It's finished!

Just in case there is anyone out there who remembers. S'been a long time and life goes on. Sometimes life takes over and our work has to go to a back burner. With this one it surely did. I can't believe it's been six years since my last post!

Just shows to go ya what you can accomplish once your mind is set to it. 148 pages, feels good to have it finished. I wanted to rework all of book one. my proficiency and style changed so much over the course that continuity became an issue.  My face is so red to see all my flubs as well. There is a difference between your and you're after all isn't there. [Head slap!]
 The files are in the dropbox waiting for K-Blam to do there wonderfulness with them. if anyone of you guys are interested in having a look I can share a PDF with you just drop me a line.
 I'll make it available on Indie Planet soon.      
Hope you're still listening and creating! 

OK, Hiatus Over. Ouwanga #4 is ROCKIN!!!!

Man I can't tell you how exciting it is to be on a roll creatively with a story. I finished my work with intuary
on the stories for FarFaria  Months ago. It has been a challenge getting my Ouwanga hat sat firmly back in place upon my aging cranium but it's back and I can't wait to see this puppy finished! I couldn't be happier with how it is coming. And looking back I haven't shared anything with you for some time! SHAME ON ME!!! so here are a few examples of progress so far;

I've penciled/thumb-nailed  up to page 32. I'm expecting Ouwanga #4 to be 40 pages+ This is the climax of the story I'm working on now and it is SO hard to do anything else but work on it.

Here are a few examples of early pencil pages to show my process. 

as you can tell, some of my pencils are REAL rough. Gesture is everything. If you do not capture the gesture of a figure it is dead.

and other times I get really detailed in the pencils. I need to establish a mood to get it just right and so I get it close to finish to be there to get it just right.   

I hope to have it finished up by August. We shall see. In the mean time, it's back to the drawing board!  

# 4 on a bit of a hiatus

With the invitation to contribute to an anthology of scary tales, Dark Mischief   

The Alternative Press Exposition in San Francisco a few weeks ago,  and my first Gallery show here in Fresno at the K-Jewel Gallery down town,  I've been side tract for awhile on working on the final installment of Ouwanga. Now that I have finished a keynote presentation for Doug Hansen's  class at FSU I'll be getting back on track soon. Picked up a small freelance gig recently as well, but I should be wrapping it up soon. In the mean time, If you're reading this, and you have liked the story so far, Help me spread the word about Ouwangalaymah. The first three are still available print on demand at indyplanet.com  and if you have an iPad you can download pdfs from theillustratedsection.com
One of these days, hopefully next spring, it will be a single volume. I've poured so much of myself into Ouwangalaymah, and grown as an author/artist in the process. I hope it finds an audience.   

Paper Wings Podcast Art Challenge

I wanted to post this here to share with you an opportunity to win yourself one of three Wacom Intos 4 graphics tablets.  you can find out the particulars here http://www.paperwingspodcast.com/contest-2/
I hope you become part of the paper wings community as well. Chris Oatley  and Lora Innes  have put together a wonderfully encouraging Program. The podcast airs Semimonthly with a great blog post showing up on the alternating weeks. There is a growing number of artists sharing on the site, and this challenge is an excellent opportunity to get to know every one!
My submission is entitled. "The Janitor's Dream" inspired by a comment from one of the "PaperWingers" and from my own experience in janitorial duties in the past. I hope you like it!

    

IT's FINISHED!!!!

It's Finished! 

   Finally after six+ months of actual work time it's finished. I started the first few pencils of this issue back in January.  In the mornings before work, and in the evenings after, I slowly but surely kept the train on track. My goal was to have it finished and printed by October for release at APE in San Francisco.

I think I made it.  :o)
      
Thanks to my Families patience. I started work on this story back in 2003. I just took a look at my Certificate of Copyright dated January 4th 2004. I wonder if I had known back then how long it would take whether I would have kept at it. Its just an example of persistence and how it pays off in the long run. Actually I piddled with it most of the time since. It wasn't till 2009 that I really began working at it in ernest, and after Wondercon that year that it began to take its present comic form.
Just yesterday, The Paperwings Podcast With Chris Oatley and Lora Innes  featured my quest. I am so humbled and thankful to both of them for spending time on the subject of What To Do When Your Dream Seems Far Away. The discussion and comments that followed Were, and Are chicken soup for my tired creative soul. If you haven't yet, please give it a listen. And be sure to catch all the Paperwings Podcasts & Blog discussions. I feel a wonderful community building around them and the illopond.com. It truly is exactly what we hopefull creatives need to keep the fires burning.
Thank you Chris & Lora from the Bottom of my Wacom!    :o)    

It will be available from http://Indyplanet.com very soon. And it will be available at APE October 1&2.
        

Signing At Atlantis Fantasy World in Santa Cruz This week end!

I've been Silent, but I've been busy. Busy trying to finish #3 before the 9th. I have been invited to a signing By Joe Ferrara owner of Atlantis Fantasy World. Eisner winning, Sprit of Comics Retailer of the year winner. I had the pleasure of meeting Joe at Wondercon in April and I am so happy to be asked to the siging. I hope to have 20 copies of Ouwanga #2.  Ka-Blam is really busy right now, but I have faith in them. plus I will have a few of #1 and the last six copies of 8, A Steampunk Anthology available along with some free stuff too. I hope you can come out & say Hi.  I'll be about 7 or 8 pages short of finishing, but I will have with me a rough home run copy of # 3 for anyone that wants to see the progress so far. It will be finished and available at APE in October. For now here is a sample from #3.

Hope to see you in Santa Cruz!      

Baring it All!

   The hand of the maker. Watching this short interview excerpt with one of my favorite artists Shaun Tan   really sounded home the importance of sharing process. The audience has been in front of the curtain for so long that a bit of boredom has set in. A kind of over-saturation of greatness and polish that people lose the sense of the hand of the maker. They never realize just how much work goes in to the finished product. Letting them peak behind the curtain builds a greater appreciation for the final product. It also inspires other creators as process is demystified.

The realization that every artist started somewhere, and that not every thing they have executed was a work of genius, gives a new creative courage to press on and make progress in their own work. Hence the pressure to preform on every single stroke is gone and a free and honest playfulness breathes life into a work.  That is were progress is made. Those who know the "zone" know what I'm talking about. We slip into a state of heightened creativity where time melts away. Where pressures and pains, the worries of the day, are replaced by the joy of creating. The more time we are there the more progress we make. We are happier as individuals as well. Our friends and family may not understand this, and wonder how we can spend so much time in our pursuits.  We hope that in the end the work will justify.

and so now...

Sam bares it all!!!

Now I'm posting this in a hope that it will encourage the fledgling, and at worst, amuse the pro. Please take into consideration my LONG hiatus form the arts in passing judgment on this work.

CRINGE! done 4 yrs ago.

the latest iteration 

I have been working on Ouwangalaymah! for years now and I've spent many hours in the zone. I cringe in sharing this, but this really helps illustrate the point I wanted to make in this post about artistic progress. Demystifying the process. There is no magic, no potion or pact with the devil. And there are no short cuts either.  you just have to work work work!  plain and simple. There is a period of frustration in the beginning when you know what is in your head and how great it will be. Getting others to see it, that's the challenge! This is where perseverance pays off. You gotta keep on at it until you know you've got it right.

  The very process of making comics helps in developing the "Chops" your looking for. you start with an idea, you sketch it, refine it, you pencil it, and then you ink and color it.

you pencil it,

you refine it in the inking stage.

erasing the initial sketch is always a fun part.

And then you add color! 

                      

you consider the whole and make further adjustments,

somewhere along the line you get it right.

I'll be sharing more in my process as I go. I hope as I mentioned earlier, that this will encourage you to keep hammering away at it because you will see progress in your work.   

          

Slowly Making Progress

Well now that Wondercon is behind me, I am pressing on to try and finnish #3 ASAP. I have been loosely giving myself until October. I feel that I will finish much sooner than that, but at least I will have it in hand for APE. Hoping too to have our Steampunk Anthology #2 done by then as well. Here are a few tidbits from #3. A few inks.

WONDERCON was a BLAST!

Wondercon was a BLAST! and I would like to thank everyone who stopped by the table to chat. And a most humble and appreciative Thank you Thank you Thank you to all those who bought my books! I hope that you enjoy them and I promise to get busy right away on finishing #3.

Over the course of the weekend, I had many stimulating conversations with individuals, several centering on the fact that in public schools, art programs are disappearing. one valiant woman, post retirement age, is trying to stick it out and battle her local bay area school boards for the meager programs that they have. the room that she has to teach is not even equipped with a sink! Crayons, Recycled paper, pens paper & glue, the meager supplies that she does have are donated of provided by the parents and a few well meaning individuals. She is afraid to retire because there is no one else to continue the fight. She knows with here leaving there would be no art programs at all.

Perhaps there is some way in which we all can help by being aware of the plight of the arts in the schools. An artless society is an empty society. It's like opening our own chest to sell our hearts for the meat. we home school our sons so I can assure you it is an artistically rich environment. Perhaps that is the way our hearts can be saved by ensuring that we as individuals and families make place every day to enrich our lives through the arts.

APE is in October! 1st & 2nd. I do hope to see you there! We should have #3 ready by then. Take care and thanks again for READING!!! :o)

WonderCon 2011 April 2nd-4th

Well it is official folks! I will be debuting Ouwangalaymah! to the world at this years WonderCon 2011 in San Francisco Ca.

I'll have black & white

"economy" versions of issues #1 &#2, for $2.99

and Larger Magazine size full color copies of both with a sketch inside for $5.50 ea.

Plus a surprise or two.

Please come by also to learn more about the illopond.com I'll have some info for those who are interested in joining our online collaborative group. And (Hopefully) I will have copies of our latest collaboration 8 a SteamPunk Anthology. We are gonna be right down to the wire on this one. Hopefully we will have a fun and productive Con. Hope to line up a few interviews too along the way to que up for proposed illopond podcasts. more on that latter. So in you are in the Bay area and attending WonderCon, please come say hello!