Warm Up Sketch : It be a very big hat

Kewbey (or) No Bang for Buckaroo

Sometimes a deadline gives you trouble. 

Sometimes you draw a picture of a cowboy with an empty gun
as a sort of allegorical expression of the situation.

Pixar's 22 Rules of Storytelling

Normally, I would just post a link. But this is not normal information. Below is some of the best story writing advice I've ever read. Reported by the website i09, these are Pixar storyboard artist Emma Coats' pointers for creating a story. They are golden and so good I wonder if I have the space to tattoo it all on my forearms.

#1: You admire a character for trying more than for their successes.

#2: You gotta keep in mind what’s interesting to you as an audience, not what’s fun to do as a writer. They can be v. different.

#3: Trying for theme is important, but you won’t see what the story is actually about til you’re at the end of it. Now rewrite.

#4: Once upon a time there was ___. Every day, ___. One day ___. Because of that, ___. Because of that, ___. Until finally ___.

#5: Simplify. Focus. Combine characters. Hop over detours. You’ll feel like you’re losing valuable stuff but it sets you free.

#6: What is your character good at, comfortable with? Throw the polar opposite at them. Challenge them. How do they deal?

#7: Come up with your ending before you figure out your middle. Seriously. Endings are hard, get yours working up front.

#8: Finish your story, let go even if it’s not perfect. In an ideal world you have both, but move on. Do better next time.

#9: When you’re stuck, make a list of what WOULDN’T happen next. Lots of times the material to get you unstuck will show up.

#10: Pull apart the stories you like. What you like in them is a part of you; you’ve got to recognize it before you can use it.

#11: Putting it on paper lets you start fixing it. If it stays in your head, a perfect idea, you’ll never share it with anyone.

#12: Discount the 1st thing that comes to mind. And the 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th – get the obvious out of the way. Surprise yourself.

#13: Give your characters opinions. Passive/malleable might seem likable to you as you write, but it’s poison to the audience.

#14: Why must you tell THIS story? What’s the belief burning within you that your story feeds off of? That’s the heart of it.

#15: If you were your character, in this situation, how would you feel? Honesty lends credibility to unbelievable situations.

#16: What are the stakes? Give us reason to root for the character. What happens if they don’t succeed? Stack the odds against.

#17: No work is ever wasted. If it’s not working, let go and move on - it’ll come back around to be useful later.

#18: You have to know yourself: the difference between doing your best & fussing. Story is testing, not refining.

#19: Coincidences to get characters into trouble are great; coincidences to get them out of it are cheating.

#20: Exercise: take the building blocks of a movie you dislike. How d’you rearrange them into what you DO like?

#21: You gotta identify with your situation/characters, can’t just write ‘cool’. What would make YOU act that way?

#22: What’s the essence of your story? Most economical telling of it? If you know that, you can build out from there.

Charlie Holds Down the Fort

When I am on deadline I'll take breaks. Sometimes* it turns into a Charlie, the desktop T Rex, photo shoot.

*Ok, LOTS of times.

Goodnight, Ray Bradbury

"They blended religion and art and science because, at base, science is no more than an investigation of a miracle we can never explain, and art is an interpretation of that miracle. They never let science crush the aesthetic and the beautiful." ~ The Martian Chronicles, And the Moon was Bright

Jacob Wonderbar and the Interstellar Time Warp : Deadline 1

Accompanying any book deadline wrap is a moment of clarity. Perhaps the afterglow comes from looking up after days at my drawing table and computer. I become singularly minded in those last moments, stepping away and coming back, pacing the studio, leaning in my chair as I pick apart and rework, determining what suits my needs as a creator in the playground of the publisher's outlines. (I draw for me, for my satisfaction, for my fulfillment. I am happy and fortunate someone wants to pay me for it.) After the files are sent to the publisher, I return to the normal world. I have a fresh perspective of most things, even the mundane ones, like, I should really clean out the studio closet.


This morning the roughs for the third book in Nathan Bransford's dynamite series Jacob Wonderbar--Jacob Wonderbar and the Instellar Time Warp--went off to the publisher, Dial Books for Young Readers. The editorial team at Dial is stellar. Thoughtful and thorough, I have been in good hands for the whole trip.

The moment I realized I was drawing Jacob and the gang for the last time was bittersweet. Happy and proud of the work I've done in the previous books, and even more so of the work I've gotten to do with the new title, so ends a two year journey. (My travels are far from over, as we have revision notes, revision art, and final art to go.) I am a character based illustrator and author and come to like the people I am drawing or writing about. I'll miss Jacob and the gang and the world in which they live.

The list of things to be done--new site, updated blog, finishing up children's book manuscripts--is large. For a day or two, in this time between the notes from Dial, I bask in the relief of the deadline completed, trying to ignore the ones already beckoning my attention.

The latest in the series, Jacob Wonderbar for President of the Universe, has been out for a little over a month now. Head over to your local bookstore to pick up a copy if you haven't already. Or, I guess, pick it up on Amazon.com.

Rock-n-rollers

Bandframe.com is a way cool promotional tool for musicians. 

They asked me to do some characters for their site.

I said, "Cool."