David Hopkins's Blog, page 8
July 21, 2009
07.21.09 - THE SOUND OF ONE KNIFE STABBING
Today, I was scripting the final segment of PRINCESSES VS. UNICORNS. (Speaking of which, I got some page layouts and a character design from Alison Acton. The art looks awesome!) I'm now on page 119 of HOW TO LOSE BIG. According to my writing program, there are 16,783 words in the script. 5,190 of the words were in dialogue. Not bad. However, one word was eluding me: the sfx of a knife stabbing someone. It needed to sound gross. I'll admit my use of onomatopoeia is fairly boring. I use "blam" or
July 19, 2009
07.20.09 - IN MEMORY OF FRANK MCCOURT
Author Frank McCourt died yesterday of cancer (full report here). He was a public school teacher. He taught English and Creative Writing, just like me. McCourt wrote with such honesty. His stories made me laugh. More often, they made me cry. No one has pathos like Frank McCourt. It sounds silly if you've never read a great book before, but he was a friend. I projected myself into his stories. He was me. I was him.
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I've quoted him in my classroom. I've read excerpts from ANGELA'S ASHES every year
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I've quoted him in my classroom. I've read excerpts from ANGELA'S ASHES every year
07.19.09 - MY GUIDE TO A HAPPY CONVENTION EXPERIENCE
You've never been to a comic book convention before, but you're taking my advice (because I'm so darn persuasive) and making plans for Dallas Comic Con. Good for you! But now what? I have some helpful ideas on how you, the newbie, can enjoy a comic book convention.
BRING A CAMERA. There will be a few people in costume. (No, you don't need to dress up.) Admittedly, I'm not a huge fan of cosplay. It's amusing, but I feel like it creates a wrong image of the comic book industry. Watch any television
BRING A CAMERA. There will be a few people in costume. (No, you don't need to dress up.) Admittedly, I'm not a huge fan of cosplay. It's amusing, but I feel like it creates a wrong image of the comic book industry. Watch any television
July 18, 2009
07.18.09 - THE ARTIST FORMERLY KNOWN AS UNKNOWN
I'm happy to announce Alison Acton as the artist for PRINCESSES VS. UNICORNS.
Alison is a fellow contributor to PopGun Vol. 3. She wrote and illustrated the wonderful "Cave Pat and the Early Feminist Movement" on page 285, and illustrated The Faerie Path from TokyoPop. Alison is also the creator of the web comic Bear Nuts -- with such lovable characters as Nerd Bear, Prozac Bear, Evil Bear, Crack Bear, Tanked Bear, Gimpy Bear, and Gay Bear. You can see more art on her website dooomcat.com (three
Alison is a fellow contributor to PopGun Vol. 3. She wrote and illustrated the wonderful "Cave Pat and the Early Feminist Movement" on page 285, and illustrated The Faerie Path from TokyoPop. Alison is also the creator of the web comic Bear Nuts -- with such lovable characters as Nerd Bear, Prozac Bear, Evil Bear, Crack Bear, Tanked Bear, Gimpy Bear, and Gay Bear. You can see more art on her website dooomcat.com (three
July 15, 2009
07.16.09 - IT'S WORTH MARKING YOUR CALENDAR
To all people who live within driving distance of Dallas (which I estimate to be a 173 mile radius), there are some events you need to attend.
Event #1. This Saturday, The Happy Bullets and Amo Joy are playing at the Amsterdam Bar. Favorite local band + another great band + favorite bar (that's not called "Lee Harvey's). Drive to 831 S. Exposition Ave.
Event #2. Friday, August 7th, Art Conspiracy's SEED at Sons of Hermann Hall. The money raised during the SEED event will be used to fund the operat
Event #1. This Saturday, The Happy Bullets and Amo Joy are playing at the Amsterdam Bar. Favorite local band + another great band + favorite bar (that's not called "Lee Harvey's). Drive to 831 S. Exposition Ave.
Event #2. Friday, August 7th, Art Conspiracy's SEED at Sons of Hermann Hall. The money raised during the SEED event will be used to fund the operat
July 13, 2009
07.14.09 - PINK BLOOD WITH SPARKLES
You know you want to read this comic. To be featured in HOW TO LOSE BIG...
Logo by Paul Milligan. We're currently searching for an artist. Just emailed somebody awesome (if you're reading this... hi!), hopefully, we'll have some good news to share soon.
PANEL 1. On Princess Bella. She's wearing a beautiful puffy dress with lace and beads, etc. The dress is torn and dirty. Bella's beautiful done-up hair is falling in places. She has bruises and dirt on her face. She's running, looking behind her.
Logo by Paul Milligan. We're currently searching for an artist. Just emailed somebody awesome (if you're reading this... hi!), hopefully, we'll have some good news to share soon.PANEL 1. On Princess Bella. She's wearing a beautiful puffy dress with lace and beads, etc. The dress is torn and dirty. Bella's beautiful done-up hair is falling in places. She has bruises and dirt on her face. She's running, looking behind her.
July 11, 2009
07.12.09 - ASTRONAUT DAD IS FINISHED
As Brent mentioned on his blog, he finished the art for ASTRONAUT DAD a few days ago. The entire story is done, all 160 pages -- making it my largest comic book project thus far.
It's also the one I've been working on the longest. ASTRONAUT DAD was the second comic book script I ever wrote. Initially, I wrote a five issue series called THE INSIGHT, which will forever remain hidden away. It was part of my learning curve and never meant for human consumption. (Best advice to a new writers: throw aw
It's also the one I've been working on the longest. ASTRONAUT DAD was the second comic book script I ever wrote. Initially, I wrote a five issue series called THE INSIGHT, which will forever remain hidden away. It was part of my learning curve and never meant for human consumption. (Best advice to a new writers: throw aw
07.11.09 - IT'S WORTH MENTIONING AGAIN
I received the proof copy of my KARMA INCORPORATED SCRIPT BOOK. It looks great. I made a few minor changes to the interior -- not anything you would notice. I pushed in a few margins here and there. Nit picky stuff, which I'm somewhat known for. I was mostly concerned about the cover. The image on the Lulu store was a little grainy, but it printed very well. Also, the color looks perfect. See for yourself...
Thanks Paul for the cover design!
I ordered 25 copies for Dallas Comic Con. However, you c
Thanks Paul for the cover design!
I ordered 25 copies for Dallas Comic Con. However, you c
July 8, 2009
07.08.09 - THE MOST COMPLETE UPDATE ON HOW TO LOSE BIG
The script for HOW TO LOSE BIG is coming along. I finished chapter three yesterday and will start chapter four later tonight. This might be the best thing I've written, which is good -- considering it's the most recent thing I've written.
It's hard to judge from my point of view. ASTRONAUT DAD went through so many re-writes, and may be the closest I ever get to literary fiction (as opposed to popular or genre fiction). I felt most "at home" writing KARMA INCORPORATED. And EMILY EDISON was a lot
It's hard to judge from my point of view. ASTRONAUT DAD went through so many re-writes, and may be the closest I ever get to literary fiction (as opposed to popular or genre fiction). I felt most "at home" writing KARMA INCORPORATED. And EMILY EDISON was a lot
July 6, 2009
07.06.09 - AND WE'RE BACK
Kennedy, April, and I came home from our trip. We returned to a broken A/C unit. It was 11 PM and inside the house it was 91 degrees. Outside? Much cooler. Rough night with little sleep, but the fine folks at Douglass Heat and Air are working on it right now.
April's twitter describes it perfectly: "only asks for a peaceful re-entry into society. Is that too much to request?"
The trip itself was about as perfect as you could hope for. We went to my cousin's wedding. April and I took a road trip up
April's twitter describes it perfectly: "only asks for a peaceful re-entry into society. Is that too much to request?"
The trip itself was about as perfect as you could hope for. We went to my cousin's wedding. April and I took a road trip up
