Big Mailer Etiquette

Hey folks. As more and more people get a hold of the Big Mailer, I thought I'd remind everyone of a few things. A friend and fellow artist has given me a heads up on the status of the book on its 10th stop along the way and it's time for a Come-To-Jesus about it.

I had originally sent the book with a laminate sheet detailing a few simple guidelines for being a participant in this. It's not because I'm a control freak, but I understand that one book seeing 100 different hands, brushes and pencils will tend to get beat up and it just behooves all of us to treat it kindly.

That said, here was what should have been sent along with the book. I don't know who ditched the backing sheet so I'll try to resend it.

> Only draw on one side of the page, but feel free to use the back of your
drawing to list any emails or websites you wish. There will be a credits page
at the end also.

> You can draw anything you want and use any media. The only restriction
is that you don’t use any copyrighted material, or anything too violent or
sexually explicit.

> If you’re going to use heavy wet media, please be considerate and use
a backing sheet behind your drawing to avoid bleeding onto the next page.
This sheet was laminated to provide you with a backing, but feel free to use
whatever you want.

> Please make sure to package the sketchbook and this sheet together when
sending it to the next artist.

> When you are finished with your piece, email me at 100artists@gmail.com
and I’ll give you the address of the next artist.

> If you want to scan your work, that’s ok. Try not to show the work to
too many people as the contents will be a surprise to the eventual owner.
Also keep in mind this is a perfect-bind book and scanning may compromise
the spine. If you want to scan it to help the project, scan it in at 300dpi, and
save it as a tiff with LWZ compression, then you can email it in.

That's it. It's not rocket science. There was even someone who just added a drawing to the book that they took out of another book. I don't know who it was, but I doubt I'll be using it. The point is to draw in the book, not use the sketchbook as an envelop for a drawing.

So, going forward, please treat the book nice. It has to go to 99 other people than you and if you treat it poorly, chances are other people will too. This is a serious endeavor for me and the others involved. Let's be professional and courteous.

Carry on.

Email and Participation

I thought I'd throw this out there and see what you fine folks think.

The first group of sign ups that came in via the main site were slow and steady. The original group of interested people were on a message board I visit every day. After the initial group from Penciljack signed up (about 50 people) and a few folks from the tubes signed up (about 50 people) the site was linked to Drawn! and since then 250+ people have "signed up."

At first I tried to email everyone back, but I was worried about information overload. The site has a lot of rules and information but that was mostly in an effort to stave off repetitive questions and make sure a lot of unusable art wasn't sent in. (To this day I haven't received any Spider Man drawings, so something's working.) I stopped emailing everyone who filled out the form and instead created a nice "Thank you for signing up, hope to see your art soon" message for after they hit "submit." Since then I only sent emails to those who asked questions in the comment field.

Now I'm new to the whole deal about running a project or website that's popular enough to garner 300 peoples' interest, so I may not know of a standard sign up to participate ratio. So I'll ask the readers: Does the project seem like it's a newsletter? Is there something ambiguous in its intent that results a 4:1 ratio of people who are interested but can't or won't draw?

I had a friend help with the language on the front page to try and trim it down. Keep it simple, keep the facts in there but don't tarry on nuance. It's easy for me to be witty when I write, not as easy to be clean and concise, apparently. I'm just worried that there's an assumption people make when they see this project that when they sign up they're going to receive a copy of the sketchbook or be notified when shirts go on sale or something. I'm worried because I'm making an assumption that it's artists that are filling out the forms, not just regular viewers, but if that's the case, why are they doing it? And if it's not the case, why have there only been 70 pieces sent in?

Don't get me wrong, 70 pieces of artwork is amazing, especially from 70 different people. The fact that a single sketchbook has been mailed to 10 different people is as well nothing to sneeze at. The link on Boing Boing hasn't yielded but one person signing up, which is fine, Boing Boing is tech friendly, not necessarily art focused. And yet the comment in the mail I received was "sign me up." Would it have made a difference if I had emailed all the people individually and said, if not a bit redundantly, "Welcome aboard?"

So to all the prospective artists out there, I officially sign all of you up. I can't publish a book of emails or intentions, so let's put pencil to paper and get this thing done.

Carry on.

Boinged

Greetings to the folks coming in from Boing Boing. There were a handful of artists involved in the project that I knew would help give it some gravitas and Apelad was one of those.

If you are an artist and would like to contribute, please check out the main site and if you have any questions, let me know.

If you aren't an artist, please do me a favor and tell your friends about it. At some point we will be selling all this artwork and the more people know about it, the more money we can raise.

Thanks!

Interview - Adam Koford

Adam Koford is a freelance illustrator and cartoonist who gained internet fame with his contributions to the 700 Hoboes Project and more recently his Laugh-Out-Loud Cats. He's done work for American Greetings, Recycled Paper Greetings and King Features Syndicate. He's married with children and currently lives and works in "Cloud City" Florida.

Adam, thanks for taking the time to speak with me today.

First off, as many people know already, your net handle is "Apelad." How did you get that name?

Mark Frauenfelder first suggested cartoonists should draw Hodgman's hoboes and then post them to flickr. I signed up, but needed a handle. I'd been living in Florida for a few years and I would tell friends my phone number was 407-APE-LAD1 (which it really was) sort of as a gag and so they could remember it easier. I decided to go with that since it coincidentally happened to be a relatively accurate description of me. The phone number preceded the nickname. We've since moved and our new phone number is complete nonsense.

If you can recall, describe the moment or event that you realized you wanted to be an artist.

I was never really the class clown in school, but I remember being able to make my close friends laugh. At some point when I was very young, maybe 4th grade, a friend told me I should either become a stand up comedian or a cartoonist. I remember that moment like it was yesterday and haven't looked back. Besides, I was way to young for the Improv's open mic night back then.

Would you describe yourself as a classically trained or self taught artist? If you studied, where and was it a good experience?

I am a mixture of both. I have a degree in illustration, but I was learning to draw from comics and golden age illustrators long before that.

What would you like to accomplish with your art?

My aims are pretty simple: I want to give people a bit of joy and a smile, if only for a second. And hopefully support myself and my family for the next thirty or so years doing it.

Who were your biggest influences when you were starting out and has that changed?

The first library book I ever laid my hands on was a Rube Goldberg collection. From a very young age I tried to immerse myself in as many different influences as possible--from comic strips to comic books to art history in general. My mother went back to college when I was in high school, and I would go with her and hang out in the library for a few hours discovering N.C. Wyeth and Howard Pyle, as well as whoever was in the Society of Illustrators annuals like Brad Holland and Bernie Fuchs. Since then, I don't really follow what the SI is doing, the illustrators I look at are in comics and online.

I know you make a living with your art, how hard do you work at it?

I can always work harder at it, but the trick is making the work amount to something. There's an interview with Orson Welles where, at the end of his life, he talks about movie making being one big hustle: always trying to make money and work on another project. I feel the same way about what I do. Many are the months when the prospects dry up and all of a sudden the civil service test looks like the best option.

If you could change something you do while creating, a habit or crutch, without any effort, what would it be?

I could be better at thinking things through as I do them. I often look back at my work and wonder what I was thinking, technique-wise.

Are you a hard set solo artist or would you like to collaborate more with other artists?

Collaboration can be fun, and on lots of projects it's the rule. Whether it's an art director or client, there aren't too many opportunities to create in a vacuum.

Artists are generally not happy with what they've done or how accomplished they are, but if you had to label it, what would have to happen for you to consider yourself successful?

A steady reliable income creating something I love working on forever till I die an old man at the drawing board. Is that so much to ask?

What media are you most comfortable using and why?

I'm pretty comfortable with most anything as far as traditional media goes. I don't have as much of an opportunity to paint as much as I'd like and I miss it sometimes. I also really enjoy experimenting and discovering things in photoshop. Illustrator not so much. Vectors leave me cold for some reason.

Would you rather push yourself to get a lot of work done or push yourself to perfect one piece at a time over a long period?

I've never been very good at staying interested in one physical piece of work for a long time. I tend to work quick and dirty at times, but I'm trying to find a balance.

When you look back on the choices you made as an artist or becoming an artist, what - if anything - would you do differently?

I would have done a lot more life drawing from a live model a lot earlier. One summer I went to weekly life drawing sessions at the University of Utah and it improved my work in very noticeable ways.

Do you think it's easier to be an artist today than say twenty or thirty years ago?

It always has been, and probably always will be, difficult to make a living as an artist.

What's a typical day like for you?

It all depends on what I'm working on and when it's due. Some assignments have a quick turnaround and some are drawn out. Missing a deadline is the number one cardinal sin for a freelancer.

In the meantime I work on writing and drawing things that are ordered through my blog, or devising other ways to generate interest in my work.

Your recent work on the Laugh-Out-Loud Cats has a satirical tidbit about your grandfather Aloysius "Gorilla" Koford being the original creator before becoming a seaman. In reality, are you a product of an artistic family?

Reality is entirely relative. But yeah, my father went to art school and would draw for us quite a bit when I was a kid. I have a son who has an almost visible need to draw, especially if he's around comic books.

You're relatively close to Disney World. Has that been an influence on you as a cartoonist? Have you ever tried to work for Disney?

The themeparks are extremely inspiring artistically. The amount of detail and artistry that goes into most of them is often what keeps me upright if I'm there in the Summer or on a busy day.

I lived in Burbank in 95-96 when apparently everyone was getting a job in animation simply by asking, and I applied to Disney and several studios then, to no avail.

I dropped off my portfolio with the Disney animation studio here in Orlando as they were wrapping up production on Brother Bear. Shortly after that they closed their doors.

John Hodgman's book, "Areas of My Expertise," seems to have had an enormous impact on your work. Why do you think that is?

I've always had a soft spot for absurdity I guess.

Have you thought of trying to work on something with him, a collaboration?

At this point I'm resigned to the fact that I'll never actually meet him (let along collaborate with him on anything), even though several other hobo artists have seen him at readings and such. Did you know Jack Kirby and Joe Sinnott met only once in their entire lives? Two men who defined the look and flavor of comics for the next several decades only met once at a convention, had a few words, and went along their ways. I'm no Joe Sinnott, but maybe I'll meet Hodgman when we're very old men, at the annual Hobo Convention in Britt, Iowa.

You and two other 700 Alums (myself and Jawbone Radio's Len Peralta) have set up sort of a cottage industry of small, quick, cheap and customizable art. It seems to have done quite well for you, but do you feel it's taken away from other things you'd like to be doing?

No. I like drawing, and it allows me to draw.

You've been involved in more than a few online groups, Neatorama, the 700 Hoboes, Illustration Fridays to name a few. Which has been or is still your favorite?

The 700 Hoboes project was a very fun time for me. I never had to wonder what to draw next, and I was always on the lookout for weird and new things to incorporate. I look forward to the 700 Molemen, and really should do more about the other 700 Things projects going on.

Do you have anything you'd like to say to your fans and fellow artists?

Only this: thank you.

Thanks for your time. Good luck with your work!

And thank you, too.

You can see more of Adam's work on his blog, Hobotopia.

Interview - Mike Peterson

Mike Peterson, a.k.a Halcyonsnow, is an illustrator, copywriter, novelist and photographer. Mike is one of the founding contributors to the 700 Hoboes Project. He lives in Cincinnati, OH where he takes pictures of people at airports and cons friends into wearing lucha libre masks.

You'd be surprised at how eager people are to don the mask of the Luchadore. Putting on the mask is like a little Halloween, a license to be outside of yourself for a few minutes. Then you get all sweaty and hot. If you ever get to Cincinnati, you should try it. Although I imagine you can probably find a bigger selection of masks in Texas.

Probably. Thanks for taking the time today. These questions are general and open ended. Be as long winded or curt as you like.

General Long-winded Curt, "As-you-like" would have been a good Hobo name.

If you can recall, describe the moment or event that you realized you wanted to be an artist.

I'm still waiting for that moment. To put it another way, I don't think it was ever a question of "want." I just do stuff. I have an insatiable urge to create things, which is unfortunate, since it really cuts into my video-game-playing time. Art is an act of creation that is enjoyable, accessible and scale-able. If I had the opportunity to design and build a space station, I would do that.

Would you describe yourself as a classically trained or self taught artist? If you studied, where and was it a good experience?

Definitely self-taught. It's the only way to go. I've had friends who were brilliant, born artists, and they went to art school and came out graphic design machines that hated art. It takes a person years to undo the damage and start creating again. I think that's why so many art-school grads are into primitivist art. They like it because it doesn't remind them of school; they've been classically conditioned to associate quality with lack-of-originality.

The thing I missed by skipping art school is a strong understanding of materials. I would like to use oils, for example, but since I skipped the formal training, all of my oil experiments have been disastrous. Getting tutored on oils is pretty high on my very long to-do list.

What would you like to accomplish with your art?

The same as any artist, I guess: to be acknowledged as the greatest artistic genius ever to have lived.
Realistically, my life-goal has always been to be an eccentric, independent, recluse. I guess that makes Crumb my role-model.

Who were your biggest influences when you were starting out and has that changed?

Probably the artists (and writers) of Mad Magazine. I was particularly fond of Sergio Aragones, but I'm sure Mort Drucker and Jack Davis were just as important. I probably learned the most from "How to Draw Comics the Marvel Way," which I now know should have been titled "How to Ape the Kirby Style." Either way, it was a huge help. Thanks, Stan Lee!

Now I'm a lot more catholic in my style-biting. I look at as many good artists as I can, try to see what they're doing well, where they're weak.

My two favorite illustrators right now are Ralph Steadman and Drew Friedman. What does that tell you?

Is art a hobby or serious business to you?

I try to treat everything I do as a hobby. If you don't enjoy it, what's the point?

If you could change something you do while creating, a habit or crutch, without any effort, what would it be?

Can I change two?

1) I would get rid of my tendency to over-fiddle when finishing the art, especially when coloring in photoshop. I start with confidence and finish with disgust. It's a classic 80/20 thing.

2) I would learn to love backgrounds. One of my many failings is a laziness when it comes to drawing around the subject, to the ruin of many otherwise good pieces. One of the things I admire most about Koford is the love he puts into the scene. You see that a lot in his Laugh-out-Loud Cats.

Are you a hard set solo artist or would you like to collaborate more with other artists?

Oh no, I love collaboration. That's one thing I picked up in advertising. Assuming that you trust your partner, the work you create as a team is exponentially better, easier, and more fun. It's the difference between good and great. My favorite work of fiction (the novella, Dedicat Ed, available at Amazon ) was co-written with a buddy (Eric Fleming); he blended subtleness and humanity into my bitter, heavy-handed satire. The result was greater than the sum of the parts. Plus, we wrote the damn thing in three days which is about 365 times faster than any other book I've written.

Artists are generally not happy with what they've done or how accomplished they are, but if you had to label it, what would have to happen for you to consider yourself successful?

I'd like to be able to do my own thing full time and not have to answer to anyone. I'm probably a year or two away from that.

What media are you most comfortable using and why?

Pencil, pen and ink. Pencil is great for working out the ideas and I just love the richness of real ink. I use nib pens (crow quill- Hunt 108 is my fave) unless I'm in a hurry. They really the character of my inking. I also use rapidographs a lot, especially when I'm going for nineteenth-century line work. I'm such an experimenter, though, I basically use everything but oils.

Would you rather push yourself to get a lot of work done or push yourself to perfect one piece at a time over a long period?

I'd rather do thirty drawings in a day but it just doesn't work that way for me. I need thinking time.

When you look back on the choices you made as an artist or becoming an artist, what - if anything - would you do differently?

I wish I'd kept track of all the stuff I've done so I could look back. I could be like, "oh yes, 1999, I was very into stencils that year."
Also I would have gone ahead and changed my name to something unique. You have no idea how bad it is, career-wise, to have a generic name.

Do you think it's easier to be an artist today than say twenty or thirty years ago?

Easier to make a living at it, entirely because of the internet. Ten years ago, you had to buy into the gallery system, advertising industry or magazine publishing if you wanted to have even a sliver of a chance of being successful enough to live on your art. So a handful of people were making all the who-lives-and-who-dies decisions about art.

Ten years ago, you had to live in a big city to find enough potential clients to support you; and you had to live at a big-city cost-of-living. Now you can live someplace cheap and have all the benefits of living in a city of 100 million. Kids today have it so easy!

All that said, it's just as difficult to master "art" itself, maybe moreso. And now you really get a sense of how you stack up against other artists.
It's humbling to get online and realize that some 12-year old in Finland has better line-work than you. Luckily you have a much better sense of physiognomy. That's at least some consolation.

Do you still work as a copywriter?

Oh yeah. All things considered, it's a great day-job. It keeps you sharp; you're writing constantly, coming up with ideas, solving problems, it's actually the best workout for the creative mind, better than working on your own stuff, because it forcibly exposes you to things you would never seek out on your own. And it pays good. And you work with fun people. Advertising creatives (that's copywriters and art directors for you laymen) are funny and amiable, much more so than serious artists. Plus they're almost universally humble.

Advertising, for all its flaws, is honest work. Good creatives never try to hide the fact that we're selling something... we always try to give the audience a little something-something (funny, thought-provoking, whatever) to balance that out.

That being said, I hate having a day-job. I can usually only tolerate it for about a year at a stretch. Then I take six months off, to work on personal stuff, before I go back.

Your blog says you are an award winning copywriter. What award did you win?

This question makes me feel like Les Nessman with his coveted Silver Sows. Ad awards are meaningless to the world at-large. They come in handy when you need another advertising job, though, and they can definitely speed up your career. The only ad awards worth anything at all to the public are the Clios, because they're featured on TV as "The World's Funniest Commercials." Or a Cannes Gold Lion, if you want the respect of film nerds. I haven't won either of those yet. If you're really interested, here's my ad portfolio with the awards listed (http://mpcopywriter.blogspot.com/).

It also says you're a "failed novelist." Is this a failure by motivation or failure from rejection?

More of a generalized failure. Writing novels is hard. Getting someone else to publish them is next-to-impossible. The big-publishing industry is in its death throes and basically has been since I started writing. There's only a few genres that are still successful and the stuff I write is what they call in the industry "not marketable." What they mean is, the industry is very conservative and will not support work that doesn't entirely sell itself either by virtue of its being by an established author or a knock-off of some other successful book. I got my scorecard full of rejection before I worked that out. The industry is so top-heavy and stodgy that they can't profit off a book that sells less than half-a-million copies. They've killed the mid-list.

My long-term plan is to start printing them myself; there's a capital outlay involved but the payback is much better. I've written (depending on how you count it) five books, one was co-written, two are completely done and ready to be reprinted at any time, two are ready to be edited by someone else, and the one that I'm currently working on is probably three drafts or so from being done. Five (-ish) books in ten (-ish) years. That's pretty good, motivation-wise. But I haven't even tried to talk to an agent or a publisher since 2001. I'd rather be creating something than trying to sell it.

Your Flickr site has a lot of varied work; graphic design, illustration, cartooning, photography, and you're also a bit of a writer. Which of these do you find the most rewarding?

They're all rewarding, and they're all frustrating. I'm pretty-good at everything I put my hand to, given enough practice. Jack-of-all-trades, master-of-none, polymath, whatever you want to call it. I pick up skills as I need them. I started shooting photographs just to use as reference for drawing. Now I can shoot a decent photo one-in-ten tries. That's okay, I can live with that.

Drawing is the skill I value most; it's the last thing on the list I would give up. I could quit writing, I could quit shooting, but I could never quit doodling. It's soothing. It keeps me sane. Near-sane.

You're the third person I've interviewed from Ohio. The first from Columbus and Lakewood. Is Ohio a mecca for creative people? Would you say there's a good art scene in Cincinnati?

There's a lot of young artists here in the Nati because we've got good art schools and because Cincinnati is very progressive for the midwest. My feeling is that artists have a pretty good deal here in Ohio. The cost-of-living is low, which means you worry less about paying rent and think more about art. I think you'll see more art (and writing) coming out of the middle-of-the-country over the next decade for this very reason. Call it the Scalzi effect.

Have you considered working as a freelancer photographer for a local paper or being more commercial with your photography?

I've considered it. Commercial photography is a pretty good racket, dollar-per-joule. And the flexible schedule is appealing. But I'm not interested in it enough to get into the process of learning all the technical details that separates a pro from a guy like me. Lighting, for instance. Bo-ring!

Being involved in so many creative outlets, what's a typical day like for you?

Long and tiring. It's difficult to balance work with art and writing and a personal life. I have to stay disciplined. When things get hairy at work, the writing suffers first, then the sleep, then the personal life, then the art. Cruel but true.

Do you have anything you'd like to say to your fans and fellow artists?

Dear Fans:
Hello! I had no idea I had fans. Can I sign your boobies?

Dear Fellow Artists:
Thank you. You make the world interesting.

Thanks for your time. Good luck with your work!

You can see some of Mike’s work here.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/halcyonsnow/

And his copywriting portfolio.

http://mpcopywriter.blogspot.com/

30 To Go

Yesterday I received the 70th piece of art for the Single Mailer. Looking back on it, receiving that many in four months is pretty nifty. It's not 100, but if people are still thinking the project may not make it or are waiting to see if it takes off, believe me, it has taken off. It's official. More people have sent in artwork for this project than there are in most governmentally registered non-profit organizations.

So don't wait, if you aren't one of the next 30 people to send in art, you won't be in the first ever 100 Artists Project book. That should mean something, right?

Carry on.

Technorati

Hey folks, if you appreciate the project and are contributing artist or just curious viewer, click on the Technorati favorite thingie over on the side. Also if anyone Diggs the blog or otherwise subscribes to it, let me know. If you can believe it, I'm both inexperienced and slow to adapt to how blogs gain popularity. Any tips would be great as the more people know about it, the more money we can ultimately raise.

Cheers.

Definition of Quick Draw

I'd like to officially dedicate this post to Robin Moore. Robin received the Big Mailer sketchbook on September 5th, took the evening to draw something and today, the 6th of September, got the book back into the mail.

I know we all have lives. I know we all have things come up that draw our attention. But thanks to Robin, the project is moving forward and if we all took this as an example, it'd be done by this time next year. We are only as fast as our slowest artist, don't let that one be you.

Thanks Robin!

Socialize!

If you don't know already, there's a 100 Artists MySpace page, as loathed as I am to admit it. So, if you have a MySpace account and want to...I don't know, friend up or whatever, feel free. All I've done with it so far is deny stripper accounts so anything's better than that.

If you truly want to interact with people, however, I'd also suggest the 100 Artists Ning group. It's a bit more interactive, a little cleaner and isn't going to blow your eyes out with insane amounts of poorly thought out banners and background images.

And as always, there's the Flickr group, though the only thing I have that for is to display images for the preview gallery. Still, if you're a Flickrnista, feel free to join the group.

There are a lot of people that have signed up to be a part of the project. Only a percentage have contributed, but over all I'd say roughly 400 people have expressed interest. If you are one of these people, sign up on Ning and talk with others about the project, art, or general interest. There are a lot of us out there, it'd be a good way to meet other people, maybe maybe find others to collaborate with, learn from or find work.

Carry on.

Sketchbook keeps on movin'

The map on the main site is updated again. Sketchbook is in Washington and will hopefully be on to Kentucky soon.

Only 92 more stops to go.

Interview - Jeremy Dale

Jeremy Dale is a rising star in the world of comic art. You can see his work in the G.I. Joe 25th Anniversary comics, Wildguard: Fools Gold, Miserable Dastards, Space Doubles and his own book Absolute Zeroes. Jeremy lives and works in Columbia, South Carolina with his wife Kelly.

Jeremy, thanks for taking the time to speak with me today.

Hey, no problem at all-- this 100 artists project is fun to watch come together, by the way.

If you can recall, describe the moment or event that you realized you wanted to be an artist.

Wow, that's a broad one. Honestly, it was probably when I was around 10 years old. A local cartoonist came to my library and gave a seminar to a large room of children on how to draw their favorite cartoon and comic book characters. I remember looking at my paper and what he had on his at the front of the room and realizing, "Hey-- that's not too bad! I did pretty well with this." That'd be the first time I noticed I had any talent at it, anyway.

Would you describe yourself as a classically trained or self taught artist? If you studied, where and was it a good experience?

A little of both, really. Mostly, though, I taught myself from every resource I could get my hands on-- pre-internet, it was extremely hard figuring it all out. I didn't major in art at all in college, though-- I decided that I needed a back-up career in case comics didn't work out... so I majored in Mass Communication and got some nice experience as a deejay on WONU in Chicagoland radio.

What would you like to accomplish with your art?

I want to be a storyteller. Pinups and single images don't interest me much-- I'd rather tell a story visually. If I can somehow inspire someone along the way, I'd love that.

Who were your biggest influences when you were starting out and has that changed?

Will Eisner beyond a doubt. That's never changed. His work has been an incredible inspiration. More recently there's Mike Wieringo, Darwyn Cooke, Art Adams, and Ryan Ottley-- all artists that know a lot about telling a great story that springs right off the page with crackling energy and passion.

I know you make a living with your art, how hard do you work at it?
Probably harder than I should, actually. I'm having so much fun doing what I love for a living that I sometimes don't realize how the long hours at the drawing board affect me in a negative way. Honestly, I've been doing 3-4 pages a day without weekends for so long now that I don't remember what it's like to NOT be in the studio every day.

If you could change something you do while creating, a habit or crutch, without any effort, what would it be?

Be more patient with it-- I tend to get too frustrated and antsy if I've been drawing a page for too long, rushing a bit much along the way just to move on.

Are you a hard set solo artist or would you like to collaborate more with other artists?

I'd LOVE to collaborate more. Just hanging out with other creators at conventions is incredibly inspiring-- I'd love to work in a studio environment or see others ink or color my work more often. I love the creative dynamic.

Artists are generally not happy with what they've done or how accomplished they are, but if you had to label it, what would have to happen for you to consider yourself successful?

That's a great question-- and honestly, it's hard to define, but I'll try... I would honestly just like to be respected for the work I do and make enough while doing it to keep my family taken care of. Every thing else (notoriety, being an inspiration, making loads of cash, being a comics superstar) is just gravy-- it'd be nice to have, but in the end would probably just spoil me if I had too much of it.

What media are you most comfortable using and why?

Pencils-- I like the looseness of the pencilled line, although seeing my stuff inked well is the ultimate treat... as long as I'm not the inker.

Would you rather push yourself to get a lot of work done or push yourself to perfect one piece at a time over a long period?

The former, as I think anyone that knows me would agree. I'm far too impatient and driven to allow one piece to sit on my drawing board for too long. I want that thing done as well as I can on the deadline I have or earlier.

When you look back on the choices you made as an artist or becoming an artist, what - if anything - would you do differently?

Research what I needed to know or learn earlier-- who knows how much better I'd be if I'd applied myself to learning it all sooner?

Do you think it's easier to be an artist today than say twenty or thirty years ago?

Mostly, yeah-- we get paid better now and are treated better with more notoriety, but on the other hand no one allows ANYTHING to be brilliant anymore... every book is broken down critically so nothing will ever be legendary in the current market. That's disheartening, when the overall quality of comics at the moment are SO much better written and produced than they have ever been. Here's hoping we remember how to just have fun in stories again sometime soon.

You're originally from Indiana, you live in South Carolina now. Would you consider either of the places you've lived a hotbed for comic book art, or art in general?

Columbia, South Carolina is pretty active in the comics scene-- about a dozen or more active professionals, which is a shock to me, coming from a town where I was the only guy really serious about it. I wasn't used to seeing other creative types interested in comics before moving here. However, the South Bend-area of Indiana is GREAT for comic creators. I really enjoyed being an adopted local there before the move down south. I may not dig the city in general, but this area is great for creators.

Your recent big commission came with the G.I. Joe licensed book. It paid well, it'll get a good distribution and I know for a lot of us Children of the 80's it had to have been a delight to work on. How did it compare with doing your own book, Aboslute Zeroes?

It has been a thrill working on the G.I. Joe characters for these comics, especially given that I get to draw them in their original form from the 80s. I'm such a geek-- I still get excited every time I get to draw guys like Cobra Commander, Destro, or Snake Eyes on a page. It obviously has its negatives, like the absolute control over the page like I would with Absolute Zeroes-- but the overall pleasure of doing work on a high profile property so early in my career is exhilarating.

With that said, I miss drawing my book-- I look forward to being able to sit down and revisit the characters again.

What's a typical day like for you?

Well, I have been in a night work mode lately-- it makes it easier to work nights and still have time to spend with my wife, Kelly. I tend to start work in the afternoon and take a break when she gets home to have dinner and hang out for a bit-- then head back to work until the work is done... anywhere from midnight to 9am, typically. Rinse, repeat. hehehe

I know your wife, Kel is very supportive of you. She even does a bit of art herself and helps you with some of your work. There are a lot of husband wife teams in comics. Do you find that it's helpful to have someone that close be involved in your work or are you worried it'll cause creative problems?

Yeah, she just started inking at the behest of friend and fellow illustrator Loston Wallace. She's really taken up the brush well-- it's stunning to see her improvement in such a short time. Considering she's never really dabbled in art at all, I can't understate how amazing it is to watch her grow artistically. We don't have any problems working together-- we really enjoy it, actually. It gives us something we can do together if I have to work weird hours... and comics and weird hours go hand in hand.

You know a lot of people in the industry, and a lot about the industry and its history. If you were in charge of one of the big two or even a larger independent publisher, how would you use that knowledge to make a difference? What would you do to make the world of comics better?

Ideally, I'd bring in some artists under a studio and treat them right while still instilling a great work ethic. CrossGen tried something similar, but I think they expanded too fast and didn't have a solid enough base to make it work. There are plenty of artists that can do great work on a deadline-- don't let anyone tell you they don't exist anymore. I've met them, seen them work... it's really inspiring.

It really comes down to that whole "remember the mistakes of the past" thing-- seeing what didn't work before and figuring out why is the first step in creating a successful plan of attack in this or any other matter.

You're one of the hardest working artists I know but you're also an almost shameless and tireless self promoter. Aside from the benefits of having great artistic skill, have you found your promoting yourself to be tough to do? Have you ever received any flak for it?

Thanks, I really appreciate the kind words. Promoting myself has been a real task to undertake, but it's taught me a lot about targeting my market effectively. What flies on, say-- newsarama won't necessarily do the same on the Bendisboards or even an artist community like penciljack or uggabugga.net. I've taken flak for it, sure-- anytime anyone thinks you're only around to sell them something (whether that's a comic or even an idea), they immediately get defensive. Just know your audience and cater to them without sacrificing who you are and you'll be alright, I think.

Out of all your online niches and publishers you've been involved with over the last 5 or 6 years, which has been the best help to your career? Which has been the biggest disappointment?

Artistically, Penciljack.com-- I wouldn't be the artist I am today without the in-depth critiques and feedback I got there... not as much now, but a few years ago that was my classroom. Creatively, getting to know and work with the guys at Heroforge (a group of artists that include Loston Wallace, Dash Martin, Nate Lovett, Shane Peters, Ben Rollman, Jamie Snell and myself) has been AMAZING. I've learned tons from them.
Professionally, the G.I. Joe book has really opened doors for me at the big 2 and beyond. People that wouldn't even give me a glance before are at least recognizing I exist now, and that's all I ask.

Do you have anything you'd like to say to your fans and fellow artists?

Oh, like a parting shot or a word of divine wisdom? Remember what made you love comics when you first got in? Celebrate that. The next generation want to get excited about it, too.

Thanks for your time. Good luck with your work!

It's been a real pleasure! I love comics, and talking about them is pretty cool, too.

You can see More of Jeremy's work at http://www.jeremy-dale.com and http://thincage.deviantart.com .

Silver Bullet Interview

Itai Rosenbaum gave interviewed me on the topic of the 100 Artists Project for Silver Bullet Comics.

You can read the interview here.

Only one piece received this week, kinda light. But keep in mind we're still only 31 away from being done with the Single Mailer.

New interview with a contributing artist will be up Monday.

Have a nice long weekend.

Gordon Lee Trial Delayed

Hopefully one day this project will actually be able to help fund things like the Gordon Lee trial. If you're following the news on this, the trial has been delayed again due to a sick judge.

“Obviously we’re disappointed that the case was unable to go yesterday, as scheduled, but understand that this kind of delay is nobody’s fault and unavoidable. We wish Judge Salmon a speedy recovery,” says CBLDF Executive Director Charles Brownstein.

You can read the rest of the story here.

Let's get those drawings in folks so we can help support the CBLDF in defending folks like Mr. Lee.

Carry on.

Interview - Len Peralta

Len Peralta is the creator and operator of the podcast Jawbone Radio. He is based in Lakewood, Ohio where he runs his own freelance advertising agency. He is currently wrapping up a summer long art campaign called Monster by Mail. He is also known for providing art for several podcasters, illustrating works for Jonathan Coulton's "Thing A Week" and being a major contributor to the unusually viral 700 Hoboes Project.

Len, thanks for taking the time out of your insanely busy schedule to speak with me.

If you can recall, describe the moment or event that you realized you wanted to be an artist.

I always was drawing as a kid, in telephone books, pads of paper. Whatever I could find. My dad was a doctor and everyone always asked me if I wanted to be like my dad. I knew from a very young age that I didn't want to practice medicine, but I really wanted to draw and cartoon all day. I was too much of a screw up in school to do anything meaningful anyway.

Would you describe yourself as a classically trained or self taught artist? If you studied, where and was it a good experience?

I am pretty much self-taught, but I am always learning new techniques.

What would you like to accomplish with your art?

I'd like to influence young artists like I was influenced as a child.

Who were your biggest influences when you were starting out and has that changed?

I've always been a big fan of Jack Davis' work. I think if I were to choose my biggest influence it would be him.

How hard do you work at your art? Is it a hobby or a serious business for you?

It doesn't feel like work to me, it's more fun. As I am doing more with MBM, however, I'm finding that it is turning into a serious business, but I don't want to lose sight of the enjoyable part of the art.

If you could change something you do while creating, a habit or crutch, without any effort, what would it be?

I wish I didn't feel like I was rushing through the art. Sometimes I am working so fast, I don't have the time to spend like I would like. I just don't have that luxury of time though. It's always crunching out new art. But being fast is good because it's the one true way to make money with your art.

Are you a hard set solo artist or would you like to collaborate more with other artists?

I am a solo dude, but I do I like collaborating. I am experimenting on this more with an upcoming MBM promotion. I think it will turn out well, but we'll see.

Artists are generally not happy with what they've done or how accomplished they are, but if you had to label it, what would have to happen for you to consider yourself successful?

I dunno. Maybe a USA Today article. (kidding!) Or maybe people know my art without looking at the sig.

What media are you most comfortable using and why?

I really like using pencils and then finishing in PS. PS lets me fix my mistakes and I make a lot of them! I did a lot of the Coulton work like that. There's something cool about seeing the pencil lines and the thought behind the art. I'm starting to get more comfortable using watercolors thanks to the MBM project, but that was a completely monetary choice. Prismacolors are expensive!

Would you rather push yourself to get a lot of work done or push yourself to perfect one piece at a time over a long period?

Ideally, I'd like to spend time on one piece, but I just don't have the time.

When you look back on the choices you made as an artist or becoming an artist, what - if anything - would you do differently?

I would have taken more formal classes.

Do you think it's easier to be an artist today than say twenty or thirty years ago?

I think the technology has made it easier to get the job done and easier to call yourself an artist, but as far as I can tell, there is no button on the computer that gives you talent.

Is there an active art community in Lakewood or Cleveland? Would you like there to be more of one and would you be involved more if there were?

It's funny, MBM has given me a lot of local coverage, but very little interest. Conversely, a story will run in FL of CA and I will get a ton of orders. I wish there were a better community here locally, but I don't think there ever will be. I don't know why.

You list yourself as a creative director in advertising. Is working for ad agencies or being a freelance ad agent at all constrictive? Does it let you be the artist you want to be?

No. I end up doing what the client wants most of the time, and very rarely do I get to express myself creatively. I find it's much easier to make a living that way.

You've run a successful podcast since 2005. Have you found that more people see your art because of the show or were you more successful before you put time into podcasting?

The show has definitely helped me with my art. The work I did for podcasters in the summer of 2005 really put me on the map and established me with a group that was hungry for album art. It was a very cool time. I felt like R. Crumb. Also, the podcast has allowed me to connect with people (not just artists, but musicians, celebrities, etc) that I wouldn't have a chance to talk to normally.

You've had a lot of success with your Monster by Mail campaign. Are you worried that with such success you'll work yourself into a niche with the quick custom cartoons or do you have other plans?

I have some plans for the site and the ideas are always evolving. I've never been involved with something like this that is totally mine and quite honestly its pretty cool. I'm hoping to keep building the MBM brand and see what it becomes. The next few weeks should prove interesting for the site. I'm definitely ramping up what is expected from a site like mine. Right now, I'm just having a lot of fun drawing for it and seeing people's reactions to my work. It's very rewarding.

Do you have anything you'd like to say to your fans and fellow artists?

Have fun with your art.

Thanks for your time. Good luck with your work!

* * *

You can see more of Len's art, listen to his podcast, order a customized monster and vote for an alien in 2008 by visiting Jawbone Radio.

Blogger Issues

Blogger seems to have some issues this morning. No information was lost, but all blogger.com sites were unavailable for a couple hours today. On their behalf I apologize for any inconvenience.

Also, received two new pieces yesterday. That brings us up to 68, or as I'm going to start saying, 32 left to do.

Honestly, we only have to do 31 as I still have to do mine, but I was holding out to make sure the project completes.

Barring any other major news, expect another interview up this coming Monday.

Carry on.

Interview - Nate Lovett

This is the first in what will be an ongoing segment for the 100 Artists Project. I'll be interviewing contributing artists each week and including their portfolio on the links section. This is week's interview is with Nate Lovett.

Nate Lovett is a fast, up and coming comic book artist involved in many print and online projects including the recently released Devil's Due book "Xombie: Reanimated." Nate is based in Columbus, Ohio, is a recent father and according to every site he has online, "...is available for commissions."

Nate, thanks for taking the time from doing commissions to speak with me.

If you can recall, describe the moment or event that you realized you wanted to be an artist.

i've been drawing since i can remember, actually since before i can remember. my parents had for quite a while pictures i'd drawn when i was 3 or so. but i can't actually think of a time where i didn't want to draw.

Would you describe yourself as a classically trained or self taught artist? If you studied, where and was it a good experience?

i'd say it's a mix of both. i went and graduated from the columbus college of art and design, with a bachelors of fine art in time based media studies, a fancy name for animation, film, video, though my focus was on the animation part. while i was there we still had to take all of the standard design classes and whatnot, and though at the time, i hated them, they really have helped later in life.

when i graduated, in 2000, most traditional 2d animation was going the way of the dodo, and it was really difficult to find any work. which in the end i'm kind of thankful for, because i'm enjoying comics more than i ever enjoyed animating.

What would you like to accomplish with your art?

hmmm... i think the thing i'd most like to accomplish, would be the freedom at some point to focus solely on creator owned stuff. as much as i'd love to one day draw spidey for marvel, there's just nothing more satisfying than doing stuff you have total control over.

Who were your biggest influences when you were starting out and has that changed?

when i first started getting into comics, back in my early high school years, i ate up everything that todd mcfarlane, jim lee, sam keith and erik larsen did. i'm not too inspired by lee and mcfarlane anymore, but every now and then larsen still gets me.

by the time i was in college, joe mad was starting to make a splash, and it made me feel good, because here was this guy who had a definate cartoony/ manga vibe to his stuff, and people were eating it up. after college i discovered humberto ramos and probably the most influential guy, mike weiringo (rest in peace mike). the industry was finally starting to accept cartoony styled comics, and i knew i had a chance.

since then i've grown to really appreciate guys like eisner and kirby, though they're art hasn't really had much of an influence on mine, their storytelling definitely has.

How hard do you work at your art? Is it a hobby or a serious business for you?

it's definately serious business for me, but i love every minute of it. i enjoy being able to do something for a living, that i love to do.

If you could change something you do while creating, a habit or crutch, without any effort, what would it be?

better backgrounds and perspective. i'm getting there though, but it'd be so much easier if i could just snap my fingers, and be done with it.

Are you a hard set solo artist or would you like to collaborate more with other artists?

i enjoy collaborating with other guys, but i'd say 90% of what i do, is all me, from pencils to colors. i pretty much came about this way out of necessity, because no one seemed that interested in coloring or inking my stuff, so i figured i'd do it. that and then i have total control of the finished project, and if it doesn't meet my vision, well then it's my own fault.

Artists are generally not happy with what they've done or how accomplished they are, but if you had to label it, what would have to happen for you to consider yourself successful?

at one point i would've said, just getting to do comics. now that i am, it'd have to be, not having to worry where my next check is coming from. by the time that happens it'll probably be something else.

What media are you most comfortable using and why?

i love putting pencil to paper. that's why i focused on 2d animation in college, and not 3d. everything else for me is digital. i think my digital inks a stronger than my traditional, that and i don't have to clean anything up afterward. coloring, i enjoy using markers, and when i did paint i din't mind it either, but i've used photoshop for so long now, it feels weird when i pick up tradtional media. if i ever find time, i wouldn't mind trying it out again.

Would you rather push yourself to get a lot of work done or push yourself to perfect one piece at a time over a long period?

anymore with deadlines, i know i can't make each piece as perfect as i'd like, so i've pretty much gotten over that.

When you look back on the choices you made as an artist or becoming an artist, what - if anything - would you do differently?

the only thing i can think of is, i would've focused more on illustration rather than animation in college.

Do you think it's easier to be an artist today than say twenty or thirty years ago?

yes and no. it seems these days, that everyone and their brother wants to do comics, but at that same time, the industry is still fighting the stigma of being a thing for kids.

Is there an active art community in Columbus? Would you like there to be more of one and would you be involved more if there were?

i believe there is one, and i know there's one involving comics. i don't know how active they are, because i feel like i never leave my house.

You've listed yourself as a freelance illustrator. Would you rather work in comics as a paid penciller or work freelance doing non-comic book art?

i would rather work in comics as an artist. not because i have to do it all, but because i truely love the fact that in this day and age, one guy can.

You and I have worked together on a couple projects, the one with the most steam would be the webcomic Awesome Storm Justice 41. Do you see yourself being more involved with the Ugga Bugga crowd or will fame steal you away?

i will never leave them. i might get really busy, and not be as active, but i'll still be around. all of those guys were really most of my first fans, and have given me the greatest support and encouragement. i'm not going away.

To that end, would you rather work with webcomics or print?

i'd have to say print. there's just something to be said about being able to hold a book in your hands that you did.

You recently returned from Wizard World Chicago and I understand you had a call back to one of the Big Two. Can you talk a bit about that experience?

i was supposed to meet with 2 editors from DC, but one had to fly out early, and i was told he'd be contacting me. the editor i did talk to liked my stuff, gave me a few pointers to help my stuff pop even more.

You give a lot of credit to the guys at Outcast Studios. Are you still involved with any of them?

i haven't actually been around there for a while, nothing against any of those guys, but i got really busy, and then the studio pretty much disbanded. the only guy i talk to on occassion would be aztek (andrew huerta) but that's usually over at PJ.

As a new father, are you finding your priorities shifting much in terms of what jobs you'll take or what career paths you'll pursue?

not really, but as he gets older they might a bit. right now, my main focus is on doing fun comics. if i think it's fun, and i'd enjoy working on it, that's the big thing right now.

Do you have anything you'd like to say to your fans and fellow artists?

persistence is the key. if you want to do this stuff badly enough, just keep going. there will be some tough times, but as long as you have a good support group, you can get through it.

Thanks for your time. Good luck with your work!

thanks ben!

To see Nate's work, head over to his DeviantArt gallery.

Bump

Nothing new to report this last week. No new art and the Big Mailer is en route - no word on that.

Still mulling over the interview idea. I don't know if it'll be an interview or just a bio. Which would you rather see here?

That's all.

Small Update

Map and counter on the main site have been updated.

Also, hosting and domain registration have been paid for, so we're going to be around at least another year.

That's all for now.

Reason Behind the Project

Here's a perfect example of why people should support the CBLDF.

Three years, two sets of facts and a slew of changed charges later, Lee has received much more attention — from an outraged mother of two, the media, prosecutors, the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund and the comic book community as a whole — all because of a comic book drawing of a naked Pablo Picasso.

A case like this will undoubtedly drain what funds the CBLDF has. And it's sad because it's a two year old case that is still getting news, which means it's still going on. That's expensive. Also, fights like this are taking away litigation money and manpower that could be used for artists and creators who've had their works stolen or are unable to receive the compensation they've been promised.

Even if you aren't in this project, consider supporting your local comic shop and non-profit organizations that help the comic and art industry.

And finally, educated your children. I don't know why people think it's easier to drag people into court under the auspices of "looking out for kids" but this is nonsense. An enlightened parent shouldn't be taking these actions against the store owner. He didn't draw the comic. We're shooting the messenger. Why didn't the lady go after the publishing company, or the distributor or the artist? Because it's apparently easier to show your kids how to wage a prolonged legal battle against an innocent third party than it is to sit down and talk with them about the content of the media they choose to enjoy.

Who knows, maybe we'll raise enough money to help support Mr. Lee.

Service Issues

Okay, so I've been out of town for a couple days and before that I was sick so I haven't been very up on things going on in my online world since last Monday. Therefore, when today I got a phone call from GoDaddy saying my domain expired, I was a little troubled. I knew it was going to expire and I'd planned on renewing it since the original registration, it just kept getting pushed back.

So, I don't think the site is going anywhere, and I have called them back to work out some arrangements. This is more a heads up for anyone who may find this site but for some reason the DNS renews and the domain is actually taken down for the main site: It will be back up in a couple days. I have to wait for payday to get some funds to do it. It's not much for what I have, it's just domain registration, but I've got other things like food and gas to pay for first. When I get a bit more disposable income, I'll probably get a couple years registration instead of the couple months I got originally.

Anyway, that's what's up.

I got another piece this weekend bringing us up to 66. That's right, we're 2/3 done. I hope we can push through and get this thing assembled and out into the world before the end of the year.

Carry on.