Dragon Con 2011

Dragon Con was this Labor Day weekend in Atlanta, and for those of you who don't know, Dragon Con is the biggest pop culture convention in the South. It is held in five hotels: The Shearton, the Hyatt Regency, the Hilton, the Marriott Marquis, and the Westin. It brings together celebrities and artists to meet their fans, and it also brings together some very passionate people, who show their passion by dressing up in a costume. Actually I think that's why some people go to the conventions just to dress up and get attention for it, not that there's anything wrong with that, it's just not my cup of tea. There's no way I will ever dress up for a convention...unless I'm with a group of friends who are dressing up then I might do it just to blend in with them. This was my third straight Dragon Con, and the thing is my objective when I go to any convention is to meet some celebrities whether they're from Star Wars, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, or Smallville and some artists especially the latter. Networking is very important for an up and coming artist. As Fred Flintstone once said, "It ain't what you know, but who you know," and that is very true for an artist. If you meet an already established artist they may be able to give you some pointers or, in some cases, they may help you get through the door. Unfortunately, I have never been able to really network with a fellow artist properly...until the end of this Dragon Con, but I'll get to that later. I have met some great artists at conventions such as Neal Adams and Marvel colorist, Laura Martin, and since I have a love for both penciling and coloring I could've picked their brains for hours, but did I really network with them? No. There's still so much for me to learn in that area.


Dragon Con began on Friday, September 2nd, but I never go on the first day, and instead I chose to go on Saturday, September 3rd. I got there early since I learned that Tom Felton, who played Draco Malfoy in the Harry Potter movies, was going to be speaking at a panel at 11:30 AM, and as a new Harry Potter fan I really wanted to go to that. Unfortunately, when I reached the Sheraton, where we had to purchase tickets for the convention, the line was extremely long, and in fact, it wrapped around the entire hotel. Well, Saturday is probably the busiest day for Dragon Con. The line, however, was moving at a quick pace, but it wasn't quick enough, and I wound up missing Tom Felton speak. Though I did take some consolation in knowing that he was going to speak on Sunday, too.


By the time I finally got my badge for the three days at Dragon Con I really couldn't walk around and take in the atmosphere because the next panel was 1 PM, and so there was no time to waste. The Smallville panel was held at the Hyatt Regency, and I arrived just in time to get a pretty good seat three rows from the front. The panel featured James Marsters (Brainiac), Sam Witwer (Doomsday), Laura Vandervoort (Supergirl), and Michael Rosenbaum (Lex Luthor), and it was called "Three Bad Guys and a Supergirl." Of all the panels that I attended during Dragon Con, this had to be my favorite. They were extremely friendly, and that showed when one fan asked them for each of their nameplates. They not only gave him the nameplate, but they also signed it as well.


 

Smallville cast

 

Laura Vandervoort



James Marsters

 

Sam Witwer



Michael Rosenbaum

 I also attended the No Ordinary Family panel, which featured Julie Benz and Autumn Reeser, and I learned that the show had been cancelled. That really sucked. Congratulations to the television executives who have pretty much given me a reason not watch television since they keep cancelling everything I like aside from Smallville, which left on its own. While we were waiting for the panel to begin I overheard someone say that the show would have done better if it didn't have "no" in its title, which I think is a load of hooey, but who am I say.

Julie Benz

My final panel on Saturday was with the cast of Back to the Future: Lea Thompson (Lorraine Baines McFly), Christopher Lloyd (Doc Brown), and James Tolkan (Mr. Strickland). Unfortunately I don't have any pictures of this since the Westin ballroom was packed, and I was all the way in the back that my shots would have been terrible. I tried a couple of times, but every time I got a chance to do a shot, someone's head got in the way that I wound up giving up. Even though I was in the back and could barely see them it was a great panel.


After the panel, I hurried over to the Hilton to try to meet some of the cast of Smallville, and the goal was, of course, Michael Rosenbaum. I am happy to say that I got to meet him and shake his hand, and I also got his autograph. Boo-yah! I had him sign what I had used as a photo reference to a drawing that I had done of my character Peter Grayson in Materials and Techniques. It shows Lex looking down at the body of Lionel Luthor, who he had just killed, and it was an awesome shot, perfect for a photo reference. Although I was unable to see him speak that day, I also met Tom Felton, and he signed my Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince book, rather personally too. Both Rosenbaum and Felton may play villains, but they are extremely nice in person. The final person I met was Laura Vandervoort, and like Felton, she personalized her autograph for me. So Saturday was a great day.


Tom Felton and Stan Lee


I had Sunday, September 4th totally mapped out that I would go to the Tom Felton panel at 11:30 AM, and then I would search for Stan Lee and Carrie Fisher, who were somewhere in the Hilton. Once I had met them both I would head down to the Comics Alley in the Hyatt Regency and meet legendary artist Jim Steranko, and I would pay a visit to my Sequential professor, Chris Schweizer. That should take me up to the Michael Rosenbaum panel at 4 PM. As Robert Burns once said, "The best laid schemes of mice and men oft go awry, And leave us nothing but grief and pain, For promised joy!" When I arrived at the Hyatt for the Tom Felton panel I saw that the line extended outside the hotel, and in fact, it wrapped around the hotel that it took me quite a while to find the end of it. There were so many people wanting to get into this panel that the room that it was held in reached full capacity, and the rest of us weren't allowed in, including myself. So just like that, my schedule was thrown off because I did not foresee this at all. It was 11:30, and so I had to begin my search for Stan Lee and Carrie Fisher early, which wouldn't be that bad, but it did mean that at some point I was going to have a time slot where I did nothing. As for Tom Felton, good thing I got to meet him the day before.


It didn't take me that long to find Stan Lee since I just followed the map, and it led me straight to the room where he was signing autographs. Most celebrities charge for their signatures-Michael Rosenbaum was $20, Tom Felton was $40, and Laura Vandervoort was $30. After getting John Schneider and Peter Mayhew's autographs in Dragon Con 2009 and Neal Adams' in 2010 I was used to the $20 signatures, and so Felton's threw me for a loop. So Stan Lee could be anything, but hopefully it was something that I had in my wallet. It cost $55, and in the end, I am glad that I met him because that may have been my final chance although I wish that I could have gotten a handshake out of it to really get my money's worth. Unfortunately I had to sacrifice both Carrie Fisher and Jim Steranko, and that's going to be a bitter pill for me to swallow for a while. After Stan Lee, I only had forty dollars left, and one twenty had to be held back to get out of the Hilton parking garage. It's possible that Steranko would have just been a twenty, but I don't know. I chose instead to use the other twenty to buy Chris Schweizer's Crogan's March, and that turned out to be a good decision because he was sold out of the graphic novel by Monday. Steranko was nowhere to found on Labor Day.


I've already stated this to my friends in hopes that they will call me out on it if I should ever break this promise. I promise to all of you that if you ever want my autograph I will never charge you for it, and if I should ever break it then call me out on it. If you have to print this blog entry out and wave it in my face to get that free autograph then do it. I will be eternally grateful. The only thing that I will ever charge is my artwork, but my autograph is free.


Tariq Hassan and Laura Martin


 Monday, September 5th was the final day of Dragon Con, and I was going to end my day there down at Comics Alley since it would allow me to say goodbye to Prof. Schweizer, and it also allowed me to see Laura Martin as well as perhaps meet Jim Steranko. Of course, I've already indicated that I never got the chance to meet Steranko. I am not that great at networking at the present moment even though I know all of the rules to it, but I am still unsure how I should start a conversation. I suppose the best way to start networking is when you're not intending to do so. I was walking around glancing at people's work when I saw this one X-Men drawing that looked absolutely phenomenal that I stopped by the artist's table. His name was Tariq Hassan, and we started talking about Dragon Con, coloring, inking, and painting. If there was one thing that I did do intentionally it was dropping the little hint that I was an artist, and I did it while we were discussing inking in which I told him that I have trouble with inking. I am great at the thick lines, but those thin lines give me trouble every single time. I told him that I attended the Atlanta campus of the Savannah College of Art and Design, and he stated that he has a studio not far from the campus and a lot of SCAD students drop by there. He even has some interns who are SCAD students. He told me to feel free to drop by some time. Wow! I didn't foresee that coming. Although I don't know when, but I think that I will take him up on that offer since it may lead to something.






It All Started with a Mouse

I had met Marvel colorist, Laura Martin during Heroes Con, and since she is a colorist I wanted to get her opinion of how I colored It All Started with a Mouse. By strange happenstance I did have a small print out of the drawing with me at Heroes, but it didn't occur to me show it to her until I didn't have the drawing on me, it was in the car. So when I learned that she was going to be at Dragon Con I felt that this was my second chance. So when I met her on the final day of the convention I didn't expect her to remember me, but she did although she couldn't remember which convention it was other than it was this year. When it comes to the jobs comics - writing, penciling, inking, lettering, and coloring - it was always writing and penciling that I was most interested in, but after doing the panoramic drawing I have grown to love coloring that I really want to excel in that area. Since this was my biggest project with digital coloring I wanted her opinion on it, and so I showed her the drawing. She absolutely loved it. She told me that she loved the transitions that I used especially with the mountains, the lake, and the forest. That was certainly nice to hear. There's still so much to learn in coloring, but at least I know that I am heading in the right direction.

Final Thoughts

I wish that I could've had a new drawing posted, but I haven't really done much in drawing pin-ups like I had been doing. I have been hard at work with my first mini comic, which will tell the origin story of my Intro. to Sequential created character the Vampire Mouse. It's a two part story that I hope will be ready by April of 2012, where I plan to sell them at the Flukes Mini Comics Festival in Athens, Georgia. Next week I will post some of the finished pages of part one of the story.

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

The Doo Family

The Doo Family Portrait_Inked

Here's the inked version of The Doo Family Portrait, and it came out pretty well although I do think that the Hulk was inked better than this one was. It's not like I changed my approach or anything, but the Hulk just looked better. I suppose it was because I inked both of them in the traditional comic book way, and Scooby and his family are cartoon characters and aren't meant to be inked that way. That's just a guess, however.

When I return to SCAD-Atlanta in September I'll scan this into the computer that way I can get started with the coloring process. For now, I just move on to another project.

The Next Project

I had some difficulty in figuring out what the next project was going to be since I had three ideas in mind before I get started on the next really big project. I decided to push the Riddler back in favor of a Captain Planet drawing. I had two ideas for a Captain Planet drawing, and I've decided to go with the second one, which will feature other super heroic captains from comics and cartoons. Aside from Captain Planet, the drawing will feature Captain America, Captain Marvel, Captain Atom, and another super hero captain who will remain anonymous for the time being, and it will be called The Captains of Heroism.

The Green Lantern Problem

The really big project that I was referring to above was the panoramic drawing of DC and Marvel super heroes, and I won't get started with that until near the end of the year, like the first panoramic drawing. Still, that doesn't mean that I shouldn't prepare myself for it, and namely I needed to know who were the heroes that were going to appear. I had a problem, however, with Green Lantern because there are five earthy incarnations of the character, and so which one should I choose? I quickly eliminated Alan Scott and Guy Gardner, but that still left Hal Jordan, Kyle Rayner, and John Stewart. So I decided to let my sequential art friends lend me a hand with the decision. Even though I was doing that I thought that Hal Jordan was going to be chosen...boy was I surprised. The thing was that I gave my friends another option with Jordan, where I could use him as Parallax in the villains panoramic drawing or use him as the Spectre in the super heroes. Adding that option tilted the scales away from Hal Jordan as the Green Lantern, and so far the consensus is for Kyle Rayner to be Green Lantern and Hal Jordan to be Parallax. I am going to wait a few more days before making it official because there are some friends who haven't responded yet, and so Hal Jordan could still over take Rayner.

Freelance Animator?

A few days ago I saw a job posting for an animator on College Central, and it's with a company called OpenSpan. I don't know much about the company, and there's really not much to know at this point. They're looking for an animator who can assist them in creating a project that will communicate what the company does. What interested me in the project other than animation was that it appears that they want a 2D animator, which is right up my alley. There's nowhere on the job post where they say they want a 2D animator specifically, but they did say that they were looking an animation style similar to a YouTube video that they had linked to the post. When I clicked on the link, I could easily tell that it was an animated video done in Adobe Flash, which is 2D animation. Of course, I won't be using Flash if they choose me, but it's good to know that they are looking for a 2D animator.

I just answered the post not that long ago, and so hopefully the next time I write I can say that I am a freelance animator. That has a nice ring to it, doesn't it?

Final Thoughts

Aw, fuddle duddles! I am sick again. I hate getting the cold, but at least I caught it before the start of the Fall Quarter because that would have been bad. Not only do I hope that I can call myself a freelance animator the next time I write, but also I hope that I am healthy.

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

"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.