere. Just biding his time, living his life, and waiting for a couple of up and coming rock and roll brats to find him.

This page was a bit of back story in order to set up those future pages.

And, in this page, one which I couldn't wait to get to, I featured Ryan Burke and Vincent Spicer's assault on a military held radio blimp. In the future, the military controls the airwaves and the only way for an up and coming musician to get their music featured is to actually do "pirate radio" one better and actually take over one of these blimps.

It was also a great chance to do the typical "hero shot" as the smoke clears and our heroes are seen in action for the first time.

So, out of three hundred or so pages I wound up with a grand total of four done. Oh, there are more penciled pages that are laying around the studio but only four of them got the finishing touch.

But, fear not, OilCan Drive is still alive and kicking. Just in a different form.

On to bigger and better things.

From the Vault: X-Men Trading Cards 2 2000

I figured, this Friday, I'd wrap up the X-Men cards I inked.

Honestly, it's an easy out. You know the story and if you don't scroll down two posts and catch yourself up.

This round of cards featured X-Men favorites Gambit, Beast, Toad, Bishop, Lady Deathstrike, Marrow, and Juggernaut.

OK, enough with Marvel work. Next week we're on to Exit 6, the first book I self published back in 1998. Be here in one week!

OilCan Drive Update

Some kind of cold-sickness-bug has had me down for the past week or so.

It's been one of those colds where it's not so bad that it keeps you bed-ridden but it makes it really hard to do much more than sit on the couch and watch movies. But, last night it broke and I went out for a bike ride to get my legs moving once again. This morning, other than the sniffles, I felt better than I had in a week. So, things are looking up.

The last we heard about OilCan Drive I had decided to put it on the back burner for a while. I had written a full length 120 page movie style script for a story and had planned on drawing it out as one long graphic novel. Of course, 120 pages of written word, I found out, translates to about 250-300 pages of drawn comic book pages. With no down time on the horizon, I had to put the book down and focus on the paying work.

But, around Christmas, I had a week or so off and, as my head cleared, I thought about what I enjoyed about the concept of OilCan Drive and what I'd really like to do with it. I decided to push back all the comments and game plans I had heard from other people about what I should do with the project and tried to really focus on what made me the happiest. Not if it would sell or not, not to try and gain the approval of some faceless critic, and not to follow what people said "would work".

Just what would make me happy.

So, with some down time on my hands I've begun working again on the OilCan Drive project.

And, while I'm not ready to reveal the plans I have yet I do have a bunch of pages I drew from the graphic novel, movie script idea.

This two page sequence was the initial lead-in to the story. I always liked the idea of an introduction of some sort and the idea of Ryan sitting behind a table in a dark room being grilled about his past seemed a nice way to do that. It gave the reader a quick glimpse of things to come and a few story questions.

These pages also were a first for me in that I was trying to duplicate things I had done in the past by hand with the new digital medium. Photoshop makes it easy enough to do anything you want to do to a piece of artwork. But, in this book, I wanted to give myself rules and limitations. I wanted it to look like I had cut zip-a-tone shading film and spattered ink across the page with a toothbrush. I wanted it grittier than most polished artwork you see out there these days.

So, if nothing else, I learned some new ways to do old things from the first few initial pages of the OilCan Drive graphic novel. And, you can bet I'll be using those lessons in the new project. And, I have a few more pages from this book so I'll post them soon enough.

For now, back to work...

From The Vault : X-Men Trading Cards 2000

When I left New Jersey and moved to Colorado in early 1996 the color work I had done for Marvel all but dried up. I don't think it's that I moved as much as the industry was changing from fully painted airbrush work to digital color on the computer. And, in 1996, I wasn't quite ready to make that change.

I still did some airbrush work here and there for Marvel but nothing like the steady work I had done in the years before.

So, in 2000, I must have needed money because I made a few of those rare calls where you go through your address book and call anyone that is able to throw some work your way.

Luckily, Mike Thomas, an editor and all around great guy I had worked with years before, picked up the phone. Mike knew I had done a self published comic book in the years since I had left Marvel and offered me some inking work.

Given my circumstances, I'm sure I politely accepted, hung up the phone, and then did a victory dance around the room.

So, here are few of the pieces I inked for an X-Men trading card game that was being released to coincide with the new X-Men live action movie.

The penciler of the work, David Tata, did some really great tight pencil work so it made inking these pieces a breeze. We talked a bit over emails and he was really happy with the work I had done over him. He even wanted me to be his regular inker for the rest of the cards.

Unfortunately, it wasn't meant to be. Marvel was in a serious state of flux at the time (I think they were still fighting themselves out of bankruptcy) and Mike Thomas was let go while I was doing this project.

And the new guy must not have liked me at all because this is the last work I ever did for Marvel Comics. Out of the fifteen or so editors I had worked with at Marvel, Mike Thomas was the last guy I knew up there.

Now, he was gone, too.

But, it was a great run. So, thank you Mike, thank you Dave, and thank you Marvel. For a kid who grew up loving Spider-Man, to actually work at Marvel was a dream come true.

But, there are always other dreams...

Down Time

With the last few weeks free from client work the personal work is slowly rearing it's ugly head.

More information soon...