Cropped Will Cardini artwork

February 28th, 2012

Xeric Today, STAPLE! on Friday

Filed under: Admin — Tags: , , , — William Cardini @ 10:30 pm

Hey y’all, I mailed off my application to the Xeric Foundation self-publishing grant today.

Xeric Foundation logo

Applying to the Xeric has been a goal of mine since I first read about it, so even if I don’t get the award, I’m glad I submitted to the final round. Good luck to everyone else who submitted – may the most deserving cartoonists win!

Lars Martinson Xeric Foundation drawing
A drawing from Lars Martinson’s helpful posts about applying to the Xeric and self-publishing.

One resource that I came across while preparing my application was Lars Martinson’s ten-part post series “How I Self-Published a Graphic Novel” which details the steps he followed in publishing his book Tonoharu. Even though this is the last round of the Xeric there’s still plenty of useful advice about self-publishing in general in those posts. The two steps that I’m thinking the most about now are Part 4, where Martinson details saving up enough money to take a year off of his day job and give self-publishing a full-time try, and Part 10, where he thinks about what it’ll take for him to make self-publishing comics into a sustainable career. It’s an unfortunate fact that there isn’t much money in comics and I like how he deals with the reality of the situation without being hopeless.

In semi-related news, the Gold County Paper Mill will be tabling at STAPLE!, an Austin comics festival, this weekend.

STAPLE! logo

STAPLE! is this Saturday from 11am to 6pm and Sunday from noon to 6pm. I’m going to have a more detailed post about what we’re bringing and what else you should check out on Friday.

February 24th, 2012

Charles Moll

Filed under: Inspiration — Tags: — William Cardini @ 7:55 am

A couple of weeks ago the PorPor Books Blog (a great source of old sci comic scans and book reviews) posted a review of a John Brunner book with a Charles Moll cover. That cover was so cool that I decided to put together a post for y’all of other Moll covers:

Huon of the Horn by Andre Norton Cover by Charles Moll
Huon of the Horn by Andre Norton. I dig the textures and patterning. Via the Ace Image Library.

The Best of Keith Laumer Cover by Charles Moll
The Best of Keith Laumer. This cover is so creepy. I love how Moll rendered the tarp-like carapace. Via a visual bibliography of Keith Laumer.

The Gods Themselves by Isaac Asimov Cover by Charles Moll
The Gods Themselves by Isaac Asimov. This includes some cool gradients without being totally overwhelming like these two Moorcock covers. Via retrosapien’s Flickr stream.

While I was putting together this post, I realized that I have some Moll covers in my collection and I’ve scanned them and posted them to my Flickr here and here (Moll did the cover on the right in that second link). Also if you want to see more, check out this great list of Moll covers with large images on Paperback Fantasies. Moll did great covers for a bunch of Barry Malzberg books.

February 21st, 2012

No More RUB THE BLOOD in my Store – Where to Get More

Filed under: Print Comics — Tags: , — William Cardini @ 7:59 am

I’ve sold a stack of RUB THE BLOODs through online sales, thanks y’all! I’m saving a few copies for STAPLE! 2012 here in Austin. If those don’t sell, I’ll offer them in my online store again. But your best bet, if you still want a copy and you won’t be at STAPLE!, is to mail order one from editor Ian Harker for $5 plus $2 shipping.

Ian Harker and RUB THE BLOOD

Ian’s email is doppelgangercomics@yahoo.com.

February 17th, 2012

“Moon Queen” B-Sides: Spreads 5 and 7

Filed under: Sketchbook Pages — Tags: , , , — William Cardini @ 7:45 am

Here’s the final set of process shots from Moon Queen, the comic I drew during Frank Santoro’s Correspondence Course:

Moon Queen Spread 5 B Side
Original sketches for Spread 5.

Moon Queen Spread 7 B Side
Spread 7, ink wash layer with loose blackline.

Moon Queen Spread 7 B Side
Spread 7 fore-, mid-, and background in colored pencil.

February 14th, 2012

“Moon Queen” B-Sides: Spread 3

Filed under: Sketchbook Pages — Tags: , , , — William Cardini @ 7:35 am

Here are some process shots from Moon Queen, the comic I drew during Frank Santoro’s Correspondence Course:

Moon Queen Spread 3 B Side
Original sketches for Spread 3.

Moon Queen Spread 3 B Side
Spread 3, gray markers with blackline and geometry overlay.

Moon Queen Spread 3 B Side
Detailed blackline for Spread 3.

Moon Queen Spread 3 B Side
Spread 3 fore-, mid-, and background in colored pencil.

I’ll have one more set of B-sides for y’all on Friday.

February 10th, 2012

“Moon Queen” B-Sides: Cover Spread and Spread 1

Filed under: Sketchbook Pages — Tags: , , , — William Cardini @ 7:17 am

Here are some process shots from Moon Queen, the comic I drew during Frank Santoro’s Correspondence Course:

Moon Queen Cover Spread B Side
First version of the final cover spread.

Moon Queen Spread 1 B Side
Spread 1, gray markers with blackline and geometry overlay.

Moon Queen Spread 1 B Side
Color test of Spread 1.

I’m going to post more next week.

February 7th, 2012

“Moon Queen,” my Comic from Frank Santoro’s Course

Filed under: Web Comics — Tags: , , , — William Cardini @ 11:38 pm

Hey y’all, this post is late in the evening on Tuesday because I’ve been busy finishing the comic I made during Frank Santoro’s Comics Correspondence Course, coding an HTML shell for it, and uploading it to this site. The comic is called Moon Queen. Click the cover spread to read it:

Moon Queen cover spread

I tried something different with the navigation. Because Santoro had us thinking about the spreads so much, I wanted you to be able to see both the spreads and the details. So on the index, you can see all of the spreads. Then you can use the next and previous buttons on the side to proceed through larger images of the spreads. You can also click on either half of the spread to see the page up-close. You can navigate between the page views but once you get to a new spread, you see it all at once. What do y’all think? It makes sense to me but I thought of it so I’m not be experiencing it as a first-time user would.

Santoro Correspondence Course

As some of you may know, I’ve been drawing all of my comics completely on the computer for the past couple years but Santoro had us draw everything in the class by hand (although I assembled the final comic in Photoshop). I’d been wanting to get back to doing some analog drawing so I was glad to take a break from the flickering screen. All in all, the process that Santoro taught us was fascinating. I learned a lot of things that you’ll see me experimenting with in future comics. If any of y’all are thinking about taking future sessions of Santoro’s class and are willing to try out a new approach to making your comics, I highly recommend it!

February 3rd, 2012

RUB THE BLOOD for Sale, RTB Artwork, and Interview

Filed under: Artwork,Press,Print Comics — Tags: , , , , , , — William Cardini @ 7:28 am

Hey y’all, I got my contributor copies of RUB THE BLOOD, edited by Ian Harker and Pat Aulisio, in the mail:

RUB THE BLOOD stack on my cutting board
I’m proud to be in this monstrosity. You can see the front and back covers by Victor Cayro and the interior spread by Mickey Z.

You can now order RTB on my store, it’s $5 plus shipping. (Update 1/13/2017: I’ve been sold out of RTB for years.) You can also order it from editor Ian Harker through mail order, just email him at doppelgangercomics@yahoo.com. I’m also going to be sure to bring these bad boys to STAPLE! where the Gold County Paper Mill will be tabling alongside Glademade for the fourth year in a row.

This also seems like a good post to show y’all the ink drawings that I made for the RUB THE BLOOD art show at Brave New Worlds in Philly this past January. The drawings are 7×10″ ink renditions of the two characters I used in my RUB THE BLOOD comic, Lightbeam and Bludwurld the Living Battle Planet:

Lightbeam ink drawing

Bludwurld ink drawing

Also, I didn’t realize this, but 2012 is the 20th anniversary of Image. In honor of this, Ao Meng has a post up on the Daily Texan Comics blog that discusses the legacy of Image, the Brandon Graham and Simon Roy reinterpretation of Prophet, and RUB THE BLOOD. It includes a short interview with yours truly.