Sunday, November 30, 2008

Developmentally Challenged Shark



I found this sketch on my hard drive today when i was reorganizing things. Back in my Seaworld days when things were slow, me and the other cartoonists would have contests to pass the time. If I remember right this was part of the "Who can draw the meanest Dolphin/Cutest Shark" contest between me and a couple of other guys.

Anyways, I thought I'd color this one up and try doing an underwater scene.

-Will

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Saturday, November 29, 2008

Pigasus

Sometimes when I'm in a funk artistically I'll reproduce sketches from other artists to try something different. I don't remember who this artist was but I've had this image on my hard drive for several years. I thought it was really well done and I wish I could give them credit (this is why I always try to sign my art). Anyways, I think my rendering is getting better. Mine is the one at the bottom with the yellow glow.




-Will

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Thursday, November 27, 2008

Grumpty Dumpty

I know he doesn't really look grumpty, but it was the name that popped into my head when I scanned this in. Amber was drawing a... round man tonight when we were sketching, so of course I wanted to see what I could do. This is all sketched with ballpoint pen and then I went back with some ink washes. That's why it looks a little weird and a little creepy if you were wondering. I tried to use all my mistakes and turn them into part of the image. Meh. What do you guys think? -Will

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Tuesday, November 25, 2008

Spiderman

I finally did a Spiderman sketch that I actually like! I always seem to get hung up on the anatomy instead of the personality. This time I worked out all the bugs with light pencil sketches and then inked it up. I'm happy with how this one turned out. If I was Spiderman this is how I would eat fast food. Of course, if I were Spiderman I would be pretty much screwed living in West Texas. Not much to swing from except water towers, wind mills and streetlamps. Although there are a superb amount of churches from which I could perch and brood.



-Will

Monday, November 24, 2008

Xmas Monsters




My lovely girlfriend Amber and I go sketch pretty often together. I feel really lucky to have someone as awesome as her to hang around with, let alone draw silly cartoons with. Tonight we did some holiday themed monster sketches for the Strathmore "artist trading card" project. You mail off some sketches done on their trading cards and someone somewhere will send you one of theres. These are our monstrous attempts.





-Will

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Friday, November 21, 2008

Rock - A - BYE - Baylor



BAYLOR vs. TTU gameday shirt

The line at the bottom of this shirt originally read "Another chapter in the Texas Tech 2008 STORYBOOK season." We... decided to change that after the OH SO painful OU game this past weekend. Yeah, that one really hurt.

That aside, I think this is one of my favorite shirt designs so far. Its also the first shirt I came up with entirely myself. I hope I get the chance to do some more this season. (GO OSU!!! Beat the $@*! out of OU this weekend!) I've said it before, but I'm really enjoying drawing these characters I remember reading when I was a kid visiting my grandparents here in West Texas.

-Will

Wednesday, November 12, 2008

Speechering

I remember a time when I would go weeks without accomplishing anything of any importance. Often, those times were filled with mindless TV, internet, eating and over-sleeping. Those days seem like a distant memory now. Its so strange to think about. I was just wondering about how busy things have gotten for me this year and how it seems to be non-stop. When it seems to get to be too much I remind myself of how empty those lazy days were, and how hollow my life seemed. I would take this life over that one any day.

Anyways, this has been a very busy month so far. Today was no different. I was asked a while back if I could speak to a class at the university. In the past year I've spoken to High schools, Jr, Highs, elementary schools, community groups and even churches. But speaking at the University today was the most people I've ever spoken to at once. I had a lot of fun. Since it was in a big auditorium I got to do the whole slide show thing, which was cool. It made me feel like I might actually have something important to say. Because I need more fuel for my already inflated ego. I'd have to say one of the more unusual experiences was showing the blackout TV commercial I animated a few weeks back and hearing an entire audience of people laugh at the same time. It caught me off guard and I suddenly wanted to do it again. I'm apparently now a laugh addict.

You never know how a speech will go over with people. In this case there were ZERO artists in the room, which was unexpected, and I quickly had to shift gears to adjust. But for whatever reason they seemed to enjoy it. My friend in the class said he thinks it was the best presentation they've had all year. And the teacher said its the first time everyone stayed till the end of class, lol. That might have more to do with me sketching a quick cartoon of their teacher at the end of the class though than me yammering on about myself. I did have fun though. I think I'm starting to get the hang of it now. At least I can get a room full of people to laugh on purpose now instead of just when I'm an idiot.

Here's to doing things on purpose!

-Will

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Wizard World Texas - 2008 - Convention Report

I had a great time at Wizard World Texas as always. I got to share a table with my girlfriend and she was absolutely amazing. She sold out almost all of her Sock critter creations. The best part was at the very end after we packed up, she only had a handful left and someone stopped her in the hall saying he really wanted to buy them before she left. So he bought nearly all of them! I'm very proud of her.

I personally had a lot of good stuff this show too. I got to meet a ton of artists. I met Will Hughes who does a great Pirate comic called SheBuccaneer. I've had an affinity for comics about hot pirate chicks ever since my early attempts at such a comics a few years back. This one is done far better than I could have ever hoped to do. Great dialogue and solid stories with good characters and gorgeous art. I can't recommend it highly enough. Also this show, for some reason, I was on an original art kick - purchasing original art from nearly a dozen different artists. It's a great way of getting to know people too. I also sold a lot of stuff - selling out of my goblin chronicles books the first day and having to buy up another 25 copies or so from my publisher at the convention just to keep up with demand. My preview book did alright too, especially considering it was mostly a sketchbook. I'm excited by the response so far though. Overall it was a good show, and it basically paid for itself.

The convention was well represented by Lubbock people. I was stoked to see everyone. It feels like the Lubbock comic community is inching closer and closer to a wide spread outbreak of talent on the industry. It feels inevitable now.

My absolute favorite part of the show though was getting to sit next to Matt Wagner the whole weekend. Matt, if you dont' know, is the creator of several amazing comic book series, Mage, Grendal and currently working on Batman and Zorro. I feel like a really lucky person - last year I sat next to Humberto Ramos, and then Michael Golden. This year was just as awesome. I'm not gonna say we're pals or anything. But being able to watch someone work, and ask them questions over a period of time is an invaluable experience and I am very grateful for it.

As an artist I am always interested in hearing the stories of successful artists that have come before me. For Matt, he said his start came in college. The most valuable break through experience was going to an art school in Philadelphia. Not necessarily for the school, but because he got the opportunity to work for the school publication as a graphic designer. He would come in twice a week on print deadline days, and he would fill in spot illustrations everywhere they were needed in the paper, and he'd have to stay until they were all complete, no matter how long it took, no matter how much he didn't want to draw what he was asked to draw. That taught him to meet deadlines, and to push through challenging material.

The next big break came when he met a group of artists in that same school who dropped out the year before him to form the comic book company Comico. He soon dropped out himself and joined them in his first forays into creator owned comic books. I'd read previously that he spent that first year as a submissions editor for them, and that helped him to see what editors did and didn't want to see from artists. Not to mention, the invaluable experience of getting to work with other artists on a regular basis.

But the number one thing he said that has helped him grow as an artist, is seeing his work in print. You can draw a jacked-up hand and be ok with it. But when you have to see it in print in 10,000 copies, you never ever want to draw a jacked-up hand again. After producing hundreds, if not thousands of comic books over his career, seeing every little mistake and deciding never to repeat it, has led him to the highly refined, stylized drawings that he does today. There's no magic to it. No single epiphany. Its making mistakes over and over until you find yourself with something you enjoy every time.

To top it off though, at the end of the last day I spent about 30 minutes watching him do this gorgeous little batman sketch as he talked to people at his table. I was marveling at how simple he kept it. So meticulous, thought-out, and uncomplicated. It made me think that maybe its time I start to focus more on that quality, than speed and quantity. Then he packed up his stuff, stood up and HANDED ME THE SKETCH!! ...said he had a good time, then left. I was a little dumbstruck

Matt Wagner and I.
Matt Wagner and his amazing use of NO lines.

So, it was a great show. Thanks to everyone that came by my table at this show! There are a few more photos in my myspace photo album. Next up is STAPLE in March.

-Will Terrell

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Texas Tech vs OU gameday shirt

I designed a new shirt for Red Raider Outfitter. I am pretty happy with this one. I hope it does well. And I hope we kick ass in the game. All the way to the National Championships! You can order the shirts HERE if you're interested.



On a side note... my girlfriend was telling me tonight that the t-shirt shop she works for keeps bringing her shirts I helped design, asking her to recreate them. Lol. Wait till they see whats next!

-Will

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Wednesday, November 05, 2008

Wizard World Texas - 2008

I will be at wizard world Texas in Arlington Texas this weekend, Nov 7-9. I will be at table 2940 in artist alley with my girlfriend Amber, who is selling her awesome socksters. I'm putting together a preview book for my new comic book series. This is a convention exclusive. See you there! -Will Terrell

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Sunday, November 02, 2008

Names and Numbers ad



I did this illustration the other night for a Heating/Ac company ad for the phone book. I like to imagine them all riding around in the back of that truck day in and day out, urgently waiting for the call. It's like the A-team, without all the drama.

If you need an illustration you can contact me at william_terrell AT hotmail dot com. To find me, apparently this client had to talk to more than a dozen people, whom all recommended me but didn't remember my email. Maybe I should make a phone book ad of me running out of the back of a truck to urgently do caricatures? I would of course be B.A Baracas, only white, and more round. I've been wondering what I'd look like covered in gold chains.

-Will

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