Black Snow Comics

‘Sup nerds.  That’s right, if you are reading this then you are indeed a full fledge nerd, a geek even.  There’s no denying it.  You’re reading a blog on a webcomic site!  Come on!  Wake up and accept it.  Done?  Good.  Now that we have that out of the way I’ll write to you in the style that I’m sure you’re more accustomed to.

wuz up pplz? lol! i riting on teh interwebs!  lmfao!  i is sooo cul.  i no ned grammer or spel gud.

I swear to god everyone on the internet is a moron.  That is literally how people write on forums and such things.  Do you want to see the devolution of mankind?  Go read comments on YouTube videos.  Possibly some of the most idiotic things I’ve ever had the misfortune to read.  You can also see how stupid the people you know in real life actually are by reading their Twitters or Facebooks.  When was it proclaimed that you had to become a drooling half-wit to go online?

I’ve had people ask why I bother to write so well when I do my blog, sending an email, or similar situations.  I’ve also had people tell me the comics are too well written.  Too sophisticated.  They say that the stupid blithering masses will never be able to comprehend them.  Well, against my better judgement I think that the majority of people out there are capable of understanding things if they bother to use their brains.  I will never dumb down myself or any of my work to try and appeal to the lowest common denominator.  I know how to read and write.  I went to school.  A highly respected school, in fact.  And I got stellar grades, my entire life.  What I mean to say is I’M SMART! I’m no genius or anything, but I’m certainly not a fool.  I don’t suffer fools lightly.

If you can’t keep up, well then I guess you’re out of luck.  Try harder.  I know you can do it.  Take a second to let things sink in, look up any of the words you don’t know, practice your grammar and spelling before sending me your messages (be they love or hate), and just try harder in general.

You’ve already admitted to being a nerd, so you owe it to yourself to at least be an intelligent one.  There is nothing more pathetic then an ignorant nerd.  No social skills or knowledge?!  It’s a wonder they remember to breath.  But there’s good news for you!  Nerds are in vogue these days.  Our culture has become subservient to them as our dependence on technology continues to grow.  The world is your oyster!  By some kind of ironic twist of fate you are the cool kids, the in crowd!  So, from one nerd to another, get out their and carpe diem!

I’ve touched on this subject in the past, but it has been on my mind again recently.  About a year ago my dad was one of those people who lost his house due to insanely high mortgages and insidious interest rates.  What this meant to me was that I had to clean out all the stuff I had left at his place and go through an extensive Goodwill/dump/keep decision process.  While looking through all my old junk I stumbled upon a long forgotten box full of childhood drawings.  It was very interesting for me to see the kinds of things I started out drawing ( mostly toys, monsters and cartoon characters).  More interesting to me  though, was the way I drew them.  In some of the better ones I could see a few traits that I retain in my work today.

A lot of memories came back to me when I got to some of the later drawings.  One nagging, negative, repeating memory really came flooding back.  What was it you say?  The memory of loving to draw but always feeling inadequate.  It’s very frustrating to pursue something you really love while peers around you tell you that your work sucks, and some of them seem to be doing it better than you.  The biggest irk I had was trying to develop a style.  The good drawers around me seemed to have very specific styles that made their work very distinct.  Sometimes this was too the point of being extremely repetitive and derivative.  Especially the anime kids, a style I briefly flirted with.

I was always trying to find my own style, but never felt like I did.  Or if I did it wasn’t one I liked.  It felt like my style was a complete lack of style/talent.  Yes, it was rough, and I was very tough on myself.  I remember when I was in a drawing class people would comment on my style and seemed to like it, but I never really saw what they were talking about.  Then in later drawing classes I would always be praised as one of the best in the class, my drawings used as examples and it was an easy A.  Even then I felt my work lack a distinct unifier, that thing that would let everyone know I drew it.

When I started Black Snow I still was longing to find my style, and really didn’t know what I was doing.  Something amazing happened by the time I started Day Camp last year though.  I didn’t have to over think my work, question how to portray things, or any of my other normal self loathing routines.  I just drew it.  When I finished it and took a look I thought “Yeah, this looks like something I drew.  You can tell it was the same guy as Black Snow.”  I lied, Day Camp wasn’t actually the first time this happened, it also happened when I drew Loan Boy, but nobody cares about that, and the feeling wasn’t as significant.

So how and when did I find my style?  I realized that it had indeed been happening my entire life, and it continues to grow and evolve.  It wasn’t from the few drawing classes I took, or attempting to copy the work of others I admired, or studying drawings I enjoyed, or any one thing.  It was a combination of everything!  The shows I watched, the comics I read, the classes I took, the ideas I came up with, they all continue to constantly impact my work.  The biggest thing though, has just been to draw a lot.  They say practice makes perfect, and I can really see that as far as the quality of my work goes.  I can draw things with ease now that I probably would have struggled and failed with in the past.  I’ve done it enough at this point that things just come naturally.  That’s not to say that I think I draw perfectly or never have challenges.  It can still be hard to conceive of the best way to portray something, but it’s far less often than in the past.

So this is really a message for young artists out there struggling to find their ways.  Don’t over analyze and question your work.  Don’t dwell on other people’s work.  Don’t actively try to develop a specific style.  Just draw, then draw some more.  Draw anything and everything.  Eventually you’ll get to where you want to be.  I truly believe anyone can draw well if they really put their minds to it.  So get out their and practice, and good things will happen.  And this is coming from a man constantly labelled as a pessimist!

I’ve never cared much for the label artist.  It has an elitist connotation while simultaneously being grossly undefined and carrying a stigma of liberal idiocy that others look at with disdain.  People think artist are highfalutin narcissists that are too pampered or lazy to do a “real” job.  There are also undertones that you have too be insane and very childlike in your mentality to be a great artist.

Not exactly ideal stereotypes.  I generally don’t call myself an artist, and abhor it when I hear other people refer to themselves as such.  For the most part the people in my life that call themselves artists are not doing it as their main source of income, and often haven’t been doing it all that long.   What makes them different than anyone else who does creative things in their spare time?

I tend to think of myself as a guy who likes to draw.  That’s all.  Nothing fancy.  Yeah, I think I can draw better than the average dude off the street, but I don’t think there is any great divide between us.  What I do now is not that different then what I did as a child.  Sure, it’s more polished and more people see it, but I’m still drawing for the same reasons.  Mostly because I think it’s fun.

I’m pretty sure most people would not have a problem conceding that I am an artist, but they’d want to add a caveat to the title.  I’ve been told I’m a cartoonist, an illustrator or a comic book artist.  Really?  I can’t just be an artist?  I wouldn’t mind any of those titles if they didn’t come with a derogatory undertone.  Whatever disdain people feel towards artists is multiplied tenfold for the lowly ones who choose to work with line drawings.  Cartoons are for children you know.  There’s no real art in any of it, or so they’d have you believe.

This attitude has lessened a bit over the years as people began to embrace modern art or pop art, but even then it has to be categorized as such.  It can’t just be viewed simply as art with the rest.  I hope some day art can just be art and the people who create it can just be viewed as normal people.  I think digital art is starting to bridge this gap as it gives everyone a platform to express themselves and create.  Only time will tell.

There’s little to no honor in today’s society, and a man’s word seems to mean less then ever before.  Integrity and dependability are undervalued.  Why?  I don’t know.  Maybe it’s the internet culture.  Instant gratification, anonymity and access to unparalleled levels of debauchery.  That could do it.

Well, in this time of moral dilemma you can count on one man, ME! That’s right mo-fo’s, I’m a man of my word.  I honor self discipline.  It ain’t easy.  It’s usually not fun.  Hell, it’s often downright painful, but I think it’s worth it.  What did I say I was going to do this year?  Draw at least one Day Camp a week.  Sound easy?  Maybe if I wasn’t working full time, plus extra after hours, plus raising my son, not to mention that I do like to have down time and have a lot of hobbies and interests.  Still sound easy?  Go to hell.

Sometimes I love to draw, but sometimes I hate it, and it’s the last thing in the world I want to do.  I can have a hot streak where I feel like everything I draw is gold, but other times I feel like I can’t draw for shit.  I’s hard to do something for the pure joy of it when you think you suck at it, despite doing it all your life.  This weekend was one of those times.  I got a ton of off the clock work that took most of my time, the rest was spent enjoying some quality time with my family.  Thankfully I had already penciled and started inking the comic earlier in the week, so when I got home Sunday night much of the work was already done.  Still I had to work on it and stay up a little late, but it was up by midnight.  Why?  Because that’s what I said I’d do, and that’s how I roll.

Having said all that I’m going to make a small caveat to my vow.  When I made my resolution I’M FAMOUS didn’t exist, and that changes some things.  Why should Day Camp get all the focus?  Well, it won’t.  From now on, for the rest of the year I will draw one Day Camp or I’M FAMOUS! a week.  I’ll do more when I can, but you”ll get at least one.  So you can look forward to that.

I have a bit more to say about this most recent Day Camp, but I’ll save that for tomorrow.  Until then sit here and wait.