Teh Hotness – Off to San Diego

San Diego Comic-Con = Long Lines
San Diego Comic-Con = Long Lines

At 5AM tomorrow morning, I won’t be making comics like every other morning, I’ll be on my way to the airport for San Diego Comic-Con.

For those who don’t know, Comic-Con is the biggest pop culture event in North America – which, in layman’s terms, it’s the biggest gathering of geeks, nerds and freaks who speak English as their primary language. Warren Ellis calls it the Nerd Prom – and that’s an appropriate title.

I love Comic-Con. It’s second only to GDC as my favorite annual event.

It’s the best place in the world to be a giant nerd and geek out over comics, cartoons, toys, TV and movies. The exhibition floor is packed with insane artists, crazy toys, awesome t-shirts and tons of hotness. The panels offer everything from sneak peeks to next years big movies to the discussion on the future of comics as a printed medium.

It’s A-1 fantaradawesomeness.

I’ll be doing a bit of blogging from the floor, courtesy of my iPhone, WordPress for iPhone and iGoogle providing free wi-fi throughout the convention hall. I’ll also be twittering random things from the floor as well.

Wish me luck – this is going to be a blast! If you are going to be there, hit me on e-mail or twitter.

Teh Hotness – Skottie Young on Sketchbooks and Sketching

Wolverine First Class - by Skottie Young
Skottie Young is one of my fav artists and he put together a solid Twitter rant on sketchbooks and sketching last night. Skottie hits it right on the button – so I am reposting it here for your enjoyment.

– A few art tips for the night (not career tips)
– Sit with a sketchbook at all times. Doodle, scribble, sketch. Play with shapes and lines while watching tv. nothing intense, just sketch
– Don’t be fooled by the “sketchbooks” you buy from artists at cons. Those are pieces, not sketches. Sketchbooks can be a mess.
– Finding new places to take your art actually requires you to mess up…a lot. Every piece cannot be a masterpiece, nor should it be.
– Sketching without the pressure of taking it to a finish allows for accidents which can lead to unexpected discoveries.
– many people say they don’t have time to sketch or draw for themselves. Everyone has a spare 15 minutes. I can fill 3 pages of gestures in 15
– A good way to let go and just sketch, Sketch with an ink pen. This takes away the possibility of a clean drawing and lets you just play
– I used to hate sketching in a book because it felt permanent so I started just drawing on copy paper and binding them later.
– I treat my sketchbook like people treat doodling while on the phone. Any spare moments are spent scribbling.
– Your sketchbook is the place that no one can judge, critique, hate or love you. Sales don’t effect it, reviews can’t hurt it.
– A basketball player can’t get better by only playing games. He has to condition, lift, practice to grow. Art is the exact same.
– You can only grow so much by drawing for work and work alone. It’s not a place that allows for spreading your wings and streching out.
– Bottom line, pull out your book and doodle when you have a few free moments. You work will be the better for it and most of all, it’s fun.
– Now, put down your iPhone and close twitter and go draw.

Check out more from Skottie Young at his:
Blog
Twitter
Deviant Art