Rollingstone put up an article online about how messed up it is that banksters never go to jail (go ahead and CLICK HERE TO READ IT )
Though it isn't something I expanded on, I made sure to include social justice as one of my issues in my 2010 campaign for congress. It's a tricky thing to go into without going into race because the system disproportionately affects minorities.
While I am not dismissing that there are racists and that many of the people going to jail are victims of racism, I believe a bigger issue (and one we can more easily do something about), is class-ism. Most minorities in jail are poor people. There are several reasons for this. A poor person often can't get a good lawyer. Poor people are often under educated. Poor people can't make large donations to politicians and poor people don't go to the same country club as the mayor or the chief of police.
Being black or mexican is a red flag for being disadvantaged in the eyes of those with incentives to oppress. As an example if there is a drug epidemic in a mostly minority neighborhood way the hell down in the triple digit number streets of Chicago's south side the cops will mostly stay out of there. If those drugs or the violence that comes with trafficking contraband spill into Beverly or other influencial neighborhood there will be a crack down. If the deaths from the violence makes the mayor "look soft on crime" there will be a crackdown.
On the other hand if a largely black organization with a drug problem is protected by money and influence, politicians throw up their hands and suddenly don't know what to do, as if to say "a crack down? What's that?"
For example when the drug is steroids and you have a bunch of baseball and football players using it there will be congressional hearings but not criminal investigations. Suddenly prosecuting the war on drugs isn't as important anymore.
If the powers that be actually cared about THE WAR ON DRUGS or THE RULE OF LAW there would have been sweeping arrests of professional athletes instead of hand-wringing over what to do about the bad example they are giving our kids.
The really messed up part is they calculate that working class and poor people will not re-elect them if they arrest their beloved sports icons but have no problem re-electing them if they arrests their neighbors and coworkers for the same or lesser crimes. And poor and working class people continue to prove them right even though steroids is a dangerous to society than the more aggressively prosecuted marijuana.
And it goes beyond drugs. As the article above points out Bernie Madoff only went to jail for what he did because he ripped off other rich people. When the masses are defrauded by the type of people Madoff swindled there isn't any prosecution.
Some social advantage can be expected. People of means will always find a way to beat the system. But that doesn't mean we have to accept blatant injustice.
Monday, February 28, 2011
Friday, February 25, 2011
The hydra has many mouths
Part of understanding my political philosophy is understanding how much power the president has outside of the checks and balances. On the liberal news program Democracy Now! they have noted several times that Gerry Ford didn't remember if he'd supplied the guns used in the East Timor massacre. I don't blame host Amy Goodman for having strong feelings about it, she was caught in the middle of it, but those feelings keep her from understanding what Ford was actually saying.
From what I know about Gerry Ford, he was a really honest guy, and it seemed to bother him that we treat the president like a king. He would put little hand made signs over the 'executive suite' sign on his hotel rooms that would say 'Gerry's Room'. He was trying to hold on to his humility. So on East Timor he might have been saying that he just couldn't remember if he signed off on giving away enough guns for a government to kill a 300,000+ of it's own people. But to me it's more of a comment on how insignificant major decisions are presented to the president.
The reason Ford probably doesn't remember is because some guy from the CIA or whatever very with the same urgency as approving new flotation devices for the Coast Guard said "We need you to approve this aid to the Timorese government."
Ford signs it real quick because he has literally a thousand other things to approve that day and genocide is subsidized in an unmemorable way.
The story that keeps getting buried in the lead up to the Iraq war is how we had that government on it's knees (or so the Bush administration thought) before we even did anything. It went like this (a lot of my info came from the Frontline special on the lead up to the Iraqi invasion):
After 9/11 the Bush administration was sure it would somehow lead back to Saddam. They asked the CIA to look into the viability of going into Iraq and taking Saddam out. Goes over there with several million dollars and infiltrates the highest echelons of the Iraqi military. The CIA comes back to the Bush administration, who already had a vendetta mentality towards Iraq, and told them that they had the Iraqi military in their pocket. Essentially bringing in the tanks would just be a formality at that point.
This is the true power of the US President. Asking one question can start a war. The mainstream media narrative on this war was that the administration cherry picked intel to justify something they wanted to do anyway. What really happened is they were trying to justify taking advantage of something they had already done.
From what I know about Gerry Ford, he was a really honest guy, and it seemed to bother him that we treat the president like a king. He would put little hand made signs over the 'executive suite' sign on his hotel rooms that would say 'Gerry's Room'. He was trying to hold on to his humility. So on East Timor he might have been saying that he just couldn't remember if he signed off on giving away enough guns for a government to kill a 300,000+ of it's own people. But to me it's more of a comment on how insignificant major decisions are presented to the president.
The reason Ford probably doesn't remember is because some guy from the CIA or whatever very with the same urgency as approving new flotation devices for the Coast Guard said "We need you to approve this aid to the Timorese government."
Ford signs it real quick because he has literally a thousand other things to approve that day and genocide is subsidized in an unmemorable way.
The story that keeps getting buried in the lead up to the Iraq war is how we had that government on it's knees (or so the Bush administration thought) before we even did anything. It went like this (a lot of my info came from the Frontline special on the lead up to the Iraqi invasion):
After 9/11 the Bush administration was sure it would somehow lead back to Saddam. They asked the CIA to look into the viability of going into Iraq and taking Saddam out. Goes over there with several million dollars and infiltrates the highest echelons of the Iraqi military. The CIA comes back to the Bush administration, who already had a vendetta mentality towards Iraq, and told them that they had the Iraqi military in their pocket. Essentially bringing in the tanks would just be a formality at that point.
This is the true power of the US President. Asking one question can start a war. The mainstream media narrative on this war was that the administration cherry picked intel to justify something they wanted to do anyway. What really happened is they were trying to justify taking advantage of something they had already done.
Thursday, February 24, 2011
Wednesday, February 23, 2011
BVZ Review
After the zombies wipe out humanity the cute fuzzy animals of the world are left to clean up the mess. Bear Vs. Zombies is the tale of a Bear coming out of hibernation after the zombie apocalypse. But he is not only greeted by a horde of zombies but also a rabbit named Duncan who informs Bear that he is the messiah of the animal resistance.
This comic is a prime example of how anything can work if done right. Check it out and you will be rewarded with a fun romp that has plenty of easter eggs for those paying attention. The art is crisp and pitch perfect for the mix of zombie horror and cartoony fun.
http://bearvszombies.com/?p=5
This comic is a prime example of how anything can work if done right. Check it out and you will be rewarded with a fun romp that has plenty of easter eggs for those paying attention. The art is crisp and pitch perfect for the mix of zombie horror and cartoony fun.
http://bearvszombies.com/?p=5
Tuesday, February 22, 2011
Monday, February 21, 2011
tighten the belt.
Obama issued a budget that is only balanced if you don't include the interest on our debt. Even he agrees that more cuts are needed and that he will need more ideas. Unfortunately the 'ideas' he is getting are the same things Republicans always go after. I'll look at what terms Obama should include whe- if- he caves into their demands.
Department of Education $69.9 Billion
Any cuts from the DoE should be cut by poverty levels. The richer the school district the faster they feel the cuts. Not only are they more likely to be able to afford to go to private school but they are more likely to have other social advantages that would compensate for what they are losing in education. If anything.
I'll get more into how we can save money and raise effectiveness in education on a later date.
PellGrants $35 Billion
Would college tuition cost so much if it wasn't for Pellgrants and government loans? Let's look into this I'm beginning to wonder if these programs have become a disservice.
Corporation for Public Broadcasting $430 million
I enjoy listening to NPR but I don't like that they have the same kind of investment in the status quo as other media outlets because they also take corporate money. I would gladly trade CPB for better net neutrality laws.
EPA
Tell the Republicans they can cut the EPA budget but the EPA can recoop their losses by keeping a portion of their fines for Clean Water Act violations (and otherwise doing their job). You know what bureaucrats like? Money for their bureaucracy. You know what polluters don't like? An EPA with a budgetary incentive to enforce the law.
Here are a couple Departments I think they should cut from
DEA $2 Billion
Our former drug user President should cut this budget down to nothing.
Oil Welfare $15-$35 Billion
Has the market spoken on alternative energy? Or is our tax money fixing the game? Let's find out by cutting their funding. There are enough oil companies that competition should keep prices down and if it doesn't the Justice Department should investigate them for price fixing.
Mirror Tariff
We should tax China to import their goods at the same rate tax us to import our stuff into their country. Higher if they insist on fixing their currency.
Department of Education $69.9 Billion
Any cuts from the DoE should be cut by poverty levels. The richer the school district the faster they feel the cuts. Not only are they more likely to be able to afford to go to private school but they are more likely to have other social advantages that would compensate for what they are losing in education. If anything.
I'll get more into how we can save money and raise effectiveness in education on a later date.
PellGrants $35 Billion
Would college tuition cost so much if it wasn't for Pellgrants and government loans? Let's look into this I'm beginning to wonder if these programs have become a disservice.
Corporation for Public Broadcasting $430 million
I enjoy listening to NPR but I don't like that they have the same kind of investment in the status quo as other media outlets because they also take corporate money. I would gladly trade CPB for better net neutrality laws.
EPA
Tell the Republicans they can cut the EPA budget but the EPA can recoop their losses by keeping a portion of their fines for Clean Water Act violations (and otherwise doing their job). You know what bureaucrats like? Money for their bureaucracy. You know what polluters don't like? An EPA with a budgetary incentive to enforce the law.
Here are a couple Departments I think they should cut from
DEA $2 Billion
Our former drug user President should cut this budget down to nothing.
Oil Welfare $15-$35 Billion
Has the market spoken on alternative energy? Or is our tax money fixing the game? Let's find out by cutting their funding. There are enough oil companies that competition should keep prices down and if it doesn't the Justice Department should investigate them for price fixing.
Mirror Tariff
We should tax China to import their goods at the same rate tax us to import our stuff into their country. Higher if they insist on fixing their currency.
Sunday, February 20, 2011
Evolution of a Comic Artist part 3
This weeks self examination will be on my series Weight of Eternity. So we are going to do a little backtracking because some of this comic goes back as far as 2001 but took years to complete.
WOE was meant to be my Twilight Zone/X Files/Hellboy but it turned into what I call my David Lynch movie. How did that happen? Let's take a look...
Preview "And You know what they say about that..." http://www.nilgravity.com/preview.html
Writing wise this comic sets the tone for the series well. It's fun, subtle, self contained, and yet advances the series. The subtlety was really important to me. I like figuring things out as a reader, and I wanted to make a comic that challenged readers. For example in this preview the protagonist's date is actually a celebrity of sorts if you pay attention, but I don't spell it out.
Some of the art I really like and in other places not happy. Mostly it's the woman. The first drawing I did of her (not the first drawing on this comic) she looked interesting and the right amount of attractive. The rest of the comic she looks deformed.
The way I handle color I like but my choice of color is questionable. I chose it for thematic purposes but I don't think the extra hint is worth what is lost aesthetics.
Sorry about the Comics Sans...
Sirens http://www.nilgravity.com/WOE00.htm
This comic was not originally made to be a webcomic but I decided to shoe horn it into a Tarquin engine. The programmer of the app said in an interview that he never expected it to be used in the way I have. I don't remember why he said that (he later became a ComicCon friend). I didn't think I was doing things that differently.
This comic was hand penciled and digitally inked. I like the way it looks but it took me so much more time to do it that way I haven't gone back to it. Instead of using a solid color I went with a gradient to give it more of a flame look.
Another thing I was trying to do with WOE was play with expectations. Which only makes the subtlety more confusing. My current outlook on this is to make good art it has to make sense right away effortlessly and let the subtlety be for subtext and Easter eggs. For example it isn't a big deal if people don't recognize the Fire Chief when I bring her back in later but it is a big deal if people don't figure out who started the fire and why.
Catalyst http://www.nilgravity.com/WOE01.htm
We start out okay writing wise. Drawings have a good amount of detail for me. I do some cool effects like showing the character from the reflection in her cup of tea. The colors look good. These comics were drawn before I knew this would be a Tarquin Engine comic. They are drawn as landscape-wise sheets of paper. These were the first designed for the web but the layouts don't always work for Tarquin.
The lettering still needs work.
I also made the mistake of abandoning the self-contained story. I've started an 'epic' story and the conflict isn't clear, Though it's actually less confusing then I remember it being. I do play with a lot of expectations here. Not effectively though. I tried playing off racial expectations and failed by playing into them. It would have worked if I didn't give the black guys guns. I would have gotten the what I was going for if instead of making them a gang they simply APPEAR to be a gang when we first see them.
Initiate http://www.nilgravity.com/WOE04.htm
Most of these work well for Tarquin. The first part was cheesy so I broke the forth wall by making it silent other than posting the script between the panels. I also more effectively use big panels as establishing shots. And I am proud of coming up with the idea of making the layout of the panels, in the chapter about going out for a smoke, in the pattern of a smoke trail.
I was really into atmosphere at this point and finding beats. Nothing is being answered. Something is working here but it's just not friendly enough for people who are not completely on board yet.
Loose Threads http://www.nilgravity.com/WOE08.htm
These are the first comics made for Tarquin. I figured out that Tarquin likes squares. I still run into problems with laying them out in an interesting way in Tarquin and using the whole field. I also decided to paint in here to save time. After momentarily forgetting that I suck with anything other than a limited palette we end up with a cool look for the comic.
Finally fixed the font issues. It took me forever to figure out how to export crisp vector art text while keeping the file size down.
Inception http://www.nilgravity.com/WOE11.htm
The reason I call this my David Lynch movie is because David Lynch follows an idea even if he doesn't completely understand it. Weight Of Eternity came to me like a dream with it's own logic that I felt compelled to put on the page.
It makes a lot of sense to me but I am not sure if it does to anyone else. I thought that once I got to the end more would keep coming but it never did. I did have a few ideas for strips with a character named Helen in them but even that wouldn't have lasted very long.
I wish I could have kept it about short eerie stories, but the characters got away from me. And though I ended up with something that will probably never have any commercial value it did let me play with a lot of narrative devices.
WOE was meant to be my Twilight Zone/X Files/Hellboy but it turned into what I call my David Lynch movie. How did that happen? Let's take a look...
Preview "And You know what they say about that..." http://www.nilgravity.com/preview.html
Writing wise this comic sets the tone for the series well. It's fun, subtle, self contained, and yet advances the series. The subtlety was really important to me. I like figuring things out as a reader, and I wanted to make a comic that challenged readers. For example in this preview the protagonist's date is actually a celebrity of sorts if you pay attention, but I don't spell it out.
Some of the art I really like and in other places not happy. Mostly it's the woman. The first drawing I did of her (not the first drawing on this comic) she looked interesting and the right amount of attractive. The rest of the comic she looks deformed.
The way I handle color I like but my choice of color is questionable. I chose it for thematic purposes but I don't think the extra hint is worth what is lost aesthetics.
Sorry about the Comics Sans...
Sirens http://www.nilgravity.com/WOE00.htm
This comic was not originally made to be a webcomic but I decided to shoe horn it into a Tarquin engine. The programmer of the app said in an interview that he never expected it to be used in the way I have. I don't remember why he said that (he later became a ComicCon friend). I didn't think I was doing things that differently.
This comic was hand penciled and digitally inked. I like the way it looks but it took me so much more time to do it that way I haven't gone back to it. Instead of using a solid color I went with a gradient to give it more of a flame look.
Another thing I was trying to do with WOE was play with expectations. Which only makes the subtlety more confusing. My current outlook on this is to make good art it has to make sense right away effortlessly and let the subtlety be for subtext and Easter eggs. For example it isn't a big deal if people don't recognize the Fire Chief when I bring her back in later but it is a big deal if people don't figure out who started the fire and why.
Catalyst http://www.nilgravity.com/WOE01.htm
We start out okay writing wise. Drawings have a good amount of detail for me. I do some cool effects like showing the character from the reflection in her cup of tea. The colors look good. These comics were drawn before I knew this would be a Tarquin Engine comic. They are drawn as landscape-wise sheets of paper. These were the first designed for the web but the layouts don't always work for Tarquin.
The lettering still needs work.
I also made the mistake of abandoning the self-contained story. I've started an 'epic' story and the conflict isn't clear, Though it's actually less confusing then I remember it being. I do play with a lot of expectations here. Not effectively though. I tried playing off racial expectations and failed by playing into them. It would have worked if I didn't give the black guys guns. I would have gotten the what I was going for if instead of making them a gang they simply APPEAR to be a gang when we first see them.
Initiate http://www.nilgravity.com/WOE04.htm
Most of these work well for Tarquin. The first part was cheesy so I broke the forth wall by making it silent other than posting the script between the panels. I also more effectively use big panels as establishing shots. And I am proud of coming up with the idea of making the layout of the panels, in the chapter about going out for a smoke, in the pattern of a smoke trail.
I was really into atmosphere at this point and finding beats. Nothing is being answered. Something is working here but it's just not friendly enough for people who are not completely on board yet.
Loose Threads http://www.nilgravity.com/WOE08.htm
These are the first comics made for Tarquin. I figured out that Tarquin likes squares. I still run into problems with laying them out in an interesting way in Tarquin and using the whole field. I also decided to paint in here to save time. After momentarily forgetting that I suck with anything other than a limited palette we end up with a cool look for the comic.
Finally fixed the font issues. It took me forever to figure out how to export crisp vector art text while keeping the file size down.
Inception http://www.nilgravity.com/WOE11.htm
The reason I call this my David Lynch movie is because David Lynch follows an idea even if he doesn't completely understand it. Weight Of Eternity came to me like a dream with it's own logic that I felt compelled to put on the page.
It makes a lot of sense to me but I am not sure if it does to anyone else. I thought that once I got to the end more would keep coming but it never did. I did have a few ideas for strips with a character named Helen in them but even that wouldn't have lasted very long.
I wish I could have kept it about short eerie stories, but the characters got away from me. And though I ended up with something that will probably never have any commercial value it did let me play with a lot of narrative devices.
Friday, February 18, 2011
Insentives/motivation/priorities
My great grandfather used to say "where there is money there is larceny". I find that statement really interesting for two reasons. The first is because of who my grandfather was historically, half German Navajo who grew up on a reservation and moved to Chicago at a time when a lot of Germans were anarchist. And secondly because it is true.
One of my basic philosophies in life is that there really isn't good and evil people, no such thing as willpower, there are just people with varying priorities. One of the reasons for this blog is to get me to put these ideas up where they can be challenged. But it looks like this one won't be challenged by many economists. Or at least the ones that authored Freakonomics (for full disclosure I have watched the movie not read the book).
I've had this idea for a while and have always used the word priorities to describe what motivates people. They use the word intensives. The reason for this is also why I won't adopt their phrase. Thinking about intensives is more helpful if you are trying to think about how to find solutions for behavior. Priorities is more useful if you are trying to understand the complexity of people.
Here is an an example that has gotten me into trouble before: Addiction is not a disease, and someone who says they can't quit, just doesn't want to badly enough. Now an economist might agree saying that the addict's intensive is to get high not to keep their economic/social well being. This would be pretty close to the definition used by Dr. Drew (of Loveline and Celebrity Rehab fame) and other addiction specialists.
Looking at the problem as just one of many priorities of the individual, not only puts responsibility on the one person who can solve the problem, and it highlights what is really at risk. Looking at actions as symptoms of priorities can be used to look at the behavior of government and corporate America without engaging in conspiracy theories.
One of my basic philosophies in life is that there really isn't good and evil people, no such thing as willpower, there are just people with varying priorities. One of the reasons for this blog is to get me to put these ideas up where they can be challenged. But it looks like this one won't be challenged by many economists. Or at least the ones that authored Freakonomics (for full disclosure I have watched the movie not read the book).
I've had this idea for a while and have always used the word priorities to describe what motivates people. They use the word intensives. The reason for this is also why I won't adopt their phrase. Thinking about intensives is more helpful if you are trying to think about how to find solutions for behavior. Priorities is more useful if you are trying to understand the complexity of people.
Here is an an example that has gotten me into trouble before: Addiction is not a disease, and someone who says they can't quit, just doesn't want to badly enough. Now an economist might agree saying that the addict's intensive is to get high not to keep their economic/social well being. This would be pretty close to the definition used by Dr. Drew (of Loveline and Celebrity Rehab fame) and other addiction specialists.
Looking at the problem as just one of many priorities of the individual, not only puts responsibility on the one person who can solve the problem, and it highlights what is really at risk. Looking at actions as symptoms of priorities can be used to look at the behavior of government and corporate America without engaging in conspiracy theories.
Thursday, February 17, 2011
Wednesday, February 16, 2011
Pink Parts Review
A few months ago you may remember had an interview on hear with a DJ that really didn't make strip clubs seem that interesting. At the time I assumed that it would be interesting on a 'people watching' level to go. I'm still more cheap than I am curios, but I have found a great substitute.
Pink Parts is a webcomic by former stripper KK Skipper. The comic is a behind the scenes look at the people who work and patrion strip clubs.
The story follows Bubbles, a new dancer that doesn't know much about the job she signs up for. The story often breaks to explain story elements to people who don't know a lot about gentleman's clubs. One break featured a character breaking the forth wall to explain how the meaning of private dance has become lapdance. Other breaks were to feature field guides of the people who frequent strip clubs.
The art reminds me of the old yahoo avatars (zinkys?). Which is interesting because it makes the comic seem very girly and innocent in some contrast to what one would expect from the subject matter.
http://www.pinkpartscomic.com/?id=1
Pink Parts is a webcomic by former stripper KK Skipper. The comic is a behind the scenes look at the people who work and patrion strip clubs.
The story follows Bubbles, a new dancer that doesn't know much about the job she signs up for. The story often breaks to explain story elements to people who don't know a lot about gentleman's clubs. One break featured a character breaking the forth wall to explain how the meaning of private dance has become lapdance. Other breaks were to feature field guides of the people who frequent strip clubs.
The art reminds me of the old yahoo avatars (zinkys?). Which is interesting because it makes the comic seem very girly and innocent in some contrast to what one would expect from the subject matter.
http://www.pinkpartscomic.com/?id=1
Tuesday, February 15, 2011
Monday, February 14, 2011
Sunday, February 13, 2011
Evolution of a Comic Artist part 2
In Douglas Adam's Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency there is a really clever bit with a very true idea. Explaining something to someone who knows less about it than you lets you figure out things about it you never thought about. In this case were talking about me, which I know more about than you (probably), and my webcomics.
I had to narrow it down to webcomics because I stay pretty busy. For example during the period of these next two comics I was doing a lot of writing. I was working on a novel (beginning of my unreadable character study novel attempts). I graduated art school and then took a bunch of English classes. I was writing a lot of short stories (I had a list of 50+ story ideas I was working through) and I was sending submissions to Marvel weekly for a couple of months. Sometimes a couple of pages and a pitch, other times full scripts.
My hope is that looking through this key hole of my development will help me flesh out some ideas I might have forgot about.
And You Thought X-Mas Was a Victimless Crime 2002 ( http://www.nilgravity.com/xmas.html )
This is the comic that first comes to mind when I have doubts about my progression as an artist. The draftsmanship is right where I want it. Yeah some flaws but they come off more as style choices and and interesting imperfections like the little bubbles in plates that prove that they were hand made by the indigenous people of...
The coloring is so pleasing. I even think my use of lens flair was well done. It is a constant nagging to me that I can't remember how I created half the effects. I have not been able to replicate it yet despite many attempts.
Another gap in my memory is whether or not I had read Scott McCloud's work yet. This piece was actually created as my gallery piece for my graduation from art school. The idea was to have a single nine foot wide piece. So I do not know whether or not I was inspired by McCloud's term "the infinite canvas".
Part of the reason I am doing Crawlers now to keep me from over planning a book. This comic is very good writing as far as I am concerned. I have often said that I am not talented. Talent is innate. I may have some skill because I have been working on my craft since I was four. Now I wonder if all that craft has gotten in the way of my talent.
I hope this is an interesting side note. During the gallery showing of this piece they made one of the other students remove his work because it was too offensive. Even though the artist who made it was (and may still be) a huge prick, I was infuriated. I worked for the School and know that they would tell the kids applying they were told they could freely express themselves there.
I told the other artists in the show that we should all take down our pieces in protest and they looked at me like I was crazy. I literally tore my comic from the wall and pulled chunks of drywall out with it. When told I needed to repair the wall I told my teachers (and bosses) that was my exhibit and it would remain up until the end of the senior show.
They later fixed the wall and never said a word to me about it.
The Colony 2003 ( http://www.nilgravity.com/colony.html )
I got a lot of strange looks making this comic. The physical drawing looks like a series of doodles. Most of the comic was drawn in my English classes. I would sit in the front row next to the teacher and have all my tools out and draw this (and alternately sketches for a comic about a drug dealer that I never fleshed out).
They were probably thankful because drawing meant I wasn't launching the class into a debate.
The Cement Truck comic posted in the first part was also drawn on several different pieces of paper and made whole in Photoshop. The layouts are clever in The Colony using the theme of an anthill in the design but I didn't really pull it off. I've never been pleased with it but I still like the idea. Like I've explained to people who've been privy to my novel writing "when you experiment sometimes you fail."
The Colony definitely doesn't have my current level of draftsmanship but if I were starting over I would do even more of these comics being told from nonhuman perspectives.
Side note: In writing this blog I discovered for the last 5 years the third page had been missing from this comic (and it's the best joke in the comic).
I had to narrow it down to webcomics because I stay pretty busy. For example during the period of these next two comics I was doing a lot of writing. I was working on a novel (beginning of my unreadable character study novel attempts). I graduated art school and then took a bunch of English classes. I was writing a lot of short stories (I had a list of 50+ story ideas I was working through) and I was sending submissions to Marvel weekly for a couple of months. Sometimes a couple of pages and a pitch, other times full scripts.
My hope is that looking through this key hole of my development will help me flesh out some ideas I might have forgot about.
And You Thought X-Mas Was a Victimless Crime 2002 ( http://www.nilgravity.com/xmas.html )
This is the comic that first comes to mind when I have doubts about my progression as an artist. The draftsmanship is right where I want it. Yeah some flaws but they come off more as style choices and and interesting imperfections like the little bubbles in plates that prove that they were hand made by the indigenous people of...
The coloring is so pleasing. I even think my use of lens flair was well done. It is a constant nagging to me that I can't remember how I created half the effects. I have not been able to replicate it yet despite many attempts.
Another gap in my memory is whether or not I had read Scott McCloud's work yet. This piece was actually created as my gallery piece for my graduation from art school. The idea was to have a single nine foot wide piece. So I do not know whether or not I was inspired by McCloud's term "the infinite canvas".
Part of the reason I am doing Crawlers now to keep me from over planning a book. This comic is very good writing as far as I am concerned. I have often said that I am not talented. Talent is innate. I may have some skill because I have been working on my craft since I was four. Now I wonder if all that craft has gotten in the way of my talent.
I hope this is an interesting side note. During the gallery showing of this piece they made one of the other students remove his work because it was too offensive. Even though the artist who made it was (and may still be) a huge prick, I was infuriated. I worked for the School and know that they would tell the kids applying they were told they could freely express themselves there.
I told the other artists in the show that we should all take down our pieces in protest and they looked at me like I was crazy. I literally tore my comic from the wall and pulled chunks of drywall out with it. When told I needed to repair the wall I told my teachers (and bosses) that was my exhibit and it would remain up until the end of the senior show.
They later fixed the wall and never said a word to me about it.
The Colony 2003 ( http://www.nilgravity.com/colony.html )
I got a lot of strange looks making this comic. The physical drawing looks like a series of doodles. Most of the comic was drawn in my English classes. I would sit in the front row next to the teacher and have all my tools out and draw this (and alternately sketches for a comic about a drug dealer that I never fleshed out).
They were probably thankful because drawing meant I wasn't launching the class into a debate.
The Cement Truck comic posted in the first part was also drawn on several different pieces of paper and made whole in Photoshop. The layouts are clever in The Colony using the theme of an anthill in the design but I didn't really pull it off. I've never been pleased with it but I still like the idea. Like I've explained to people who've been privy to my novel writing "when you experiment sometimes you fail."
The Colony definitely doesn't have my current level of draftsmanship but if I were starting over I would do even more of these comics being told from nonhuman perspectives.
Side note: In writing this blog I discovered for the last 5 years the third page had been missing from this comic (and it's the best joke in the comic).
Saturday, February 12, 2011
Evolution of a Comic Artist part 1
I've been getting caught up on my web based news outlets, one as far back as August. I like to think of it as a sort of time travel because I know of developments in stories that didn't come to light at the time of the webcast and it refreshes my memory on the context of stories developing now.
This time traveling lead me to the idea that I should test one of my insecurities. That insecurity being that I have not really improved on my ability to draw and tell stories through static images. I was going to make a sequential review of all my work. The problem with that plan is that a lot of my comics have broken links since my new server is case sensitive. So for now I'll start with the first two...
Cement Truck 2001 ( http://nilgravity.com/Cementtruckpainted.html )
This is the one comic I can definitely say I drew BEFORE discovering Scott McCloud. Cement truck was my first comic intended to be a webcomic. I might have guessed I didn't read McCloud's books because the pages are taller than they are wide as printed books are. Crawlers and my Congressional Campaign comics are tall but they are designed to scroll downward.
The concept for Cement Truck is that his is a post-apocalyptic superhero. I still like the idea of someone who could have saved the world being born too late. To help convey the desolation of his world I was going for an earth tone ink wash. The idea might have worked better visually if everything but Cement Truck was washed out. So while I think that there are a couple of interesting things going on with the technique it wasn't successful.
At the there still wasn't a whole lot of artists using different media in comics so despite some really horrible anatomy and other issues I've had some art directors really interested in the work.
One thing I feel my new comics have lost is the way I break borders in these pages. I still use the technique but it seems to be especially effective here. There is even one panel where bits of debris fly over the word balloons. It's a really clever trick that I can't believe I have never used again.
Looking back at this I would feel better about being a much better artist now but on the other hand I drew and painted all eleven pages in one weekend. It was part of a rotating online comic anthology and I cranked this out to show the others seven pages a month wasn't unreasonable. And come to think of it Cement Truck was supposed to come out in chunks of 7+ pages. This was years before Freak Angels. Maybe I am an innovator.
How Kyle Got Detention ( http://www.nilgravity.com/kyle01.html )
This comic was originally a short story written as a group project in my high school English Comp. We were given a phrase and had to write a story around it. My recollection of the process was that the girls came up the idea that the main character would be confused about his sexuality and the rest of the brainstorming was me coming up with homoerotic dialogue that they had the ovaries to commit to paper.
I am still very proud of making the whole story a set up for a punchline- and that punchline being hidden in the title. It works very well as a joke but probably not so well in this presentation of the story. Also I am a little disappointed that almost all the homoerotic dialogue is gone but I did create the comic without having a copy of the original story.
The comic was drawn only shortly after the Cement Truck one but the anatomy and drawing is better. I was already on my mission to create different faces in my comics. I have fought having a standard nose on all my characters like a lot of comic artist. I also tried to have the female characters have different body types.
Looking back at this I do see I have made progress in faking backgrounds and at actually drawing them when it is needed. I took my time on this one and I would say Crawlers shows I've improved. It also has me wondering if I did myself a disservice by worrying about having a standard way of drawing people then changing the haircut to be different characters. Style is developed by the artists shorthand for representing things. I should have learned to draw one person the right way and then work on making sure the characters have different noses, jaws, etc.
This time traveling lead me to the idea that I should test one of my insecurities. That insecurity being that I have not really improved on my ability to draw and tell stories through static images. I was going to make a sequential review of all my work. The problem with that plan is that a lot of my comics have broken links since my new server is case sensitive. So for now I'll start with the first two...
Cement Truck 2001 ( http://nilgravity.com/Cementtruckpainted.html )
This is the one comic I can definitely say I drew BEFORE discovering Scott McCloud. Cement truck was my first comic intended to be a webcomic. I might have guessed I didn't read McCloud's books because the pages are taller than they are wide as printed books are. Crawlers and my Congressional Campaign comics are tall but they are designed to scroll downward.
The concept for Cement Truck is that his is a post-apocalyptic superhero. I still like the idea of someone who could have saved the world being born too late. To help convey the desolation of his world I was going for an earth tone ink wash. The idea might have worked better visually if everything but Cement Truck was washed out. So while I think that there are a couple of interesting things going on with the technique it wasn't successful.
At the there still wasn't a whole lot of artists using different media in comics so despite some really horrible anatomy and other issues I've had some art directors really interested in the work.
One thing I feel my new comics have lost is the way I break borders in these pages. I still use the technique but it seems to be especially effective here. There is even one panel where bits of debris fly over the word balloons. It's a really clever trick that I can't believe I have never used again.
Looking back at this I would feel better about being a much better artist now but on the other hand I drew and painted all eleven pages in one weekend. It was part of a rotating online comic anthology and I cranked this out to show the others seven pages a month wasn't unreasonable. And come to think of it Cement Truck was supposed to come out in chunks of 7+ pages. This was years before Freak Angels. Maybe I am an innovator.
How Kyle Got Detention ( http://www.nilgravity.com/kyle01.html )
This comic was originally a short story written as a group project in my high school English Comp. We were given a phrase and had to write a story around it. My recollection of the process was that the girls came up the idea that the main character would be confused about his sexuality and the rest of the brainstorming was me coming up with homoerotic dialogue that they had the ovaries to commit to paper.
I am still very proud of making the whole story a set up for a punchline- and that punchline being hidden in the title. It works very well as a joke but probably not so well in this presentation of the story. Also I am a little disappointed that almost all the homoerotic dialogue is gone but I did create the comic without having a copy of the original story.
The comic was drawn only shortly after the Cement Truck one but the anatomy and drawing is better. I was already on my mission to create different faces in my comics. I have fought having a standard nose on all my characters like a lot of comic artist. I also tried to have the female characters have different body types.
Looking back at this I do see I have made progress in faking backgrounds and at actually drawing them when it is needed. I took my time on this one and I would say Crawlers shows I've improved. It also has me wondering if I did myself a disservice by worrying about having a standard way of drawing people then changing the haircut to be different characters. Style is developed by the artists shorthand for representing things. I should have learned to draw one person the right way and then work on making sure the characters have different noses, jaws, etc.
Friday, February 11, 2011
The Food Tax Myth
There is an ad that continues to play on the news networks of a lady buying groceries and complaining about the government making decisions for parents. Those of you who followed my run for Congress might guess why this commercial annoys me. But first some background
The creator of this ad, Americans Against Food Tax, isn't the grassroots movement they seem to imply to be. The group was created by the American Beverage Association. The group was started a few years ago when there was buzz for a food tax, but continue pushing their anti-food tax message, despite the issue being dead for some time now (on a national level anyway).
The annoyance for me comes from the little jab at the end of the commercial saying that government needs to cut spending not raise taxes, because I know the American Beverage Association does not want the government cutting it's spending on corn subsidies. That's right that "corn sugar" AKA high fructose corn syrup they put in everything is only in there because the government uses our tax money to make it artificially cheaper ( see Corn Welfare).
This ad is another example of a corporate hissyfit not a legitimate philosophical position. This group does not care about government interference with food prices when it benefits their bottom line.
The creator of this ad, Americans Against Food Tax, isn't the grassroots movement they seem to imply to be. The group was created by the American Beverage Association. The group was started a few years ago when there was buzz for a food tax, but continue pushing their anti-food tax message, despite the issue being dead for some time now (on a national level anyway).
The annoyance for me comes from the little jab at the end of the commercial saying that government needs to cut spending not raise taxes, because I know the American Beverage Association does not want the government cutting it's spending on corn subsidies. That's right that "corn sugar" AKA high fructose corn syrup they put in everything is only in there because the government uses our tax money to make it artificially cheaper ( see Corn Welfare).
This ad is another example of a corporate hissyfit not a legitimate philosophical position. This group does not care about government interference with food prices when it benefits their bottom line.
Thursday, February 10, 2011
CRAWLERS onslaught
BTW that is an admitting I'm lame story not bragging.
Wednesday, February 9, 2011
Comic Heartbreak. (Black Rain review)
Part of reading comics is heartbreak (to be dramatic about it). In the '90's it was especially bad for Marvel fans. Marvel was putting out a ridiculous amount of books for some time. Instead of letting things atrophy, Marvel decided to cancel all the books that were not top sellers, even if they were still profitable.
Many people who didn't read top selling books no longer had a reason to go to the comic shop. Fast forward to the internet era when anyone can put up a webcomic but very few are being paid to do so. Many people start up comics but comics are hard work and they take longer to draw than it takes to come up with a new more exciting idea (Yes I'm guilty of this).
Which brings us to Black Rain. I hesitate to review a comic that seems to have stopped at 18 pages (and not a complete story at that), but there are a lot of cool things going on visually. The writing doesn't get in the way and is smart enough not to get too deep with the subject matter. But the art is different than anything else I've seen.
The author (who goes by Blue Harvest) shows that it doesn't take a skilled draftsman to create beautiful art. The panels consist of simple hand drawn characters over photo backgrounds.
Most comics are judged on their longevity and consistently. But when someone does something as interesting and differently as Blue Harvest, we should all take note if we expect the medium to continue to mature and innovate.
check it out at http://blackrain.thecomicseries.com/comics/1/
Many people who didn't read top selling books no longer had a reason to go to the comic shop. Fast forward to the internet era when anyone can put up a webcomic but very few are being paid to do so. Many people start up comics but comics are hard work and they take longer to draw than it takes to come up with a new more exciting idea (Yes I'm guilty of this).
Which brings us to Black Rain. I hesitate to review a comic that seems to have stopped at 18 pages (and not a complete story at that), but there are a lot of cool things going on visually. The writing doesn't get in the way and is smart enough not to get too deep with the subject matter. But the art is different than anything else I've seen.
The author (who goes by Blue Harvest) shows that it doesn't take a skilled draftsman to create beautiful art. The panels consist of simple hand drawn characters over photo backgrounds.
Most comics are judged on their longevity and consistently. But when someone does something as interesting and differently as Blue Harvest, we should all take note if we expect the medium to continue to mature and innovate.
check it out at http://blackrain.thecomicseries.com/comics/1/
Tuesday, February 8, 2011
Monday, February 7, 2011
Strange bed fellows
Washington doesn't know how to react to the revolts in Egypt. Yeah the president is an asshole but he's OUR asshole. We probably shouldn't get into bed with despotic leaders. Occasionally, it does backfire like it did with Saddam Hussein. But for the sake of argument let's say we HAVE TO do business with some of these guys.
Dick Cheney, forever living up to his first name, continues to say that Egypt's president Mubarak is a friend of America. Though Mr. Mubarak looks really good for 82, and I'd love to know his secret, I don't think we should be calling him our friend. This simplistic world view of saying people are our friends or not our friends is exactly what got us into this situation.
Let me back up and explain what the situation is. America wants to be seen as a kind of superhero fighting for truth and justice across the globe, but we are 'friends' with some very supervillain-ish rulers. One of those rulers, Mubarak, is now having a revolts in his country. This puts America in the awkward position of having to choose between supporting our 'friend' or supporting 'democracy'. Especially when the tear gas the Egyptian government is using against protesters says right on the canisters "Made in America". The fear is that the revolt will end in anti-American forces rising to the top.
This could all be avoided if we didn't legitimize these despots by confusing our relationships as personal ones. America shouldn't have friends for the most part. Our territories can be our friends and maybe Canada (they seem really nice and they're right next door). Everyone else can yearn to be allies, or partners in various causes.
If America had a Facebook page, then it would be okay to 'friend' these leaders, but in any other context, we should not be confusing our relationships with these countries as friendships. America isn't a a person, no grown up will be offended, by not being friends with a concept.
PS
Obama's spindoctors all suck. Any criticism of us providing tear gas could have been answered with "Imagine if they didn't have the tear gas. It could be East Timor all over again." But I guess I'm glad they suck because now America will think twice before handing them over.
Dick Cheney, forever living up to his first name, continues to say that Egypt's president Mubarak is a friend of America. Though Mr. Mubarak looks really good for 82, and I'd love to know his secret, I don't think we should be calling him our friend. This simplistic world view of saying people are our friends or not our friends is exactly what got us into this situation.
Let me back up and explain what the situation is. America wants to be seen as a kind of superhero fighting for truth and justice across the globe, but we are 'friends' with some very supervillain-ish rulers. One of those rulers, Mubarak, is now having a revolts in his country. This puts America in the awkward position of having to choose between supporting our 'friend' or supporting 'democracy'. Especially when the tear gas the Egyptian government is using against protesters says right on the canisters "Made in America". The fear is that the revolt will end in anti-American forces rising to the top.
This could all be avoided if we didn't legitimize these despots by confusing our relationships as personal ones. America shouldn't have friends for the most part. Our territories can be our friends and maybe Canada (they seem really nice and they're right next door). Everyone else can yearn to be allies, or partners in various causes.
If America had a Facebook page, then it would be okay to 'friend' these leaders, but in any other context, we should not be confusing our relationships with these countries as friendships. America isn't a a person, no grown up will be offended, by not being friends with a concept.
PS
Obama's spindoctors all suck. Any criticism of us providing tear gas could have been answered with "Imagine if they didn't have the tear gas. It could be East Timor all over again." But I guess I'm glad they suck because now America will think twice before handing them over.
Friday, February 4, 2011
Thursday, February 3, 2011
Wednesday, February 2, 2011
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