I thought I’d take some time out of my busy schedule to dally, and talk about my inspiration.  I’ve been trying to improve my art and all, and you might be interested in learning what’s made me do what I do and what makes me keep wanting to be better.

One of the first true inspirations, one where I’ve really first taken a step back from the comic to admire the art, was Jeff Smith’s Bone.  I first started reading probably in fifth grade, when Disney Adventures did a Bone run in one of its issues. I had a childlike admiration for the first valley scene, in which Fone Bone stumbles upon the valley for the first time, and the trees and mountains fill the page deeply and beautifully. Later, when I really got into the series, I admired it for Smith’s great storytelling – He is able to weave comedy, suspense, drama, and a lot of character into these apparently simple beings. Even later still, I began to admire Jeff Smith’s clean and concise (yet somewhat cartoony) linework and especially his inking. If there was ever someone who inspired me to take up ink and pen, it was Jeff Smith. Check out his work if you haven’t already – you won’t be dissappointed!

Going further back into my early childhood, Tintin was a heavy influence that really drew me to the world of comics. Of course, Uncanny X-Men, Sonic the Hedgehog, Disney comics and more followed up, but at first, it was always Tintin. It’s probably because my dad’s side of the family was born and raised in Paris (where everyone has the entire set – I’ve been in many French houses, and even the poorest does not go without their Tintin comics), where Tintin is very popular. I loved to read through the well thought out adventures, and the detail of some of Herge’s spreads was just amazing. I find that I enjoy doing large crowd scenes and, even though I’m not too good at it, people seem to enjoy them a lot too. And I’m also a great fan of Herge’s art movement, the clear line look (which I think Bone might be a part of as well).

During my college years, I became enamored with a beautiful love story by Craig Thompson, called Blankets. This lovely black and white (because, like Bone, the author and artist inked all in black and white, and the result had wonderful and wonderfully different affects) tale was bittersweet and real, and made me turn my attention to the somewhat new genre of autobiographical comic stories. I began to turn my back on my fictional characters (though I still enjoy drawing them) and started to look for a style that would suit me in my own autobiographical comic. I’m still looking for it, in case you were wondering.

Lastly, Scott McCloud’s help books about writing and drawing comics was a huge help. Above and beyond any regular “help” books you might find, McCloud’s book is entertaining and complex, in addition to being helpful. He really helped me get my act together and inspired me to put pen and pencil to paper for a purpose, and not just let my ideas die in oblivion.

I hope you have the time to check out these guys and their great works! Maybe next time I’ll talk about some smaller titles that have also inspired me in some way or another.

Here comes this year’s submission to The New Yorker’s 2009 Eustace Tilley contest! Last year, I had submitted a semi-decent High Tilley, but this year I am much more happy with Sir Tillehad. What do you think? I actually did the inks last year, so the inking style is a bit outdated (I think I’m much better at inking now that I’ve had a little practice). However I colored it just today, only took a couple hours (and a few episodes of Food Network’s cake contests), and I got to implement some cool coloring techniques I’ve been learning. I hope I get to win the lack-of-prize that The New Yorker offers for the twelve winners!!!
*Edit* – Also I forgot to mention there are new wallpapers and banners in the About section, until I figure out where a better place to put them would be….

Aka the tools of the trade! I figured I’d post some of the main day-to-day items I use while drawing The Glass Urchin and other comic/art I do, in case you might be interested. I know some people seem to be really good at remember obscure art tools I use (MEL!), but mostly everybody doesn’t really know much about what I use. So yeah, you can use this as a gift/donation guide too if you like, since these are just some great things I could always do with more of. And without further ado, here’s my list of art tools I could always use more of!

Staedtler White Erasers – Also they say “Mars” on them. If you’re not an artist, you’re probably thinking “Why not just use the regular pink erasers? They erase just as well….” But these Staedtler erasers are just great. They’re smooth and easy to clean and they almost never make those weird smear marks that sometimes appear on your paper that you can never get rid of. They’re not as toothy as regular erasers are, and won’t pick up the paper, even if you’re working with cheap, crappy computer paper. And with the frequency that I lose my erasers, this one is always a welcome addition to my art supply. Apparently Japanese erasers work better, but I know you’re probably not near an unending supply of Sakura or Tombo Mono erasers, and Staedtlers are just everywhere.

Inking Pens – I run out of these far quicker than any other art supply. I’ve been working with a refill kit pen that’s a bit messy (but at least less of a waster of plastic and easier on the wallet in the long run), but I can always use more regular pens. I use only black for The Glass Urchin (the greyscale and coloring parts are done on the computer), so I mostly only use black pens. The brands I typically use are Microns just because they are common in the art store, but I’ve also used Milleniums, Staedtlers and Faber-Castells. In size it usually ranges from 005 to 08.

Bristol Board Paper – I couldn’t afford to use this paper for day to day pages for The Glass Urchin, but if I could I would! This thick paper holds inks very well and is durable for easy erasing. I prefer smooth (not textured) bristol paper types in pad or ream form.

Copic Markers – Again, I can’t really afford to go crazy with markers since they’re very expensive and if I wanted to do a real full color comic with markers alone, the price would kill me. But Copic markers are great quality items and I’ve been expanding my experimentation with various colors and markers on my side comics and art. Any colors from copic would be great, but I generally avoid the dark stuff (since markers dry on paper much darker than originally drawn with). Really I’ve only gotten into some of the very basics of markering, but I find it enjoyable. If I could expand on my set of greys and other good neutral tones and light colors, that’d be great!

Other Art Space – Other kinds of art paper are great – I like to experiment with different sizes and styles. I generally prefer any of the paper I use to be not toothy though, as I don’t use mediums that really benefit from it. I’d like to try those smooth marker pages and paint related pages too sometime. Wads of paper are fine by me, I also sometimes use the little totable kinds and I’ve always wanted a little (unruled) Moleskine…

Liquor – Uhm what? I can count this too right? Fave brands are Maker’s Mark and Sierra Nevada, kay thanks!

Wonder where you can find some more Ami art? You should check out these other fine comics! First up I did a guest strip for C.S. Snow’s indie rock theological soap opera, Sordid City Blues. It’s an interesting webcomic, and I especially liked the latest story arc about the band tour (even though it didn’t much involve my favorite character). I took a departure from my usual coloring style by drawing in bluescale!

Then check out my submission to Brian and Amu’s soft and cuddly webcomic’s, Amu’s World, first year anniversary Fanart Contest! And I won too! Err well… so did the other contestants! But I can’t wait for an amigurumi from the talent Amu and an amazing print by Brian! These guys are so talented – you have to check out the detail and care that goes into every one of the strips.
Lastly a submission just cause to best bud Bree. I’ve linked to her comic about 200 times, so if you didn’t go the first couple of times, now’s even more of an incentive for ya: I drew her a guest comic she used the other week!