A few good comic artist resources

If you draw comics, or just like behind-the-scenes information about comics making, here are a few of my favorite resources lately.

Firstly, This little tutorial on mouths and speaking by E.K. Weaver, of The Not So Epic Adventures of TJ and Amal.

Also this archive of all sorts of production art from animated movies from around the world.

And finally, this mind-bending article about comics page layouts.

More to come,
Lee Blauersouth

Black Hat Collective Member Portraits

We here at Black Hat Collective are often asked by our adoring public for pictures or descriptions of ourselves, so that they can more effectively adore us. Some of them are very persistent, and Marty, the fire marshall says you need to take down the fort. To that end, here are some candid portraits of our membership for your edification and enjoyment.



Our fearless leaders, Lisa and Lee Blauersouth, hard at work.











Hobbes Maxwell, in his natural habitat.












Newcomer Kate Saturday, with various tools and instruments of artifice.











Fes Works, keeping his eyes on the prize.

Perceptive readers will have noticed how often candid pictures of Black Hat members show them at work. This is because we never stop working, dear reader, we never cease our striving to bring you the precious gems of imagination.








Gypsy Maria Lorimer, after a grueling day in the imagination mines.








And the Gerbil.

The perceptive reader will also notice that our membership is made up of an unusual proportion of unicorns. This is because comics is magic.












And so, dear readers, you can stop hanging around outside our houses, your little noses fogging our windows. Now you know the truth.

Artist Intro: Tim Tapp

Name: Tim, at least that's what some call me

Current projects: Maggie& Kowala, etc,etc, so on....

Past projects: Yo Mama

Website: Maggieandkowala.com, magicbagotricks.tumblr.com, drprofessort.bogspot.com, levijeans.deviantart.com

Webcomics I read: I dont really keep track of all the sites I read. It's more of a "what ever I can make time for" thing. Try Oh Goodie.net, axecop.com, for starts.

What inspires me to make comics: Everything and everything after that.

Why are you in the BHC: I asked in and I received.

Favorite part of the artistic process: That part that kind of looks like sex, but with Skittles.

Blood type: Sexy Beast Type X

Astrological sign: Batman on the cusp of dark knight

Nicole gets interviewed!

http://fatchic.net/2011/12/14/fat-ladies-in-spaaaaaaceinterview-with-artist-nicole-lorenz/

Lookie!  Nicole gets herself interviewed about her awesome coloring book, Fat Ladies in Spaaaaace!

Artist Intro: Fes Works

Name: Fes Works

Current projects: Ardra (comic), The Webcomic Beacon (podcast), First Issue (webseries)

Projects on hold: A Pessimistic Sense of Inadequacy (comic), Jenny Everywhere: The Shifter Archive

Past projects: Two Cents in 60 Seconds (podcast), The Crossover Wars, Jenny Everywhere and the Crossing Over Worlds (comic), Jenny Everywhere and the Golden Key (comic)

Website: See above, or www.FesWorks.com

Webcomics I read: I follow over 200 webcomics. Some of my favorites include Nerf Now!, Endtown, El Goonish Shive, PREQUEL, Get a Roomie, Newspaper Comic Strip, Zebra Girl.. only to name a handful.

Favorite things to draw: The characters in my comic, PSI.

What inspires me to make comics: The ideas in my head. I have to get them out, or my brain will explode.

Why are you in the BHC: Nice and welcoming group. Local.

My artistic new years resolution: Stop taking on new projects before finishing others.

Favorite part of the artistic process: Drawing with pencils on paper.

Finishing move: CTRL+S

Cutie Mark: Candle burning on both ends.

Black Hat Collective gets a nod from the Daily Planet

The lovely and talented Jesse Hausman has done a lovely and skillful article about us for the Twin Cities online news daily. Read it here.

Silent Night: Comic Artists' Night at the Opera

"Artists make bad soldiers."

--German Lt. Horstmayer of Silent Night

"Unsolicited criticism — Always a good seduction technique!"

—Anna Sørensen of Silent Night

[Silent Night] relates the tale of British, French, and German soldiers during World War I who disobeyed orders and spent the holiday not killing each other.

--Joel Vollmer

Jeremiah Halonie: As usual, it’s difficult to draw when the action is so amazing, you want to just lose yourself in what’s going on on-stage, but add to that the incredible sets and music this time around, and I had the most difficult time yet trying to draw what was going on and not just watch.





Kate Saturday: The French troops were quartered in this bombed-out Cathedral. I fell completely in love with it and drew it one thousand times. Barely a shell, it had a creaky fragility that was offset by its clean geometry. It was strong enough to support actors on its upper stories, in the same way that a nautilus shell is strong. Strong enough to support what, i don't know, tiny mollusk actors in a submarine drama perhaps.





Thomas Boguszewski: Watching this production warms the heart, but also gives one a sense of the terrible irony of war —where humanity is looked upon as "weird" and violence is the norm. I think the message of this play is not only that "Artists make bad soldiers," as Lieutenant Horstmayer points out at the beginning of the play, but also that good human beings make bad soldiers.



Lisa and Lee Blauersouth: Silent Night, the newest Opera in MN was at once grounded in both fact and myth and rides the line where the two meet. The event was real—a Christmas Eve Truce during the first World War, but it feels like a fairy tale or fable. The tales of it survived through letters and rumors and tales told by soldiers and civilians alike.



Check out more blogs and images at Joel Vollmer, MN Opera, and Diana Green!