Richard Parker the Great and Powerful

Hey there sport fans, Al here with the latest:

Well good ol' Richard Parker begins to move into a new phase as the the "DIVE IN!" art show (at N.W.I.P.A.) gets closer and closer to show time.
I am extremely excited about this show because there is something different about the look and feel of this visual narrative.
It is unlikely most of the illustrations that I had developed for Corrax the Seeker

and Johnny Vega.
Those were my spring boards into Richard Parker and the story around him.
And IT, the story around Richard Parker, also sets up the visual graphic novel of "Dreams of Elysium" down the road.
Truth is my illustrations have always been much better received and far out weigh my writing and story telling ability like a thousand to one.
I've always known this and most of my friends who have seen the work have known this as well so I decided to try something new. And this really goes back to something I read about Will Eisner talking about illustration and sequential story telling. The art has to really carry the reader through the words are secondary. I think that a lot of writers might not agree with that but the visual of comic books is what draws the reader into the books.  Egos not withstanding.

Funny thing is now as the show begins to move towards hanging comes the preparation of other things and in my case artist statements and artists bios.
   I used to think that they were one and the same but they are not as I have found out recently.
An Artist's Bio is exactly that: it covers an artist's education, training, style and medium.
The Artist's Statement (or in my case Series Statement for Richard Parker) what inspired the work and the visual narrative being presented.
Also keeping it straight and to the point. In a way it's kinda like a comic book story pitch at a show when someone comes and asks you what your book and character is about.
Like "What's Corrax the Seeker? What's he seeking?"
"He's seeking vengance for the genoside of his race."
OR
"What's Johnny Vega about?"
"He's a combination of John Sheraden of B5 and Flash Gordon."
Of course this reference to comics but the same general principal can be applied to an art show statement.
Short and sweet and gets the point across to others what the art show is about  

So this weekend I should be picking up backing boards and mats for my pieces of artwork for the show and have that ready to go as well.

ON TOP OF THAT.....
not only do I have to come up with a series statement but I also have tie down a few loose ends with Bonanza for selling work and look into both distributors for carrying the prints or postcards as well as looking at teespring.com for selling t-shirts of Richard Parker and Last Monster on EARTH!.

SOUNDS like a lot of stuff and it is but to get this ball rolling I have to master a bunch of things that surround the idea of making money at my craft and be happy about it. 

posted from Bloggeroid

Big Richard Parker

Well Sports fans Al here with the latest,
 Richard Parker is alive and well as far as anybody else could  know OR should know.

Almost all of the artwork has been completed for the DIVE IN art show for this September and it looks way super cool!
Now I am still having a group of friends t help out on this artistic endeavor with transmission and framing. And really I couldn't have done it with out them.
Thank you.
Now unlike the last show I had at NWIPA this features several different pieces of Richard Parker.

I am hoping that this feature will really give me the visiblity that my art requires at this time. I have been just on the peripheral of the art community in showing the work. And yes is inspired by comic books and the style of keeping action at the center of things. BUT still maintaining a good artistic esthetic.

 As things get closer to the day of the opening which is about 2 months away I like to have things done and ready for other issues that will arise before the opening. Advertising poster like this one featured right here is one thing that needs to be done right and and big as well to show off what kind of show this is.

Down below is the center piece that I have been working on at home for it is too damn big to take with me to work on a bicycle. Especially during this fantastic hot days of summer.  But each day that I have had this work it keeps growing bigger and more grandiose. Not unlike the comic book characters that I have worked on in the past like Johnny Vega.

,

BUT in this instance unlike Vega there is a number of people who like what I am doing and PLUS are willing to buy it!
That is exciting to any artist doing their work.  And with the way I am looking at story telling now I know that things are just getting better for the way I am presenting them.

SO WHAT KIND OF STORIES AM I THINKING/TALKING ABOUT?
Most of them you already know from the last couple of years that I had been talking about them:

Corpse Cop
This guy has been around moved out of the standard comic book medium into the art realm and back again. The comic illustrator in me wanted something that was funny and scary at the same time while working with this character. There is at least two or three more stories with that guy and then I'll farm him out to others to play with.

The Watery Adventures of Richard Parker
Most of that you have
already seen in the solo plates now it's time to step up the sequential art panels for the story. But Richard Parker has a lot do under the sea and how he gains back a life in depths.

Last Monster on EARTH! 
I am still working out the details on this gem of a monster mash up! And I might adapt it for digital color as well. Him and a version of Robby the Robot are on a collision course. I don't know how long this work would be but I think it would be self contained.
I'm still working out his transportation issue at the moment- giant hamster ball or futurist motorcycle.
I'm flipping the coin.

AND LASTLY "Dreams of Elysium".
My swain song to comics (unless somebody hands me the reigns to one of dream projects Martian Manhunter, ManWolf or Killraven.) But only then. Comics and comic book stories have lost their pull with people and collectors of truely unique stuff. Unless you have the flashy costume and your on TV your art and your story don't matter a hill of beans there Jack. 
Again I know that there are a lot of people you wouldn't agree with me (and of course this is my opinion) and may prove me wrong and I secretly hope that I am.  BUT till then this is the course of how I am going to make it selling art.

SHOWS-Now yesterday my girlfriend and  I traveled to the Mississippi Street fair here in town (PDX) for a small amount of time to kinda get a feel for the show. Would it be a good place to sell work? Hard to say but there isn't enough product in my inventory to make a difference right at the moment. I wish there was but there isn't currently at this time maybe in two years I could. But I would hope that I could get other materials such as more t-shirts and pint glasses made since my latest image of Richard Parker in the pint glass seems to have gotten a HUGE amount of likes from people on line. Time will tell.

ON LINE WEB STORES;
Adam Watson had told me and George Leon of another website to sell work at simuliar to Storenvy Big Cartel and Etsy called Bonaza.
I am still figuring out the site itself but it never hurts to cast that net as large as I can.  

And that's about it for the kid here.

And for anything else that pertains to the box check out these sites as well.
Etsy

Big Cartel 

Storenvy

And of course I still have my comics that I have worked on here at Indyplanet.

And mind you there is website
and the facebook page 

The Website also has some new stuff added for the comic books featuring Corpse Cop.

 And with that this kid is outta of here I got work to do. 

 

posted from Bloggeroid

And again there is Richard Parker

Hey there sports fans, Al here with the latest:

Rough idea for show poster.

"SQUEEZE!" 9"X12" scratchboard

The DIVE IN! Art Show,

is starting to look pretty good so far and planning has been a major boost for the kid here.

So as with all art work and all that it entails how to make a living by it is still an ever illusive game. And really that is what it boils down - to a game.
As they say "being in the right place at the right time". I don't really agree with that comment but being prepared as well as you can when the opportunity presents itself.
That I will agree with.
Now I had a long texting conversation with my good buddy Adam Watson of Darkslinger Comics yesterday and continued it further into the evening with my roommate Dax last night.
How to present yourself and your work and still make some scratch?
Well after what I witnessed at the Linework NW show earlier this year, I now convinced that the only way a independant publisher can make a sellable product is to condense and reduce a story line to one book that a potential buyer would want to plunk cash down on and feel as they walk away from your table (or if you are lucky enough to have your books on consignment.) good that they have something cool.

It also doesn't hurt to have a hard bound edition of the work either.

Now as I was explaining this to Adam, a lot of people always come up with a great idea and then fill in the blanks and clog up the story telling process.
There are still a lot of main stream comics being sold but with one major difference - a lot of those stories are based around the movies that are coming out not the other way around.
The comic buying crowd has fundementally changed since Batman Begins came out. and there was one other item that came up in my facebook feed which I thought illustrated brilliantly the problem with mainstream comic books.

I think that David Mazzucchelli said it better than anyone in the mainstream comic book field and when I see so many independent comic creators out there trying desperately to mirror their inspirations they fall flat. Happened to me and a fan said it to me at a show. "Your work looks too polished and professional."
I used to think that was a real asinine comment but the more I thought about it, yeah that makes sense.

Dax's take on this topic was a bit different saying that he thought that a universe where all these characters exist in should be the main focus and that universe would portraied at different time periods would be defined by those characters in it. This would harken back to those earlier stories. Who was the first super human? Like every major and minor comic universe there is always one character who stands above everybody else and is inapproachable.

I saw where he was going with this but I don't quiet agree with his assessment of it.
That self contained story is what people are willing to plunk money down on. 
I'm totally down for that.

A self contained  nicely presented story along with great artwork will sell. So I have a couple of different stories to present and that will be fine. "The Watery Adventure of Richard Parker" is one "Dreams of Elysium" is another and possibly "Last Monster on EARTH!" as well. SO we'll see how these all come out.
In this time of creation I felt that I had been slipping artisticly. And what I mean by that is that personally I felt like a part of myself had gotten lost so driven to make Richard Parker "real" that I started like I was the story character and he was the dreamer dreaming me into exitstance instead of the other way around.
It sounds vaguely Pygmalion doesn't it? I used to tell people that the artist is their artwork and the artwork is the artist.
This is where things like Grant Morrison's concept of a "fiction suit" comes into play. If you haven't a clue to what I'm talking about check any of his work especially on DC's Animal Man or his work on the Invisibles. I've been told that the Filth is pretty good but haven't read it yet and other works such as Supergods is good as well.
All have to deal with an over riding of self and the characters that are versions of themselves in a fanciful light.
I believe that really did happen to me and now I am balancing the rest of the artistic equation.
Of course he also thinks that I should be getting paid for I am worth and my artistic ability is far better than where it was 1 year or more. I find this praise worthy and worth noting because he has seen the advancement of where I started long ago.
He also feels that I should be working in the comics field doing something I love.
Its been year since I thought about doing anything in that venue seriously. But I haven't got anything to loose if I didn't try do it so I might try my version of the Martian Manhunter in a few pencil pages just to try adn say I did do it or for Marvel with Killraven and see what happens there.

Oh well that's it for the kid here and I am outta here.

And for anything else that pertains to the box check out these sites as well.
Etsy

Big Cartel 

Storenvy

And of course I still have my comics that I have worked on here at Indyplanet.

And mind you there is website
and the facebook page 

The Website also has some new stuff added for the comic books featuring Corpse Cop.

 And with that this kid is outta of here I got work to do. 

 

posted from Bloggeroid