June 2005 Blog Archive

From www.gravyboy.com

June 27, 2005

Well, we're back.  Details to follow when we've all been able to sleep.  I think I was running on about 4 hours of sleep a night during the con.   The con was a little different this year...different room and what not. Unfortunately, I think we were in an awkward spot in the back of the room.  Well, better luck next year.

 

We'll definitely get a review complete with pictures up.  Also, we'll get that review of Megcon up. only...5 months late.   Until then...sleep beckons.

 

-Brian

June 23, 2005

Good News, folks! We will have a (very) limited number of copies of issue 2 available at HeroesCon in Charlotte this weekend. The larger order is still backed up at the printer, but through the joys of modern technology, we're able to bring the Gravy back to Charlotte in full effect. Interestingly, when I took the books to OfficeMax to be cut, the guy behind the counter asked me if they were for Heroes. After talking with him for a few minutes, he said he had picked up the GravyBoy ashcan at Free Comic Book Day. Philbert's so famous.

If you'll be at Heroes, stop by our booth and say hi. If you're there on Saturday, be sure to get in on the Fanboy Almanac Fanboy of the Year competition. Pit your fanboy knowledge against that of other hardcore fans to determine WHO is the fittest fan. After all, you have all that obscure knowledge. Why not put it to use?

-Marty  

June 20, 2005

Nearly seven years after my dad passed on, I can still hear his voice.

“Don’t use ink pens with my straight edges…you’ll ruin them.”

My dad, a draftsman, had a large metal drafting table that we kept in our den when I was growing up. Unlike the more economically designed tables I see for sale today, it was cumbersome, spacious and bulky. It stood with two large drawers and an enormous green surface, tilted at the perfect angle, that called out to be drawn on. I would climb onto the tall metal stool and lean as far up as I could to doodle and sketch for hours on end. He had a plethora of triangles, rulers, and templates that I would use, especially when I went through my Transformers stage. More often than not, I would grab an ink pen and a triangle and set out to draw the perfect image until my dad saw the combination and repeated his line.

“Don’t use ink pens with my straight edges…you’ll ruin them.”

My dad was an extremely detailed person. If pictures were hung, measurements had to be taken, and it had to be level. He was the kind of guy that would read through all the instruction manuals before taking the appliance out of the box. Every template and triangle he owned had his named engraved on it. Just for good measure.

Everything had it’s place, and everything was kept clean. Using ink with the rulers would smear black all over their pristine (except for the engraving) orange surface. I suppose they were kept clean so he could see through them when he was drafting to the parts of the drawing the ruler covered up. Whatever the reason, he made sure I kept pens away from them.

A few years after dad passed away I moved into a new house that had an extra room big enough for my own studio. I inhereted the bulky mammoth table and it stands proudly in the corner of my room. Sure there are more economial tables out now. Relatively cheap with ample drawing space that take up far less room, but somehow I just can’t seem to let my dad’s table go. Too many memories attached to it I suppose. The forts I built under it, the time I fell off the the high metal chair and plummeted face first into the brick fireplace hearth. Ahh…memories. I intend to draw on it until it falls apart. Needless to say they don’t make tables like this much anymore, and I’m sure my children will have fun figuring out how to get rid of it when I pass on.

With the table I inhereted all the triangles, straight edges, and templates and have since disregarded my dad’s warning. I’m sure he doesn’t mind now, but when I put my pen to paper and grab the bright orange triangles to start inking, I hear his voice.

“You’re ruining my stuff.”

-Brian

June 16, 2005

How about some sketches?  My wife and I were in Wilmington, NC a few months ago and I ended up doing a lot of sketching (it was a business trip for her, so I had to entertain myself during the day.)  The first one was just an exercise in drawing real people, the second was the view from the coffee house I was sitting in.  (They film the WB's One Tree Hill in Wilmington, and I think this is actually a location for that show.)  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

That's all for today.  

 

-Brian

June 10, 2005

This just in...Issue 2 will NOT be back from the printer in time for Heroescon. 

Oh well.  We will have a preview of it at our table, however, so stop by and browse through it (just promise to buy it when it comes out...we're very poor.)  

 

For the next few weeks before I get down and dirty with issue 3 I'm trying to as much commission and Ebay sales stuff as I can.  (see the "we're very poor" comment above)  Also, It's good just to dabble doing some pin-ups and what not to clear the head.  

 

 

Well, back at it.

 

-Brian

 

 

 

June 1, 2005

Guess what's getting ready to go to the printer.  That's right...

 

 

Issue #2!   I'm hoping our printer will be able to turn it around by Heroescon, but we'll definately be cutting it close.  I worked close to 20 hours this "holiday" weekend to finish things up.  But hey, you gotta do whatcha gotta do.

 

-Brian