Crap load of Heros Landlady comics are coming for Neil, Mike and me to sign. This whole experience of working with these two... has softened me into accepting my old work (vs. the newer stuff).
I may draw a distinction on my mind between old and new, and I know the gloss of time makes everything old seem 'better'. Sometimes it IS - but the feedback I get from most my fans, is all of my work, good bad, old new.. is all part of a greater whole. Some will be into my weird creatures, or my julie/zerogirl/alt. looking types of 'sam kieth girls', .. or others are into the 'classic' marvel presents covers period. Or others swear my peak was Maxx or others dig the storytelling stuff like Zero Girl, Four Women, Ojo, Bimbo, etc...
Some of these fans shrug or scratch their head at my fashion stuff,
..or or abstracts, collage pieces, bolts, wood, feathers, all cobbled together...
satisfies me.
My job is to ignore just to keep working, trying new stuff.
See where it leads me, even if it is a dead end, or pointless.
Try to 'draw my way' out of my problems. Find what I call the 'Honest Line'. It's not always pretty, or slick, but it's a line surpassing style or form. To me, no matter how crude, delicate, rushed or careful, it somehow spills out from a pencil or paintbrush onto the page and seeps into a readers heart and imagination.
This is why Jamie or Gilbert Hernandez, Moebius or Alex Toth's art can seem simple, yet (for me) has such a effortless, yet profound effect.
Meanwhile, there's the rest of us... fumbling along.
But that 'honest line' seems like a good place to fumble towards..
