Nick Davis's Blog, page 59

Edgar Wright releases a Marvel with a behind the scene teaser picture of Ant-Man from the movie set

From the camera and Twitter feed of Ant-Man movie Director Edgar Wright is a teaser image of Hank Pym as Ant-Man, the question is who is the actor? The only thing I’ve been able to find it is the interwebs are pretty certain it isn’t Simon Pegg, what are your thoughts?

My totally amazing rules of writing or how to make writers procrastination work for you

Mostly, it’s a process of putting one word after another.

Source – Neil Gaiman

At the Baltimore Book Fest I had a 40 minute conversation with a Ms Hannah Trieb all about procrastination, writers block and how to beat it. You see Ms Trieb asked my advice about writing because like me she is a natural procrastinator, so I offered her some of my insights. I do kind of wish I recorded everything because now three – four days after the fact I might have forgotten some of the wisest parts.

First off I am a terrible procrastinator, you can lock me in a room with a computer with no internet access, with no distractions in the room and you can come back a few hours later and I will most likely be performing maintenance on the computer to improve its performance. Yes, I am that bad. In many ways I am like one of my writing heroes Douglas Adams, any excuse to not write.

You see the problem is goals and setting them… I once heard you’re not a writer unless you write every day, that you must write 5000+ words to call yourself a real writer. While they might have a point I think it is pure nonsense…  Most of this stuff I read on writer forums, and most of those proclaiming this are not writing or producing anything. After all if they are busy writing how are they finding time to post on forums?

A Writer writes to tell the story that is inside of us, from a story of our life, to stories about Teddy Bears who protect us from the Monsters under the bed. Writing is a labor, a building of a wall one brick at a time until it is complete. It doesn’t matter if we write 5000+ words a night or 500 a week, what matters is telling that story and finding its ending.

Now I warn you, I’ve found this works for me even if it’s a little crazy. In the end you have to find what works for you, but hey… If the following advice helps please let me know.

So fool yourself into writing… This is what I do, I have a family so I cannot write every night so I don’t and I do not beat myself up over not writing, this can be more paralyzing than you can imagine. Tell yourself you will write sometime that week or that day, don’t set a task of words, just write something. Little by little a story forms and before you know it you begin to care about the characters, the story and find yourself feeling excited about writing. You’ve fooled yourself into writing and your story will take form.

Ms Trieb also asked me how do I write? My first answer was badly which confused her, because our first drafts are bad, really, really painfully bad, so bad you look back over them and you want to tear your eyes out, this though is a good thing. First drafts are supposed to be bad because you are getting your story out, so get it out! Worry about tidying it up when you go back through it once you’ve finished, not before.

Then she asked how do I plan. This is a fun answer, I write my story one line at a time. Every chapter I plan is one line that tells me very briefly what is going to happen, who is in the chapter and what the goal is. I’ve found it works for me and is again kind of cheating because I’ve already got that story out, and from this point I’m just fine tuning my story.

So she finished up asking what is my secret, my reply was simply ‘just write on your own terms’.

I hope I’ve helped her, most likely confused her, but you never know she might be the next big thing I do hope so. You can check out her work on Summer Circus here. She is a talented girl and I wish her all the luck in her quest to finish her story.

Okay enough of my rantings now, thank you for listening.

Be good to the Earth now.

Tristan the Teddy Bear Guest Stars in the Itchy Cartoon strip by Scott Markley from Time for Hugs

Tristan the Teddy Bear meets Itchy from the Time for Hugs Webcomic by Scott Markley. To learn more about Time for Hugs and Itchy and the Grimms click here.

A Teddy Bear Tales Monsters Concept – A Wooluf Sock Monster from the Tower of the Moon

A Wooluf Concept by Nick Davis

Jumping from rock to rock, from tree branch from tree branch, prowled a pack of wild Wooluf’s; nasty little creatures made of threadbare odd socks and old buttons. The very socks that get lost in the laundry or in the back of drawers. Wooluf’s were long limbed and had needle sharp teeth and were always hungry, craving worn clothing and were known to hunt in packs.

Wooluf’s are a new Monster that inhabit the ruined Tower of the Moons, strange mystical place that Tristan explores in Tristan & the Cuddly Defenders. They are wild creatures made of odd socks, old buttons and hunt in packs.

Concepts allow me to explore the look of new character or creature, and how they fit into the growing World within a World that Tristan is exploring. My inspiration for the Wooluf’s come from Sock Monsters, and how the Wooluf’s are encountered will be revealed when the graphic novel is released.

Rest In Peace Happily Ever Art Indie Creator K. Michael Crawford you are going to be dearly missed

Happily Ever Art of K Michael Crawford

I received some sad news my friends, I have learned that the creator of Happily Ever Art has passed. Karen Michael Crawford was a mainstay at many of the conventions I attended, a lively wonderful amazing woman under a huge Pith Hat who encouraged me to keep pushing my stories and spread the joy of art, and whimsy.  I still remember the last time we talked about teaming up to get a Tent at the Baltimore Book Festival to run a collective Childrens book/comic booth. She really is one of the reasons I kept pushing my all-ages stories of whimsy and wonder…  Why I kept exploring the Tristan’s world… She will. be.. No…  We will all miss her… My deepest condolences to her family.

SDCC with K Michael Crawford

On September 13, 2013, K Michael Crawford, 54, lost her 9-year battle with cancer. She passed away at Gilchrist Hospice Care in Columbia, MD. She was born in Lancaster, PA on August 23, 1959, but lived most of her life in Fulton, MD.

Karen made a living doing what she loved; creating, drawing and publishing children’s books. She also taught art in her spare time. She was always a kid at heart (12 years old, she always said) and lived a life of magic and adventure.  A small memorial service will be held for the family and close friends. Karen’s last wishes were, “I do not want anyone to celebrate the loss of my life, but instead I want everyone to celebrate the life that I had, which means have fun, be silly and send me on a great adventure in my honor.”

Memorial donations may be made to the Save the Children U.S. Foundation, 54 Wilton Rd. Westport, CT 06880.

Source – http://marketplace.baltimoresun.com/explore-harford/browse/obituaries

Guest Column – Three Days at the Pittsburgh Comic Con by Ben Taylor

Welcome to the Alt-World Guest Column, if you’ve got something you want to say, want somewhere to say it and it is related to the activities that Alt-World then contact us and you can find yourself here. This weeks Alt-World Guest Column is brought to you by fellow Brit Ex-Pat and Convention Attendee Ben Taylor.

Hello Everyone,  my name is Ben Taylor and I’m here to write a guest column to clear my head of some of the thoughts that have been running through it since attending the recent Pittsburgh Comicon, which took place in Monroeville, PA September 27th-29th 2013.

Now, for the record, this is not the first time I have attended this show, I actually have attended this show every year for the last 5 years or so. It’s just the first time that I have felt like I needed to get a few things off my chest about it. This is going to sound, or rather read, as a very negative column unless you read all of each point, as not only will I be outlining issues with the show, but after I have placed an issue out there I will suggest something that can help fix it. And no I will not be talking about the history of the show or the drama surrounding Nate Stemen, you can learn more about that here.

First and foremost, please understand that while I attend this show as a fan, I have tabled at many other shows and not only traveled to the show with, but am very good friends with many of the folks that were set up in Artists Alley/Small Press tables, so when I speak about the show from that aspect I’m not just blowing smoke, it’s all from conversations with a great deal of people. And allow me to say that Pittsburgh Comicon was a helluva lot of fun, not necessarily because of the show, but because of the people, and that sentiment was something that was echoed by a lot of people.

Another thing to consider is that much like the current situation with Southern Maryland/Annapolis/Awesomecon DC, Pittsburgh Comicon is taking place in a market that is close to, if not completely, over-saturated with shows. Between it, Steel City, and now PiX as well, the room for maneuver is…slim.

Now onto the show. I think I’m going to break down my points into various sub-categories. So let’s get to it.One Step Behind

Probably the biggest issue for the show from an attendee standpoint, as opposed to an artist view is the fact that the show seemed to be living in the past. This flowed over into several areas, from the free swag table to the programming, it was another thing that just hurt the show.

The free swag table is often a first stop for many upon entering the show and the one at this con was a shining example of the idea that the show is a few steps behind the curve. It over-flowed with posters for X-men 2 (yes, the one with Nightcrawler going all ninja in the White House) Scooby Doo movie pins, and other things from that felt like a decade ago. In the future they need to reach out to more people for more current swag; invite the exhibitors and artists to put their own swag on the table etc., etc..

Show Structure

The dates. This is the first year in which the show has been held in September, and honestly I think it really hurt the show in the long run. I’m sure that there are people who would usually be set up at this show that didn’t this year. Why? Because unlike its usual spot right at the beginning of the convention season, which allows artist to be a little more carefree with their time, this year the show fell between two of the biggest cons on the east coast: Baltimore Comicon (a pure comics show, well loved by all, which pulls in tens of thousands of attendees) and New York (The Javitts center show is the east coast equivalent of San Diego at this point). This not only drains the time and money of the attendees, but your exhibitors and artists too. Oh, and another thing to consider in September? FOOTBALL. Love ‘em or hate ‘em, the Steelers have a huge fan base, which is going to pull away from your attendance. The dates for next year have already been announced and it remains a 3-day show, in September. I really hope they consider moving back to the original time of year. It felt right there and allowed more artists to take a splash on the show.

There is absolutely no need for this to be a 3-day show. None. Fridays are desolate. Every year there are vendors who don’t show up until Saturday morning. It’s almost as if they had the space for set up and just decided to open early. But they always have the showroom on Thursdays too. Admittedly the show on a Friday only starts at 1pm, so it’s not an all-day thing, but it’s still something the show needs to look at. Either find a way to bring people in on a Friday, or don’t open until Saturday. Please don’t get me wrong, as someone who was there on Friday, I managed to get my whole agenda (which admittedly was really small) for the entire weekend out-of-the-way, but then again, I wasn’t paying for a hotel room as many of the artists were. A small thing such as having to pay for a hotel room for one less night may not make or break an artist’s weekend, but it sure as hell can give them a boost. I hope they consider a drop to 2 days to alleviate some of the down time. And it would aid in some of the other issues too, which I will point out when I come to them.

The Floorplan

The Monroeville Convention Center, which hosts the show, is split up into the bigger show floor and a smaller side room that has space, but leads to the conventions’ panel rooms. The main room is the home to vendors, guests of the con and the small press booths. The smaller side room is the home of artist alley tables and some of the smaller media guests. Just by reading this I’m sure that you can see the first of the issues with this set up: foot traffic, other than moving into the room to get to the panel rooms (and honestly, you don’t need to even get anywhere near the artist alley tables to get to the panel rooms), there is no reason for some people to even go into the other smaller room. If they were to place some of the larger names, this year for example Jim Steranko and Jim Balent, in the smaller room, there would have so much more foot traffic and so many more people would get eyes on the artists’ products. This could have been done easily too, as half of the smaller room was cordoned off. The other issue was a much bigger room: the lay out in the artist alley room was not the same as in the program. The tables were not in the same place, things had been moved around so even if people in artist alley did have people coming to see them, the visitors would have been confused and lost. The table positioning is a very minor thing, but it still stood out to me.

The Website

Check out http://www.pittsburghcomicon.com; it’s a jumbled, hard to navigate mess. The fix is simple; make it easier to navigate and find information.

Programming/Panels

Overall the panels and programming at the show felt lackluster. They felt like an afterthought. Bear in mind, this show features my favorite series of panels I’ve seen at any show: the Charity Quick Sketch. It’s such a fun, liberating idea that involves people getting lots of cool art and sketches and making lots of money for charity. However the quick sketch is the undoubted highlight. This year the programming was questionable.

First of all, in a year where the show (and it has been this way for the last few years) is crawling with Doctor Who fans, be it the vast amount of t-shirts, all of the cosplayers (seriously there were like, TONS of them), all of the art and the like being bought; in a year where not only is there Daphne Ashbrook (the only on screen companion for the 8th Doctor) but Jeremy Bulloch (who is best known as Boba Fett, has appeared as two different characters in three episodes with the First Doctor and one four-episode serial with the 3rd), and in a year that is the Doctor’s 50th anniversary, in a year with all of that…how was there no Who specific panel? Yes, Ms. Ashbrook had her own panel, but how was there no “50 years of the Doctor” panel? I have run five such panels this year at different kinds of shows, and all of them have been unerringly popular. Are you genuinely telling me they could find no-one to chair a Doctor Who panel?

Second, while I am a massive fan of Joss Whedon’s work, how do you have 2 hours of programming dedicated on Sunday to Doctor Horrible? Not to mention an hour-long panel on “Let’s get this man to name his space ship Serentiy,” how is there no “Let’s brainstorm and talk about Agents of SHIELD” panel, or if we have to stick to the Firefly universe, given who was running the panels (the Pitt arm of Can’t stop the Serenity) how about a panel about getting people prepared for the Dark Horse comic series? Again I love Whedon’s work, it just could have been presented better.

Third, as much as I love my good and dear friend Jim Dietz of the Legion of Dudes podcast, and as much as I admire that he stepped up to take the helm of the trivia contest when Comic Geek Speak stepped down, The 12-1pm timeslot on a Saturday afternoon is PRIMETIME when it comes to paneling, and the trivia contest is not exactly prime time material. It drew perhaps 15 people. Then again, this could well be fixed if there were more people involved, but in order for more people to be involved, the contest would need more prize support and aid from the con itself to make it worth winning.

And finally, technical issues. And I’m not talking about lights blowing or wardrobe malfunctions. I’m talking about the fact that there isn’t even someone checking the panel rooms at the beginning of each panel to make sure microphones are working, or hell, that microphones are even present. When the main panel room is big enough for 150ish people, the people speaking on stage need a mic to reach the back row. If they don’t have it, the panel is going to be affected badly.

Overall the programming just needs to be tightened up; run fewer panel rooms (and if the show were to drop to 2 days, there would be more competition for panel spots), have panels that are more appealing to a wider audience, and give better support to the panels that exist. The exclusives booth is right outside the main panel room; there should be someone available to run in there at the top of each hour.

The Convention Program

There were a few small issues other than that, but the final major issue I really wanted to talk about was the program book itself. Before we go any further please take a look at the wraparound cover for the booklet.

The cover was produced by Jim Balent (one of the reasons I mentioned he would have driven foot traffic into the other room), Jim heavily used cosplayers for the models for the image. Now, when I first looked at the image the first thing that struck me was, well, boobs. Not because I’m a man, but because they take up like most of the paper in the wrap around cover. Seriously there are a LOT of boobs. And I like boobs as much as the next man, but, well, this show has a “Kids Day,” and this is the program book that families will be getting? Next let’s talk about the fact that even though apparently all of the females in the image are based on different cosplayers (though both batgirl and catwoman are based on the same person) THEY ALL LOOK THE SAME. And they all have that self-same look like someone is violating them with a pool ball. Especially Zatana and Donna Troy, who look like Lady Gaga on a bad acid trip while trying to fight crime. Their eyes are spaced-out and thier faces, lifeless. Speaking of eyes, every single person in that image has blue eyes. ALL OF THEM (apart from Batman, whose eyes are in shadow and Green Lantern who has his eyes covered in a green, glowy mask thing). There’s a creepy, children of the corn thing going on.

Advertising

There was little to none done. I know people who I met at the show that were massive comic fans, and they had no idea the show was going on. Unless you knew of the show, or were randomly driving around Monroeville, it just didn’t seem to be out there. Anywhere. This can really make or break a show.

All of the above being said

Most of my friends, artists and attendees alike, had a lot of fun. And I did too. It’s a weird thing though; there were moments of the brightest entertainment, such as Caroll Spinney’s panel (Caroll is the voice of Oscar the Grouch and Big Bird on Sesame Street, and has been for 40+ years), and moments of complete WTF-titude, like those mentioned above.

The show is fun. The people, the fans, the artists, even the staff make it a fun time, but it could be so much more with a few changes, tightening of the screws, and a re-evaluations here and there. So please, do not take from this column that the Pittsburgh Comicon is a bad show. It just needs a tune-up.

Thank you all for reading, and please let us know if you want to read more of my stuff by letting the Guest Column Host know.

And Remember -

Be Excellent to each other…

A weekend of adventure, of books, Teddy Bears, Monsters and Comics at the Baltimore Book Festival

Tristan the Teddy Bear encounters the Creature from the Black Lagoon at the Baltimore Book Festival.

Last weekend Tristan and I had an adventure at the Baltimore Book Festival in the new addition to this celebration of the written word in the Charm City Comics Pavilion hosted by Third Eye Comics and Th3rd World Studios. I wasn’t too sure what to expect as last years adventure at the BBF didn’t go too well for me, this year though was completely different, I had a total blast and my kids came along with me to see what Tristan and I get up too – highlights after the jump.
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Poppin a Captain Morgan at the Baltimore Comic Festival at the Teddy Bear Tales Table.

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First off two more Tristan Cuddly Defender Bears have been sold!!! Which is totally awesome that the Cuddly Defenders are starting to be noticed at the shows, this time a Tristan Teddy Bear and a Teddy Bear Pocket Companion. It makes all the work I put into these with Dot from Dotsbear.com worth while.

Other fun highlights, was my son trying to sell one of my Deadpool card to random people on a bet, and then finally selling it. I think he only creeped out and scared a dozen away with his direct approach you randomly on the street marketing. And my Daughter sold a book through the power of large blue puppy dog eyes… If I could harness that power I could rule the world! It was great to have them with me for the entire weekend and for them to see how hard I am working to make my dream happen.

I sold an original art piece, another one of my Cuddly Sketches, this time the Tenth Doctor played by David Tennant as a Teddy Bear; you can check out this piece in the Cuddly Sketches section under the art tab. I still feel odd when I sell something I’ve drawn, I guess it’s because I don’t see myself as an artist or feel my work rates that high. But… It made the Customer happy and that makes me feel good that my work can do that.

Plus I also had a 40 minute conversation with an aspiring writer about how I write and work around my procrastination impulses. I think the subject will make for a great blog and she left either inspired or very confused by how I write, the trick may be to just write, but it how you just write that makes the difference. More on that later this week.

What makes a good show great is your table buddies that are shoulder to shoulder with you, in your part of the world for the show. This time in the trenches I was joined by Scott from Time for hugs, who has an amazing little webcomic about the Grims, the ones that aren’t as famous as the Grim Reaper, go check it out. Scott is a funny guy and is finding his feet pretty fast with a genuine unique book. Standing on my other shoulder was Michael Bracco of Spaghetti Kiss fame, this was the first time I’ve bumped into Michael even though he goes to almost all the same shows as me. I love the art style of his books and he was busy all weekend, great guy.

Of course Mr HSQ Andre Campbell was just a little further up from me, great guy who puts up with a lot of ribbing from me, and I have total respect for his work, his books and his ethic. If you ever see Heritage Comics at an event check out his books it will be worth it believe me!

Right I think that is it… Books were sold, slowly the word about Tristan the Teddy Bear is getting out,  my Cuddly Sketch Prints proved again to be popular and I learned a few more lessons on how to present and pitch my work. Next even is the Southern Maryland Comic con… See you there!

Oh, before I go… Keep an eye on the Enoch Pratt Library Flickr feed, you might see a British Guy in a Kilt hold a very large library card, and a Teddy Bear.

New arrival from Dotsbears.com meet Lionel the Teddy Bear a possible Cuddly Defender prototype for Archer

Had this little fluffy fella waiting for me at home after work. Dot from Dotsbears.com the lady who made the Tristan Defender Teddy Bear and rest of the Cuddly Defenders as fluffy, furry toys has been working on a new Teddy Bear face and she was kind enough to send me a sample. We’ve named this Teddy bear Lionel, and I think I might use this as the model for the Archer Cuddly Defender Bear, what do you think?


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This weekend pick up a copy of A Teddy Bear Tale at the Baltimore Book Fest Charm City Comic Book Pavilion

Are you going to be in Baltimore this weekend? Then you should checkout the Baltimore Book Fest over in Mount Vernon, this Saturday and Sunday I will be set up in the Charm City Comic Book Pavilion. I hope you take time to come visit me and the other Indie Creators gathered there.  I will be bringing along copies of A Teddy Bear Tale I & II, The Tether Saga Books, The Wonder Tales and Fabula Zero. Along with the Cuddly Sketch Cards, Original art and prints.

This is the first time the Baltimore Book Fest has tipped its hat towards comic books and creators in this fashion, please come along and help the Charm City Comic Book Pavilion a great success and lynchpin of this annual event. To find out more about the Baltimore Book Festival please click here.

Up in the Air – A Whimsical Teddy Bear Tale Concept Illustration to fuel the creative process

Up in the Air; A Teddy Bear Tale Concept Illustration by Nick Davis

If you’ve been following me on Twitter you know I have spent the day working on a fun whimsical concept illustration using the Teddy Bear Tale characters. The illustration which I have called Up in the Air features Tristan, Wilma and Archer floating along with the aid of balloons. I often work on a concept illustration to help fuel the creative writing process and quite often what appears on the drawing board makes it way into a story.

In this case Up in the Air was a creative fuel moment and a chance for me to try out my new Derwent Inktense pencils; they work like watercolor pencils, and allow me to layer colors to make for smooth blending and shading. The texture is a little different and the result is the colors are more vibrant than watercolor. You can view the creative stages below.

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