REJECTION! The "Burls & Gnarls" Tale

 

Page one - Would you read more?

I am making stuff again, specifically comix stories and have been trying to get them published, but that is easier said than done.  My first story of this new era is an eight page tale  called "Burls & Gnarls" I created in January of this year and it's about a guy haunted by weird trees he sees along the icy winter streets of Riga, Latvia. It's an old school black and white, ink on bristol board effort built on top of a beat-like poem of existentialist angst with a touch of defiance. Here's the first page as a taste. (I'm not going to put the whole thing online as I have other plans for it)

After reading this first bit, would you feel compelled to turn the page and read more? Well, I submitted it to three different comix anthology publications and it was rejected each time, so I guess for some people, the answer is "No thanks". It never feels great to not have your work included, but this isn't my first time in the barrel, so I cried in exactly one beer and shared the bad news with my inner circle who did what good friends do and they jumped in outrage and shock, shaking their heads in disbelief that my offering was turned away. It is not a fair or just world generally, so it's necessary to have thick skin and supportive allies to manage such times. Having been on the other end of the stick, I understand that not everything can be included and some things have to hit the floor. It is part of the process. It's never easy putting together a creative project made from many contributions. The important thing for me is putting the work out there. Once the piece is submitted, I have won because I'm participating in the creative community. I take solace knowing that Frank Herbert's "DUNE" was rejected by twenty publishers before it found a home. (side note - I am not comparing my work to that masterpiece). The lesson learned is you do your best, work to your own highest standard and then keep submitting it until it lands in front of the right eyeballs. Don't give up. 

Another taste - page four

So, what will become of "Burls & Gnarls"? I've decided to use it as motivation to publish issue #8 of RELUCTANT SADIST, picking up where I left in 1989, a mere thirty-four years later. My goal is to lash together a 16 or 24 page digest-size comix by the end of 2023. Watch this space!

So that is final rejection lesson to be learn and that is, if you no else will publish your work, DIY baby.

Keep smiling,

OK HW

Padded Cell Blues

Ever have one of those days, weeks, months, years when you just want to escape? Oddly enough, I've been feeling that way more and more these days, and I'm sure there are a few people who can relate. This one page bit I did for the back cover of RELUCTANT SADIST #7 struck a chord with me during these endless COVID-19 lockdown days. I don't know if this guy went to a better place, probably not, I can't think of anyone who lives in their head that is happy, but at least he escaped. I like the technique of a series of "photos" laid out to a tell a story; evidence of something that might actually have happened, though these days photos and video are evidence of nothing anymore as everything is so easy to fake. This idea also was ripe for animation and it's lived for too long in the back of my mind (a vast warehouse space not unlike the one where the Ark of the Covenant was stored) with hundreds, maybe thousands of other ideas gathering dust and classic Hollywood cobwebs, patiently still hoping that I might bring them to life. I've always loved getting ideas; that "a-ha moment" when the light comes on and I feel in touch with some new and different that the world may never have seen before. I'm good at recording my ideas, but not so good on the follow-thru of bringing them to the world. Some people see ideas as spirits, muses that choose a host, a portal to reach into this world, so those ideas should be nurtured and every effort made to give them expression. Unfortunately, my critic (working overtime right now to persuade me to delete this post and go on sleepwalking through another day) often sabotages any enthusiasm for the idea before I can even make a note or thumbnail sketch. Why is that? No matter, best to just put that critic in the corner, humor it, "Yes, yes, you are right. It is all shit and what is the point?" and carry-on anyway. Which is what I did when I decided the time was well past taking a run at making an animation from "Padded Cell Blues No. 2" (Yes, there is a number one, but that's a tale for another time.) As a first step in the process, I decided to digitally cut-out the individual "photos" and animate them as a previsualization for planning the final animation. I'm not sure which animation method (hand drawn cartoon, claymation, etc) that I will render the final piece in, but this was a good start to think about what the final piece might look like. I used the open source photo editor GIMP to create the animation (I am not a fan of Adobe's move to a subscription-based service), so if you are looking for a "free" (they do accept donations, and yes, I did) image creation and photo manipulation tool, check it out. I exported this as an animated GIF and then converted that into an MP4. Here is the final result. Note: this is a silent film, but the final will indeed have sound.

Never give-up on your ideas or dreams. Keep fighting!

Zahdah,

OK HW

A Little Surreal Holiday Visit from Santa Dali

Happy holidays! I hope you are having better luck at getting into the spirit this year than I am. With the retail stores putting up decorations in early October and the non-stop commercials trying to brow beat us into shopping now! I was burned out before the Thanksgiving turkey was cut. Bah!

So in an effort to find some Xmas spirit, I was looking back over this three page bit I did for Dan Taylor's mini comic, "Pork Belly" called "Santa Dali". I connected with Dan through the Poopsheet Foundation, answering a forum board "submission call" notice. It had been a long while since I had done any comix work, so it felt good to throw some ink down again. Check it out;

Have a Merry Ho-Ho!

OK HW

Hey You Kids, Don't Put Your Lips On It...

In an old skit on Saturday Night Live, Steve Martin and Bill Murray stared into the camera and asked, "WHAT THE HELL IS THAT?" So what's the connection with RS you ask? Recently I was chatting with a new friend on Twitter and she asked me what my book was about. That stopped me cold. What the hell is, was RS about? I've been digging back through the journals trying to reassemble my thinking from that time (sometimes an exercise in terror and humiliation. Jesus, the 80s was a scary time in many ways), so I have a fair handle on why I was doing the comix (the usual, an odyssey of spiritual growth and a cry for attention), but what was it about? There were themes of friendship, alienation, suicidal tendencies, angst, surrealism, attempts at humor, confusion and drinking. I didn't have a conscious agenda, rather I went wherever my damaged little muse would take me, usually somewhere dodgy with lots of broken glass and rusty nails laying around. When you finally did turn the corner and saw the thing, you damn well didn't want to put your lips on it.

OK HW

Image for December 3, 2011 - How These Things Get Done...

I have mentioned on here from time-to-time about a project I am working on to collect my old underground comic from the late 1980s called "Reluctant Sadist". Considering the glacial pace that I have been moving on this project, I should just call it "RELUCTANT" and turn it into a performance art piece. I was going great guns gathering materials and scanning all the art work and contacting folks from the past securing permissions to use their words and images and then I came to the hard part of the project; ACTUALLY WRITING THE DAMN THING. Through the years, I have grown lazy in my creative work habits and throw on top of that distractions like the internets and the sad result is not much to show. Part of my problem too is I haven't been able sustain the effort. Sure, I have been able to achieve little victories here and there, but then I'll have a gap of months with no work and I lose the flavor of the thing. Today, I decided to commit to half an hour a day to the project, even if it's just research or reading, I need to keep my ass in the chair with the materials in front of me for that thirty minutes. Now, that doesn't sound like a lot of time, but you'd be surprised at how much can be accomplished in those thirty minutes. I also find that I often work well beyond that period, as I did today, because the hardest part for me is often just getting started. Here's my work table. I need to spread out. I also have three different notebooks open for other notes because I usually get ideas for other projects; short movies, comix stories, this year's Xmas card, etc; and I make sure to capture them all.  I also took this photo to document how I work, as I enjoy seeing other people's work and studio spaces. What's your workspace look like?

OK HW

Note: This first appeared on my other blog, Weaverwerx on December 3, 2011.