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

The War of Art – The book every creative must read

I am not a religious person, but if I were to have a bible, it would undoubtedly be The War of Art (amazon.ca) by Steven Pressfield.

It is the one piece of published work that has changed my life and how I live it more than any other.

It’s the book I give to dozens of friends who have dreams that need chasing. It’s the book I read on New Years day and Summer Solstice every year. It’s the book that I turn to when watching UFC re-runs is more enticing than working on Petra’s Call.

When my alarm clock goes off at 5AM and I want to press ‘snooze’ one more time, it’s The War of Art that gets me out of bed and gets me in front of the computer.

While many factors conspired to make Ninja Robot Dinosaur and Petra’s Call a reality – I know, without a doubt, that it never could have been done without The War of Art.

If you ever find yourself fizzling out on a project, watching TV instead of writing your novel or constantly putting off your most important creative work for ‘just one more day’, The The War of Art is the kick in the ass that you need. I cannot recommend it enough.