So it’s been awhile since my last entry. Obviously, the holidays make everything crazy but now that it’s somewhat back to normal, regular updates should be back and running. The holidays even screwed up my Pixelstrips schedule, and I’m hoping to get a new page up there before the end of the week.
I spent the holiday in upstate New York and landed a great present that was a total surprise. My sister-in-law has a screen printing business, I mentioned a few times that I wanted to make some NYComix shirts but I never got around to making a serious order. Well, come Christmas I get a box and what is it full of? NYComix T-shirts! Pretty sweet, I think. I’m going to print a bunch of them up for the Con in February, so if anyone wants one, they’ll soon be available.
I also met up with a few friends over the holiday. I’ve known them both since I was like 13 years old and we don’t see each other as much as I’d hope. I’m down here in NYC, Mike is near Albany and Drew in practically in Canada. But an interesting thing happened during our separate conversations. They both asked me why I haven’t finished Randall.
A while back I decided that I wasn’t happy with the comic and that it was just too much of a departure from my NYComix. True as that may be, I still love Randall. It’s like my first-born. It’s the first comic I really sat down and worked on with the intention of showing it to people. It’s admit ably crude and weird in places, but I think I may just finish it up. Drew, who just gave my his first novel to read, knows what it’s like to want honest feedback from a friend, so I trust that he would tell me if finishing Randall would be a waste of time. He said I should consider is an “exercise” worth finishing. So I think I’m going to. I mean, the book is even thumb nailed through the end, so why not? On thing I don’t really understand is why people have to have a “style” they have to adhere to, I always though a good artist could do a lot of different things. An artist’s style is always evolving. Why can’t it evolve in different styles? Why are there even unwritten rules in art? The reason I love art, and comics in particular is that there are no rules.
R. Crumb has a distinct style that you recognize instantly, but look through the full gamut of his work and you’ll see the classic Mr. Natural style of art as well as cartoon work that is as strong as any you’d see in a Disney cartoon or comic. He does both equally well.
So anyway, looks like Randall is going to make a comeback. Kind of a Farewell Tour.
Although, it seems like every “Farewell Tour” isn’t an actual Farewell, so who knows.
1 comment:
I'm glad to hear it. Don't worry about the style. You're style for Randall is one thing and your style for NYComix is another. And even within them, styles may change. Art is dynamic. Art is change. If someone today redraws the original Spiderman or repaints the Mona Lisa as a facsimile, he is not an artist. He's a craftsman.
However, technical skill cannot be forgotten either. Painting an iceberg red as a political statement pushes boundaries, but requires no real skill.
Art is not cliche. The term novel means new, so stolen plots rewritten do not qualify. Poetry is not poetry unless it speaks in a new voice, so rewritten cliches "learn to crawl before you learn to walk" cannot be considered poetry. The drawn arts are not art unless they show both craft and push boundaries or in the case of comix, a mix, tell a new story.
Tell your new story. Push where you want to push. Enjoy yourself. Create.
Wilbur Montgomery VII
Sarasota Florida
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