K+H #6 and New Influences

I've found some new influences I've been looking at a lot lately like beart sears, Jose Luis Garcia-Lopez, Steve Scroce, Bill Reinhold - awesome inker, and more of the usual Rick Leonardi and Walt Simonson. Also been getting into mainstays like Joe/andy/adam Kubert and Jack Kirby. Out of the new guys I think Koi Pham is pretty good and I think Ivan Reis is the new Jim Lee, someone who could actually meet his drawing ability and be his stylistic sucessor (i think the inking is one of the main ways they look different) and yet his storytelling doesn't fall into the all too overused Jim Lee Sterotypes, similar to what I'm finding JRJR does as well.

As far as Kord and Harley goes - NO I didn't draw or color these, but I did ink them. That credit goes to Johnathan Rector for pencils and Chandran Ponnusamy for colors. Comes out soon from Arcana.

Kord and Harley 6 - Cover by ~xaqBazit on deviantART

Kord and Harley 6 preview-pgs by ~xaqBazit on deviantART

Kord and Harley 6 preview-DPS by ~xaqBazit on deviantART

R.I.P - a generation of greats passes on

Got to take a break and finish writing a 3-issue script I've been wanting to get finished, and the first arc of a web/newspaper comic directed at kids ive been wanting to get started, in between issues.
I just added my ashcan Amanda to my Webcomics Nation account, so everyone can read it now. I started it in college and finally finished it. The center page is a fold out.
With the recent death of Al Williamson I couldn't help but notice how many legends of the comics world have been passing recently. Dick Giordano, Frank Frazetta, Will Eisner ((who even coined the term "graphic novel") among others. If you don't know their work you should check these guys out, chances are you've seen it without knowing. It also brings up the point that if you get a chance to meet one of your heroes at a con or signing etc, like I got to meet Dick, say hi, let them how much their work meant to you - if you're working in comics chances are these guys helped pave the way and direction of where it is now and where it went for the last 30 or more years. The phrase "standing on the shoulders of giants" would not be misused to describe what we're able to do today because of these guys. They spent their life working on comics and many were still doing it when they passed. Their spirit will live on through the pages, the new readers and their influence/inspiration on the generations of both readers and their modern day protégés that follow and are now succeeding them. R.I.P. guys, and thank you for everything.

Inspiration and Pressure

Inspiration - in any art form it is vital. As soon as summer hit I stopped, stopped drawing, stopped writing -the want was there but the pressure and the inspiration were gone. I was able to write 7 of 10 episodes for Terra Novus while in my last quarter of last year and then stopped when I started getting too much home work. We've been working 40hrs + this summer and got a raise, and for some reason I started drawing and writing again. Both have suffered setbacks but it's also a time for cleaning of skills. You are stripped back to what is really left, what you really know and it shows you what you were just faking and what you need to work on. That's a optimistic way to look at it. But really the biggest thing that I can hope for is that the work that I do will be inspiration for someone else and I will add to the cycle of artists creating and inspiring the next set of material.

But practically I should finish the final episodes in this next week. After a gridlock of about a month, I started rereading and editing the first 7 scripts - I just finished today. Seeing how much the scripts got progressively worse I know I need to edit. It seems like such a shadow of the glory I meant for it. I only had 2 scripts to go and I got writers block for two or three months.

Now after much inspiration and pondering I'm back at it. I had even prevented myself from reading unrelated material so that I wouldn't get more distracted, which I plan to reward myself with when I'm done. Everyone has kind of fallen through, been out of contact or out for the summer - My plan at the beggining was to finish the scripts and have the first few shows done by the time school started - looks like I'll be putting it off for a bit longer. However this quarter should be fairly easy and I hope to make the most of it since last quarter last year was hell.
Batman was amazing but like Watchmen was for the writer of Batman Begins, it only served as a bar I knew I could never meet in that media.
PS: major inspirations for my radio drama include Lost, which took a break until January and Flash Gordon which I've finished the 1st tape and the second is ruined. Both of which stopped me in my tracks. Not to mention a short stint working with James on his story, but he's turning out to be as reliable on projects as his friend was at the comic shop for him. I hope it happens, we even planned out a 10-issue story ark, but who knows.

Artistically I started doing some emotive art and it was really a launching point for finding myself again. It's dark and egotistical but somehow making pictures of myself that I hate beautiful or even just cool makes me feel better about it. Anyway check it out at my deviantpage.