the art of Will Terrell

Its been nearly a week since the con and I am still exhausted.  I’ve been busy this week with a lot of business stuff so I’m not quite back into the art swing, but I have several sketches I did of comic book creators at the convention.  After the first couple days of walking around the convention center I started looking for panels to sit in on.  Its been years since I went from panel because I’m usually stuck in a booth somewhere.  I forgot just how informative and inspirational these panels could be.  Some were particularly surprising, I will try to write a little bit about each one the next few days.  One that really struck me was the CBLDF class on figure drawing with Dave Gibbons, the artist on Watchmen and tons of other stuff.  He has some very helpful tips that I tried to scribble down as they flew at us.

Never show action in the middle, but in the beginning or the end of an action.

“Gesture: Not what a thing IS… but what a thing is doing.”

For drawing hands use the big shapes first to get the form (like a mitten) then divide into halves and break down the smaller shapes.

There were quite a few others, but I’m tired and need to get to sleep.  I’ll post more Monday.

-Will

I am sitting on the back porch of my friends house in San Diego. I can smell the sweet smell of colitas in the air, and I hear the muffled boom from the Seaworld fireworks off in the distance.  It's a gorgeous night, and I've got a lot to think about. 

We just got back from the Comic-con preview night, and I am absolutely mentally drained.  This show is madnessen.  This is my seventh comic-con, My first being in 1997.... and I have never seen anything like this.  It was packed on preview night like I'm used to seeing on the busiest Saturday nights of this show.  I can't even imagine what the rest of the convention will be like.  All I know is I'm tired, and my brain is overloaded.

For me personally, comic-con over the years has been a right of passage.  It is such a challenging experience but comes with the most amazing highs.  But more importantly, it has this ability to boil you, your relationships and your intentions down to their essence.   Any insecurities you have suddenly become impossible to ignore.   I've seen this conventon end friendships, partnerships and even relationships.  I personally have experienced many extreme dicotomies of success and total nightmarish disappointment.  I never regret it, but it's always challenging.

Comic-con is especially challenging to creators, because seeing it in person - you begin to realize that there is no magic.  You can see with your own eyes that these people doing what you want to do, are just people, simply creating work that they love.  You start to see that you could be doing it too and it seems so simple that you imagine it shouldn't take long at all.  The veil begins to fall and you start to shed those fanboy cravings and dream of your own success story coming true. 

But it doesn't happen right away.  And it isn't that simple.  You start to get caught up in this artistic purgatory between what you can do and what your ego thinks you are doing.   Comic-con is really good at checking your reality.  

Success is a process.   It's not a finish-line.  There's no One single big break that makes you successful.  Its the result of all the little actions you take every single day for years and years.    

What do you want?  Why do you want it?  and Why is it important to you?  What are you willing to do each day to get you to where you want to end up?  What are you willing to give up to make the time to get you where you want to go? 

I've been through many variations of this.  Some years, I lived in total desperation, hoping something would magically come together.  Other years, incredible success just fell in my lap because I did the work and just happened to be at the right place at the right time.   But this year feels more level.  I have been working towards something.  I still have a long way to go.  But I am finally starting to have something to show for it.  Samples to show to other artists.  Responses from them that are very humbling and promising.  Even from some that make me turn into a 12 year old fanboy again.  Its not the finish line... its just a sign that I am on the right track, and that if I keep working I'll get to where I want to go. 

 CONVENTION REPORT

Today was a mad dash.  Amber and I went to the show with Brian and Beau.  We got our badges pretty quick and got in the enormous line for the professionals to get into the exhibit hall early.  It wasn't near as long as the regular attendees lines, but it was still bad.  The wait for us was under an hour, then we poured onto the show floor and wandered about.  I stopped by just a handful of creators booths, but the experiences were enough to knock me on my ass.  I was so overwhelmed with awesome that I could only handle a few hours of preview night.   I wish I could share some of it here, but I feel it best to keep it to myself for now.  

Tomorrow I will mostly be hitting panels and taking notes. 

-Will

Amber and I have been in San Diego for a few days now.  It's been pretty awesome, but we are already exhausted, and the con hasn't even started.  The trip was long, even though we stopped off in Tucson over night.  Its just been really muggy, most of the way here and unusually muggy here in San Diego.  It's still southern California though, so I can't complain too much.

A few of the highlights so far, we got to swim in the Ocean up near La Jolla.  Gorgeous, clear water and beaches.  And for the first time ever, I got to see and swim with Dolphins.  There was a huge pod of them riding the surf the entire time we were there.  It was pretty amazing.   My Friend Brian Morante, who's family has so kindly let us crash with them for this week, brought us out to their Beach house in Mission Beach for a great bar-b-que with a fire pit and good people.  It's been a lot of fun.  Brian is such an incredible cartoonist, and recently, is starting to become an amazing painter.  He's having an art show Saturday night right after the Convention, check out his site for more information.  It makes me really miss living out here and being able to challenge each other, share ideas and trade lessons with so many amazing artists.  That and the ocean, of course.

I think we’ve had our fill though for this vacation.  We walked through Balboa park some today, I love the Botanical garden there.  We went by a few art supply stores, and a few other places I used to frequent.  And we may go to the beach one more time before, but mostly we’re taking it easy tomorrow to save energy for  Comic-Con preview night tomorrow night and the rest of the show this weekend.  But I’ve had my Sandwich from Allen’s New York Pizza, and my Classic burger from “In and Out”, and I’m so stuffed I don’t even want to think about the burrito from El Indio’s.  mmmmmm…. Now to get down to the reason I’m here.  I’m hoping to make some connections with other professionals in the industry.  Especially with already established webcomics creators, to help me get started with my own endeavor, while hopefully being able to get something back.  I’ve got a good amount of panels I’m planning to attend, and a few publishers to talk to.  So we’ll see how it all goes.  I’ll update again when I get a chance.

-Will

A friend of mine commissioned a painting of “Eddie” the trooper of Iron Maiden fame, for his wife Paige, another good friend of mine. I think she liked it. This was a pen and ink drawing done with watercolor washes and a little bit of airbrush. This is about actual size.

I got to hang out at the figure drawing group picnic this weekend. It was good brisket and brownies, and great company. We had our model Casey pose for us outside for a change. Clothed of course, don’t want to get the neighbors talking. It was fun. I always rush when I do figure drawing for some reason. I guess because I haven’t been in the routine of it for so long that I don’t feel comfortable like I used to. So I did this quick gray wash sketch and hung out the rest of the time. I think it turned out alright.

-Will

No, I don’t know what’s going on with her hair, so stop asking! When I drew this I was trying to let my mind wander. Apparently it wandered back to the hairstyles of the sixties… or whatever my subconscious seems to think that looks like. By the time my mind came back to the drawing board there was no room left for other aspects that should go into a drawing… like arms, or a body or a personality of any type. So in the end, I decide to slap on some blue, and spackle some white, and go a little mindless with the painting as well. Fun – but I’m certain I was supposed to be doing something more productive instead.

-Will

I ate at Fuzzy’s Fish Tacos a couple weeks ago. It’s pretty good. And no the tacos were not Fuzzy. They were however delicious. I was sitting on the patio sketching, and I’ve been trying to do a lot more sketches of places, instead of trying to make it up out of my head. Turns out its easier when you have real reference to draw from… so to speak. I added some watercolor to the sketch tonight to give it depth. Not my best, but how would we know I’m getting better if I didn’t put the %$#@ up here first.

-Will

I ended up redesigning the Flyer for the event at Freebirds next week. This one has a race car in it! Yay!

-Will

When I worked at Seaworld San Diego a few years back doing caricatures, one of my favorite things to do was draw kids surfing sharks. Mostly I just liked drawing crazy wild-eyed sharks biting at the air. The kids just happened to be in the pictures. I stole the basic design from my friend Brian Morante who is pretty much one of the best cartoonists I’ve ever had the pleasure of sketching with. I got to drawing this shark guy at the sketch night the other day and finished it up as a painting. It was done with a zebra brush pen, kuratake brush pen, and ink wash with a kuratake water brush. Oh, and a little white out for hi-lites.

-Will

I bring my sketchbook with me every where that I go, and I try to do at least one sketch each time. Its been a great learning tool and It’s been easier and easier to get into the practice the past few months because I have someone to draw with. I’m very lucky that my girlfriend Amber is also an amazing artist and my best friend. And one of our favorite things to do is draw people together. Last night we were out at Rosa’s Cafe for the awesome Taco Tuesday, and we picked out this amazing character to both draw.

I forget though, just how out of sorts it can seem for people to draw in public. Normally I sit off to the side where no one really notices, but last night we were on the isle and dozens of people were walking past and whispering and coming back to talk to us. Lol. I still think drawing from life in public is one of the best ways to develop your craft. It does take experience though to get used to the attention it sometimes brings. I’ve drawn thousands of caricatures in my career, with all sorts of crowds, so I’ve learned to work a room. But if you’re just starting out, just remember that to most people anything more than a stick figure is something to be admired, so drawing, at whatever skill level you’re at is worth sharing. Just remember to smile and have fun.

-Will Terrell