Back to painting.

 It is almost as though I had forgotten why I even started this blog. I should be doing more to further my goals in drawing and painting while I am looking for a full time job. We'll waiting tables in evening gives one time to paint, and time to paint during the optimal time of day. As I sit here typing the sun is shinning through the south facing window of my house, my fiance's and my bedroom to to be exact. I/we have a room that faces north for me to convert almost solely into a studio. The problem arises, of course, from the lighting or poor lighting of that particular room. Something to keep in mind while drawing and painting during the day is to not disregard where the lighting is coming from.

 Believe me, I have made ALL the mistakes, trying to draw from photos where a flash was used, drawing still life objects from overhead lighting or lights from multiple sources etc. I am only now beginning to use charcoal again for value studies and sketching around. When young the family kitchen table didn't leave much room for 18x24 sketchbooks and charcoal just seemed so damned messy. Truth is I now realize when just sketching with charcoals I'm making value studies without even being conscious of it...that is awesome. I am trying to break free of my self taught lines-around-everything approach to drawing. Outlines, whether bold or no are not conducive to making accurate descriptive markings i.e. life sketches. Too much time reading and copying from comic books. Like anything else in life it is a habit that is hard to break, being aware of a habit is far better then continued ignorance though. As I work on working out some issues I have done a few small paintings over last two days.

  This lighthouse I had done for my sister as a gift to a friend. I started off with this as a study and did it in the bathroom in tube, why, space to splash. I had made the mistake of doing work at a desk for so long and working with too much control. I want to express colors and forms but want the water and paint to be what it is, so to say. I am not completely happy with how this one turned out but I fear going back into it now. I used an inferior paper and my fear is reworking now to darken below lighthouse and lighten water to right will damage the paper and actually detract from the over-all feel.

  Sadly, and a tip to anyone who might not know...even working at tub one should use a support. I was just messing about using some Dynasty squirrel quill brushes as I wanted lots of juice and color. If I thought I was about to make something I liked I would have taped the paper down...oh well, it has happened to more experienced then I! I also had done a watercolor sketch that, while not very pleasing to eye, was fun to do. I had worked on a small piece of paper, like 5x8 or so...to small to really do any washing as it was a sketch before anything but anything helps to get me back to painting.

 You'll notice I have a link for Dynasty Brush. I like their squirrel quill brushes, good quality real squirrel at half the price of Isabey! I have a Black Gold round as well but it is past its prime. When nest I need some synths I might check into their Faux Sable. The link is for the blog where Karyn will answer your questions personally, so read about their brushes on blog.

C&C continued

O.K., so where did I leave off...oh yeah, I don't like Stan"the man"Lee. I do not like superhero comic books anymore. I have not purchased a comic that was not printed on the order of 20 years ago, in the last 15 years. Something happened to the comic industry in the early 90's that robbed me of the fun and enjoyment a new issue used to bring. As it was I thought I was getting to read a continuing story of a fictional character but the realization crept up more and more that I was being sold something. It was no longer good enough to follow along with the monthly issues and once a year grab the annual ish., now I was encouraged and persuaded to buy up all manner of "special" issues, and "what if" type issues and an issue with an alternative cover and an issue that was a prequel to the new format of an existing character or storyline etc. It all got to a point I could not afford to keep up with even half of the titles I used to collect. I quickly tried to narrow down what titles I could live without and what I must have but I sank into despair with the "keeping up" anyway and finally just gave it up.

 Basically, the truth of what happened for me is that people like Stan "the man", but no one more-so then he, corrupted the whole genre from early on and there was a tipping point. The backlash of having underpaid the talent for so long and having stolen the rights to creative works for so long had the effect of an implosion on the industry as a whole. Things were heading into a direction of change as was but the infusion of the comic book speculator only served to throw the machine even further out of whack! The writers and artist deserved more of the pie...Stan Lee, the guy who reserved his real name for the great American novel that would never see publication took ownership of all creativity and the later Marvel artist seemed to have reveled into pulling as much cash out of the old man as was possible. He'd done the same thing to their predecessors, why not turn it around.

 Comics were not going to be the same after the talent turned in their love of the work into the search for fame and money. Yes, there are superhero movies being pumped out galore but in my opinion are mostly trash, made to make a quick buck and leave a bitter taste in the mouth of the old school fan. Pumping cash into comics, comic book characters etc. has not made them better in quality, probably the reverse is true. This is the same thing writ large that had crept into the field in the 1990's. It started with the first Batman movie, where it will end will probably be laughable...if you ask me. 

 Next post is where I start to use the blog the way I had intended, just didn't want to leave that last post hanging without an end.

Comic books and corruption.

   I had stated in my first post the I was quite the adherent to the superhero genre comics from the age of 8 and to last about 10 years from that time. As far as comics go the golden age  is a label given to publications from the late 1930's to late 40's and featured the introduction of Superman (Action Comics #1,1938), Batman and Robin, Wonder Woman, Flash and Green Lantern by the company that would become DC, as well as Captain America, The Human Torch (pre-Fantastic Four), Sub-Mariner and others from Timely Co. which would become the well known Marvel Comics. The list is huge and and includes Fawcett Comic's Captain Marvel (Shazam), one of my father's favorites, as well as the legendary Will Eisner's The Spirit. Circulation on monthly basis for some books, like Captain Marvel, were in the million+ range and dawned a new age trailing the birth of the Superhero, a great contribution to pop culture and fueled also by WWII, I take. Legendary names of the period are numerous and I believe that Stan (The Man) Lee, although not in comics at this time was obviously largely inspired by what was produced in this period. This is the part I will be addressing as Mr. Lee's contributions to the media are pioneering, while at the same time largely responsible for comics, in America, taking oh so long to be considered anything other other then a child's pastime and a low form of art.

   I tend to think of the period between the early 80's-early 90's as being, if not a golden age, surely the "Enlightenment" of the comic genre. Comics grew up in this time. I would imagine the wide spread popularity of Star Wars, Alien and the original Conan the Barbarian movies as being a bit of a catalyst for more mature and profound content finding it's way to the newsstand books and wider audiences. What Frank Miller and Kluas Janson did for the DareDevil series is without measure one of the most obvious examples of comics "coming of age" as the DD title was a newsstand title ,with mainstream readership as opposed to Epic Illustrated and, of course Heavy Metal, both of which were entirely geared for adult readers. Heavy Metal is actually the US version of the Mobius and Co. created French comic magazine ( Metal Hurlant). Adult themed comics in mag. form had been around for years but the Miller drawn and written Daredevil was unique for its time. I know full well I have merely glanced over the evo of the comic book but I believe I have hit on some of the larger notes. Which brings me to a subject that still haunts me.

   From the mid-late 80's it was as much as conceded that those who grew up reading comics in the 60's were still reading them and also were responsible for the opening of the comic book shop and other outlets. When I visited my favorite shop every Friday to spend my 10$ allowance I was talking with and mingling with, generally men in their 30's plus. At a small, bi-monthly convention in the area preteen boys like myself were not of the greatest represented number. Surely the creators of the books were aware of this shift and most book companies geared their writing and most of their marketing to reflect as much. This is what I believe is the true Golden Era for comics. The level of creativity was astounding, the art itself was morphing into a near fine art all it's own. Gone were they days of the "one off" story with no continuity, the level of draftsmanship increased across the board and remarks would be made when a book was failing to deliver...critique was not new, but now it was given more weight  as the comic field was also encountering and age of speculative investing and capital gains. It is no coincidence that the first adult themed Batman movie was released during these fast and furious times.

   Now here is the darker side of the story and what took comics into a completely new direction, mostly downward if talking readership numbers etc. It's back to Stan "the man" Lee, the guy who boast of creating near every Marvel character to appear from the 60's on till his best artist and writers jumped ship and sued Marvel for intellectual properties etc. Stan is a business man and had seemingly always taken a dim view of his audience. He wrote largely hack material and took credit for all the creative talents that came through Marvel's doors. In house at Marvel&DC the talent knew that they could create and write the most awesome material but that they were contractually unable to express any credit for it.  Why would anyone with a passion for what they do wish to have their work edited "watered down" and otherwise mangled to fit onto a Stan Lee template. Comics had to be dumb remember...cause the losers who buy them aren't ready for "real" art, and the rest are just dumb little snot nosed kids. right! Plus, since the artist were getting paid such low page rates why would they not mass produce for higher page rates if the contrary would mean less bread for their table...hell, Stan the Man couldn't care less as long as he was pulling down the good CEO money. A good case in point is, during the "Enlightenment" one of the breakout artist was the "Spawn" creator Todd McFarlane, who was hot,hot,hot at the time. He was paid more for his loan Spider-Man 300 annual (iirc) then the legendary Jack Kirby had made for his whole Marvel career. This payment comes about as Mr. McFarlane was so "going on" in the field at this time that he could leverage Marvel into finally coming off the dough. It was a serious win for the talent but it put the nue vue comic book investors in a bad position. I'l explain...

   Comics were not BIG money, publishing itself only generates so much and the average published author is no millionaire, and so the same holds true for the comic companies and artist. As long as the writers and artist were paid more "in-tune" with their passion for their field and not what they were worth, like not paying them royalties...the comic companies could make a nice profit form subscription and newsstand sales. Taking Marvel as example, Stan Lee being the owner of all intellectual property could make a very appealing presentations to stock holders and investors. If one can get the milk for paying out an average, low end salary why rock the boat with the purchase of a cow? On the talent side, these, for the most part, were men and woman who worked in their field out of strong passion and not to make it rich. You know the saying of how the best job for you is the one you would do for free, well that was an actuality in the comics industry. People like John Byrnes fought for and set up pension plans for their peers, no one else was going to lookout for them. Anyway, this all had a huge effect on comics.

   Lets look at the early 90's, the comics industry was bulging, like the sports card industry and speculation was rampant. Up to four different covers were produced to inaugurate a new Superman title...and the hijinks being fostered didn't start or end there. Many new titles were being pumped out and there were crossover plots galore, as that had become fad. The burgeoning creativity of the past several years was being replaced with flooding more and more of same onto the, apparently fragile market. There were bells and whistles galore but I have seen that little of the "new stuff" from that period has survived. What was innovative was becoming shtick all too often and at some point, because the readers and collectors were not as dumb or snot befouled of nose as Stan the Man had assured his shareholders, the whole thing collapsed under it's own ridiculous girth and rotten foundations! Much like our economy now, belts were pulled tight and staff, titles and vending outlets were tossed out like buckets full of water on a sinking ship. It wasn't just the laissez faire capitalization of a fragile industry that capsized the comic industry, but it also had to do with the talent asking for it's fair share and leaving the big two in order to own their own work...plus be paid a fair value to boot! Hence, creator owned comic imprints such as Image were popping up but on the whole many distributors and retail outlets closed their doors or stopped carrying comic books altogether. The tragedy lies in the fact that this was, like so many other debacles,a man-made and entirely avoidable one...greed, mostly by the company execs but also by the talent, and of course stoked by the cash and designs of the consumers led to the demise of the industry. One can still buy a comic book but it ain't what it used to be, the game had changed.

   I'd like to ramble on about this a little more in another post. I will be more precise in how the outlined events affected me and my friends. It's really a pity but like anything else, change is a must. I'd also like to hear form anyone who has a similar interest in the subject and receive their thoughts etc.

   Till I write up the next rant be well, Mark.

    So its time to write a blog, time to join the new wave, put it out there for others (meaning ALL) to see! This blog comes by way of suggestion from an art teacher who believes that keeping an online sketchbook and journal will help to stimulate, discipline or otherwise lend energy to the pursuit of honing certain skills etc. I have my doubts, as I am a doubter who doesn't think too much of the need for me to have a personal blog. You might understand better if you are aware that I feel all weird and self-conscious of how often I use the word I. Like it's all about me, what I think and how much I know, though I know little enough about I most of the time, strangely?

   Onto a more specific note, this blog will give me a chance to give nod to art that I appreciate, artist who have inspired me and, hopefully, giving a chance to the reader who excels at mining obscure facets of the net a place to read some user reviews of various pieces of artistry tools I come across or often use. Explaining what techniques I'll be practicing and why, in the realm of drawing/painting may also be a topic and concern. I admit that I enjoy a number of artist blogs as they describe their learning experiences in a more intimate nature then most of the "one size fits all" art instruction books and media. Though my art is not of the level I wish it to be, as I retired from drawing nearly 15 years ago, I do believe in one person helping another along in a shared journey to be of great benefit...most of the time. It is my desire to help myself along even if it passes that I have helped no one else.

   But, anyway, I am going to post a few pieces of mine that I had made quite a few years ago, then a piece that is much more recent and see how it goes form there. What a pleasant surprise it would be if I find that in a years time my skills have increased two fold from where I have restarted...where it did start is, when at 8 years old, an older boy who lived a few doors up from me showed me some drawings he'd made of Lion-O from the Thunder Cats and then a few of Spider-man and The Black Panther. From that time on I began a relationship with comic books that would last through my teen years. I picked up a lot of knowledge while immersing myself it that media but I taught myself many bad habits when it comes to drawing/drafting as well, such as I drew small stuff...the sizes I'd copy from comic books (which are originally quite a bit larger then shrunk for copy and press) and I also gave everything an outline, many times a heavy one, like the inked lines that appear in comics but do not exist anywhere in nature! It has been a bit of a struggle to move away from these poor habits.

15 year old drawing

   Well, the post is getting a little long in tooth so here are my first couple post and we'll see where it goes from here...be well and keep up the good fight, Mark.

a drawing for a course last year or so