Cartoonist Survey by David Paccia

David Paccia recently asked me to parcipate in a Cartoonist Survey, where I answer a bunch of questions about art and cartooning. I'm entry #67, currently featured on the front page of the site. If you ever wanted to know if I'm a righty or a lefty, now's your chance.

Cartoonist Survery #67 (me)

He even managed to write up a great bio on me—I guess by scouring the corners of the internet. And he dug up this photo (I'm guessing from my FableVision bio, which could use an update). Yep, that's what I look like. I don't know who the dork in the jeans and glasses is next to me, though.

Thanks to Chris Sabatino for pointing David my way. Definitely read up on all the cartoonists who've contributed to the survey so far—lots of interesting info to dig through. And thank you, David.

Welcomed

Here's my image for today's What the Doodle? on Creative Juices. The word this week was WELCOMED. If you click on the image you'll notice I went for a "zipatone" effect using Photoshop's halftoning feature. I'd never tried this before—liking the result a lot.

SpongeBob Remainders

I was just backing up my work for Nickelodeon Magazine and figured I'd share some SpongeBob inks that didn't make it into the magazine before the final issue. So, here goes (dialogue not included)...

These inks were for a two-page comic I co-wrote that was tentatively titled "Portrait Pandemonium." I used pen nibs on this one.



Story premise: SpongeBob sets up a stand at the beach where he paints portraits that aren't exactly accurate. To remedy the situation, he rearranges everyone's faces to match his drawings. It needs the dialogue to sell it, but it ends on a gag where Patrick is happy with the drawing SpongeBob made of him (a star).

Next up: a 3-pager I drew for a story written by Sherm Cohen, called "Patty-stacking!" This was the first SpongeBob comic I inked with a brush pen.




In a nutshell: Mr. Krabs keeps taking orders for larger and larger krabby patties (for big $$$), until a treasure chest full of riches pushes him over the edge. I had a lot of fun drawing this one.

Good times, those SpongeBob comics were...

Preparation

For this week's What the Doodle? on Creative Juices--> Preparation

Inked and colored in Flash.
Be prepared.

Comic for ARGH! #6

Here's my comic for ARGH!#6, the green and magenta issue. I actually drew this way back in April of 2009, so it's good to finally share it with you. A box of comics should be arriving from Spain within weeks, so I'll be distributing them throughout Boston in due time. Be sure to hop on over to the ARGH! Comic website for more info (a great intro graphic), and previews by the other artists.

As noted, we use a duotone color process in printing; this handy grid gives you a sense of some of the available colors. Hideous, aren't they?



I posted it before, but here's the cover Félix did up for the issue.

New England's Dark Day

As promised, here is the 2-page comic I did for Inbound #4: A Comic Book History of Boston, the anthology I've been promoting put out by the Boston Comics Roundtable. The book features 144 pages of true-to-history comics created by local independent comic artists and writers. Jump over to the site for more information.

For my comic I chose an event called New England's "Dark Day" of 1780 (here are a few sources for further reading 1, 2). Basically: sky turns pitch black at noon; townsfolk think it's the end of the world. Which means I get to draw tormented characters. But this wasn't a mere eclipse—supposedly the smoke from a massive forest fire may have combined with a low pressure system to make eerily dark clouds. It would sure freak us out if it happened again today.

I should add, this was the first comic I inked with a brush pen (after switching over from nibs).

You can purchase a copy of the anthology, here. And it's currently available all around Boston—even in bookstores!

Previously:
A Comic Book History of Boston
"Dark Day" Teaser for Inbound

Tanning

I drew this chump for today's What the Doodle? over at Creative Juices. The random word this week was TANNING. I normally don't use gradients (I'm a flat color guy), but tans do have gradation in certain areas, so I went for it. Drawn and colored in Flash.

Just a trim.

First comic (gag, really) of the new year for Heeby Jeeby Comix!

I went pure candy-colors for this one.
Here's the inked version:

Brainy Christmas!

I played with the new version of ArtRage tonight. If you follow me on Twitter (@bobjinx) you may have caught me raving about it. They added a bunch of new features, including an inking pen, watercolor brush, and selection & transform tools. I only exported to Photoshop to resize and save it as a proper jpeg—the new ArtRage even has color adjustment options. The inking pen is a bit too smooth for my taste, though very impressive. So I inked the little brain dude in Flash.


I did prefer the inking pen over the paint brush for detail work—you'll see I added the drool marks and puddle after I inked in Flash. If you're curious about how I use Flash with ArtRage, I can do a tutorial at some point. Sherm Cohen has already covered the Illustrator/ArtRage combo like a pro. But essentially, all I do is export a hi-res transparent PNG from Flash and drop it on a layer in ArtRage to paint under.

Have a great holiday everyone!
...and Merry Christmas!

See you in 2010, if not sooner...

Favorite Music of 2009

Short and sweet this year folks...
(as I realize you're being bombarded with lists left and right)

TOP 10 Album Picks:

1. Animal Collective: Merriweather Post Pavilion
2. Dan Deacon: Bromst
3. Yo La Tengo: Popular Songs
4. St. Vincent: Actor
5. Phoenix: Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix
6. Dirty Projectors: Bitte Orca
7. The Decemberists: The Hazards of Love
8. Atlas Sound: Logos
9. Neon Indian: Psychic Chasms
10. Neko Case: Middle Cyclone

Great year for music.
Just ask this guy!



As always, I'm curious about what everyone is listening to.
So drop your favorites in the comments box.

(Favorite Albums of 2008, 2007, 2006)

A Comic Book History of Boston

I just got back from the release party for a new anthology put out by the Boston Comics Roundtable called Inbound #4: A Comic Book History of Boston. You can read all sorts of information about the book here, including one-page previews of a few comics (mine included). I feel like I've been bombarding you with a lot of books lately, but this 144-page b&w anthology is unique in that it features over 35 comics by local comic artists and writers.

The comics chronicle true tales of Boston's history, "From Shay’s Rebellion and the great Molasses Flood, to Charles Ponzi’s original 'scheme' and Mark Twain’s disastrous encounter with Boston literary society, to the 1970s busing crisis, the Gardner Museum heist and many more." They all range in their style and approach to story-telling. One of my favorites details the origins of Moxie soda, found only here in New England.


I got my hands on a copy at the release party which doubled as an art show of original comics (forgot to snap pictures, though). The book design is fantastic, so I'd like to especially applaud Shelli Paroline for her vision and attention to detail (she illustrated the cover, too!). The print quality is outstanding as well.

My 2-pager is about New England's Dark Day (previously). I will post the comic in full after the holiday buying season winds down. If you're a fan of history, and like to support independent comics, I highly recommend snatching up a copy.

Bostonians can expect to find it at numerous locations, including Million Year Picnic, Harvard Book Store, New England Comics, Brookline Booksmith, Comicazi, Hub Comics, and Comicopia.

Be prepared.

Whenever I try get folks to move to Boston, it often boils down to "but it's too cold" and "what do you mean winter can last 5 months?" First of all, there are much colder places than Boston: Maine. I a grew up there, so a Massachusetts winter is nothing. That said, it's a bit of a right of passage for newcomers to make it through their first winter.

The Improper Bostonian asked me to draw a cartoon to help folks prepare. On streets now, even though it was a balmy 55 today. Pfft! You call this December? 62 tomorrow? Good thing "Rudolph" is on right now, or I wouldn't know.

Rub-a-dub-dub...

New one-pager for Heeby Jeeby Comix!

By the way, I hate naming these comics—seems dumb. But I have to name the post something. So feel free to leave a better (or worse) title in the comments.

ARGH! #6

The long-awaited arrival of ARGH!#6 is finally here (phew!). I've been in touch with Félix and Jorge, and I will soon receive a shipment of comics to distribute locally. So be on the look-out in Boston. The 2-color spot process for this issue is green and magenta.

They just updated the website, too: arghcomic.com
(with a brand new intro animation—go see it!)

If you enter the site and click on autores (authors), you can see previews from each artist, which includes the familiar list of contributors: (myself), Félix Díaz, Jorge Parras, Paola Gaviria, Jorge Perez Ruibal, Martin Lopez, Nestor Fernandez, Ferran Esteve, Brais Rodríguez, Mar Malota and Molgó H.

Be sure to check out previous issues and visit the ARGH! store.
You can view my comics from previous issues here, and here for related posts.

(I will eventually post my 2-page comic for this issue as well.)

Can someone pass the yams?

I'm heading up to Maine to visit the folks in a few days.
But first, a sketchdump:













You can't have a turkey without stuffing and rambling, so here goes...

A couple posts ago, Mike Rauch asked if I would weigh the pros and cons of inking traditionally versus digitally. This is a topic that's coming up more often these days, and I sense a growing number of cartoonists have a foot in both camps.

Maybe it's because I've been chained to the computer for so long, but it KILLS me how intuitive it is to ink by hand. Simply put the brush or nib to the paper and you know exactly what you're getting. If you make a mistake, you know exactly why it happened—nothing mysterious is going on behind the scenes. It's more nuanced and requires a level of concentration, but it's so natural to draw this way.

Flash, on the other hand, will always be a bit of a mystery. It took me a year or two to wrap my head around it, and it still frustrates me from time to time (how it reprocesses the line, in particular). But we all put up with it for the precision it offers, and the perfectionist's dream: UNDO. Not to mention the edit and transform tools.You can tweak and re-tweak a drawing until you're completely happy.

This is how I'm currently breaking it down.

I ink digitally when I sense the need for edits and corrections, which currently equals the majority of my client work. Flash is able to give me a clean professional line; I haven't achieved a similar level of slickness with the brush (yet). I don't have to scan and clean up my inks, so coloring is a snap. Flash is quick. Flash is sharp. It's what you'd expect from the digital realm. But even with the Cintiq, the computer has a long way to go in recreating the tactile connection between drawing utensil and paper. It will always be a mimic.

I reserve working traditionally for more personal work: namely, my comics. It's way easier to plot out the drawings on paper. I enjoy the craft of inking more than anything else. It's also valuable to have the physical piece to hold in my hands when I'm done. I think about my artwork trapped in zeros and ones and it really bugs me. Ideas come easier when I work them out on paper, which is why inking in a sketchbook is a bit of a no-brainer now that I have the brush pen. I rarely find myself doodling in Flash these days.

While I'm having a lot of fun inking on paper, I cannot deny the power, speed, and edit-ability of the digital realm. So I'm still very much a proponent of inking in Flash. But if you're a digital person, do yourself a favor: open up a sketchbook and put a pen, pencil, or brush to paper. For balance, if nothing else.

Happy Thanksgiving!

GO FOR THE GOLD 3!

I just got word from Chris McD, editor of Meathaus, that GO FOR THE GOLD 3! is available for pre-order —update: more direct to go to the store. The book "collects together into one volume an unholy amalgamation of 35 artists’ deepest sketchbook secrets." I was invited to submit art over the summer, so it features various samples from my sketchbooks. But the bigger story here is truly the inky sketchy mass of drawings—this is a big book: 242 pages!

You can find out more at the preview page Chris put up this morning (Meathaus.com has also been newly redesigned for the occasion). If you pre-order now, you should receive your copy by the first week of December (a perfect holiday gift!). Also included for pre-order customers is a bonus mini doodle zine. Here is the list of artists featured in the anthology (I couldn't be more humbled to be in the ranks):

Andy Ristaino, Arik Roper, Benjamin Marra, Bob Flynn, Dash Shaw, Dave Kiersh, Esao Andrews, Farel Dalrymple, Jason Sacher, Josh Latta, HARVEYJAMES™, Inés Estrada, Jesse Moynihan, Katie Rice, Kevin Fagan, Michaela Zacchilli, Mu Pan, Nathan Fox, Nicholas Gazin, Nick Bertozzi, Peter Chung, Rebecca Sugar, Ron Wimberly, Sam Kim, Thomas Herpich, Victor Cayro, Vincent Giard, Vincent Stall, Zachary Baldus, Tomer Hanuka, James Jean, Brandon Graham, Robertryan Cory, Al Columbia, and Chris McD.

GO FOR THE GOLD 2! (the equivalent anthology from 2005) has been re-released as well. Crawl on over to the Meathaus store for this and all your other Meathaus vices.