A Touch of Jeff

Movies need to go immersive, not just 3D

2012-02-10T16:09:00.000-07:00

Star Wars finally debuted in glorious 3D, and it was pretty spectacular. The 3D really helped to bring out the details in the background and the extras that really are doing more than standing around. Each scene in The Phantom Menace is really rich.

While I really enjoyed Star Wars in 3D, do you know what would have been even better? Star Wars as an immersive experience.

"What is an immersive experience?" you may be asking yourself. It's where all senses are used and not just sight and sound. If you've ever been to Disneyland, Universal Studios, or a similar fun land, you've probably experienced immersive movies, although they just call them 3D. These are the rides where you put on 3D glasses, you hear sound coming from all 360 degrees of the room, you feel your seat rumble beneath you, you feel jets of air shoot across your legs and feet as well as your face, you feel mists of water squirt in your face, you may smell some sweet or not-so-sweet smell, etc. Each of these movies is usually in a dedicated theater and the best ones have some animatronics to go with it.

For a standard, commercial theater, all you would need to add would be rumble seats, jets shooting air at face and feet, jets spraying a mist of water, and maybe a few scents. These few things in addition to 3D glasses and surround sound would actually make the movie goer feel like he was in the movie.

One of the biggest complaints I hear about 3D is, "That's all there was to it? How disappointing?" The experience is lacking, especially after you've been to a Disney World style 3D experience. 3D isn't the next big thing in movies, because it doesn't go far enough. Full immersion is. Now if only Hollywood can figure that out.

Note: The image at the upper right is a panel from the upcoming Wandering Koala uncovers the Sixth Figure comic book, set to be released in March 2012. Wandering Koala certainly looks like he's being immersed in something, doesn't he?

How to Format your Comic Book or Graphic Novel for Smashwords, Amazon, and Barnes & Noble

2012-02-07T17:49:00.000-07:00

Comic books are a wonderful genre, but the cost of paper and printing have driven the price so high that the market is in danger. Digital comics offer one solution to this. With the rise of eBooks and eReaders, aspiring comic book creators now have an economical way of launching their own creations, and established professionals may be able to keep their jobs.

Here are the basic steps to publish your own comic book on Smashwords, Pubit, or Amazon KDP:

1) Create your comic so the length and width are the ratio of 1:1.3 or else the entire page will not display on the Nook. (All Kindles, the Nook Color, and other devices don't have a problem but the original Nook does.) This is the aspect ratio of golden age comic books and the original graphic novels in the 80s. Current comics use a ratio of 1:1.5.

NOTE: Make sure your comic is VERY LEGIBLE ie. easy to read at 550 px on its longest side. Most comics formatted for the traditional print comic size will NOT work, because the lettering is too small. You may have to reletter your comic and use fewer panels per page. The best advice is to just format it as if it would be a mini-comic or digest. But also make sure it looks good big, because some people will read your comic on a 27″ iMac and see it in all of its 1100 px glory.

2) Save each page of your masterpiece as a jpg that that is either 825 px or 1100 px on its longest side. (This size is optimized for the Kindle which all other eReaders seem to copy.) Make sure it is 72 or 96 dpi (if you use Photoshop, Save For the Web will automatically do this.

For Smashwords and Barnes & Noble Pubit:

3) Create a new Word document. Create a custom page size in Page Setup that is 6″ x 9″ and set the margins to 0.5″ on all sides with no header or footer.

4) Create a title page following Smashwords’ formatting guide. Adjust for Pubit using Barnes & Noble's guidelines.

5) Insert each jpg into its own page (except the cover page which can sit on the first page unless it’s too big, then it will automatically move to the next page). This way Meatgrinder won’t automatically resize your images to illegibly small. You will NOT need to resize the image; it should automatically fit in the page. Stretching the image will cause it to become fuzzy, and is a sign you didn't create the jpegs properly.

NOTE: Meatgrinder doesn’t like several hard returns in a row, so adding a return after each image/comic page will cause a warning and put you to the back of the approval line. Just insert one image, then insert the next and it will automatically be placed on the next page.

6) Include an About the Authors/Artists, Other Works, etc. at the end. This is a great place to market yourself and your other works. It will also provide a word count for your work and make sampling work better.

For Kindle Direct Publishing:

3) Create an html document following the KDP guidelines.

4) Insert each image with an image tag in between paragraph tags

with an align attribute in the tag

5) Include an About the Authors/Artists, Other Works, etc. at the end. This is a great place to market yourself and your other works. It will also provide a word count for your work and make sampling work better.

Here are some other tips and considerations:

Smashwords only allows you to upload a 5MB file, so your comic should not exceed 22 large pages (1100 px) or 33 smaller pages (825 px). Amazon KDP and Pubit have no such limitations. That means producing long graphic novels and trade paperbacks is impossible with Smashwords. My advice is to break it up into parts for Smashwords, but sell it as a complete work at Amazon and Barnes & Noble. Maybe someday the 5MB limit will change, but for now that is your best bet. (These page counts are just rules of thumb; the size of your files will vary.)
Allow 40% sampling. This will allow a reader to read about half of your story if you’ve included a lot of About Me information and Other works. A 50% sample will usually do this, while 30% may not let a potential customer see anything. BE SURE to preview at your book to make sure you aren’t giving the whole thing away!
Barnes & Noble, Apple, and Sony will only allow a small sample (much smaller than you indicate) so most readers will not be able to see even one panel of your work. My advice for Smashwords is to break your story into 20-page parts and offer the first one for free. Most of your sales will be thru these retailers, so this is the best way to expose new customers to what you have to offer.
I’ve said this once, but I’m going to say it again: Make sure your comic is VERY LEGIBLE ie. easy to read at 550 px on its longest side. Most comics formatted for the traditional print comic size will NOT work, because the lettering is too small. You may have to reletter your comic. The best advice is to just format it as if it would be a mini-comic or digest.

To see samples, I’ve published a couple of comics you can download for FREE from Smashwords and Amazon!

Wandering Koala rides The Phantom Coach part 1
http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/26287
Wandering Koala meets the Beast who came for Christmas 1 of 3
http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/30963

Good luck, and happy creating!

_________________________

Jeff Thomason is an economist that writes novels and short stories, draws humorous cartoons, creates graphic novels and comic books as well as visionary illustrations, programs custom web applications, and builds unique websites. See his work at www.SkyFitsJeff.com or become a Facebook fan at http://www.facebook.com/pages/Jeff-Thomason/185915104772529

Creating a Comic Book

2012-02-01T20:09:00.001-07:00

I'm the kind of person who likes to look behind the curtain and see how things are made. I've been known to buy a DVD just for the bonus features. So I thought I'd share a little of the process for my latest creation, Wandering Koala uncovers the Sixth Figure, a comic scheduled for release in March.

The idea for this story came to me when I was reading a biography of H.J. Ward, one of my favorite artists. He painted covers for pulp magazines during the 30s and 40s before he died from smoking (stupid people depriving us of so much art). I purchased the biography quite a while ago but never got around to reading it until just recently. It mentioned how putting women in terror on the cover sold more copies regardless of what was actually in the magazine. So I thought I'd create an image of Wandering Koala in peril.

I drew a thumbnail and started to lay it out, but never finished. But what I did do was create a story around the cover. I was so intrigued by the imagery I couldn't help myself.

I write all stories by first jotting down ideas in pen in a tablet. Once I have enough ideas I start to shape a story, then jot down more ideas, sometimes sketching images. When I finally see a story start to emerge, I create a tight plot with dialogue. The process diverges from there.

For this comic, I analyzed a lot of past work, what worked, what didn't work, what I liked, what I wish had turned out better, and what I enjoy doing. I then created a few concept illustrations (which I posted previously) until I found a style I liked.

I also asked myself what kind of writing I like. I like a narrator who is involved with the story. So I wrote this story from the point of view of Brent who usually accompanies the Wandering Koala. It also meant I didn't need much dialogue, which was good because I hate word balloons. I have no intention of using them in this comic. I do like boxes with narration--they make nice design elements. I also chose a font that looked sort of handwritten but was really easy to read.

I typed the story up in a Pages document to see how long the story was and to revise it easily until I was satisfied with it. Also, I can just cut and paste the text, so the lettering is half finished. Nice bonus.

The backgrounds were created in Google SketchUp like The Phantom Coach had been, but this time I went for a more detailed deco look with thinner lines and some texture. I, of course, do some noodling in Corel Painter X to make them look more hand drawn and wood carved.

The figures were originally going to be black, white, red-orange, but I happened to try a full color figure in one of the concept illustrations and really liked it. So for the first page I tried two versions, and ended up liking the full version better. But to keep a limited palette, I'm only using Red thru Yellow; no Green, Blue, or Purple (except for one place where I cheat). I'm also using a lot of silhouettes and panels with no frame, because I really like the look, and it provides a nice change as does the occasional backgroundless panel.

I'm really liking the look. And the look was very important to me, because comics have to compete with video games, which means they need to be visually stunning.

So far I am seven pages into the tale. It's scheduled to be released in March, so I've still got a long way to go. The final comic will be around 40 pages long.

I hope you like the final result!

Concept Sketch: Striking at Night

2012-01-20T19:37:00.000-07:00

It's always good from time to time to go back over one's life or one's work and reflect on where one has been and where one should go.

I've been working on a new comic book, and I've spent a lot of time contemplating what style I should render it in. I've spent a lot of time looking over my past work analyzing it for what and worked and what didn't work so well.

After much reflection and thought, I've come up with the two illustrations at the left. They strongly resemble the style I used for Wandering Koala rides the Phantom Coach. I always really liked the style, but felt it was too harsh and didn't have enough life and character to it. So I've incorporated elements from my Raw Umber style. I love it, but it can be a little boring to look at a series of images in it.

I am really happy with this look. It fits the story I've written. It's not too harsh or boring, two faults of previous styles, and the drawing is much stronger with cleaner lines and better structure.

The buildings in the background were created in Google SketchUp. The people will be drawn by hand with Staedtler 2B pencils and inked with a Zebra brush pen from Japan. The coloring was done in Adobe Photoshop and Corel Painter X.

I'm still working on how to letter it. And I'm not sure if I want to use dialogue balloons--they tend to look very cartoony. I want a more serious tone and mood.

But I'd love to hear what you have to say. Do you like it? Do you have any suggestions?

Character Sketch: Wiseguy

2012-01-09T10:11:00.001-07:00

It's kind of strange how people embrace the bad guy and his bad ways. You hear about girls going for the "bad boy" and many people cheering for the "villain" of a movie or book--although I have to admit Darth Vader was pretty cool.

Even today you see a lot of people calling socially destructive behavior like homosexuality good, and branding those that try and defend society, freedom, and the necessary principles for their survival as "bad" "closed-minded" "ignorant" "bigot" and other labels that couldn't be further from the truth.

What is it about evil that is so seductive? What is it about good that is so repelling? And why are people so easily confused about which is which?

Here is a digital illustration of a wiseguy displayed as a card. A wiseguy is part of organized crime and should be considered a bad guy, yet there are many out there who would look up to him and even want to be him.

I created the illustration in Corel Painter X and Adobe Photoshop CS. I really like the design, although a different style might have worked better. The colors are nice.

Character Sketch: Chef in Color

2011-12-21T17:49:00.000-07:00

And here is the chef in color. I still can't tell you about the top secret project, but I can tell you he was colored in Corel Painter X, one of my favorite programs. I used the Digital Watercolor brush, and I think he turned out really well.

Character Sketch: Chef

2011-12-13T11:20:00.000-07:00

Ah, ze cookin'. She is a marvelous 'ting.

I do love to cook, so it was only a matter of time before I designed a chef. This is for a top secret project, so I can't tell you what he's for, but I can share this funny little guy in the floppy hat.

I drew him with a crow quill pen and india ink in my sketchpad, then scanned him in with a Canoscan, which is still my favorite scanner. The project required a black & white image or else I would have colored him. Maybe I'll still color him and post him again later.

Enjoy!

Wandering Koala Saves Christmas

2011-12-09T20:11:00.000-07:00

Each year I create a Christmas card with an original poem and illustration. Normally I select the title of a Christmas carol. This year I decided to try something different. I had this idea for a story (as I explained in my previous post) and as I was drawing the story, I decided it would make a great Christmas card. It worked out well, because I had so many different things to say and this mini-comic gave me the room to say it all.

You can read the entire story free at WanderingKoala.com

Enjoy! And be sure to drop me a line and let me know what you thought of it.

Christmas is coming, and it's nothing to be scared of

2011-12-02T10:16:00.000-07:00

Why, yes, I am working on a new Christmas story.

I guess the idea for it came from a few places. First, my brother had commented how half the Christmas specials involved Santa being kidnapped so Christmas would have to be cancelled. He pointed out Santa's need for better security. Then I was watching Inspector Gadget Saves Christmas around Thanksgiving, and I realized so many shows' titles ended in "saves Christmas".

That got me thinking about what saving Christmas really means. It isn't about rescuing Santa from the villain of the week. We don't need Santa for Christmas--it'll go on just fine without him.

No, the real enemy of Christmas are those who would remove Christ from it and from your life and mine. Now, they know a direct assault would never work, so they attack from the side using something good as their weapon--respect. They claim we should respect those that don't believe in Christ by not mentioning him at this time. Respect is a good thing, but that doesn't mean it can't be used for something bad, and this is an excellent example of putting something good to a not-so-good use.

The truth is we should respect others' beliefs, and they should respect ours in return. It's a two-way street. Respecting their beliefs does NOT mean we should hide our beliefs. That isn't respect--it's ignorance.

This is Christmas, not "the holidays". The only reason the season exists is because of Christ, not Santa, gift giving, family gatherings, or anything else. There is nothing wrong with acknowledging it. It does not force your beliefs down another's throat, nor does it in any way attack another's beliefs. Those are lies spread by those who don't like what Christ taught, because it directly conflicts with bad behaviors they are engaged in and don't want to give up.

So don't be afraid or ashamed to say "Merry Christmas" this year; you will offend almost no one. And if someone says "Happy Holidays" to you instead, don't get upset--that isn't what Jesus would do and really isn't saving Christmas.

As for format, I recently reread a Spirit Christmas story by Will Eisner. I've always been impressed how he was able to fit more story into seven pages than most people these days do into a full 20-page comic book. It's a testament to his great storytelling. I wanted to try and do something like that. His stories were also in the newspaper so a wide audience could enjoy them, not just comic book fans. So I'm going to post my story for free around the Internet so all can enjoy.

Saving Christmas isn't about rescuing Santa, but putting Christ back into it. And that's what my story is about. Wandering Koala Saves Christmas should be out in a week or so. If you like it, be sure to share it with your friends and family. And don't be afraid to let me know what you thought of it--I'm always open to comments.

The Caveman Conspiracy

2011-11-18T10:18:00.000-07:00

I feel like I've been working on this forever, although it's only been a few months. I wanted to find the perfect form for telling stories. I noticed some times of scenes and sequences worked better as text, some worked better as images, and some worked better with a combination of both. Traditional prose, novels, short stories, and novellas are perfect for the first type of scenes, and comic books are perfect for the second and third type. But what about stories with all three? Almost every story has them. I also wondered what the images should look like--should they be black and white line art, should they have tones, should they have color?

So I set out to create a form that was flexible enough to handle all three. And I did it with a story I've been kicking around in my head for a while--a murder mystery, scientific conspiracy thriller that makes you question what you think you know. I also tried a new style for the art work. I used a Zig Calligraphy pen to ink the drawings (I love how it traces form) and a free set of textures I found online for anyone to use. It made rendering them so fast and led to my "raw umber" style I've used in a couple of illustrations.

Publishing this also presented an interesting challenge because of the unique layout. So I decided to publish it as a series of images. This meant the file size was too big for one book, so I split it into two and made the first part free. I posted it online for all to read and enjoy and, hopefully, entice to buy part two.

Was I successful? You'll have to tell me. Will I continue writing stories in this format? We'll see.

Go to http://www.wanderingkoala.com/s_caveman.php and check it out! And then go buy a copy of part two.

Raw Umber: World War I and Veterans Day

2011-11-09T12:01:00.000-07:00

It's funny. In grade school whenever a holiday came around we would spend time discussing it, its origins, how to celebrate it, and many times read a book or listen to a story.

But we never did for Veterans Day.

Never.

In fact, I don't think I really even had heard of Veterans Day or knew what it was until I worked at an evil bank in Arizona. It was one of those "banking holidays" we got off for but no one else did.

I was curious; why is there a Veterans Day and a Memorial Day? What was the difference? Why do we have both? I love Memorial Day, so why didn't I celebrate Veterans Day?

I learned Veterans Day was established for World War I, once called the Great War but now is largely a forgotten war because of the second World War. Being a fan of Silent Films and Pulp Fiction, I've recently been learning a lot about World War I, because that was the Great War constantly referred to in both. I've also recently realized who the Red Baron Snoopy is always chasing in Peanuts is. The movie Flyboys is one of the few modern movies about that era. It's a great flick to catch if you get the chance.

So I've decided to celebrate Veterans Day, and I'm starting with this illustration in my new Raw Umber style (previously called Burnt Umber) named after a beautiful color I use for yellow in my watercolors. I drew it with a 2B Staedlter pencil, then inked it with a Pigma Brush Pen and Zip Writer felt-tipped marker. I scanned it with a Canoscan Lide and digitally toned it in Adobe Photoshop CS. Then a layer of tinting and wallah! The masterpiece is finished and online for all to enjoy. It is the second illustration in this style, and I am very pleased with it.

Please leave a comment and let me know what you think!

Raw Umber: An Evening by Gaslight

2011-11-08T11:48:00.000-07:00

I like to make birthday cards, Christmas cards, Mother's Day cards, and more. This year I made one based on a Victorian theme. The arch is from the gaslight road in Yokohama, Japan, a place I just got back from.

I'm always trying new things, experimenting with different styles. This is my latest attempt at trying something new. The background objects were drawn with a Zig Writer felt-tipped pen while the characters were inked with a crowquil pen and india ink. The colors and textures were done in Adobe Photoshop using a set of textures I found online for anyone to use.

I really like the way this turned out. The color, the texture, the line quality, the composition--it's everything I could hope it to be. I plan to do several more illustrations in this style. Be sure to comment with your thoughts.

Words and Pictures make a Story

2011-10-27T21:48:00.000-06:00

I love words put together well. I love pictures that effortlessly tell a story. And I especially love the skilled combination of the two. It's something I strive for but don't always achieve.

Currently I'm working on a project that is part illustrated storybook and part graphic novel. It's my latest attempt to create the perfect genre for telling the stories I want to tell. Illustrated novels have too many words and too few pictures that aren't essential to telling the story. Graphic novels are basically just long comic books (come on guys, did you learn nothing from Will Eisner's Contract With God?) and have too many pictures--the reader can't savor each one. I want the pictures to be an essential part of the story that progress the story. I also understand the power of words and telling and don't want to loose that.

So with Caveman Conspiracy I'm writing little more than a radio drama script and using the pictures to progress the action and show the emotion.

Will it work? You'll have to pick up a copy and let me know.

Character Sketch: Archeology Professor

2011-09-23T17:03:00.000-06:00

One of my favorite things about writing stories is creating new characters and new worlds. In my latest I needed an archeology professor, so I created Professor Kissinger. She's not a very nice lady, as you can see from the picture.

The name came from one of my many debate coaches in high school. Originally I was going to make her skinny and angular, but after looking thru a lot of images of women, I decided to go the other direction. I love the frog-like look of her face. The way her eyes slant down and her mouth puckers tightly with the checks and mouth wide remind me of Chuck Jones' version of the grinch. And I think she is very distinct.

I drew her with a Staedtler 2B pencil, inked her with a Zig calligraphy pen, and colored her in Corel Painter X, still the best version of the software.

So what is the name of the project she's from? I'll give you a hint: it's a new format I'm experimenting with, a hybrid of a graphic novel and an illustrated novel.

I'll give you another hint: it's called The Caveman Conspiracy. I hope to have it out in a month or so. I've finished several pages of it, but have many more to go.

Character Sketches: A Boxer Contemplating

2011-09-12T12:47:00.000-06:00

So I've been sketching again, and this time I did something I hadn't done before. It's funny, I hate boxing, and I hate watching it, but I do enjoy movies about it and art about it. I'm not sure why.

This was drawn with a Staedtler 2B pencil, inked with a Zig calligraphy pen, and colored in Corel Painter X. I was really pleased with how it turned out. The words are because I'm testing out a font and a style for my next graphic novel which should be out in a month or so.

Let me know what you think!

Power Trip (a Wandering Koala tale)

2011-08-29T19:23:00.000-06:00

René thinks he’s hit the jackpot!

After six months of no luck following college, he finds the perfect job with excellent benefits at The Power Company doing what he graduated in.

But a newly hired manager has a mysterious agenda. Employees disappear with no warning, and René is caught in a massive explosion that leaves the city of 8 million without power during a record-breaking heat wave. Riots rage and fires burn as the city plunges into chaos, and René finds himself framed for sabotage.

Only the intervention of a silent wanderer can save him and the rest of the city from a deadly power trip.

Now available in Paperback and all eBook formats!

Read the First Five Chapters ››

A Brief History of Power - The first version of the prologue

2011-08-15T21:52:00.000-06:00

So my new novel is out. I wrote three prologues for it. In a previous post I shared the second version. Here is the first. The picture is from the novel. (As if you couldn't figure that out.) Enjoy!

A Brief History of Power

Man has always needed to work and perform other tasks and that has always required power. That power has come in many forms, and each had its advantages and disadvantages, but each allowed him to accomplish what he needed to do.

Pre-industrialization

From the beginning of recorded history, the world has relied on manpower and horsepower (or some other beast of burden) to plow fields, transport people and products, and more. It didn’t take long before man harnessed the power of wind and water to help with these labors such as using windmills and waterwheels to grind grain or push a ship with a sail.

But these forms of energy had severe limitations. People and animals can work only so hard until they need rest, and the only way to quickly add more power is to add more people or animals. To utilize waterpower, you must be next to a river, and there are only so many sites good for that. Wind is even worse because of its low capacity and inconsistency—you never know when it will blow or if it’ll blow hard enough—leaving many a crew stuck at sea. Sailing vessels today have other means of propulsion because of this with the sail used more for fun than as the principle drive.

In addition to the severe limitations, all of these forms carried serious disadvantages. People and animals require a lot of inputs such as food and medical attention, and they produce not so good outputs (you know what I’m talking about). These problems are best described by the great horse manure crisis.

In the eighteen and nineteenth centuries, several large cities faced a critical problem: the larger they grew, the more horses they needed to function, and more horses meant more manure. (A typical horse can produce between 15 and 35 pounds of manure per day.) In addition, these horses had to be fed and stabled taking up land and food so it couldn’t be used for people. Houses were built with a second story entrance because the piles in the streets were so high. Air quality suffered. Flies swarmed attracted to the waste. When the waste dried up, it became airborne and got into everything. (Stephen Davies, The Great Horse-Manure Crisis of 1894, THE FREEMAN | IDEAS ON LIBERTY, September 2004, Vol. 54/Issue 7)

Then a wonderful new liquid was discovered in Texas that solved all these problems, but we’ll get to that later.

Industrialization

Industrialization brought steam power and machinery to augment and eventually replace the grunt work of people and animals. Men were no longer at the mercy of the wind as sails were replaced by the superior steam engine that could run whenever the occupants needed it to. Machinery made people more efficient at tasks such as producing clothing and other good at an exponential rate until the people were eventually phased out. Of course, steam still had its limitations—horses could outrun it leading to several great train robberies.

Steam engines were traditionally fueled by coal. Coal was (and still is) cheap and plentiful making it an attractive power source. But like anything attractive, this rose had its thorns. Mining it has caused severe health problems and death (many people argue that the industry and jobs is provided were worth it).

Coal also emits pollution into the air negatively affecting air quality and covering buildings and plants in soot. The story of the peppered moths is a good illustration of this.

Originally most peppered moths were light and blended in with the light-colored trees and lichens on the trees. The high levels of pollution caused many of the lichen to die out and blackened the trees with soot, making the moths easy to spot by predators, which nearly wiped them out. At the same time, the dark-colored moths flourished because of their ability to hide on the darkened trees. Eventually technology brought cleaner air and the light-colored peppered moths have made a comeback. (Ken Miller, The Peppered Moth - An Update, August 1999)

Whale oil was also a popular source of fuel, but the demand grew so great the whale population found itself reaching critically low numbers until a new source of energy came into use, the same one that solved the horse manure crisis: Texas gold!

The Twentieth Century

In the twentieth century petroleum was discovered in Texas and quickly replaced steam and horses as the principal form of transportation and whale oil for light. This was a huge boon, because the streets were no longer littered with manure and air no longer fouled by its stench. The food supply was no longer in danger of being devoured by the energy supply. And whales were no longer threatened with extinction. Like coal, oil was (and still is) cheap and plentiful with many of the same disadvantages. (If the cheap part makes you stop and say ‘Now wait a minute, oil isn’t cheap’ realize the supply is artificially manipulated by cartels such as OPEC and traded as a commodity, both practices artificially raising the price well above the price a free market would produce).

The atom was split in the 1940s, opening up a new and virtually unlimited source of power. Unfortunately, the world was introduced to this advance via two bombs and research has been hampered ever since by fear. Today atomic power is used to boil water to spin a turbine in both stationary sources (nuclear power plants) and mobile sources (atomic submarines) an incredibly inefficient method. If we could harness the power of the atom directly, electricity might very well become too cheap to meter.

Nuclear power is one of the cheapest and cleanest forms of power currently available, but it also has a downside: it generates a small amount of radioactive waste. The waste can be reprocessed with around 90% being reused leaving little to be stored, but because reprocessing is also the process used to create weapons the US banned it in 1976. Now all spent fuel must be stored, but no one wants to store it.

Solar power has always been the main source of power on this planet, but until the twentieth century only plants could utilize it directly with humans and animals having to tap it indirectly thru digestion. But solar panels were developed which allow us to convert the sun’s rays into electricity. Currently they are inefficient, expensive, and only economically feasible for powering pocket calculators and signs at the side of the road. And like every other source of energy, they do produce pollution—heat pollution. But some day—decades, maybe even a century in the future—solar could become a viable source of energy. It’s kept the Earth running so far.

Wind and water also saw resurgence as dams were built all over the country providing the cheapest source of electricity in existence. (Google likes to build their data centers in areas using hydroelectric power to take advantage of the low rates.)

The two main disadvantages of hydroelectric are 1) there are only a finite number of sites good for building dams and most of them have been taken, and 2) the dam permanently alters the river’s ecosystem.

Man has also tried harnessing the wind to generate electricity. Because windmills require no inputs they should, in theory, provide very cheap electricity with no waste, but transporting parts, constructing wind farms, and maintaining them is very expensive and only feasible because of large government subsidies and tax breaks. They also create severe environmental problems—each part requires its own big rig to haul it in, they attract birds and their associated waste, they chop up birds, and they destroy the view for miles around hurting everyone. Windmills are also very inefficient and rely on the unreliable wind, which can’t be turned on when needed. All of this makes wind a political fad and not a viable, long-term solution.

Food as a source of fuel also saw a renaissance in the form of biofuels which claim to be cheaper to make and produce less pollution, but they have caused food prices to rise and studies cast doubt on the pollution claims.

Energy Crisis

You’ve probably heard a lot of talk about an energy crisis recently, but that is nothing new and nothing unique to our time. In the 1970s the country was in a panic with the same worries we face today, but, again, it wasn’t new for then either.

An energy crisis stems not from having too little power—the world has the ability to produce more energy than it could possibly use: nuclear power is virtually unlimited, enough oil exists in the Earth’s crust to last us centuries at our current levels of use with reckless abandon, and hydroelectric power continues to be a cheap and high capacity producer.

No, the problem stems from certain parties being unwilling to use what we already have (kind of like a spoiled child who wants a new toy even though their bedroom is filled with toys). They demand we only use sources of energy that are unlimited, renewable, nonpolluting, and cheap: in a word, a unicorn—a mythical creature that has never existed and never will exist. From the days of manpower and horsepower to today, energy has always had a cost (money, labor, land) and produced negative by-products (pollution and death), and it always will. Even the sun causes skin cancer.

Power has a price, and if we want to turn on our lights, watch the latest movie, listen to our favorite music, surf the Internet, or text our friends, we have to be willing to pay that price. While we should seek to minimize the unavoidable pollution and death, society will have to accept and live with a certain level of both. It is unavoidable.

The only other option is to live in a dark cave and walk everywhere in bare feet while eating raw vegetables, because lighting a fire will cause pollution and possible death.

A New Coat of Paint -- And Then Some

2011-08-05T13:58:00.000-06:00

I'm in the process of publishing a new novel, Power Trip (a Wandering Koala tale), and as part of the marketing I needed to add a page to my website devoted to the Wandering Koala Saga.

But then I said to myself, "Self, this is an Ok website, but Ok isn't going to sell books in this highly competitive world we live in." So I decided to redesign the whole thing and step it up a notch.

At first I thought I'd just give it a facelift--you know, a new coat of paint. But then I realized that it needed more than just an exterior overhaul, it needed a lot of improvement in content and marketing.

So a one day job turned into a one week job. Here are just a few things I improved:

1) Links to ALL resellers of my work, not just the big ones. (So now Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Sony, Apple, Kobo, Smashwords, Tower, eCampus, and CreateSpace are listed.)

2) On site samples and links to free comic book issues.

3) Better images for preview purposes.

4) More complete and exciting Mythology section.

5) More interesting Who is He? section.

6) Reviews

7) And of course a kickin' new look!

If you haven't had a chance to see the new site, what are you waiting for?

Click here to See the New Site!

Energy Crisis and Other Buzzwords

2011-07-21T12:11:00.001-06:00

I haven't posted much lately, because I've been busy finishing up my latest novel, Power Trip (a Wandering Koala tale). I've written two separate prologues for it--one is a history and this one is about seeing thru the rhetoric--and I'm contemplating a third that focuses more on the science. Here is the second version. Let me know what you think. And the picture is an illustration from the novel.

“And that’s the point of public relations slogans like ‘Support Our Troops’ is that they don't mean anything ... that's the whole point of good propaganda. You want to create a slogan that nobody is gonna be against and I suppose everybody will be for, because nobody knows what it means, because it doesn't mean anything. But its crucial value is that it diverts your attention from a question that does mean something: do you support our policy? And that's the one you're not allowed to talk about.” ~ Noam Chomsky, American linguist

People love buzzwords. Buzzwords are words that elicit an immediate emotional response so you feel instead of think. Examples include “unconstitutional” and “un-American” in politics, “ROI” and “Web 2.0” in business, “cutting edge” and “remastered” in entertainment, and “renewable” and “sustainable” in energy. Numerous policies have been set based on these last two and have had a significant effect on several industries. But what do they really mean? Are people using them correctly?

Renewability and Sustainability

With regards to energy, renewability simply means the source of power will replenish itself so there will be more to use later. According to current theories, fossil fuels were formed from plants, which store solar energy, were then buried in the Earth and transformed over millions of years. When they’re gone, they’re gone (at least for the next several million years). Calling them non-renewable (which they are) creates the assumption in people’s minds that we’re going to run out of them really quickly, which is a misconception. There are enough known fossil fuels in the Earth’s crust to last the world at its current rate of usage for the next several centuries. In this case, the buzzword is purposely used to mislead and distract from the real issue: certain parties want to switch the power and funding from current energy producers to different energy producers.

Sustainability is a very similar concept. It means usage equals replenishment so we won’t run out. (It’s ironic that a government that pushes for and funds sustainable energy doesn’t apply the same principle to sustainable spending and balance the budget.) The arguments for it are nearly the same as for renewability.

When people say these words, another concept, pollution-free, is implied and you are supposed to assume that, but it’s rarely stated, because no source of energy has ever been pollution free, not even the so-called “green” energy, nor will it ever be. No source of power is 100% efficient, and therefore every one will produce some waste.

Horse power (and other beasts of burden). A typical horse can produce between 15 and 35 pounds of manure per day. The waste attracts flies, and when it dries up, it becomes airborne. In the nineteenth century, houses were built with a second story entrance because the piles in the streets were so high.

Wind. Each part of a windmill requires its own big rig to haul it in, which creates a sizeable amount of pollution. More big equipment must be brought in for constant maintenance, further adding to the negative environmental impact. Wind farms also attract birds and their associated waste and regularly chop up the birds. But worst of all, they destroy the vista for miles around, hurting everyone.

Water. Hydroelectric power has the unfortunate effect of permanently altering a river’s ecosystem.

Solar. Solar panels produce heat pollution.

Fossil Fuels (petroleum, coal, natural gas) and Biofuels (ethanol). Fossil fuels and biofuels produce air pollution, which negatively impacts the health of people, especially the sick and elderly.

Nuclear. Nuclear power produces radioactive waste, which could be reprocessed with around 90% being reused, leaving little to be stored. Because reprocessing is also the process used to create weapons, the US banned it in 1976. This single act created more nuclear waste than quadrupling the number of stations would have.

Technology has greatly reduced the negative products resulting from energy production, and will continue to reduce them further in the future.

Both renewability and sustainability are important, but there’s one word that is just as important, if not more so, that needs to be included with them: capacity.

Capacity

People require certain levels of power and any source that can’t supply the required levels is not going to be a viable option, no matter how much its supporters want it to be.

Two of the most popular sources of “renewable” and “sustainable” energy are wind and solar. It doesn’t appear that we will run out of either in the next several thousand years. But do they have the capacity to meet current and future needs?

Wind. The Horse Hollow Wind Energy Center located in Texas is the world’s largest wind farm. It boasts 421 wind turbines spread over nearly 47,000 acres of land (just over 73 square miles) and produces enough energy to power approximately 220,000 homes per year. From 2005-2009, the number of households in the US was 112,611,029. So to provide power to just the homes in the US would require over 24 million acres of land (an area larger than the State of Maine) assuming the wind never stopped blowing so the turbines could spin at maximum capacity. That doesn’t, however, include power for a single business, church, government entity, or recreational facility which typically use considerably more power than the average household. To reliably power the country would most likely require a wind farm the size of the eastern states.

Solar. Solar cells are photovoltaic cells (photo meaning “light” and voltaic meaning “electric”) made of a material called a semiconductor that converts sunlight into electricity. The basic principle is pretty simple: When sunlight (or any light) strikes the cell, part of it is absorbed within the semiconductor material and knocks electrons loose, allowing them to flow freely. The freed electrons are forced to flow in a certain direction creating a current.

Solar power is very seductive, because the sun gives off approximately 1,000 watts of energy per square yard of the planet's surface on a bright, sunny day, which is easily enough to power our homes, offices, and other activities. Unfortunately, no one has invented a solar cell that can capture even a fraction of that power. In May 2011, Oak Ridge National Laboratory announced a design that should provide a 3.2 percent light-to-power conversion efficiency, which is a substantial improvement over the meager 1.8 percent offered by today's photovoltaics, but still a far cry from what would be needed to make solar power commercially viable. Someday the technology will be reach the necessary level, but it may not be in this century.

Energy Crisis

Energy crisis is another buzzword you’ve probably heard a lot of talk about recently, but it’s nothing new and nothing unique to our time. In the 1970s the country was in a panic with the same worries we face today and politicians used the same rhetoric. But the energy crisis wasn’t new for that time either. Nor was it new at end of the nineteenth century when cities faced the same problems, albeit in a different form, that we do today.

There is an energy crisis, but has nothing to do with having too little power—the world currently has the ability to produce more energy than it could possibly use: nuclear power is virtually unlimited, enough oil exists in the Earth’s crust to last us centuries at our current levels of use with reckless abandon, and hydroelectric power continues to power cities for at a lowest possible cost.

No, the problem stems from certain parties not wanting to use the cheap and abundant sources that already exist and using legislation to limit them. They claim we must seek new forms of energy that are environmentally responsible, renewable, sustainable, and nonpolluting. Basically they’re on a hunt for a unicorn, a mythical creature people want to exist but doesn’t, and they don’t seem to care about the negative impacts their crusade is having on the economy (such as food prices tripling in some places due to increased energy costs).

So what is their real agenda? And what is it going to cost you and me?

Why don’t Comic Book movies sell Comic Books?

2011-06-22T09:09:00.009-06:00

Comic Book Movies have dominated the box office for the last ten years bringing lesser known characters such as The Spirit, Thor, and the Green Lantern into mainstream consciousness. But it has done little, if anything, to improve declining comic book sales. Why is that? If the movies are popular, won’t people want to rush out and buy the comic? It works for movies based on books which is funny, because Tim Burton's Batman movie did lead to a long-term spike in sales. No one knows the reason why (despite their claims), but here are a few likely possibilities:

Accessibility

Movies are designed for people who know nothing about the characters or their history. A single issue of a comic book assumes you’ve read dozens (maybe even hundreds) of previous issues. New readers haven’t and most don't want to.

Completion

Movies have a definite beginning and ending--you can walk away satisfied that you saw a complete story. There may be a teaser for a sequel, but the story itself is finished. Comic books are only 22-pages (or 20 from DC) and tell a small part of the story (kind of like watching 5 minutes of a movie). You have to buy several issues over the course of several months to read the whole story, but by then the flow has been broken up and the excitement has gone down. This may be one reason Trade paperbacks are so popular--you get the whole story in one sitting. People like their instant gratification.

Coolness and Quality

Movies have big budgets, state-of-the-art special effects, 7.1 surround sound, art directors, costume designers, plus a team of people working together over the course of years. Comics have one or two artists and a pen. In the 1940s that was enough, because four-color printing and costumed characters were unique and had little competition--movies were black and white and the pulps were mostly words. In the late 1980s-early 1990s, the Todd McFarlane’s, Rob Liefeld’s, and Jim Lee’s were cool, because they brought new life with their dynamic artwork, panel layout, and improved printing. Today comics have gone back to boring panel layouts, dumpy figures, and boring colors. Compared to a video game or a movie, they just don’t stack up. And coming out on a monthly basis doesn't allow the creators sufficient time to craft their best story or do their best artwork. It also means they are going to run out of stories pretty quick and have to start repeating themselves.

Distribution

Movies are shown in cinemas around the world. Comic books can only be purchased in hard to find specialty stores and a few bookstores. Movies have multiple showings so everyone who wants to watch them can. Comic shops try to sell every copy of a comic they order, so if you aren't there Wednesday morning, you could easily be out of luck.

Price

Movies cost $7-16 depending on where you are and how you choose to view them (2D, 3D, IMAX). Comics cost an average of $4 per issue, but each story is going to run an average of 6 issues for a grand cost of $24 per story. It doesn’t take an economist to tell you which is a better deal.

These may not be all the reasons, but they seem to be the most likely. Many people think going digital is the answer to saving comics, but they tried that in 2000 with Dark Horse's free motion comics online, and that didn’t do so hot. Current motion comics sold thru iTunes and Amazon did a little better, and digital comics thru Comixology are not doing nearly as well as eBooks.

Maybe the whole comic book form needs to be reexamined and reinvented. It is a century old. After all, children’s storybooks are very different now than they were a hundred years ago.

What do you think?

_________________

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Is Restarting the Universe a Good Idea?

2011-06-08T10:38:00.009-06:00

DC Comics announced they will restart their universe—again—and relaunch 52 titles at number one with a modern reinterpretation. Their goal is to boost sales and create more compelling stories. So how likely is it to work? People can speculate and offer argument after argument, but the best way to answer that question is to sit back and see what happens. For those who don’t want to wait that long, a quick look at history will do almost as well.

Restarting the universe is not a new idea. In fact, it’s a rather old idea that companies continue to try. Restarting a title at number one has also been done before. The results are increased initial sales then quickly drop back down, and the characters usually revert to who they were before the clean start. Many times the issue number reverts back as well. Here are just a few examples.

The Silver Age

The Silver Age of comics began with the relaunch of the Flash in Showcase followed by a new version of the Green Lantern. Both were very successful and gained their own titles and their Golden Age version forgotten--at least for a couple of years until the Golden Age Flash met the Silver Age Flash in Flash 123. After that all the forgotten Golden Age stories reappeared and became a separate universe.

Late 1960s-1970s

In the 1970s DC tried once again to reinvent their characters "for a modern audience". Superman became a TV reporter and Kryptonite became extinct. Robin grew up and Batman moved into the Wayne Penthouse. Wonder Woman lost her powers and wore white. Green Lantern teamed up with Green Arrow and tackled social issues.

So how well did this reboot go? Wonder Woman regained her powers after a few issues, and Green Lantern’s magazine was cancelled. The changes to Superman and Batman lasted nearly a decade, but sales were still very weak.

Crisis On Infinite Earths and Man of Steel

In the 1980s, DC decided to reboot their universe again with a mega crossover event (which became standard each year and was less impressive with each outing). The multiple universes were collapsed into a single universe. Superman was relaunched with the Man of Steel miniseries and a new title Superman by then superstar John Byrne who made several big changes such as leaving Superman’s parents alive and making Lex Luthor the head of an international corporation. He also went back to work at the Daily Planet and Kryptonite reemerged. Wonder Woman also restarted from day one courtesy of George Perez. Batman received a new origin thanks to Frank Miller and Year One, but much his 50-year history was kept. Flash was killed and replaced by Kid Flash who took over the mantel.

So did this mega relaunch work? Well, John Byrne’s two years on Superman did hit see increased sales, but they tanked once again after he left. And DC continued to license the old version of their flagship hero. Batman's sales soared, but it was mostly due to the Tim Burton film adaption of the character.

Heroes Reborn

In the early 1990s, Marvel Comics was home to the hottest artists of the day until they decided to leave and start their own company selling millions of copies of their own titles while Marvel’s once stellar sales plummeted. The company faced bankruptcy. So they convinced a few of their former superstars to come back and restart four of their worst selling titles in a stunt called Heroes Reborn.

The result? Initial issues sold well, but it wasn’t long before sales dropped, and one of the superstar artists was dropped after only six months. Twelve issues later everything went back to normal.

Marvel #1s

Around the year 2000 Marvel thought the reason they weren’t selling more comics was because the issue numbers were too high and new readers didn’t think they could jump on board because of all that history. So they restarted many of their titles at number 1 including Amazing Spider-man, Spider-Man: Peter Parker, Thor, Hulk, Daredevil, and others.

And surprise! It didn’t work. Marvel soon returned their books to their old numbers, first by showing both on the cover, then just using the original.

And there were more and more and more

These weren’t the only attempts at relaunching characters or an entire universe. Superman Y2K, the aftermath of Batman No Man’s Land, Zero Hour, the Ultimate Universe, Green Lantern: Emerald Twilight, Green Lantern: Rebirth, Superman: Secret Origins, and WorldStorm are only a few other failed attempts. Most of these garnered some media attention and sales increased for awhile, but it never lasted. And many of the changes were soon discarded or mixed in with what came before.

So what has worked?

So should comic book companies just leave their characters the same with no change? Is there nothing they can do? Are they doomed to failure?

Of course not. There have been many successful “revitalizations” of characters, but it hasn’t been erasing the past and starting with a blank slate. It has always involved embracing the past and expanding on it in a consistent way. (Did you catch that word, consistent?) Changing a character’s gender, race, or motivation isn’t edgy and creative—it’s suicide! There have been many reimaginings that have been very successful and been embraced by all versions that came after, and all of them were true to the core of the character.

Batman: The Dark Knight Returns is considered by many to be the greatest comic book series ever, not because Frank Miller turned Batman into a new and different character, but because he reverted back to the original Batman and let us see inside his head.

The Elektra Saga took one of Marvel’s least popular characters in a struggling bi-monthly book to being one of the most popular characters a best-seller by looking at the essence of the character (he’s blind and plays both sides of the law) and really explored that using Elektra as a dark reflection of what he could have been.

Batman: The Animated Series is regarded by many as the greatest version of Batman ever, not because they created a new version of Batman, but because they gleaned the best his 50+ year history.

The Marvel movies Spider-man, X-men, Iron Man, and others were box office blockbusters, not because they presented new versions of these characters, but because they presented the classic and essential elements of these characters using the best stories form their 30+ years of publication.

Smallville was an enormous success (at least the first five seasons), because they didn’t try to change young Clark Kent, but brought in elements of his now 60+ year history and showed how his family life and friends lead him to become the hero we all know and love.

Other Considerations

There are some other considerations a lot of people overlook. When comics first began, they were new and cool. They were four-color and pictures, which compared to the black and white text heavy pulps they replaced, were new and eye-catching. They also cost a dime and could be found anywhere, because they were sold on newsstands and newsstands were everywhere. They featured bright costumed characters (Superman and Batman were originally “costumed characters” not “superheroes”), which again stuck out. After a decade, comic books were no longer the cool new kid on the block, and more and more was being produced in color due to advances in technology. The comic explosion of the late 1980s and 1990s was due to better artwork and better printing to show off that artwork. Before then comics looked and were being produced much like they had been 50 years before.

If comics want the sales explosion they had in the Golden Age and the Dark Age, they need update the format in addition to embracing the history of the characters and expanding on it in a consistent and respectful way. They also need distribution beyond a few dying specialty shops. The digital revolution seems to be the most likely route, but it isn’t the only one. Comics could survive and even have a resurgence in print if they could find a way to gain universal distribution like they once had, and if they could contain content as cool and compelling as video games, the current pop culture superstar at a price consumers deem a “good value”.

_________________

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Twitter: Jeff_Thomason
Website: www.SkyFitsJeff.com

Amazon Author Page: amazon.com/Jeff-Thomason/e/B003MOQNAM
Smashwords Author Page: smashwords.com/profile/view/jeffthomason

How to help others “StumbleUpon” your work

2011-05-25T10:47:00.003-06:00

Have you ever written a book, thought it was the greatest thing in the world, published it, and then sat back and waited for the world to beat down your door to get their copy? If you've ever written a book, then the answer is most likely ‘yes’, and you are still waiting for the masses and wondering if they lost your address.

So how do you get the masses to buy your book and turn you into a bestselling author? Basically, write a great book millions want to read, then market it to them at a price and in a format they can’t say no to. Easy, right?

Ok, if it were really that easy, everyone would do it. With the Internet and the so-called “social media revolution” there are numerous tools you can use. (Yes, even you!) One of them is called StumbleUpon. Over at iLoveSmashwords.com I posted some helpful explanations and tips about using StumbleUpon to increase traffic to your work.

Read the full post at http://www.ilovesmashwords.com/2011/05/how-to-help-others-stumbleupon-your-work/

Poetry

2011-05-20T14:53:00.007-06:00

I don't know when it started, but I've been writing poetry for a while. I create a Christmas card each year and write an original poem to go with it. I also make cards for Mothers Day, Fathers Day, and birthdays and usually have an original poem in them. The last few years my brother and I have been making books with family photos as gifts for our parents, and I wrote a lot of original lines for it. And when I first posted a website, I wanted a unique way to display my art, so I wrote poems to go with my illustrations as if it were a virtual storybook on the web. I really enjoy writing, especially poetry. In fact I have a secret project planned for after my second novel is published that will ... but that would be telling.

There are several things I like about poetry. First is the rhythm and the way it sounds; good poetry is so melodic even if it doesn't rhyme. Second is the ability to paint with words, because you don't have the usual restrictions of prose that requires you basically to "tell" everything in a certain way. With poetry you can place the words visually to get added meaning. Third, I like how much can be said in a minimal amount of words. So many of the greatest poems are short in word count but long in content and message. The best art and the best writing takes just a little and makes so much of it.

The other day I suddenly had the idea to publish my poems. I was originally going to publish all of the illustration poetry, Christmas Card poetry, and other greeting card poetry, but realized it would make more sense to publish them as three anthologies. So I just posted the illustration poetry, but it is some of my favorite. It's available in most eBook formats from Amazon.com and Smashwords, but will soon go on sale at Barnes & Noble Nook store, Apple iBookstore, Sony eReader store, Kobo, and Diesel. I love the cover art! If you've been following this blog, you may recognize the characters. The title comes from one of my favorite poems. Enjoy!

Amazon.com: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0051U9XB6
Smashwords: http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/60375

How to format a graphic novel or comic book for digital distribution thru popular eBook stores

2011-05-17T13:18:00.008-06:00

Have you ever created a comic book or graphic novel and wanted to publish and sell it but weren't sure how or didn't want to go bankrupt doing it thru comic book stores?

Well turn that dream into reality! Over at iLoveSmashwords.com, I've outlined a few helpful steps and tips to make your work meet the formatting guidelines and pass thru Meatgrinder intact and qualify for the premium catalog. I cover what file format to use, what size your images should be, how to place them in a Word document without being shrunk to thumbnails, as well as tips on allowing previews and avoiding error messages.

Read the full post here: http://www.ilovesmashwords.com/2011/05/formatting-a-graphic-novel-or-comic-book-for-smashwords/

If you'd like to check out a few of my comics, visit my Author page at Smashwords. Some of my comics are even available for free: http://www.smashwords.com/profile/view/jeffthomason

Thoughts on Writing: Show and Tell

2011-05-10T15:46:00.003-06:00

In one of my high school English classes, the teacher would start class by writing a sentence telling an action on the board, and we had five or ten minutes to fill up half a page showing the action. For example, the teacher would write “The room was messy” and we would write a paragraph or three describing the messy room without ever actually saying the room was messy. It’s a technique calls “Show Not Tell” and English wasn’t the only subject to make use of it; my college art classes were fond of it as well. It’s frequently quoted as a way to make your writing “better” and more “professionalism”, but is showing really better than telling?

On an interesting note, anytime you write, you are telling your audience what is happening. To show you need to include pictures, so anytime you create visual art, you are showing and not telling. But semantics and technicalities aren’t my goal for this essay.

Showing and telling are both tools a writer or artist can use to convey a message or story. One is not necessarily better than the other. They both have their strengths and their weaknesses, and they both have their uses--things they do better than the other.
Telling appeals to the intellect. It is much quicker and much clearer. If you tell someone the room is messy, you can convey that in four words and there is no question whether or not the room is messy. If you were to describe a room and the clothes on the floor, the week old pizza under the bed, the overflowing trashcan, you need several sentences, and at the end, some people may think the room is normal, not messy.

Showing appeals more to the emotions. It creates richer, more vivid images in one’s mind. It also requires more of the reader to figure out what you are trying to say, and therefore can be more satisfying when the reader succeeds.

Telling is good if you want to make a point quickly and clearly. Telling the reader certain facts allows you to move thru a story quickly without breaking the rhythm. Showing allows you to bring your reader into the situation, to create an experience and play on their emotions so they feel something for the story as if it happened to them.

Determining which to use in a given situation depends on the situation, what your goal and purpose is, who the audience is, how much time they have to digest the information, and how capable they are of digesting the information. One should not automatically dismiss telling as bad writing and accept showing as good writing. One must take into account the situation, purpose, and desired result to judge the quality of writing.

A wise writer or artist will use the most effective tool for the job.

Mother's Day Card

2011-05-09T16:45:00.006-06:00

I like to make cards for special occasions by hand. I create an original illustration and an original poem for each. I've built up quite a collection.

This year for Mothers Day I created an original for my Mom, but I decided to share it with you too. Enjoy!

Mothers rarely get what they deserve
For the many sacrifices they make,
The time they give up,
And the worry they endure.

They may hear an occasional thank you
Or some other quick acknowledgement,
But like so many other important things
Their labor of love goes unrecognized.

But today, this mother will get what she deserves
As we not only tell her, but also show her
How much we love and appreciate her.

Happy Mothers Day!

Technology in the Classroom

2011-04-15T16:49:00.007-06:00

The local news in Idaho has been filled with a lot of talk about the education reforms recently passed by the State Legislature and signed by the Governor. One of the controversial issues is to divert money from teacher pay to increasing technology in the classroom. If increasing the amount of technology provides more student benefit than increasing the number or teachers or quality of teachers, then it is a good idea. So the question is, does technology in the classroom benefit students, and if so by how much, and is that greater than the benefit of more teachers who are happy? Here is one product of the Idaho school system’s personal experience on the subject.

Background

To give you a little background, I love technology and my entire working career has relied on it. I create websites and program custom web apps for clients in the financial, health care, retail, and many other sectors. I also use a computer to create logos, brochures, packaging, sales sheets, business cards, handouts, inserts, posters, and much, much more graphic design work. I also provide illustrations for book covers, children’s storybooks, and young adult novels all of which require a significant amount of digital art. So I am no stranger to technology and certainly understand its place. I’ve also had to use a diverse array of knowledge I gained in school including writing skills, math skills, accounting skills, analytic skills, debate skills, speech skills, random odd facts, and much, much more. Knowledge I’ve gained on a variety of subjects has been invaluable to me. So here are three case studies of technology in the classroom and what it did for me and my fellow classmates.

Case Study 1: High School Math

In High School I took all of the advanced math classes. In Advanced Algebra and Trig as well as Pre-Calculus, we occasionally used the T1-81 (a high tech graphing calculator) with several richer students had the then latest and greatest T1-85. In Calculus we used the HP 28 (another high tech graphing calculator). During the times we did NOT use the calculators, we learned how to do math by hand and better understand the principles. When we pulled out the calculators, students struggled with getting them to work, then once they figured it out all they had to do was punch in numbers and think about the processes taking place or the concepts being used. Or they programmed their calculator to play Mary Had A Little Lamb. In both cases, little math was learned. I honestly got a lot more out of the weeks in class we solved equations by hand then I did punching in numbers and copying the answer.

Case Study 2: College English

In college I took a computer-based English class. We sat at computers during class time and all work had to be done on the computer. During the 3-credit hour course I was required to type one paper and take two tests. And on the days the computers were malfunctioning (a common occurrence) class was cancelled. Anyone who has taken a college-level class will tell you one paper for the entire three credits is unheard of.

Since college I have become a professional writing both writing copy for websites and graphic design projects, marketing materials, newsletter articles, my regular column on Examiner.com, one young adult novel with another on the way, several short stories, and a few comic books. I have yet to use anything I learned in that computer-based class. I’m not even sure if I did learn anything.

Case Study 3: College History

I also took an Internet based Art History class. We were given a schedule of what we were to research, then let loose to scour the Internet for information and present it to the class. I had a friend in another Art History class being taught traditionally. I was always amazed how much they covered that we didn’t even touch. Later I took two other Art History classes taught traditionally, and I learned much more from those. Technology again got in the way of education.

Other Examples

These are just three of many, many examples I have. I could also include computers causing graphic designers to be worse designers, illustrators not drawing as well, business classes where more time was spent on finding funny pictures and cool transitions for a presentation than on researching and finding content for the presentation, and much more, but I think you’re getting the picture.

What am I saying?

Now, I’m not saying technology doesn’t have its place in a classroom. Word processors are the best way to type papers, and students should learn to use them and use them well. PowerPoint presentations, videos, and scientific calculators are also very helpful.

What I’m saying is whenever a teacher or institution tried to rely on technology or put great emphasis on technology, education has suffered. I have personally learned more from a teacher who was passionate about a subject and allowed to share that passion with me without worrying about whether the information would be on a standardized test or how to get some gadget to work.

My experience has told me that giving students laptops, iPads, new computers, and other cool gadgets isn’t going to improve education, but instead be a distraction from it. Unfortunately, it’ll be several years in the future before the data exists to prove this, and by then the damage will be done and the students will not be as capable as they could and should be.

How Technology has changed the Illustrated Story: Case Study 1 - Pulps vs. Comics

2011-04-14T15:09:00.008-06:00

Matt D. Williams, the author of Jak Phoenix, invited me to write a guest post on his site. I look at the early twentieth century and examine how advances in printing destroyed one genre but created a new one. It also changed the way certain types of stories were told.

Read the entire post at http://jakphoenix.com/2011/04/13/how-has-technology-affected-the-illustrated-story-a-guest-post-by-jeff-thomason/.

As you can see, it is only one case study. The topic interests me so much that I plan to make it a whole series of posts. Don't hold your breath, because I have a lot of other things I'm working on first.

This image is a drawing of Wandering Koala^TM, and I think I'll use it for the title pages of all future stories. It's fitting, because I consider Wandering Koala to be a 21st century pulp hero who also appears in comics.

A few thoughts on Digital Comics

2011-04-12T18:07:00.005-06:00

I use to be a big time comic fan, then I stopped reading them for a while, then I started reading them again but not with the same enthusiasm.

Recently Comixology released a few numbers about the growth of digital comics. They are growing, but more slowly than other media that went digital like music, movies, and books. It’s too soon and the data too scarce to make any definitive statements about them, but here are a few of my thoughts.

Why do people buy Digital Comics when they can get them on paper?
1) Price – Comics cost $2.99-3.99 per 22-page issue. When I started buying comics in 1989, most comics cost $1.00 while Superman comics cost 75 cents. That means they’ve increased in price by a factor between 3-5. Paperback books haven’t even doubled in price during the same period. Paper comics are pricing themselves into oblivion. The current diehard fans that are willing to spend too much and buy multiple copies for variant covers are the main thing keeping the current system going; very few new fans are entering the market threatening its survival. Digital Comics are currently sold for between 99 cents and $1.99. I feel this is the main reason digital comics are growing--the print market is so far above market price that it is forcing competition to emerge, a phenomenon that has been observed in the past and been misinterpreted by courts as a lack of monopoly instead of the result of a monopoly.

2) Coolness Factor – With the launch of the iPhone, Android phones, the Kindle and other eReaders, and the iPad, downloading digital is the current “new and cool”. People download apps they’ll never use, books they’ll never read, and music they’ll never listen to a second time. Why? Because it’s cool, and this has led many people who don’t read comics to start downloading digital comics. This is one reason certain titles have seen growth in digital sales without any loss in sales for the paper version.

3) Availability – Every year more and more comics shops close their doors. Fewer and fewer newsstands carry comics. And while the Direct Market was set up to over order comics so they’d have back issues to sell, the current goal is complete sellthrough so the shop isn’t stuck with unsold issues. Digital issues in theory should always be available in whatever quantity they’re demanded. This is probably the least compelling reason.

So are digital comics the future? Maybe. I personally like paper comics better, but I won’t be able to afford to buy them for much longer at current prices. And many times I’ll wait for the trade paperback and buy it at a discount at Amazon, which doesn’t help the Direct Market system or local comic shops.

Of course, there are challenges:

1) Collectablity – A digital file is unlikely to increase in value.

2) Readability – While one can read a comic book on a giant computer screen, it’s not a pleasant experience. People like to download and consume content on their iPhones and Kindles and iPads and other gadgets, but their screens are too small to read current comics. Some have tried to cut up the comic into individual panels, but that usually results in odd configurations and cropped artwork. Others have tried to zoom from panel to panel, but then you lose the “page as a whole” design the artist intended and again miss out on some of the artwork.

3) Technology – Anyone who has tried to download and read a digital comic knows it takes a lot of time and processing power. It’s kind of a buzz kill waiting and waiting and waiting only to have the comic crash.

4) Price - Digital comics are currently sold for between 99 cents and $1.99. I’m not sure these are the right prices, being a creator and seller of digital comics myself. At 99 cents you don’t make enough profit to sustain or grow the business unless every issue is a blockbuster which it won’t be. As a consumer I’m resistant to spend $1.99 on something that isn’t physical and that is hard to read.
Is there anyway to overcome these challenges. Of course!

1) Focus on complete collections over the one “hot” issue. Make having every issue seem as great as that limited first issue going for $40 on eBay. I don’t know how well it will work though. But if people actually read the comics instead of storing them in Mylar, it may.

2) In the 80s it was common for action figures to come packaged with a mini-comic. They were usually aroung 5” x 6.5” and would be easy to read even on a smart phone screen. In Brazil they sell comics in digest sizes with three issues per book. This makes the cost per issue much lower than it is in America, and they have to translate the dialogue anyway so adjusting it for the smaller space has to be done anyway. (In case you haven’t guessed, I’m proposing creating new comics as mini-comics; that way you still get the total effect of the page while maintaining readability. Plus you have fewer panels per page, so there are more pages and it appears to be a better value. Of course, this isn’t helpful for older comics. There is no good solution for those.

3) The technology problem will solve itself as Internet speeds become faster and devices become more powerful. Of course, better coding would speed up the process.

4) $1.50 seems like a good price to me. That’s what I sell a lot of comics at, and they sell as well as the ones I price at 99 cents, but I’m actually making enough money to make it worth my while. Of course, the packaging multiple issues together would allow for lower per issue prices and may be the way to go, especially for long stories that can’t be wrapped up in 22 pages.

I don’t see digital comics ever completely replacing print comics just as digital music hasn’t replaced hard media and eBooks haven’t replaced print books. There are things print can do digital can’t, and if the industry takes advantage of that, then print can have a healthy future.

But I have my doubts they will.

A few thoughts on books and writing

2011-04-11T17:27:00.006-06:00

So a friend and fellow author has a blog where where she does a lot of reflecting on the writing process, publishing, and other related topics. Her latest post made many points and raised many questions that I've often pondered. Here are a few of my responses to what she wrote.

1) So called "literature" is in not superior to so called "escapist fantasy" books. I'm not a big fan of "literary" writing myself; it turned me off of reading in high school, and I didn't start reading again for several years until I was introduced to Foundation by Asimov. There is nothing wrong with popular books. There is nothing wrong with escapist literature. They can be just as well structured and written as the greatest work of "literature".

2) If a story wants to switch genre midstream, I say let it; the whole concept of genre can be very limiting and hurt a story. I think back to the classic 80s cartoons I loved as a kid, and they crossed all kinds of genre lines, and I loved them for it. He-Man was an action/adventure show, but it also has science fiction elements (robots, gadgets, alternate dimensions), fantasy elements (magic, dragons), romantic elements (Teela & He-Man), dramatic elements (Teela discovering her real mother) and more. A writer shouldn't force a story into a certain genre; they should let the story be what it wants to be, and if it's hard to categorize, then it's hard to categorize.

3) There is a false notion that you should show not tell. The wonder of using words and being a good storyteller means you can show when it best conveys the meaning, and you can tell when it best conveys the meaning (the term is story tell-er, not story show-er). A writer should use the best tool available.

4) If you seem to be writing screenplays, then publish your stories as screenplays. That's the magic and wonder of eBooks--you don't have traditional restrictions. Or get really crazy and turn them into podcasts or audiobooks and sell them as such. eBooks are a cool new format, and there's nothing wrong with experimenting with new forms that don't have a chance of making it in paper.

The picture at the right is another cover someone hired me to create for their book. It was done with a brush-tipped marker and colored with chalk in Corel Painter X.

Digital Comics vs. Print Comics

2011-04-08T10:16:00.007-06:00

Recently I've read articles about the growth of digital comics and people wondering if they will replace print comics. While there has been growth, it has been very slow, much slower than music, movies, or even books. I've even written articles on it myself on Examiner.com. While I am a huge fan of eBooks and think they will replace the majority of books with print shrinking to more of a specialty gift market, I'm not sure the same will happen with digital comics for several reasons.

I think people like printed comics better than digital comics. I know I do. They look better printed on paper and are easier to read. Comics were meant to be large with the words and details of the art nearly impossible to see on a small screen or a computer screen. Print also has resell value and is more collectable. But there are a couple of serious problems with print.

1) They are getting too expensive to buy ($2.99 to $3.99 for 22 pages?). Digital Comics have the potential to be priced where people can afford them (99 cents).

2) Print comics just aren't that cool. In a world of special effect movies, video games, and cool new gadgets like the iPad, eBook Readers, and smart phones, the four-color goodness of comics just aren't competing. They look pretty tame in comparison.

3) Comics take up a lot of physical space, whereas digital comics don't. For a lot of people, space is a premium.

Honestly, I think cost along with low quality stories and art will kill print comics unless they do something different with the format to provide more value. Here are a few of my suggestions:

1) Double the length of comics. Twenty-two pages is honestly the wrong length for a good story. It's too long for a quick yarn, and way to short for a story with any real development.

2) Increase the size to magazine size. Big artwork is cool (check out the DC Absolute Editions or the Spawn Deluxe Collections), and comics need a new infusion of cool with all the competition they're facing from movies, video games, and gadgets. Also, the small artwork on smart phones, eReaders, and computer screens wouldn't have a chance to compete. I personally love this size and have a lot of comics in it.

3) Put them out bi-monthly. Having a new story every month I think takes too much of a toll on writers and artists. They put out subpar work as a result, and a lot of readers stop reading as a result.

4) Charge $4.95. This way you are getting your 22 pages of story for $2.50 which is the maximum amount anyone really wants to pay for a comic.

Most likely the comic industry won't take any of these suggestions or do anything differently. They'll just continue to milk their current fans without attracting many new fans and slowly go the way of the nickelodeon. Of course, that will open the door for new people to enter the market, so maybe it's not such a bad thing.

More Jak Phoenix Character Sketches

2011-03-31T21:04:00.005-06:00

So Matt asked me to sketch a few more characters. I was going to wait until I finished reading the novel, but after meeting Cartrite I had these images of characters in my head and wanted to get them on paper.

First is Cartrite. He's orchestrating the takeover of the entire galaxy by setting up a government that is destined to fail and then stepping in and saving the day. It's a rather brilliant yet insidious plot. What's scary is it could so easily happen in real life.

I based his costume on Stalin's uniform and the face is a composite of two white haired actors. I bought a new skinny brush that I used for the first time on this face to create more delicate lines for faces and hands while going for thick lines for the clothes and chair. It provides a nicer line weight contrast than I usually have.

The next character is Rusty. He's the proprietor of a space station where weary travelers can stop and repair their ships and themselves. In the story he gives Jak first class treatment, but Jak suspects there's something not entirely altruistic in his motives, and of course he's right; Rusty wants something--something big.

I based his look on a couple of different characters. I thought a medieval type garb would fit the innkeeper nature of the character. I pictured him as being short and round, but I wasn't sure about the hair. This version shows it well kept, but I did consider making him much older with out of control hair. I'm not sure which is better.

If you haven't had a chance to read Jak Phoenix and you enjoy old fashioned space operas, do yourself a favor and pick it up. The story is great! The characters are more memorable than the typical space opera character. The adventure is interesting and varied. The only criticism I have is the writing: it's not as efficient as it could be, some parts a little overwritten, and a few awkward phraseologies pop up here and there, but not enough to get in the way of enjoying the story.

Cover Art

2011-03-14T21:18:00.007-06:00

Have you ever been told not to judge a book by its cover? And have you put that to the test and realized it was absolute nonsense? Of course you should judge a book by its cover. That's why it has one!

Which brings me to the topic at hand. This was my first attempt at a cover for an inspirational book. It was rejected. Why? The client loved the colors and the figures, but it did not represent the content of the book. So I ended up doing something completely different that the client absolutely loved, and will probably attract the type of customer who will buy and enjoy her book.

This was done with my dollar brush, sumi ink, then scanned into my iMac and digitally colored in Corel Painter X. The background is a composite of three photos and the rock their standing on is from the Australian Outback. I really like putting cartoon figures with a realistic coloring against a photographic background that's been digitally tweaked to look painted.

The Writing Process

2011-03-08T08:53:00.008-07:00

I love DVDs. While I love the main feature (the movie), my favorite part is the behind-the-scenes feature. I love learning how and why a movie was made. The same goes for books. I love learning about the process that went on from conception to publication and all the steps and changes that happened along. So in that spirit, I thought I’d share my own writing process for those who are curious about where my stories come from.

Step 1: The Idea

I don’t sit down and say to myself, “Self, you must come up with an idea for a story.” Instead I go about my day working on websites and other work. During the normal course of a day, something will spark, and I write that spark down. I have over a dozen pages of story ideas. I look over these ideas from time to time and explore them in my mind. I’ll write down additional ideas, images, actions, themes, characters, possible titles, etc. that I think of with these, devoting a page to each major idea.

Step 2: The Basic Story

Once I've filled a page with enough raw material, I'll identify the most interesting threads and organize the other ideas around it. I'll create a loose plot so I have some notion of where the story may begin, where it may travel, and where it may end.

Step 3: Plot and Dialogue

Once a story emerges, I’ll write a very tight plot and dialogue. The format is similar to a movie script with the major actions spelled out, a lot of the dialogue written, and the major emotions or thoughts identified. This plot usually ends up getting restarted, rewritten, and resorted several times before it is finished. I think of it as the skeleton of the story. It tells me basically how long the work will be (so I know if it is a short story, a novel, a comic book, etc.) I also know who the characters are, what they will do, what their motivation is, what changes they will go thru, what the major conflicts are, and have a very tight story.

Step 4: First Draft

After all this work I’ll begin a handwritten first draft. This stage goes pretty quickly since the story is basically written, the conflicts worked out, and the characters well defined. I still make a lot of changes at this stage, but knowing the overall story in pretty good detail helps me keep everything consistent with revelations and discoveries happening at the right moments.

Step 5: Second Draft

Once the first draft is written, I begin the second draft which is when I type the story into the computer. Again I make a lot of changes as I go being both writer and editor. I mainly refine the story itself expanding undeveloped scenes and cut boring or unnecessary scenes.

Step 6: Refinement

Revision and refinement is mostly to work on the wording and clarify any writing, but I have been known to add a couple of chapters as this stage if the message wasn’t complete. I’ll usually make three passes correcting mistakes and working on wording. I have no interest in impressing readers with my extensive vocabulary or complex sentence structure. I try to make the writing as clear and efficient as possible without getting dry. I want the writing to be so smooth it just disappears leaving the reader with unfettered access to the story.

Step 7: Publish!

Finally I illustrate and publish. And wallah — a new story is born!

Character Sketches: More from the Jak Phoenix Universe

2011-02-24T18:14:00.006-07:00

So Matt, the creater of Jak Phoenix, liked the drawings I did so much, he wanted more. And I was glad to draw more. I've been interested in this kind of space opera style scifi for a while and have wanted to do something in this style, but I never had a good reason for it. Until now.

The characters were again drawn with a brush dipped in Sumi ink on Strathmore Drawing Paper (the yellow cover), then scanned into my iMac on a Canoscan printer, and digitally colored in Corel Painter X. I really liked the end result. This may be the process I use for all my art for a while.

Let me know what you think.

Character Sketch: Space Opera

2011-02-18T19:34:00.004-07:00

It's been a while since I've put up a character sketch, so I thought I'd put one up. This one was commissioned by Matt Williams, the author of Jak Phoenix, a fun space opera available from Smashwords.com and other fine retailers. Matt has even released a short story that is currently free so you can check out his universe.

I tried something a little different for this one. I used my usual brush and Sumi ink, but instead of drawing it in my sketchbook, I used Strathmore 70lb Drawing Paper which gave me a cleaner line than the sketch paper. I like a textured line, but the one I've been getting was a little too rough. This one was much cleaner while still having some character. I had a few sheets left over from drawing One Thing Right by Colin Shanafelt, a children's storybook which should be released in the next couple of months. I colored these sketches (and One Thing Right) with Corel Painter X on my iMac. I'm really happy with how it turned out.

I'm not sure if Matt is though.

We'll see.

Book Reviews

2011-01-31T12:52:00.009-07:00

It's always nice to hear what anyone thinks of your work--whether it be good or bad--as long as it is sincere and intelligent. This week my first novel The Scientific Method (a Wandering Koala tale) received another positive review from someone that does this a lot. You can read the review here: http://sfbook.com/the-scientific-method.htm He makes a lot of good points including "The story itself is intelligently laid out, managing to avoid the pitfall of appearing patronizing and dumbing down which so often plagues the YA market." and "the fact that the book managed to grab my attention until the end does go towards showing the quality of the prose."

This is in stark contrast to the reviews my work receives at Barnes & Noble that consist of either one word reviews "Weird" or "Geek meets user" or short sentences that make me wonder if the reader is mentally sound such as one person complaining that my short story was only 27 pages long. It's a short story--27 pages is perfectly normal. Are you? (I wish I could respond to such odd criticisms in person, but I'm pretty sure it wouldn't do any good. They honestly don't care.)

I use to keep my work to myself and not share for fear of what others may say, but after a couple years of art school at Ricks College and working as a professional writer and designer for 8 years, other people's opinions don't bother me so much. I'm actually much more interested in their response and honest views of my work. It's helped me do a better job communicating, and that's the point of words and pictures anyway.

The Conclusion!

2011-01-24T12:57:00.005-07:00

Part 3 of Wandering Koala meets the Beast who came for Christmas is finally available! Here is the cover with a gorgeous image of Alpine Fall's local church.

As with the rest of the series, the backgrounds are a combination of Google SketchUp 7 and Corel Painter X and the characters are all drawn and colored in Corel Painter X.

My next project is something I've been wanting to do for years, and have tried, but this time I think I've finally figured it out. Check back often to learn more!

Christmas Card 2010 - Rest, You Merry Gentlemen!

2010-12-17T20:11:00.006-07:00

Each year I pick a Christmas Carol and write a poem inspired by the title expressing something I'm feeling that year. This year I picked God Rest Ye Merry, Gentlemen, because I was feeling overwhelmed by how much I had to get done for Christmas, and I thought that wasn't what Christmas should be. When I was little, Christmas was the greatest time of the year, and I don't remember ever feeling rushed or overscheduled. I also discovered that the carol was originally called God Rest You Merry, Gentlemen and was changed from You to Ye to make it sound more old fashioned. Who would have thunk?

I also create an original illustration that goes with the poem. This years came from several places. I wanted to show a family around the fire on Christmas Night relaxing together with the kids playing together. I also used the Nursing Home background from my Wandering Koala meets the Beast who came for Christmas comic book miniseries. The window was inspired by an old Batman comic by Bob Kane. The illustration is 100% digital, yet it looks hand drawn which I really like.

Every year I also send out Christmas Cards. I use to mail them, but now I almost exclusively email them and share it on Facebook. And every year fewer and fewer people respond. I'm not sure if they don't like it, if after several years it isn't special anymore, or if the world in general is just getting more and more selfish. I use to get ten email thank yous or so. This year I got two. What a world we live in.

This is one of my favorite Christmas Cards I've ever made. I hope you like it!

Wandering Koala meets the Beast who came for Christmas

2010-11-23T13:00:00.003-07:00

The latest chapter in the Wandering Koala saga is now available!

Part One of Wandering Koala meets the Beast who came for Christmas is FREE for a limited time. Download your copy today!

www.WanderingKoala.com/comic0006.php

A new comic in time for Christmas

2010-11-18T17:03:00.004-07:00

I've been wanting to do a comic completely on the computer for quite a while, but I didn't know how. I've been experimenting with various techniques and settings for quite a while trying to get it just right.

My last venture, Wandering Koala rides The Phantom Coach, was an experiment doing it all in Painter and Google SketchUp that turned out well. But it was very stylized and abstract, and I wanted a more hand drawn, painterly feel. So I decided to do a Christmas story in this style and am quite pleased with the results.

Above are the first four pages. The comic will be in three parts, the first part being offered for free in about a week or two. The next two parts should be done around Christmas. Let me know what you think.

Comic books designed for small screens - eReaders and smart phones

2010-10-28T09:59:00.003-06:00

I've always loved comics, but the cost of printing, distribution, advertising, and senior management benefit packages make them unviable in today's marketplace. Most comics are between $2.99 to $3.99 for a mere 22 pages. Who is going to pay that other than the comic book addicts? There's no room for the marketplace to grow--at least not in print.

But the eBook movement and the move to smartphones opens up a whole new market and new opportunities. There are no printing costs and minimal distribution costs. Plus, a cartoonist doesn't need a big company to publish anymore, so the senior management benefit packages don't have to take their chunk out. Many people have tried to do digital comics, but none have succeeded very well because of three problems: 1) Pricing, 2) Formatting, and 3) New Content. So I designed a new comic to meet these concerns.

Most digital comics cost either $0.99 (which isn't enough to make them profitable) or $1.99 (which is too much for 1's and 0's with no resell value). To overcome this, I've priced my comic at $1.50, which allows me to make a profit but doesn't soak potential customers.

Most digital comics take existing print comics and chop them up into pieces so you lose everything achieved from panel layout. I've designed my comic to be easily read on a smart phone, eReader, or a computer screen. Yet the comic still has the resolution and detail to look good in print for when I'm ready to do that.

Finally, almost all digital comics are reprints of old comics, not the new comics that come out every Wednesday. So I made mine all new material.

My new comic is called Wandering Koala(TM) rides The Phantom Coach. It's in two parts and a trade paperback, all of which are now available from Amazon.com and Smashwords.com for almost all eBook capable devices, and I drew it almost entirely on the computer with Corel Painter X and Google SketchUp 7.

Cully Koala Daily Online Comics

2010-10-25T19:33:00.006-06:00

I've loved comics since I was a little boy. I was first introduced to them thru animated cartoons. Snoopy and Garfield are still two of my favorite. Then in Jr. High I discovered Calvin & Hobbes and was re-inspired.

I've been drawing comics since the summer of 6th Grade. I wanted to do it for a living, and at the end of my second year of college started sending my strip off to syndicates and newspapers. One syndicate picked it up, but did a terrible job of promoting it. And my interests shifted to less limiting forms of storytelling. But I had all these great comics that the world at large wasn't enjoying.

Newspapers are dying and with them is the traditional route for making a living with comic strips. So I decided to try something different. I've created a website to promote the strip with five free comics each day, a link to a store with Cully Koala branded swag, and the ability to add the comic to your site. (If you haven't already added it, go there now and do it!)

I wasn't sure what to make the site look like. Other comic strip sites have been very unimpressive, so I thought to make it look like the comics section of a paper. I wanted lots of colors and lots of fun, and I think it turned out that way.

But don't take my word for it.

CullyKoala.com

The Phantom Coach is now on sale!

2010-10-08T21:58:00.005-06:00

Has anyone ever told you to stay out of an argument because it doesn’t involve you? Do private disputes really stay private, or do they have a larger effect on the world around them? What if a domestic disturbance caused a ghostly disturbance? Mike and Angie are just another couple on just another Friday Night date having just another argument. But this time it won’t stay between them.

My latest comic, Wandering Koala(TM) rides The Phantom Coach is now on sale! (At least part one is.) Like I said in my last post, this is the third time I've tried tackling this story, and I think the third time was the charm. I softened the harsh industrial style by adding texture and gradients, and I think it turned out really well. I'm also stoked about all the cool ghosts I've added, although most of them don't survive the next three pages. Oh, well, they're ghosts, it's not like you can kill them; they'll be back.

This comic is available in all eBook formats and will soon be available in most eBook stores including the Amazon Kindle store, the Barnes & Noble Nook store, Apple's iBookstore, Kobo (formerly shortcovers), Diesel eBooks, the Sony eReader store, and of course Smashwords, the largest publisher of independent authors.

Purchase your copy today for the incredibly low price of $1.50. (That's right, I said $1.50!!) In a world where print comics cost $3.99, and electronic versions of old comics are $1.99, this is a steal!

http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/26287

The Phantom Coach

2010-09-30T18:23:00.006-06:00

So I've begun a new comic. But it's not really that new. This is the third time I've tried writing/drawing this story, but I think this time it will work.

The story was inspired by two things. First, an old victorian ghost story called The Phantom Coach, which I found in a Dover dollar edition of short stories and absolutely loved. The second is a night I rode the bus in Alegrette, Brazil with a couple of friends. There was such energy that I knew I had to write a story about it sometime.

For this time I decided to try a style I've always loved but never been brave enough to do. Also, I decided to do the whole thing in the computer including the line work. This presented a few interesting challenges. I had completed several pages, but they looked so stark and lifeless, so I went back and added textures and a few gradient tricks which really helped warm them up. It's taken a long time to find the write settings in Corel Painter to create the line I was looking for. And the buildings and bus were constructed in Google Sketch Up. It took me a while to refine the models enough for the comic. They still look too computer generated, but for this stark style I think it's OK. For the next comic, though, I'll have to do better. And the font is a free font called Anime Ace I found on 1001Fonts.com.

On this particular page you'll notice the bus is distorted as well as the city itself. And I've added a cartoony sound effect. I've noticed a trend in comics to look more photographic and less like comics, but really, it's a comic book--it should look like a comic book, just like a Watercolor should look like a Watercolor and an Oil Painting should look like an Oil Painting.

I'm trying to get the whole story finished and published before Halloween, but it is taking longer than I thought it would. Keep your fingers crossed!

Evolution of a Cover

2010-08-20T16:51:00.006-06:00

If you've been reading my blog, then you know I've just published a new short story called Sign of the 5th Dimension. (Take a peek below at the description.) I had a cover for it when I published it, but I wasn't happy with it. Unfortunately I was in the middle of illustrating a children's storybook, so I didn't really have the time or energy for my own stuff. But now I'm almost done with the book, and I have time for a few projects of my own, so I decided to redo the cover.

I thought it would be fun to show the steps and stages my illustrations go thru. First I sit and ponder the image until something comes to me. Then I create a quick thumbnail in my tablet with a pen (it looks like scribbles to anyone else). Second, I pencil the image. Then I ink it (see the first image). After it dries and I've erased the pencil lines, I scan it into my iMac. I color it in Corel Painter X with flat colors to get them right (see the second image). Finally I do cool painterly effects and have a finished image (see the third image). You'll notice the sky changed color. I was placing the text on the image when I said to myself, "Self, this isn't dramatic or science fictiony enough; no one is going to buy your short story." So I made the sky a purple to orange gradient and wallah!

What do you think? Do you like it better than the original?

Sign of the 5th Dimension

2010-08-07T13:08:00.005-06:00

I love science. I always have. I guess that's why I write science fiction and include a bit of real science in each story.

The cover to the left is my latest short story. It was inspired by a Japanese Anime called Paprika. During the opening credits you see her move through posters, crosswalks, signs, etc. seamlessly, and I thought that would work well in a series of ghost stories I was writing (which later became Wandering Koala tales). It took my a while to come up with a story to put with that image, and one night a twisted romance came to mind, so that's what I used at the plot vehicle.

This isn't my favorite story, but I do like the science in it. Currently, scientists seem to be excited about string theory and 10 dimensions. There was even an article about "proof" of a multi-universe in National Geographic. Personally, I think its more spontaneous generation and sun revolving around the earth type science. I think the ideas of a fifth dimension from a century ago are more correct, and I think scientists in the next hundred years will realize that. Maybe the Large Hadron Collider at CERN will lead to it. Maybe another Einstein will pop up and figure out the Unified Field Theory with it. Or maybe some brilliant, young science fiction writer will point the "professionals" in the right direction. We'll see.

Sign of the 5th Dimension is on sale at Smashwords, Amazon.com, and soon at Barnes & Nobel, Sony eReader store, Apple iBooks, Kobo (formerly Shortcovers), and Diesel, in mulitple ebook formats.

http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/20793

An Old Seafood Joint

2010-08-03T17:28:00.004-06:00

So it's been awhile since I last posted. What have I been up to? you are probably asking yourself. I've been commissioned to illustrate a children's book for a guy in Texas. He liked my "Robots" (it's one of my favorites too), and he wanted his book illustrated in that style which I was only too glad to do. I've passed the thirdway mark and am moving towards the halfway point.

This is a two-page spread from it. I used a Pigma Brush and Painter X (plus a Stanford Pencil and a Sakura eraser). I'm really pleased with how the book is turning out. It's definitely some of my best work. What do you think?

Issue 2 is Now On Sale!

2010-06-23T22:23:00.006-06:00

A few years ago I began developing Wandering Koala as an ongoing series, then a mini-series. After I finished the first issue, I sent it to a couple of publishers who never got back to me. I had just bought myself a Kindle at the time, and I was loving it. I knew there was a way for anyone to publish a book to the Kindle, so I said to myself, "Self, why not publish your comic on the Kindle?" So I did.

My original plan was to publish one issue per month. Well, the first issue did not take off to stellar sales, and while working on the second issue, I realized the story I was telling would work better as a novel, so I turned it into a novel. I was only going to publish it electronically, but it turned out so well, I spent the money to put it into print. After that I started a series of illustrated short stories and a couple of other comic projects.

I didn't really do anything to promote the single issue of Wandering Koala vs. The Scientific Method, and I had even thought of removing it, but it kept selling, and has actually sold better than anything else I've published. So I decided to do a second issue. I wasn't very happy with how my first attempt had been going, so I decided to start from scratch. I did reuse a few panels from my first attempt, but with some serious rearrangement. I also decided to use a digest comic format, because I loved my old Richie Rich and Archie Digests I use to buy in the early 90s.

This is the first comic that I've created that actually looked like what I thought my comic would. I was so happy with the results. Of course I recognize there is room for improvement, but so many of the questions and struggles I've been having have been worked out. I can't wait to start on the next two issue story, after I finish a couple of short stories I'm nearly finished with.

The wonderful thing about publishing with Amazon Kindle is the publication is available on the Kindle, the PC, the Mac, the iPhone, the big iPhone (aka the iPad), and the iPod Touch. Android is coming soon!

You can check out a few sample pages at http://www.wanderingkoala.com/comic0001.php.

You can purchase a copy of the comic for yourself at http://www.amazon.com/Wandering-Koala-Scientific-Method-ebook/dp/B003S3S2TC/

At $1.50, it's a steal!

Paint & Photo

2010-06-07T17:29:00.006-06:00

I like to mix photographs in with my cartoons. I have a huge library from various trips, and there are a lot of public domain images available online. I usually do some digital altering of them so they mesh well with my drawings. For example, on these three comic book pages, I used photos of the sky and space as wall paper and blurred them so they looked like prints on canvas. I think the effect was very nice, and it adds a lot of character to the images. What do you think?

These are three fully colored pages from the second issue of Wandering Koala vs. The Scientific Method. I should be finished with it in a week or so, and then I'll publish it. This is the first comic book I've done that I've really felt looked like I wanted it to; that looked like a comic book by me. I may even do more if this one sells well.

Wandering Koala vs. The Scientific Method Part 2 (in progress)

2010-05-26T19:52:00.011-06:00

A couple of years ago or so I was working on a comic book proposal that just wasn't working. I kept trying and trying, but it wasn't getting any better. Then I remembered an idea that had been swirling around in my mind for years, and I decided to work on it. I had also been watching old Felix the Cat cartoons from the 20s (black & white and silent--they were brilliant!)

So I created a first issue, but wasn't happy with it. Then I tried starting a different story arc. I didn't even finish that issue before I realized it wasn't working. So I gave it a third try, and this time something great was happening.

I wrote and drew the first issue and sent it off to two publishers for considerations. One rejected it; the other didn't even bother replying (thanks, Dark Horse). I had just purchased a Kindle for myself and was loving it, so I decided to publish it there. I also planned to publish it on the iPhone, but that was too involved for the time.

While working on the second issue, I realized the story would work better as a novel. I had been reading a lot of great books and short stories on my Kindle which had re-kindled (pun intended) my love of reading. I had also always wanted to write and publish a novel. And I wanted a novel that was like Hardy Boy books with pictures and adventure, but written for adults and worthy of being a classic. So I decided to do it. It's called The Scientific Method (a Wandering Koala tale).

Since publishing it, I've written two and a half new short stories and published two of them. I left the first issue of the four issue mini-series up for sale, and it kept selling. So I said to myself, "Self, you should write a second issue--it's by far the most visual and works better as a comic book than a novel."

I've always wondered what a comic book by me would look like, and all my past attempts have been disappointing. This time I analyzed some of my favorite comics and what excited me about them. I also thought back to some of the best experiences I've had with comics, and some of my fondest memories. That's when I realized I loved mini-comics. Mini-comics also fit nicely on the Kindle (as another attempt Euphony in E showed). So I decided to create a mini-comic.

So I'm 13 pages into the second issue, and I'm really happy with the result. It finally looks like a comic I'm proud to sign my name to--a comic I can walk up to someone with and proudly say look what I did!

Above are three pages I was especially happy with. They still need to be colored and lettered, but I thought I'd share the black & white artwork. I'm tempted to leave the issue black & white, because I love black & white artwork so much. What do you think?

The Muses Are NOT Amused

2010-05-15T20:29:00.006-06:00

In college I was an English minor. One of the classes I took for it was a creative writing class in which we wrote an essay and a short story. The teacher used a method developed by Nyberg. You start with a turning point, then write about the scene, then turn it from first person to third person, and create a fictional story from it. I wrote a story and thought it was the greatest thing in the world. Then the file went missing.

A few years later, I found it. It wasn't as good as I remembered. So I reworked it and added a fantasy-horror element to it. It's currently on sale as Smashwords in every eBook format for FREE. (I'll probably start charging money for it in a couple of weeks.)

The cover took me quite a while to come up with. I've been wanting to combine brushwork characters with Photoshop created objects and a photograph background. I like it, but I'm not sure if this is the direction I want to go.

What do you think?

Character Sketch: The Native

2010-04-26T21:41:00.005-06:00

So I drew this picture for a friend last Christmas and meant to create a colored version, but I could never get the colors to work.

Until now.

I drew it with a crow quill pen and colored it in Painter X. I call it "The Native" because it is a picture of my friend and that's what he always called himself (at least when he was being humble).

Character Sketch: Summertime Lady in the Park

2010-04-23T10:51:00.006-06:00

My original plan was to turn this into an art deco type decoration, but I was coloring it in Corel Painter X and looking thru my iPhoto library and found this picture of a park in Savannah, GA that fit the sketch perfectly.

I love to mix my cartoons with photos. It creates a really unique effect. And my iPhoto library is big enough that I have a nice selection of pictures. From now on I'll have to take more scenery type pictures of places I go.

I still plan to do an art deco version. Be sure to check back for it.

Character Sketch: Summertime Lady

2010-04-22T18:35:00.004-06:00

So it's been a while since I last posted. That's the thing about work--it takes up all your free time! But seriously, it is good to be busy working and earning money in the current state of the economy.

This is another in my series of character sketches. I used a $1 brush from Porter's in Idaho Falls and sumi ink from Udrecht's in Tempe, AZ. It's based on a photo of an ice sculptress that I'm creating an animation for. I was going thru files on my computer looking to delete anything old and unnecessary, and I found this photo. I thought the pose was really nice and would work as an art deco-styled illustration, so I added the fancy dress and large hat. (She was just wearing a t-shirt and shorts in the photo.) I'm going to add color and a cool background, but I thought I'd let you see the linework, because it did turn out really nice. Check back in a day or two for the full color version!

Where have all the Short Stories gone?

2010-03-23T12:18:00.004-06:00

Normally I post artwork and discuss it on this site, but this post is about something that has been bothering me for a long time. The picture has nothing to do with the post other than it is from a comic I published on the Kindle called Euphony in E.

I bought a Kindle a year ago, and one of the many things I loved best about it was the selection of short stories I could download for $.59, $.79, or $1.50; stories that were printed in a magazine years ago and haven't been seen since. Stories that I wouldn't even have known about let alone read otherwise. Stories by Charles Sheffield, Kevin J. Anderson, and L. Sprague De Camp that are as good as it gets. And download I did.

The other day I was browsing the Kindle store to see if any new gems had been added, and to my shock and horror, all these great stories that I read and loved were gone! How can an eBook go out of print? Ok, I know they didn't go out of print, but Fictionwise's contract with Amazon must have expired. Still, I was upset.

I love digital content, but this is an excellent example of the biggest problem with it: licensing and availability. The rights-holder decides to yank it, and the story is gone. This happens with music and movies as well. A physical book isn't so easy to yank, and they can and do show up on eBay and used bookstores. Digital content with DRM makes reselling and redistributing very difficult. (I'm familiar with pirate sites, but those don't help build a market, so I avoid them.)

It's a shame that in a world where we now have the ability for a store to carry EVERY title every written at a near zero cost and never have to worry about going out of print, stories and books aren't more available and more plentiful than they were and are under the current system.

Character Sketch: Cowboy

2010-02-22T18:45:00.006-07:00

A month ago I mentioned wanting to do a series of Character Sketches to help me develop a style. If you read the four posts after that you'll notice I didn't post anymore after the fireman. I was going to, but I had been commissioned to create a set of icons, then I finished my short story The Hook (a Wandering Koala tale) and needed to illustrate it. Well, the story is illustrated and published (go buy a copy on Smashwords.com or Amazon.com) and the icons are almost finished. So here is another character sketch.

The fireman sketch was inspired by a magazine sized comic book called Heroes by Marvel Comics. It focused on 9-11 and showed a lot of firemen. This one is a cowboy inspired by the graphic album Tintin in America.

I had never heard about Tintin until recently when a comic book blog talked about the new movie Spielberg and some other famous director are making. It was the writer's favorite comic. Then a month later I made some comments on another artist's work, and he emailed me back saying "thanks" and mentioned Tintin as one of his major influences. Well, I said to myself, "Self, you should check into this Tintin character." So I Wikipediaed him. I discovered there were two dozen graphic albums of adventures, the first two being black & white.

So I went to Amazon.com and ordered the first three, Tintin in the Land of the Soviets, Tintin in the Congo, and Tintin in America. Then I emailed the fellow artist back and asked for a recommendation.

I finished Tintin in the Land of the Soviets and really enjoyed it, and am a little over halfway thru Tintin in America. Part of the story involves Tintin dressing up like a cowboy and getting captured by indians. I kind of like cowboys & indians, so I decided to do my next sketch of a cowboy.

This one is different than the first, because it was done completely in Painter. (The fireman I drew with a pencil and inked with a Brush Pen.) I've been wanting to get more into digital art for a while, and Corel Painter plus and Intuos2 tablet work well. I'm happy with how it turned out, and how quickly I was able to finish it. The background is a photograph of the Australian outback, which I thought looked western enough.

So, what do you think?

Illustrated Stories

2010-02-19T16:50:00.006-07:00

I've always loved the format of children's storybooks, where they have a picture on one page and the words on the adjoining page telling the story. I've never understood why nobody creates books like that for adults. Comic books and graphic novels are close, but I think something that was written so you only needed the words or only need the pictures for the story would be stronger. (Greg Rucka did create a miniseries released thru comic book stores called Elektra & Wolverine: The Redeemer in this format, and I thought it was brilliant. I used it as a model as well as a book by Jim David called Garfield: Babes & Bullets.)

So I decided to create that. My first story is called The Hook (a Wandering Koala tale). It's about 23 pages of story (small type) and 24 new illustrations with a full color cover. I'm really proud of it. It's a story I've been working on for a long time, and I even have an almost finished comic book version of it. A few panels of the comic made it into the story. Can you guess which ones they were?

Right now I've only published it electronically thru the Amazon Kindle Store and SmashWords (which supplies Barnes & Nobel and the Sony eReader store) so you can find it in any format, including a text file or web page. It's only $1.29, which is a steal. I'm hoping to write a whole slew of short stories. Once I have a dozen or so (or maybe a half dozen) I'll collect them into a paperback.

Digital Art

2010-02-12T20:55:00.005-07:00

I've always been a traditionalist, mainly because digital art rarely turns out as well as the traditional stuff. I offer two reasons for this.

First, the technology takes a long time to catch up. Digital is pretty new. The computational power to actually create art has only existed for about 20 years. Traditional art has had thousands of years.

Second, the people that do digital art are usually technology enthusiasts or fairly unskilled artists; the skilled ones are too busy learning the traditional method to do the digital stuff. Just look at all the junk that's been thrown up (pun intended) on the Internet with Flash.

These two factors are why I am a critic of digital art and an opponent of 3D computer generated stuff like Pixar or Dreamworks. I've always said that if you got a great sculptor to create art with a 3D program you would come up with something pretty amazing.

I recently purchased a program called Brushes for the iPhone that is a pretty cool painting program. The artwork you can create with it is really nice--it has a certain Jack Vettriano feel to it. Programs like it and Corel Painter make me feel a lot more favorably towards digital art.

Here is a video of me creating my first painting with Brushes. Enjoy!

Black & White vs. Color

2010-02-03T16:59:00.006-07:00

I post a lot of work on a site called ArtWanted.com. People can look at my work, rate it, comment on it, or buy it. Most of my work is black and white linework that I scan and digitally color. Sometimes I'll post both the black and white version and the colored version. I always find it interesting how much more popular the colored version is. I always get more views and more comments.

I personally love black and white. When I was little I had a Richie Rich book that was black and white, but that didn't stop me from enjoying it; they were some of my favorite comics. When I was in college, I picked up my first black & white Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle comic: Michaelangelo's Chrismas. It was black and white and I couldn't put it down. I immediately started doing everything in black and white and loved it. I started collecting as many back issues as I could. When I got to the colored series, I was very disappointed in the color and felt it detracted. I was glad when they went back to black and white.

But it seems we live in a world where people expect everything to be full color, HD, 5.1 surround sound, on a 72" screen. Is it because all of that adds to the content, or are people just spoiled. If it adds, I'm all for it. But if people are just spoiled, then there is a problem. Sometimes I feel that art is like over seasoned food--there is so much pizzazz that it hides the real beauty or essence. Black & White, I feel, really allows the essence of a work to come out. Also, it's more flexible in reproduction: black and white illustrations work in many more book formats and ebooks, something I'm currently pursuing.

I'm posting two versions of a Christmas card I sent out years ago. When I finished with the black and white linework, I was truly taken back in amazement: it was the greatest thing I had ever created. Then I added color and was again taken aback. Years later I was going thru some old artwork, and I stumbled on the black & white version and was again impressed beyond words. I'm posting them both for you to see and judge for yourself.

Do you like Black & White Art, or does everything have to be in color?

Illustrated Stories

2010-01-27T21:55:00.004-07:00

When I was young, I loved illustrated storybooks. I think most people did. You could just read it without the pictures, or just follow the pictures to get the story. Or you could read it with both and have the story fuller, because they compliment each other.

As I got older, I noticed books had fewer and fewer pictures. I always wondered why no one created illustrated novels for adults. Graphic novels are close, but I think we can do better. I love great stories and great art--why not combine them? We do in movies. I have found one example, the three part mini-series Elektra/Wolverine: The Redeemer by Greg Rucka, and it was excellent. Unfortunately, it never caught on.

I also planned on creating an illustrated novel/story someday. Well, that day has arrive. I've written the story, and now I am preparing the illustrations. Here is the first one as a sneak peek for you all. Let me know what you think. I'm planning on black & white interiors, because 1) I love black & white art and 2) they reproduce well on paper and as an ebook.

I'm planning on publishing this story as an ebook at first. Once I have several illustrated short stories (I'm trying to come up with a good name for it--let me know if you have any ideas) I'll publish them as a paperback like I have my novel, The Scientific Method (a Wandering Koala tale). This short story is part of that series.

Character Sketch: Fireman

2010-01-14T15:50:00.004-07:00

I think the hardest thing for an artist to do is create a unique style that they like and that their audience likes. I've been struggling with this for years. So as a step forward, I decided to do a series of character sketches. The first one is a Fireman. I was going to call it a fire fighter and actually show a boxer made of fire with boxing gloves and shorts, and I drew a version like that, but it was too silly, even for me. So I went with this version instead. I used a Pigma Brush Pen to do the black and white drawing, then colored it in Corel Painter X. I wasn't crazy about the black and white brush penned version, but I was ecstatic with the finished painting.

I don't think I've found my style yet, but this series should help me take one step closer. Or not.

What do you thing?

Christmas Cards

2009-12-13T18:34:00.006-07:00

Every year I make a Christmas card and send it to friends, family, and co-workers. I always create an original illustration and an original poem. I usually pic a Christmas Carol as the them.

This year I was listening to David Archuleta's version of Pat-a-Pan and really liked the "So be merry as you play" line. I used that as the theme.

I drew the card with a Stadler Pencil, inked it with my croquil pen and sumi ink, then colored it in Painter X. I was really happy with the results.

Something I find interesting is how few people say thank you for a Christmas card. I emailed out over four dozen cards and only heard back from 7 people. Is it because I emailed the card people don't value it and don't feel the need to say thank you, or has the world just lost their manners. Or maybe people just didn't like the card and don't want to say anything about it. They all make sense.

Cowboys and Indians

2009-12-09T12:43:00.002-07:00

So a friend of mine asked me to create an illustration of him as a Navajo Warrior (he is Navajo so it's fitting). And this is the result. I was really happy with how it turned out.

The figure itself is done with a croquil pen & ink. The background was added digitally. I'm planning to digitally paint it, so be looking for that.

The Scientific Method

2009-11-04T09:57:00.004-07:00

This summer I published my first novel, The Scientific Method (a Wandering Koala tale). It is currently available in Paperback from Amazon.com, and electronically for the Kindle, Barnes & Noble eReader, and soon will be available for the Sony eReader.

It's a science fiction novel written at a Jr. High level, because that's when I loved reading the most. The Wandering Koala is this mysterious traveler that wanders from city to city helping those in need. When he was young, a terrible tragedy left him mute, but that hasn't stopped him from speaking up for what's right.

In this particular adventure, an amateur scientist has made the greatest scientific discovery ever, and the scientific community is embarrassed and threatened that it will cost them all their prestige and their jobs, so they come together to suppress the knowledge. Science isn't immune to the corruption of greed or politics after all.

If you are looking for a great book, I highly recommend you pick this one up.

2-D Animation

2009-08-10T10:54:00.005-06:00

I've always loved 2-D Animation, and I've always wanted to produce my own, but the equipment and materials were way too expensive for an enthusiast to get into before the digital age. Then Apple released iMovie, and I was able to create my first animation. It turned out pretty cool, but it was a lot of work, took a lot of time, and there was so little movement.

I knew how I wanted to animate; I just needed a program that would let me. I found several that came close, but not close enough.

Then I found Anime Studio Pro. It did almost everything I wanted it to, so I bought it a year ago, but didn't have time to do much with it. Then I was asked to create an animated intro for an ice sculptress in California. This was the perfect chance to try out my new software.

It took longer than I thought, and the program had a few quirks I had to get use to, but overall it performed admirably. The render was beautiful. The special effects worked well. I used Norkross Movie maker to add the sound and sound effects and wallah!

I was very pleased with the final results. I hope you are too.

Book Illustrations

2009-06-14T19:29:00.005-06:00

When I was in Fourth Grade, I was introduced to the Hardy Boys. I read the Viking Symbol Mystery, and really enjoyed it being a Viking myself. Well, I eventually read all the Hardy Boy books in that original series. Later I learned the books had all been rewritten, so I hadn't actually read the "original" stories (except for one I found at my Grandpa's--at the time I couldn't figure out why it was completely different from the book of the same title I had read earlier).

There were so many things I loved about those books--great characters, exciting adventures, knowledge of things I'd never heard of before. But it was the artwork I was especially drawn to (pun intended). The covers each had a beautiful painting, and inside were several black and white pen drawings with a caption. Years later I would find a facsimile copy of The Adventures of Superman written by George Lowther with a painted cover, several black and white pen drawings, and four color plates by Joe Shuster. I loved that format. (Years later I found some reprints of old pulp novels--The Shadow and Doc Savage--that also had the painted covers and interior illustrations.) Again, I loved the format. This is the way a fiction book should be.

So when it came time to write my own book, that's the format I went with. Here is an illustration from that book done in the same style as the Hardy boys, The Adventures of Superman, and The Shadow.

The Amazon Kindle

2009-03-23T12:01:00.006-06:00

The day Amazon announced their new Kindle, the Kindle 2, I pre-ordered mine. It is a wonderful device! It is so easy to read. It is so easy to preview and buy books via the cellular phone network. It is so easy to load your own books onto that you can download free from the Internet. And the battery life is really good. I didn't know how it could get any better.

Then, just before my Kindle arrived, Amazon released a free Kindle application for the iPhone that lets you read your books you've already purchased from the Kindle store AND sync your reading progress with your Kindle. Plus, you can view the books in color. How could it get any better?

Then I discovered how easy it was to self publish your own book. So I decided to publish my own. I created a comic book and have been trying to get it published. So I said to myself, "Self, why not publish your comic book via the Kindle Store." Well, being as disposed to taking a wise man's advice as I am, I decided to do just that. You can see the cover, and issue one is currently on sale. Anyone with a Kindle, iPhone, or iPod Touch can purchase and enjoy it. Just search for Wandering Koala on Amazon.com.

Watercolor Pencils

2009-02-07T15:40:00.011-07:00

I discovered watercolor pencils sometime in high school. I started using them exclusively along with a crowquill pen and Koor-I-Nor ink.

What I love about them is how versatile they are and how beautiful the color is. Being in a pencil form, you Koor can use them like a colored pencil, then brush a little water over them for some cool effects. Or you can scribble on a separate piece of paper mixing the colors you want in the proportions you want them, then use a brush to color with them like watercolors. Being watercolors, they are translucent and capture light beautifully, reflecting absolutely gorgeous colors. If you spray fix them, then they brighten (and some colors darken) like pastels for even more effects.

My favorite brand of watercolor pencils is Crayola (and they are by far the cheapest). Crayola offers an 8-pack with a brush, or a twelve pack with no brush. The boxes open up like Prismacolor boxes with a slit in the middle so you can set them up at an angle at your desk. My second favorite are Design (now discontinued). Prismacolor comes in third. I've tried other brands, but they've been very disappointing. My favorite paper to use them on is bristol board, though sketch books work amazingly well. Sometimes I use waterproof ink, and sometimes I use water-soluble ink to give my drawings darker shadows. Again, watercolor pencils are so versatile, you can use them with anything!

This drawing is one of a series of three I did in college. I inked the drawing with a Pilot Precise V7. I was still trying to figure out my style and how I wanted to make lines. This series turned out really well, and I'm still proud of them today.

Music makes the people come together

2009-01-08T16:01:00.006-07:00

I love music. I love listening to it, and I love writing it.

A few years ago, Apple released a new program called GarageBand. When I saw the presentation during one of Steve Job's Keynote Addresses, I couldn't contain myself. It looked like the coolest program ever. My brother and I got it as soon as it was released, and we were both blown away by it. It lets you plug in a keyboard or guitar, or microphone, and record your own music, or put together an original composition using royalty-free tracks included with the program. And you could purchase more. We did. We both went nuts writing music. I actually created albums and released singles on MacBand.com.

Then I created a jukebox on my website. The jukebox has the current single, along with a B-side. Then it has the current album and past albums. So far, I've created eight studio albums and one greatest hits collection. I'm working on my ninth right now. It's called Reflections, and the current single is from the album.

You can visit my jukebox and take a listen at Jeff's Jukebox. I have a lot of fun writing the music. I'm not good enough to do it professionally, but Apple and their great iLife tools have made it possible to do it for fun at a really high level. GarageBand is still one of my favorite programs.

Comics

2008-12-17T17:03:00.008-07:00

When I was little, my local newspaper didn't carry comics, so I was introduced to them thru cartoon specials and merchandising. My two favorite were Peanuts and Garfield. When I finally got to read the actual comic strips, I was disappointed. They were too short; I was used to a half hour long episode.

Then I read Calvin and Hobbes.

I was on a MathCounts trip, and someone had brought a Something Under My Bed is Drooling. I started to read it and couldn't put it down. It was brilliant! It was funny, it was insightful, the characters were so alive, and the drawing was beautiful. I was a fan. I started going to the library everyday to check out the latest Calvin and Hobbes comic. I got the second treasury for my birthday. And I was very sad when the strip ended, and that it had never been animated. And I always wanted to create something as wonderful as Bill Watterson had.

I've been drawing comics for years, mostly trying to copy Snoopy and Garfield. As I grew older, I started reaching out into new areas and trying new things. The majority of my strip's development was done while I was in Jr. High, so you'll see appearances from my friends as the time in the strip. The characters have grown into their own and have little resemblance to the actual people they're based on. Every couple of years or so, I take another stab at the strip, and each time it does get better. Here are three comics from my latest attempt. The first one seems even more appropriate now than it did four years ago when I drew it.

Gifts, my 2008 Christmas Card

2008-12-04T18:34:00.007-07:00

Every year I look forward to making a new Christmas Card. I've been doing it for almost a decade. I start by asking myself what I'm feeling. Then I choose a Christmas Carol with a title that I can put a new spin on. I write a poem incorporating the title and what I want to say. Then I create an illustration to go with it and send it to friends and family. Email makes this a lot easier and cheaper.

This year I had a certain message I wanted to get across: Life and Hope. None of the Christmas Carols I haven't yet used seem to be right. And I had no idea what I wanted to draw. After a lot of work, the idea came to me: I'll draw Christmas morning the way I remember it as a little kid. Then the title came to me: Gifts. I know it's not a Christmas Carol, but it would allow me to say what I wanted to say.

The illustration was so much fun to do. I've been trying to find a style that looks like me. I finally developed it while working on my latest attempt at creating a comic book. The line work is interesting but clean, the colors have the texture of a painting without looking silly or overdone, and the figures are stylized and graphic, but still feel like they have mass. I was very happy with the end result. I hope you like it even half as much as I do.

Usually I write the poem really quickly, but this year I spent three days. It's not my favorite, but there are some cool lines in it, and it basically says what I want to say.

To see Christmas Cards from past years, visit my website, SkyFitsJeff.com. They're archived there somewhere.

Thanksgiving

2008-11-26T11:32:00.006-07:00

I've always enjoyed Thanksgiving. When I was young, it was because I liked watching the floats in the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade, then going up to my grandparents for dinner. As I got older, I started enjoying it for what it is: a time to give thanks.

I used this illustration for a birthday card for my mom. It was around Thanksgiving, and the message was gratitude related, so it seemed appropriate. The drawing was done with a calligraphy pen, one of my favorite ways of drawing. I colored it in Photoshop, then used a photograph as the background. I've been mixing my illustrations with photos ever since I started doing websites. It's a really nice technique.

Film Noir

2008-11-17T12:14:00.007-07:00

I love the style of film noir, even if I'm not crazy about some of the movies. For those who don't know, Film Noir is a style of black and white movies that use extreme whites and extreme darks. In contrast, the characters themselves are very grey morally. There are no clear heroes or villains; everyone is flawed. Some of my favorite Film Noir movies include Metropolis by Fritz Lang, Othello by Orson Welles, The Third Man with Orson Wells, and Double Indemnity with Edward G. Robinson and Fred MacMurray.

This comic book page is inspired by that tradition. I really like the style and plan to do more with it someday.

Japanese Prints and Chinese Paintings

2008-11-10T13:15:00.006-07:00

I love Chinese and Japanese Art, especially Chinese Paintings and Japanese Prints. They are the ultimate in minimalism and "less is more". With just a few simple, yet skilled, brush strokes, one can create an entire composition.

I've tried to study and emulate the technique, but I have a long way to go. This was done in college with a Crayola Paint Brush Marker. It's the World Tree from Norse Mythology. The sky is at the top, then the mountains, then the "lost world" underground, and finally the turtle. With only black shapes (actually green in the original), I created an entire world. I was psyched when I did it. Then I showed it to others, and they asked, what is it?

Oh well.

Greeting Cards

2008-10-30T12:33:00.007-06:00

When the world didn't end at Y2K, I created two Mother's Day cards, one for my mom, and the other for my grandma. I had recently discovered Windsor Newton inks and they 20+ colors they offered. I especially liked the nut brown. These cards were created with a crow-quill pen, nut brown ink, and gold ink, which is really hard to use with a crow-quill pen. I had scanned them and stored a copy on a zip disk while I was in college, then mailed the originals off.

Eight years later, I decided to pull my files off of the zip disk and see what was there. After college, I never needed to use a zip disk again, so it just sat in a drawer at my parents house collecting dust. I was happy to find these two images and a short story I had written for Creative Writing that I thought was lost. (I even found a paper copy of it around the same time.)

I love creating greeting cards. Every year I design a Christmas card with an original illustration and poem based on a Christmas Carol. I send it to family, friends, and co-workers. This year will mark the ninth year I've done it. I have the good ones on my website, SkyFitsJeff.com. Just click on More Illustrations, then Christmas Cards to see them.

German Expressionism

2008-10-27T18:14:00.005-06:00

I love old German Expressionist films like The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari and Metropolis. (If you haven't seen these classics, run to the video store NOW!) The style, the use of tone, the wacky characters--it's all great!

I tried to apply a few of these design ideas to a comic book page. I really liked the penciled version, but I'm not sure if I dig the finished page.

What do you think?

And are you on your way to the video store?

The dream of the naive...

2008-10-23T09:53:00.006-06:00

I created this two-page spread last year and was really happy with how it turned out. Ironically, the message is even more fitting now than when I created it.

I drew it with a Pitt Brush Marker and colored it in Painter. I love Painter! What a great program. And unlike Photoshop, a person can actually afford to buy it. And they make actual improvements with each version.

The story starts out with the Marxist ideal--the workers win, the evil bourgeoisie has lost. But as the story progresses, you see that unions aren't the saviors they promise to be, and socialism just won't work. It's very appropriate given the socialist agendas of both presidential candidates.

Crosstalk

2008-10-20T14:17:00.006-06:00

Four years ago I finally moved back to Phoenix, Arizona. I started to apply for jobs, and everyone wanted to give me a test. This technical illustration was done for such a test. They wanted someone that could create high quality technical illustrations like you see in Scientific American. The assignment was to illustrate "crosstalk". For those of you who've never heard of that, crosstalk is basically when you put a bunch of cords from several electronic devices next to each other, and the signal from one interferes with the others.

I did this illustration and sent it off. I didn't hear anything for a few weeks. When they finally did get back to me and wanted me to come in for an interview, I had already accepted another job elsewhere. You snooze, you lose. Although this isn't the kind of thing I usually do, it is actually a pretty good illustration, done completely in Photoshop, and I do really like it.

The Sacrifices We Make for TV

2008-10-15T10:22:00.006-06:00

I've always loved comic books, and have wanted to make one of my own. I've had many failed attempts; none of them really looked like me or captured what I was going for.

Here's my latest attempt. It's probably the closest, but still not there. The story, however, is near and dear to my heart.

I've noticed a lot of similarities between this and Golden Age comics, especiall Joe Shuster and Bob Kane comics, which are some of my favorites. Maybe I'm spending too much time reading stuff from the 30's?

Spinal Surgery

2008-10-14T09:55:00.008-06:00

So I have this client that wanted a new logo for their chiropractic buisiness with a cartoon character in it. I drew up several proposals. They didn't choose this one, but it was my favorite. I originally had a wrench in his hand to show they fix bad backs, but the client thought a spine would be better to show they focused on spines. I think it makes his grin look almost menacing.

This was drawn with a brush marker I haven't used since college. I can see why I haven't used it since college.

Let's Begin

2008-10-11T12:58:00.007-06:00

So, why am I creating a blog? I already have a website. Isn't a blog superfluous?

No.

My website is a presentation of my finished, professional work. But I do more than just finished art. I sketch. A lot. And there's no place to put all of these sketches. I would feel very selfish and greedy if I didn't share them with the rest of the world.

But what is the best way to share them? An additional page on my website? A special section on the home page?

Those would work, but a new blog seemed to be a better way. It's informal and journal-like. It will allow me to post work and make comments on them in a chronological, archived manner.

But I have another reason for doing this: I love reading the artist's comments on his work almost more than just looking at the work, so this will give me a chance to create what I love.

I hope you enjoy my posts. I'm going to try to add several each week. You can get a sneak peak at my latest projects and my sketchbook. And boy do I fill a lot of them.

And feel free to link this blog to any and every place. Again, I don't want to be selfish; I want to share.

The two ladies gracing my blog are a couple of sketches I did inspired by the brilliant art of Joe Shuster.