In the last installment of "Looking At Seer" I mentioned that next column up would be looking at some of the earliest art and origins of the story, and here we are!
Well here's where it all began. This page is from a sketchbook I kept in my time in high school, probably dating back about 22 or 23 years at this point. Where did the time go! (Don't get old kids... Stay in school. I mean literally. Don't leave it. Be a 34 year old sophomore, life will be easier!)
This was the basic premise and first sketch that I thought about and would come back to several years later.
In my early 20's I would go on to get involved in an anthology comic project that formed through the forums at digitalwebbing.com. A short 5 page concept story written by me and illustrated by Brad Green appeared in issue #2, after which I moved on as both writer and artist for a full length issue.
As I worked on issue #1 of Seer, I attended several conventions and distributed some preview "ashcans" of the comic in progress. Here you can see the development as even between two conventions the same year I had redone the cover and was refining and improving my artwork and making collaborations with other creators, such as Jason Moser who provided the greyscales and later colors for the second image.
While I was dredging up these ashcan files from my poorly organized hard drive, I also came across some promotional graphics I'd put together for the web that I had completely forgotten about. These utilized the artwork of Brad Green with me adding a bit of "flavor" text of the concept.
Whew, these columns have been a trip down memory lane for me, and I hope they're a bit entertaining and inspirational to see the progess and development. That first ashcan cover makes me cringe compared to the second, and I'd probably find the second more cringeworthy if I redid it today! It's always a learning process. (Especially if you stay in school... Fail and fail again, fail your way to success and a lifetime of sleeping in study halls!)
See you soon for a couple last installments of Looking at Seer!
I'm not really serious about the failing in school thing... or am I?
Oh wow! It's amazing how much the art and the story changed. 22 years! Man, I don't think I even have stories that old, and I keep a record of all the worlds I create in my head. Talk about letting a story sit and mature. Aged like fine wine, I tell ya! It's funny, we both have a "or am I?" sort of question to wrap up a post haha!
Man .. you already have that concept years back when you are in highschool and the best part of it , you still have that original sketch.
I really like your sketches and its awesome :)
Fun fact about that sketch... if you look closely you can make out the outline of Kermit the Frog drawn on the reverse page!
🐸
Yeah .. hahaha ... there's Kermit :)
Wow impressive, an old sketch of more than 20 years and after so much time carrying out that project, you could say it was destiny.
Destiny maybe... or maybe I’m just very slow at getting things done! 😬
As they say in Venezuela, slow but safe ;)
I'm a bit lost, but hi! I read everything but somehow I retained little, besides not growing up, which I'm succeeding at. Totes. Totally not 20 in two weeks D:
No worries! Just me putting some old “behind the scenes” material up and rambling about it!
So cool that the thread of this story followed you for so many years! I really like the promotional art you made too!
A really cool concept too, kinda jealous it never occured to me haha
Killer drawing skills 8) kudos.
Wow, that's pretty sweet you have one of your first Seer sketches from high school still. Handing out ashcans at a convention are what passion projects are all about. I would love to do a Steemit anthology book sometime if we can get enough people interested.
I really do think an anthology will happen at some point. Once community features are up & running and people really start to coalesce, it’s almost inevitable!