This one came from a question i got on Panel and Pixel from Kevin Mellon & Jason Copland. I'm thinking this is fun stuff, so I'm probably going to start making vodcasts part of the regular CH 0 feed.

Labels: "Dream Life", Art, av, Comics, design, ideas, layouts, media, podcasts, tools and trade, video

Been a slow month; with all the spring cleaning, recovering from con flu, and finding a roommate i've not got a lot done on dream life - grumble - nice chunk of the layouts but wanted to have more of the art done by now too. Any who, starting to get going, here's some stuff from the last few nights whittling.

Labels: "Dream Life", Art, Comics, tools and trade

Labels: "Dream Life", Art, Comics, layouts, tools and trade

Cleaning up the studio got the drawing corner sorted now, yeay!




I do my layouts and sketching here, more privet so i can get and stay in the right head space for more cerebral work.

Labels: "finger string", personal, Photos, tools and trade

Just finished organizing my books...:)

Labels: "finger string", Comics, personal, Photos, tools and trade, zines

Wanted an excuse to work with a few new tools, some stuff I'll probably apply to my own site soon, to help tidy it up some.

+Told Bernie a while ago I'd help fix up his old site, and move it to a better host.

Sooo....

The new url is bem.spiltink.org, and while it's still got some stuff to tighten I'm officially launching it today. Drop buy and bug the guy to post some new stuff! :)

Labels: "finger string", Art, Comics, News, tools and trade

"Cartoon College" teaser trailer



links
Doc on myspace
CCS

Labels: "finger string", Art, Comics, Horizon, News, tools and trade

Had fun with a small gig this past week working as a portrait artist at the Jazz fest - free drawings of people attending the shows [the festival paid me for the work] mostly I forgot to take my camera with me, but this one day I was besieged by a gang of kids who monopolized me for the whole 3 hours I was there :)

Enjoyed this, think i'll have to find some way to make it a semi regular summer gig type thing. The 3 or so hours of drawing strangers really helped open me up for work when I go home so I was actually more productive the days I worked the festival than the others.

Labels: Art, illustrations, tools and trade

I've got the last 40 pages for Therefore Repent on the plate now, and a lot of lettering.

Also passing around contract memos with Jim for the US and Direct Market pub deal.

And when I get tired of drawing for a bit I've been tying a bow on my script for Dream Life.

Here's some of the pages i worked on over the last two days.

Labels: Art, Comics, Therefore Repent, tools and trade

Big news Posted by Bryan @ sequential:

"At the Graphic Novel Conference held at the 2007 New York Comicon this past weekend, industry analyst and owner of the ICv2 website Milton Griepp announced that for the first time ever, graphic novel sales in the U.S and Canada have surpassed sales of the stapled comic book "pamphlet" format."

Labels: "finger string", News, tools and trade

Picasso's minotaur as the blocky thing.

Labels: "Dream Life", "finger string", Comics, ideas, tools and trade, writing

Years ago now, back when I lived in Toronto and worked at Nelvana Animation Studios, I first learned how to use a brush as a BG inker on Sam and Max.

I was already seen as a brushy heavy blacks artist by my peers and superiors even know i only used markers and pens, so it was assumed I was already qualified when they asked me to join the crew, and the fact that the senior designer had asked for me made it all the more attractive despite the fact that i had not ever yet used a brush with any regularity.

Who you know is everything in the arts world and I had spent some of my brakes chatting with this interesting character who sat in a cubical a row over from mine hid away in the back. Goran was a former Yugoslavian soldier who had spent some time in jail for refusing to fight in the post perestroika ethnic civil wars in his region.

He liked to play that dark past up a bit but he wasn't creepy about it, entertaining company and an amazing, fast and talented artist & draftsmen. He had down pat a kind of heavy brushwork that I have always admired.

He was the main designer for Sam and Max, and my job as an inker was to ape his style as closely as I could for the BG inking, so I spent some time watching him work and them just had to go do it.

Fortunately I took to it pretty fast and would have had a great time if not for some crazy office politics on the gig.

It did make a big difference in the feel of my art from then on, I can still see where Goran's example is still directing me to this day in some reaspects, amongst others.

I just found a short vid of him doing some quick and dirty inking on YouTube that reminded me of all this, have a look see, and then maybe go see his blog too, some very cool images there as well.

Labels: "finger string", Art, tools and trade

Oh, now this is a film i'm going to Have to see...



more here

Labels: "finger string", Horizon, tools and trade

Interesting discussion. This cool old comic here was posted there by Eric Knisley

Labels: "finger string", Art, tools and trade

So have you been into Comic Space yet?

In the mould of Myspace it's a community specific site for comic creators, publishers, retail and readers.

It includes a section for publishing your stories online and mini add banners.

I set up a page there and plan on publishing some old material and portions of my current work for your reading pleasure gratis. I'll be having books published this summer and fall, so I’m planning to use the site to promote that work.

It's pretty cool, free, and includes a time release posting system, allowing you to upload large segments of a story, and leak them out say, daily or weekly? Very easy to use and it's proving to be a very positive community too. Along with bulletin posting to 'friends' and optional public notice board pages; & Gallery Posting threads to let readers follow your stories; there is also a biding system for mini banner add space throughout the site provided by projectwonderful.com as well.


I've found Myspace very useful, but as a visual artist you tend to get a bit lost in with all the bands. The site directly caters to the scenes needs online, and I'm also finding a lot of people are finding me on Comic Space & then following links through to do so on the other as well, consolidating some of the disparate networks of artists on Myspace.

Very effective organic networking. Can't say yet how much it will help but I'm sure it will.

No, I wasn't paid, but I think the site is a great idea being made real by Josh Roberts & co.

Labels: Art, News, tools and trade

I always try out new tools, to see what i can get out of them. Increasingly I use this more and more. A Pilot Hi-tecpoint v7 grip. Its basically a ball point constructed like a technical pen. A good replacement for felt tipped Microns and Pilot DR pens. The v7 is longer lasting I find that either of those, hardier and more durable, it's only real drawback being that the ink can smudge, you have to allow for it to dry much like with India ink. But despite that, its very nice ink, fast and fluid, and it gives a subtly variable line ideal for expressive detail work that isn't overly fussy. Good for work that needs to be tight, but expressive in the same ways a brush can be.

Labels: tools and trade

These are basic rates, if you have questions or special requests that fall outside of these categories, feel free to contact me at Salgood@Gmail.Com to negotiate for your commission. Size, color, and market are all determining factors, as is your budget.



Prices are roughly based on The Graphic Artist's Guild Handbook for Pricing and Ethical Guidelines.

Labels: Art, Rates, tools and trade