The Worst Of The Worst

Being an Artist is not easy. Some people think it's a matter of just putting down a line here and there and whammo. You have a completely accurate and professional looking picture. But there is much more to it then that. The other day, I was with my Son in the Arts and Crafts store and we began to talk about my work as a comic book Artist. He was under the impression that drawing for me was something easy. That it did not take as much effort. I began to explain what an Artist, especially a comic book Artist was required to do. Everything from Anatomy to perspective. I began to explain that, unlike an Artist who paints nature scenes or portraits, a Comic Book Artist had to have the ability to draw everything and anything a script called for. That isn't an easy thing to accomplish, say, if you've never drawn guns before and now you are required to do so. Or say, if you never drew a car. And now you have to draw a scene with two or three of them.

He was surprised. Not realizing how much work his Dad was doing when he was sitting in the chair in front of his art table. It can be a frustrating thing. Especially when you have a scene or even a pose that's just kicking you in the bum.

Another thing that makes it tough to do what I do is, well...Me.
I tend to be too critical of my work and often times the work others find to be my best, are the ones where I crtic' myself the most.

But I have found out that this is far from being a weakness, but a strength I posses.
And for that I am thankful to the Lord. It is that second guessing yourself that pushes me to give the best I can of myself. My greatest accomplishment, when a client turns around and thanks me for the incredible work I did for him. That is priceless. Even if I don't like what I was working on, just hearing those words is fulfilling On its own.

A few weeks ago I finished what I thought would be the first completed page of Timmy The Killer Robot. But then it happened. After I emailed it to Tommy, I emailed him again saying I was going to scrap the page and start all over. Tommy had originally wanted a cartoonsih style for the book and that is what I wanted to bring to the table. But after doing so, I thought to myself, how horrible the whole thing looked. It is by far, in my opinion, the worst I have done. Seeing this page and feeling such huge dissatisfaction inspired me to push my art to the next level with the intentions of making it better. And I am glad I spent so much time on this page even though it will never be a part of the comic. Because through it, I pushed myself to give better results.


The dreaded page that started it all. Adelante: