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By Timothy Piotrowski, March 7, 2010 8:43 pm

I have just uploaded the PDF files for Kool Aid Gets Fired to the printer. Included in it is a short story called Son of Kool Aid. It’s a 9 page story, done like a children book, each page having a full page color illustration to go with the text. The image to the left is the fake book cover I came up with to separate the two stories.

I added this, since this is my first book I’ve done that I’m sending to a professional printer, rather then printing it off myself. I felt that I should do something special for that, to mark this step forward in my work. Also, the printer said if I could up the page rate to 40, it would make it cheaper. So more pages, better per unit price, fin with me.

I had the idea for Son of Kool Aid when I was writing KAGF, and last year ran out of copies of it. So I began working on the story in full. I spent the last few days (7) doing all the illustrations. It was very intense, and wonderful. I would wake up, sit down, and get to work.

While I had written out the text many months ago, it wasn’t sold on every word that I had used, and the ideas for each page. And honestly I didn’t have the final page written or even what it would be. So I started with the pages I knew were right. As I worked, I kept thinking about the pages that weren’t quite right, and the final page.

I rewrote a couple of pages, and finally came up with the ending. This was how I worked for KAGF. I outlined the pages, then  write the page, then plan it out, then draw it. Generally I would be planning out the next few pages while working on the current page. Since I had a roadmap of where I needed to end up, this method worked.

I find that I can have some really good inspirations when working under a deadline. I also think these inspirations happen because my mind is so active during this time.

The book arrives around April 2nd, a week before MoCCA, the following weekend. The book will be available to order here, with payments acceptable via paypal, or checks send to me. The price will be $5.oo  plus shipping and will come signed and a drawing of Kool Aid (Not for retail orders, unless asked).

A special thanks and love to the following people, Tim Howard, Tim Fish, Monica Gallagher and Marc Scheff.

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By Timothy Piotrowski, March 1, 2010 7:07 am

“Inspiration is for amateurs. The rest of us just show up and get to work.”

- Chuck Close

Someone quoted that this weekend, I had never heard it before, but it’s something I believe in, and have for years. It’s not good enough to just sit around waiting for a good idea. In fact, I tend to have more inspirations when I am doing something, over doing nothing. Being active makes the brain active, which causes ideas. Just like anything in this world, use it or loose it.

Inspiration can come in many forms. Secret confession, I watch Project Runway. Not for the fashion so much, but because I like Tim Gunn. I see him as a very positive, problem solving, encouraging person, who is genuine. He goes with his gut feelings, but channels that into thoughtful questions and is very open to a wide range of ideas.

So, I enjoy watching someone like that, because I work towards being like that in who I am.

I find inspiration in Sarah Palin, in how not to be as a person. She is a horrible person, because she is a hypocrite. She talks about how society needs a strong roll model and leadership. And yet every time someone says some thing insulting or degrading about her, what comes back is on the same level, insulting and degrading.

In short, she has never shown me that she can rise above, and be better. Which, to me takes her lower then the person who originally insulted her. Because she knows she’s doing it, and goes ahead and acts that way on purpose. Maybe not, which is sad, because that means she has no self awareness.

I’m only mentioning these public figures as examples of how inspiration can come from anywhere. Currently I’m working on 10 full page color illustrations for Son of Kool Aid, need to be done by March 9th. I’m doing good on getting them done.

There are lots of things motivating me, but one thing in particular, are people that always complain about not being able to ever get work done. But they never just sit down and do it. There is always something in the way. Tired from work, which I would accept, if they were lumberjacks. They have boring jobs, that dull their minds. I’ve been there.

I write these blog entries for myself, really. Why? To remain positive. To motivate myself to looking at things in a forward way. There is no room in these entries for complaining and bitching. I may talk about a bad experience, but it would be about how I learned from it. There isn’t any reason to come here and vent.

As I work on these illustrations, I find inspiration comes naturally. But it’s also because my mind is very active. It’s like working out. Keep doing it, and you will see results.

So don’t wait till you have the inspiration to do something. Do something and the inspiration will come. Not only that, your skills to execute the inspiration will be sharp, making it easier.

Here are some sections of the illustrations I’m working on. Enjoy.

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By Timothy Piotrowski, February 16, 2010 2:51 pm

Picasso was in a park when a women approached him and asked him to draw her portrait.

Picasso agrees and quickly sketches her.

After handing the sketch to her, she is pleased with the likeness and asked how much she owed to him.

Picasso replied, $5,000.

The women screamed, “But it only took you five minutes!”

“No madam, it took me all my life.” Replied Picasso.

Recently my idea of what it means to be an artist/writer/dancer/actor/musician has changed. To be an artist/writer/dancer/actor/musician you must always practice your passion. Only the rare prodigy comes forth as a fully functional artist. The rest of us talented folk have to sharpen our skills. For me being a cartoonist means drawing all the time, and not just comics. Drawing sharpens my eye and hand. Much how you learned to write your letters, drawing them over and over, till now it’s so built into you, you don’t even realize it.

I’ve mentioned that I attend a weekly figure drawing session. (if you live in or near Brooklyn, I suggest checking it out.) It’s been about a year, and I’ve definitely noticed improvements in my figure drawing. Other benefits I’ve seen is I’m able to sketch out a layout or a thumbnail for an illustration idea quicker and cleaner. That kind of benefits comes over time, and is some what passive, it just happens.

I’m in the middle of a project (which I got with the help of my good friend, Marc, an amazing artist), working on the pencils. I’ve got a lot of reference material on the human figure, which I refer to, when doing action poses. But one panel, I really didn’t need to refer to anything, because I knew how the figure was going to look. It was a straight forward shot of the character busting out of the ropes holding him. I knew how the shoulders connected into the pecs, where the line between them and the biceps would be, how the arm would connect to the chest.

I’ve drawn similar poses in the course of the drawing session. What I had been practicing, I was putting into action, in an active way. It was very clear that what I was doing in the drawing sessions was having a direct impact on what I was doing, both passively and actively. It was pretty cool to have a moment where I could see both happening.

Some one once asked me, “Does anyone ever get good enough to not have to use references?” I seriously doubt it, save for the prodigy mentioned earlier, or people who draw the same thing over and over. And even then, all that happens is that you probably rely less and less on reference material for what you know. But if you have to draw something such as Washington Square Park, wouldn’t you look at a picture?

Also, this project has been a good one for re-evaluating my composition. Take the above image again. That is not how I originally drew the inset panel. This is how I drew it:

How boring. Very boring. The same idea is in both, that hasn’t changed, but how I executed the idea has changed. This in fact happened several times. One panel in particular, I redrew about 5 times, over the course of many hours. I had a lot of trouble finding a pose to reference* that I really liked. Eventually I found something that lead me to the final solution.

For me, being a cartoonist and illustrator doesn’t mean that I make money doing that. It means the way I think about it, the way I approach it. I need to always look for ways to expand my talents, what I know, and the information I can bring to each project. Being an illustrator/cartoonist is more then a full time job, since all the work I do to be a better illustrator isn’t done for direct pay, and comes on my own time, after the time spent on paying work.

*When I reference an image, for me that doesn’t mean copying it, but using it for a guide on how things line up on the body. Especially for hands and feet.

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By Timothy Piotrowski, January 29, 2010 9:06 am

Today, I’m officially having Kool Aid Gets Fired professionally printed. And I have time to add the short illustrated story about his bastard child I want to. Pushing the book up from 28 pages to 40. because of getting a lot of work lately, I was worried if I would have time include the new story. I felt that I should include something more for the official printing.

Here is color test of his son I did, as I was working out the look I wanted for the illustrations.

I’m very pleased at how this came out, for only spending a couple of hours on it. If you haven’t read Kool Aid Gets Fired, I’m not spoiling much. There’s plenty in the book to look forward.

The books should be in my hands by April 2nd, and will go for $5 each, which you will be able to order through here (Plus shipping), or if you come to one of the several conventions I’m going to, get it there. Of course, I will be posting more info as it comes along and gets closer.

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By Timothy Piotrowski, January 9, 2010 6:23 am

In the book, My So Called Freelance Life, by Michelle Goodman, I learned of the term PIE. Paid In Exposure, or one could take it to mean Paid In Experience if you want. It basically comes down to working for free, very little, or the prospect of money later on, if the project becomes successful. It was working for PIE, that lead to me getting work at Marvel.

I had been getting a lot of compliments about my colors in my own work. Another cartoonist and personal friend, Tim Fish asked if I would color a 5 page short story for his next book, Trust/Truth, and I was happy to do it for him. It came out great, and I did get some exposure for it. Tim told me he was pitching stories to Marvel and wanted me to color one of them. That fell through, but Marvel asked if he wanted to write a story for their next Nation X anthology, a Northstar story.

When Tim mentioned this, I asked him if I could color it, and he said he would ask the editor, who it turns out was someone that I had meet once before. The editor saw the work I did for Tim’s book, loved it and wanted me to do the coloring for his Northstar story.

That was some good PIE.

I had some bad PIE as well. I heard through the internet of a published comics author looking for a colorist for his next book. We talked, I was familiar with his past books, understood the terms of the work process, which was casual, 2 of the 3 stories hadn’t even been drawn yet. I would get paid, but his deal with the publisher was advancement on delivery of final pages, and I would get 20% of what he got from sales over 7 years, paid once a year. Now that sounds like a great deal, and it is if the book does very well. But it was a book of gay erotic comics. Small audience.

I got the first story and started coloring. One thing he had made clear that I should put paying work before his, but this attitude changed, and the professional relationship came under strain and combined with other factors, I decided it wasn’t worth it anymore, and put him in contact with a few other colorists, who would actually like to work in erotic comics.

See, I really don’t have any interest in doing gay erotic, and I was going to use a fake name for this. I wasn’t excited about it like I was coloring Tim’s story or the comic for Marvel. I was enjoying it, and committed to doing the best job possible. At the time I started, I wasn’t doing anything in particular, and thought, I’ll make contacts after the work comes out, there could be some money too. But I couldn’t show my work, because of the nature of it. So I would have this awesome work, that I could only use to get more work doing the same. Work that I didn’t want to do.

So PIE needs to also something that you want to do. In fact, PIE should only be done if it’s something that you want to do, because otherwise you end up with work you can’t do anything with. The Exposure part goes out the window. Now if I did for the experience learned from coloring a long story, that would be a different matter.

But I can get that experience elsewhere, even on my own.

So if you get a chance to work for PIE, keep in mind, it has to be Exposure or Experience in a direction you want to move in, other wise you are just giving your work away for nothing. Don’t do that.

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By Timothy Piotrowski, November 25, 2009 6:38 am

Take a look at this segment of an illustration I did:

I love the texture I got on the wainscoating. It looks like painted wood, where the wood wasn’t treated, and the paint is peeling off, following the grain of the wood, and that the paint has become discolored in spots. There’s something splattered on the baseboard.

Um, I can’t remember how I did it. I hate when I do that. It was one of those moments where, trying new things, clicking here and there, using new brushes and just going to town, and when it was done, I was asking myself “How exactly did I do that?”

I need to get into the habit of taking a few notes while I work and figure/find a way of doing something. I have the original art, still broken down in layers, so I can go back and look at  stuff, and maybe figure a few things out.

I guess it’s the nature of the beast, when you are in the zone, and things are flying fast and furious.

NOTE: There won’t be any figure drawing this week, as it’s a Holiday week.