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?

Cobalt 60

Been on a kick lately of doing fan art. Here's my take on Vaughn and Mark Bodé's Cobalt 60.

A Bit of Bodé

Just some pics of Vaughn Bodé stuff I picked up recently. I have most of these comics in various collections, but I never owned the originals.

Junkwaffel #1, 1971

The Man, 1972

Miami Mice (Mark Bodé), 1985

The Big Book of Bodé Tattoos

 My wife got me this for the ole birthday and I love it.

This is a fat ass 400 page hardback of Mark Bodé's tattoo flash art. So you're gonna see a lot of Da Bodé babes, Cheech Wizard, lizards, as well a lot of more typical tattoo art such as butterflies and skulls.

If you like Bodé, you'll fucking love this.

So, for personal context, a lot of people compare my art to Bodé. I am a huge fan. But honestly I didn't discover Vaughn or Mark's work until I was 30 years old. And yes, you can certainly see a shift in how I draw before this and after it. I turned 30 in 2000 and it was around 2002-2003 that my cartoon art style really started to gel. Before that I was a stiffer, more boring artist, I believe. Hell, I'm not even sure how I drew shit in the 90s.

But let's peel it back a little more because Bodé's style had an impact on me BEFORE that time. How? Because Vaughn's work had already infiltrated pop culture, which infiltrated me. I watched Ralph Bakshi's Wizards when I was about 17. I watched Fire and Ice around that time, and Heavy Metal. I had issues of Heavy Metal. I owned Richard Corben comics. I was into Mike Ploog and Frank Frazetta. Vaughn Bodé is a large figure in that same lineage, though I wasn't able to land on him until a decade later. His influence was in me via Wizards, which of course was immensely influenced by Bodé.

We artists don't like being compared to other artists too closely. It feels weird. I don't "draw like Vaughn Bodé", I draw like J.V. West. And J.V. West was inspired by Bodé, Frazetta, Corben, and Willingham like a bomb.

Today when people say my work reminds them of Vaughn Bodé I am humbled. I can't think of a better compliment, to be honest.