Art Exclusive
 This was my character in a recent D&D campaign. It is set in the Humblewood universe. His name is Seymour the Troubador, he comes from over shore, beyond the moor, through a door. He sings songs of lore, battles and war, loss most sore, and much much more. I did this illustration as an example of texture and Inking for my Intro to Comics and Character Design students. |
Completed Projects
| Art Show My art is still hanging in the Gallery 1740 gallery space. The opening went well, it was well attended. I sold several originals and about 25 copies of the book. Baby Comic     Promo Poster This is a promo poster for a bible curriculum coming out this fall from Apologia Educational Ministries.  |
Current Projects
| TOT I am officially the colorist for this project now too. Here are some of my favorite panels from issue #1, all inks and colors by me.  I am still penciling this project, here are a few fun pencils. from chapter 3  |
Upcoming Projects
| 1313 Angler Drive I am working on the material for a short-form comic (Short form being 60-80 pages) I have written the script and I am just about to start working on some sample pages before pitching it to publishers. Here is the logline. A boy is trapped in a time loop by an angry house spirit, till he breaks free with the help of several past versions of himself and a baseball. Here is some concept art for my characters.   |
Art Lesson
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Philosophical Rant
| Tracing Words have meaning. I had a friend show me a drawing and she said “I drew this.” It was quite fantastic. I was surprised, how did she do it? Mind you this friend is not an artist by profession. And I had seen previous work by her, it seemed like she had leaped forward past myself in skill. Eventually, I found out that she had in fact traced it. Tracing is not always bad, it is just different. Think of it like music. If you were to play Bach’s Cello Suite No. 1 in G Major, Prélude and then say, I composed that. Instead of saying I played that. Each has its skill but they are not equal. Like all metaphors, it does break down eventually. I think that the majority of people can trace a drawing and the minority can play Bach’s Cello Suite No. 1 in G Major, Prélude. Related to this is a Master Copy. A Master Copy is when an artist recreates a great masterwork such as by Caravaggio, Vermeer, DaVinci, or the like. An artist can learn volumes from copying one of the greats. I even copy Comic artists I admire in my sketchbook. But I make sure to label them as copies. An amazing example of this is the documentary, Tim’s Vermeer, You can check out the trailer here. This documentary also sheds light on the ancient practice of Camera Obscura which uses mirrors to trace life. Once again, not bad, just different from free handing it. Now, remember when I said that Tracing isn’t always bad. Yea, well there is this thing called plagiarism. It is when you pass someone else’s work off as your own. This is when tracing becomes ethically wrong. If you were to trace someone else’s work but claim it as your own and then sell it *cough Roy Lichtenstein cough* then you would be a plagiarist and thief. I have a paragraph in my school syllabus about this as well. If a student traces someone else’s work, (not just another student but any other artist) then that is plagiarism and subject to school discipline.  The point is, A copy is not the same as an original composition. If you would like to be celebrated as an amazing artist, then you must put in the time and create your own work. Derivative work will only ever be that. What do you think? Is tracing bad? Am I just a pretentious artist? Stay safe out there, love each other, and create beautiful things. Cheers, A |
