Some concept art for The Naturals. I am super excited to start drawing pages soon.
COMMISSIONS
I did a ton of D&D Character Commissions at the end of the year in 2023, here are some of the highlights, these are very random.
COLORING
I am coloring two books for my buddy Keith Browning. His line art is so much fun to color, I can’t wait to share more of these pages with you.
THE NATURALS
I have outlined the entire series, written issues 1-3, and thumbnailed issue 1. I will start penciling pages in between paid work next week.
Here is the publication plan:
I will publish it as a webcomic on webtoons. I hope that this will help it find a wider audience. My ultimate dream is that this will be published in print, but first I need to find this project’s fans.
The webcomic will be black and white because I cannot afford to color it now.
I am eyeing the Opening day of the MLB season 3/28/2024 to publish issue 1.
CHILDREN’S BOOK
I am working on a children’s book about a homeschooled family of beavers, here is some concept art.
WATCH: The Green Knight
Just wow, I thought this was a beautifully told story. particularly the last 10 minutes are a masterclass in storytelling. Very much for an adult audience, but I would say a must-watch for any man wishing to live an honorable life.
LISTEN: Amos Moses
My son’s favorite song right now is the “Aligator Song” Amos Moses by Jerry Reed is a quirky ballad about a cajun man who lost his hand alligator wrestling in the swamp. The rest of the album also slaps.
READ: Arca
This is a wonderful parable written by my friend, Van Jensen. The intrigue had me on the edge of my seat and the payoff did not disappoint. The art is by the incredible Jesse Lonergan. His approach to comics is wholly unique to the medium. His panel payouts and use of the gutters are the most innovative stuff happening in comics.
PLAY: Memory Game
I got a memory card game for Christmas to play with my 3-year-old son. He is pretty good, we are up to 12 pairs and he is just starting to mistake the locations of the various pairs. I am also enjoying testing my memory and embarrassed to make the occasional mistake.
Copyright
The dawn of 2024 brought Steamboat Willie out of Copyright and into the public domain. If you are unfamiliar, Steamboat Willie was the original incarnation of today’s Mickey Mouse as seen in the 1928 short film.
U.S. Copyright law states that Copyright shall expire 95 years after publication, or the life of the author plus 70 years, whichever ends first.
What is the purpose of copyright? The Constitution of the United States has an answer.
"To promote the Progress of Science and useful Arts, by securing for limited Times to Authors and Inventors the exclusive Right to their respective Writings and Discoveries." -U.S. Constitution, Article 1, Section 8, Clause 8
Essentially, if you own a character, then you can be the sole dictator of that character’s story and thereby effectuate change in culture by the stories you tell. If other authors were allowed to use your character willy-nilly, then they might pervert your story.
I remember early in my career, I was obsessed with tacking the © onto every piece of art that I created, with some silly hope that this protected it and my ideas from when Disney decided to come in and poach my incredible designs and amazing stories!
Ah, the hubris of youth.
Now that I work in the Comic field I have learned that no one cares about your idea, they hardly care if it is even yours. Which is fair, because stories are so incestuous and derivative. It may be an overused adage, but there indeed is, “nothing new under the sun…” every story has been told, and storytellers, including myself merely sew new skin on old skeletons.
My encouragement to young artists would be to not worry about people stealing your ideas, instead, you should worry about having good ideas worth stealing. And if you don’t want someone to steal it, then don’t share it. (That is sarcasm, share your story, duh.)
To older artists, please don’t get so jaded and careless that the passion dies and you don’t at least attempt to make that newly skinned skeleton look the best it can be.
Cheers,
&
Well ranted, Anderson! I’m sharing that with my young artist living at home.
Thank you for sharing the process! Best of lucks with the projects