reMIND - graphic novel sketches

[soros]

The perspective of the cover, the kitchen, this mechanical wheel and the enviro-view are great! I love this style and the outlines are sharp! Keep on ! Thanks for sharing!

[TheGnoll]

its a pleasure to follow your blog, and your novel is coming together very well!
rock on!

ciao

[icarus2912]

WOW, incredible sketchbook! Both the actual sketches and the finished work.
Subscribtion added!

[brubaker]

Sorry for the 50 year pause on posting here.

Thanks everyone for your kind words. I've been going full blast on my blog and it's been really picking up steam these last few months. Please check it out if you haven't. http://remindblog.com/

I just wrote this article on my blog and I'm so happy with it that I want to share it here as well. Thanks again for all your comments.

__________________________________________________ _____

Unnatural Talent

Talent – a natural aptitude or skill (Oxford American Dictionary)

I get tons of people coming to me asking for advice on how to get into the field of art. I use to get confused when self proclaimed artists would approach me for advice but when asked to see their work they only had old school assignments from years ago. If they really were artists, I thought, then where was the art? Anyone can be an artist if they love to draw. This person must not love to draw, so why was he asking me for advice on how to become an artist?

I finally realized these artists who don’t do art are approaching me because they think I have a natural talent and they think they might just have a natural talent too. Perhaps someone told them in the past that they are “a natural”. They think art is just super fun and easy for us gifted ones born with the talent to draw. Artists have the good life. It’s all about who you know. You sit back and draw a little here and there. It just flows from you like a river of gold. You can whip up something on a napkin to pay for your meal. Art is easy work. Art is fun.

Ever since I was a little guy scribbling with my crayons I’ve had people look at my art and say, “You sure are talented. It must be nice to be born with it!” I’d shyly say thanks and continue with my masterpiece while they move on after mere seconds.

Aside from my late teens, art has been my only source of income. I’m in my mid 30’s now and I’ve had a blessed career as an artist and it wasn’t until my mid twenties that I started thinking about what talent really was. Contrary to the dictionary definition, this is my opinion…

Talent is created and grows when you are overly passionate about a specific subject.

So committed that you spend large sums of free time studying a subject beyond what anyone else could stand. So interested that you try to decode what others are doing who excel in the craft. So obsessed that you will spend hours alone trying to meticulously perfect a nuance that only you will notice. Then, when the moment of focus is over, you have gained a small fraction of knowledge that only you were passionate enough to spend the time to understand.

Now, are you an artist?

A musician?

A chef?

A businessman? (Yes, even businessmen have the talent of being good at business)

Writer? Jogger? Halo champion? Fly fisherman? Snowboarder? Surfer?

Now days, whenever someone comes to me for professional advice in the field of art, I always start with this question…

What do you love to do?

This is a hard question for many people to answer. It’s not really hard but people make it hard when they replace what they love with what they think they should love. For instance, a friend asked me what programs he should learn next to help his career. My response was, “Only learn the programs that will help you achieve your personal goals. Don’t learn a random program just because you think it will help your career even though you have no interest in that program. But if a program will aid something you’re passionate about then it’s worth learning. Nothing launches your career better then a personal project that you LOVE. Remember, a client will most likely ask you for something you’ve already proven to do well.” So, in other words…

If you love animation, start animating your film.

If you love to draw comics, start drawing your comic.

If you love to make stuffed animals, make the best stuffed animals you can.

This may seem like lame advice. Most people want me to just hook them up with someone who will offer them a job. Some people just want to be told which school will guarantee their success. Reality check. Schools don’t make you talented. What you are passionately interested in creates the talent.

If you LOVE music, you will pay closer attention to it than the majority and in turn you will become more talented at music then the majority.

If you LOVE comic art, you will study your favorite comic artists and you will become more talented at drawing comics then the majority.

If you LOVE animation, you will closely examine master animators to see what makes them tick and in turn you will become more talented at animation then the majority.

If you LOVE amazing food, you will start to study what makes something taste good and in turn…

Get the picture?

None of this stuff is something you are born with. I don’t believe anyone is born with talent. I will say it again. Nobody is born with talent. Sure, I might have shown early aptitude as an artist even in preschool. You know why? BECAUSE I FREAKIN LOVED ART AND I DROOLED OVER IT WHEN I SAW SOMETHING THAT I LIKED I WOULD STARE AT IT FOREVER UNTIL I UNDERSTOOD IT A BIT MORE THEN THE AVERAGE PRE-SCHOOLER OKAY!

I still can’t draw feet very good. You know why?

[nurraymjo]

Pretty nice words there. That's very inspiring, so thank you much for sharing. You've got some excellent stuff here man. Just wanted to comment.

[midknight523]

^what he said

[soletaken]

"Pretty nice words there. That's very inspiring, so thank you much for sharing. You've got some excellent stuff here man. Just wanted to comment." [3]

[kidult]

Thanks for the words and the images!

[Ivan Turcin]

Thank you!

[Charles Ratteray]

yooooooooooooo!!!!!!!!!!

Jason

whats up man - didnt know u were on here.

Love the work man !!

glad to run into u again- we gotta catch up


- C










the sketchbook:

http://conceptart.org/forums/showthread.php?t=111671

[brubaker]

nurraymjo - Thanks for the comment man. Glad you enjoyed my schpeal.

midknight523 - Haha Thanks!

soletaken - Ha Thanks too!

kidult - You're welcome! Thanks for the comment.

Ivan Turcin - You're welcome too!

Charles Ratteray - Hey man! It's soo cool to see you on here too. You have a ton of work since last time I saw you. Looks like you've been busy. Has Famous Frames been treating you good? I'm at Dreamworks now working in Visual development. Where are you living now days?


Sorry everyone for not posting new art lately, I'll try to scan some loose sketches soon. Thanks for all the love!

[mdbauman]

The composition and light in post 111 is blowing my mind. Went and subscribed to your blog, the resources/words of wisdom are much appreciated. Looking forward to seeing more.

[DeeStar]

Hello there, Ive had a look at your blog and the graphic novel is looking great! Ive read the first few pages, but before I go any further I'd love to know if i can actually get my hands on a printed copy?

[brubaker]

@DeeStar - No printed copies yet. That's the end goal though. Right now I am on schedule to be finishing up the first book (135 pages) by the end of the year and I hope to goto print in March of 2011. I know it's a long wait but it's moving as fast as it can go.

@mdbauman - Thanks! I'm glad you found it helpful and enjoyable.

[Charles Ratteray]

yo J

can u send me ur updated contact info and cell to my email

[email protected]





talk soon

- C

[nana_iro_miso]

love the line work in your sketchbook! looking forward to seeing more completed pages

[feeesh]

love the latest page, cant wait to see the colors. Its all beautiful except the feet, they are terrible, LOL, just kidding! :-)

[dU5K]

very nice work. i feel like ive seen your work somewhere. maybe featured in a magazine?? or maybe i saw it at school?? anyways. i liked it then and i like it now. keep up the work. look forward to seeing more

[G_U_T_S]

Really, really like your work here, great style. It kind of reminds me a little of Paul Pope, just fantastic. To me, you have that perfect balance between over detailed, and simplistic. Hope to see more from you, take care.

[brubaker]

Hey all, thanks for all your kind comments towards my art. Here are the first 12 pages of my graphic novel if you are interested in seeing some of the finished pieces with color.

I'm posting all this because I wanted to let anyone interested in the book the chance to pre-order it at a cheap price by pledging to the printing costs. I've set up a Kickstarter.com pledge drive and it's been going extremely well. I've already raised enough to cover the basic printing costs but there is still time to get a copy of reMIND at a discount in turn for a small pledge. Here is a link to a video I made explaining how it works.

http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/...-graphic-novel

I hope you can take the time to pledge a little now to help cover more costs and in turn you will get a hardbound book at a discount price. Several independent publishers have had success with this route and I hope to continue to do something like this in the future when I print another book. Thanks in advance for anyone who chooses to support this project.

Here are some pages:

[cakeypigdog]

WOW some awesome moments in here!

[G_U_T_S]

Awesome, just awesome, release a book and I'll buy it. Great style, love everything about it. Hope to see more from you, take care.

[cout<mecha]

Story is a bit slow, but amazing details! Woo wee!

[pixel cheetah]

Well done, well said, well drawn ;-)

[HON!X]

mooddy stuff

[SirCrazlot]

really inspiring to watch your progress. Please keep it up! I want to buy a copy of your book once it's in print!

[AshleeMarie]

The perspectives in each piece are intense! I adore how different each panel is. Its is all so intriguing.

[The7Artist7]

Great work sir - great feel to the comic and the art is really nicely done. Thanks for sharing - seriously it's inspiring stuff

[Auspiciouspanda]

I'd say something intelligent but your art just melted my brain. Really inspiring stuff and i love the color you've added. MORE!

[biglu]

awesome layouts, I love the compositioning! you have great ideas