September Is "The New York Four" Month

The bulk of the art you will see in The New York Four next year has to be produced in the next 6 weeks. I don't enjoy the fact that I have to pencil, ink and tone 70 pages in one month, but there it is. I've had to change my way of thinking to a daily cartoonist or a true manga artist. No longer is it feasible to dwell on the kick-ass quality of that panel I just kicked-ass on for 6 hours. It's all about volume, volume, volume. Pages, pages, pages. I'll sleep next year, thanks.


The Minx art boards I was originally sent featured 2 small blueline pages per 11X17 sheet. At first, I laughed heartily and mocked its very existence . But no one's laughing now. I've been reduced to working small, maybe 110% of print size in some feeble attempt to regain some sense of daily accomplishment. The results have not pleased me. The lines are too bulky and my hand has been seriously cramping up and stinging with pain. i've been putting my hand on an icepack every night. technically speaking, It sucks. It's hard to say, under these conditions, that I'm doing my "best work". My ceiling is still very high, and better quality is down the road. But this book will atleast be as good as Local and that has to count for SOMETHING.


My art pages aren't pretty to look at , and I've always considered my art pretty disposable. i don't throw the stuff away, but I practically give it away. Some artists think of their work as priceless jewels , and that's cool. But my art is full of patches , white-out and correction tape. I have to redraw and make corrections on translucent vellum. I agonize over lines too.


The New York Four layout sketch. This is what i send to editor Shelly Bond.


Inks and tones. This page is still in process and needs to be cleaned up. The art's still messy. All the girls can be seen here eating sushi. In the booth, from left to right: Lona, Merissa, Ren and Riley.