Legacy or lack of same.

I had a surreal conversation today. A former student who had dropped out several months ago ran up to me in the schools parking lot and gave me a big hug. She breathlessly told me that she had been told I had died months ago. She couldn't believe that I was standing in front of her.

This amused me at first, but then it got me thinking...what if I had died.? Would it matter? Would I be remembered and how? Sure my wife, mother, a few other family and close friends would mourn but what else? Have I left anything that will be remembered, anything that has touched anyone, anywhere? I have a few drawings, a couple of paintings and half finished stories but nothing artistically to survive me. I've been thinking about THE DREAM for so long that I forgot to pursue it. Is it too late?

Will any of my students remember me or will they, as I often joke, forget me within a year?

What is my legacy?

Who was John Wilson?

Too Hip for the Room

I've recently found a site with runs of canceled TV shows and I am again enjoying Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip, a show that I believe only died because is was too hip for the average person. The people spoke too fast, the jokes were too in and essentially it was just too smart. I also occurs to me that there have been some comics that didn't make it because they were too smart to have a wide appeal. What I want to know is when did smart become a bad thing? Why does everything have to appeal to the lowest intellect. Now I am well aware that comics, like television is a business, and you have to reach as many people as possible but is it necessary to always dumb things down? Can't we be challenging? Can't we make people think? Must everything we do always be only for Joe Sixpack? Surely there is room for everything out there. Can't we at least try to make it worthy of our time and passion?

The Everyman Guide to Comic Conventions part 5

GETTING THE MOST OUT OF YOUR CON EXPERIENCE

• Take a couple of hours and just wander. Look at everything, especially Artist Alley. You have no idea of the gems you might find hiding there. It may even expand your comics preferences. It will definitely expand your insights.
• Bring some cash. Not all the vendors ( and very few on Artist Alley) will have a credit card machine. There is an on site ATM but the fee is near $5 now per transaction and it runs out of money quickly.
  
• Talk to people. Introduce yourself. Walk up to someone reading a book you like and tell them how much you like it. You might find a friend. Always be polite.
• If you want to attend a particular panel, PLAN. Go to the one before it and hang out. Especially ones that fill quickly and have lines that go around the block. You'll be glad you did.
• Carry a bag and pick up as much swag (stuff we all get aka free stuff) as you can. Make sure it is a comfortable bag that you can sling over your shoulder or back.
• Bring a few snacks with you. Tiredness and low blood sugar will ruin your day and make you a grumpy little con goer and no one likes that. Eat light and make sure it is "clean" food. You touch a comic with "hot fries" covered fingers and you bought it.
  
• Check out the nightlife at the Rosemont Hyatt (for over 21 only)-A lot of the pros hang out in the bar after the con. Be cool about it but you might end up having a drink with or playing darts or pool with the people who work on your favorite books.
  
• Above all, Have Fun! This is a place dedicated to those things we all love. Make the most of your time there. Don't let the little things stress you out.
  

The Everyman Guide to Comic Conventions part 4

WRITERS:

• Don't try to tell your whole story. A brief story synopsis, a few plotted pages and an indication of where the story is going in a brief paragraph is all you should lay on the editor at a con. If they want more, they will ask.
  
• Getting an editor to sit down and read your writing submission is rare. Offer to leave a packet and come back later or offer to call the editor at a later time after the con.
  
• Always have a cover letter that details who you are and what the story is about.
• Make sure that you have a business card attached to any packet you give out. Also have your contact information stamped on the back of each sheet.
• During the critique, if there is one, listen, ask questions on how you can improve but never defend and NEVER argue with the editor.
• Have your submission in some sort of portfolio so an editor can flip through it. Or hand them a packet but give them the option.
• Never run down another writer or claim that you are just as good as (insert pro name here). It's unprofessional.
• Have a pen, notebook and/or PDA to take notes.
  

Everyman Guide to Comic Conventions part 3

ARTISTS

• Specialize. It's great that you can pencil, ink and color your own work but most companies won't let you do that for either time or editorial reasons. Pick what you are best at and run with it.
  
• Don't just do splash pages of the hero in a cool pose. Editors are interested in the breath of your work. They want to see that you can draw a boy and his dog playing in the park or a couple out for a walk as convincingly as you draw Stupendous Man kicking the crap out of Dr. Destruction.
• Never defend your work. If you don't like what the editor tells you, say "Thank You" and walk away. But think about what they said first. They may have a point.
• Never, ever trash another artist. No one cares if you think that you draw better than (insert pro's name here), they have a job, you don't. Trashing another artist makes you look unprofessional and kind of childish, to be honest.
• Only show your best work, offer to leave a packet with them and always have a business card ready. (see earlier blog)
• Know what the company that you are showing your work to publishes. Showing your superhero samples to a company that only does romance or horror is a waste of everyone's time.
• Leave your adults only samples at home. There is a venue for this but Marvel or DC aren't it. Titillation is one thing but full frontal will not impress a mainstream editor, no matter how good they are.

Next time, tips for the writer.

The Everyman Guide to Comic Conventions part 2

POTENTIAL PROFESSIONAL STUFF

• Show five to eight (but no more than 10 ) of you BEST CURRENT WORK. No one cares that you have better stuff at home. Why didn't you bring that stuff? You are wasting your time and the reviewer's and that is the surest way to NOT get a job.
  
• Show your work in an easily flippable format, either a artist portfolio, or a binder with sheet protectors. It keeps your work clean and is easy to flip through. DO NOT come up with a folder of loose paper. It looks unprofessional and so will you.
• Have a packet of your samples ready to leave for the editor. Make sure that you have a business card attached to each packet with all your contact info on it. Also make sure all your contact info (including name) is stamped on the back of each page in case they get separated.
• During the review of your work, LISTEN!!! DO not comment on what they are telling you,  and for the love of Zeus, DON'T ARGUE! If you have questions, wait until they are finished. Do not take offence, they are talking about the work, not you. That being said the best advice I ever received was take what you can use and forget the rest. Editors are people just like you and have all the same quirks and failings you do, but they are the ones with the jobs...so be nice to them.
• Bring a pen and a notebook or a PDA and write down the comments you want to remember. You'll forget by the time you get to the room. Ask for a business card and always shake their hand before you go. It shows professionalism and respect

Next time...specific tips for artists and writers.

The Everyman Guide to Convention Attending

Taking a page from my buddies at Sketch, I offer this series of helpful tips to make your convention experience more enjoyable and potentially more  profitable.

COMMON SENSE STUFF ( the stuff that should be obvious, but apparently isn't)

• Take a shower daily, preferably the morning of the con. Use deodorant and some kind of cologne, perfume or body spray (nothing too strong). Wear clean comfortable clothes that breathe. A stinky con attendee is a friend to no one.
  
• Wear comfortable shoes. You will be standing alot. Gene Simmons-esqe demon boots may look cool but can you stand in them for hours on end?
• Bring plenty of pens that work. If you want something signed that has a dark cover, get a silver, gold or white gel pen. Don't expect the pros to automatically have pens.
• Bring snacks. Con concession food is ridiculously priced and your blood sugar will get low. Trust me, if you pass out, people may help you but I wouldn't count on them giving up their place in line to do it. This is especially true for diabetics.
• Be careful how much you drink. Bathrooms are few and far between and quickly become toxic waste dumps. And no one will hold your place in line while you go pee. That big gulp could take you from 5th in line to 500th in a heartbeat.
• Bring a bag that you can carry your swag in that can be slung over your shoulder or back. Don't be that guy with the hand truck and the multiple plastic totes full of books to be signed. We hate that guy.
• Above all, be patient and be polite. Losing your temper and creating a scene will just get you kicked out of the con. Treat others BETTER than you would want to be treated and they will usually respond in kind. Especially the pros. Be polite, be grateful and don't waste their time. This is a vacation for you, but they are at work. Treat them professionally and they will treat you the same.

More tips for the hopeful professional, coming soon.

Vexed about Vixen

In the current Justice League America series, I am just not sure where they are going with the Vixen character. And I'm not sure they know either. While not quite as existentially cool as Animal Man, I always dug the access to animals connection and the African connection and her solo stories in JL-Detroit were one of the few high points of that era. I even enjoyed at the start of the current series, the way she would "call out" the animal as she took its aspect, almost challenging the animal for its power. Now she is little more that a poor man Synch (Generation X), "borrowing" powers from other members but it seems to be so haphazard...do they need to be nearby, can she store power, how long does it last? And if no one is around, she is powerless? And now there have been some rumblings that they are setting up the John Stewart/Mari/Hawkgirl triangle ala the cartoon...why? They seem to be taking a good original character and watering her down to a cliche. And don't we have enough of that in comics as is?

What we're working on

Just so you don't think that The Dragonwerx is a studio in name only (a distinction that has been more true than not), here are some of the things we are working on:

Comics:
Brushstrokes: The classic love triangle between two people. The classic battle between good and evil. And a story about spending too much time in a bookstore. Penciled by Anthony Hochrein, written by me. Coming soon
Icara: Imagine being an 18 year old high school senior with your whole life before you. Then you go to sleep one night, your family is gone, you're being chased by men in black vans and you have wings that have begun to grow from your back overnight. What would you do? Coming soon.
My Days as a Dead Man: It is 1988, you pass out after a party, when you come to, it is 2008 and you wake up dead. Bogus, dude! Coming soon.
Big Talking Monkey: A web strip about my old imaginary friend who forgot that her was imaginary and invades my adult world. Coming soon

Design Work:
Redesign the student agendas for the four academies at Iroquois High School.

Consulting:
Providing artistic and business insights for Charlie Reed Images. "http://www.charliereadimages.com/index.html"

Web Work:
Maintaining the Blood and Roses Myspace Page. http://www.myspace.com/bloodandrosescomic

Fine Art:
OK nothing happening here but I have the paint and the canvases, I just need to find the time.

Plus I teach 5 days a week on top of all of this.

So as you can see, I am quite the busy boy these days. But that is a good thing, right? Ummm...right.

A Comics Concern

While I will never out grow comics, I feel like I am beginning to outgrow the need to have full runs of certain comics. New Comics Day used to be a time of some anticipation but I find myself increasingly "blahed" by what is on the shelf and more and more am buying books because I always have. Don't get me wrong, there are a few books that still hold my interest and that I feel some pull to see where the story is headed but the real zing of book that makes me want to re-read it to see if I have missed anything has alluded me for some time. I just can't get enthused about the latest secret battle or cosmic crisis. I just don't have it in me anymore to care about these "people" and what happens to them. And the sad thing is that in 90% of the books that I get, the art isn't even worth looking at anymore.

So have I, despite all my efforts, finally grown up?

Or do I just need some better writers?

Apathy and the single art student

Two of the things that absolutely confounds me about teaching art is the sheer apathy of children and the unreasonable fear they have at even trying to do something new. Paper is not precious (as evident by the millions of paper wads that fly around my room) and pencils do grow on trees so the only reason I can see for my students being so resistant to doing new artwork is fear. Fear of looking foolish, fear of not being able to do it perfectly or the fear that they might actually have to use their brains, whichever one of these is true, it rules their lives. I grade on effort...you try, you pass. But still I consistently have about a fourth of my total students that completely fails every grading period. Now I'm not the greatest artist in the world and certainly not the greatest teacher, but it confounds me how much I have to fight to get high school age kids to even put a line on a piece of paper. I always felt this should be the most relaxing part of their day. To hear them tell it...it is the most stressful.

Apathy is the other thing that just kills my teaching spirit. The kids just don't care. I don't expect them to be overjoyed with every project or in love with every piece of work that they do, but the regard the work that they do in my class with the same regard they have for the tissue they blew their noses on. Most put nothing of themselves into it and fewer still cherish their work in any way. They fail to realize it is not just the product but the process. They are so used to quick finishes and instant gratification. They time and effort that it takes to create truly good art is tantamount to a jail sentence.

There are days I wonder why I even bother trying.

Again with the Pens!:Pitt Manga Set

In my never ending search for the perfect pen, I recently came across an interesting find. Faber-Castell has put out a set of eight pens that they call their Manga set. Now I am not a fan of Manga at all (more on that later) but I appreciate these pens. They have the standard three blacks of brush, medium, and small but the other three are brushed in various shades of gray! I have found that I like the contrast that they make in simple line work and cant wait to try them out on a "real" project. And since I use these pens for my fine art as well as my comic art work, they are doing double duty in my studio. And anytime I can save a buck and get my work done at the same time makes me a happy boy.

To shame or not to shame

On the Afterburn Message Board today, one of my colleagues expressed the possibility of graphic novels having more subtle covers so that the reader of those books would not be "outed" as an adult reader of comics. He cited the old (or so I thought) idea that comics were thought of as kiddie fare.

And it got me thinking...is this still true? Do regular people still see comics as being just for kids? Given that a tenth of the movies out in the next few months have some connection to comics, and several of the recent highest grosses were from comics, is this still the common idea?

I can't gauge myself because I have always read comics in public and buy most of my graphic novels from regular bookstores. Given my size, I am rarely if every accosted by anyone and instinctively ignore people looking at me in strange ways.

My thoughts on this is that the general public are ignorant basing their ideas on notions that they heard second hand and facts that are decades old. These are the same types of people who write stories on comics and begin them with "Bam" and "Pow". Comics have grown up many years ago and now cover subjects ideas and themes that the average person could not imagine. Sure there is kiddie fare, but it is work that is DELIBERATELY geared towards children. Sure the gaudily clad superhero still exists, but he is now a fully realized person with problems, feelings and quirks that mirror those of the person holding the book and then there are books that examine the mental, the ethereal, and the metaphysical, in ways that would give Jung a reason to show up on Wednesdays.

Comics are literature. Take your graphic novel to the park and read it in the sun. And if anyone gives you any crap, smack them with a copy of The Collected Dark Knight saga...that sucker is heavy. :)

The demands of the hand

At the end of last post I mentioned the problem of getting the images from my brain to come out through my hand. I once heard Bob Kane (co-creator of Batman[yes "CO"...look it up!]) say that it is the mind that draws, not the hand. The eye "projects" the image down on the page and the artist simply traces it. A nice idea...but I don't buy it.

I am blessed (and cursed) with an over abundance of creative ideas on a variety of things. They bang and scream at my brain all day and night wanting an outlet (imagine my aspirin bills). Unfortunately, there appears to be some disconnect between my brain and my hands. I'll see the image clearly in my mind, but can't draw it. The story will flow through my head at a breakneck pace but the sentences I type are lumbering wordy things that spent more time describing the scene than moving it along. And don't even get me started on my skills as a sculptor.

It doesn't make sense...I'm trained...I read the books, study the magazines and still the images in my head never are fully realized in reality.

If my hands are my instrument...who do I see for a tune-up?

A Place for my Stuff

George Carlin said it best : "All you need in life is a place for your stuff"

After years of having my drawing table in one room, my comics in another and my computer in an entirely different room, I finally have one dedicated space that is my office and studio. I've begun to fill the room with things that inspire me: Alex Ross posters of the JLA, select action figures (including a Cyborg bobble head), a poster that says "The edge of imagination is where the mind is free to soar", a small sign above my desk that reads "I have flying monkeys and I'm not afraid to use them." (always makes me smile). And a framed copy of the last Peanuts strip (which always makes me melancholy).For the first time in ages, I can sit down and feel creative in a space without distraction and work and think and just let the ideas come to me.

Now if I could only get them from my brain to my hand.

Footprints in the Sands of the Web

Not too long ago, I half-jokingly said that I wanted to go though life anonymously, with the fewer people who knew me, the better I liked it. Unfortunately, one can not do that and still make a name for themselves in the world of art and comics. The days of Greta Garbo (or if you prefer a comic analog, Steve Ditko) are behind us...you can't be famous AND mysterious. A second snafu to this plan is that I am incredibly opinionated and can't keep my two cents to myself, so I "talk" alot on message boards and now I am even blogging, so I guess the ship has sailed on my being anonymous. I have been leaving a lot of footprints in the sand. If you want to follow my tracks, you may go to the aforementioned Blueline Pro/Afterburn Media message board on http://www.bluelinepro.com or you can track me down at any of the following places:

http://dragonwerx.deviantart.com/
http://www.comicspace.com/bigtalkingmonkey/
http://www.myspace.com/johnwilsonartist
http://thedragonwerx.myplaxo.com/
http://www.facebook.com/people/John_Wilson/711417968
http://www.louisvillemojo.com under the name bigtalkingmonkey

And that doesn't even count the pages I don't frequent anymore like Captain Comics, Penciljack or The Ten Ton Studios forum. SO I'm around, I'm out there, come and see me. Say Hi...

Or not.

I never met a pen I didn't like

In my first post I mentioned that I was an art supply addict. That is a bit of an understatement. In truth it is like saying that King Kong was a little hairy or Jabba the Hut had a slight weight problem. I can't be trusted with money in the Art supply store. I have never left without a bag. Ever. Want to buy me a present? Art supplies! Always a winner.

I always gravitate to where the pens are in any store I'm in. I can tell you how well each writes and how well it draws, whether it bleeds on which paper and when there is a new pen that I have never seen before, it is like Christmas. I have to have it...have to try it. It is nearly narcotic. I've never been into cars but I suppose it is the feeling some guys get when they see the latest cool car. You know the sound...that low guttural "oooooo...".

Many times it is not just how it looks, although that touches the graphic designer in me deeply. My newest find an erasable (ERASABLE!) gel pen called called the Pilot Frixion has a cool flame design on it akin to something the boys on Miami Ink would create.

It is the potential of it. What can it do? What can I do with it? Is it better than the ones before it? Will it make me better?

A lot to ask from a pen...

It's all about who you know...

As a somewhat solitary and mildly anti social person, I can count on one hand the number of people that I call friends. I define friends differently than most people. To be my friend, you have to have known me for a long time and our relationship can in no way be about what I can do for you or you, me. A friend to me is someone who wants nothing from me and gains nothing by knowing me...and likes me anyway.

So I don't have a lot of friends, but I do have tons of acquaintances and they are in some ways more important to me. To get anywhere in any business, but especially comics, it is often about who you know that will get you in the door enough for you to wow them with your skills. You need to have acquaintances who in turn will open up more acquaintances to you who will ultimately lead you to where you want to be.

In my own example, the road starts at the feet of FRIEND (see above), Bill Nichols. He introduced me to APA-5, where I met Robin Ator (claymation artist and creator of Kyra). Through Bill, I met Bob Hickey (publisher of Sketch magazine and Blood and Roses among other great comics titles...check them out at http://www.bloodandroses.com/). From Bob, I met Joe Corroney (Star Wars artist) and Greg Land (artist for DC, Marvel,etc.). They took me to a convention where I talked to Stan Lee in the elevator, shook hands with Harlan Ellison and loaned a pen to George Perez in a hotel lobby. I spoke to editors that as a kid living in Kentucky I never would have met and they actually said nice (sometimes) things about my work. I know there are many more over the years but the mind fails.Recently, the gents from Sketch (where Bill is now an editor) re introduced me to Allen Freeman ( who may well be publishing a book for me soon). They started an online forum (that I moderate) and my list of acquaintances has grown exponentially to include people from around the world including a New York airbrush artist turned illustrator named Anthony Hochrein who is currently penciling the first issue of the aforementioned comic.

To paraphrase the last episode of Quantum Leap:

"You've touched people's lives and those lives have touched others; and those...others! You've done a lot of good, Sam".

So I have become a firm believer in cultivating acquaintances. You should get out there, join message boards (like mine at http://www.bluelinepro.com/ and click the forums button) , get to know folks as much as you can through a set of wires. You never know when the phrase " Hey, (insert name) told me about you...come draw for me" may jump out at you.

And even if they do nothing to help your ambitions, at least you shared a moment.

And sometimes, that is all you need.

Hey Kids...Comics!...and my life with them!

In one way or another, comics has been part of my life since I was very young. In a childhood that I can remember very little of (probably for the best), I can distinctly remember going to the grocery every week with my mother and was allowed to pick one (or more if I was really good) of the comics that were stuffed in that squeaky red rack (I can still remember the uneven noise it made as I turned it). Sometimes Marvel but more often than not a DC before either of those names had any meaning for me. I can remember having my aunt make clothes for my MEGO Superman doll and striping the paper off of a bread twist tie to make glasses. And I remember building my own Hall of Justice out of a cardboard box complete with computers and such drawn on the inner walls. I even had chairs for my League which by then included Superman Batman and Aquaman, all with removable costumes (although Batman's cowl was painted on, so no Bruce Wayne time for him). I guess you could call that one of my earliest forays into 3-d art, if markers on cardboard qualifies as art. Comics had already hooked me in the 2-d arts, as I had reams of drawings that I had made by copying panels or parts of panels that caught my eye. I even remember trading bunches of Star Wars figures for stacks of comics. And although it pains the collector in me now, at the time, I thought I was such a shrewd trader.

Jump ahead to 1986, as I was driving to pick up my date for my senior prom, I spied a new shop setting up in the Houchens Plaza. I walked in in my tux and meet a man named John Henson who welcomed me to the unfinished store. It was called Alternate Realities. An honest to goodness comic shop was opening up in my town. It may not seem like much now but back then, comic shops were very rare in my part of the world. Needless to say, I became a regular customer and absolute nuisance to them and comics evolved slowly from interest to obsession and then to potential profession. I worked in the store (usually for comics as pay), collated APAs(think of them as message boards but on paper and mailed monthly), worked on my skills with the aforementioned Bill Nichols and generally tried to learn everything I could about the business as well as the Art of comics. A learning process that continues to this day. Through these associations, I have met publishers, professionals, heroes, friends, liars and assholes in the world of comic book creators.

The life of the comics professional never happened for me ( maybe someday, hope springing and all that) and both Alternate Realities and poor John are long gone, but those were the formative pieces that took a shy lonely boy and gave him something to help him grow into the imaginative, marginally well adjusted and slightly mad man that I am today.

So, that's a good thing, right?

Right.

Greetings

Welcome to the Dragonwerx.
For those of you who don’t know me or found this by accident, my name is John Wilson. Pleased to meet cha’

The Dragonwerx is my art and design studio. It is what I hope one day will be that which pays my bills as well as feeding my soul. Teaching art in a high school is what pays the bills. More on that later…maybe.

The stuff I’m into:
My wife: The most important person in my world. Period.
Comics (reading and creating): Definately more on that later!
Art: (again reading and creating):I’m a multi-media artist, As an illustrator, I work in pen and ink and occassionally paint. I am an art supplies addict.
Message boards: I belong to several. Links will be coming your way soon.
I’m going to try to keep up with this on a regular basis and while I can’t say it will always be interesting to everyone, I might give you an idea or two.

John

P.S. Check out the best blog on earth for comics creators http://www.sketchmagazine.net. It is done by the smartest and most talented guy I know…Bill Nichols, editor of Sketch Magazine and all around cool dude.