Jabberwocks

The 8 page full colour, multi-medium Sci-Fi comic story called "Jabberwocks" I co-created years ago with writer Robyn Harrington and then-editor of Remote Veiws (an anthology of short stories) Andrew Foley, is now live on my site, available in it's entirety to the public for the first time! Go to the comics section at www.moon-man.com to check it out.


Robyn passed away without ever seeing the story published. She was so excited about it, being her first comic story ever produced. She really enjoyed showing it around to her friends. It's been on the shelf for a long time, so it feels really good to have it available to the public now. I'd love to hear your feedback if you read it.

More Blotter Doodles


Every time I recharge my brush (that is, dip it in ink) I test it with a few strokes on a scrap of paper before I risk it on my artwork. I decided to try and make drawings with those test strokes. It was a cool experience, like what I imagine the Japanese art of Sumi-i must feel like. I just look at the paper and intuitively make one or two strokes that feel like they'll add to the drawing. Then I go back to inking my comics untill the brush needs more ink and I do a few more intuitive strokes. The ensuing image tends to be a neat surprise. If I wasn't inking something else at the same time, I'd never have the patience to make this kind of drawing. I'd rush it and over work it and it wouldn't have the same simplicity and clarity.






Learning to Paint





I'm falling back in love with drawing. You know how sometimes you develop a skill and you go through periods where you're kind of used to it, you approach it the same way for a while and as good as it is, you don't get that excited, compelled feeling any more. Then you discover a new medium, or a new approach, or a new purpose for that skill and it becomes really exciting again.

This time around the floodgates were opened for me by learning one very simple trick in Photoshop that allows me to paint over my pencil drawings yet allows the pencil lines show right through the colour. Somehow this has brought out a whole new painterly obsession alive. Not only has it changed the way I colour my images, but also the things I want to explore in my drawings. I find myself staring at stuff, trying to figure out how to render the light, what colours would I pick to paint it. I'm all psyched about making pictures now! Here are some of the results of that.

Catching Up On June 2006

Wow! It's been over a month since my last blog entry. Time flies when you're completely slammed! My wife Trina and I have a photography business and we're in the process of switching from film to digital. There's a lot more to that task than I thought. Researching and buying new gear, learning new software, catching up on orders that fell behind in the process. Big job! I'll be posting some commentary on the things I've learned onto Trina's workshops blog (http://tkpworkshops.blogspot.com/). Stuff about image rescue, a review of Mac's Aperture program, and already you will find some of Trina's amazing digital photography.

I've also got an exciting graphic Novel job in the negotiation stage. I'll post more details once the contract is signed. For now I'll just say it's an amazing opportunity, it's going to give me a good excuse to buy some equipment I've been coveting. And it's going to be a creative stretch, I'll be drawing it in a new, looser style to suit the story, and the budget, and the deadline.

Here are some Spot illustrations I did for the amazing new Oakville Organic grocery store, Organic Garage. www.organicgarage.ca/

Michael Cho Makes me Drool...

...over his artwork, of course! Dang this guy's great.


I met Michael at the Toronto Comicon... or rather, after the comicon at dinner. He gave me some great tips for colourizing linework in photoshop. Anyway, his work is gorgeous! Here's a few from his blog, which I suggest you check out at http://chodrawings.blogspot.com/.


Ain't it sweet! Wow! Thanks for the inspiration, Michael! From the looks of these, they're old school analog art... on real paper with real inks. Designing like this for two colours is a neat trick that I'd really like to learn. Somehow it seems way harder than full colour. Michael makes it so the two colours are interdependent. The image would be incomplete without one or the other. Takes more planning, I would think. I make my drawings as black and white images and then the colours are usually an afterthought. Minimizes the amount of thinking I have to do, which is usually a good strategy for me. ;)

I think it's like black and white photography, which removes the distraction of piles of colours all over the place and lets you pay more attention to the character of the subject... and the composition becomes more apparent. Anyone else have any thoughts on the matter?

Paul McCusker in Paradise



One of my favorite things about exhibiting at the Toronto Paradise Comicon is meeting and learning from all the amazing artists you find there. Last year I met Paul McCusker, a bearded comics and illustration veteran and really neat guy. I absolutely love his work. He's incredibly talented with a variety of mediums and styles. I bought this book called Rodent Noir, and it is jam packed full of art lessons. Paul, thanks a bunch. Of all the incredible artists that were there, you left the biggest impression on me. Looking forward to meeting you again!

I wish I had a website address to refer you to Paul's other work but you can come to the Paradise comicon next year and you'll see his work and be duly awed. (If anyone out there has a link to Paul's site please send it to me and I'll post it here.)

Comicon This Weekend in T.O.



Oh yeah, and I'll be at the Paradise Comicon in Toronto (http://torontocomicon.com/) this weekend promoting our book, Parting Ways, which I illustrated with the help of the amazing Nick Craine (http://www.nickcraine.com/). The book was written by the equally amazing Andrew Foley. You can find me and Nick, and Northwest Passage creator Scott Chantler (http://www.scottchantler.com/) (collectively forming the Safety First comics crew) at Artist's Alley near the back of the room. This is a great place to go comics shopping because the dealers and artists always give great discounts at these shows, and the artists will sign your book if you buy it from them... maybe even draw you a picture in there!

Cheers!
Scott Mooney
www.moon-man.com

Juggle the Piercing Fearless

Just a medley of neat stuff that has found it's way to my attention in the last couple of hours.

1. Chris Bliss is a juggler. Not just any old juggler. Imagine juggling as a medium for musical interpretation, insert an awesome Beatles song (Golden Slumbers) and see what happens. Here's the link to watch the video. http://tinyurl.com/gcupv (Special thanks to Paul Cutright for forwarding it to me).

2. Gareth Lind, who I've been interviewing gradually on this blog, sent me this link to a beautifully crafted comic story called "Piercing" created by artist David Gaddis. It's also a great example of "silent" or wordless comics, a particular interest of mine. http://www.davidgaddis.com/piercing.html

3. I just watched the movie "Fearless" for probably the fourth time. (Not the new Jet Li kung fu movie... which looks like it's going to be totally awesome!) The one I'm talking about was made in 1993 (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0106881/) directed by Peter Weir (director of The Dead Poets Society, and the Truman show, and a large number of other excellent films). I watch it every couple of years, and each time it's a new movie. I get something different from it every time. It's got a great cast, all working in the top of their form in this one. Jeff Bridges, Isabella Rosalini, Rosie Perez (who I think steals the show, her acting is so good in this movie... I never realized that she's so good before tonight) and Benicio Del Torro. What do you mean you've never heard of it?!;) This is a movie about faith... not religion. What is faith? Is it the choice to not be afraid... or to not allow fear to dissuade you from the path you want to take? Maybe fear plays an important role in our lives, if we indulge in it wisely.

Weltschmerz! Controversy? Q2.


Several posts ago I started interviewing Gareth Lind, creater of the edgy political satire strip, Weltschmerz. His new book, "Weltschmerz Attack of the Same-Sex Sleeper Cells" is available now. You can order the book, and read the strip at Lind's blog/archive at http://weltschmerz.ca/blog/. Here's question 2 in our interview. (You can click the image above for a larger view)

Scott Mooney: I generally avoid dealing with politics in my own work because I’m always insecure about my understanding of the issues. I can’t help but feel it takes a lot of courage to make a stand with your art. Do you ever get paranoid about how people will react to your work?


Gareth Lind: I figure artists deal best with subject matter they know. I've always been into politics; I'd follow the issues whether I was a cartoonist or not. I've been active in peace groups and other social change organizations. So it comes natural to me. A lot of my best cartoons arise when I'm angry at some idiot for bringing in policies that will fuck up the world even more than it is.

Because I'm printed in alternative papers, I can be pretty out-there without getting any reaction. So, I don't get paranoid. In fact, I wish I'd get more response. Sometimes I'm surprised about what I can get away with (short of the ultimate taboo, portraying Mohammed). I've drawn ex-Ontario Premier Mike Harris gnawing away at the dismembered leg of a squeegie person and pissing on the grave of a Walkerton victim. Not a peep.

Occasionally I'm worried readers will think I'm off the mark, or they won't get a cartoon. I don't always know how much an issue is common knowledge and how much I should explain in the cartoon. I fear being too preachy or didactic. Yet, without some back story, some issues I can't deal with. I bounce my cartoons off a friend sometimes. He may say, "this is obvious; you telegraph the punchline too much," or he'll say, "whaaa?" When the humour relies on some knowledge of political events, hitting it right can be tricky. I may err on the side of too much explanation.

Sometimes I fear I'm too cavalier about an issue that is actually quite serious. For instance, I'm starting a series of cartoons (this Thursday is the first) that will riff on Canadian soldiers in Afghanistan. I just make fun of it; I don't come down really hard on it, so some readers may think I'm not critical enough. On the other hand, one character is a terrorist, whom I treat as someone just doing his job (just because it's funny, and that's doing my job). We'll see if anyone reacts either way.

You'd think I'd get angry emails. I don't.

Indiana Jones vs. Tommy Lee Jones


I love a good adventure film. One thing that strikes me as weird though is that the heroes in these films are often as cold blooded a killer as the bad guys. Indiana Jones actually takes pleasure in killing his enemies. Real soldiers in the real world experience trauma from killing people. Not Indiana Jones. I think there is a new kind of killer emerging in the entertainment world... the repentant killer. I just watched The Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada. Tommy Lee Jones tracks down his friend's killer (Played by Barry Pepper) and forces him on an arduous journey of penance. All along we can see that the killer is traumatized by what he's done, and the trauma only grows the longer he holds his terrible secret. Not the cold blooded killer we grew up on in the movies. Have you seen "21 Grams"? Same thing... traumatized killers/would-be killers abound in that one.

I recognize that Indiana Jones isn't about the psychological impact of killing. It's an old fashioned archetypal adventure story. Still I think it's a little weird. When he shoots those 3 German soldiers in their stomachs with a machine gun in "The Last Crusade" they all die instantly and Indiana smiles at his dad all proud of what he's done. We don't see those soldiers writhing in the throes of an agonizing gut shot death (there isn't even any blood). We don't see the the pain of their families at the loss of a beloved husband, son, brother, friend. Instead we say "Yay for Indiana for killing those bad-guys!" There's a line in Clint Eastwood's "Unforgiven" that says something like "When you kill a man you take away everything he was and everything he's gonna be". This is spoken from a hired killer to his eager young protogé, trying to tear down this kid's romantic notion of being a gunslinging assassin. The kid is unmoved... until his first kill. Then he breaks down, totally traumatized by his own violent act, and swears he'll never kill again.

Conveniently for Indiana Jones, The Nazis seem to be the ultimate symbol of evil in our society for the attempted genocide and the cruelty dealt to their victims. But the soldiers in that army were real people with real hearts and their own thoughts and dreams and loves. Many were forced into service unwillingly, just like so many of the drafted American soldiers in Vietnam. Part of an overwhelming machine of politics and power. Now it's getting harder and harder to point the finger at the Nazi's, or the Russians and say "those guys were evil, not like us good folk" when the American administration are standing accused of similar crimes; kidnapping, imprisonment without charges, torture, illegal invasion of a nation under false pretenses, blatant lying to their own people, rigged elections, disregard for human rights abroad and at home, war profiteering, imperialism, manipulation of the media and the American people... the list goes on. Then we end up with "V for Vendetta", a film where the government is the 1984 Big Brother style bad-guy and a brilliant "terrorist" is the good guy, and an unrepentant killer to boot... like Indiana Jones... and in the context of the film we end up rooting for him, just like Indiana Jones.

It makes for a more complicated villain. Can you even really call them "villain" at that stage? How do they best resolve what they've done? Is prison or death the only answer, or is there something else? I heard a story on CBC radio... I think it was an episode of "Ideas", discussing the idea of Justice. Two men assaulted another in a robbery. The man they assaulted became paralyzed from the waist down. The two parties, with the help of a mediator, came to an agreement that the two assailants would take care of their paralyzed "victim" for the rest of his life, and thus redeem and reform themselves and make the best of what they'd done. Seems pretty logical right? Well, the justice system would not allow for that solution. Instead the two assailants were thrown in jail and the paralyzed victim left impoverished to fend for himself in a harsh world. The tax payers end up having to pay for the assailants' incarceration. Nobody wins, and somehow this means justice was served.

Do you think the rise of the repentant killer in the movies is a sign of American guilt? I notice a couple of Tim Robbins' most famous films are about repentance and redemption. Shawshank Redemption, Dead Man Walking... and Tim is an outspoken pacifist. There are a lot of people who think the current Bush administration is pure evil, and many others who think it's simply bumbling, incompetent and blatantly corrupt. Barely 50% of the population voted him in... and if you believe the rigged election story, less than 50%. MacLean's Magazine this week asks the question, on the cover no less, if W. Bush is the worst president in 100 years. According to the article, on March 16 a Gallup poll showed public opinion of Bush had dropped to 37% approval "one of the worst scores of any president in the modern era." How do you feel proud of your nation under those circumstances? Guilt creeps in. You create a new story about internal struggle, and trying to right a wrong. A fallen character who has the courage to own up and repent or redeem. Villain becomes a hero of sorts. Perhaps this kind of character fills a deep need in the consiousness of a people outraged by their own leader.

Back From the Dead

See this robust energetic super-hero version of me? Add a good deal more body hair and about half the muscle mass and you have the real picture. But what is real, anyway? I experimented with the “if you can see it you can be it” theory. I was so sick and weak I couldn’t even make myself remember what it felt like to be healthy. So I drew this picture and after that I would repeatedly imagine myself effortlessly running a marathon, gliding past exhausted champions, breathing deep and strong. I pictured myself with thick fleshy muscles and a white version of the Flash’s costume on. This visualization actually made me able to breathe deeply without spurring violent paroxysms of coughing... a welcome releif. Another side effect is I can now run on water :-)

Yay for health!

Suprisingly Well, Thank You

This cold I'm fighting off is very strangely behaved. I'll be feeling fine, then suddenly exhausted, then fine again, then uncontrollable coughing... and then a fever, and suddenly fine again. Weird. It seems to have almost completely subsided over the last two hours now that I have to be on the ball at work here. I was wet with cold sweats only an hour ago. Now I'm feeling startlingly well.

I can't help but believe that, for me, a cold is my body/mind forcing me to take a chunk of time and do nothing, and that when I've had enough of the cold it actually goes away quite quickly. My intention seems to have a lot to do with my health, even on a moment to moment basis. Thing is, what I'm supposed to be doing, or what I'm making myself do, is sometimes in conflict with what I really want, deep down at a subconscious level. That internal conflict eventually surfaces somewhere... sometimes as a cold, or unexplainable pains or twitches, or a compulsive burst of creative energy towards what I do want, or a poor performance where I'm "supposed" to be focusing.

Of course, today I took extra care to take all my suppliments (Greens Plus, Immunotec, Chinese Remedy) and eat really well (eating all my broccoli), and drink lots of water. Maybe this cold's purpose was to kick me in the arse about my nutrition...or give me an excuse to lay around all day and watch several adventure films. They always make me feel better when I'm sick... watch "The Corpse Bride" what a wonderful film!

I also watched Indianna Jones; the Last Crusade (fun movie), the new King Kong (Loved it, bawuled my eyes out the first time I saw it), Planet of the Apes (the new one, not particularly tight Sci-Fi... or plot line in general, but great costumes on the apes and Paul Giamatti steals the show as the slimy Orangutang), and of course, the Corpse Bride, which I think is now my all time favorite Tim Burton film, and one of the best films I've seen in the last couple of years.
Now you have Scott's Sick-Day movie reviews. I'm sure you'll want to run out and start renting them immediately!

General Rules for sick-day movies, they must be light, adveturous, funny and/or touching and positive. Er on the side of stupid, rather than creepy. Laughing and joyful crying soothe the heart and thus the body. You don't want to be having those vivid, repetitive fever dreams all night about scary creepy stuff. I spent the first night after watching Planet of the apes and King Kong back-to-back dreaming about Ape Cities and ape characters. Got a little over-aped.

Punky Girls


Today I am sick and feverish, and largely immobile... which meens I have a moment to actually add something to my blog because I've taken the day off. I like the fact that this is a great place to post drawings from my sketchbook that no one would normally see on my commercial illustration site.

Anyway, I'm a little out of it right now so I guess this post is just about the drawing, 'cause I'm gonna go lay down again.

Cheers
Scott

Blotter Doodles


These doodles turned out kinda nice... if you like noseless Cro-Magnons. Whenever I'm inking comics I warm up by drawing faces on my blotter direct to ink, no turning back, each line a commitment. It's good practice for becoming more decisive with my lines. I thought it was kinda cool how the rest of the brush testing marks ended up looking like purposely rendered hair... which I guess it sorta was. I was pleased with the effect as I went along so leaned towards keeping it up.

What this blotter was helping me ink was page one of my first multi-page story to be completely done by myself. It's the one with the deer drawn in blue pencil below. Up until now my own stories have been single pagers, while all my long stories have been collaborations... like the 142 page graphic novel, Parting Ways, I did with Andrew Foley and Nick Craine. I keep forgetting to promote my own book here so there’s a bit of a teaser plug for you. Check it out via the links here and in the sidebar… or run like a madperson to your local comic shop and order ten copies!;)

Weltschmerz!

Click here for larger view, and note the fitting topic!
Hey Comics fans! Gareth Lind is a friend of mine who creates this excellent strip called Weltschmerz. He's releasing his self published collection of the strip in full colour and large scale for all to enjoy. I've been admiring Gareth's cartooning since I first saw it years ago and I'm excited to feature him on my blog today! I asked Gareth for some choice words to tell us what he wants us to know about Weltschmerz and he sent me this...


Weltschmerz has a cast of characters that grapple with the effect of politics on their lives. Some are personally affected by political decisions – Raj, the terrorist suspect, who is held without trial for having talked about nuking suicide wings. Some are simply worried to death about the future-- Horst, who meets Donald Duck, Big Bird and Tweety in his dreams and wonders whether bird flu has crossed the reality-cartoon barrier.

One reader told me he reads Weltschmerz for its bracing outlook, because it wakes him up when he is "asleep at the wheel." That's what I aim for. Many of us treat politics as separate from life. I want to bridge the gap and help make politics accessible. Probably the most similar existing strip is Doonesbury, though Weltschmerz has more caricature in it, is weekly and is, of course, Canadian.

Oh, and I try to be funny too. To avoid finger-wagging and didacticism. My focus is not only political; recent themes include blogging, having babies, supermodel Kate Moss and so-called intelligent shoes.

Most people are stumped by the strip's name. Sometimes I wished I'd named it differently. But it's been over a decade of people saying, "I like your ... uh ... strip," not wanting to dare treading in the lingual minefield of attempting to pronounce it. For the record, it's pronounced "velt-shmairts" and means, directly translated, "world-pain" in German -- the unbearable heaviness of being. (See the Wikipedia definition. The comic strip is also there. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Weltschmerz)

Weltschmerz appears in Toronto's Eye Weekly and several other Ontario papers, as well as on the Web. Attack of the Same-Sex Sleeper Cells, the first comic book of Weltschmerz cartoons, goes on sale on April 6 at lindtoons.com.

Photo Cuba!

Click the Image for a larger view that allows you to see all the little details!

Hola!

Okay, I finally got my act together to post this collage of portraits I made from the Photo Cuba workshop. If you happen to be one of these characters that means you participated in the workshop... Yay! Wasn't that fun? If you're not pictured in the above collage you still have a chance to get in the workshop for next year! Yay again! There are still a few spots left. The workshop runs February 4-11 of 2007. I know it seems like a long way away but that's what's so great, because you have time to book it off and put some money aside! Click this link for more information and registration; http://www.trinakoster.com/workshops/schedule.cfm?eventID=200.

Cool things about Cuba... great music, great dancing, great dark rum, wonderful open welcoming people, warm weather, beautiful snorkeling, and goats... lots of goats.

Photo Geek


Am I a bad husband for taking not-a-one of Trina’s workshops in the decade or so she’s been teaching them? Well, no more! Here’s my homework from last week’s photo assignment… taken today a, few hours before class #2. So maybe it’s not packed with meaning but I like how it looks. I’ve been raising that plant through several bouts of neglect and I’m really happy to see it thriving, As gangly and awkwardly potted as it may be, that’s one of my babies.

Plus I like the muted tones and then that green an red foliage poping out.