Second Guessing

I've been inking away on the new OilCan Drive project for a little over a week now and have almost completed a quarter of it.

I've found the deeper I get into the project the more self-critical I've been getting on myself. I want everything on this project to be just perfect so if an ink line gets too thick or a character's eye is not inked just right it drives me nuts. The last day I was inking I was really doubting myself and the project as a whole.

I'm not sure if it's just this project or some recent comments I've gotten about my work. Nothing really bad, but just some comments someone made about what I could do to "improve" my work. It's funny how hundreds of people can say you're great and doing a good job but if one person says a bad thing that's what you focus on. So, those comments to improve my work really have me second guessing a lot of what I've been doing lately. Even work that, just a few weeks ago, I was really enjoying.

In the end, I just want OilCan Drive to be the best that it can be.

I'll be putting the project aside for a week or two to focus on the next Stone Arch Jake Maddox book. Right now I'm just trying to push those comments out of my head and do the work the best I can. There is nothing fun about going into a project, any project, whether it's personal or professional, already full of doubt and second guessing yourself.

Hopefully, once I get this book done, my head will be clear again and I can go back to OilCan Drive with some fresh eyes and fired up to work on it again. I've really been happy with the way it's gone so far. The pages are getting done and I have ten new songs written and arranged, just waiting for me to record them.

I just want it to be great and have a lot of fun doing it. Having fun. It's art. It's drawing. Fun should be the most important thing about it.

Hopefully, in a few weeks, I'll remember that.

Gutting my Childhood...

How did we go from this awesome 80's cartoon movie soundtrack anthem:



To this 2009 song full of emo feelings, rap breakdowns, and falsetto choruses:



Can someone please explain to me why my childhood is continually being gutted and raped for the new millennium?

Green Day - 21st Century Breakdown

I'm going to forego the usual "From The Vault" blog post this week because I am off to buy the new Green Day album.

Even with all the leaks and websites streaming the entire album I've done my best to wait to hear it until I can buy an actual CD and hold it in my hands. And, today is that day.

I've been so excited for this album that I actually had a dream last night that I woke up this morning and it was already Friday. I was hanging out with the band and congratulating them on the day finally coming when their album was being released. We all went off looking for the venue that the band was going to play that night. Then I woke up and it was still only Thursday.

Damn!

Yes, I have odd dreams.

So, yeah, I'm off to buy a CD and have a listen. It's going to be a good Friday!

Blackouts

Just when I was preparing for a nice day of inking pages I get an automated phone message from XCel Energy telling me that there will be a "scheduled" blackout today from noon until five. I know it's for the better as the technicians will be installing the new boxes for Boulder's "Smart Grid", but still...I really wanted to ink this page today.

Ah, well. I guess I'll just have to start it tonight.

Maybe I'll go down to the movie theater and see "Wolverine" or "The Soloist". I'd see "Star Trek" but since I didn't know the energy outage was scheduled for today I went and saw it yesterday. Or maybe I'll just take a drive in the mountains in my jeep.

That is, of course, depending on if I can get the automatic garage door open to get my car out.

Maybe a nap...

Part One....DONE!

The pencils for a personal project I am working on are DONE!

Now, on to the inks!

From the Vault - Emily 2007

Every once in a while, after doing countless kid's books and kid's magazines and kid's advertising, it's fun to just draw a sexy girl.

I met Emily Memorial Day Weekend, 2007, through Monika. Monika's madrigal singing group had roped me into being the sound engineer and producer of their album and it was on that day that I met the other members of her group, Annika, Dana, Leah, and Emily.

What the girls thought would be a walk in the park and wouldn't take more than a weekend of their time ended up taking over a year to finish. Just trying to get the girls to find the time to come up to Boulder and record their individual vocal tracks was hard. But, it finally got done and I was really proud of the way the album turned out. For a sample of the music, you can find the CD HERE.

And, during this time, Emily had a photo up on her Facebook page that caught my eye. Using it as reference I created the piece above. The lines inside her arms and body were meant as reference guides for the shadows if I ever painted the piece. I never did get a around to it but I think Emily was happy with the result nonetheless.

The original is hers and I hope she has it somewhere special.

So, now I've drawn Monika and Emily. Unfortunately Monika bowed out of the group this year before I had a chance to draw any of the other girls. But, it was always a plan of mine to make them all works of art.

Ah well, maybe someday. Two down, three to go.

So Long Lisa CD Cover

While OilCan Drive's version of "It Ain't Me, Babe" didn't get many comments on the music boards the art I did for the cover sure did.

And yes, they were good comments.

So, being the nice guy I am, I agreed to do a few CD covers for some of the up and coming bands who liked my work.

One of these bands is called "So Long Lisa", a punk rock trio from Northern Ireland. The band's bassist, Ciaran, contacted me through one of the message boards and asked if I'd draw him and his two other band mates for an upcoming EP of music they're planning to put out. He pretty much gave me full creative control to do what I wanted.

So, I did a basic image of the three guys and adopted some of their existing ideas into the background. All in all, I think it came out well and Ciaran was very happy.

So, look for their EP, "Seven Signs You're a Superhero", due to come out sometime in the summer. For now, you can check out what the band's up to on their MySpace page: So Long Lisa.