It's been a while

Sorry it's been a while since I've posted...

I've dropped the ball...

I've been keeping myself busy thought writing content for the new Comics Obscura Website including submission guidelines and new contracts for submissions.

I also took some time this past weekend and changed the setup of my office in our studio. It was some work reorganizing but in the end it's a good change and will help me stay on task with producing work.

I'll have some new stuff up soon as well as some updates on Knights of Columbus and Snarky work. I've been working a lot on my style, giving it a little refinement. i had some great words of wisdom from Jason Howard at the last LADD meeting and it's really pushed my work and how I'm producing it.

It's fun getting all the kinks out of my work and getting feedback about what people like and what they don't like.

Well gotta go do some more organizing... I'll be posting some art soon.

-Jacot

A Very Rob Snarky

Heh... just checked out my friend Rob Forest's blog and got quite a surprise.

He gave his patent pending "Rob" touch to my dear character Snarky.

Hop on over to his blog and take a peak, his blog can be found at: http://eggnoir.blogspot.com/

For a more direct path to the posts click on the following links: Blogpost 1 - Blogpost 2

-Jacot

I'M BACK!!!

Hey everybody...

Good news, I got rid of the Gremlin in my computer this means more art coming soon!!!

Someone once said "always to be sure to have a backup plan."... well I'm here to say (in regards to my computer and system) I have a backup plan, a contingency plan, and a backup to my contingency plan. Barring some unfortunate incident with hardware I'll should have minimized downtime.

So keep an eye out I'll have new art posted soon, and to make your trip here not totally wasted on my ramblings here's a little something new...

-Jacot

Falling...

I've finally revisited this piece and finished the inks. It'll be going to colors in the near future. After more Knights of Columbus work.

Let me know what you think...

Now, I would have had this up earlier but I seem to have a small gremlin running around on my motherboard. I've got it cornered though, not much longer now till the issues resolved.

I just hope the gremlin didn't get wet...

-Jacot

Interviews from S.P.A.C.E.

Thought I'd post a link to some interviews that I did during SPACE (Small Press and Alternative Comics Expo) in Columbus OH.

First is a video interview with the Underground Video Network

The other is an interview done with Comic Related. I really enjoy the Comic related crew and am currently working on creating an Artist Forum. Follow the link below to hear the interview.

http://comicrelated.com/news/1853/the-related-recap-120-space-podcast

I'm working on getting some new things together to post, it's been busy reorganizing everything and really solidifying the relaunch of the Comics Obscura website.

Until next time.

-Jacot

COMICS OBSCURA MEETINGS R.I.P.

I'd like to take a moment of my time to address some recent events.

As of June, 7th 2009 the Comics Obscura meetings are no more.

No that doesn't mean there's not a group of people who meet at Gone Wired Cafe Sunday nights it's just they are now known as Dark Corner Productions.

I'm very proud of everyone who has decided to form a conglomerate and wish them well on their endeavors.

I however will not be involved in the Sunday meetings any more, I have other projects which I can dedicate my time to which are much more personally and socially satisfying. By social I don't mean social gatherings but truly getting a chance to help out those that want to create and increase the output of quality work into society.

Now I'm left with a nearly insurmountable task... to recreate the Comics Obscura name.

You see the name Comics Obscura has become a Joke that's being slung across counters at comic book shops with laughter following the phrase "did the next issue of Comics Obscura come out this week?".

to give you a sense of how this became a joke here's the release dates of the first four issues.

Issue #1: December 16th, 2006

Issue #2: April 28th, 2007

Issue#3: February 23, 2008

Issue#4: May 20th, 2009

You'll notice publications taking longer towards the end, various creators were taking on more responsibility and using less time to produce. These creators were relied on for "submissions" into the first few issues of Comics Obscura as the stories were "to be continued". These stories were guaranteed a spot in each issue of Comics Obscura. This created a false "submission" guideline and caused many prospective contributors to turn towards other avenues to show their work to the public. This limited the amount of submissions being received and reduced the number of people coming to the meeting who want to produce.

Now during this time there were three things happening... stagnation, procrastination, and frustration. The frustration was on my part and I had enough of it. Last year after multiple failed deadlines mounting frustration and the loss of readership I made a decision.

The decision was to no longer be the leader of the Comics Obscura group. The group was left to their own devices, setting their own deadlines and organizing the comic. I had lost too much time focused on other creators work and I hadn't given enough of my time producing my own work. Unfortunately when it came down to finishing issue four I was once against tossed into the lead of organizing the publication and come deadline (by deadline I mean the absolute last date to have the publication submitted to allow enough time to print the issue and get it back in time for Motor City Comic Con) submissions were still late.

For a long time at these meetings I've made the statement that the publication known as Comics Obscura is me. The group was always another entity... It was supposed to be a gathering of like minded individuals to help each other produce work, not a business.

This brings me to another point: communication.

It seems no matter how many times I stated that the meetings and the Comic are two separate entities, it fell upon deaf ears. After reading a post over at my friend Rick Schlaack's blog it was finally recognized that just this past Sunday the Comics Obscura meetings and the publication are no longer affiliated. This came as a surprise to me, even a shock i would go as far to say.

When did this become an event?

Why was a separation of affiliation ever needed?

I don't know the answers to these questions but I guess sometimes questions are better left unanswered (though I have made comments on Rick's blog, fell free to read the post and my comments here, since this post the blog mentioned was pulled down the reply to the post being deleted can be seen here: http://thepenguin12.blogspot.com/2009/06/snafu.html Note - 6/19/09: the intial post that was once deleted has been reposted here: http://thepenguin12.blogspot.com/2009/06/times-they-are-achangin_18.html)

I have other things to say but will retain that information for another day, so in light of the separation of affiliation I would like to make an announcement...

I should actually say a solution...

The Comics Obscura Anthology is a short story comic now to be based entirely on submissions.

All stories must be 2-8 pages long and be "done in one" this doesn't mean you can have reoccurring characters it's only that the stories have to open and close in the allotted space (Kurt Spatrisano hit the nail on the head with this idea over a year and a half ago, luckily some of the creators took almost a year and a half to produce this last issue.)

The website is being reworked and relaunched later this summer (Until the website is relaunched all traffic will be directed to this blog for updates.) It will contain submission guidelines, contracts, links to contributors, links to purchase the various publications, links to purchase digital copies of the publications, and a new forum based around getting creative teams together. This last part is what the meetings on Sunday were partly about the other part was a gathering of like minded individuals getting together to help each other produce work. Now the meetings have become a new entity entirely.

Truly It's a new day for Comics Obscura and myself as a publisher and creator.

I'm looking to fill in the emptiness that was created from the deterioration of the Sunday night meetings as they became more of a social gathering and less about production. Many creators came out for one night and never returned. I'm looking to build a community of comic creators and have made many friends who are working hard to provide quality work and bring the comics medium to the public eye.

I also would like to begin a gathering/workshop one night a month that has guest speakers and creators who come in and explain their production and creation processes. I would like to leave enough time during these sessions for a Q&A panel involving each presentation to get the community more actively involved. I will probably be the moderator of each of the sessions.

Let me know what you think? I'd love to hear some feedback regarding these ideas and the events that have taken place.

Here's something I need to say: You, the person reading this right now, it's because of you that I create new work. Without you I wouldn't be able to produce the Comics Obscura books or any other publication under the Comics Obscura title. Even if you've never bought a single thing I've produced, it's because of you I produce these. If I ever loose sight of creating work you enjoy, please, let me know.

Keep your eyes peeled there's plenty more stuff to come.

-Jacot

KOC Digital Fun

Working on some projects right now that I can't publish here... yet...

So I just wanted to toss this quick little diddy out there...

I played around with colors and toning as well as inserting a background.

Be back soon,

-Jacot

Portfolio Pieces

Back in 2004 I applied to get into The Kubert School of Cartoon and Graphic Art. I thought I'd share some of my pieces that were submitted in the portfolio.

First will come the image and then the name and description of the piece as required by the portfolio submission.

(click on the images to open a larger image in a new window)

Sitting Woman

Pencil on Newsprint 18”x24”

12-minute study, capturing the female model sitting in a chair, with the pure enjoyment of the joke that was told. 2001

Glimpse of Beauty

Pencil on Newsprint 18”x24”

12-minute study, Female sitting in chair the position chosen on the subtleties of the face just past the hair. 2001

Anger in Ink

Brush pen on Newsprint 18”x24”

20 Minute study, Female model exhuming negativity, chose to capture this feeling and the hard lighting with fast harsh lines. 2001

Lazarus Design

Pencil, Blue Pencil, and Ink on paper

A conglomeration of multiple character sketches done in the preparation of a self published comic book. This character was to be one of two main protagonists. Pasted together using scans and Painter 7.0. 2002-2004

Morgan Design

Pencil, Blue Pencil, and Ink on Paper

A conglomeration of multiple character sketches done in the preparation of a self published comic book. This character was to be the main antagonist. Pasted together using scans and Painter 7.0. 2002-2004

Alastor Design

Pencil, Blue Pencil, and Ink on paper

 A conglomeration of multiple character sketches done in the preparation of a self published comic book. This character was to be one of two main protagonists. Pasted together using scans and Painter 7.0. 2002-2004

Miscellaneous Comic Design

Pencil, Blue Pencil, and Ink on paper

A conglomeration of multiple character sketches that were to play roles in the story of a self published comic book. Pasted together using scans and Painter 7.0. 2002-2004

Agents of Fate Cover

Digital Media

This piece was to be the cover for the first issue of a self published comic book entitled agents of fate. All of the art on this piece were done by hand on the computer using Painter 7 and an Intuous 2.0 pad. This image is to represent the three main characters. Morgan stands in the middle, “The Thinker” represents Alastor, and the dragon statue represents Lazarus. 2004

Japanese Screen

Digital Media

Hand drawn on the computer using Painter 6 and an intuous 2.0 drawing tablet. This piece was created with the essence of the Japanese folding screens; each panel could be separated and held up as an individual piece. 2002

Unfortunately I was not able to attend the Kubert school due to lack of funding. However the experience was worth it. It made me realize I already had a lot of the skills that would havebeen  developed at the Kubert School.

I started to look at my weaknesses and found many things I needed to work on. From there I started to teach myself various techniques. I referenced many great books for material and started dissecting comic pages to find various for storytelling devices.

It's a never ending process and I'll be a student of the Comic medium until the day I die...

But what a life it will be.

-Jacot

The Vendor Client relationship - in real world situations

Sorry no images this time... just found something that I had to share.

So here I was perusing my standard blog reading material and I ran into this over at Tom Richmond's "The Mad Blog" (if you haven't checked out his stuff you'll probably recognize his work pretty quickly, especially if you know who Alfred E. Neuman is.)

I don't think I can say anything more than what Tom says about this video. It's a great piece of work, just click on the link below to Tom's blog and catch the video.

Let me know what you think!

-Jacot

Community Dance Project 2008: Silent Confessions

Last summer I had a great opportunity dropped into my lap. Early in 2008 I was speaking with friend Matt Bebermeyer and we got talking about combining fine art and dance. Little would I know that this would turn into a fantastic project come summertime with the Community Dance Project (a fantastic project put together through Happendance)

I got partnered up with Andrew Amos to help combine dance and traditional art. Upon our first meeting we immediately went into the concept of providing imagery to help set mood for the dance. We quickly found that we were going to need to tell a story to make this work. we each brainstormed and soon had a concept: The five stage of grief. Now cam the hard part how to make it work. Well he ended up getting five dancers involved, one for each stage of grief.

Now all we had to do was tell a story

I quickly surmised that each of the stages (dancers) needed a corresponding color.

Well this is kinda how the story came out. (in lieu of video I'll explain the story after each image.) During the production I queued the images to come up with each piece of music, one for each image. So kinda in the same respect you'll see the image first and then the events that took place. Just for informational posterity the piece is titled "Silent Confessions"

We start out at a funeral where one of the dancers is lying dead (this dancer will represent denial, color: orange) The other four dancers (each representing a different stage of grief) are standing above her body. Denial seems to get up and finds herself confined and doesn't understand why. The other dancers exit the stage

(Enter anger, color Red)

Anger confronts Denial and starts a very combative sequence where we find Denial defending herself from anger onslaught. Anger exits and Denial lays down at the center of the stage.

(enter bargaining, color: green; and depression, color: blue)

Denial is sleeping, Depression is fawning over her wishing he could be with her, bargaining is throwing herself and depression. Denial gets up and starts going about her day. Bargaining continues to throw herself ad Depression but he only sees Denial. upon getting to close Denial notices Depression and rebukes him, Depression slowly breaks down as his world has been destroyed. Bargaining consoles Depression but his worlds already come crashing down. Exit Bargaining and Depression (depression exits while convulsing) Denial lays at the center of the stage again.

(Enter acceptance, color: white) 

Acceptance comes and stands over the lifeless body of denial. She starts playing with body in sort of a playful, comedish, morbid sort of dance that's a little disturbing but fun none the less. Denial is limp the entire time and eventually acceptance has had her fill of fun, she places the body back at the center of the stage.

(Enter Anger, Bargaining, and Depression to join Acceptance on the stage) 

Anger, Bargaining, Depression, and Acceptance all stand over Denial's body as at the beginning of the dance. Each stage of grief exits the stage exhibiting physical emanations of the stage they represent. Leaving Denial alone on the stage as the lights go down and the image fades.

It was really fun to work on this project and I hope to find a video of this to share with everyone but for now you must live with my images and rough story of the events that transpired. In the end we wanted to leave the audience questioning "Why was denial dead?" and "Who did it?"

It was a great experience that I was glad to be apart of.  It was amazing to see the music, dance, and images blend so well together and tell a story.

Hopefully I'll get another crack at a project like this again soon.

-Jacot