I’ve loved the comics art of Sean Phillips for years, since first seeing his stuff on Hellblazer, a title on which I was astounded hear he didn’t pencil. Still can’t believe it. But after reading his insightful and self deprecating blog, there’s a hint to his creative process. It seems he draws in blue marker a guide from his small thumbnail roughs, from which he goes directly to ink. I love the the idea of streamlining and speeding up the process, but you have to be good enough, as Phillips is, to pull it off. Because of the approach, he’s able achieve a looser, more expressive and energetic dry brush look. Great stuff. And he can paint, too.

I just received in the mail this week his self published (through lulu.com) book, Blow Up, a 400-page collection of sketches, comics panels, paintings and layouts, all enlarged and blown up to see the detail and true nature of what makes his art tick. Probably more for the die-hard fan, it’s well worth picking up. And if you’re among the uninitiated, I’d start with the superb Criminal, hard-boiled modern noir comics written by Ed Brubaker.

This shot above is one of the first pages I completed, a crucial moment in the story, obviously.

I’ve got Bedbugs on the Brain, as you can see, also obvious around the house, which is full of the Bedbugs music I’m writing. The Bedbugs Lullaby was finished a while back, and I’m currently pounding out on the piano the Bedbugs Boogie.

More news here as it’s fit to print!

I keep most of my initial roughs loose and expressive, not worrying overmuch about likenesses at that early stage. My goal is to block out the composition and capture gestures for each figure.

Not much seems to have changed when going to final. I was able to retain a lively quality thanks to rapid and bold inking. The truck and main characters pop forward with a black holding line and fuller color, while I pushed back the background elements with colored holding lines and less saturated color. In hindsight I think I should’ve worked a bit more on the likenesses, especially as that was the main task in the transition from roughs to final art. The truck could’ve used a couple well-placed highlights, too. Live & learn, eh?

It’s gratifying that the comics poster series has been well received and is effective, using comics to increase awareness, diagnosis and treatment of Kidney disease. It’s been a pleasure working with Sam, Kieran and Alex at the BryantBrown agency. Here’s to many more!

Click away to view poster #5, just added to our Major Works section.

Remember those cars from the Jetsons? Everyone’s always asking when we get our flying cars? Well, the Aptera may not fly, but it looks to me like the car of the future is very nearly a thing of the Here & Now.

Taking it all in at the Aptera site, one can’t help but be impressed, with the design, technology, execution and presentation of this vehicle which seems to me much more of and event than the Segway ever was going to be. It’s based more on a jet than a car, qualifies as a motorcycle, being on three wheels, goes over 85 MPH, costs about the same as many cars, and the hybrid model gets 300 mile per gallon. There’s an all-electric model, too.

They’re reservable now, and will be in production Fall 2008. For now they’re available only in certain areas of California, but when they figure how these things will drive on snow and ice here in MN, I’m likely to snap one up.

It’s always a blast, as nearly all kids at this age love drawing, and have plenty of ideas and imagination, and most haven’t yet learned ways they shouldn’t draw. I start these sessions with a quick overview that like them, I was always drawing as a kid, and wanted to do it when I grew up. After briefly showing them some of the comics, book and projects I’ve worked on, I get them drawing, and together we come up with various ways to draw the main features of the face: eyes, nose and mouth. It’s a ton of fun to watch them piece these features together at different sizes on a variety of face shapes. Before our session’s done, they’re all character designers, with a start at creating stories for their new characters.

I’ve been doing these sessions since I began my career, at least a few times each year. It’s gratifying to pass on a little of what I’ve learned over the years, and to receive those packets afterwards with all their crazy drawings! See you in the funny pages, kids!

His video for the hip-hoppy Get Your Way (with a sampled interlude from a Joe William’s tune) looks like “Jamie and His Purple Crayon” by way of Chuck Jones’s Daffy Duck classic cartoon, Duck Amuck:

On his two major studio albums, he handles well old standards like Singin’ in the Rain, as well as Hendrix’s The Wind Cries Mary and Radiohead’s High and Dry. My favorite of all his covers is the great Cole Porter tune, I Get a Kick Out Of You. Though I prefer the studio recording, this live take is also good and offers an even more rhythmic approach:

I’m eager to hear his next album — when, Jamie?

It’s a cool idea, I think, to have a theme like this for the scouts, to spice up things and make it a little more fun for the kids. Or is it for the scoutmasters?!  How many kids nowadays are that ware of the Blues Brothers, even in Chicago?

If you like comic books, horror, X-Files, are a conservationist or a Bigfoot enthusiast, you’ll like this first collection of Proof, available any day. I’ve written here before about Proof, as it’s co-created by long-time pal, Alex Grecian. This full-color, low-priced collection (of the first five issues) is a great place to hop on the bandwagon and get up to speed on a series that’s making waves and gaining attention. I just received in the mail the fun and creepy seventh issue, right in the middle of the second story arc, which features and antagonist who likes to hunt and eat dinosaurs…among other things. Eew!

Order Proof:Goatsucker at this link to support this blog, and if you’re quick, you may still qualify for Amazon’s 5% pre-order discount.

I’ve just received the script from Alex for a seven-page Proof back-up story. I started thumbnail layouts last night, and will announce here when this story will appear.

Update (5/9/08): Just got word from Alex the book is delayed for a few weeks due to printing/scheduling issues. That’s the bad news. The good news: there’s more time to pre-order and save 5% on the already-low price if you order through amazon.com. Click the link above to order at our Blue Moon amazon store and they’ll throw us a few shekels.

I’ve read advice recently that illustrators should stick to one art style, which jibes with suggestions I received when starting out that artists working in the commercial field should specialize. Fellow artists have also shared with me stories they’ve heard the same thing, sometimes expressed adamantly. Well, then I guess I must have been doing something wrong the last twenty-three years, because I’ve followed my instinct, instead working in a variety of styles, and it seems to have worked out well enough.

Now, I understand where the advice is coming from, and know that it can work. And I can see why art reps and agents look at it this way. But I’m proof positive it’s not the only way. Of course, there are benefits or drawbacks whichever way one goes:

Disadvantages to working in many styles:

• An artist can become a jack-of-all-trades; master of none
• Art Directors will remember you less easily
• Artists can lose focus creatively and in marketing their work

Advantages to working in many styles:

• It keeps artists fresh and creatively curious
• It offers up a change of pace and keeps artists from stagnating
• Artists may discover a style or path preferable to a previous style
• Artists may snag gigs they’d not land otherwise (this has happened to me)

But after considering all, one has to find what suits them best. This is similar to my take on an artist’s temperament and preferences. Each artist must determine themselves how to achieve the balance between pure personal creativity and making a living through and with their art.

If an artist follows their own course creatively with that being the priority, income from art may never follow. If it does, that artist calls the shots, having created a market for themselves, but this situation is certainly not one that can be counted on. If an artist stresses the commercial side, they may lean too far towards marketing and lose their way, tailoring their style to what they think and agent or clients may find to be “hot.” Even if an artist happens to be successful in choosing and developing a style that earns them a living, they can get stuck with a type of work they find they’ve grown tired of, or never liked much in the first place. In developing a style, artists should make sure it’s true to themselves, first and foremost.

For my part, I enjoy working in different styles, in different industries, all while trying more to carve out my own creative paths and projects on the side, working to make those a bigger part of what I do for a living. I’ve more to say on that particular subject, but that’s a post for another day.