More Thoughts On Inspiration

   I'm back with more back stories on paintings. I'm still trying to explain what inspires me to paint. Sometimes I get inspired by a subject and it requires a certain medium. Some subjects can be acrylics. Some cry out to be painted in watercolors. Or drawn in pastel. Or ink. Could be anything really. Here's a painting I did to illustrate my first graphic novel "Epitaph":

  I used watercolors because they were quicker and easier. I did over a hundred paintings to finish that one. Watercolors gave me the atmospheric quality I was wanting. I wanted my novel to have the same feel as the movie Seven. Here's another:

  I sketched these, painted them, then did the detail work in ink. I'm sure there are digital artists that could do the same thing quicker, but I wasn't looking to do it fast. I had the germ of the idea for this novel for almost twenty years. It would have been a major undertaking when the idea came to me. When I moved home to care for my mother in 2001 I bought my first computer. After a few months of figuring it out I realized I could do all the writing, editing, layout, everything I needed to do (except for the artwork, that was never the issue) on my computer. I sat down to write it and the story came flowing out. I set a goal to do two pages a day. Writing, laying out, putting in reference photos to place hold for the artwork. Every time a sat down I would wonder where the story would lead. I had the basic germ of an idea 'what would happen if a vampire got AIDS?" and it went from there. I was very happy with the result. I want to animate the story some day. Hopefully soon.
  Other times I use watercolors to achieve a blending that comes easier, for me at least, in this temperamental medium. Like this:

  Or these:

  Back in the day, not long after my best friend Ian McBride died, I was in a horrible funk. I finally decided to sit down each night after work and draw. I decided to draw a cloth. I'd pick it up, drop it on a table and then draw it. Ink wouldn't do it for me. Graphite just doesn't grab me for these. Pastel was the way to go. Blending, colors, tinted paper. It really helped me through:

 

 
  Ink drawing is a whole 'nother ball game. It's black and white (unless it's colored ink, but you know what I mean), shading done with crosshatching, or scribbling. It's quick though. You can draw with a fancy pen, or a cheap ballpoint. I keep a sketchbook and a pen in my car, so I can draw every day before work. I did quick sketches, mostly faces (duh, who saw that coming?). I simplified the faces, seeing how much emotion I could capture with only a few lines. This led to me drawing faces with only three lines inside an oval (well, an ovalish thing), one for the eyes, one for the nose, one for the mouth. I posted a few of these drawings and for some reason they struck a chord with my fans. I called them "Those Guys":

Then a few other lines, just to keep me entertained (you knew this was all about me, didn't you?):

Here's how they look in my home sketchbook:

  Why the difference? I'm not sure. Maybe it's because they're not really "Those Guys" at home. They're just the guys in my sketchbook. I also do a drawing every night before I go to bed. I was influenced by the zentangle craze. Much like every thing else I do, it started with ordinary zen stuff, then I explored and pushed the boundaries:

 You can see more of these Zen drawings and Those Guys as well, on my Facebook fan page link.
  I'm gonna wrap this up now, but there is one more thing i want to share. After my friend Ian died, I had a vision. A vision of the journey to the other side. Say what you want, I know what I saw, I know what was happening. I didn't want to forget and I wanted to share it with others, so I painted it:

   That's more of where my ideas come from. I'll be back with more behind-the-curtain insider info. Hopefully next week.