Amber Love 30-APR-2012 Today’s episode of VODKA O’CLOCK features comic book and freelance artist THOMAS BOATWRIGHT who you may know from his work on my story SLIM & POSH as well as ZEKE DEADWOOD. If you’re a lover of westerns, ghosts, paranormal subjects, and even superheroes, Tom’s artwork will have something that appeals to you.
Download Episode 1208 at iTunes or listen here.
Tom and I talk extensively about his current project for a pirate trading card game, HAUNTED TREASURE, in which he has wonderfully eerie artwork submitted to the game maker already. The project is almost complete and announcements for distribution will be coming. There’s a giant squid. ‘Nuff said! Ok, not enough — there’s sharks too!
“In North Carolina you hear about things like Blackbeard was here!” ~TB
CEMETERY BLUES will be coming out free as a web comic but I still recommend getting your hands on the trade paperback. Coming up later this year is HALLOWEEN LEGION coming out through Sequential Pulp’s imprint of Dark Horse Comics.
The art process! Yes, we get into everything from pencils, digital practice, salesmanship, and working with writers. He gives tips on communicating with a writer to make the best suggestions for panel art and layout. There are things to consider in a digital world that haven’t been translating well from the styles of paper comics. Plus, tips on how to give ample consideration to your letterer.
As an artist, Tom feels he’s adaptable to other styles but his unique whimsical cartoon style gives his original pieces a distinction. It’s more important to get your personal creative message out there even if you can’t draw well.
“I’d like to think nine times out of ten you can tell what emotion they have,” Boatwright said about his characters.
Something that tells a lot about an artist and how he feels about his career when he says he’d still go into art as a profession even if he could go back in time and give his younger self advice. There are key skills to have beside being a hard working artist. You have to be able to file your own taxes and talk to strangers about how good your art is even when you lack confidence and think you suck. Battling through depression and then finding the support of someone in your life has been a journey that Tom has been on but I’m sure he’s not alone in those life lessons.
Tom talked about his choices in artistic license about when it’s okay to stray from historically accurate elements. He has tried to keep true at a particular level such as giving pirates swords and black powder guns unlike the new PIRATES movie where they have cell phones. His swords are likely to be an original design rather than a researching the exact type of blade but at least it will be a sword.
“I grew up watching cartoons and I never could tell the difference of when a guy had the wrong sword at the wrong time as long as it looked fun and looked neat.” ~TB
Tom is offering up a limited edition ZEKE DEADWOOD print to raise money towards his medical expenses. Both of us share our experiences in reaching out to the comics community at large for veterinary bills for our own pets and promoting the crowd funding efforts of others. You can also see him in North Carolina for Free Comic Book Day.
LINKS:
* Thomas on DeviantArt
* In His Likeness by Jamie Hatton
Founder and Editor-in-Chief of AmberUnmasked.com and Vodka O'Clock Podcast. Author of The Farrah Wethers Mysteries, comic book short stories, prose, and non-fiction. Cosplayer and figure model.