Artists I Like: Gilbert Hernandez

Like his brother Jamie, Gilbert Hernandez of Los. Bros Hernandez is an amazing comic book artist capable of delivering so much clarity and so much feeling in so few lines.

In truth, I was exposed to Gilbert's work more than Jaime's back in the day because as a sex-comics enthusiast in my early 20s I spotted Birdland and snatched it right up. Only later did I start checking out Love & Rockets.

Gilbert's work is fascinating to me because it seems to ride a line that I cherish. It is revered and respected as part of the Los. Bros. Hernandez oeuvre, which left a giant imprint on comics history. But it is happily and frequently dirty as fuck. Who else can draw women with huge boobs and still be an icon across generations?

Oh you sly devil, you. I see what you did there.

 

Ink Talk

Quick ink tip if you didn't know: If you are using a brush pen or fountain pen (anything that has an auto-feed system), you want to avoid pigmented inks such as classic India ink or sumi. They will gunk up your works. Instead, go for a dye-based ink specifically for fountain pens. Or use one of the pen-friendly pigmented inks such as Sailor Kiwaguro.

My array of inks right now is still basically the same as it was a year ago. I have Sailor Kiwaguro black, Thea Sketch Ink, and Noodler's Black ink. All of these are very good with brush pens, which is why I have them. They are also good for fountain pens.

But none of them are perfect. Here's my complaints about each of them.

I'll start with the lightest complaint. The Thea is just too dark. I was hoping for a very light gray ink that I could use over blacks and build up some tone. But this goes on just a bit too dark from start. Not a problem with the ink, in this case, I just chose one that wasn't exactly what I wanted.

Now, another thing with the Thea is that I started to notice more and more how blue it was. Then my brush pen went dry and I was refilling and I noticed the bottom of the jar had build up. I shook the jar, refilled, and suddenly the ink was very gray again. So there's some settling of the ink that causes it to separate into a more blue tint. I have very little experience with non-black inks, so maybe this is normal. I don't know.

Regarding darkness, I realize most folks buy these inks for writing and they want something dark enough to actually show up and be legible. But I want to draw with them. So I'll fish around for a lighter gray, I suppose. The other option is diluting some of this with water to thin it, but that isn't the greatest solution since it makes the ink a little too watery and thin.

Sailor Kiwaguro is probably my favorite ink right now. But my complaint with it is that is is inconsistently black. I noticed it more when I used it in a fountain pen. Whereas the Noodler's flows wet and dark black from the pen, the Sailor ink is spotty and gray at times. But it works wonderfully well in a brush pen.

Also, Sailor dries quickly and seems to do well with other media going on top of it.

Now... Noodler's is a real heartbreaker. It goes on very black and wet, which is quite fantastic for the fountain pen. It's a hell of a good sketching ink. Perfect flow.

But the stuff takes forever to dry. Even after 24 hours it can still smudge. And... worst of all... if you try to erase pencils under the ink, you will lift ink off the paper. A lot of it. See pic for example.

This ink does seem to be absolutely perfect for sketching and writing. It's very black. But I never use the stuff if I'm going to be erasing or using some other media on top of it, such as markers.

Noodlers. Left is no erase, right is erase after 24 hrs. No good!

I also have Dr. PH Martin's Black Star, which is waterproof India ink. It's pretty good stuff, possibly better than classic Speedball. But I tend to shy away from normal pigmented ink (like India) because it's not as friendly with brush pens and fountain pens. The Sailor ink I use is also pigmented, but I guess the particles are much tinier and so it doesn't clog up the works.

Ink... another fascinating topic worthy of a deep dive.

Sexy bottle.

Artists I Like: Larry Todd

This week's Artist I Like is Larry Todd, one of the lesser-celebrated cartoonists of the 60s and 70s underground comix movement. He was a New York guy who was pals with Vaughn Bodé and the two collaborated on science fiction and comic covers that are absolutely amazing.

I confess I haven't read many Todd comics. He's best know for Dr. Atomic, which seems to be in the post smokin' wheelhouse of the comix movement. All those guys liked to do was draw drug using hippies and naked ladies.

I don't know how to explain my attraction to this style. But Bodé and Todd both simply charm the socks right off of me. There's a cartoon vibe to them both, mixed with a fantastical aesthetic and it's just perfect.

Larry Todd died less than a year ago in Sept 2024. And that makes me very sad. The idea that I could *possibly* have found a way to contact him and I didn't... well, honestly, that's just how I roll. I never reach out to "famous" artists I admire because I assume they don't want to talk to a schmuck like me. Anyway, RIP Larry Todd.

Todd + Bodé

This image inspired my whole ZSF idea, honestly.

This is my fave.

 

ROC Talk

I'm in a comics mood.

I was in a comics mood this time last year and I knocked out a 25 pager with Hellion Cross. I printed 50 copies of that book with an egregious error on the center spread... I had drawn the center pages without considering the correct margins. I had to manipulate the positions of captions to make it work and in doing so I duplicated one caption and deleted another. No idea how.

Fast forward to today... I'm finally going to launch ROC: Random Order Comics... a "regular" comic book title I where I can just stuff all my comics work. When I get something finished, I can just add it to the next issue. When I hit the 28-32 page count, I can do a cover and pull the trigger on it.

I'm not worrying about what kind of content goes in each issue or how I'm going to publish them. They are standard American comic book format and I'm keeping it Rated R or under. I'll probably stick to black and white for now. Those are my only rules. There may be fantasy comics, goofy strips about politics or memories, or whatever I feel like drawing.

Here's a few pages from the first issue. I'll post more about it later. This issue is complete other than a cover.

Artists I Like: Donna Barr

I know very little about the iconic 80s/90s comics artist Donna Barr. I know she is famous for The Desert Peach comics, which is a series about the youngest brother of the German WWII general Rommel. But don't be discouraged... Barr creates a gay character charged with commanding misfits and, as far as I can tell, does his best to undermine the evils of the Holocaust.

I have not read it, so I can't comment further. But according to Wiki, she simply took the name of Rommel's brother who died in infancy and imagined The Desert Peach into existence. A sort of "what if" kind of treatment. Very unique and original idea, if you ask me.

Oh, she also illustrated Pauli Kidd's Lace & Steel roleplaying game. And she created Stinz, a comic about a centaur society.

Barr is a creator I need to look into a lot more.

 

Hypergraphoid

Drew this silly comic this past week. Made a little mini of it. I have a bunch of little minis so maybe I'll eventually put a batch up for sale if you wanna have copies. Zines!

Now enjoy the intense cartooning. Or go read it on my website.

 

Artists I Like: Daniel Strickland

Artists I Like.... Daniel Strickland! I encountered his work on Insta and fell in love. He draws fat girls a lot, and I appreciate that. It's a morally good thing.

This post might be more comfortable over on my Blood Red blog... and I might do a mirror version featuring more of his art over there. But hell's bells, y'all. If you don't know my proclivities by now you ain't never gonna learn. I'm a package deal.

Anyway... Daniel Strickland seems to work mostly in ink with digital color. His website says he's a professional comic book artist. Looks like he also makes adult coloring books*.

I love his delicate lines. Almost an animation style. Of course his forms are fabulous as well, capturing the volume of a body in an elegant way. This is my kind of thing. So check him out.

*"Adult" coloring books sounds dirty, right? But it just means coloring books created for grown ups, not kids. So it can be anything from hot rods to flowers.

 

Random or Focused?

For quite some time I feel like I've been in a "slump". Typically, for the past few years more than ever, I draw a lot, sketching something almost every day. Usually multiple somethings. But maybe a month ago I slowed down and was immersed in RPG thought. I went a full week without touching a pencil.

The past few days or maybe since last weekend the trend has shifted. I'm drawing a lot more, starting to feel like my old self.

This is good. But it also means I need to address one of my biggest hangups: Lack of focus.

Namely... is lack of focus a problem or not? It feels like one, because I badly want to finish projects. But at the same time I'm happiest just doing something - anything - creative. So if I'm drawing my ass off all weekend and none of the drawings are "for a project", is that really a problem?

Something for me to ponder.

Here's some recent work.

Vaughn Bode or Weird Al?