Quoth the Raven

http://jacobart.livejournal.com.

I decided that I will go with a very short (probably 4-6 page) script that I will then serialize in graphic form. I have an idea as to what it will be about, but it's really more of a little story for me to do as an exercise than any epic tale. Look here for updates, as I am going to try and do it quickly so I don't have a chance to let school or anything get in the way (be an excuse for being lazy). So yeah, that would mean I would finish it this week.

Farewell, gentle reader. (If you're not gentle, I'm afraid you do not have permission to leave. You are doomed to stare at this page for all eternity, desperately refreshing, feverishly and wretchedly awaiting my paltry and infrequent updates! Doomed! Doomed I say!)

That is all.

...yeah, that's pretty much it for now. I feel the need to catch up with some emails and various internet postings now that I'm back from the Worship God Conference, (not that I was keeping up before that) and interestingly enough, got an email from fanfiction.com that someone had commented on my quickly abandoned Even Stevens fanfic. Even though it is clearly listed as canceled, (with the unfulfilled promise of an adjusted restart) someone was wondering if I was going to continue it. Oddly enough, I do kind of want to be writing some story right now, but I'm not sure what. I'm thinking I would do something original, but I'm not sure, fanfiction can be fun. I'm also not sure if I would be writing it as a script that I would attempt to then draw, or just as a written story.

We'll see. Or I will, at least. You may never know what conclusion I come to.

Hello. I have not posted in a long time, and i plan on talking about something many of you might consider trivial. Calvin and Hobbes.

It was the first comic strip that I believed to be great. Before I really enjoyed comics as a larger medium, it was pretty much only Calvin and Hobbes, along with (to a lesser extent) The Far Side that I would read. As many of you know, both Webcomics, many of which operate in a traditional newspapar format, and long form comic books, such as Daredevil and The Runaways, have come to take over my life to a certain extent. Storytelling in the form of sequential imagery, called comics or comic books, is a large passion of mine, and I have plans (with varied timelines) for my own creations.

Anway, I just recently picked up one of the Calvin and Hobbes collections, and was curious to see if it really was so much better than everything else that I have read, or if it was simply fond memories. Rose tinted glasses, you know the drill. Well, it wasn't long before it was proved to my satisfaction, Bill Waterson simply was the master. His use of timing, dialogue, art that cycled from simple and effective to lush and extravagant, character (even when purposefully inconsistent), and above all, observation and insight, made for the greatest comic strip I have ever read.

Now I'm going to show some personal favorites of mine. Some, like the first, are almost exceedingly simple. But don't just rush past them. Read it, and then take a second. Few comics cause me to laugh aloud, but these did. (I just realized I am kind of making myself vulnerable by posting these. What if other people think "Jacob really has a stupid sense of humor"...? Hmm, if you think that, I will just decide that it went above your head. It probably did.)

These are all from his later years of making the strip, as I strongly believe he only got better as he went.

I just was a little busy with finals. Anyway, here are some things to look at.

This was just a quick sketch of the Awesome doctor. but hey, I'm giving you a lot today, I didn't promise any quality.


Yeah, I made this right after my last day of finals. It really wasn't that bad. Quite a lot of stress though.


Umm, this isn't very good.


...Cut me some slack, alright? I just bought Batman TAS season one a couple of days ago, and I threw this together in about three minutes.


Here's something I whipped up tonight actually. The hint of campfire you see (YES IT IS A CAMPFIRE) was just too atrocious so I just cut it out. I do like something about this character though. And the sword is supposed to be that big, just in case you were wondering.


Here's the pencils to that, because I could just hear all of you being like "Man I wish I had the pencil version of that!".


I'd also like to take this time to apologize to all you 56kers out there.


There's a light up ahead.

People should give me a call if they want to do anything, or just to tell me about something cool. Do you know how long it's been since someone called me and told me something cool? Do you?

Well, the clock must now officially be set back to a new start date at umm, Tuesday night. Someone called me, you see.


In other news, I did succesfully submit my comic into the SnF competition, and I should have confirmation of my failure by Friday. I guess I will clarify taht as a joke, although I really don't expect to win.

I am really unhappy with the big whiteness in the middle, my inks are extremly boring. There is basically no shading or evident light source. This is due to the factors of time, and I also was in kind of a hurry. I also think the art is too simplified, but whatever, I was never going to win the prize for art anyway. You can see the rest of the entries at http://www.samandfuzzy.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=1841 . Mine is in the 6th, page, I do believe.




I told you that you wouldn't understand it!

Well, a lot of things aren't easy. But specifically I was referencing my attempts at an entry for the Sam and Fuzzy contest. The main thing I have learned is that making a webcomic is a lot of work, I have revised my script tens of times, just trying to make it perfect. In case you were wondering, I have abandoned all previously discussed ideas, including the one featured a few posts below. So none of you (except Ben, but I doubt he reads this) have any idea as to what I am going to do. And sadly, none of you except David will have any idea what is going on, because it is deeply involved with the Sam and Fuzzy world, so to speak.

So yeah, multi-panel comic, with a totally different concept. I can feel your tantalized and tension filled anticipation already, even though I haven't posted this yet. Well, once your reading it I will have, but not as I am writing it...you know what I mean. Whatever.

Ok, I still have a lot of work to do before Wednesday, and some homework too, so I better go.


-Turkey

Don't skip this and go to the drawing. Or, do exactly that, I guess I don't mind. How's it going, gentle reader? Life been treatin' you ok? If not, call me or something, nobody does that. But then again, I might not be home, so I guess you might have to just email me or call someone else. I suppose that would work.

I decided to (as always) copy David and actually blog about something, but I am at a loss for a subject. I could talk about being depressed when I realized that subseven and Firefly are both gone, likely forever, but that would be boring, and I am actually not really depressed, just regretful. So enough about that! How about...Careers. Specifically, mine. I really don't know what I'm going to do, and I am running out of time. I'm gonna take some history classes next semester to find out how strong taht interest is, and maybe some more writing. I wonder if I would like a journalism class... How about this. All of my gentle readers will make a suggestion, based on my personality and skills, for my career. Don't be intimidated by needing a perfect idea, just say something! Wow, I just realized how low my expectations are for participation in this, so...surprise me.

There's a well known phrase that you've probably heard: an artist never finishes a work, he simply runs out of time. I am a firm believer in this, whether the aforementioned running out of time is externally or self imposed. In this case, I rather randomly attempted the rather ambitious feat of a self portrait. (Why? Just because I am that good looking...ummm). Anyway, I eventually had to stop working on it, even though it has some obvious discrepancies from my actual appearance. The chin would be the foremost example. You all know my chin isn't nearly that wide/square/strong. But for some reason I just could not get it right. I also kind of went half-way with the shading, not really finishing it. I guess I just got bored with it, and a finished version did not seem like a reward enough. So here ya go. I am now acceptiong commisions for portraits...well, not really. But I might be willing to give it a try if someone asks, and if they put on some good music while it do it. Maybe.

Once again, I have to go to bed, but I thought I might as well throw this up on here. I have some problems with the execution that mainly occurred during inking, but it wasn't anything more than a practice run anyway, so I won't lost any sleep tonight. Well, other than the sleep I'm losing by not being in bed right now, that is.

Ironically, my time that could have been spent on making something for the Teen art deal that Hannah told me about has been consumed by the Sam and Fuzzy contest. I would like to do them both, but I might win an awesome prize in one, so I guess the decision made itself. It still possible that I may whip something up for the other thing (the museum artsy thing), but I wouldn't bet on it. But it would be cool. But, but, but. ....right. I don't like it when I overuse words in close proximity like that. It seems unappealing. Whatever.

Anyway, I'll see most (or all) of you on friday, hopefully. See ya then.

Just have a few minutes before I gotta catch the bus to get home from good ol' Normydale. So yeah, as some of you may know, I was up past four last night doing homework, including a paper for my Lit class. Imagine my surprise when this morning, when I arrive with my poorly written paper, my prof is nowhere to be seen! Apparently he had car troubles, and was unable to make it to class. We ended up watching a video, (Death of a Salesman) and didn't hand in our papers, as there was no one to hand them to. I still am not entirely resolved as to how I feel about the whole thing. On one hand, it's grace in that I can rework my paper and surely get a better grade. On the other hand, I STAYED UP FOR NOTHING!

Whatever. I guess the grade is more important, so I should be grateful.

After having hardly any spare time this week, I will hopefully finish my readings and scores of the short stories today, and email that to Bri. Either all the rest of the judges were finished long ago, or none of them are. It's probably one of those two options.

So yeah, some free time this afternoon for a change. I'll probably draw, and read, and play some DS or something. People should give me a call if they want to do anything, or just to tell me about something cool. Do you know how long it's been since someone called me and told me something cool? Do you?

Eh, just a quick note, basically.

I drew this tonight, and it took me longer than I want it to, but hopefully I'll get faster over time. As far as who it is, David will understand if I say that I should have made him look older. The rest of you will have to wallow in delicious mystery...

So yeah, not really finished, but since it's more of an exercise in how I want some of the facial features to work (not quite there yet) than anything else, this is probably the end of the line.

Later.

Yeah, I've been neglecting the LJ recently. I've been kinda busy, and my online communication has been commandeered by my resurgence of activity among the forum at Sam and Fuzzy. Interesting place, I do say.

But hey, I'll try to post something substantial soon. I might post a drawing, although it has been a somewhat difficult period of late. Not the actual drawing, but inspiration of what to draw. I have done the few characters I already know from my future comic, and am somewhat reticent to repeat that for now. I might follow the example of Tim Buckley (http://www.absath.com/) and just go through a theme, possibly from comics. Yes, he can draw very well, just not in his comic. Ummm, yeah, David may know who he is. And Ben, but he probably won't read this. So the rest of you, just don't worry about it. I don't really recommend his comic, so just stick to the blog.

Anyway, I feel like drawing now, late as it is. If I have anywhere from measured success to wild ummm....awesome drawingness, I will put it up, tongiht or tommorrow.

NOTE: There are a couple new or kind of new art posts below, and I would love feedback on those as well as this more expository post.

I was going to select a "mood" just for the heck of it, but nothing fit. I am a mix between tired, content, contemplative and a few more. Pretty good I guess, assisted by the fact that I am feeling kind of optimistic creatively.

Changing gears, I actually have a topic upon which to "blog" about. Or however that is supposed to be said. The idea had been in my mind a couple of days now, on the edge of being dropped into the oblivion of abandoned ideas, when I mentioned it to David tonight. He seemed to agree with the premise, and threatened with some ill fate (honestly I forget the specifics) should I fail to explore it. So here I am.

I love to see that smile

It came to my attention the other day that there was something extraordinary about the smile of a woman. Now, don't get the wrong idea, or make any assumptions, please. Let me finish, and then think what you will. I was at work, ringing out the mindless hordes of Best Buy customers, when a woman in her late twenties/early thirties came to my register. Somewhere in the course of the transaction, she smiled quite broadly and genuinely. I was honestly shocked at the transformation that occurred; a regular looking woman had changed into something that was somehow more. More beautiful, I suppose. I may seem somewhat over the top, but it was a legitimate surprise. After that, I spent some time pondering, and decided that it was not a remote incident, but a nigh universal trend. Women, and included in that girls from a certain age (don't ask me what), possess some sort of mystical quality that is hidden, and only released in a smile (or a grin, mayhap). I wonder if I notice it as often with my friends as with strangers? I likely will now, that it possess a larger claim on my psyche. On the whole I take this as a gift from God, and a facet of his awesome creation. So ladies, be glad that God created you to be beautiful, and know that there is so much more to beauty than a sum of parts, there is some...magic to it.

...Well, that was something, now wasn't it?

Ok, here's the best sketch I have of the menacing figure who will play a role in aforementioned comic. Lucky you, getting to see all these before and after inks. Lucky, lucky, you.

Here ya go, an inked version of the previous drawing. I finally got something halfway decent, a "brush pen". Not exactly purist, but pretty close. It's basically a pen with a brush like tip, as the name suggests. I've been trying it out, and even though it has limitations when it comes to fine detail, I'm liking it.

Who is this mysterious man? Why are his fingers crossed so conspicuously? Would you have even noticed that? This is the second in my series of character concepts for my comic. And just in case anyone has the same idea as Aaron, no that is not dynamite he is holding. It is in fact, a poorly drawn torch. Just so there isn't any confusion...Oh, and I didn't ink this one, since I am bitter and refuse to use the wrong tools anymore. I just used iPhoto to darken the whole thing, which added some solidity to the lines.



Well, I don't have any school tomorrow, which is sweet. The upside for you is that you have better chances of getting another masterpiece... I mean, I might draw something tomorrow. Yeah.

Hmm, the short stories for Bri's contest thingy should be coming in now. To her I mean, don't send me anything. I think I'm not supposed to know who wrote what. If anyone thought I was writing something, you were horribly deceived. I mean, I was going too, but then I was busy, and a judge, and I just didn't. I'm curious about how the judging process will go. Will we all go to Bri's house some day, or will we all judge them individually, and just email our scores to Bri for her to put together? Questions questions.

For anyone reading this who doesn't have a LJ, you can still comment. You don't need an account like you do in xanga, and since I don't have a chatterbox here, you'll just have to do it the old fashioned way. So go ahead, otherwise I'll get all lonely... Cuz I'm emo, yo.

All love is unrequited. Haven't you heard?

Well, I don't especially like the inked version. The pencils seem to have a lot more to them, and I'm getting real tired of not having the proper inking equipment, therefore not really having line weight. I'm a gonna have to fix that soon. Yes, that grammar was intentional.

So yes, the pose did turn out to be marginally original, at least I think so. You, not knowing what he is doing, may disagree. Who knows.




Oh, and I had problems with GIMP, due to it's requirements being below my mac's system. This is the one true recurring headache I've had from OS X, but it is bothersome.

I'm downloading GIMP right now. It's kind of an inferior version of photoshop, but for free! It's kind of a big download, so it'll be over an hour, but when I get it I'll do some experimenting with coloring and stuff. I probably will go and work more on idea for my comic, I've got a certain pose/character in mind. Nothing too original, but I've never really done it exactly before, so there!

It's been an odd day. I was up late last night, so in a state of lethargy most of today. Interesting on a day that I had to get a lot done. I kind of succeeded, but I guess it was good enough. Reviewing my Math exam with my prof brought my grade up from an 81 to a 90, just through a mistake of his in grading, and partial credits he gave me (when I pointed out a few things). That was pretty cool.


I've never seen that before in my life.

Italicizasionismness!

I'll probably see what hosting images is like later today.

is being made. Actually, it bothers me when people just continue a sentence from a title that is located elsewhere. It's too easily confusing. Darn commies.

Well, I've been working on some concept sketches for a comic I'm trying to figure out. I don't know if it will be a webcomic really, I'd probably put it online, but not it's own site. I mean I wouldn't promote it, it would just be a personal project. But there yet remains a lot to be figgered.