Another Blast From the Past!
With nothing new on my mind to post about today, I thought we could take a trip down memory lane, and show you all an example of my "art" from the long-since past. I do this to offer inspiration to all you young and old wanna-be ink slingers out there, so that, no matter how good you think your drawing is, there is always room for improvement.The illustration at left is a full page splash from issue #1 of "Kaptain Keen & Kompany", a comic book published by Vortex Comics in the mid-eighties, written and drawn by me and my bestest pal and uber-talent Gary Fields. (We each had our own characters by the way, Gary wasn't responsible for this piece.)
The book lasted 5 glorious issues, and by then the public had spoken, and it was cancelled.
At the time I did this drawing, I was pretty pleased with it, but when I look at it now, I cringe. The big dinosaur thingy looks good, but when you look at it now, you can see that that figure was pretty much all I was interested in drawing. Don't the other figures and backrounds look a but "rushed" to you? They do to me.
However, looking back at your old work with a critical eye isn't a bad thing. As an "artist" you should always be trying to do better and learn from your mistakes. If you're pleased with something you did twenty years ago (or even a week ago), maybe you haven't evolved too much. This is probably true of a lotta things in life.
So, little artist, while I am not pleased with this drawing now, the 25 year-old that did it in me is. I'm sure that in any of the work I do today that pleases me, I will be critical of in the future (maybe as soon as tomorrow). So take heart.
That's my chunk of wisdom for today. Next time, back to the usual nonsense.
Labels: cartooning, codzilla, gary fields, kaptain keen and kompany
posted by Bill White at
2:32 PM
2 Comments:
Me likey and want a signed copy! Do I see a Turk 182 reference in there?
It is only too obvious to me when I look at my stuff that it needs improvement. But if everytime I set pencil to paper I drew a masterpiece it wouldn't be fun anymore. The best part is trying to get better all the time. It's the same thing when I pick up my guitar. No matter how good you are there is always someone better. It's the striving to be the best that makes it enjoyable.
Thanks Bill, your posts are very inspiring.
yes, what you wrote makes a lot of sense.
sometimes i look at my work and can see the strengths, and sometimes i can only see the weaknesses.
when i stumbled upon your kaptain keene comic 20 some years ago i was thrilled with it. your style of art and humor was very appealing to me.
i was sorely disappointed when it was cancelled.
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