Blawg! PT.II

Blawg!!!

Oof.

Crap Trek

To be honest...I enjoyed the old Star Trek shows, because they felt like a comic book. The colors were bright, the acting stiff and yet melodramatic, and I never ever felt for the characters too deeply. But then again, I was 8 or so.
Years later I had an opportunity to maybe work on the I.P. and found myself absolutely clueless. It's like not having paid enough attention in school the whole year and realizing suddenly that I was going to be tested on it.
These are some development sketches to convey how I might treat the property. Unfortunately, my heart wasn't in it, and it shows. Mostly because, I couldn't wrap my head around the mythos anymore than when I was a kid. My loss I guess as I didn't get the job.
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Fear Agent: The Inks

A.P.E. JOURNAL

This has been delayed somewhat as I've struggled with the idea of finishing out the trip. However when the traveling is over, the inspiration leaves rather quickly and you forget the nuances of what the whole thing was about in the first place. Reluctantly I didn't even get to draw anything from the show, except a couple of characters who I saw walking by.

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=APOLOGIE=

Many of you are like me, burdened with junk mail, and especially around the holiday seasons the catalogues pile up. I've gone to great measure to stop this curious onslaught. I've called each and every magazine to take me off their mailing list, and all their partner mailing lists. They tell me it'll take 3 months to stop as their magazines are printed in advance.
It works after three months...been then 3 months go by and they're back at it. If I could sue them for killing trees I might think about it.
Instead I thought of a more creative way to fight back.
I looked through several fashion catalogues and noticed not a single copyright on the photographs exists. What better way to take advantage and do it legally.
So in an effort to experiment with storytelling and sequential art, I thought I'd try my hand at Romance. Thus I offer APOLOGIE.
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Fear Agent: Eye of Chaos

Rough page for an upcoming back-up story for Rick Remender. Eight pages, of retro space fun by yours truly!
I need to do smaller projects like this if only to get my name out there. You gotta do work, to get people to notice.
Since a lot of the projects I like to do are very long, and I like to do the whole thing from nuts to bolts, my output can seem quite minimal. Maybe that'll change someday, or maybe not. Depends how much I'm willing to give up. I may update this as I have a few corrections to make.
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Under Inspired

I'm so focused on projects that I can't show, that I'm starting to believe I never really sketch anymore. It's terrible really. I work 24/7 on projects. If I'm not working for someone else. I'm working for myself.
There use to be days when I'd make myself laugh drawing what I draw out of my head.
There's not much laughter going around these days. Comedies? When's the last time you really laughed at a comedy? No, I mean a good comedy that was clever and smart. Not the tripe that verges on the edge of bad taste, embarrassment or otherwise.
We finished watching the last of the top dreadful "Oscar" winning films the other night and was happy to see Monty Python on the local PBS. While it wasn't side-splitting funny anymore, I certainly loved the committment and willingness to "go there". Clever gets you far, and creativity can help it hit the mark.
Not much out there these days to pick from.
Guess I really should go back to making my own.
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...Leads to Another

I'm plagued with projects and not all of them pay. In fact most of them don't but since the completion of several stages of projects I've become obsessed with being a "finisher".
Let me explain.
If you look at the way you work, you may be good at the Start, okay in the Middle, and terrible at the Finish. Or any combination of those three. For years I was really good at the Start and would slowly decline in the middle, and never Finish. Then I got better in the Middle. I had stamina and I could go on and on. The Finish was always hard. I'd feel either, I didn't want to let go...or more often than not, I was too tired to finish strong.
For me organizing and scheduling really helped. I know where I have to be and when. I have no choice, especially for one like myself who lives by the rules, even if I make them up as I go.

And when you finish, there's always a reward of knowing that you saw something through. Having it done the way you want is incredibly rewarding in and of itself. See how addicting this can be? That's not to say that I've solved all my problems. Now with so many projects, finishing is slower. I've let my scheduling lax, and that's going to lead to what I had before. Stalwart...must make an uncompromised effort if I am to do the things I want. Now...let's see where is the Microsoft Project shortcut?

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A Long Time Ago

You have to imagine since Blogger has it's limitations that this piece is 22 inches wide by about 4 inches tall. I tried posting it at 72 dpi but no dice. I'll try to put it up at my website www.shanewhite.com. It's a snapshot from memory of standing outside of school amidst the variety of people from all walks of life. Suddenly I wasn't the weird kid in high school, but then again, I didn't wear my weirdness on the outside.
This is a test piece for a future project.
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Board Work: Updated!

This is an example of COLORED BOARDS done in Photoshop. I get more control over color and lighting, and can make changes faster than if I were to marker them. Bummer, because I really like the smell of my Chartpak markers.
This is an example of GRAYSCALE. I tend to keep things loose and try to get the values to help focus the eye where it needs to go.
Which is even more critical when it comes to BLACK and WHITE. Spotting the blacks helps add weight and leads the eye where you need it. This is a good example of where a black line can go.
This is straight LINEWORK. I'll choose this if I'm more concerned about time, and getting the shapes down so they read quickly and clearly. I may choose to throw in a flat black to seperate planes at times.

This is TIGHT PENCIL. Some clients don't mind this as an alternative to marker GRAYSCALE. It's easier and quicker for me as I can manipulate the pencil on the fly and get many differing results. No fuss no muss!
These are LOOSE PENCILS. Depends on the client but sometimes this is all they need.

These are ROUGH PENCILS. I rarely show them, because it's mostly where I figure out stuff. Though if I through some black over top of them, they seem to read pretty well in a pinch.

Well that just about does it. Other than differing nomenclature...boards vs. frames (film vs. television) the language of storyboards is about getting ideas and stories across clearly. I did all these versions in about 1.5 hours. I didn't want to have to do a whole set of boards but I can't really show anything that I've done in the past year and half because everything is still in development. This represents a straight style that I'd use in advertising. Considering the work that you've seen before, I can pretty much storyboard to suit the clients stylistic choices and push elements more. I'll have to do up some examples of animation boards when I get a chance. Stay tuned!!!

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CON JOB

While I finish up my A.P.E. journal here's a filler from the Chicago Con a couple years back. Sorry for the delay...I was in jury duty all day...and I'll be there tomorrow too...doing my part as an American Citizen. At least they have a nice view!
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A.P.E. Heads

Gorillas in the Midst

Again I leave in a couple of hours to partake in yet another comic convention. It's becoming quite obvious that the only ones who make money in comics are the hotels. Every publisher swears they don't make money yet they keep publishing without holding down a day job. Every comics professional will tell you they don't make money, and yet...they keep doing this thing called "comics". I'm going to the heart of the beast, the alternative press expo where these people actually pay to create, publish and distribute their stories and art. How bad could it be right? Not much different than theatre really. Hell Robert Rodgriguez would approve too! I think I'm in good company here.
A few random thoughts:
I haven't made a decent cup of decaf in some time. Why? I have no answer. I even went as far as to clean the coffee pot of any taint. Still taste like dirty water from a tire bath.

I've been thinking a lot about Wally Wood lately. He was a very skilled comics artist from way back. Shot himself after he had a stroke that basically made his abilities inoperable. Up until that time he'd been a heavy smoker and drinker, and fought with depression from what I gather. I'm going to be working on a story I wrote for Rick Remender's Fear Agent which is a total send up of the genre that Wally Wood had made his mark in. I'm bouncing back and forth whether to do an homage to his style and really pull out all the stops or come up with something of my own. The homage will allow me a lot of latitude. I'll be able to play a lot with the brushier side of inking, and lay down color that I believe would have best suited his work. Either way I hope it's fun
This coffee is sooooo bitter I believe it could be used as an antiseptic.

Well like I said I'll be gone for two days, so yeah, there will be a weekend without sketches. Hopefully this extra load will hold you over until Monday. Man, I need to get a life.

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Tidbitses

Thoughts on Doubt

A Litany of Scribblings

Well the fish has done smacked me but good. I came off the Emerald City Comicon right into a pile of storyboards that have to be done by Wednesday amongst other things...

I try to make it a personal policy never to work on weekends. As soon as you give that up, the line of rest becomes blurred and everything slowly goes downhill from there. Whether clients realize it or not, most people don't like working for them on the weekends. I know...a sad reality. Despite that, I did do a bit of sketching at the show, which is something I don't tend to do. Unfortunately I have no scans of them and I wished I did, because I surprised the heck out of myself on a few occasions. Look, I can actually draw a superhero!

This weekend I'll be at APE (Alternative Press Expo) in San Francisco. I hope it's a good show and I'd like to make a little money to make it worth my time. It'll be nice to meet people too, as the solitary confinement of studiodom can get to a person. Luckily Spring is on the way.

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Pack of Weirdness

Castle Variations