On the Drawing Board

In lieu of a detailed post today, I'll just share what's on the drawing board right now. Since my last trip to Disney, I've been in a pirates mode... not just from the movie, but from the ride. So, to take a break from the freelance work, here's an image of the boys from The Inquiring Minds, doing what they do best... having fun, and going all out to do so. :0)

Cheers, JOHN :0)

Knight and Day revisited

It's hard to believe that it's been five years since my first comic strip collection came out. Knight and Day is our flagship comic, and still holds it's own with a recent graphic novel sequel, and a host of other projects to stand beside.

Maybe because it was my first book, but it holds a very special place in my heart, and I believe it still holds the most sales. Of course, it's had a head start on the other books, and in retrospect, it is still a very strong book, full of lots of fun, lots of laughs, and lots of life.



"Take Me Away From All This!!" is the story of Steven and Amy (Day) Knight... newlyweds who are learning what it means to share everything with another person, from personal space to finances, to... everything! And they're learning that it is not easy.

Besides being my first "hit", Knight and Day had a lot of firsts for me, and a lot going for it. The comic strip was syndicated across dozens of websites, appeared in a local newspaper, and even appeared at Tribune Media's Comics Edge. This strip was my closest to beign syndicated, as well, and it was nice to receive praise from comic strip Editors... although they eventually passed on the strip. Still, the reason they passed was that it was too similar to other strips out there, in particular strips about newlyweds. Being compared to other strips already syndicated was strong praise indeed, but watching the strips I was compared to eventually end and fade away was just a little frustrating, with me wondering if I had had the chance, would I have 'made it'.

I'm sure I would have. I really wanted it, and still do. Right now, though, I'm enjoying a terrific freelance career, and am taking the time to develop my art and writing. I have a new comic strip in mind, but I won't debut it until it is ready. I learned that lesson with Knight and Day, and my earlier strips.



With Knight and Day I followed the advice of all the greats... I wrote every day, I drew every day, and I did not rush to send strips out to the Editors. I dreew several hundred strips, and even then I only drew the ones that I was absolutely sure about.

Even better, I didn't start the strip until I was ready. I spent 3 months doing nothing but taking notes and making sketches. I worked out all the problems and all the details in the preliminary stages, so that when I started the strip, I knew where I was going with it.

Belive me, if you want to create a comic strip, or similar project, this is some of the best advice anyone can give. I heard it from others, and they heard it from others, but we all pretty much learned it the hard way.

**You cannot rush greatness**

Knight and Day was a hit pretty much from day one (alright, day 6), and it was because I took the time to get it right. I've seen a lot of strips on the web that are not consistent, or have no direction. Some tell stories, which helps keep direction, but Editors are not looking for story strips because they need strips that have easily identifiable characters: strong characters that the reader can identify with, and 'know' in a short time. You simply can't make this stuff up as you go along, or you might get lost. And if you get lost, your reader's are going to get lost... in more ways than one. :0)

The book also has my first travel stories, with the ever popular trip to England, and some greta crossover work with Cartoonist Brian Hughes, and a few other special events in there, including my tributes to some of my favorite Cartoonists at the time.

Check it out at the link below. I'd really appreciate it. :0)

All the best, JOHN :0)




Learn more about this book here, or...

Dr. Tongues 3D House of Stewardesses

All right, the title SHOULD read "HappyGlyphs in 3-D!", but it did get your attention, didn't it? So... Happy New Year! It's been a long while, but I've been busy and I like to wait until I have something better to post than "Sorry I haven't been able to post lately".

So Dr. Tongue's 3D House of Stewardesses was a classic sketch on the delightfully entertaining SCTV, and involved 3D movies. In this post, I want to discuss a different 3D... moving my cartoons into... the THIRD DIMENSION!

Yes, as you can tell from the photos here, I decided to do some sculpting. Why? For one, sculpting 3D figures is an already established tool for Cartoonists to learn to draw their characters from different angles. Two, I wanted to stretch myself again, and learn something new. Three... well, THAT'S a secret, for now.

I'm a strong proponent for trying new things, and avoiding falling into a rut by keeping busy and pushing yourself and your talents. I also find it hard to label myself as a Cartoonist, Illustrator or Writer, because I am all of these things, and more. And sometimes, I just want to prove to myself that "and more" bit.

So, onward. I love putting together model kits, but always want to push them, add to them, and frankly, make my own. Sculpting fits the bill, and I've been wanting to tackle a few projects for a while. This is not a tutorial, since I'm brand new to this, and am hoping to learn a lot as I go along.

Today's lesson: Don't rush things! Patience is very important in any art project, and even though I wanted to make this a weekend project, I tried very hard to take my time and do things right. I made a lot of mistakes, but managed to finish the project, and frankly, I think it came out pretty good for a first attempt.



I chose to recreate my new HappyGlyphs Logo, since I love it so much, and I (mistakingly) thought that it would be, like, really simple.



You can see in the third photo's background a yellow piece of paper with sketches on it. To start this project, I sketched out the model from different angles, in order to visualize the original illustration (above) as a 3 dimensional object. Fortunately, I visualized the scene from all angles in creating the original illustration, so I could easily imagine the scene as a model. I also paid close attention to how each piece related to each other in size.

Of course, if you look closely at the photos, you can see that 'paying attention' isn't always enough, and I ended up redoing various parts of the model as I went along.



The second photo shows the model in its initial stages... I laid out the base, with the standing stones, made legs for the sheep, and forms for the sheep bodies. I baked the legs so that I could stick them into the body while it was still soft, without damaging them. I also made the body forms, because the sheep would be too thick to bake all at once, without burning the clay.

Compare the size of the standing stone in the second and third photos! I initially made the tall stone too short, so it was a good thing that I didn't rush things, and bake the initial base and stones right away. I also made the first two sheep way too big for their position on top of the fallen stone. I had sized it right, initially, but underestimated how thick I would end up putting the wool on.

Again, the difference between seeing it in your head, and actually doing something.



So here is the final piece, almost done. What do you think? I still plan on touching up the paint a bit, but I think it's looking good. :0)

PS The first two sheep were given their own bases to stand alone on, and don't worry... they've already been claimed to good homes. :0)

Cheers, and please let me know what you think, eh? JOHN :0)

What's on my iPod today? Soundtrack to Jesus Christ Superstar. Awesome movie, awesome sounds. :0)



UPDATE: Here's a pic of the first two sheep, painted.