Trimming the FAT!!!!!!

Hola,
           Well today marks yet another milestone for me!!!! :) Yes lots of questions and tapes being played in my head ( no im not going bonkers folks tee hee ). Two years of therapy will do this to you, but in a good way :). Today I will be posting on Facebook that I am in " Trim the FAT " mode. This does not mean I am on a new fade diet lol or I am getting rid of my " Friends " . It just means that I was wrong, not you!!! I either added you as a friend for the wrong reasons or you added me vice versa . Regardless the time has come to part ways. No hard feelings at all really, in fact if you think about it we were never really " Friends" to begin with :). So there you have it, if your still on my list its meant to be. If I have not interacted with you in the last 30 days then you are to busy for me as I am for you :) again no hard feelings. If it was meant to be we will meet again :) .
            
                Along with this, I am also changing my Art direction!!!!! I no longer yearn to work for anyone!!!!!!!!!!!!! Not Marvel, Not DC, and yes not Top Shelf!!!!!!  TAH DAH!!! If I am good enough they will come to me!!! thats just it plain and simple!!! Why should I wait in long lines at a con to get affirmation from possibly a guy that never picked up a pencil!!!! Better yet why submit your hard work to a company who has such " Iron Claw " submission guidelines!!!! So you kill yourself to turn out your best work only to have these guys put you in the back burner and get to you when they want to!!!!!!!  WHY!!!!! So I can keep looking in the rear view mirror, looking, hoping someone waives back.........Well not this kid anymore!!!!  I will draw my @$$ off, I will approach every piece with Love and soul. No more will my art be a tool to gain affirmation of any kind. So if you still see my blog post show up on Facebook, lets just say I consider you a true Friend :)

Dude

For Art Sakes

Well most of you are my FB buddies, so you probably saw the image of Johnny Test I did for my son this morning. I'm sure my comic book buddies can relate with the " NO COPY " rule. Now for those of you that might not be sure what this is, let me explain. At some point a nose in the air type artist made it vocal that tracing or copying an already created image was a sin of some sort!!!!!!! Let me just call BS!!!!! Today's drawing sent home the message that cartooning is just not lines on paper!!! Back in 2008 I took a character design course taught by the amazing Steven Silver ( Kim Possible, Clerks, etc) that cost me $1000 clams!!!!YIKES!!! Now some might be saying " Wow that's a lot of money " yes I can see why you would say that. Shoot I said it myself when I was paying it lol. Please understand I get no $$$$ from this nor am I saying sign yourself up. My point is I was serious and I wanted to be a character designer!!!! Getting back to my point, while breaking down the character Johnny Test to it's foundation things just Clicked!!!!!! Johnny Test was just not a cool looking kids cartoon, it has science behind it. The pupils matched up, the line of the nose to the eyebrows!! It was a well put together puzzle!! The lessons I learned from Steven Silver still ring true today and will always!!!! I encourage all my art buddies to TRACE and copy!!!! Joe Kubert says copy!!! Also John K has a blog where not only does he hammer this point home. John K himself said that if people took the lessons he laid out to heart, he would be happy to do critiques of people's work!!!! Something to keep in mind my artist buddies!!!

George

Post Stump Town

Well it came and went, just like that. Armed with mini comics and my side kick Sancho we set out. Car troubles and weirdos on the Maxx would not keep us away. I was able to get rid of all my mini comics and put them in the hands of some real cool amazing people. The best part was giving my mini comic to Brent Warnock from Top Shelf, man he is such a cool cat. You heard it here first DAMN IT!!!!! lol j/k I want to work for Top Shelf!!! It is my goal and dream:) some might think its silly and small, but I know it will happen. Maybe not anytime soon, but I will give it my all. Really a major highlight was seeing my comic buddies from the Illustration group. Devon, Dan, and Matt you guys rock!!!! I did have a friend go, who in turn took his little kids to the show. Well they came across the " Adult " non kid friendly comics. Everyone that knows me, knows that I am no prude. But for crying out loud peeps, who is laying out the tables for this show!!! I know nothing is perfect and the crew I am sure tries really hard. Something should be done to maybe layout the tables a little better. I cant control the Organizers, but I hear the voice of other creators also wanting to make all ages comics. Maybe that is the answer either way it was fun. Much more space than the Llyod center Double Tree. Not a big crowd this time, but I only went to the Sunday show. Will be there again next year. Thanks for reading

George

Let's do this the right way, this time..

I've been artistic all my life. It's never anything that I learned in a class or anything like that. I just liked to draw & was good at it. Up until my later teens, I chalked it up to a hobby. You know, no different than my friends who liked to play sports, skateboard, ski or act. I liked to draw...
As I got closer to becoming an adult, I realized that it really was more than a "hobby", it was becoming my passion.. something in me... a part of who I was, not what I liked to do. Unfortunately, I ignored that direction & followed something a little more expected of me. I joined the military & spent 4 years in the United States Navy, serving in Desert Storm. I also spent time in other places, spreading peace...ya right. I hate war! Not because I served in one, resulting in time lost with my family, but because I Just don't believe in it. Beyond that, I don't & will not discuss it.
Once I finished my term in the military, I went to school. I studied in graphic design. Now mind you, this was the very early 90's & so graphic design was all that was really seriously offered in school. So I went for it! Even though it wasn't my interest.. time past & I graduated. I landed a job in graphic design, married, quit my job & moved out of state, all in a two year period. Once in Washington State, I started working corporate jobs...nothing that had to do with art or graphic design. It took little or no time for me to get lost in the ties & latte's. I put down my pencil, and wouldn't pick it up again for 8 years. In 2005, I divorced and found myself kinda just standing still in time...wondering what I was gonna do. I had this moment, where I realized, I'm on my own. There's no one to tell me that my desire to draw & be somebody was cute, but a waste of time as a responsible man. I could actually do what I wanted...I could prioritize how ever I'd like. If I wanted to draw and not work for food or home, then so be it! I was so scared... but excited. I had been out of the loop for so long. I had no idea how far the industry had advanced. I mean, I remained a friend of the graphic novels & comic art. I kept tabs on the careers of my heroes, old and new. Like Robert Crumb, Jim Lee, Jack Kirby & Jim Mahfood. But if asked what my plans were to make myself successfully known like these guys with my own art?...I had no answer. My only plan was to dust off the art supplies, buy a WACOM, a new art table, an easle, some pens, pencils, erasers, paper & computer with scanner and work at reconnecting with an old friend, myself.
Today is the first step towards putting myself out there. I've brushed up... I've learned a few things. It's amazing what you find when you attend Comicon's. I've talked with artists, both internationally known and locally. I've decided to start slow. I'm starting this blog & adding my thoughts and experiences on this journey. I'm going to share with whoever wants to see.

G

Etsy

It's been 6 months since I quit my corporate job to do what I love most....raise our children full time.  Going in to business for ourselves is more taxing than we imagined...and trust me, we imagined it would be taxing.  *blows bangs out of eyes*  But we wouldn't go back to corporate.  Our kids are healthier, happier...moving along, just fine!  We've been overcoming the obstacles thrown at us by Autism.  And with the newest sacrifices made, financially...we are taking extra pride in who we've become.  A family owned and run business!!  Google Analytics says we're getting steady hits on the website and our bounce rate has come down more than half!!  Not back for our first month as "official".  Check us out and tell us what you think!  www.customcomicshop.com.

Etsy has been fun!!  A complete ball!!  I've met some great, GREAT people.  I've gone from a world where art was considered doodling..to art, being my network, my friends and my neighbors.  Thanks Etsy

Trading Cards...CUSTOM style :)

Since it's always about diversity for me, I have been racking my brain to come up with something new to add to The Custom Comic Shop.  I've had people ask for comic book covers..so I'm adding this...and then I thought...what about custom trading cards?  So I went to the art store and picked up some miniature vellum boards and gave it a go.  I like it!!  And I'm adding this to the custom shop, as well.  :)

With stats on the back?  Cute!!

Check out at our Etsy Shop!

http://www.etsy.com/shop/CustomComicShop?ref=seller_info