"Scooby Dooby Doo"



The Doo Family Portrait_Penciled


The Doo Family Portrait came about while I was penciling the Hanna-Barbera Universe in It All Started with a Mouse. I had just finished drawing Scooby-Dum, and I wrote in my Facebook status that I had finished drawing the most forgotten Scooby-Doo character. My friend, Ellie, who is a bigger Scooby-Doo fan than I am, commented that I should include Scooby-Dee and perhaps even Horton Doo. I would have included Scooby-Dee if I had enough room for her, but as you can remember, for those of you who saw it, I barely had enough room for Quick Draw McGraw. That's how this drawing was born. Ellie had unknowingly-though I did tell her later-given me an idea to create a family portrait of Scooby Doo.

Originally I was thinking that I would include the Scooby Doo gang too (Fred, Daphne, Velma, and Shaggy), but when I started researching Scooby's family during the Spring Quarter I discovered that that would have been completely impossible. Scooby has a big family. Therefore, I decided to just focus on the Doo Family, and I think that was a great decision. I am extremely happy with how it is turning out. This is only the penciled version, but I will be beginning the inking in a matter of days.

The Prisoner of Azkaban

As I had told you in the previous blog entry, my mom and I are reading the Harry Potter series, and when we finish each book we watch the movie version. The most recent book that we both have finished was Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, and we both loved that book so much that we were really looking forward to watching the movie. That quickly wore off once we saw the movie. The movie is considered by the critics as the best of the series, but to us, it was a major let down. It felt like the creators of the film were rushing through it because the sequences looked like they were just thrown together in hopes that it would make some sense. Well, it didn't. In fact, to understand the film at all, you have to have read the book. When it comes to adaptations that's a big no-no. If you're going to adapt a book or a comic book it needs to be able to stand on its own without hoping that your audience is familiar with the story.

As soon as I'm finished with Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire-my mom has already finished it-we'll watch that movie. However, my expectations are very low right now when it comes to the Harry Potter films, the first two were good, but that's it so far.

Back to SAAS

I was hoping that I would be taking three classes-a full workload-in the Fall Quarter at SCAD-Atlanta, and I had applied for a scholarship in hopes of achieving that. I did get the scholarship, but...it's chicken feed compared to what the tuition at the school is, as it is only worth $200. Not much. It forced me to have to drop one class, and so for the second time I had to drop Character Design for Storyboarding Animation, which sucked. So I was only going to be taking classes on Mondays and Wednesday (Comic Book Scripting at 8 AM and Digital Coloring and Lettering at 8 PM), and as you can see the coloring class was going to interfere with my obligations to the SCAD-Atlanta Animation Society, but those are the breaks. I was considering taking a lower position on the board, where I wouldn't have to be there for every meeting necessarily such as treasurer. Still, I was going to keep an eye on the class to see if Prof. Nolan Woodard changes the time. Well...the time wasn't changed, but something else happened instead. To my utter amazement, the day was changed. Now I am taking classes on Tuesdays and Thursdays (Comic Book Scripting at 8 AM and Digital Coloring and Lettering at 8 PM), which meant that the Character Design class had been moved to Mondays and Wednesdays. I was stunned. I wasn't too thrilled about dropping a class, but something good came out of it. I will be returning to the SCAD-Atlanta Animation Society in the fall after all.

Final Thoughts

Tomorrow, Sunday, July 24th is my brother's girlfriend, Michelle Foster's birthday, and I would like to wish her a happy birthday. Happy Birthday, Michelle!!! I wish for you to have a fantastic and unforgettable day!!!

Until next time this is Billy Wright, wishing you all a good night! So long, everybody! 

The Incredible Hulk Transformation

The Incredible Hulk Transformation_Inked

I have not kept it from any of you that I am not that big of a fan of the Hulk, but I must say that I did enjoy drawing him. After finishing the inking portion of this drawing, I couldn't stop staring at him. I actually kept him out of my portfolio for a few days just to stare at him. I would have to say that this was the best inking job that I've done so far. I was finally able to keep what I as the penciler had in mind for the drawing in the first place, to display the emotions that Banner was going through during the transformation - agony, despair, and anger. My only hope is that I'll be able to do the same when the time comes to color it this fall.

SCAD 411



SCAD-Atlanta Animation Society Table

SCAD-Atlanta was holding a SCAD 411 on Friday, June 24, 2011, and it was where prospective students and their families tour the school. SCAD wanted different majors and clubs to be represented especially the clubs. They acted as if the event couldn't be held without the clubs. I've been rather disappointed about the turnout that the SCAD-Atlanta Animation Society has had during the 2010-2011 year, and even though it is still up in the air whether I'll be attending the meetings for the start of the 2011-2012 year I was determined to make sure that we have better turn out. Therefore, I agreed to be the sole representative of the SCAD-Atlanta Animation Society. This was the third time that I've represented the Animation Society, and the first time didn't go so well although it was good enough for me to represent them again later, but I didn't get the accepted students excited enough to attend the meetings. Most of them wanted me for my knowledge of the school and animation, not the club. The second time was similar although I was not the lone representative, but the crowds at our table were small. I remembered when I first joined the Animation Society in the Fall of 2009 that the crowds were huge at that table, and I wanted to bring that back. Therefore, I decided to give things away to each student that visited my table, and so I made eighty-one SCAD-Atlanta Animation Society magnets with three different designs, making it twenty-seven magnets for each design. Each design was based upon the posters that will be seen throughout the campus advertising the meetings during the quarter. However, I still needed to entice them to come over to the table, and so I made...close to a hundred sugar cookies with an American Flag design on them. 

My plan worked beautifully! My table was extremely popular, and I think that I got people interested in what I was saying. It did get a little tiresome repeating the same information over and over again, but that's the break when you're trying to get people interested in your club. Unfortunately I did not get rid of all the cookies, which I so desperately wanted to do since there were close to a hundred of them. I wish that I had brought a bowl with me that I wouldn't have minded getting rid of because there was this one girl who was just crazy about the cookies that she just kept coming back for them. She even came back when I was packing everything up. I didn't get rid of all the magnets either, but that's okay. I can save them for the upcoming Club Fair when the Fall Quarter begins, and I can also give them to fellow members of the Animation Society. All in all, however, it was a huge success. It's a shame that I have a previous engagement on July 1st otherwise I would be there for the final SCAD 411.



Animation Society Magnet

 My table was next to the Scotch Tape Sculpture Club, and the club basically makes sculptures out of Scotch tape. It's a weird club. The representative of the club, who will remain nameless, comes over to my table near the end of the event, and he picks up one of the magnets - the one shown above - and asks me who made it. I should've known better than to think that he was going to compliment it, but I still replied that I had made it. He puts the magnet down and says that he doesn't like it, but he never tells me why or what about it he didn't like. I wasn't sure did he not like the design or did he not like the magnet itself. I don't mind if someone doesn't like my work, but at least tell me why. I can't improve on my work if I don't know which area of it should be improved upon. However, I have come to the conclusion that I don't care what he says because my audience is more important to me. That magnet was the second most popular one, and that says more about the design than what some Scotch Tape sculptor says!

Way Behind the Curve

My mom has been suffering from a hernia and ulcers in recent months, and it was believed that she was going to be needing surgery to repair the hernia. She would have had to stay in the hospital for at least six days to recover, which was devastating to her, but she decided that if she was going to spend days lying on her back then she might as well do something that she had always wanted to do. She wanted to read Harry Potter. She and I both decided to read Harry Potter at the same time, and we would have a small book club - more reliable than the ones she tried starting in the neighborhood. Fortunately the doctors decided to give the hernia another month to heal, and so she won't be having the surgery anytime soon, but we still went ahead with reading the first two Harry Potter books. We were way behind the curve, but the first book was great, and the second book is great so far. 

I don't know about my mom, but I think that after I'm done with Harry Potter I will read The Chronicles of Narnia. I got the sixth book of Narnia when I attended the Engaged Art Show during the Spring Quarter, but I've never read the first five books. So I'm going to start in the beginning before I read the sixth book.

Final Thoughts

Tomorrow is July 1st, and it's my brother, DJ Wright's birthday. Happy 31st Birthday, DJ!

After I've finished reading the second Harry Potter book I'll get started on drawing The Doo Family Portrait. Until next time, this is Billy Wright, wishing you all a good night. So long, everybody!  

I Am a "Big Foot" Artist!

The Incredible Hulk Transformation_Penciled

I must say that when I set out to work on the Incredible Hulk I was a bit nervous about it because I would be considered a "Big Foot" artist while the Hulk/Dr. Banner are in the "Little Foot" category. For those of you who are unfamiliar with those terms, as I used to be until I did my research on Neal Adams, let me explain. Artists who draw really cartoony are considered "Big Foot" artists, and I suppose it comes from the idea that cartoon characters have big feet although I can name off a few characters whose feet aren't that big, but that's the general idea. If you wanted to draw a realistic mouse, you wouldn't use Mickey Mouse as your reference. Artists who draw realistically are considered "Little Foot" artists. One could argue that the Hulk is a "Big Foot" character because there is no man on earth who looks like him, but the mere definition of "Little Foot" means drawing anatomically realistic, which the Hulk is. I learned to draw by watching cartoons like Batman, the Animated Series, and animators have to drop the details found in realism to make it easier to animate, something that comics don't have to worry about. It has been tough for me to get out of that mindset. I want to be a "Little Foot" artist, but my work still leans heavily towards the "Big Foot" style no matter how much I try to change it. 

So when approaching this drawing of the Hulk I was nervous for that reason, but like, It All Started with a Mouse, I didn't want to do injustice to a character that people love, I don't particularly like him, but some people do. However, I completely surprised myself on this one. I think that it came out perfectly. It doesn't top It All Started with a Mouse, but I pretty much knew that that would be a tough piece to top.

When I approach a fanart drawing I want the most up to date photo reference that I can find on the character, and the Hulk's references were perfect although I had to use two because one reference only had him from his head down to his torso, forcing me to find a reference for his legs. Dr. Banner, on the other hand, was a different story. I did not like the references that I found on him, as most of the references shot him from a far, making it useless to use. I briefly thought about drawing Bill Bixby, but I am not that great at drawing real people, and so I discarded that idea. Instead I decided to use the reference of Banner from the only Hulk comic book that I have, which was a reissue of the first Hulk comic when the creature used to be grey instead of green. So this drawing has a little bit of now and a little bit of yesterday, which I think makes the drawing even better. Next up, inking the composition.

Final Thoughts

Originally my next project was going to be a fanart drawing with a DC Comics character, the Riddler, but I've decided to postpone that drawing. Instead I am going to work on The Doo Family Portrait, which will feature Scooby-Doo's entire family including the two members who are dead. I've already begun finding the photo references for each character, and a lot of the references are going to make things difficult for me since a lot of the references only show the head, forcing me to figure out the rest of the body. Aw, well, those are the breaks.

This Friday, I am going to be the lone representative of the SCAD-Atlanta Animation Society at a SCAD-Atlanta event for prospective students and their families. I am making magnets for the event to give away to each person who visits my table. There is no way that the incoming class can say that they never knew that the Animation Society existed. Not if I can help it. This will perhaps be the last job that I do for the Animation Society within everybody's eyesight because unless my Wednesday class time changes from 8 PM to 5 PM or earlier I won't be back to the Animation Society although I still plan to do my part to help them, mainly with my posters.

That's pretty much it for this week. I don't know when I'll be back to post the inked version of the Hulk, but until then, this is Billy Wright wishing you all a good night. So long, everybody!

ASIFA-Atlanta's Roll Yer Own 2011

Last week I was informed that my Vampire Mouse animated short was selected to premiere at ASIFA-Atlanta's Roll Yer Own, an independent animation screening. It was a huge event. I knew, however, that I wasn't going to win, but that's not what art is really about. It is just an honor to be recognized by my peers as having made a worthwhile animation. That goes for any art exhibition actually. As great as it would be to win or even place, an artist should just be fortunate that they were chosen to be displayed at all. That's exactly how I was feeling on Friday, June 10th when I headed over to this warehouse that makes and ships coffee to places like Whole Foods. My mom went with me, and this was the first time that she had ever seen my work displayed in public, which was a huge thrill for her. The first time that my work ever got displayed was at an art show three years ago, but she came down with a migraine hours before the show.

I joked about it when we arrived that it felt like this was the underground of animation because we were screening this films in a warehouse. It was a nice looking warehouse, but it was still a warehouse. A strange place to screen films, animated or not. Though when the films began rolling a little after 7 PM the films were so...weird and disgusting that my joking statement may not have been too far off. My film was the second film shown, and I was under the impression that I had given my friend and Vice President of ASIFA-Atlanta, Allyssa Lewis the silent version of the film. I did give her permission to add sound to it if it would increase the chances of it getting selected, but it had to be creepy. The sound was creepy all right because it was the sound version that I had created. I don't know how it happened, but she didn't know that I had sent her the silent version and instead pulled the sound version from my Facebook page. It's just as well because the sound version is way, way better. There were some laughs at the end and applause, which was good, but not enough to insure victory, which again, I didn't care about. I learned that there were more people other than my mom and me who liked that film, and that's what counts. Allyssa would tell me later that the panel who were choosing the films liked that my film was done in the traditional, hand drawing method. I think that my film was the only hand drawing method. There were some 2D films, but they were done primarily in Adobe Flash. I will not touch Flash since we didn't exactly get along well when we were first introduced. Stinkin' code!

As for the rest of the films that shown...well, let's put it this way, there were only two good films that were shown that night. The Vampire Mouse Transformation and SCAD-Atlanta's Jaguar McGuire and His Cat were the best films, and the rest sucked. It's not to say that there weren't some well done animations because there were, but they were either too long like Lost and Found or too gruesome like the one where a beast massacres a bunch of bullies. The latter could have been great if the kid that the bullies were picking on had transformed into the beast, and the bullies ran away screaming, but instead the artist chose the beast to come out of the bushes to help the kid by slaughtering the bullies in the most gruesome ways imaginable. Lost and Found's problem was that it was too long, but the thing was that they had one idea and several artists working to interpret that idea in a variety of ways. The rest of the films were weirdly disturbing especially the stop motion animated film that looked like two penises having sex with each other. My mom thought they looked like two rear ends having sex, but it's disturbing no matter what you saw in it. What frightens me is that there were some films that didn't make the cut. If these twenty or so films were the best, I can't imagine what those that were left on the cutting room floor looked like.

My mom and I left shortly after 9 PM, not knowing who had won, but we had a pretty good guess. There was a lot of applause for the last film that was shown even though it was terrible in my opinion, but apparently everybody else found talking clouds and one cloud being turned into cotton candy appealing. I don't see it. Still, to hammer the one point again, it was just an honor to be selected, and there were some people who liked my film. That's all I want.

Nothing Will Ever Be the Same Again




The Defining Moment_Colored

 I finished coloring The Defining Moment last week, and I think that it looks a whole lot more gruesome in color than it did in black and white. Of course, after watching some of those animated films, this scene does seem rather tame. It hasn't really received any positive reaction on Deviantart, and in fact one person who had been "watching me" dropped me. Apparently he liked my work when it was all light and cartoony, but when I show off the darker side of my work, he's offended and drops me. Truthfully...I don't care. I don't care about the watching. I am more interested in the views and who has added it to the favorites.

Another Transformation



The Incredible Hulk Transformation

After working on The Defining Moment, it was time to get back to work on more fanart. While working on It All Started with a Mouse I had several ideas for future projects including the two panoramic drawings featuring DC and Marvel heroes and villains, but one of the early ideas was this one. It features Dr. Bruce Banner transforming, sort of, into the Hulk, and it's one of the few drawings that doesn't have a background to speak of. It will just be red behind the figures. It's interesting that I would do the Hulk because frankly, I don't like him as a character because it would be a tough character to write a story for since he's really not a hero. He's a victim, like a werewolf. I think that it would be better if the stories were written to focus more on Banner than the Hulk, like the television show with Bill Bixby. Still, I enjoy drawing transformations, and if I could figure out how to do it I wouldn't mind trying to animate the Hulk's transformation.

The pencil drawing is pretty much done although I may go over it with a graphite pencil before starting the inking. I'll ink like I did The Defining Moment, over transparent vellum paper that way I can place the penciled piece in my portfolio.

Final Thoughts

It was fourteen years ago this very day, June 15th, that I began my hobby that eventually turned into a possible career in drawing my first comic book story. It was a rather bad attempt at a comic book, and if you looked at it now, you would have never guessed that I was the one who had drawn it. It was just a starting point to my artistic career.

Well, until next time, this is Billy Wright wishing you all a good night. So long, everybody!   

The Defining Moment

The Defining Moment_Inked

I finished penciling and inking The Defining Moment, and I would have shown you all the penciled piece, but I was kind of on a tight deadline that I couldn't do so. As I had said in the previous entry, the final piece was going to be different from what was sketched in the thumbnail. It actually came out better. This drawing was created to go along with my presentation on Neal Adams that I gave for my Survey of Sequential class. The drawing was optional for the presentation, but if we did provide a drawing then we had to implement something that we learned from the artist. I've learned so many things from Neal Adams, and unfortunately none of them could be implemented into this drawing. However, I did learn that he inks all of his stuff with a Pentel marker and a Pilot pen. That's what I did here. It was an interesting experience, and one that I probably wouldn't ever do again. I'm still trying to get used to inking with a pen and brush.

Unfortunately I don't know what my class thought of this drawing except for one classmate who thought that it looked great. I have a bunch of opinions from people outside of my class, but only one from the inside.

Neal Adams, The Comic Book Maverick

The Neal Adams Collage

I created this collage of Neal Adams' artwork for the presentation that I gave on him, it was the title sequence for the visual aid. I gave my presentation on Neal Adams on Tuesday, May 31, 2011, and I was the last presenter that day. I didn't exactly choose to be last, it just sort of happened that way. I wrote a fantastic presentation, and I was hoping to give one, but at the time, I didn't feel like I did. In fact, I felt that I did terrible.  I had to deviate from the plan due to time restraints, and that's never a good thing. I suck at improvisation before an audience. Not only did I feel that I did horrible, but the fact that I saw three of my classmates fell fast asleep didn't help matters. I know that this was an 8 AM class and on the final week of school, but it was still discouraging to see them asleep. 

So I left the class grumbling at myself for how rotten the presentation was and after setting up such a great one, too. I heard from one classmate, the same one who had liked my drawing, say that she believed that Prof. Chris Schweizer liked my presentation. I wondered how she could tell when she was sitting behind him, but truth to be told, I was sitting in front of him and couldn't tell. However, on the final day of class, he kind of made a mention that he thought that it was good when he asked me to email him the PDF of the Neal Adams visual aid, something that I don't think that he asked for of anybody else. But it wasn't until I went up to Charlotte this weekend for the Heroes Comic Convention did I know for certain. He told me how great of a presentation it was, and he said that it was the best presentation that was ever given in the Survey class. He added that I would make a great teacher. Whoa. I probably should never listen to myself when I think that I've done terrible. 

Ironically, Neal Adams was at that convention. I've had the opportunity to meet him before at last year's Dragon Con, but since I had just done a presentation on him this year was a bit more meaningful. It was great to meet him again, and I told him that I had done a presentation on him and what the professor had said about it. Mr. Adams said, "You are wise beyond your years." Wow! It was an unforgettable Heroes Con to be sure.

Heroes Con

The last time that I had been to Heroes Con was in 2009 when I met the legendary Dick Giordano, who was a huge influence on my artwork, and it was his last Heroes as he would pass away a year later. I didn't go last year, but I had wanted to go back eventually. However, I couldn't afford a hotel. That was the main reason for not planning on going this year until I read that my friend, Lisa Tolbert was looking to set up a group to go up to Heroes Con. The group would be staying in the same hotel room and split the hotel payment. I could do that. Not only did I get into the group, but I also agreed to drive three to four people up to Charlotte. 

There were eleven of us cramped into a little hotel room, and we had every reason to get on each other's nerves, but we managed to work it all out. There was a conflict, but it got resolved peacefully. All in all, it was a blast. It was the best comic convention that I've been to, and it was the best time that I've had since coming to SCAD. I got to stay with some friends, met Neal Adams and Marvel colorist Laura Martin, a wandering drunk complimented my artwork, and Prof. Nolan Woodard told me to be prepared to be kicked in the butt when he heard that I would be taking his coloring class in the fall. What more can you ask for, what more? If the opportunity ever presented itself, I would love to do it again. In fact, it was a shame that it had to end so soon.

Final Thoughts

The spring quarter is over, and eventually I will give my overall take on the quarter, but right now I can say that it was a success. I got all A's in my classes, which included acing the 20th Century Art final exam. I haven't aced a final exam since my first quarter when I did it with 2D Design, but 20th Century is more impressive since there were more questions.

Last summer I had created an animated short called The Vampire Mouse Transformation Animation, where my Vampire Mouse transforms into a bat and flies around the screen before transforming back into a vampire. It took me the entire summer to complete. Under the recommendation of Allyssa Lewis, the former president of the SCAD-Atlanta Animation Society, I entered it into Roll Yer Own, an independent animation screening, and my animation was selected to premiere tomorrow night at 7 PM. 

In the next entry I'll talk about my experience at the premiere of my film, and I'll also premiere the colored version of The Defining Moment. Until then, this is Billy Wright wishing you all a good night. So long, everybody.
    

It All Started with a Mouse

It All Started with a Mouse

Over five months of thumbnail sketches, penciling, inking, and coloring have all accumulated into this, my greatest drawing ever. I am not boasting by the way, I truly think that this is the greatest drawing that I've ever produced. Five months of work, it better be spectacular. It's nice to have it done, but truthfully, I will miss working on it. I had a blast drawing those characters, and I certainly hope that that comes across to all of you who view it.

As you can see, I decided to name the drawing It All Started with a Mouse although the subtitle of the piece is still The Cartoon Universe. I may have stated this once before, but it does bear repeating that I believe that animation owes a great deal to Disney and Mickey Mouse. Animation would be drastically different without the contributions that were made by Disney. There's a possibility that neither the Looney Tunes Universe nor the Hanna-Barbera Universe would exist without the Disney Universe, and that is why I decided to name it what I did. 

I hope that you all enjoy it.

The Next Panoramic 

I had sworn to myself while working on It All Started with a Mouse that I would never do another panoramic drawing again. Well...as they say, never say never. It didn't take long for another idea to come into my head for two more panoramic drawings although they will be smaller than this 4 ft. and 3 in. long drawing. However, I was only willing to do more panoramic drawings if It All Started with a Mouse was a success, and even though it has only been on DeviantArt for a few days it has been a huge success; the popularity is still growing. I do have several other drawings that will be done first, and so it will be a while before I get started on these, but plans are underway to creating a panoramic drawing featuring DC and Marvel heroes and another that features DC and Marvel villains. I am not like Pablo Picasso or Marcel Duchamp in regards that I want to be better than the most popular artist who came before me, and instead I want to be better than my last great artwork. It All Started with a Mouse is my best work in a long time, and although I don't know if I could ever top that, but if something could it would be these next panoramic drawings.

Back to Basics

The Defining Moment (Thumbnail Sketch)

We have to do a research paper in Survey of Sequential on an artist who is highly influential in the comic book industry, and I chose to write about legendary artist Neal Adams. Adams was influential in having comic book companies return original artwork back to the artists because before the companies were just destroying the original artwork, which is just plain insane. The image that we have of Batman today is credited to Adams who got Batman away from the Adam West version into the dark avenger that he was supposed to be. Finally, Adams along with Denny O'Neil worked on the Green Lantern/Green Arrow comic series, and they created relevant comics, meaning that the characters dealt with a social issue throughout each story whether it was racism or drug use. It was optional, but we could add a drawing to our paper except we had to include something that we learned about the artist. Since I am only taking lecture classes with no drawing whatsoever I chose to include a drawing to at least say that I drew in the Spring Quarter of 2011. I thought about doing a drawing where a character is dealing with an issue of social relevance, but the character that I had in mind wouldn't really get involved in social issues except drug use. I suppose that I could have him at the U.S./Mexico border fighting the drug cartel. Instead, however, I decided to draw something of spiritual relevance, and that is more down my alley anyway.

The thumbnail sketch seen above is called The Defining Moment, meaning that it is a moment where everything changes, where nothing will ever be the same again. In this case, the hero, the one with wings, loses the woman he loved through a heinous act, and he unleashes hell on her murderers. It's kind of a disturbing, morbid drawing when there's only one living person in it, everyone else is dead. This was one of the drawings that I had planned, but it was supposed to wait in line behind four other drawings; it got promoted. This is also the first drawing featuring original characters that I've done in a long time. I've been rightfully obsessed with fanart that all my original stuff had been thrown to the back burner, and so it's been nice to get back to basics. I am presently working on the penciling, and like most of my pencils, where I am following a thumbnail sketch, it looks dramatically different from the thumbnail. I'm always changing something in the middle of it. I am hoping this week I'll be able to get to the inking, which is where the Neal Adams approach will come into play. Adams inks with a Pentel marker and a pilot pen, which was completely stunning to me because I never knew that anyone could ink with a marker. I may very well butcher it especially when I am not that great at inking, but I am going to give it a shot. By the way, since I am expecting to butcher it, I am not inking on the original artwork, and instead I will place transparent Vellum over the artwork and ink that. That way the original can go into my portfolio as a penciled piece, which my portfolio is severely lacking.

This is Not A Monkey!!! 

The Vampire Mouse

  The Vampire Mouse was a character that I had created for my Intro. to Sequential class two springs ago, and I had thought that that would have been the last of him especially when I killed him off in the final story that I did in that class. I certainly didn't expect that I would fall in love with the character, but that's exactly what happened. He has been featured in a birthday card, an animated short, and presently, I am working on a script for a mini comic that will tell his origin story, something that I never came up with for the class. So the Vampire Mouse is slowly becoming one of my signature characters; and therefore, when I went down to Savannah, Georgia to participate in the annual SCAD Sidewalk Arts Festival I decided to introduce the character to the public by drawing him on the sidewalk at Forsyth Park. It was certainly a change of pace to draw not only on concrete, but also with chalk. While everyone around me was using bright colors on their work, I went dark, and that just shows that I really didn't care if I won the contest or not, which I didn't. I was not there to win, I was there to have fun. I had a great time although I could have done without the people who thought he was a Vampire Monkey. HE'S NOT A MONKEY!!!! Granted the majority knew that he was a mouse, but every so often I would hear him called a rat, a guinea pig, and a monkey. Though they did give me ideas for different villains that the Vampire Mouse could face in his mini comic.

Sadly, the Vampire Mouse probably no longer exists in Savannah since it was only temporary, either washed away by the park groundskeeper or by the rain. This was only the second artwork that I created knowing that it would not exist for the long haul-the other was a sculpture of smashed up toy cars. That does make the artwork a tad bit more special.

Final Thoughts

Well, I have to get back to work on my 20th Century Art research paper about Salvador Dali's The Persistence of Memory, and it's going rather well although I still haven't figured out what my argument is going to be, but I figured that I can at least write what everybody else's opinion is first. Whatever it is, I need to bring something new to the table. As Dr. Watson told us, we need to pretend that we're at a cocktail party and wanting to contribute something to the conversation; we don't want to repeat ourselves and have everyone staring blankly at us. Wish me luck. 

Until next time, this is Billy Wright, wishing you all a good night. So long, everybody. 

Back to SCAD!

Tuesday, March 29, 2011 was a day that I had been looking forward to for the longest time, but with that being said, it was also a day that I was also nervous about. It seems strange to be nervous about a day that I have looked forward to ever since the summer of 2010 began, and I didn't even know that I would be taking two quarters off, I only suspected it. However, I had been gone from SCAD-Atlanta for so long that I had no idea what to expect upon my return. Although I had looked forward to this day I didn't make a big deal over it on Facebook, and because I didn't, only a hand full of my friends knew that I was coming back. So to those who didn't know, they were surprised to see me, and the looks on their faces was absolutely priceless that I was glad that I didn't make a big deal out of my return such as doing a countdown on Facebook. It felt a little weird to be back though, and so it will take a while for me to get back into the swing of things.

Starting in the Winter of 2009, I have seen friends disappear whether it's because SCAD is too expensive or they've gone to another SCAD campus, but nothing could have prepared me for this quarter. For the first time one of my best friends, Sasha Williams was not there, she's down in the Savannah campus. She wasn't there last quarter either, but neither was I, and so this was the first time that I felt the presence of her absence. It felt very strange not to see her in the Hub or...hear her voice coming through all of the noise in the Hub. Sasha is one of those people who has a rare gift in being able to cheer you up whenever you're feeling down. She may not even know that you're depressed at that moment, but she can still cheer you up. There's absolutely no way that you won't crack a smile over something that she says. I'm definitely going to miss her.

The Excited Professor 

My first day back at SCAD-Atlanta was very exhausting even though I only had two classes, but the waiting period in between them both is what really tired me out. So by the time I got to my 20th Century Art class I was close to just collapsing at my desk and falling asleep. Of course, the professor would have marked me as absent, which is a word that I don't get along with at all, it's like the word "late" we're not best buds with each other. In fact, if the words "absent" and "late" were to disappear off of the face of the earth I wouldn't shred one tear. Anyway my class was being held in the same room that I had taken Survey of Western Art II in a year earlier, and I suppose that I could've sat down at a different desk, but no, I sat down in the exact same desk that I had back then. My professor was Keri Watson, and I was really hoping that she was a doctor like most of the art history professors because I so wanted to call her Dr. Watson, but alas, my dreams were dashed. Aw, well, these little things can't be helped I suppose. She started off 20th Century Art by talking about the Industrial Revolution and important events that came after it, and she showed us some pictures of Albert Einstein, the Wright Brothers, a faced moon with a rocket stuck in it, and a bearded individual. She asked us if we knew who the bearded individual was, and I immediately thought to myself "Freud." However, I kept silent...for a while anyway. I can't tell you how many times, because I've lost count by now, that I've known the right answer to a professor's question, but said nothing. I can't explain why, it's not like I thought that I would be teased for knowing the right answer. Though I had made a vow to myself before this quarter began that that I would not withhold answers again, but apparently old habits are definitely hard to break. Still, it felt like one could hear crickets in the room because no one was saying anything, and so I raised my hand and said, "Freud, Sigmund Freud." What happens next took me completely by surprise. Her eyes widened, and she says in an excited tone, "YES!" She was so excited by me answering it correctly that it was as if she has asked that question every quarter and no one has gotten it right until now. I pretty much came to realize that she is a very excited professor because I would see that look again in Thursday's class, but it was to someone else.

I've only had two classes with her, but I already know that I like her. Say what you want about Dr. Jasin, who I had for Survey of Western Art II, but I really enjoyed her class because of the fiery passion that she had for the subject. Her passion made me look forward to that class. Prof. Watson has the same passion although it comes out as excited instead of fiery, but it's something to look forward to throughout the quarter. 

Dodgeball

What better way to mark my return to SCAD-Atlanta than a nice game of dodgeball? Unfortunately I have never played the game before. I was home-schooled throughout my high school career, and so I was never able to play the game. I knew very little about it other than you're split into two groups, and both sides are trying to take each other out by throwing balls at each other. A very loose interpretation. Although I had decided to participate in the event that the Student Activities Council was throwing I had no idea if I would be able to actually get past that part in my brain that is against violence. It would be so much easier for me to throw balls at people if they had done something to me or to someone I care about first. Revenge can be a very big motivator. When I arrived at the Peachtree Christian Church-next door to the school-yesterday afternoon I met with Mike Bledsoe, the president of the council, and he told me that my team didn't have a name yet. Every other team had been named beforehand, but my team wasn't. When did the naming of the teams take place for me to miss it? He gave me some time to figure out a name for my team, and I wish that the rest of the team had been there that way I could've consulted with them instead of coming up with the name myself. Although it was tempting to keep us as the Team with No Name as it would be like the song, "I've been through the desert on a horse with no name, It felt good to be out of the rain. In the desert you can remember your name, for there ain't no one for to give you no pain." That would have been funny, but it wouldn't have been me either. I like team names to strike fear into the hearts of the opponent. I thought about naming the team "The Dragons" after one of my comic book characters, but then...I was hit with a huge brainstorm. I was wearing the Jaguar McGuire and His Cat T-shirt that I had gotten last year at the premiere of the animated short that was created by SCAD-Atlanta animation students, and so I named the team "The Jaguars."

What can I say about the game itself? I was terrible and it felt like deja vu. Every time I've been part of a team I've always been ignored, shoved to the side like a worthless piece of fruit. Back in the fourth grade I was part of a 3-on-3 basketball game in PE, and I was always left wide open next to the basket, but my teammates never threw the ball to me. I never touched the basketball in that game. I was part of a team that was playing a board game in the First Year Seminar class-a required class for all SCAD freshmen-and all of the questions were in the last chapter of the textbook, which I had just finished reading that morning. So the answers were fresh in my mind, but the captain of the team kept ignoring my answers, and it would turn out that my answers were always correct. This time around, it wasn't my teammates who were ignoring me, it was the opposition. In the first two games I wasn't even worth throwing at. I never got hit by the ball at all. I kept getting myself out by throwing the ball too high, and my target would catch it, knocking me out of the game. It wasn't until the third and final game for "The Jaguars" was I finally thrown at. However, first I had to come close to knocking one of "the Mario Party" players out. I threw a ball at Trevor Verges, a fellow sequential artist, and he managed to dodge it, but in the process he fell backwards, sort of like Victoria in Norman and the Love Triangle. It was the closest that I ever came in knocking someone out, but after that I became a target for the opposition. They still missed me though.

"The Mario Party" came extremely close in knocking me out with a thrown ball, but I was somehow able to dodge it. The ball was coming at my legs, and I jumped to my left to get my right foot away from the incoming ball, but I lost my balance and fell to the ground. Since my momentum was taking me to the left I not only fell to the ground, but I wound up rolling for awhile until I was out of bounds. It was quite a surreal moment, and as it was going on I could hear the crowd yell, "Whooooooooooa!" Apparently they were amazed by that stunt. I thought that the ball had hit me during the fall, and so as soon as I stopped rolling I was just going to sit there to rest after that crazy fall, but then Michael, who was on my team and had already been knocked out, yelled to me saying that the ball had missed me. Oh, slag it! I'm still in play. That was the big highlight of the day for me.

Final Thoughts

My first week back to SCAD-Atlanta has been great, and although it will take a while to get back to the swing of things I know that this quarter is going to be huge. Since I do have a lot of time between classes, both of which are lecture classes, I am continuing my work on the panoramic drawing, and I have gotten the three drawings scanned into the computer and are stitched together. One couldn't even tell that they were three individual drawings. I am aiming to finish the drawing by the summer unless something unexpected occurs. One of my assignments in Survey of Sequential is to interview a comic book artist via email, and before I came on to write this blog entry I emailed Graham Nolan, who was the penciler for the comic where Batman faces off with Bane, to ask him if I could interview him. I only have four questions at the moment, but I hope to have five by the time he responds back, if he responds at all. So until next time, this is Billy Wright wishing you all a good night. So long, everybody.