Girly Stuff.

I've been swamped with my Star Wars project for a long time now and I have not had much in the way of free hours. Still, what little time there was manifested a few lady-specific sketches: I do make a point to draw Lindsey as much as I can, I was commissioned to do a portrait of an ailing but brave girl fighting a brain tumor and, finally, I happened to have a 20 minute period where I put way too much effort into a little wonder woman doodle.

I like to draw women but there is a fine line to walk between being playful in exploring what you find attractive or enticing and being a total perv. I've come to a point where I'm just going to draw what I like measured against the context I'm working in; trying to find that balance.

I was talking with Periscope's current Intern Ainsely Yeager, about what gains a person success in the field of comics, and I said something along the lines of 'if you don't have boobs you should learn to draw them' to which she replied with a more concise "(to succeed in comics) you better be a hot chick or know how to draw them." It's true that being an attractive girl can go a long way in endearing your work to comics readers.

It has occurred to me that, since I like science, it might be a worthwhile thing to try an experiment along these lines. Will more people take an interest in my work and promote me if I spend the next month drawing hot ladies and popular subjects rather than my usual fare? The question really boils down to whether people are more interested (generally) in subject rather than approach. I suppose there is a balance to be struck between drawing weird niche images that satisfy me and the things that please people.

we'll see aye?

Hey...Listen!

I love "The Legend Of Zelda." It was the last video game that I played alone and really loved. My favorite part of the whole series is the puzzle component of the temples. I don't care for a lot of busy work or repetitive button pushing.

'Zelda' always seems to have just enough monster fighting to keep it feeling like an 'adventure' without overindulging in that aspect nicely avoiding the tedium of the ubiquitous side scrolling street (or space station-esque) brawl games like 'Double Dragon' or 'Final Fight' of my youth. We all know that those sorts of games exist to be played with friends while staying up all hours of the night while you eat pizza and bag on each other.

Zelda is a world unto itself and I wish I could relive the experience of playing "Ocarina Of Time" again on a first run through. I used to go to bed thinking excitedly about potential solutions.

May the way of the hero lead to the Triforce.
Maybe some day soon I'll replay 'A Link to The Past' Or "Ocarina of Time.' If I get really crazy I might obtain a copy of 'Windwaker' and 'Twilight Princess.' At which point more elaborate and extensive fan art would be required!

My Lindsey Book, My Animal Mystery

I have a sketch book that I am filling with primarily observational drawings. That same sketchbook has become a venue for my portraits of Lindsey. Most of them are drawn at breakfast or while she is watching movies. I like trying to capture how I see her and sometimes I'm more successful than others. I want to fill the book with images of her over the next few years and catalog my appreciation of her while improving my drawing skills!

She was disappointed in the fact that they currently make the French Toast with regular bread instead of Croissants as they once did.
I've also started to accumulate a collection of quotes from her. Though this is my favorite over all:

"If you get the water, I'll start eating the pizza"
Lindsey and I are both filing for extensions this tax season because we are disorganized and as a result of that we've been going through piles of paper that have accumulated around our apartment. That usually seems tedious and tortuous to me but the good news is that I found this old mini comic (circa 2008) that I had started while I was teaching at Art 4 Life:


There is a mystery in the comic and I think I'll finish it because I remembered the mechanism I planned on using. It's going to be fun and, hopefully, somewhat challenging. Check back with me over the weekend for posts about Stumptown. If you are local or inclined to hop on a concorde come find me and say hello!

Out On The Town!

What do the Dark Knight, Kal-El and my brother Zach all have in common? They are proud denizens of major metropolitan areas that they improve with their presence!

My Brother Zach has moved to Portland and I am excited for him. I remember what it felt like to be here early on; there is a trilling sense of discovery accompanied by the awkward stumbling progress of establishing a life apart from that which you had previously been so accustomed to. He is a very talented illustrator, designer and all around good guy. I sincerely believe that he has made the first and most important step in the process of profound personal development: choosing the right venue for growth. A big part of succeeding in the pursuit of one's goals involves betting on an informed choice of a home base. Zach has bravely made that bold move toward an energetic future of golden possibility by joining us here in PDX!

Even though he has been here for a few months I still offer him a warm welcome and I hope you'll do the same by visiting his Blog:

http://zachfischerart.wordpress.com/
He and I went to Brunch at the Morningstar Cafe to celebrate his arrival!
My last bit of Sketch art from Emerald City is this Batman and Superman piece That I did on the final day of the con as things were winding down. Nathan and I had done a Star Trek/Wars competition on Saturday and decide to try a similar information gathering venture Sunday with the Caped Crusader and last son of Krypton. I finished the image once I got back and I think I'll offer it via Periscope's Etsy Store.


I don't do much DC-themed stuff at the moment. I do love the potential of those characters in the same way that I love the Marvel Characters but I think Marvel has been more in step with what I've wanted to see as a consumer of entertainment. That said; if you readers want to see some DC Characters then you can drop a line in the comments or email me a sketch suggestion or for a commission!

Lucky Seven.

Periscope Studio has a regular sketch challenge that I've only been able to participate in sparingly. I'm super busy working on my Star Wars story for Darkhorse comics at the moment but when the opportunity to help out with the relief effort in Japan each of us in the studio set aside the time.

The recent tragedy in Japan was something that even the best scientific instruments available could not predict or prevent. Since we have been presented with a clear circumstance of need, each of us owes our fellow humans on the other side of the world the most we can give. I don't have a lot of money at any given time (though I am donating money as well) but I can offer up my skill set to garner more than I can afford on my own. My contribution to the Periscope auction is this piece of original art:


If you are interested in bidding on it please click on this link:Periscope Studio Ebay Auction For Japan Relief!
I wanted to do something that would be encouraging and embody the triumph of will over adversity that has been a historic strength of the Japanese. I read somewhere along the way that in post-WW2 Japan there was a re-embrace of Samurai culture and mentality that helped make the nation into the dynamic cultural force it is today. Kurosawa's "Seven Samurai" Perfectly captures the spirit of dedicated earnest people fighting the good fight in spite of tough odds. We can all find a correlate of our best selves amongst that diverse band of seven warriors.

The inks without the watercolor
If you know someone who loves classic film and wants to help the people of japan remedy their distress then send them over to the link posted above and get in on the effort. It's win win; the auction winner gets cool art that they can always feel good about and the Japanese get the resources they desperately need to help remedy the effects of an unavoidable disaster.