WRITING – Four Things to Think About When Writing a Novel Part 1 of 4

Simpsons Quote:

Lisa: ”Miss Tan, I loved The Joy Luck Club. It really showed me how the mother-daughter bond can triumph over adversity.”

Amy Tan: “No, that’s not what I meant at all. You couldn’t have gotten it more wrong.”

Lisa: ”But…”

Amy Tan: ”Please just sit down. I’m embarrassed for both of us.”

Hi, this is a four part series about “things to think about when writing a novel”. This part one.  In this post I’m going to be talking about where to start a story.

You can watch the video below or read the transcript:

Click here to view the embedded video.

Some of the links below are affiliate links. Thanks for your support.

The Beginning

I’ve been my wife’s editor in her series, The Gray Tower series. Her first book is called The Tower’s Alchemist. The second one is called Dark Rift. The third one is called Circadian Circle, and I’m currently editing it. So I have that editor on the brain kind of a thing. There are a lot of things that I tend to look at when I’m reading her manuscripts.

I’m trying to make sure that the story’s going to be as good as possible, of course. But there are certain things that I’m really honing in on. Some things she’s gotten really, really good at that I don’t have to call attention to t anymore.. But there are some things that she still continues to do that I think could improve.

So, today I’m going to be talking about one of the bigger things that I think is really important when writing a novel. And that is the beginning of the novel. That’s where you get hooked, right? In any kind of story at all, you kind of want to make sure that you hook the audience immediately when you first start reading- at least the first chapter maybe.

In Medias Res

Just try to really like especially show what the reader’s going to be in for in the first chapter, what it’s going to be like, what’s going to happen. One of the best ways to do this is to start your story in medias res. In medias res is Latin for starting in the middle of the action. I keep telling this to my wife. Sometimes she likes to just start her story just in a conversation or something.

Well, it’s not the best hook. Often times, there’s really nothing happening. It’s all setup. I always get on her case about it. Usually what I tell her is start there, but keep writing until you get to somewhere interesting, then start there where it starts getting interesting and get rid of the first part. If it’s all setup and there’s a lot of things that need to be done, you can somehow put it back in.

The Movie LIMITLESS

There’s a movie called Limitless, starring Bradley Cooper. And it’s great, because what happens is at the beginning of the story, you see Bradley Cooper’s character on top of a building. He’s at the edge, he’s about to jump.

There’s obviously somebody at the door trying to get in, and he’s going to jump off the building and kill himself because it’s better to do that than to confront whatever’s trying to bash down his door. That is like, in the middle of the story. You immediately get hooked. You ask yourself,

“What the heck? And say, how did he get there!?” Then you flashback to the rest of the movie. It eventually  loops around, and you start off back there where he was on a building.

But the whole point is to start where it’s good, and then work your way back. It’s really very important.

How it’s Done in The Tower’s Alchemist

With my wife’s book, originally— and I don’t think it’s a big secret, because she used to have both first chapters of her first two books, both of them online. In Tower’s Alchemist, when you read the book, the original first chapter was what is now, chapter two. If you look at chapter two, it’s good, it’s a conversation between two characters in the intelligence agency office right before her lead character got an assignment.

That’s great, and it sets up the world, and the conversation of these two characters, but it’s really dull because, you’re starting the story on a conversation in an office. And even though that’s the chapter where you get the catalyst to the rest of the story, what the story’s going to be about and the character’s sent off on a mission in that chapter, you don’t get a flavor or taste of what you’re in for.

If you read the actual chapter that’s in the book now, chapter number one, it starts off in the middle of gun fight. And basically, the entire first chapter basically goes, this is what you’re in for- this kind of action, this is the world that we’re going to be in, this is who you’re fighting, you’re fighting Nazi’s and then there’s like a monster in there, and then there’s Cruenty in the woods, and there’s magic being thrown everywhere. And it’s like, what!? You know?

You understand, from that first chapter, that’s what you’re getting in the book. Then, you can slow down and then rebuild back up to that. And that’s exactly what Alesha did. She wrote a really great first chapter, and then she was able to slowly build into the next chapter by moving chapter one into chapter two and creating a brand new chapter one which establishes the world. And it’s not just the throwaway prologue type of thing either, because what it does is it sets up the character’s motivation for the rest of the book.

That first chapter sets up the character’s personal motivation. You can actually see why the character is thinking the way she’s thinking in chapter two by that point. It’s great.

Pay Attention to the Beginning

So, that’s my first recommendation, to start in medias res. And like I told her, it’s okay, don’t kill yourself, just start writing wherever. Just start writing wherever. The moment it starts really getting good, that’s when you cut off everything before and that’s where you ought to start. Okay?

Those are just my tips. It’s one of the many things that I look for when I read my wife’s manuscripts and her story, and make sure there’s something that hooks the audience from the very beginning.

Alright? So, I’ll talk to you about the next thing, next time. And if you want to get a free book, Art of Luis Escobar, which is me, you can subscribe to my newsletter. Just put in your email and you’ll get a free digital copy of my ‘Art of’ book. Okay? So, I’ll talk to you next time. Bye.

MOVIES – Can’t Wait to See Man of Steel movie

(Some of the links below are affiliate links. Thanks for your support)

If you’ve read my blog for a while, you know that I’m a huge superhero nerd.  I love superheroes. But my favorite all time superhero is Superman.

He is definitely NOT the most popular. Arguably, I’d say Batman is. There is a LOT of people who think Superman is just lame.

They often say, “I can’t relate to Superman, he’s too overpowered.”

At some point, I’m going to have to write a post as to why Superman is awesome.  BUT maybe I won’t have to.  Maybe the Man of Steel movie coming out (as of the time of this writing) tomorrow will do the job for me.

I’m hoping that the movie will do to Superman what the first Ironman movie did for Ironman.

I really hope I don’t end up having to write a post on what Man of Steel got wrong.

All that said, I couldn’t get my mind off Superman for the last two weeks. But what to do? Well, I decided to re-watch as many episodes of the last three seasons of Smallville as I could.

The show is really the only way that you can really binge on a good modern live action take of the Superman myth. All the other live action Superman’s are either really dated or don’t get it.

Especially the last three seasons.  They were exceptionally good. Those season introduced more DC characters combined than they the entire run put together.  I mean, they even introduced the Legion of Superheroes for the first time in a live action setting.  That is awesome! And it was written by Geoff Johns too.

So if you’ve seen Man of Steel and want more Superman or you’re like me and just want to watch live action Superman stuff before going to watch the live action movie, go watch some Smallville.

Here’s a peek at what you’re in for:

Click here to view the embedded video.

Did I mention it has the best Lois Lane EVER?

Click here to view the embedded video.

Oh, and here’s the trailer for Man of Steel, in case you missed it:

Click here to view the embedded video.

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ART – Some Character Design Pointers

Simpsons Quote:

Homer: Astrid said the key to my art is anger, but you know me, I’m Mr. Mellow…

[Bart and Lisa look at each other]

Homer: …so I’m giving you kids permission to get me mad. Come on, give me what you’ve got.

Lisa Simpson: Well, if it’ll help… um, mom found out her engagement ring is made of rock candy.

Homer: [hits clay mold] Good work honey, keep it comin.’

Bart Simpson: Well I’m flunking math, and the other day I was a little attracted to Milhouse.

[Homer screams hysterically]

Hi. So, I was asked a question on youtube about how I approach character design.  I spoken about this a few time, but not all in one place.  I thought perhaps I should say as much as I could about the subject in one post and link to the other ones.

You can either watch the video below on the read the transcript:

Click here to view the embedded video.

The Question

I’ve talked about character design a lot in my own blog, as well as The Drawing Website that I’ve got. I’m going to try to sum up all of what I’ve written so far, and include links. But I’m going to try to also just, kind of really quickly explain it all here, so that it’s not just all scattered all over the internet the way it is in multiple websites and multiple posts.

This question was from MindOfAStoner and specifically said,

“i was wondering if you could do a video about how to design your characters, i have the idea of what i want to do, i just cant seem to put my character to paper and come up with my own drawing style, thanks in advance Luis”

First, Reference

Alright, so there’s a few things here. Okay so, one of things if you look, I did do a series where I was designing characters for an animated cartoon that I was working on that I still haven’t completed, and I’m sorry. But if you look there, you will see that what I did was, I went and I looked at a lot of reference.

I went online and I have the specific website that I went to. But as you can see in the posts, you’ll see that there’s like a lot of photographs. If you scroll down, you’ll see all the photographs I was using to try to get something, a jumping off point- something that will trigger that thing.

You need photography. Look for reference. It doesn’t just have to be in your head. It doesn’t have to just— you don’t have to live in a vacuum and not use real world things. Use real world things. Go out, look around, go to the mall, look at other people, look online, look for photographs, look anything. Just get your ideas going.

That would be my recommendation on trying to try to get them— just something to get them in your head, out on to the paper in some kind of tangible way- something that you can use, something that you could actually have physical there. I mean, it really does help me a lot.

Finding a Style

“I can’t seem to put characters to paper and come up with my own drawing style.”

Okay, so that’s a little bit different. There’s a few things to talk about there.

Drawing style- I have a video about not worrying about style. You ought to worry about draftsmanship first. Let’s assume that you’ve got great draftsmanship. You’re just as good as Frank Frazetta. Then what kind of style are you going to use?

Alright, so once you’re confident enough to have good draftsmanship skills, then I would recommend you just start finding sketchbooks of stuff from artists that you admire, styles that you like, comic books of guys whose styles you like, and then pick and choose bits and pieces of what they’re doing that you really enjoy. Try to emulate it in some way, shape or form.

This isn’t plagiarism, because what’s going to end up happening is that you’re not going to be able to copy them. You’re not going to be them. No matter how hard you try, you’re still going to be you and they’re still going to be them, and they’re going to do what they do better than you could possibly ever do. That’s because you’re not them.

What you’re trying to emulate is their personality and who they are. And because you are not them, you’ll never get what makes them unique.

That is a good thing! Because it means that whatever YOU do cannot be emulated either. What comes out of you eventually, from all the hodgepodge of different influences, will be uniquely you. So, if you want a specific style, you can do that specific style but it will end up being your version of that style which will end up being unique in and of itself. So, that’s another way you can think about it.

Some Words on Advanced Character Design

Okay now, I’m going to talk really quick about the Advanced Elements of Character Design, and When It Comes to Character Design. It’s all about the interior- where the character’s coming from, who that character is, will shape everything about the character including the way he’s posed, the way he looks, the way he carries himself, what kind of clothes they wear.

This is interior stuff. This is more advanced stuff. This is what the professionals think about when they’re just doing stuff, because they’re no longer thinking about the basics of design, okay? They’re thinking about acting, history, storytelling, making the character, creating the character from the inside out- emotionally, historically, who they are, the story behind the character. Alright? So always, always think about that stuff when designing the character.

Don’t Forget the Fundamentals

But now let’s go back to the fundamentals. Let’s go back, all the way back to elements that you absolutely need to have before you even start designing a character. And that is the idea of contrast. And in The Drawing Website, I do break this down with stick figures.

That’s how simple these elements are. It’s all about balance and contrast. It’s all about not making everything even, and making a character visually boring by doing something super, super even. That’s just really, really bad design.

If you go to thedrawingwebsite.com and look at the Stick Figures with Style post, you can read everything that I have to say about designing like that, stick figures and things like that. If you want, you could download the free digital copy of this book, The Art of Draw Fu, by subscribing to the newsletter.

You should be able to get it for free, but you could just read the post there because it’s the same information that’s in the book. I do talk about design. I talk about basic shapes. After that, you should read that post too. It’s very important to balance and contrast to make your design more interesting.

This is too big of a topic. I’m sorry, I have to sum this up so quickly. But I hope this helps. I hope this is good information that will help you be able to design your characters better.

Alright, so if you want another free book from me,  I have The Art of Luis Escobar for free if you subscribe to my newsletter on my blog. And there’s designs and drawings there too, and I talk about drawing in that book as well. So if you’re interested, go ahead and  subscribe to my newsletter below and you will get that book delivered to you for free, as a free digital book.

BOARD GAMES/VIDEO – Craziest Board Game Ever.

If you like board games as much as I do, you’ll love this video of the craziest board game ever.  If you’re not into them that much, it’s still very funny, but there’s a few inside jokes in there that you might not get.

Enjoy:

Click here to view the embedded video.

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I also have a store. Click Here and check it out.

BOOKS – Artists! Here’s How You Get Your Art in a Book on Amazon.

Simpsons Quotes:

I heisted myself to the bestseller list once again. And the most brilliant part is I don’t even know how to read. – Neil Gaiman

As artists, creating a book with our art has become something of a tradition. If we draw independent comics and we want to get them printed, we also need to find a good printer or a print on demand printer.

Today, I’m going to be talking about the print on demand printer Createspace.

You can watch the video below or simply read what I have to say under it.  It’s the same info either way:

Click here to view the embedded video.

A Need For a Print Book

I have a drawing website where I teach drawing as if I was teaching Kung Fu.  If you’ve read my blog frequently enough I’m sure you’ve heard me mention it.

One of the things I did on the site was put together a digital book with all the information on the site. This was done so that there would be a slightly more convenient way to consume the information without needing to go to the site.

But I also wanted to have a print copy of that book. So to do this, I went on Createspace which is a print on demand site owned by Amazon.

Now my experience with Createspace is through my wife.  She uses it to publish her Grey Tower series of books.  The print books really look good and are good quality.

The thing is that I didn’t know how it would work for a book that wasn’t just prose.

I said, “what the heck. Let’s give it a try,” and I created a print book on Createspace.  Once I did that, I ordered the proof and I got it.

How Well do Art Books Come Out in Createspace?

It looks great, for the most part.  I think the colors on the cover are too dark and I’m going to need to fix that.  But the interior of the book, the way it feels, the way it’s bound, I’m very happy with.

I won’t lie, it was pain in the neck to put it all together myself.  I created the interior pdf, I created the cover and use the template that was give to me, by Createspace for it.

You can have them do it but it will cost you a few hundred dollars.  I wasn’t willing to spend the money so I did it myself.  BUT now that I know how to do it, my next attempt will be my Angel Cowgirl digital book, that I give away for free if you subscribe to my newsletter. I’m going to make that a print book as well.

My point is, if you want to have a high quality book of your art or a children’s book or whatever,  Createspace, isn’t a bad choice.

Once I finally approve the book proof, the book will automatically be submitted into Amazon and will be sold through there, which is great.   You can’t ask for a better online store to be on.

Do I Recommend It?

So yeah, I’m happy with the results so far fromCreatespace.  So like I said, for an artist that might want to get his work in some sort of print book, this is a very good option.

Have you used Createspace? Let me know, I’ll like to know what you’re experience with it is.

PODCASTS – Uploading a The Corner Booth to iTunes

I’ve mentioned this before but I’ll mention this again, I’m on a podcast.

If you’re looking for it in iTunes, you won’t find it.  It’s because I haven’t uploaded it to iTunes yet.  Even though we have four episodes published so far.

The podcast is called The Corner Booth and you can find it at thecornerbooth.net.

I’m in the process of putting the podcast up on iTunes.  As soon as it’s up, I’ll let you know.

Besides the podcasts we’ve already published, we have SIX in “the can,” five of which are ready to go.  As soon I republish all the original episodes, I’ll start uploading the new ones.

Stay tuned. There’s some great shows coming up.

For more comics and stories written by me: COMICS AND STORIES If you like what you read, please consider signing up to my rss feed.

I also have a store. Click Here and check it out.

BOOKS – Three Books on Comedy Worth Having

Simpsons Quote:

Krusty: Did you hear about the blonde who tried to make ice? She forgot the recipe! How come you don’t see many blonde snowwomen? It takes too much time to hollow out the head!
Bart Simpson: [laughing] He sure got you pegged, blondie.
Lisa Simpson: You’re blond too, you know.
Bart Simpson: Blond boys aren’t dumb, they’re evil, like in Karate Kid or World War II.

If you’re as interested in storytelling as I am, you’ve probably read a of books on story.

Adding levity in a story is one of the many things one can do to make a story more fun.  Today I’m going to be recommending my favorite books on comedy. I’ve found them to be very helpful, insightful and great reads.

You can either watch the video or read the post below.  It’s basically the same information:

Click here to view the embedded video.

The links below are affiliate links. Thanks for your support.

 Getting Better at Being Funny

I’m really interested in comedy.  I like writing jokes.  I’ve been doing it since I was in elementary school.

I’m really interested in improving my comedy, because I enjoy doing comedic cartoons and comics.

I’ve three recommendations for books that I’ve found to be very helpful when it comes to comedy.  So let’s get to it.

Three Great Books on Comedy

Comedy Writing Secrets: The Best-Selling Book on How to Think Funny, Write Funny, Act Funny, And Get Paid For It, 2nd Edition
by Melving Helitzer

This is the book fundamentals of comedy. This book is the book that gives you the foundations of what makes comedy work.  It talks about funny words, reversals, the rule of threes,…just about everything you can think of when it comes to the traditional foundations of comedy.  I say “traditional” because the view point of comedy in this book is very “retro.” It’s the kind of comedy you might hear Mel Brooks use. This book teaches very classic comedy troupes.

Don’t let that fool you though.  What’s in the book is pretty essential to know.  Great book.

The Eight Characters of Comedy: Guide to Sitcom Acting And Writing
by Scott Sedita

This guy watched a bunch of sitcoms and come up with the eight common archetypes that seem to be universal in all sitcoms.  INCREDIBLY useful to have if you want to have a launching off point when creating a comedic ensemble of characters that seem to universally work well together.

The Comedy Bible: From Stand-up to Sitcom–The Comedy Writer’s Ultimate “How To” Guide
by Judy Carter

This book is the compliment to Comedy Writing Secrets.  This is the application of comedy in a more modern way.  It talks about doing stand up in the, “what the deal with…?” style. But not really like that.  It simply gives you the foundation that most modern comedians use to write their routines,  ways to test you work, and many many other things. I really think you should get this book and read it with Comedy Writing Secrets.  You can get the fundamentals with one book and the modern application of those fundamentals with this book.

Serious About Comedy

So those are my three recommendations for books you should have if you want to get serious about comedy and get better at it.

If you have read great comedy books that you recommend, let me know, I’d love to know what they are.

If you get any of these books or even already own them, leave a comment and let me know what you think.

THE SIMPSONS NEWS – My Hiatus Ends and Dandelion Couch Gag

I came back to work this week.  I’m currently working on the revisions for show 1 of this new season.

Meanwhile, one of the Couch Gags I scrambled to board last season is out and is being promoted.  This is cool, so I thought I’d share it, so here you go:

Click here to view the embedded video.

VIDEO – Gaiman on Being Like Dandelions

Speaking of Dandelions, there’s this video making the rounds.  It’s Neil Gaiman making a speech on many things.  Mostly storytelling and publishing, BUT there’s also a bit on how to find the thing that will click with people.  It’s very interesting and worth listening to:

Click here to view the embedded video.

For more comics and stories written by me: COMICS AND STORIES If you like what you read, please consider signing up to my rss feed.

I also have a store. Click Here and check it out.

ANIMATION – Is 2D Feature Animation Truly Dead?

Simpsons Quotes:

“Don’t thank me, thank Hollywood for being completely out of good ideas.” ~ Herman Melwood

Are 2D feature animated films viable?  Can they make money.  Does the general public know the difference between 2D animated movies and CG animated movies? Do they care? Are American animated movies doomed to one genre of films? Namely, family movies?

There’s a lot of questions there.  I don’t know the answers but I want to start the conversation here.  This is what this week’s post is about.

You can either read the post or watch the video.  The information in generally the same:

Click here to view the embedded video.

Disney Throws Out Its 2D Department

As of the time of this writing, Disney pretty much got rid off all their 2D animators and have no plans to make any new 2D animated movies.  They will all be CG.

I wrote about this a couple of weeks ago but I think it was kinda lost in the post. Especially since it was at the bottom the post and I didn’t make a video of version of my essay. I’m bringing it up again because I’d really like your opinion on this topic.

Last week my colleagues at The Corner Booth went to the “hat building” at Disney and spoke to Dale Baer.  We asked him about 2D animation and he confirmed that it was dead. At least, as far as feature film animation is concerned.

An Earlier Discussion I  had About This Topic

And of course, I wrote earlier about the huge discussion over this topic I had with Richie Chavez and Paul Wee.

Here’s a little of what I had written in that post. If you want to read the whole thing feel free to go and read it:

I’m still hopeful about 2d.  I think audiences want to see 2d animated movies.

Richie, had a different opinion.  He doesn’t think audiences care.  He doesn’t even think audiences know the difference.

The reality is that the last two 2d movies Disney came out with didn’t do well.  Never mind the fact that one wasn’t all that well written and the other didn’t really appeal to most people…

That second movie was referring to here was Winnie the Pooh. A movie based on a Disney franchise,  I think,  ruined by it’s direct to DVD sequels.  There’s nothing special or exciting about the franchise anymore. What did they expect?

…How about the “average” person who never thinks about animation at all? Do they feel the same way about 2d animated movies?

We discussed what “average” person meant and narrowed it down to: “parents/families.” Someone looking for something with good values they can trust.

But this begged the question:

Is that the ONLY market for animated movies.  Why not target other markets like anime does?  The answer from the discussion was this:

1. Anime which is released in theaters that target those other markets, don’t really make all that much money. Even Studio Ghibli movies.

2. Raise of the Guardians, was more teen centric and it didn’t do all that well (and it was CG!).

Different Genres in American Animation

I think the main flaw with testing different genres of animated movies using anime is that anime has a negative stigma attached to it in the eyes of many people. And Rise of the Guardians being marketed to teens…well…bad idea.  No teenager is going to get all excited to go watch a movie about Santa Claus and the Easter Bunny just because they look “hip.”  That’s just bad foresight on the part of Dreamworks.

That said, there’s a few 2D animated European movies, like the Illusionist, which have gotten a lot of acclaim, yet, I don’t think they’ve made much money here in the U.S..

I’m still of the opinion that 2D animation would work with the right story.

If you’re a fan of 2D movies, you will go see them. But if you’re not, why not?  Why don’t you watch them?  What would get you to go watch a 2D animated movie?  If you used to like them but now you don’t, what happened?

I’d love to know. Let’s discuss.  I’m in the inside looking out scratching my head.

This shouldn’t be happening, but why is it?

THE SIMPSONS NEWS – My Hiatus is Almost Over

This week is my last week of hiatus.  I actually had more fun and relaxed more than I thought I would. Thanks to having our tax return show up just in the nick of time.

I’m going to miss the time off and spending time with the kids, but I’ll enjoy getting the paycheck every week.

Though I relaxed, I’ve still done quite a bit of work too and learned a few things.

For more comics and stories written by me: COMICS AND STORIES If you like what you read, please consider signing up to my rss feed.

I also have a store. Click Here and check it out.

COMIC BOOKS – A Manga about Manga Creators: Bakuman

 Simpsons Quote:

“I’ve spent my entire life doing nothing but collecting comic books… and now there’s only time to say… LIFE WELL SPENT!” - Comic Book Guy

Man, they make Manga about EVERYTHING.  Case in point, I recently started reading a Manga about two guys who create Manga.

AND IT’S GOOD.  Who would have thought that making a Manga about the process of making a Manga would be so compelling and fun.

In this week’s post I’m going to be talking about this series of books.  You can either watch the video or read the post below. Either way, it’s the same info:

Click here to view the embedded video.

All the links to the books below are affiliate links. Thanks for your support.

The Manga about Manga

I went to the Pasadena Central Library and picked up a Manga called Bakuman. Bakuman is about to guys who decide to become professional Manga creators.  I’ve actually found it be fascinating.

It’s a Manga from the same creative team who created the Death NoteManga, which was turned into two live action films and an animated cartoon.

One of the things I like about it is that it’s a story.  It’s entertainment, BUT it’s also “infotainment.”   You get information about what tools are used, the process of making a Manga, what the writing process is like, what the editorial process is like, how the magazine gauges popularity, how Manga assistants work,…etc.  On top of that, at the end of every chapter you get roughs.  You get the what they call storyboards, which is a type of illustrated script. This is taken by the artist and tightened up a bit more.  You get to see this process at the end of every chapter.

It’s one of the many things you find out through out the Manga.

Lot’s to Learn About

This is read from right to left, Japaneses style.

There’s a lot of information here. Specifically on how to get published in Shonen Jump. Shonen Jump is a Manga anthology magazine in Japan written for boys.

On of the big driving factors for the characters in the book is to become so popular in Shonen Jump, that their Manga becomes animated.

As I wrote before, they talk about the editorial process.  They really go into how to get an editor, what you show an editor, the relationship between the editor and the artists, what the editors functions are, what the artists functions are, what the magazine is looking for, how the magazine judges stories and artwork, what gets published, how it gets published, how you become popular. I mean, by issue three they even start talking about what the “secret ingredient” is to keep, not only the readers happy but what you need to do to make something that might actually be a hit.

Being a Creator

Who knew creating Manga could be so dramatic.

Which I find incredible. It’s very cool, specially if you’re in that world already of coming up with stories and ideas. The discussions that the characters have about that stuff is great.  It so obvious that it’s the creators of the Manga that are talking about this to the readers, based on their experiences drawing Manga. And it’s done through this story, and none of it feels forced.  It’s great.

It goes through the ups and downs of being a creator.  But it shows you what it’s like to be a creator in a different culture.  At least different from mine. I’ve worked in the comic book industry and have done professional comics, and what the characters in the Manga go through is very different from what I’ve gone through. Yet, there’s so much that’s the same.

If you’re a creator of comics, it would be a great read, if only to see what creating comics in a different comic book culture is like.  While seeing what overlap is what similar struggles there is.

Yeah, so I highly recommend Bakuman.

Get Back to Me

Let me know if you pick the book up based on my recommendation, or if you’ve read it already.  I’d really like to know what you think of it.

Feel free to subscribe to my newsletter.  When you do, you get  a FREE digital copy of Angel Cowgirl: The Art of Luis Escobar as my gift to you.

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ART – Get ready to Get Inspired, the Art of Richie Chavez

Simpsons Quote:

(At the museum)

Homer: Aw, why does art hate me? I never did anything to art. (notices that his arm is stuck through a painting) Uh, let’s get out of here.

Alright, so I came into work one morning and my friend Paul IMed me.

“Get ready to die,” he wrote and then attached a link.

I followed said link and died.  Turns out his friend and my acquaintance Richie Chavez had a website with his art on in and it blew our minds.

Today I’m going to share that link with you and talk a little bit about Richie.

You watch the video below or you can read what everything I say in the text below the video.  It’s the same info so you choose:

Click here to view the embedded video.

Who is Richie Chavez?

Richie Chavez is a concept artist for animated movies. He’s worked at Disney, Dreamworks, and Sony pictures, to name a few of his high profile studios.

ONE of the movies he developed art for was PRINCE OF EGYPT.  He was on of the Art Directors in that movie.

If you own the Prince of Egypt art book, you can see some of his work. Work like this:

and this one:

And here’s  a picture of Richie:

I got to know Richie because we took Kung Fu together.  We were in the same class.

He’s a really great guy, he’s a really nice guy.  In fact, I was working on a Simpsons bible story comic,  and Richie let me borrow some books he had used for reference on Prince of Egypt.  Which was very cool. I was very very handy and it was very nice of him to do that for me.

Richie’s Site

Well, it turns out that my friend and mentor Paul Wee knows him very well, because they went to school together.  Paul has been bugging Richie about getting a website up online with his work.

Well, he finally got it on up.  Richie now has his own website with his artwork and it’s mind blowing.  You’ve got to go see it. It’s such good art.

He’s got stuff from Sinbad up there that.  Oh man, it’s so awesome! The ideas and the artwork is just incredible.  That movie had sooo much potential.

There’s work from the movie Surf’s Up there too.

I actually went down to Sony when that movie was in development and had lunch with Richie and because my friend Paul where  working there at the time.  The artwork and development artwork on the movie was so incredible.  At least you get to see some of it on his site.

He worked on Hotel Transylvania, Brother Bear…among many others.

The URL is www.richardpchavez.com

Go check it out and let me know what you think.

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THE SIMPSONS NEWS – My Hiatus…or not

Last Thursday my hiatus began.  I should be back at work on May 20th.  Well…at least that was the plan.

So I go on hiatus, and quite frankly, I can’t afford to do so.  My wife and I have NOT be saving money.  Any extra money we make goes directly to getting rid of debt.  We’re trying to get rid of as much liability as we can so we can start having only assets.

The Money Problem

This basically means we’re risking it all to get rid of our debt.  So far we’re doing great.  We’ve only go one more credit card left to pay off and then we’ll tackle Alesha’s student loans.  After that, our car payments.

Anyway, the point is, we’ve got nothing saved up at all and we got hit REALLY hard last month on our property tax (remember, we live in California).  This left us without enough money to pay our mortgage. Then I’m sent on hiatus and hiatus is unpaid.

But don’t worry too much about us, our tax return helped us out.  In fact, our state tax return came a day before I was put on hiatus and it helped us pay our bills for the month, just in time.

Back to Work?

Breathing a sigh of relief I settled into my hiatus and started trying to figure out how I could get my personal projects done while still spending quality time with my kids.

Just as I was figuring all this stuff out, I get a call on Monday from work. I was asked if I could come in for two days to help out on some storyboards beginning Tuesday.  What am I going to say? No? Of course I said I was available.

I came in on Tuesday and began to work.  As I was doing my thing, one of my directors come into my office.

“Remember the Couch Gag you boarded two weeks ago? Mike Anderson gave some great notes on them, I need you to apply them for Thursday.”

“But I’m only here today and tomorrow.”

“They haven’t told you? You’re going to be here Thursday too so you can add these fixes.”

“Oh…okay then.”

A few hours later, production came in and asked me to come in on Thursday only to find out that the director had jumped the gun and told me.

So two days has now turned to three, but hey, I’m not complaining, I need the money.
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BOARD GAMES – Simpsons Studio Artists Worked on the Simpsons Monopoly Game

Simpsons Quote:

Monopoly Guy: There was a bank error in my favor and I’m spending it all on Oriental Avenue prostitutes.

I play a lot of board games…well, I used to.  I like playing them but either I don’t have the time to play them or no one wants to play them with me.

So what?

Well, I happened to have worked on a The Simpsons Monopoly game and today I’m going to be talking about it.

You can either watch the video below or read the text under it.  It’s the same information so it doesn’t really matter which you choose:

Click here to view the embedded video.

I Happen to be a Gamer

I’m really into board games, I’m a big gamer. I used to be obsessed with video games. I’m not so obsessed with them anymore. I prefer something more tactile. I prefer siting around in a group, playing a game.

Board games fit the bill. I’m not talking about mainstream games, like LIFE, Monopoly, Risk. I’m talking more about what are often called Euro games, hobby games, or designer games.  They’re different kinds of board games that are becoming more and more popular.

Game like Quarriors:

A big dice game. It’s difficult to explain the game in  sentence. Just follow the link and you can learn about it.

Or games like DreamBlade, which I wrote about a few years ago on this blog. Here’s the link:

A Board Game I Worked On

Although I don’t play mainstream board games all that much I did work on one and it’s Simpsons related.   That game is, of course  Simpsons Monopoly:

Now I’m not a huge Monopoly fan, in fact, I don’t like playing it at all. I think it’s flawed, but most people when they think of board games they think of Monopoly.

So what did I work on? What did I do in this games?

I worked on the board. BUT only a tiny bit of the board.

There’s these tiny little vignettes of people on the board.  That’s what I drew. Things like this:

I really didn’t do anything else.  The background of the board was drawn by Emmy Award winning Chuck Ragins.  He does background designs on the show and he drew the background on that Monopoly board.  He’s gone on to win an Emmy on one of the shows he designed backgrounds for on the Simpsons.

I’m not sure who drew the rest of the board.

The Chance and Community Chest cards, I believe where drawn by Shawn Cashman.  Shawn is Simpons alumnus who has gone on to become a director in many other shows. Including King of the Hill.

It’s neat looking game. It has lot’s a very cool bits.  The game pieces are Simpsons character. It’s even got Kodos as a playable piece:

The Story Behind the Game

Okay so, how did I end up working on the games?

Well, Bill Morrison from Bongo Comics called me up because he had been given the assignment to do the art on the game. He simply didn’t have the time to do it.  He didn’t have the time to do the entire board.

So he decided to farm out the art to people he thought was going to be able to handle it while he managed it all.  So he paid off the artist to do the bit of the work.

Unfortunately for him, I was one of the last people he asked to do the worked on the characters.  It was  a last minute job.  Then he asked me how much I wanted for the work. When I told him, it turned out that, because of what I asked, he didn’t get paid.

He coordinated the whole thing and then at the end, there was no money left for him. I didn’t realize that, I wasn’t thinking.  It was really screwed up.

He had the job, he farmed it out, he did he difficult job of coordinating the whole thing, and then paid all the artist which left no money for him.

That totally sucked.  I’m sorry Bill, I didn’t know. I wasn’t thinking.

Do you have it?

That’s my little board game story.  Maybe you can still find this game I’m not sure.

Do you have this version of Monopoly? Do you play it? What do you think of the art?  What do you think of this version of the game?

Let me know, I’m curious. Leave a comment below.

BOOKS – My “Art of Book,” Angel Cowgirl.

Behind the scenes for some time now, I’ve been working on putting together a collection of my art and sketches.

I finally managed to finish doing this.

To celebrate, I’m giving way the digital version of the book for FREE.  All you have to do is opt in to my e-mail list and you’ll be sent a link to download the book.

That’s it! It’s so simple.

Here’s a sample of the art you can expect to see:

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COMICS – Garfield the Cat Got me Into Drawing.

Simpsons Quote:

(Fat Tony drives the school carpool home.)
Fat Tony: Milhouse, may I borrow your three-ring binder?
(Milhouse holds up two binders.)
Milhouse: Garfield or Love Is…?”
Fat Tony: Uh, I prefer the cat. He hates Mondays. We can all relate.

As a little kid, I was pretty obsessed with Garfield the cat.  I used to read comic strips all the time but the one I liked the most where Garfield comics strips.

I bring this up because somehow, the whole Garfield thing came full circle when I started working in the animation industry.

Today I’m going to tell you how that happened.

You can either watch the video or simply read what I have to say in the video below:

Click here to view the embedded video.

Some of the links below are affiliate links.

Obsessions of a Little Kid

Garfield really got me into drawing.  I was really into comic strips when I was little. Specifically Garfield. I was really obsessed with Garfield.

I had the comic strip books,

I had Garfield story books:

When I was little I also drew comic strips. The comic strips I drew are actually kept in Garfield scrapbooks.  I’ve got two of them:

I looked in my drawing folders to see if I could find old Garfield drawings I did from when I was a kid. I managed to find one. I drew this when I was in junior high:

You can see from the drawings, especially on the eyes that I was influenced by Jim Davis eyes. And of course, there’s a drawing of Garfield in the bottom. I think it’s a copy, although I used to be able to draw Garfield pretty good without needing to copy.  It might have just been a memory drawing.

You gotta understand that I was pretty obsessed, I was drawing him, all the time.

Then There’s the Documentary

But above all else, what really influence me the most growing up, was a Garfield documentary.  I don’t know what it’s called or where to find it.   I used to have a copy of it on VHS that I recorded off the television.

I looked for it online and I can’t find it.  I don’t even know what it’s called.

The documentary was about Jim Davis, the origins of Garfield and where it came from.    It had behind the scenes footage of how a comic strip was made. It had footage of other artisst that worked on art for the Garfield merchandise.  They talked about the Garfield TV show and the specials.

It even had Phil Roman of Film Roman studios talking about the production of the animated cartoon.  He walks you through the process.

I wish I could find it.  If you can find it online or you know what I’m talking about, please let me know so could put a link to it so every could benefit from it.

It’s a fantastic documentary. It talks about cartooning  and all kinds of great things.

I used to watch it so much because is inspired me. I was pretty obsessed with it.

Well, I bring all this stuff up because it all came full circle for me. From elementary school drawing Garfield, to Junior High drawing Garfield, then soon after abandoning that and starting to draw cartoons and comics on my own.

My love affair with Garfield eventually faded away.

It All Came Full Circle

BUT then I get my first job in the animation industry, and low and behold, it’s in Film Roman where they were producing the Garfield cartoon.

That’s crazy.  That was just crazy.  I was more than aware of this coming full circle with the character. Somehow I ended up working in the studio that produced Garfield cartoons.  I didn’t work on Garfield but I saw them produce it.

It’s one of those weird things.

Has This Happened to You?

Had you even had anything like that ever happen to you? Something that has ever come full circle for you? I’m sure it has and I’d love to hear about it.  What inspired you to do what you do?

Oh, and I almost forgot, I also still have Pooky, Garfield’s teddy bear.  Yeah, I was just this obsessed little kid.

Alright, that’s all from me today.

EDIT:

Dave Roman to the Rescue

Turns out, I’m not the only one with this “art entry point.” Dave Roman of Astronaut Academy, Teen Boat and many other comics, was also influenced by Garfield comics.  As you can see by in this post:

http://www.shelf-awareness.com/issue.html?issue=1499#m12534

He was kind enough tell me what the name of the special was (Garfield 10th Anniversary Special) and gave me a link so here you go:

Click here to view the embedded video.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Click here to view the embedded video.

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VIDEOS – The Tex Avery Documentary that Inspired me to Get into the Animation Industry

Simpsons Quote:

“I could pull a better cartoon outta my aaayyyy, kids!” – Krusty

There were a lot of things in my life that pushed me into animation industry. Tex Avery was one of them.

Today I’m going to talk a very tiny bit on how I became aware of Tex Avery and what that awareness did to me. But really, it’s just my long winded introduction to the documentary that educated me about the man.

You can either watch the video or read the text below it. Either way you’ll get the same information.  Don’t forget to scroll down further to see the videos I posted up of the documentary itself:

Click here to view the embedded video.

Influential Documentary

Okay so how did Tex Avery help me get into animation industry?  Well, it really was the Tex Avery documentary I saw when I saw in high school, which I embedded below.

Tex Avery, what I can I say about Tex Avery.  Besides the documentary, you might what to seek out the this book with his work:

I really didn’t know anything about him at all until I watched the documentary on tv and I later recorded.  I watched that thing over and over again. I had been broadcast on PBS.

It really opened my eyes to a different style of humor and the way it can be pushed in animation. I was really into the comedic side of animation.

Why I Got Into the Animation Industry

THE reason I got into animation was to do exactly the kind of cartoons that Tex Avery did.  I wanted to write and direct, animated shorts, just like Tex Avery. I thought that I was going to be the next Tex Avery. I thought I was going to do what he did.

That’s the only reason I got into the animation industry.

I’ve changed  a lot since then. I know what I want now. I know how to go about doing it.  I don’t really want to be Tex Avery anymore, but initially that’s why I got into the animation industry.

Once I saw the documentary, I started seeking out his cartoons and when I saw them, they blew my mind.  His cartoons did stuff that I found to be very very different.

For Your Viewing Pleasure

Okay, so enough about me, here’s the documentary that changed the way I saw animation.  I’m afraid it isn’t all of it and I don’t know where you can find it complete.  Still, there’s enough here so that you can get something out of it. Enjoy:

Click here to view the embedded video.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Click here to view the embedded video.

What do you think? Did you know who Tex Avery was before you watched this documentary.  Has his cartoons influenced you in anyway.  I’d love to hear  what you have to say.

Who Inspired You?

Who are your heroes. How have they driven you.  Have you moved on from them as I have?  I still love Tex Avery but I’m not driven by wanting to be him anymore.  My heroes are different now.

 

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SOME THOUGHTS – A Question for you About 2D Animated Features

This Tuesday after figure drawing, I got into a conversation with Richie Chavez and Paul Wee, about the animation industry. Specifically, 2d animation.  I’m still hopeful about 2d.  I think audiences want to see 2d animated movies.

Richie, had a different opinion.  He doesn’t think audiences care.  He doesn’t even think audiences know the difference.

The reality is that the last two 2d movies Disney came out with didn’t do well.  Never mind the fact that one wasn’t all that well written and the other didn’t really appeal to most people.

The conversation lasted an hour and a half.  We went into a lot of depth about the business of making animated movies and the way things are changing behind the scenes.

I can’t really reproduce the whole conversation here.

Chris Oatley had something to say about 2d animation in his blog a while back, but I’m wondering if the reason he’s so optimistic is because he’s surrounded by a group of people who appreciate the art form.

How about the “average” person who never thinks about animation at all? Do they feel the same way about 2d animated movies?

We discussed what “average” person meant and narrowed it down to: “parents/families.” Someone looking for something with good values they can trust.

But this begged the question:

Is that the ONLY market for animated movies.  Why not target other markets like anime does?  The answer from the discussion was this:

1. Anime which is released in theaters that target those other markets, don’t really make all that much money. Even Studio Ghibli movies.
2. Raise of the Guardians, was more teen centric and it didn’t do all that well (and it was CG!).

The discussion left me wondering.

What do you think?  Would you like to see 2d features? Why do you think that the last ones failed?  What would you like to see?

Is your opinion the same as the “average” person?

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