Blog
Tuesday October 30th 2012, 8:53 pm
The deep set ghoulish maniacal eyes don’t yet roll and glow. No wicked cackling drifting through the cobwebs. Those strung up fragile bones don’t rattle, not yet. The top hatted wizard with his long frazzled straggly soiled white beard and creviced visage has yet to leer, oh but he will. That flashing white blinding bright will soon shine and glare. The blackest light of insidious purples has yet to cast across the winged demon’s stare, but it will. That foggy mist of dread shall rise into the dark, ghastly feeding into the pathways of uncertainty. But not yet… Soon the little screams and whimpers and scuffling feet will meet the eve, but not this eve, tonight is all giddily quiet, eager with the anticipation of nightmares in trade for sweets.
The Eve Before All Hallows Eve
October 30th 2012
Tuesday October 30th 2012, 1:15 am
Decorated porcelain edged in twisting earthy vines, hues of blue and green leaves, all rimming a wide circumference, deep as you can imagine if you were but a tiny speck of dust. Below the lip piles and pillows triangular in their shapes nestle together, each trimmed with little serrations giving a sense of picturesque delicacy. Rolling down the inviting slopes slides and glides the red sauciness, so aromatically savored. Scraping along the softness, just squishy enough to easily allow the pronged stainless steal to puncture through with verve, then cut and slice to reveal tender warm richness inside. Sitting alongside, like compatriots eager to serve their turn, a vitality of a plated balance waits as tall giant spears of green, roasted and basted.
Whats For Dinner? Ravioli And Asparagus.
October 29th 2012
Sunday October 28th 2012, 8:33 pm
Feels like Sunday. I mean to say that some days feel like the day that they are, which I find peculiar, as if ebb and flow of energies is virtually cyclical by the calendar. At least thats how it seems to me, how I experience the week. I always am the most groggy on Sundays, an overwhelming grog actually. Just lethargic, and never a good thing when having to work through weekends, feeling this way. I just want to shut my eyes and the world away, cover up and sleep until the next day. But when there is no time for rest, even when feeling the typical groggy Sunday sleepiness, I just have to buck up and tough my way through it.
Slog Through The Grog
October 28th 2012
Sunday October 28th 2012, 2:45 am
The Sword has some new videos up on youtube featuring graphics by me integrated into them.
Apocryphon
Eyes Of The Stormwitch
Sunday October 28th 2012, 1:01 am
Chugging electric power oozing into the atmosphere of our little party, shaking to the core. Melodies at once heavy and sonic, and yet with an ease that coerces rather than bullies you to follow along. Each segment its own but when all are combined work as a whole enigmatic blend of metaphoric stories and meaning that can relate thematically. Powerful movements of sound and churning voices that get you to stand up, raise your fists into the air, and rock the fuck out!
The Glories That Are The Sword’s Apocryphon
October 27th 2012
Friday October 26th 2012, 7:57 pm
They’re here already, much sooner than I’m mentally prepared for. Choices. So much glamor, atmosphere, and revelry to pick from. There are so many really great images, so I’m going to have a really tough time making decisions. I’m terrible at them for the most part. But ultimately I couldn’t happier with the task at hand, considering they’re a document of such a perfect happy day from last weekend for us. Everything looks spectacular. Everyone looks so incredibly happy. And my wife has never looked more amazing. So many good choices.
Wedding Photos
October 26th 2012
Friday October 26th 2012, 1:46 am
Kinda sick of things running on last minute weakening steam. While away for our anniversary trip, we get an email asking for last minute fixes for stuff on the very next issue to arrive in the shops. I don’t mind the changes per se, even if I think they’re a bit ludicrous, it has more to do with that every time something is being asked for its always at the last minute. We have to drop whatever it is we’re doing to handle it, when in most cases its stuff that could’ve been dealt with weeks ago. What is annoying about it is this way of handling business causes work flow problems, interference of time, which in turn cause us to lose valuable lead time before publication, when the problems could be solved more effectively by a more proactive stance early in the process. And what makes it even more troubling is when I’m on personal time with my wife on an very important occasion to get one of these types of emails with requests, when all knew I was away for this very important personal time, when all involved could’ve addressed this weeks ago. So I inevitably end up having to worry or think about the problems when I shouldn’t have had to during time with family and friends. It made me a bit angry, because this was our important time, not the company’s. But now that we’re home, and the fixes have been made, I’d like to see what I can do to alter this modus operandi, because its getting quite old.
A Griping Blog
October 25th 2012
Wednesday October 24th 2012, 7:42 pm
Biscuits and gravy to warm our tummies as we watch a sky gloom saying goodbye to sunny
Sleet, ice and fluffy flecks and specks dance
Sheets of slush, slip and sliding as the drive takes chance
The glory tops reveal the first of winter, hearts sing, bring joy of a world of white
Frost covered pines and boulders like the icing gleaming off a cake
Mist air, tall snowy drifts along the twisting road shoulders, we leave only happiness in our wake
Cold Mountain Drive
October 24th 2012
Tuesday October 23rd 2012, 7:05 pm
Trees made of cracking fire reds, easing oranges, and pop yellows, all set against mysterious deep greens cascading along blankets of freshly layered snow drifts. More twisting roads weaving around mountain tops. We stop for a coffee break at this sleepy lake shore town, population of maybe 200. We step into a surreal land of bright flashing lights, bells, pings, and whistles of a casino better suited to be in a David Lynch film. So peculiar to find this in the middle of nowhere in the snowy hills of the Sierras. Even the people seemed at odds with reality, as if we’ve literally entered a parallel dimension of rural America. Wish we could stay here for awhile documenting the atmosphere in thorough detail. But we have to move on down the road, and then finally come to our rest stop for the night. We go for a walk in the windy chill that wants to bite at our skin, taking in the glory of winter covered forest vistas.
On Our Way Home
October 23rd 2012
Monday October 22nd 2012, 11:26 pm
We are overly groggy and desperately pumping coffee into our eager bodies. Blustery gusts pushing us around as we head north into the Nevada desert. As we rise into the hills, the road tightly twists with greens shifting into shimmery golds and pastel yellows, then shifting again into flurries and white snowbanks before coming to rest for the night near a mountain lake. Now we have concerns that we just may get snowed in.
Sleepy Breezy Wintery
October 22nd 2012
Monday October 22nd 2012, 1:36 am
Sunday is over, and we’re now alone feeling sad and joyful at the same time. Sad because we had to say goodbye to everyone. Joyful because we felt so deeply the love everyone shared with us, it humbles us. This has been such an overwhelming experience, it literally is impossible to put into proper words just how we feel, actually there ARE no words. Its rare times like these that human language is utterly limited. I know I said this the other day, but I must reiterate just how truly incredible our friends are, they took us into their care with such tenderness and thoughtfulness it brought tears to our eyes and choked our throats with swelled emotions. We are blessed.
Thankful
October 21st 2012
Saturday October 20th 2012, 9:59 am
GOOD coffee in place, no more sludge lake bottom stuff like yesterday. Light omelets, juice, toast and peanut butter. And so we’re machined up, pressures checked, bolts tightened, at the starting line and ready for the race. Now its all about the thrill and the love and the joy.
Wendy And I’s Big Day
October 20th 2012
Friday October 19th 2012, 10:31 pm
Whirlwinds of busy busy, trying to maintain high powered energy demands while not overloading our brains into a scattered mess. Chaos day! Filled with horrifying coffee sludge, unexpected stresses from suit disasters impossible to recover from (completely unrelated to the coffee grossness). Fortunately I had the foresight to bring my other very snazzy black and red suit, saving the event. Its been a rough two days making sure things are taken care, dealing with mix ups or coordinators who just don’t listen. But in the end its balancing out. Its all going to be grand, as we’re already feeling the massive love from all those who are here for us.
We Are Blessed With The Most Awesome Friends
October 19th 2012
Friday October 19th 2012, 3:04 am
Vegas 3am, a hot night in more ways than one, smashing wardrobe, just smashed. Blasting and bellowing Bohemian Rhapsody at Dino’s karaoke bar, then destroying Under Pressure. A pitch perfect time with our friends.
Don’t Need Anything Else
October 18th 2012
Wednesday October 17th 2012, 9:57 pm
Hussle bussle busy, out the door, caffeine injected. Rubber heated and humming along craggy pavement washed in golden light. The air slicing in constant low level blustering sound as metal punches through, weaving and dodging demanding caravan truckers.
On The Road
October 17th 2012
Tuesday October 16th 2012, 8:00 pm
This weekend coming up is kind of a big one for us, Wendy and I. We’re going to be celebrating our twenty year anniversary. Sort of giving ourselves the wedding we feel we never had, that we could call our own. So we’re doing it up all proper, with ceremony, fancy clothes, and a party! Its going to be quite a lot of revelry. Its astounding that its already been two decades, it just doesn’t feel that long, but yet there are waves of memories that flood my mind, showing me that there has a been lot of life lived. The oddest thing is that I actually feel somewhat nervous about the event, I find this surprising considering that we’ve already been married for such a long time. I suppose its from wanting it to come off with the right feel, as its an important event to celebrate, something that sets a foundation for the next two decades, and it all begins tomorrow, making our way to Vegas again.
Looking Forward To The Now
October 16th 2012
Tuesday October 16th 2012, 2:35 am
Another late night, another dark quiet ease settling across my brow. Tonight has been spent reminiscing over good and bad times, but in the process of rummaging through old tucked away items of what now feels like another person’s life I’ve come across piles of writings I had done long ago. Most of it forgotten, as glancing over them, briefly flipping through reams of it all surprises and confounds me as to just who I was back then. Some of it isn’t half bad, if only being a bit over zealous and clearly full of young angst didn’t get in the way. Taking in some of it I couldn’t help but nervously laugh aloud, and chuckle at some of it’s boisterous and pretentious underpinnings. The woeful and too much petulance of a young mind and heart is now slightly ludicrous from my humbly matured perspective. But yet I’m surprisingly feeling no lack of pride over these papers, as they show a fruitful desire to communicate something deeply personal, a show of imagination. A testament to a time when I was somebody else because I hadn’t yet discovered who I am. These writings kind of were a way of discovering just that. So I may decide to scour through them to find the possible hidden gems and polish them with new life. Or for a kick I should post them, warts and all, could be another interesting blog experiment next year, and something just might be learned from the process.
A Rediscovery
October 15th 2012
Sunday October 14th 2012, 9:59 pm
Blitzed! Bowled over! Overwhelmed! My oozing brain is being pulled apart like a taffy stretcher. Creatively broken for now. And all while attempting to finish off a script before the big trip we’re making. Ain’t gonna happen. Too many twists and turns and pushing it into something interesting beyond the expectations of the typical climactic ending tropes that these sorts of tales have. Trying to kill cliche while embracing it at the same time.
I’m Tired Now
October 14th 2012
Sunday October 14th 2012, 2:40 am
Its a quarter past 2 in the AM. The final stages of uploading pages for the completed art is taking its sweet damn time to finish. I sit back and try to relax as a lazy breeze lightly drifts through the open window gently chilling my skin, the dark outside is palpable. A dog’s upset vocalizing off in the distance, persistent and random. There are vague whooshes of far highway traffic floating along the currents of the night. A rumbling of a motorcycle accelerating down a quiet road a block or two behind our house breaking the smoothness. Screeches and sirens wailing faintly. Sometimes this is my favorite time of the day, there is something captivatingly moody, even contemplative about the hours after midnight that I always find beckoning. The sounds uniquely belonging to this time and atmosphere mixing with colors rich as classical art, blues and lemon yellows contrast each other in the most exquisite illustrative manner. There is something altogether pleasant and perfect about the feel of this very hour while watching Boardwalk Empire. The details enrapturing in warm earthy tones laying with mellow cools but never drab, it always feel like a painter’s touch crafts the visuals of this evocatively written drama of another time, another world. I want to create comics that look like this and feel like this.
Easing After Midnight
October 13th 2012
Saturday October 13th 2012, 11:43 am
This Sunday!
Alternate Reality Comics in Vegas is hosting a group of us next Sunday for a signing event. Here is their official flyer…
Alternate reality
Next Week!
Local shops are putting together a listening and signing party centered around the release Of The Sword’s new album that I’ve done the packaging art for. Below is the flyer followed by their press release…
What:
The Sword’s Apocryphon Album Signing /Record Release Party with J.H. Williams III
When:
Saturday, October 27 – 7:00pm to 9:00pm
Where:
Strawberry Alarm Clock
1626 Martin Luther King Jr. Way
Merced, CA 95340
Why:
When award winning local artist J.H. Williams III is commissioned to design the artwork for Indie Rock legends THE SWORD’s
latest album “Apocryphon” it calls for a celebration. Strawberry Alarm Clock, in conjunction with Red Sky Comics, is proud to host the artist for an in-store signing slash record release party.
Red Sky Comics
Strawberry Alarm Clock
Friday October 12th 2012, 11:34 pm
Shifting and vibrating, hazing as the details move in and out of the starkness. Contrast of black and white warps and tilts in this sea of flat brightness that stretches out before me. I blink, then blink again, to no avail. I rub my eyes easily, the heat inside the lids like little fires incapable of being doused by the moisture of the irritated tissue. I rinse them, the coolness soothes as drops run down my cheeks, but yet I still cannot see. After yesterday’s monstrous illustrations, literally and figuratively, I’m operating feeling half blind. Partially from fatigue, allergens, and I what I call page blindness, this occurs to me about once a week for certain. Staring at white art board all day under good lighting can sometimes have a similar effect to being snow-blind, after a while the eyes refuse to focus properly, and after working endless days I can sometimes start off my day in this state. But I have no time for being half blind, this will not do, the schedule will not allow it, so I plow through hoping that my skills are good enough to carry me through what I can’t see. I can go back in to clean things up where needed the next day after some rest. My entire day is spent toiling through this struggle of lacking sight balanced against the ticking clock of time and crafting images. Then an aroma wafts in, something enticingly savory, my adoring wife has brought me home tandoori chicken. Now it’s time to stop.
Can Art Make You Blind?
October 12th 2012
Friday October 12th 2012, 12:40 am
Somewhat contorting in a spasm of manufactured punk rock and roll, the movement forever stilted, frozen in place, but yet mesmerizingly mocked fluidity. The complexion is slightly grimy, the features accurately depicted depending on the angle and the light being viewed, attempting to mimic an iconic image from a wild era of a wild man. A wiry sinewy body captured in a dance of plastic.
Iggy Pop As An Action Figure
October 11th 2012
Thursday October 11th 2012, 10:48 am
First up is the very crude rough for editorial approval…
Then here is the black and white. Note the composition has been altered, improved upon. This enhances a sense of movement, but it was for nothing, you’ll see what I mean on the final stage…
Here is the color version by me. Batwoman had yet to really use a dark cover, and there is a point in the story that lended well in going for something black and dark grey. Its at this stage that I added additional shapes into the background grabbed from the main centipede shape, this allowed for some needed layering to the composition. I hate relying on digital tricks like this, but sometimes its necessary. And its an idea that didn’t occur to me until the coloring stage…
Now here is the logo and text version I turned in. You’ll note how well it compliments the movements and composition in an interesting way without interfering with the shapes, it works with them simplistically to gain an added sense of design…
Now this final stage has nothing to do with me. This is all DC. There was insistence that the covers use the Arrow banner, a last minute add on into the process, something I had no control over, so they had to lower the image a bit to accommodate. I get that they sometimes use that space for banner adds, but what I don’t like is when I’m not told in advance so I can design around it. Then the logo and text was changed to something I feel is way overpowering to the composition, they felt the first version was too confusing, which I disagree with. Since the image had to be lowered to allow for the banner add note how the upc box on the lower right corner interferes with the movement now. All of these changes work against the composition greatly, the result looks like something scattered and undesigned, like something thrown together…
Wednesday October 10th 2012, 10:47 pm
Coiling, writhing, serpentine, ghastly, mindless. Art crunch mode has taken over all, its now everything. This is it, there is nothing more. I’m brain-dead.
Half Baked (And Not In A Good Way)
October 10th 2012
Tuesday October 09th 2012, 8:57 pm
Lines. Lines that carve and divide rigid shapes into structural integrity. Architectural landscapes of rising walls and rooftops. A city in formation as it still builds within my mind, only partially realized. The side walls missing to reveal images. Stories live inside this city, some are more valid than others, while a multiple headed beast looms. It rams and it fractures, weakening the integrity, it is a harbinger of what is to come. Something ancient wishing to be written, that for now exists outside of time and rationality, it desires to consume all tales told and untold, to be the only final story remaining.
Perspectives Are Illusions
October 9th 2012