Follow the Yellow Brick Road

I recently got to do a caricature for a couple people as a present. They wanted a Wizard of Oz theme, as well as a tie to Cleveland. The layout just seemed natural to me, and I turned some Cleveland landmarks into the Emerald City.

This was a lot of fun, and I used a different coloring technique than I have in recent years. Rather than doing that cut color shadow layer (that's the style I use on Love and Capes) I actually rendered the artwork in color with a few hard cast shadows.

I'm really pleased with how this turned out and so was the client, which is always important.

Stopping a War with Love

This year I'm participating in Wonder Woman Day. It's a day designed to promote and raise awareness of domestic violence. I've created and am donating a piece of artwork for the New Jersey area charity auction that will benefit SAFE in Hunterdon, the local Crisis Center and services. It's done as a tie-in to National Domestic Violence Awareness Month.

I've drawn a piece with Wonder Woman and Amazonia. I've formatted it so that it's a four-panel design, with the initial rough, the tight pencils, the inks, and the colored version. I thought highlighting the process might make it a more interesting piece. You can see how to bid on my piece, and many others, here.

Click on either image to see the two princesses embiggened!

I Made a Comic This Weekend. What Did You Do?

This weekend, I relocated my art studio to the Great Lakes Mall and did 24-Hour Comic Day live for everyone to see. I thought it would be fun for people to see the process of creating a book, and I definitely figured it'd be fun to do.

Playing Hurt

My first issue came on Thursday when I woke up with a pretty good pain in my neck. (Insert your own joke here.) Turns out I had a muscle spasm that required a good dose of medication to get rid of it. Thankfully, by Saturday it had subsided to a mild pain and I had regained almost the full range of motion in my neck. Still, it wasn't the way I wanted to start out a marathon drawing session.

Product Placement

I've mentioned these people and companies before, but I need to do so again. Thanks to:

Comics and Friends • John Haines' mall-based comic shop was my main corporate angel on this. When I approached him about this crazy idea, he lent the support and made the initial contact with the Great Lakes Mall to arrange the event. He also made sure that I had a staff to take care of me when I was in full tunnel vision mode.

Great Lakes Mall • Renee, Tony and the staff at the Great Lakes Mall were fantastic to work with, too. They found a way to let me set up in the Mall overnight and provide the support and security we needed.

Wacom • Wacom is the premier maker of graphics tablets. I have owned two over my career and have loved them both. I don't know how I would do all the art I do without it. Currently, I have an Intuos 3, but I have long coveted the Cintiq, which is like the glorious child of a standard tablet and a monitor. They lent me one for the event, allowing me to draw right on the screen with full pressure sensitivity.

Mentor TV • To allow everyone to see what I was doing, Mentor TV lent us a big screen TV to pipe the feed from my tablet to the audience and other mall-goers. That way people weren't jockeying for position behind me to see what I was working on.

Release the Kraken

I started drawing right at noon. We even had a countdown clock timing me. It was like being Matt Albie from Studio 60, except without the pill addicition or dalliance with Kari Machett. My only preparations were setting up my materials, designing a template for my comic pages, and I had a big cup of coffee. I did do a proof of concept page beforehand to practice with the Cintiq and time myself to see how long it took to finish a page.

I had a notion for the plot of the story. I didn't write anything down or block any scenes. Trying not to think about a story is like trying not to think of pink elephants, though. So some of the structure was already in my head. Since I did the event, I fsaw a mention of using a deck of cards to supply story elements to push all the writing solely into the 24-hour span. It sounds interesting, but I don't think I missed much using this way, either.

And then I drew. And drew. And drew.

I did every page straight through. I'd start with a sketch, ink the piece, add the color tones, save it out and open it in Illustrator where I'd letter it. I'd make a JPG of it to post on the internet and to give to John to print out so we could have a page by page sign of how far I'd gotten.

I found myself laying down just enough of a sketch layout to start inking, and then when I needed it, would go back and re-pencil an area that needed more help. I didn't need a lot of underdrawing to render a face, but some of my hands got placed as "mittens", and when I got to that part in the inks, I went back to the sketch and spent more time figuring out that section in darker colors.

(There's a sample of the pencils on this page. If you look, the hands are rendered in a darker color because I went back in to work on those.)

I broadcasted everything on Facebook and Twitter. Sadly, the uStream feed didn't work for us. I'd tested uStream on my laptop at the Mall and it seemed to work fine. The desktop Mac wasn't able to maintain a connection to the internetreliably enough to send the video. I could have used my laptop, which I also brought, but then you just would have seen my face from the least flattering angle possible rather than seeing the images on my screen. I'm sorry it didn't work, and if I find it within me to do this again, I'll try to have a more stable connection.

After that, much of it's a blur.

If You Were Walking By

We tried to make it as interactive as possible. I grabbed the names of characters from passers-by. There were tables set up around my stage with preprinted panel pages so that kids could do their own comics. And we ran trivia contests and giveaways. Lots of people walked away with prizes. I think the audience participation, heck, even having an audience, helped make this event unique.

Friends and Family

I was lucky enough that most of my family came up to visit, and my Mom and brother stayed the night to keep me company. A number of my friends came up as well, which made for a nice little break as I was going.

Having worked as a caricaturist at amusement parks and parties, I'm pretty good at drawing and talking. So I was able to hold court, show off the Cintiq to all those who asked (and a few who didn't). I think I was able to execute the interactive nature of the event pretty well.

All the characters names, as well as the home state of the main character, came directly from the audience.

Draw Like the Wind

The first page was a full splash page, so that tilted my numbers for a while. I was on a pretty good clip until after page seven, when it seemed like all my visitors came to visit. It slowed me down (not that I'm complaining) as well as shook me off my stride. Page seven is probably my favorite as everything started to click. When I got back to page eight, I felt I had lost a rhythm that took a while to get back.

I thought about taking a nap, but I couldn't. I wanted to make sure I got it done first. It was 3:00am when I started to get tired. I finished the book around 7:00, giving me a pace of a page every 48 minutes. That's not bad at all.

And, I'm pretty happy with the finished project, too. The story came out pretty well, and I changed huge portions of it as I went. The main character's epiphany to let go of his memories wasn't in the original plan. I had thought about keeping that a little more open-ended. The whole car scene was invented on the fly, because if I knew I was going to have to draw a car, I would have brought reference. And, originally, I figured that this character had been haunted before, and that the story would take place over more time than just one night. And the opening date was supposed to be a first date, not a big date. I actually revised the artwork accordingly.

You can also see the characters morph through the book as I became more comfortable drawing them. Just like the Crusader of today doesn't quite look like the guy who appeared in issue #1, Peter and Genevieve kind of shift as I go.

Missing, to my mind at least, was the idea that Peter's breakup with Genevieve was what spurred his moving to LA, and that Peter was capable of rationlizing anything she had done in the past. Maybe that came through.

Also, while I tried to avoid it, the main character probably looks a bit like me. That was unintentional. But I didn't do any character designs, so I think I defaulted to a generic character, and that generic has a lot of me in it. The women are probably my generic women designs, too. In some ways, it's like something I read in a Howard Chaykin interview. He treated his character designs as actors, so his samecharacter designs show up in different books. Blackhawk looks like the Shadow looks like Reuben Flagg.

The whole book, in low-res PDF form, is available for download here. I've made four changes from the original version that was posted on Sunday: I added a credit line, a copyright line, and I fixed one (and as far as I know, the only) typo in the book. I also added a page of links and credits of the places that supported this endeavor.

Next Year

Don't count on it. Theevent really did take a toll on me. I was able to do it, but it was a was a pretty good pounding. Having done it once, I don't know that I need to make it an annual thing.

But…

I really liked the live setup that I had. If that situation arises again, like if a comic shop or gallery or even coffee house wants to organize the event for me, because I might be interested. I'm probably too close to the past event to think clearly about next year. I think this live model has a lot of possibilities.

Most importantly, though, I had fun. It's important to challenge yourself and to try new things. This certainly fit the bill. I'm proud of what I accomplished. Now, if you'll excuse me, I could use a nap.

24-Hour Comic Day Preparations

So, I've mentioned 24-Hour Comic Day. I've been making some preparations.

First, the fine folks at Wacom have lent me a Cintiq for the event. It arrived a little early so I can mess around with it beforehand. Drawing on it is different, to be sure, but it's also awesome. I don't know if I could get used to drawing completely digital, but it's worth pursuing. You've got to keep trying and growing as an artist.

I did a couple of rough images on the tablet. Basically, I'm drawing a light blue pencil underdrawing and quickly moving to inks. I've decided to do the book in a two-tone format, heavily inspired by Darwyn Cooke's The Hunter. (By "inspired" you can say "out and out theft". But, if you're going to steal, steal from the best.) The two color style allows a nice, quick way to establish planes in the drawing. I think it'll look slick.

So, the samples I did are also in two color. I worked the ink layer, added colors and then went in and cleaned up. I think it worked fairly well.

Then I did a sample page. I haven't thought too much about the plot of whatever book I do, but I figure it'll be a relationship story. That's my wheelhouse, and it's best if I do a book that is simpler in scope than, say, complicated 3-point perspective cities and space warships. Not thinking of a story is like not thinking of pink elephants, so I can't say story beats aren't coming to me. We'll see if I actually use them.

I also figured it's okay to do as much prep work as possible. I'm testing the Cintiq and process, so I've designed a template page as well. It's the same as using pre-ruled paper.

So, I gave myself a one-hour time limit and tried to knock out a page. I came in at 45 minutes from start to finish, so that's not bad. It's also a simple page, and I'm sure I'll have some tough ones as I go, too. I even lettered it and then tweaked the original and reimported it. It's good to see the flexibility I'll have.

Click on anything to see it larger. I'm pretty happy with this first run. We'll see how Saturday goes.

Thom Zahler Does 24-Hour Comic Day

So, a year ago, I had this idea.

I've wanted to particpate in 24-Hour Comic Day for a while. It's a day when cartoonists get together and try to put together their own 24 page comic in 24 hours. It's like an ironman competition.

I thought it'd be fun it it was open to the general public. I had an idea of doing it in a gallery, working on a Wacom Cintiq which would pipe what I was drawing onto a big screen TV so that everyone could see. People could come, see the process and watch me put together a comic.

It'd be kind of like when Harlan Ellison would set up in the window of a bookstore and write a short story. Except my story probably won't be quite as awesome.

So, this year, it's happening.

On October 2nd, I'll be at the Great Lakes Mall on a stage down by Macy's and my mall-sponsor Comics and Friends. Wacom is generously loaning a Cintiq to me (that they'll probably have to pry from my cold dead hands to get back). Mentor TV is providing the big screen. I'm going to start at Noon on Saturday, and draw all the way through Noon on Sunday. I'll also be Twittering, Facebooking and uStreaming throughout the whole process.

And then collapse. Yeah, I see that happening for sure.

Here's the full press release:

LOVE AND CAPES ARTIST TO CREATE A COMIC IN 24 HOURS

Thom Zahler, Comics and Friends and Great Lakes Mall Participate in
“24 Hour Comics Day”

On Saturday October 2, Love and Capes creator Thom Zahler will be at Great Lakes Mall, in Mentor, Ohio, creating a 24-page comic book in 24 hours. As part of the national “24 Hour Comics Day", Zahler will be set up on a stage for all to see, working publicly throughout the day and into the next.

Wacom is providing Zahler with a Cintiq tablet which will be hooked up to a big screen television so that everyone can see what he’s working on.

“I think this is going to be a lot of fun,” says Zahler. “At least right now. By hour eighteen I’ll probably be cursing my own name. But I’m glad to let people get a close-up look at the creative process.”

In addition to watching Thom ply his craft, attendees will be able to create their own comic strip (no drawing ability necessary). Thom will also incorporate the audience into his comic creation, in the form of characters as well as other story ideas and details. Prizes will be given away throughout the day, courtesy of Comics & Friends, a comic book shop located in the Great Lakes Mall. Prizes will include comics-related merchandise: movies, video games, action figures and more.

Kick-off is at noon on Saturday, October 2nd. The public will be able to attend during mall hours until 9:00pm on Saturday and then beginning at 11:00am on Sunday. Zahler will also Twitter throughout the day (and night) and post live videos on his site.

About Great Lakes Mall
Great Lakes Mall is located at 7850 Mentor Avenue in Mentor, Ohio and is managed by Simon Property Group, Inc., headquartered in Indianapolis, Indiana. Great Lakes Mall is anchored by Macy*s, JC Penney, Sears as well as two large Dillard’s department stores. Great Lakes Mall also features over 150 specialty stores including Abercrombie & Fitch, American Eagle Outfitters, Build-A-Bear Workshop, Charlotte Russe, The Disney Store, Hollister Co., Talbot's, Ticknors, Victoria’s Secret, Yankee Candle and numerous eateries like Fuji Japan Steakhouse, Max & Erma’s and The Olive Garden. For more information, please contact Great Lakes Mall at (440) 255-6900 or visit www.ShopGreatLakesMall.com .

About Simon Property Group
Simon Property Group, Inc. is an S&P 500 company and the largest real estate company in the U.S. The Company currently owns or has an interest in 373 retail real estate properties comprising 256 million square feet of gross leasable area in North America, Europe and Asia. Simon Property Group is headquartered in Indianapolis, Indiana and employs more than 5,000 people worldwide. The Company's common stock is publicly traded on the NYSE under the symbol SPG. For further information, visit the Simon Property Group website at www.simon.com.

About Thom Zahler
Thom Zahler is a comic book writer and artist, and creator of the Harvey Award nominated superhero romantic comedy comic Love and Capes. Zahler has also done cartooning and illustration for the Cleveland Indians “Slider” comic strip, the Lake County Captains, Prilosec, and recently illustrated a series of children’s books for Roarke Publishing. Further information about the artist can be found at www.thomz.com , and Love and Capes at www.loveandcapes.com

Cincinnati: The one with the comics and the beer

I was at the inaugural Cincinnati Comic Expo this past weekend. You're never sure what to expect from a first year show, but this one exceeded my expectations. Big kudos to Andrew and Matt for putting on such a great show!

And, as usual, I've returned to Art Studio Zee with a ton of stuff to do and a well-scrambled brain, so I'm going to do this stream-of-consiousness factoid style, with some commissions I did scattered about. The full-color Superman piece was for the auction, and bought by a former classmate of mine at Kubert.

You know how to click and embiggen, right?

The best part of the show is the new people I get to meet. I've known Lora and Mike Innes for a couple of years now, but we were stationed next to each other and got to have some long-form conversations and even brunch. That was all kids of awesome. I met legends Murphy and Helen Anderson, Russ Heath and Al and Roz Bellman. That was a treat. Mark Waid is right, too, Murphy Anderson has the best voice in comics, a honey-dipped baritone. And, you know, killer drawing chops and a fantastic ink line. I also got to meet SteveScott, a crazily-talented artist whom I've been sadly unaware of up to this point. We had some great discussions way too late into the night at the hotel bar. I also got to meet Michael and David Uslan. Great people and David is spearheading Graphic.ly where Love and Capesand The Dreamerwill be showing up really soon. Maybe even some other stuff, but I can't talk about that now.

Sales were pretty good at the show, too. Cincy seemed fairly starved for a good comic show, and now I think they have one. With a show with no track record, you're always worried about who, if anyone, will show up. Attendance was good, and people were buying. Maybe it's that without a second day of the show, everyone has a little more impetus to make decisions. Lora and my panel were really well attended, too.

Bonus fun came because the Cincinnati Oktoberfest was right outside the con hotel. This was great for all my cheesy macaroni and apple strudel needs (the beer lines were a little too long for me) and it was fun to have somewhere to go and wander after show hours. It made driving back to the hotel a little difficult from the closed roads, though. I was particularly disappointed that after going to morning Mass, God didn't see fit to part the orange barrels for me. Perhaps I should have prayed harder.

I even mananged to plot out the next page or two of Love and Capes and really lock things down for the end of the book. Now, all I have to do is actually draw the thing. Hey, that's what the night's for, right? Well, that and the How I Met Your Mother premiere.

And I'll definitely see you next year in Cincinnati!

Look, Up in the Sky!

Here's a Superman commission that I recently did for a fan. There's a lot I like about this. I've made no secret of the fact that the Crusader borrows liberally from the Superman well, so it's nice to find a different way to portray a similar character. I think this would be a great style to do a Superman all-ages kids book in.

In fact, in drawing it, a great idea struck me for how to handle such a book. Obviously, I can't reveal it here, especially since I might eventually need to recycle that idea somewhere else. But, hey, DC call me. We'll talk.

There's Something About a Bad Girl

One of the other things I like about doing commissions is the specificity and originality of the requesters. As an artist, the mission statement "Draw whatever you want" is always daunting. There's too much to choose from. Well, not too much, I can wrangle it down, but it takes effort.

I love when people come up with a sketchbook of all one character or theme. It gives me a starting point, and usually the other commissions in the book make me want to up my game to compete. The estimable Chris Sims had a Jimmy Olsen sketchbook, and I drew Jimmy as Flamebird from the Bottle City of Kandor… life size. Too up all of an inch on the page.

Here, my requester wanted Major Kira, from the excellent and dreadfully-underrated Star Trek: Deep Space Nine looking in the mirror and seeing her Mirror Universe equivalent, the Intendant. I had to research the characters, and get out my Deep Space Nine Companion, which ate up a ton of time because I can never just look at the pictures. I start reading, and then I want to start watching again. Such a good show, and one that really schools you as a writer.

But, I eventually broke away and finished this piece. I'm pleased with how Nana Visitor's likeness was captured, the expression on each face, and the body language of each character.

Kilowog a Doodle All the Day

Right before I left for San Diego, I got a couple of commission requests. I take orders online, too, and I'm actually pretty quick. These took almost a month because I had to fit in my World Tour of All The US States With Disney Parks in. This one is of Kilowog, of the Green Lantern Corps.

He's fun to draw, especially because of his cartoony proportions. I can never remember how his face is constructed, though, so it always takes reference to do it. Fortunately, I have the action figure.

Make Mine Ms. Marvel!

Speaking of conventions, I'll be doing commissions at Baltimore. I charge $20 for a black-and-white image, $40 for color. Color requires me to take the piece home and color it on my computer, since I color digitally. Here's a fine example of that, a Ms. Marvel piece that I did in San Diego and then brought home to add some color.

I actually posted this days ago on my Twitter feed. Twitter is so low-maintenance that it's easy to get stuff up there fast, as opposed to here where I feel compelled to write complete sentences. What? You're not following me on Twitter? Perhaps you should.