Back In The Saddle

Hey there loyal readers. If you've been hoping for news of White Pony then I can offer you an exciting tidbit; I've completed new pages. They will be posted soon once Nathan and I have had a chance to put our heads together and come up with a satisfying end to our current story arc.

We have been a bit lackadaisical with our approach to our webcomic but I wanted to get back on top of it; at least I hope to arrive at the point where I could satisfy my portion of the story and make ready to hand the baton to a worthy successor, should the epic tale continue.

I've also started a NEW BLOG (featuring many older posts from this blog) that is more specifically geared to my individual artistic pursuits. Nathan and I will still be posting here on occasion but the news will concern our mutual projects and all things Melee. If you want the buzz on Ben Dewey please visit me at Dewey Draws!

Thor Brings The Thunder

I've been working on getting some Marvel Sample Pages; I get to practice cleaning things up a bit. My typical penciling can be a bit smudgy and with the help of the 'Paper mate tuff stuff eraser stick' I have been able to edit and clean as I go! My friend/ studiomate Natalie Nourigat showed me this fine addition to my arsenal and I owe her big time. I recommend it to those of you out there who get tangled up in construction lines.

Marvel Avengers Super Heroes page one at a middle stage
Here is a Thor Montage I had started back when Periscope was putting up images of the thunder God on our Tumblr for the ongoing studio-wide sketch challenge. I still have a Mario, a Mad Men and a few tid-bits here and there left to share. Check back with me here and let me know what you think.

See if you can name all of Thor's friends and rivals without looking it up on wikipedia!

Star Wars Sketchcard Frenzy!

I got a request from a reader to do a few star wars sketch cards. He sent along a few cards; one had a promo piece I had done already printed on it along with my name and title. Now that I'm done with My Work for Dark Horse I have a little time to catch up on little things like this:

Approx. 3 X 7 inches; ink on cardstock
Approx. 4 X 2.5 inches; ink and gray marker on cardstock
If you want a sketch card like this you can send a crisp 20 dollar bill and a self addressed stamped envelope to Periscope Studio Care of Ben Dewey! You can also look for my Star Wars Digest title "Strange Allies" coming December 6th (mark your calendars!) to your local comics retailer. You can also pre-order online

Observe and Report.

I like observational drawing. I feel like it is one of the things that I do well. I encourage developing artists to try it as often as possible. It becomes a reservoir that one can tap into as they develop cartooning solutions for the articulation of complex information. Without some understanding of natural light and forms that emerge from contrast, the methods of stylization that people often employ quickly reveal themselves to be incomplete.

I got Lindsey to draw me and she did a better job of honestly recording what she saw than many people I went to art school with would have.
Some friends of ours were in town over the weekend. I often draw people that I'm having a meal with but I've decided it might be best to ask first. The fellow on the left of the image (a dear friend of mine) was annoyed with my depiction of him to the point where he asked me 'not to do it again.' That is a possible peril when you portray anyone I suppose.
Lindsey and I had a nice breakfast at Tom's where we talked about drawing. I asserted that adults seem squeamish about drawing because they appear to have a strange standard of necessary quality that is self applied. Many people don't hold themselves to a similar litmus test with other popular activities like sports or cooking, that have a well demonstrated, professional, archetype against which their own skills could be measured. If they do, the peak potential ideal doesn't seem to stop most of them from enjoying their own explorations. Drawing is fun and I'm glad when Lindsey does it.

Lindsey is depicted here depicting me. The drawing she is working on can be seen above

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.

Widescreen!

This first image is a sketch from Emerald City that I did in between commissions. I didn't get any requests for color this time around but I'm hoping for more of that sort of work next year. I like to work in color because it adds just that much more spark to already fun ideas:

The Great Master Yoda handing down a lesson
This other drawing was done while waiting for food at McMenamin's. Lindsey and I went (with our friends Randi and Wes) to see our old pal Bob Grunau race his bicycle against many foes. He did really really well; he came in 6th place. It was a really big field and all of those guys was working hard to win the promised prize of cake. This was one of his first races and I'm excited to see how he does in future contests.

Left to Right: Bob, Signe, Wes, Randi and Sweet Lindsey
More Convention sketches to on the way so come back soon and be sure to check out the updated Tales From The White Pony site!