Andy Kaulana Serrao!

Andy Kaulana Serrao!

 It's so great to see someone you grew up with. Even more so when you know they're into the same stuff as you. For me and Andy we were always into comics and drawing. So lets go into both starting with comics. Andy was the Indy guy- he was the guy who would find the Evil Ernies and the other smaller indy titles that I would not give a second look if not for him. Me? I was the Marvel mainstream guy. I collected what was ( I thought) the best of the best. Uncanny X-Men, X-Factor, pretty much all the mutant titles growing up. And we would always go back and forth between why our tastes were better, Tease each other and it was just about the smack talk and jib and seeing if we can come up with something clever to rip at. He was the guy who could see the efforts of certain creators and applaud them and get behind them. While I felt, they had to be as good as Jim Lee or as good as Joe Mad or they had no place in the industry, boy how time changes everything.

Jumpimg onto the next order of business- drawing! We were both artists growing up. And one thing about artists is we have huge egos. Huge. So if you tell us our work sucks thems fighting words. And me and Andy weren't affraid to speak our minds to each other about it. See we knew we were cut from the same cloth and if anybody had the right to tell us anything about our art it had better been someone who understands what it takes to make a piece of art.  And because we were already ripping each other on our taste in comics why stop there? Let's just continue ripping each others artstyles. And we did. All. The. Time.

But I miss that stuff. That friendly competition. The back and forth jabs at each other. Those times we spent at the drawing table goofing around but also being very productive. That energy around the drawing table where it's all jokes and razzing and talks about who's tougher Lobo or Blood Shot. Or even what different pencils or brushes we were using and why this works better than that and why this one is better but this one is cheaper and all that. When you grow up and you have your own family all that stuff really pulls you away from all that. Especially for me- I work out of my house and also the fact that I'm the only artist in about a hundred mile radius.

But I got to see him this trip. And it all came back! ALL OF IT! And it was great.

We met up on Saturday with both our wives. So we go to the convention floor and it's like we're 15 again. He shows me his Fanboys vs Zombies cover done of him as a zombie by Jerry Gaylord- sick! And it's my birthday so he buys one for me- Jerry Gaylord is done in like 2 minutes- sick. Then we head over to the Valiant Booth where we meet up with Stefano Guadiano doing covers there too and we end up chatting him up which was awesome all the while we're ripping each other. Mind you we both have 2 covers each that Stefano has to draw and I want a portfolio review so we're having a pretty lengthy conversation with Stefano who was just an incredibly great person to converse with.Especially when you are ripping at your best friend hahahaha.

Sunday evening we do dinner at his house and there it is. The drawing table. Stocked with paper, drawing stuff and a shitload of prisma markers. Oh it's on. Now it's like 1992 again. We both have our covers done by Stefano and are both saying why our is better. He has blank covers for Thunderbolts that he wants me to draw on. He's breaking out all his new toys, old comics, new pens and what not. He even got out his Marvel Cards Series 1 Set WITH Holograms! And an extra Magneto hologram- another birthday gift to me.

All in all I had the most fun here. With the guy I always have the most fun with. Andy Kaulana Serrao. I'm so getting you back for that gay ass picture you drew of the alien with the pink and purple panties with my name on it!

Emerald City Comicon 2013

Boy was this trip fun! We did a lot! My wife and I did a lot! Mostly touristy stuff, Harbor cruise on the Argosy, The Underground Tour, The EMP, The Space Needle, Ride the Ducks, and so much other stuff I can't remember right now. But the main reason we were there was for the convention. I've only gone to ECC but I still think it's a great con. This is my 3rd time going and every time it just gets bigger and bigger. Saturday was crazy, maybe a bit too crowded for my taste but overall it was great

So much things to blog about. So rather than going off on a particular subject I figure I'll just decompress and list all the things I wanted to touch on as far as being a freelancer from my point of view.

 And here's the list

Soul mate- how my wife completes me- without being all mushy and gooey gross.

Crits- when it's good and when it's bad.

Ebb and Flow- comics up and down.

You want it one way but it's the other- The mind is a battlefield, and sometimes we are our own worst enemy- as creators.

Frustration Rant

It's not good to compare where you are to where you want to be. But I can't help it sometimes. I'm human. I see artists getting good steady work who I feel just aren't any good. So many things frustrate me about this. So many angles. So many different ways to look at it. And I know once this hits the web I'll wish I never sent this out.

But right now?

I gotta let this out.

The thing about art is it's subjective. You think you're good but someone else thinks you suck. So who's right depends on each individuals tastes. Some people really like my art and when they respond to it I know they get it. And some people don't. They don't get it, or they just don't like it. I'm fine with that too. To each his own.

What really frustrates me is the guy who just won't give it an honest chance. As an artist I'm saavy to when someone just won't give it a chance. A new artist that's a nobody will encounter this kind of hostility. 'You are not welcome!' That's the message they send to me.' Don't even try. I don't like you I don't want to like you!'

What is even more frustrating is the way it's hidden from everyone else but me. It's the smallest little notion. The look in his eyes. The slight scoffing at something he sees. The hint of jealousy in his criticism. The fact that he knows that the potential is there for me to actually be great but he's already bet the farm on another horse and has no more room for anyone else. And anyone who threatens his prospect is out. That cynical smirk on his face just screaming at me 'you'll never win me over'.

 But it's all covered up! In the most bullshit show of sportsmanlike conduct. I'd rather he be honest and just say I don't like it. It's easier for me.

But the path of the artist is not always easy.

Another thing that frustrates me is when another artist who for some reason has more work under his belt than I do but still manages to completely suck- YET thinks because he has more work under him THINKS he's better than me. Trying to call me on anatomy when his anatomy is just shit. Trying to call me on some bullshit that he himself is guilty of- NOT ME! And because he has more work behind him all his backers just jump on the bandwagon to strengthen his case against mines. I never defend my work. I let it speak for itself. BUT if you call me on something I want to know what it is- better yet you must know how I can do improve on it. So when I look at your stuff it better be there- in your work. The thing you that are calling me on should be in your work.

AND IT ISN'T!

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHH!

Prejudice. That's the one that frustrates me the most. I know I need to tread lightly on this but fuck it! I AINT! I'm the one on the receiving end of it! I get it. It's a business. In business you cater to the customer. You give them what they want. I don't even know how to set this up.

So let's take it back. I did a job that included characters that have a different heritage than the typical comic book stuff. The guy who hired me was happy with the work.

Fast forward a couple of years- I'm trying to land a gig and the publisher says in the nicest possible way- "Is there any way you can dial down the ethnicity for this project?"
I said yeah no problem, but at the same time it was like swallowing glass. It opened my eyes to the harsh reality. In comic book land we are dealing with Super and Mega and Ultra and all these hyped up fantasies. And I love it all. BUT something about that whole notion had an underlying message that rubbed me the wrong way.

The publisher did nothing wrong. He's doing what a good publisher does he looks after the best interest of his readers.

And then I knew what it was that made me start to feel inferior. That project I did- I drew from life. And when he said to dial it down- to me it was he was saying- People won't buy the book if they look like you (me) and then everything bugged me. TV- all the people have to be perfect looking. Music your record sales will go up if you look great. And I get it it's a business- you want to make money and to do that you do what it takes. And everyone is competing for the almighty dollar. A better looking person will get noticed, be remembered, be liked, be loved.

So what constitutes better looking?

For me the answer I came up with was don't make them look like my mom or my grandma or my grampa or most of the people I love. And then every racist, prejudice, fucked up situation I ever had started replaying over and over again. And it was usually done by the guy at the top. And usually someone with money. And usually some self made white male that had an extraordinary life that lead him to success that allows him to look down his nose to me and say- 'you will never be as good as me."

And that's why I'm so frustrated.

And though that last bit has little to do with art it was the thing that bothered me the most.

I must admit after writing that bit my shoulders are lighter. I could delete this whole thread and still feel better.

But no.

I'm not.

Artists sometimes feel overlooked

An article running at CBR about artist being overlooked has me really peeved. Here is the article

It does annoy me that artists just don't get the credit they deserve. All the hooplah about this writer and that writer really does cast a huge shadow on the efforts of the artists. I'm always on word balloon and listening and I get it. I really get it.Having tried my hand at writing I know how hard it is to just write. I have a story that one day I will write- but that is a specific story. I couldn't take over a project and just put my mindset into that project to tell a story. It really isn't a skill I possess. And having worked alongside other writers I am impressed at the amount of ideas they have in their heads just waiting to be executed.

But back to the artist- If the artist is really really good- guess who is going to get all the credit for the project being a huge success? Watchmen is the perfect example. Dave Gibbons has as much to do with it being what it is as Alan Moore. If it were an artist who couldn't tell the story the way Dave Gibbons did or the fans just hated his style maybe it wouldn't be as big a success.  My point is an artist can really make or break a project. But when it's successful they'll probably be the first one forgotten.

Sometimes as an artist we see things that frankly just can't work. And I've been in situations where I'm trying to make it work so I contact the writer and it's like you're insulting their genius to suggest there may "perhaps" be an "error" in the script that doesn't work. So their response is usually 'shut up and get back to work you can't understand the genius in my work because you are beneath it' but they say it in a much more politically correct way that leaves me frustrated.

Sometimes they have something scripted and the artist may see something better and throws that in.

NOW I must say the writer for my webcomic spy6teen is awesome. If I suggest something he is on it and he is the first to point out anything extra I do. Tim Simmons is an excellent writer- he's an artists writer if there is such a term.

Hello Blogspot I've missed you

Wow it has been quite some time since I last got around to these parts. My last post was dated 2010 sorry that was my fault. Too busy was I . But now that my life has totally changed I will definitely be spending more time here. I look forward to meeting new people and hope you will enjoy my blog.

And with the first blog I write for 2012 let me start with a few pictures. this was at Emerald City Comicon last month. This is of me standing with current Batman penciler- the super awesome, super cool guy that everyone would just wanna go hang out and drink with Greg Capullo. Great story here- this was taken right after he reviewed my portfolio- which was great because he had great things to say. His wife was talking to mines and she said he usually doesn't get past the third page of a portfolio but he almost made it to the end of mines. Then he asked if I had any published work and I showed him those. Then he told me to submit to Marvel- 'Keep trying till you get in' he said.

This is of me and one of my best friends growing up Andy Kaulana Serrao. This was taken on the same day after the convention. It was awesome to have this guy with me that day because he and I grew up both the best artist in school so there was always a friendly rivalry going on from the get-go but this guy is my brother. We've been thru a lot together. He was one of the only guys I could geek out with and just be myself.

And of course I have to post one with my wife Kahelelani. She is the love of my life. My backbone. She believed in me from the start even when I didn't believe in myself she knows exactly what to say to make things right. I'd never be anywhere without her. In the whole world there's no wife better than mines. You can see Pikes Market behind us as were about to do the tourist thing.

Ah Seattle I love you. you hold memories of the best day of my life. But not as much as I love my wife.

Hey that rhymed!

Macross Frontier

Been watching a badly subtitled version of this anime series but damn it rocks! This is the VF-25 model robotech thingy-which the main guy has. This series is the best anime I've seen in years. If you liked the ld Robotech series you'll love this. They tip their hats to the old series and capitalize off of it. But the story is shorter so it's easier to digest, and the art is done with our technology now so it enhances the experience like a hundred fold.

Cap taking out some bad guys

Career Day at Kaumana Elementary School

Today I went to my sons' class and did a small presentation for the kindergarteners. I must say that was so much fun. The reaction from the kids just make all this stuff worth it. I started off by talking a little about some of the projects that I did. The teachers Mrs. Michaud and Mrs. Kosaki were very nice, and they helped me set up a small projector to see the finished stuff I did which isn't big enough for the kids to see from where they were sitting. There were 2 other ladies there, probably teachers aides but they were nice too. After I talked a bit they asked me to draw a picture for them. I saw a bunch of markers on the dry erase board and immediately the 2 that jump out at me is the green and purple so I figure I'll draw the Incredible Hulk for them. It turned out... well?... very elementary appropriate especially since the purpl came out looking more pink than purple and the markers were running dry and I didn't want to use all their ink and it looked like it was done by a 7 year old, but the kids loved it. At the end I gave them all business cards which my wife made for me last year that had a picture I drew. They loved that too.

Coming from Hilo, something like this is pretty much out of left field, but to have this as an option for kids to aim for is to me pretty awesome. See I grew up having people telling me to stop drawing. Get your head out the clouds. All that stuff. And I actually did listen for a while. Until a twist of fate left me in bed for almost a year. A major car accident left me with a broken spine, not knowing if I'd be able to walk- let alone work. So I started drawing again. And long story short here I am. I wish I never stopped. To get to where I am now, even to get to where I want to be- I have to keep drawing. I had to draw myself here, and to progress I have to keep on drawing. Which I love to do so it's not like it's a terrible challenge. But trust me when I say this- it is a challenge. Life gets in the way. Bills need to get paid, family needs time to be family. And in the beginning the drawing had to take a backseat to all priorities, until it worked its way up that list.

Mrs. Michaud asked me if I had any tips and because I had little time so my best advice would be to keep drawing and draw what you like to draw. It's that love and interest that will push you to improve- to get better. If your drawing something you're not into then it feels like work and you'll burn out. But doing it because it's fun will create repetition. And after mastering one thing you'll want to add to it. That will spring new things. So the first part is just getting to a place where you are comfortable doing it all the time. Everything else comes after that. But this applies to not just drawing comics- whatever you want to do creatively almost always starts from drawing. People become painters, inkers, design artists, fashion designers, colorists, illustraters, all types of careers spring out from one thing- the love of drawing.

My son is the perfect example. He can stay at his art table for hours- literally. He draws on the kitchen table and most times we have to make him clean it up so we can eat. Last week for spring break they (my 3 kids) went with my in-laws (in Honolulu) who wanted to take them out. My son insisted on staying home(and by home I mean my in-laws house for spring break) so he could draw, or spend some quality time with his art table. I try to nourish that as much as possible. Had my parents known what I do now I'd probably be way ahead of where I am now. It's not that they didn't support me, they did. They just didn't know "how" or "why" this stuff was so important. With the right kind of support so many doors can be opened. If I can I'll open every door for "all" our kids here in Hilo. Sky is the limit. And they're gonna open even more doors for the generations after them.

Oriental heroes

Still thinking about that Dragon Tiger Gate. I had to draw something for it. The first comic book I ever bought was Oriental Heroes #5. The cover just blew me away. I had never seen anything like it before. Where American comics were using inks and press colors, Jademan was doing effects like airbrushes, dynamic colors over straight pencils-without inks on the covers. This was the attention grabber. I had to know what these characters were doing. And lo and behold they were fighting! Yes! My kind of book.

Oriental Heroes was the American version of Dragon Tiger Gate- a long running popular chinese kung fu comic. You could tell it was made in the 70's because of the style of clothes and cars and stuff. But since it was already published the American version was 2 of their issues condensed into one. Which made it a longer read at 64 pages. All of their titles at this time were doing that- Oriental Heroes, The Force of Buddhas Palm, Drunken Fist (these were drawn by Tony Wong) and Blood Sword (by the amazing Ma Wing Shing). Blood Sword Dynasty was 32 pages. But I think that was running at the same time as it was in China. Or sometime later since Blood Sword was the story about Hero, and Blood Sword Dynasty was the story about his son- Kim Hung.

Anyways here's picture of Tiger Wong- kicking, Gold Dragon (or Turbo Shek) with the scar on his face, Guy- monk dude, Red Whale- big guy with mohawk and beard, Jaws-other guy with mohawk, Fiery Fox- lower right corner, Jupiter- dude with headband at top, and Foufth Dragon Commander- next to Jupiter.

This may be a bit apremature but I feel the need to post this.

Coming soon.

Well not that soon. I got a shit loald of stuff to do. Like practice inking.

Bucky Cap. I think the costume is wrong but oh well. It's the markers that I had fun with.

Ok I did this before I moved to my new place. I can't wait to set up shop here. This is Lion-o from the Thunder Cats. Still learning the basics in photoshop so it's still coming slowly.

Dragon Tiger Gate

Ok I just saw this movie and I wanted to talk about it.

These are the things I lied about the movie;

The action is great. Donnie Yen does an awesome job with the fight choreography and the wire work in most sequences look good. Except for a few instances where it looks clumsy, but I have yet to see a martial arts movie that doesn't overdo the wire work.

There are little details for the fanboys of Oriental Heroes that they put into the movie. One of my favorites is the Gang of Four having face time- Baldy, One-Eyed Draco, 4-Eyed Ming, and Heartbreak Kid. Tony Wong even has a cameo in the movie. I was looking for Guy but unfortunately he wasn't in there.

The actors do a great job bringing these characters to life. NIcholas Tse plays Tiger Wong, Donnie Yen plays Dragon Wong, and Shawn Yue plays Turbo Shek (or Gold Dragon).

I was really impressed at Nicholas Tse's performance as Tiger Wong. He really brought the spirit of what makes Tiger Wong unique in the comics to the movie.

Shawn Yue really played up the likability and playfulness I remember from Gold Dragons character or Turbo Shek. I even heard that both he and Nicholas weren't true martial artists at the time but were trained by Donnie Yen for this movie. I wouldn't know the difference if not for the commentary.

And Donnie Yen plays Dragon Wong. I have nothing to compare that to so I really wouldn't know from a comics perspective if it's acurate or not but he really takes over the movie as the main character, I'll get to this later.

This is what I didn't like.

The story was, well? not badly written but they could have done better.

First of all they're making a movie that has created a huge fanbase from the comics and they should have given the audience what they wanted. The main characters of the comics are Tiger Wong and Gold Dragon. Here they put the emphasis on Dragon Wong, a character who dies early on in the series. The plus side to this is that now that they've got this out the gate it's a perfect set up for a sequel which I hope they'll make and this time get it right. This is what I'd do. I'd hire Donnie Yen as the choreographer and give him a cameo in the beginning as he dies setting up the story for Tiger Wong and Gold Dragon to take down the Lousha Gang (Global Cult). He could have the gnarliest death scene ever. This would bring out the acting chops for Nicholas Tse and Shawn Yue.

The next thing I didn't like was the writting didn't do much for the climax and conclusion of the story. It doesn't do a good job of building up their bad guys. There's a disconnect when Shibumi shows up. He's not developed enough. They give too much time to Tiger and Dragon Wongs relationship. They should have invested more time into making Shibumi dispicable and vial so when the ending battle takes place the audience wants him to be beaten.

The story starts off great with 2 back to back action scenes that rock, but after that the story kind of stalls in places. It gets choppy and the pacing suffers because of it. There's a long draggy area between the beginning and the ending with some cool things in between, but I think they could have paced it better just for balance. I think it's an asian thing but the emotional scenes are really heavy handed. I know it's the same for American movies as well and they serve to connect us to the characters, but here there's just way too many flashback scenes for Tiger and Dragon Wong. Then there's some flashback scenes with Dragon Wong and his girlfriend when they're young too. I see no reason why they had to do that, Dragon has so much screen time and Donnie Yen (to me) does so much with so little. His expressions, his mannerisms suggest so much more than bares saying. Being that he's a martial arts actor I usually don't take him for a serious actor but here he does a great job conveying things without saying them.

There's really no reason to care for ( or remember) the story. I mean there's the whole plaque deal, the gangs and anyone who knows anything about the comics will know that the gangs play a huge role in the story, and then the Gate. But the main point to the story is weakened because Dragon clearly looks and feels out of place in the gangs, so does Kun and his daughter. Here you have 3 good people on the wrong side of the fence. They're given a plaque to continue working with the Lousha Gang who's the top mafia style gang. Our heroes take the plaque, Dragon gets it back and Kun gives the plaque back to the Lousha Gang after having a change of heart. Why the hell is this interesting to us? Who cares just get to the fighting.

With that said though, this story is probably a hundred times better than the comics that would introduce new characters just because and they'd fight on and on and on with no resolution for long periods of time. I wonder if Tiger Wong and Chan Ou Wan ever fight, Does he get his revenge? Or is it like the rabbit and Lucky Charms- if we give him what he wants there's no reason to keep going on with the story. I don't know the American version Oriental Heroes cuts off at issue 55 and just leaves us hanging.

I still loved it. Tiger Wong and Gold Dragon on the big screen with todays technology and level of development. If you're a fan of the series you gotta watch it. Or if you're a kung fu movie fan it's a decent movie. Hopefully the creators will make a sequel that will give the fans who have been faithful to the books what they want- Tiger Wong and Gold Dragon front and center. Bring in Guy, White Sect, Red Sect- Jaws, Red Whale, Fiery Fox, Skeleton Secretary, and Chan Ou Wan and we're in business.

My computer is down and I'm so pissed. Nothing to show because all my stuff runs off the damn computer.

It's great to be back in action. My family was down for 2 weeks. Actually my wife got sick first the first week. So that left me to fend for her and the kids. Then the next week they all got sick and I had to fend for all of them. All sick. That sucked I couldn't do anything for 2 weeks creatively. My wife was a trooper though.

But I'm back now!

I just got off CB Cebulskis twitter page and so inspired. Apparently Marvel just hired an artist that did test samples for them but each time he would take in their crits and advice, thus improving each time. I finally have cleaned the sleight from all other obligations just yesterday (for now anyway) and can now focus on the sample scripts CB gave me after I met him in Seattle. Hopefully I get better each time I give him a sample. It's all a matter of really listening to what they say while staying within the sweetspot of how I do my thing. And if I need to expand that sweetspot then that's how it is.

Right now I'm looking at one particular script CB gave me and it's nothing I'm comfortable with. It's so far away from what I have done so far but I feel the need to break out of the mold. Even if it takes me away from my comfort zone and makes me look bad this is the kind of thing Marvel is doing so I have to be able to go the same route as them.

On a seperate note I just finished a double page splash that was so much fun to drawbut took me literally 2 days to put together in photoshop because of mistakes and trial and error yada yada yada. So along with that I'm post the other 2 pages along with it for The King Who Ate Men.

So we got an article in the Honolulu Advertiser running today. Tim called me last week and got this whole thing rolling. It was really fun doing the interview with Treena. I have yet to see the article, my wife bought a few copies and I'm waiting for her to get home.

Here's a link to the article
http://www.honoluluadvertiser.com/article/20090428/LIFE/904280306/-1

The article is watered down compared to the long talk we all had over the phone but that's to be expected. I actually learned alot about Tim because Treena would ask him questions I never thought to ask. Pretty sure it was the same for Tim too. Tim has been awesome the whole tiime I've known him.

Tim you da man!

I was supposed to draw this for my nephew like 2 months ago. But I just kept forgetting. So I did him a good one.

You know what's really gonna suck?

He's either gonna lose it, rip it, ruin it, or maybe even something worse (god knows only he can) before the end of the day.

That's why I scanned this bad boy!

Venoms costume, like most of Marvels characters, is simple in design, but getting the blacks right is a different story. I'm still learning my shading but I had so much fun with this one.

Ok so here's the inks for the newest SPY 6TEEN promo. I'm still not too comfortable inking but there's something about inking that solidifies the art and says this is the end of the lineart. Only colors can come next. A real inker would probably make this piece really zing. But I'm living and learning and enjoying it in the meantime.

Some new characters from SPY 6TEEN. Cool huh? I really had fun with the James Bond looking dude and the bass player. More so the bass player because I also play music in a band but I play guitar. My brother plays bass. And he's pretty damn good too!

I need to work on that cheerleader and the geeky dude though.

OK I just got an e-mail from Tim saying he needed another promo. Well he actually told me way earlier. I just forgot. He said dynamic pose and this is what I came up with. I'll show you the inked version when I'm done.