Panel by Panel: Comics with David Moreno
Listen in as we find out what it takes to become a comic book artist. Check it out in this week's episode.
Transcript
This is Film Center, your number one show for real entertainment industry news.
Speaker:No fluff, all facts.
Speaker:Now, here are your anchors, Derek Johnson II and Nicholas Killian.
Speaker:Film Center News, my name's Derek Johnson II.
Speaker:I'm Nicholas Killian.
Speaker:And today we are here with the company Neomyth.
Speaker:We're here with David Moreno.
Speaker:And Tronica Zero.
Speaker:Hello!
Speaker:Tronica Zero.
Speaker:Where did you come up with that name?
Speaker:Um, I came up with it in the early 2000s.
Speaker:I came up with a handle name for my online persona.
Speaker:Is that like an AIM handle?
Speaker:Yeah, like an AIM handle.
Speaker:What I was talking about in American Online.
Speaker:Yeah, I started with that.
Speaker:The name came up when I was watching the movie Hackers.
Speaker:I guess the guy's name was Cool Zero.
Speaker:I really loved Cool Zero.
Speaker:And I love electronica music.
Speaker:I just put the two together.
Speaker:Nice.
Speaker:Do you admit they make, you make comic books, right?
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:That's correct.
Speaker:Can you guys tell us a little bit about yourselves?
Speaker:I was born in Los Angeles, California.
Speaker:Lived here my whole life.
Speaker:An actual Los Angeles person.
Speaker:An actual Angelino, which is a very rare sighting here in LA.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:Grew up in the Huntington Park area.
Speaker:Okay.
Speaker:Latino base.
Speaker:Then went to Cal State LA.
Speaker:And graduated with a BA in Art Education.
Speaker:And from there, after that, I did some teaching a little bit.
Speaker:But then I wanted to follow comic books, because that's what got me to draw.
Speaker:Can you talk about what led you to the inspiration of wanting to do that?
Speaker:The funny thing is, I never liked drawing to begin with when I was a kid.
Speaker:I hated drawing.
Speaker:I hated drawing.
Speaker:I hated coloring.
Speaker:I always, I was scribbly.
Speaker:I didn't care because I wanted, I would get bored very easily.
Speaker:I had no aspirations of becoming an artist as a kid.
Speaker:But, there's something about storytelling that I like.
Speaker:I started off writing my own little short stories.
Speaker:I even wanted to become a pro wrestler.
Speaker:Really?
Speaker:And I was trying to get in shape for that.
Speaker:Who was a wrestler that you admired when you were young?
Speaker:Hulk Hogan, you know.
Speaker:Hulk Hogan?
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:You wanted to become a wrestler because you saw it on TV?
Speaker:Yeah, and I'm like that looks pretty cool.
Speaker:It's like it's action.
Speaker:I wasn't a sports kid either I didn't play sports or follow sports, but for some
Speaker:reason wrestling got my attention because that had storyline to it Most likely yeah,
Speaker:because it was very dramatic who growing up in the 80s with pro wrestling that you
Speaker:see all the big events It was incredible.
Speaker:Not so polished the way it is now.
Speaker:It's very commercialized, but very commercialized.
Speaker:It's super commercialized So I got into that and I was like, I'll start
Speaker:training working out But then the doctor said, sorry, your spine is out
Speaker:of alignment, so you can't do that.
Speaker:You have scoliosis?
Speaker:That's what they said, but I don't believe it because I don't feel anything from it.
Speaker:But who knows, down the road.
Speaker:He could have just been hatin He could have just been hatin
Speaker:That could have been his dream?
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:And you were gonna pursue that dream?
Speaker:And he was like, you know what?
Speaker:There's too many people in here pursuing their dreams.
Speaker:But the funny thing is, when I told my friend that was in pro wrestling,
Speaker:he's like, Why don't you jump on?
Speaker:We can make a deal.
Speaker:It's like, the doctor says my spine's out of alignment.
Speaker:My spine is out of alignment, so don't worry about that.
Speaker:So is that guy over there.
Speaker:But I like it.
Speaker:I'm already doing this drawing thing and what happened was I was
Speaker:halfway through high school and there was this show called The Max.
Speaker:Max, he's a purple superhero and I love that show.
Speaker:It is awesome.
Speaker:Yeah, and I wasn't even going to watch that show until my, my,
Speaker:my cousin who was younger said, can you please record it for me?
Speaker:It's like past his bedtime.
Speaker:I'm like, all right, clean my room tomorrow and I'll do it.
Speaker:So I was never going to watch it, but I watch it and just.
Speaker:Something compelled me after I recorded it.
Speaker:I'm like, huh, that was a pretty cool show.
Speaker:Like dark.
Speaker:What was it about it that compelled you so much?
Speaker:Probably the art style itself because it had a very grimy look,
Speaker:but it's very unique and it had a lot of watercolor elements.
Speaker:It was very, it was a gorgeous.
Speaker:A good adaptation of the comic book when I found out that it was a comic book
Speaker:and it looked pretty much shot for shot.
Speaker:The next day I was like, I just kept watching it over and over again.
Speaker:I recorded it.
Speaker:The same episode?
Speaker:The same episode, episode one, and I was just rewinding it and I'm like, huh.
Speaker:I paused it at a certain frame and I started drawing it.
Speaker:I just got a lined sheet of paper and The cheap, big pen that you get from a dollar
Speaker:store and just started hatching it out.
Speaker:I'm like, huh, this looks like the one from the TV.
Speaker:Hey, because before, I didn't like drawing.
Speaker:I just didn't.
Speaker:But you were compelled to just try to imitate it.
Speaker:What switched?
Speaker:What switched in your brain?
Speaker:I think it was just the fact that I did something that I never did before.
Speaker:And it did well.
Speaker:Oh, like matching that image with something that, you know, it's so
Speaker:interesting because the first episode of The Max you have not only 2D,
Speaker:there's some, there's some live action cops that are in it when
Speaker:he's in the backseat or whatever.
Speaker:Right?
Speaker:So when you're looking at this Grammy owned art style, obviously you had seen
Speaker:cartoons and other stuff before, right?
Speaker:But it was the uniqueness of The Max that made you say, oh,
Speaker:Lemme see if I can do this.
Speaker:And the way they set it was set it up dark, grimy, you know?
Speaker:Was it leave it a box to yourself to see if I could do it?
Speaker:Or was it with just genuine curiosity?
Speaker:Just pure Dr.
Speaker:Drive to, I don't know why, but I'm just drawing this like, it's
Speaker:just something in me was just sparking compelled you to, right.
Speaker:Is that what made you say that?
Speaker:Oh, I'm going to keep doing this.
Speaker:I thought at first I took it to my parents.
Speaker:They're like, Hey, this is pretty good.
Speaker:So I guess having that positive reinforcement and it's not about
Speaker:wrestling questions or anything.
Speaker:They're like, Oh, he's asking about wrestling?
Speaker:So when did you decide, Oh, okay, I'm going to be, I'm going to be an artist.
Speaker:What was the point?
Speaker:I would say that I started it as a hobby first.
Speaker:Like And my parents encouraged it because, hey, he's not out there
Speaker:causing trouble, or getting into trouble with drugs, a 90s kid.
Speaker:So, sure, here's some more paper.
Speaker:Get some more paper and pencil and just don't go outside and do something crazy.
Speaker:Yeah, and then I found out, oh, this is a comic book.
Speaker:And I'm like, oh, I want to go buy it.
Speaker:That's where my comic book addiction started.
Speaker:Dad, take me to the comic book store.
Speaker:It's Saturdays.
Speaker:Better than an allowance.
Speaker:And what would you, what would you say?
Speaker:He's your favorite comic book, or one of your favorites, or franchise.
Speaker:I would say that the Max is my inspirational, this is
Speaker:what brought me to the game.
Speaker:Now, the, what kind of drove me to become better in my art was
Speaker:Spawn, the Atomic Fallen Spawn.
Speaker:Oh my god, Spawn on HBO was so good.
Speaker:I would say issue number 24.
Speaker:Why specifically that issue?
Speaker:The grime, once again, the style.
Speaker:You really like the grime?
Speaker:Is that the one with the I like the domineers in that one, am I wrong?
Speaker:Yeah, I think, if I remember correctly, the Redeemer just beat him in his
Speaker:costumes about to metamorph into the next stage where he was all spikier
Speaker:and I just love the grime because I was already starting to copy comic books.
Speaker:I look at a page and I'm like, I was a pretty good copier.
Speaker:I would just love all the contours.
Speaker:It just I was training myself how to draw without knowing.
Speaker:And then what stage of your life are you in at this point?
Speaker:I am making my own, because I feel like I have to keep storytelling.
Speaker:I did want to follow, like, what any kid back then, I want to be in
Speaker:comics, I want to go to DC or Marvel.
Speaker:So were you just graduating high school, going into college?
Speaker:By that point, I was just graduating high school.
Speaker:But, I was like, how do I get into comics?
Speaker:Somebody suggested, you gotta go to school and like, brush up on some things.
Speaker:Like, I was told, get plenty of single trade, life drawing.
Speaker:But also graphic design, and I heard Todd McFarlane in an interview once saying
Speaker:that he graduated as a graphic designer.
Speaker:And I looked it up, and I'm like, we were still doing stuff by hand?
Speaker:This is like, right before my college got funding in the arts
Speaker:department for computers, so I was still doing stuff by hand.
Speaker:And then the computer showed up, and I'm like, oh boy, looks like I
Speaker:have to learn how to use a computer.
Speaker:How was that process?
Speaker:That was interesting.
Speaker:I was a little worried though because I never used a computer except for
Speaker:maybe just typing out a report in some English class just using their word
Speaker:files, but never a Photoshop class.
Speaker:I think it was Photoshop 5.
Speaker:0.
Speaker:Photoshop 5.
Speaker:0.
Speaker:So nowadays, do you still doing it by hand or do you like doing it on the computer?
Speaker:I like both.
Speaker:I still love traditional, you know, pencil, paper, pen.
Speaker:But I use the computer to refine my lines.
Speaker:Probably two rough sketches that I would like, all right, how would
Speaker:I handle this a different way?
Speaker:Just not worried about messing up.
Speaker:So this is, I should say, sentiment in the industry right now, especially
Speaker:with comics, that some things are kind of looking the same.
Speaker:And it was, like, the Max is drawn in such a way where it's very
Speaker:unique, you know what I'm saying?
Speaker:And, I would also say the same thing for the way that Spawn was drawn.
Speaker:So it's these more distinctive, gritty styles.
Speaker:And if there weren't for those styles, you might not have been as interested.
Speaker:Is there What do you think about the comic books becoming more and more standard?
Speaker:Because there's a sentiment that some are starting to look the same.
Speaker:I think that happens every 15 to 20 years because you have
Speaker:young, up and coming artists.
Speaker:They're seeing this over and over again and they Start to adapt that
Speaker:particular style and it starts to get a little watered down.
Speaker:But like you said, you looked at a style, you were like, you were inspired by
Speaker:it, but then you didn't copy it, right?
Speaker:You were just something that you were inspired by.
Speaker:I copied it as a teenager.
Speaker:Yeah, but that's when you were like learning.
Speaker:Learning.
Speaker:It's different when you're producing it.
Speaker:So why do you think they're producing some things that might look similar,
Speaker:that might look quote unquote standard because of time and money?
Speaker:I would say Time and money and just, it, people have to draw the house style.
Speaker:There is a house style, who's ever the hot artist, You have to
Speaker:learn how to draw in that style.
Speaker:Just that style.
Speaker:Which is why there is a lot of artists that, Well, I don't want to work for
Speaker:the big companies, Because I have to draw like that person over there.
Speaker:And then they would get lost.
Speaker:And the big machine.
Speaker:Now that's understandable.
Speaker:I would tell any young artist, Okay, what do you want to do with your art?
Speaker:Do you want to make money, be famous?
Speaker:Do you just want to make money just to eat?
Speaker:Or do you just want to draw because you love it?
Speaker:And what do you love to do?
Speaker:Because those things are going to decide how much money you're going
Speaker:to make, where you're going to work, where you're going to end up in life.
Speaker:Right now I'm at a point in my life where I'm like, I want
Speaker:to do what I want to draw.
Speaker:I love the classic characters, the ones that are out there,
Speaker:and it is commercialized.
Speaker:I would love it when they would say, Reino, why don't you draw for us?
Speaker:That would be great.
Speaker:But I'm going to have to try it in my style.
Speaker:I might not get to pick that, though.
Speaker:They may say, oh, we want you to tailor.
Speaker:Even if you're drawing, let's say they ask you Like, if Marvel's like, hey,
Speaker:we want you to make an Iron Man story.
Speaker:They're like, okay, there's still probably some certain
Speaker:guidelines they want you to follow.
Speaker:Okay, Tony Stark is gonna look like Robert Downey Jr.
Speaker:I'm like, okay, that's fine.
Speaker:Or, we're, this is how we want you to draw by the character design.
Speaker:And that's understandable.
Speaker:So, who are some of your favorite artists?
Speaker:There's a variety.
Speaker:Sam Keefe is the number one for me.
Speaker:Todd McFarland, let's see, Greg Capullo, Dan Penosian, Alex Ross, and it starts
Speaker:to range more and more after that.
Speaker:What is the reason why you like those artists so much?
Speaker:They're able to pick a moment in time and just make it look exciting.
Speaker:It's very classical.
Speaker:I would say that I am classically trained because I did study Da
Speaker:Vinci, all the Renaissance artists.
Speaker:Where did you end up going to college whenever you decided, Oh, okay, this is
Speaker:something maybe that I would want to do.
Speaker:Did you just choose like a random place, or?
Speaker:I will admit, I was a C student.
Speaker:I barely passed high school because I was just I was always, I wanna, I
Speaker:wanna say I was, I was never diagnosed for dyslexia, so whatever was art
Speaker:related, I gravitated towards Right.
Speaker:Whatever was math.
Speaker:I'm not gonna, I'm bored.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:. But I would be interested in like, uh, geometry or something.
Speaker:And that's useful.
Speaker:Angles, shapes and angles.
Speaker:Shapes and angles and colors.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:Or history.
Speaker:I, I'm a big history buff.
Speaker:Oh, me too.
Speaker:I, I love anything that deals with, uh, Renaissance or even.
Speaker:The Napoleonic Wars, stuff like that.
Speaker:All this awesome history.
Speaker:And the characters that they just make up.
Speaker:They were so dangerous they just marooned them on an island.
Speaker:Or even then, prehistory stuff.
Speaker:I love finding out this stuff.
Speaker:That's why I was drawn into stuff like Conan the Barbarian.
Speaker:How does that stuff inspire you in your art?
Speaker:I believe that it's It's a very driving force because it's primal.
Speaker:What's one of the oldest things of communication?
Speaker:Drawing on caves and just communicating.
Speaker:So this feeling, and it probably connects to the pro wrestling
Speaker:stuff because what are you seeing?
Speaker:Two characters going at it in battle.
Speaker:It's exciting.
Speaker:And I used to take action figures when I was still training, just zoom in
Speaker:and out with just holding him up and up in the light a certain way, trying
Speaker:to mimic what I would see on paper.
Speaker:And it's like positioning them in a way that you're like, Oh, okay, cool.
Speaker:I think that this is the image that I want to see.
Speaker:When it comes to designing like sections of a comic, because it's not like
Speaker:each page is only one picture, right?
Speaker:How do you know your proportions?
Speaker:I say, Oh, this is three panels here.
Speaker:This is two panels here.
Speaker:This is, Oh, I want to stack this one here with this because they're just so.
Speaker:It's all about the beats of what's going on.
Speaker:If it's the page is more descriptive than every writer
Speaker:writes description a different way, depending on what they studied.
Speaker:I would say sometimes a writer might say, Oh, there's going to be like six panels.
Speaker:And I'm like, no, you can do this in three.
Speaker:And simplify, yeah.
Speaker:Or they'll be like, oh, you're gonna love this, this is gonna
Speaker:be easy, this is only two panels.
Speaker:I'm like, no, you should do this five.
Speaker:Do you find it, do you find some writers are easier to work with than others?
Speaker:I think I found that the easiest one to work with is my wife because she,
Speaker:we're pretty much in each other's head.
Speaker:I was trained.
Speaker:Wow.
Speaker:You were trained?
Speaker:Where were you, where were you trained in your writing this?
Speaker:Before, I would write anything.
Speaker:I would just write my own stuff, but Dave pretty much taught me how comics
Speaker:work and Brought me into the whole industry because before I would just be
Speaker:like oh Okay, I could write this into a story or let me see what I can do
Speaker:with this look at a movie And it's like how would I rewrite that or how would
Speaker:I look at it a different perspective?
Speaker:How would I execute this scene stuff like uh huh exactly but Dave Turney?
Speaker:into comics and I was like oh this is not even more interesting let's
Speaker:break this down into pictures.
Speaker:So when did you two decide oh we're gonna start a company Dan because there's a lot
Speaker:of people who they're in relationships and they can't really just because
Speaker:you're in a relationship with someone doesn't mean that you want to work
Speaker:with them together and stuff like that.
Speaker:How did you two know that this was a good fit?
Speaker:It goes back to our History, our first story where two friends were bringing
Speaker:us together to work on a project for a video game and they said you can do
Speaker:some pictures and Do some of the story and we're gonna bring this guy that
Speaker:we know and he's totally better than all of us like And he's like a great
Speaker:artist and you got to meet him you got to meet him I was a flaky person still
Speaker:flaky, but david was gonna fire me on day one because they asked me She's slow
Speaker:a little she takes a while for you To write i'm like you want me to fire her?
Speaker:Okay, I'll do it.
Speaker:I'll do it.
Speaker:I don't know her.
Speaker:Yeah, I have no emotion After talking to her a little bit.
Speaker:I was like, yeah, she's such a nice person.
Speaker:I'm not gonna fire her Yeah, and then he he saw the ideas that I had for
Speaker:the story and he was like wow We could totally make this into a comic book, but
Speaker:but then originally it was gonna be a video game But everybody else flaked out.
Speaker:This was just college kids trying to make something fired everybody
Speaker:then I fired everybody until the last person He fired himself every
Speaker:Artist has their own particular style their own particular process.
Speaker:Could you walk through your particular process?
Speaker:Specifically on character design because everyone goes through
Speaker:character designs in a different way.
Speaker:Have you even even been someone on the show talking about math?
Speaker:Or how do you look at your character?
Speaker:I like to use, like, math.
Speaker:And I was like, I don't understand what that means.
Speaker:And he's like, oh, if someone has a certain number of tails, I
Speaker:might add them or subtract them.
Speaker:I'm like, seriously?
Speaker:How do you do your character design?
Speaker:How do you approach it?
Speaker:Definitely, it depends what the script dictates.
Speaker:If it was a client, then I would ask him, Okay, do you have a certain look you want?
Speaker:Do you have anything pre done already?
Speaker:Or do you have any magazine covers?
Speaker:Any actors you wanted to look like?
Speaker:Like, references.
Speaker:References, exactly.
Speaker:I, in fact, I would tell them if you have your own characters, I won't even
Speaker:charge you for the designs because you already came up with it, but I'm
Speaker:like, okay, if it's a fantasy story, what period would you like it to be?
Speaker:If it's power fantasies and it's going to be whatever, if it's a
Speaker:historical piece, all right, 15th, 16th century, okay, I'm going to go
Speaker:research that and research costumes.
Speaker:I did take.
Speaker:When I finally reached Cal State LA, I actually took one
Speaker:history of costume design class.
Speaker:I was the only guy there.
Speaker:I, yeah, I used to make, I used to make costumes.
Speaker:DJ used to be a costumer.
Speaker:Yeah, that's why I came, before I was a writer, I came out to do costumes.
Speaker:And, yeah, it's, I think there's such a lack of appreciation of that research.
Speaker:You know what I'm saying?
Speaker:Right.
Speaker:There's so many people who are like, oh, I'm just gonna Just dive right into it.
Speaker:And not that there's anything wrong with that, but when you do a little
Speaker:research you're gonna have a whole bunch of details that makes it
Speaker:authentic and unique at the same time.
Speaker:When you're doing your research, do you, is there a certain place that you're
Speaker:like, okay, this is where I'm going first, or does it just depend on the story?
Speaker:It depends really what's going on and if it's action or if
Speaker:it's just simple dialogue.
Speaker:All right, what kind of food were they eating at the period?
Speaker:I, everything.
Speaker:I, I like to stick to details, but if it's just full blown
Speaker:fantasy, there's no real reference.
Speaker:It's all a little bit of reference and I'm like, okay, I can make it whatever I want,
Speaker:depending on what the script dictates.
Speaker:Character, characters is always based on what are they going to do down the road?
Speaker:Are they left handed or right handed?
Speaker:That's always a, I throw that one and they're surprised
Speaker:by that kind of question.
Speaker:How is that relevant?
Speaker:Not everybody's right handed and I would have to draw that.
Speaker:Especially if they're in combat.
Speaker:Oh, you draw like the sword in the left hand.
Speaker:I was about to hit his ass.
Speaker:I don't know how you communicate.
Speaker:And if you ask somebody that does combat, that throws them off.
Speaker:Or like in Rocky 1 Southpaws.
Speaker:Southpaws.
Speaker:I don't want you messing with those Southpaws.
Speaker:They'll mess you up.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:Because you're thinking differently and that's the little tiny details that I,
Speaker:quiet details that I like to put in.
Speaker:So, are people who you're drawing as ambidextrous, they're like
Speaker:dual wielders or something?
Speaker:Yeah, they would have two knives and they'll be like boom, boom.
Speaker:Actually, a movie like, I think it was called King Arthur back in the early
Speaker:2000s, Lancelot was ambidextrous.
Speaker:He was using two, two blades.
Speaker:Are you talking about the Clive Owen King Arthur?
Speaker:Yes.
Speaker:Lance a lot.
Speaker:He was ambidextrous, right?
Speaker:So he fought ambidextrous and I was like, that's interesting because that's
Speaker:somebody that's just there in any way.
Speaker:So that's it.
Speaker:That's even more impressive.
Speaker:Do you feel that people overlook all of that intense research that you have to do?
Speaker:I would say some, depending on the level of seriousness, even then from the writer,
Speaker:I would say there's some writers that.
Speaker:I want them to be 5'11 right handed, they have a scar here because it's
Speaker:in their hyper realistic imagination.
Speaker:Or, they'll say, Dave, go at it.
Speaker:You have, you can do whatever you want with this character.
Speaker:Which one do you prefer?
Speaker:I would say somewhere in the middle, because I would like to say, okay,
Speaker:where do you want to contribute?
Speaker:Give me a starting point.
Speaker:Yeah, because it's starting from nothing is it's a lot harder than
Speaker:people think Because then I'm building the universe for them and
Speaker:I'm like, are you sure you want this?
Speaker:Because you don't know if they're gonna like it or not, right?
Speaker:They're telling you hey do whatever you want, but then whenever you
Speaker:give them whatever they want, are they really going to like it?
Speaker:Right.
Speaker:Do you find that the images that you draw, like how you draw them
Speaker:affects the way you color them too?
Speaker:Or is that really more of a shading thing?
Speaker:No, actually it does, it is important.
Speaker:I don't color, I know how to color, but I'd rather have somebody A colorist.
Speaker:Colors that knows what they're really, because It comes down to
Speaker:practically, coloring is like chemistry.
Speaker:And you have to think of the atmosphere, time, when the sun's
Speaker:setting a certain time, and then if there's a haze, if there's supposed
Speaker:to be a haze and it's a battle and there's smoke, it affects color.
Speaker:Even a rainy day affects tonal stuff.
Speaker:So I'd rather have somebody that's super good at it.
Speaker:And just let them handle that.
Speaker:But I always have that in mind because over time I learned.
Speaker:My, my art at first was very hatchy, it was a lot of cross hatching.
Speaker:So for people who might not, because we do have a lot of people who are
Speaker:in the industry who listen to the show, but for people who aren't,
Speaker:what does that mean exactly?
Speaker:I'm using a lot of cross hatching, which is, I'm letting my inks do the rendering,
Speaker:but because now there's, coloring has advanced so much from the 70s and 80s.
Speaker:People, the colors have gotten an upgrade.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:In their tools, so.
Speaker:You have to give them that more leeway for them to render certain things.
Speaker:Now, I can still have a very hatchy style, but I gotta keep in mind, alright,
Speaker:leave room for the colorist so that way they could, like They can shine.
Speaker:They can shine.
Speaker:Can you speak to how it used to be in the 70s and 80s and how it's upgraded
Speaker:so much now for the audience at home?
Speaker:I was born in 79, so I only got the tail end of things, but From what I've studied,
Speaker:there was a, colorists were using markers and papers before, like they were just old
Speaker:school coloring directly on the artwork.
Speaker:Straight up coloring.
Speaker:Right.
Speaker:Break out the Crayola.
Speaker:Well not Crayola exactly, you know what I'm saying.
Speaker:Coloring by hand.
Speaker:They'll be coloring by hand and on paper.
Speaker:Then that eventually started changing when the technology started upgrading.
Speaker:You had Pantone and companies like that, just digitally printing stuff.
Speaker:It was, the press was changing.
Speaker:Back in the seventies, people were crank, hand cranking their comics.
Speaker:They would get a little hand crank, one sheet and then put it together, staple it.
Speaker:Then the eighties, it started upgrading and around the nineties, like when
Speaker:I started taking classes, we were already, we had to learn, okay, if
Speaker:you're, if in reality, you're coloring.
Speaker:It's going to be different when you put it in the computer, or if you
Speaker:create it in the computer, you've got to keep in mind, you've got to turn
Speaker:the red, green, and blue to CMYK.
Speaker:And then because it prints, it can't, the computer, you can do all these
Speaker:wonderful colors in the computers, but in reality when you're printing
Speaker:it, the ink doesn't take those exact colors, so you have to adjust.
Speaker:Do you have to, do you have to use certain printers?
Speaker:Nowadays?
Speaker:It's now because of laser printing, you could really, it's actually
Speaker:gotten cheaper to cover because the technology has just upgraded so much.
Speaker:And even then the technology comes up by where we don't really
Speaker:need paper in the industry.
Speaker:But I like using it because I like the feeling of it, because I grew up on it.
Speaker:I would, I believe that in two generations, there won't be
Speaker:any paper anymore in comics.
Speaker:As far as the production.
Speaker:Like, when you look at Japanese anime, they don't use cell animation anymore.
Speaker:It's all computers now.
Speaker:And even then, I would think that the bigger companies,
Speaker:they're drawing on a big tablet.
Speaker:Just for production's sake.
Speaker:It's all about speed as far as the productions.
Speaker:Do you find that the techniques that you hone back in the 90s.
Speaker:Do you find them to be an advantage nowadays?
Speaker:Yes, because of the technology failed, I can just whip out some
Speaker:paper and still get it done.
Speaker:Because the reason why I asked is because my dad's an engineer, right?
Speaker:And the way he grew up was just drawing it.
Speaker:Right?
Speaker:The advantage for him is he can just draw it, whatever he needs, out in the
Speaker:field instead of having to go do it on the computer and waiting for it.
Speaker:Is it, is that basically the same thing in your field?
Speaker:Right.
Speaker:If I, if I worked on it hard enough, I could just do it just single
Speaker:handedly, like The old way and it won't be any different is it might
Speaker:take a little longer but having that advantage could help To the point
Speaker:where okay, our machines are broken.
Speaker:What do we do?
Speaker:We're gonna keep working and but if you don't know how to draw Yeah, then do
Speaker:you still design on paper sometimes and then and then transfer it to digital or
Speaker:is it like all just design digitally?
Speaker:I would say something like basic graphic designs where you're doing lettering And
Speaker:shapes, let's say for a, for a sign, like a Starbucks sign or something, or, or I
Speaker:like to go into the computer because I can just take the shape and manipulate it.
Speaker:But, I, it's better to do it on paper because it's analog.
Speaker:You're, you're manipulating the shape.
Speaker:What feels right?
Speaker:What's sharp?
Speaker:What's soft?
Speaker:You're more in tune.
Speaker:Right.
Speaker:With the actual art itself.
Speaker:So, by that means, it's, that's how I was trained.
Speaker:Because I started graphic design Just before the computers
Speaker:were standard in colleges.
Speaker:So you still had computer labs.
Speaker:Is there anything that we might not know that is super crucial
Speaker:to what you do that people, it wouldn't even cross their minds?
Speaker:I would say, I would say you have to really be confident in your
Speaker:line art when you're drawing.
Speaker:Because I've YouTubers, a lot of people do it but they don't
Speaker:realize they're doing it.
Speaker:When you're seeing these speed drawings and you're, you're seeing the
Speaker:process fast forward, yeah, you notice they undo the lines all the time.
Speaker:And all they have to do really is just, let's say you want to do a curve line.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:Use anchor points, click one, one side, click on the other curve and you're done.
Speaker:But people want to draw that line so badly digitally that if it
Speaker:doesn't feel right, they undo it.
Speaker:And I noticed that that slows down it might slow it down by a couple of seconds,
Speaker:but you your mind wants it to be perfect Yeah, but you even then real art isn't
Speaker:perfect because that line if you zoom in it's gonna be crooked regardless
Speaker:I've zoomed in on my own line art.
Speaker:Oh, look at all this crusty edges.
Speaker:No, that's just ink That's just the ink naturally on the paper.
Speaker:And the craziest part is that as artists you're very You know judgmental
Speaker:on yourself And, but then some of the audiences don't even notice it.
Speaker:They'll have no clue, no They can't even see the mistakes that
Speaker:you might see in the first place.
Speaker:Right.
Speaker:So then it's okay, not that you don't want it to be the best of your abilities,
Speaker:but at the same time, like you said, okay, does it have to be perfect?
Speaker:No.
Speaker:I would say it depends on if I work hours on a piece.
Speaker:I personally go crazy if something, there was like a little mistake, I'm
Speaker:like, or let's say I accidentally left a little tiny dot in that
Speaker:that's not supposed to be there.
Speaker:Let's say by splatter or something that would bother me because I know it's there.
Speaker:That's a personal thing because editors should be seeing that anyways.
Speaker:And so if you're working for a bigger company, you have a whole assembly
Speaker:line of people just looking at work.
Speaker:It's slightly tougher when you're on your own to see little tiny
Speaker:mistakes, which is, it's valuable to.
Speaker:Say if you got some friends that are trusting And they're straight up,
Speaker:they'll like, check out your work and say, Hey, does this look right?
Speaker:Does this, and like I tell my wife, Hey, does this look, this arm look right?
Speaker:Get a fresh pair of eyes.
Speaker:And what is it that you, you say?
Speaker:I'm the worst judge or the worst editor that you, The editor of your nightmares,
Speaker:they'll be like, Hey Dave, you know what?
Speaker:That angle doesn't look right.
Speaker:It's just, it looks like you're having a tough time.
Speaker:Do you mind doing it again?
Speaker:And I could be done with a complete piece of the whole page and I
Speaker:just rip it up and start over.
Speaker:The whole page is ripped up.
Speaker:You do the whole thing and start over?
Speaker:Yeah, like four or five, he's like in six panels and then one
Speaker:of the panels doesn't look right.
Speaker:And I tell this to Dave, I go, you're gonna hate me for this.
Speaker:And then he looks at it, he picks it up, tears that thing apart.
Speaker:And uh, it has to start all over.
Speaker:Yeah, but but then it breaks my heart too.
Speaker:Everything else looks great.
Speaker:I have learned to calm down and i'll just photoshop that like
Speaker:Like i'll just because i'm so you edit it instead of starting over.
Speaker:Yeah, because i've noticed if it's a small thing i'm like I'll just cut
Speaker:a piece of Bristol board and just scan that and then put it in later.
Speaker:But because I came from just having editors look at my work,
Speaker:I want to show pristine pages.
Speaker:So there's that old school kind of thinking, which isn't bad, but it's
Speaker:like a little hindering because production, I've got to get this done.
Speaker:If we're near a deadline, I won't tear it up.
Speaker:I'll just have to bite the bullet.
Speaker:I'm like, all right.
Speaker:I'll leave this page out, or I'll put the page, I'll cut this
Speaker:out, put another piece, and I can do that on the computer too.
Speaker:I've done that.
Speaker:It's just when, if I don't, if it's a pose, let's say a power pose, you
Speaker:have two characters in action, and I don't have The root of it, which is
Speaker:the gesture drawing itself the what I usually start off I start off with
Speaker:gesture drawings Just the getting that motion if the motion is incorrect,
Speaker:then the whole piece is incorrect because that is the root Of that of it.
Speaker:All right, if I'm gonna get that arm, right?
Speaker:I have to do it completely over or if that twist isn't proper
Speaker:Anatomy, then I have to, the problem is in the root of the drawings.
Speaker:So yeah, the problem's all the way back in the beginning.
Speaker:It's really great to have you on the, uh, on the show.
Speaker:Is there any way that, that people can follow you?
Speaker:You could follow me on Instagram, dark sky, the Dark Sky, the 35 at Gmail.
Speaker:You could also follow me on the sapphire directive.com.
Speaker:TheSapphireDirective.
Speaker:com And on Facebook with the same name, The Sapphire Directive.
Speaker:Wow.
Speaker:Dope.
Speaker:Dope.
Speaker:I really appreciate you coming out.
Speaker:Is there any advice that you would give people who want to get
Speaker:started in doing what you're doing?
Speaker:Good luck, up to you.
Speaker:I would say if you have stories to tell, drawings to do, do it
Speaker:and do it the best that you can.
Speaker:Throw everything you've got.
Speaker:If you're looking to get into the professional DC Marvel, keep trying
Speaker:but understand that you will have to adapt to whatever the house style is.
Speaker:And you have to push your own career once you're past that.
Speaker:Meaning you're not going to draw for them forever.
Speaker:It's like pro wrestling.
Speaker:You just, you're there for a little time, but make it everything
Speaker:you got and then push yourself outside, learn everything you can.
Speaker:Thank you so much for coming on the show and we appreciate it.
Speaker:My name is Derek Johnson II.
Speaker:I'm Nicholas Killian.
Speaker:And we're here with David Moreno.
Speaker:And Electronica Zero.
Speaker:And we'll see you next time.
Speaker:Thank you very much.
Speaker:Thank you.
Speaker:This has been Film Center on Comic Con Radio.
Speaker:Check out our previous episodes at comicconradio.
Speaker:com.
Speaker:You can follow the show at Film Center News on all major social media platforms.
Speaker:Tune in next Wednesday for a fresh update.
Speaker:Until next time, this has been Film Center.
Speaker:Hey!
Speaker:Do you like anime and manga?
Speaker:Nick and I are big fans of the genre.
Speaker:Yeah, we recently discovered a manga named Tamashii.
Speaker:It's written and created by Ryan McCarthy, and it recently just
Speaker:came out with its 10th volume.
Speaker:Now, Tamashii is an isekai about a girl who gets transported to another
Speaker:world called the ancient lands.
Speaker:She gains mysterious powers and must fight demons and monsters to find her way home.
Speaker:Check it out on Amazon, Blurp, and get a physical copy at RyanMcCarthyProductions.
Speaker:com.
