This writing-instead-of-drawing business is hard!

In an effort to forcibly eject myself from this art slump, I took a mental health day from my other duties, deciding to draw whatever, and to see those whatevers through to completion. (I'm so sick of never finishing anything). To a certain extent it's working, so I may continue for a few more days.

So, here's the first whatever. As Harry Potter taught us, you just can't have enough drawings of young book characters gazing at each other in slashy ways. So I drew Alain and Cuthbert from DT4: Wizard and Glass. This one's for kasche, as she unintentionally inspired it.


I'm of the opinion that 'Bert needs a word balloon.

( Process & larger version behind the cut )

I have sort of a love/hate relationship with this drawing. Love because I finally finished something, and it was fun to color... and hate because it's the most boring composition I can imagine, and I've totally drawn this same composition a thousand times, and it makes me feel like a hack. I also have mixed feelings about my coloring stye. I'm not so good with textures... everything is frustratingly smooth. I feel strangely disposable. Replaceable. Average. My art-ego is small lately. It happens when I don't draw enough. (And I'm about to get a boot to the head for saying so, I just know it.)

What needs to happen is for me to bust out some freakin' awesome comics! That'll fix me up. It always does. (Just gotta finish writin' em first!!)

First things first: Life update!

I'm still fail at art. My current attention span is about .00000019 units long, and nothing of note has been produced. *SIGH* I better start justifying my existence soon, or I'm gonna get rusty.

I'm in writing mode write now, and that's going alright. The goal is to get my initial draft of my script for The Misters completed by the end of June, right? I've found a new cafe that I'm fond of, so I imagine I'll be doing my daily writing there for awhile. (Or at least until I leave for my vacation to England a week from today, WOOOOOOO~!)

Anyway, while I'm here I thought I might do this thing that I never do but always think that I should do because it seems like the rest of the living world does it and has a lot of fun doing it. And that's to actually talk about whatever I'm reading/watching. (While I'm reading/watching it, instead of long after the fact.)

So in a startling turn of events, I've started watching ( LOST and TORCHWOOD... )

EDIT: Spoiler me and I'll give you a BOOT TO THE HEAD. I hate spoilers.

AAAAAUGH.

...As of 5:30 this afternoon, my beloved cell phone of several years suddenly seized and died of old age. I'm still in mourning, but trying my best to cultivate friendly feelings for my new phone. And yet, it's hard letting go.

...RIP, the most beautiful phone in existence. *strangled sob*

Anyway. Not all of my contact info was saved to my sim card, so if I've put your phone number into my address book sometime in the last two years, I've lost it. And I want it back. Give it here.

Comments are screened, guys! Please gimme your contact info! (Unless of course you've decided that it's too dangerous for me to have your number, and intend to go into hiding.)

I feel like I'd like to draw/ink/color something completely awesome, but I just don't know what it is yet. I keep making piddly pencil sketches over and over, and then never finishing anything.

...I don't necessarily feel out of gumption or out of ideas, but maybe a little low on both in equal parts. Dunno. I feel like I have the will, but that I'm just waiting for a really strong mental image to grab me and run.

Oh, comics.

I just drove out to the comic store to buy issue 3 of The Dark Tower: The Long Road Home, right? Look at me, buying floppies on the day they come out. This has happened only a handful of times in my entire life, and I am strangely strangely pleased with myself. (Nevermind my overwhelming glee over the fact that I'm attached to a *gasp* LIVING FANDOM.)

Or maybe just I'm pleased in general. I'm experiencing a renewal of my deep affection for reading and drawing comics. I had a good work day, too. I could just dance all the time, except then I'd never have any time for drawing.

And in the vein of my having good timing (and I wrote the book on timing), LOOK YOU, AT THIS. Issue one was right there on the shelves today! And dude, that cover. The cigar and the little glowing eye. I wish I had drawn it.

Ha, and I saw The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly just last week, even! Loved it dearly, and have been meaning to make fanart! For once, I don't feel late to the party.

One more thing before I go: ZOMBIE MAN WITH NO NAME.

Whoa, the Munden's Bar story I illustrated went up today!

MUNDEN'S BAR: THE CRIMSON TIDE

Written by: Martha Thomases
Penciled and inked by: MEEEE (Joanna Estep)
Colored by: Matt Webb
Lettered: by Bob Pinaha
...and last but not least, edited by: Mike Gold

It's that time of the month...



Read it online at ComicMix.com and leave us some love!

It's a night. I have a righteously painful hangnail on my pinky... or at least a righteously painful spot where a hangnail used to be.

I spent today reading and drawing comics... and I got to see its_a_nono too. It's been a good day, but I'm a bit listless and antisocial at the moment.

Ah, but just before I left for NY last week, I took the creepiest photo ever, so I thought I'd better share. See, I was at this estate sale with my dad, and up in the attic I found this absolutely horrifying ape mask. So of course I was compelled put it on and take a photo. Shoot, I was even tempted to buy the thing.



LIGHTS OUT, GUYS. SLEEP WELL.

Finally finally finally got a full eight hours of sleep last night. I was running on empty there for a bit. Still a bit bleary, though. Thanks to everyone who commented positively on my concept arts, yesterday! I'll do right by you guys. :)

Until then, please enjoy this really tall DT fanart of Susannah and Eddie Dean that I doodled at recess yesterday. (Suze has no legs, but that's okay since she's got a donkey Eddie.)



That's about it, really. Time for more scanning/printing/whatevering.

Ohgod, I'm generally pretty private about this sort of thing (I prefer showing to telling) but I am having SUCH a good time with the character and location designs for my upcoming series The Misters that I just had to break down and show you guys. Later on I'll worry about how to tease/promote the series properly, but bear with me for now.

Oddly enough, I usually loathe making character designs. Maybe it's different since I'm the writer this time.


Hell yeah.

( more pencils and inks behind the cut! )

OKAY. Time for NYCC photospam! Go go go go!


SKRUUUULLLLLLS!!

( ...Among other things. )

Convention Stuff!

-April 18-20 I'll be at New York Comicon! (That's this weekend, guys!)

To reiterate, copies of Roadsong 3 won't be available yet, but I'll be available to talk about it. I'll be dividing my time between Tokyopop and ComicMix, but the best way to find me will be to drop by the Tokyopop booth for:

Creating Art for Manga (45 minute panel, followed by a 15 minute signing)
Saturday, 12:30-1:30

Should be a good time, so check it out!

Happy Birthday to my sweetie, ericadams! I love you and I wish you good movies, good comics, good bratwursts, good screwdriving, extra peanut butter, and some pudding. Also kitties.

XOXOXO,
~Jo

Just got back from Gem City Comicon! ...And I'm bushed from not eating anything all day. Food = energy, I've discovered. If you don't eat, you don't get energy. FYI.

I didn't exhibit... just lurked behind ericadams table for happy fun times. Decent crowd for such a small show, but it kept mostly to the dealers'/retailers' room, and didn't spill over into artists alley much. Phooey. Eric did okay nonetheless, and I snagged the second issue of The Dark Tower: The Long Road Home, so I'm happy.

I also doodled a lot. Have some!


Hamberta owns this place!

( Further tomfoolery, including some Dark Tower fanarts... )

Now to vegetate!
~Jo

Man, feels like everyone gets born in March and April, eh?


Happy Birthday to my darling feels_like_fire!! Eat, drink, be merry, read a 500 pg book in an hour, do something weird to your hair, get decked at the taco bell, and write crack pairings for great justice!

...Then call me.

I love you sweetie! Have a good one!
~Jo

I wish I had art to post, boy do I. I've been obscenely unproductive in that department.. I suppose this is my official lull after the comics frenzy of the past two months.

Ah, and I'm on spring break from Voyager. With nowhere to go and nothing to do, I made it my main objective to fix my poor damaged hair.

So yay, I'm brunette again. :)




Revenge of the obscenely dirty bathroom mirror, ewwww.

That's all, I guess. I'm relatively content-less, at the moment.

Conventions!

-Next Sunday (April 6), I'll be attending the Gem City Comicon in my hometown of Dayton, OH. However, I won't be exhibiting. Just skulking around while ericadams exhibits. This means that I'm available for stalking, but not much else. Holla.

-April 18-20 I'll be at New York Comicon! I wish I could say that copies of Roadsong 3 would be available by then, but alas, that's not the case. (According to Amazon they won't be out until June...) I'll be dividing my time between Tokyopop and ComicMix , and running the usual gamut of panels, signings, whatevers. Never fear, I'll post my schedule as soon as I know what it is!


Other Stuff!

A'right, the cat's out of the bag. I'm going to London, England in late May with feels_like_fire and her mother... for 11 days. No purpose higher than joyriding! I've never been to Europe, and I'm greatly looking forward to this. Brand new stamp in my passport, yo! :)

Happy birthday ribby!!!! I hope it's as beautiful and sparkly as Gambit and Wolverine!

....Wait. That makes no sense at all.

(hee hee, have a good one!)

<3,
~Jo

...'scuse my French.

So my mood has looked a lot like THIS for the past few weeks, but I've come down a little bit for today. I suppose one must take the bad with the good.

Thing is, I've been working on outline/script/layouts for my next book project (which will no doubt be elaborated upon later) but my overwhelming right-brainedness is shoving a stick in my spokes.

See, my natural inclination is to do things as they please me, and in whatever order that they please me. I don't typically realize that I'm doing it, and it doesn't typically cause problems. It's only every so often that I end up trying to ink something that I wasn't done pencilling, and then realize (duh stupid) I can't go back and erase because I just put it in ink. Urgh.

Today is like writerly version of that. It's been ages since I've done the writing part of the comic-making, and I don't have a system for myself yet. I outline, then I elaborate, then I stop, then I write dialogue, then I don't write dialogue, then I draw a page layout, then I add to my outline, then I try to write more dialogue, then I make another page layout but I have to stop because this part isn't written yet, and I can't draw it decisively because I haven't written it decisively, and then I want to.... panic and tear my hair out.

Seriously. I wore myself out doing this runaround today, and nothing got accomplished because I spent most of the time staring into space and fretting. (So I packed up and went to get my hair done, because if all I can do is stare into space, I might as well be knocking "haircut" off the to-do list at the same time.)

I need a system. I need structure in my liiiiiife.

AUGH PLEASE STOP.

So, I'll publicly admit on my public blog that is public that Mr. Jackman is hot stuff and his presence would reduce me to a puddle of fangirl goo... but I really don't want him to make comics.

Here's another one of my opinions that I'm not certain whether is unpopular or not... but I really don't like this trend of actors/musicians getting into comics. Courtney Love, Avril Lavigne, Rosario Dawson, Gerard Way, someone else I am probably forgetting, and now... Hugh Jackman. I'm no economics scholar and I can't say if these kind of things are good or bad for the industry on the whole but... something rankles.

It's probably just my gut. My righteous indignation at these celebs who can just waltz straight into comics like they own the place. Have an instant hit and a bajillion readers while me and mine have to struggle up from the bottom rung.

And you know, when my status as a comic book artist jump-starts my acting/singing career I'll have to quit my whining. BUT UNTIL THEN?

...Bah, humbug.

...

(insert funny quote by ericadams about how Virgin is "dehymenizing" comics.)

Re: my last post... man that felt good. I had a lot of nerding out to do, it seems. Thanks to everyone who commented to flail at/with me.

And now that it's out of my system (somewhat), I can kick back and uh... I don't know. Work?

In any case, have this song that I'm obsessed with:

Wang Dang Doodle - Koko Taylor

ericadams got me the most amazing box set of blues music for my birthday, and I just love it to death. "Wang Dang Doodle" really makes me wish I'd tried harder to see Koko Taylor perform at the Blue Gator, back when I lived in Athens. Oh well.

Here's some more dancy blues for good measure:

Give Me Back My Wig - Hound Dog Taylor & the House Rockers
Pride and Joy - Stevie Ray Vaughan & Double Trouble
Voodoo Music - Los Lobos

...Ah, and one more extra special one for feels_like_fire. *dies laughing*

Bill - Peggy Scott-Adams

****

PS. Sorry if my music posts are all .m4a files! I'm an itunes user...