Art Nerd Post, J. H. Williams: Batwoman + Wonder Woman

My latest Art Nerd post is a bit of a fan girl squee because BATWOMAN IS TEAMING UP WITH WONDERWOMAN!!! And artist J. H. Williams is fabulous.

Batwoman makes a house call to Wonder Woman. Batwoman #12. Art by J. H. Williams.

Artist J.H. Williams, who came to Batwoman in 2009 with Greg Rucka, has a whole flickr set dedicated to his work with Kate Kane donning the cowl and gives this glimpse into how he created the cover for #13 (with grievances about the final design decisions.). In addition, he has this to say about artistic considerations for working with these two major icons in one storyline:

“We’re super excited to be tackling Wonder Woman for a bit in the upcoming arc of ‘Batwoman, but also feel a sense of trepidation and responsibility, with her probably being the most iconic female hero of all time in comics. We needed to approach her with reverence and respect. And also wanted to give her a sense of purity in how she is drawn, something clear in her appearance, overt and forward. Now doing this, and then setting her next to Batwoman produces fascinating juxtapositions of their styles and nature of their characters. Batwoman being shadowy and a bit withdrawn, Wonder Woman being bold and vibrant. They do have things in common with their sense of purpose, but yet also things that make them quite different from each other, and them coming together brings out complimentary aspects much in the same way Batman and Superman do for each other as characters. The result is a compelling union of two iconic women that bring balance to how they can be perceived.” ~J.H. Williams, via Comic Book Resources.

~read more

So this issue is SITTING RIGHT HERE BESIDE ME but I haven't had time yet to do more than thumb through it and drool just a bit. Mostly, I love that on the first page Kate heartbreaks just a tiny bit over Diana.  More later.  Here's a preview.

rushed and talentless (plus misc)

Ha! Just kidding with the title. Well, only sort of: it sums up the two thoughts on my mind right now.

First, in Episode 44 of 3chicks review comics, Kelly Thompson talked about Catwoman #0 with art by Adriana Melo and commented that the art is just not very good and maybe was that there was a time crunch to get the issue out so she was rushed and not able to perform to her usual standard. (The cover of that issue by Guillem March had already raised a ruckus previous to hitting the shelves.)  Catwoman #0 is in a stack somewhere here on my desk, I just haven't had a chance to open it and make my own opinion. But rushing to get stuff done is something I'm have a love-hate relationship with.

Second, Over at Muddy Colors, artist Greg Manchess shared a few thoughts about Talent:

"...There’s no evidence that talent actually exists. Nothing in the DNA studies points to some mysterious gene that can be identified as a talent for art, photography, painting, basketball, pinball, running, medicine, etc. Talent is built, not possessed. If it’s in the epigenetic material, it would’ve been there since the dawn of man. Clearly, Cro-Magnon man did not have a gene for ping pong.... Loads of creative people believe they have a gift for what they do. Frankly, they just have a poor memory for remembering that when they were young, they were training themselves to learn. I’ve followed quite a number of great creative people who will simply tell you they have no talent, never did, and had to work their arses off to get to where they are. Trust those guys." ~read more

And now the misc: I have a new Art Nerd post about starting my own pull list at my comic shop including Saga and Captain Marvel: 

"Admission: I’ve never bought weeklies at a comic store before. (Was always intimidated about plunging into the middle of a story line and getting lost in some crossover.) But when I heard about two new and intriguing comic series coming out I jumped at the chance to get in on the action from the beginning. First, over at Image comics, Brian K. Vaughan has teamed up with Fiona Staples to create Saga, an epic sci fi/fantasy for mature audiences that tells the story of Alana and Marco, new parents on the run from authorities in a galactic war.  Then in the Marvel Universe Kelly Sue Deconnick is writing a brand new story arc for Ms Marvel, now as Captain Marvel! (Art by Dexter Soy.) Two vastly different comics both of which I’m enjoying immensely so thought I’d share with the FN crowd." ~read more 

On that note, a few more things I've added to my pull list: Batwoman, Stumptown, and Transfusions. In addition, Captain Marvel is now being drawn by Emma Rios, which I am quite enjoying. Plus I just got my hands on the 5 issue run of Caitlin Kiernan's Alabaster Wolves, which I got mostly for the cover art by Greg Ruth and ended up loving the story and interior art as well.

Alright, that's all for now. Back to work. 

Art Nerd book review: Weirdo Noir

(now posted to the Functional Nerds)

A few years ago, Matt Dukes Jordan compiled Wierdo Deluxe to showcase today's leading lowbrow and pop surrealist artists. With Weirdo Noir, he crawls into the cracks of the lowbrow genre to harvest some of the darker Gothic* works contained therein.

Jordan's introductory essay is a glimpse into the human obsession with what goes bump in the night, and earlier art movements that precursor today's noir creatives. His timeline of dark imagery through the ages is a real treat and he takes pains to place lowbrow art into the context of today's culture, contrasting it with the kitschy and commercial imagery it appropriates.... (read more)

24 hr Comic Day

(cross posted from Functional Nerds)

An invitation to the 8th annual 24 Hour Comic Day: This Saturday, October 1.

The dare: To complete a 24 page comic book in 24 continuous hours.

Back in 1990 comic artist Scott McCloud thought of a creative exercise to improve his drawing speed. He decided to challenge himself (and fellow comic artist Steve Bissette) to draw a complete 24 page comic book in 24 hours.

McCloud recalls that first venture:

"Feeling increasingly alone and silly, I called Steve to see how he was coming along on his comic to discover he couldn't do it that day after all because of family obligations. This made me feel even more alone and silly of course, but I kept going anyway."

Since that first solitary experiment (which you can view here) the challenge has taken off to become a bit of a phenomena with many notable artists and writers participating. Also, it is not longer a solitary event:

"On April 24, 2004, the first annual "24 Hour Comics Day" (more comics, fewer hyphens!) took place at comics stores all over the country, producing thousands of pages of comics in a single weekend. By 2007, the celebration had grown to events in 18 countries, involving over 1,200 artists and an estimated 20,000+ pages of comics."

For more information about participating in the "official event" check out this interview with ComicsPRO executive director Amanda Emmert, and see here for the rules and requirements (and various noble failure options). This Saturday it's gonna be happening all over the place, maybe near you? (And if not, you could get one going.:))

A few years ago, John Nakamura Remy invited me to do this with him and a few friends. Our version was a scaled down 18hr deal which we shared with each other via twitter, blogs, and flickr. See the invitations here and here; Final products here and here.

Now we're gonna do it again. My personal variation this time around: I'm going to start Friday and will be breaking a rule by using a short story written by Jaym Gates. I plan to have it turned into a 12 (ish) page comic by sometime early Saturday (before family arrives from out of town). Feel free to join in using whatever parameters best fit your life and your creative goals.

John and I will be sharing the process via twitter (@johnremy, @galendara and hashtag #24HCD) and google+ ( @John Dewey Nakamura Remy, and @Galen Dara).

So there you go! Collect your art supplies, your ideas, a stock pile of microwavable food & caffeine, and join us for a 24 Hour Comic Day!

Drink and Draw round up.

So the the other nigh we got together on twitter and had a little Drink and Draw. There was a fabulous turn out and the following is a brief collection of links to give you a sampling of who was drinking and drawing what:

@aldoojeda's worked the life drawing and portraiture like none other
@atfmb started with iPad apps, moved to a sketchbook, and never lost touch with his inner nerd.
@KathleenManz (opps, now @MamaKathy_) drew Dr. Who/Star Trek mashups.
@abrymora .. wow... airship!!!
@scourger took time out from ReaderCon to join in with some precious... awesome... amazing... doodles.
@traciewelser showed what she can do with a sharpie and some suggestions from her offspring.
@renesears kept it classy with wizards, fairies, and unicorns pooping rainbows (yep.)
@inkgorilla did, surprise surprise, a simian-harry potter mash up! the Chimp who Lived... Harry Wooly... and Severus Ape (....BWAHAHAH <3)
@jacobRuby made some surreal imagery while reclaiming an old sketchbook that a toddler had gotten a hold of (also, his iPad work is beautiful)
@MarlyseComte's work is just always sublime. Always. (Drunk or no.)

Did I miss anyone? please let me know if I did. (This post is the result of a bit of tricky work looking back through my over-full twitter feed.)

Meanwhile.. I had a bit of fun combing drawings with real objects at hand:



And then I sent them to photoshop where I drew over the top of them. (Also, I pirated @palecurve's mug for a bit of fun :) I think my favorite one of the evening was where I didn't draw anything at all on the pad of paper, just took a photo of it and added all of the drawing digitally:

Anyhow... the first functional nerds drink and draw even was a smashing success. We shall definitely be doing this again.

Art Nerd (Drink and Draw!)

Oh, yes... btw... I am now the Art Nerd blogger over at Functional Nerds podcast!

Last month's post was about the drawing game Exquisite Corpse. Fun Fun stuff.

But I am particularly excited for this month's post that just went up: I got Booze Nerd Andy Romine to help me gear up for a Functional Nerds twitter Drink and Draw. That will be going on this friday night, come join us on twitter! You do not have to draw: Only if you want to. Also, you do not have to drink: Only if you want to (and you can drink *whatever* you want). Feel free to come hang out on with us on twitter, chat a bit, laugh a bit, retweet some of the creativity, etc. (Follow me @galendara and Andy @inkgorilla as well as hashtags #drinkanddraw and #functionalnerds)

Looking forward to seeing you there.