Here you’ll find an exploration on how to make a living, by being creative. This blog gives you a little bit of a window into the day in the life of a Simpsons artist, who’s doing his own art on the side. You’ll also get an insight into what goes on in an artist’s brain. As well, as how he tries to improve his skills and his way of life with his creativity.
He also draws things that will hopefully make you laugh, or at the very least, crack a smile.
I’m a Storyboard artist on The Simpsons TV show and The Simpsons Movie. I drew Simpsons comics, on the side, for Bongo Comics for 12 years as well. Author of The Art of Draw Fu: Beginners Level. I live in California with my wife, daughter and four sons who I love very much. I’m Roman Catholic and I was born in El Salvador.
BOOKS – A Good Inexpensive Resource for Artists to Learn About Marketing
The Simpsons quote:
“OLD SPRINGFIELD LIBRARY WE HAVE BOOKS ABOUT TV” ~Banner at the library
How do you learn to market yourself as an artist? Being a marketer is such a different skill set than being an artist.
Even though this is true, it’s a learn-able skill. Plenty of non artist have learned it, why can’t we?
The problem is, where to begin? There are so many options.
Well, I have a suggestion. I have a low cost entry point to start learning this stuff in the form of a marketing book which I will share with you in this post.
So you can either watch the video or read the post.
(All links to the book below are affiliate links. I appreciate your support if you decide to buy the book and use the links to do so. Thank you.):
This is a really good book that helps you start wrapping your head around marketing. It’s $15.00 but you can probably go the library and see if you can borrow it there. This is really a low cost entry point to learning about this stuff.
There’s really a couple of thousand dollars of information in the book for $15.00 (or for free if you borrow it from the library). You really let a lot of info.
As artists we’re always putting our stuff online. We’re on Twitter, we’re on Facebook, DeviantArt, and we’ve got our own websites. All these things are really good, BUT there’s a reason why we’re not getting more hits to our work. Why we’re often, not really making money off this stuff. There’s a reason why it’s not enough.
What’s In the Book
It’s because there’s a little bit more to it than that. A few things we’re not doing well.
Getting the right message to the right people via the right media and methods–effectively, efficiently, and profitably.
This is the core theme of the book. The beginning of every chapter emphasizes one of the sides of the triangle.
What We Tend to Neglect
For example, we’re pretty much obsessed with the “media” part: websites, social me
dia and the other thing I mentioned above. That’s fine but we often neglect the other things.
We might not be targeting the right Market (Who). We really should do some homework on that and the book shows you how to do it, what to think about. It gives you things to brainstorm and examples of what has worked. It’s really good about doing that sort of thing.
We often neglect what message we’re putting out there. What are we trying to say? What’s the best way to say it? The book gives you a marketing plan. It helps you think about how to plan this stuff so you can get the most out of what you do and how you do it.
I can’t recommend this book enough. I’ve spent more money on marketing material that has been less useful than the information in this book.
Now, a Warning.
The Ultimate Marketing Plan is a marketing tool for Dan Kennedy. As good as the info in the book is, it’s not absolutely complete. There isn’t such a thing anyway.
There’s still gaps in the information. Those gaps in the info require their own books. Well, what do you know, Dan Kennedy also wrote a book about the thing that he didn’t write about in this one.
The book itself is a platform he uses to market for something else.
Dan Kennedy is a business man who got wealthy helping to market products for other business and got really good at it. Now he teaches marketing so you can do it too. So he has a website where he does it from and it’s really great. His book does everything it can to get you to go to that site.
On the one hand, the information in the book is really great. On the other hand, you have to be aware of the “meta-learning” factor of the book, which is that, the book itself is a marketing tool. As you read the book, you can see where he markets himself and his products.
The book is a low entry item that he uses, to get you hooked so that he can then get you into the system and try to, up sell you into higher and higher tier items in his business. This is not a bad thing. It’s in fact showing you HOW he does what he does by example.
Just be warned that the book is a marketing tool. It’s not only going to teach you how to market yourself, but it’s also going to market TOO you.
But I really do recommend this book. Give it a read whether you buy it or get it from the library.
If you Read This Book
I hope you liked my review. If you liked it, let me know. If you read the book, tell me what you think. I’d love to hear from you.
This Week’s Opt In Surprise
This week I sent off a special drawing full of art that was done by the Simpsons Crew around the time I started on the show. They sat around and made fun of Jurassic Park, Simpsons style.
If you’d like like to see that art, opt in below before Thursday of next week and I’ll send you a copy of the e-mail just for you (yes, I’m totally marketing my e-mail opt in right now. Is it working?).
THE SIMPSONS NEWS – Why You Should Still Be Watching The Simpsons
Saw this article on Wired.com defending The Simpsons.
There are so many people online always bashing and attacking the show, it’s very nice and encouraging to see a positive view of it.
THE SIMPSONS NEWS – The Missing Pieces in an Artist’s Knowledge
Simpsons Quote:
Homer: [grumbling about Smithers] He thinks he’s so big. Karl: You don’t belong here. Homer: Huh? Karl: [pointing emphatically at Homer] You. Don’t. Belong. Here. You’re a fraud and a phony and it’s only a matter of time ’till they find you out! Homer: [gasping] Who told you? Karl: You did. You told me with the way you slump your shoulders. The way you talk into your chest. The way you smother yourself in bargain-basement lime-green polyester! I want you to say to yourself, “I deserve this. I love it. I am nature’s greatest miracle!” Go ahead, say it. Homer: [after a few bumbling attempts] I deserve this! I AM NATURE’S GREATEST MIRACLE! Karl: I’ll need three weeks’ vacation and moving expenses. Homer: You got it, buddy! Karl: Let’s go shopping!
Today I’ve got some videos for you and a link that will help and inspire you to invest in yourself.
I know you’ve already done this. As artists we’re always learning more and more about art. This is great, but just as important as learning our craft is investing in understanding on how to leverage it so we can live off it.
I was hoping to do a much shorter video this week. It mostly is, I just ended up asking a long winded favor at the end of this video.
Below is a video where I introduce the videos and link I’m going to be referring you to and why. You can watch it or you can go ahead and just start watching the videos. Below I’ve also transcribed what I say in the video anyway.
But please, make sure you read the favor I ask at the bottom of this post. It will influence my next blog topics from this point on. Thanks:
The Gap in our Artistic Knowledge
As artists, our education tends to be about drawing or our art. It’s usually not about money management, entrepreneurship, learning to make a living with the assets we’ve got.
There are to video below that I think are very useful in this regard. I’ve also got a link to a blog post that has recommendations on reading material.
Jim Rohn Videos
The first two videos are from a man by the name of Jim Rohn. He’s an old timey entrepreneur, marketer, and most importantly, motivational speaker. In the video he talks about things that, as artist we don’t really talk about or think about.
The first talk is called “Living an Exceptional Life,” which I like a lot. It’s in fact geared for kids. It tries to get THEM to think about this kind of thing at an early age. It even talks a bit about money management. I highly recommend it:
This next video is called, “Three Keys to Greatness.” This video compliments the first video above. There’s a little bit of information overlap with the video above, but it mostly adds other interesting things that are not said in the first video.
This third link is to a blog post written by Dan Kennedy. Dan Kennedy is a marketer that teaches marketing. It provides a list of some of his favorite books that he recommends if you want to learn marketing and other skills. Skills that we need to learn, especially because we’re not taught these skills as artist. We’re too busy learning to draw and do art.
I keep recommending these videos and this link to friends of mine because I think they’re very good to watch and read. Now I’m sharing them with you. I hope you get as much out of them as I did. I’ve watched the videos twice and have not yet written down notes from the Jim Rohn videos. I really should. They’re fantastic.
A Favor
Besides leaving a comment if you like what I’ve shared here, let me know if you have any questions about his kind of thing. I’ve really been studying it lately and I’m kinda eager to share what I’ve learned so far.
It would be nice to know if this is something you want me to elaborate on so we can keep the conversation going.
I’ve also like to know if there’s something else you’d like me to talk about. Is there any question that you might be wondering about or might want to know about that you think I might be able to answer?
The last series of posts on this blog where inspired by a reader of my blog who asked me to talk about increasing your value as an artist. So you can definitely influence the direction of the conversation of the next few posts.
“Family, religion, friendship, these are the three demons you must slay if you want to succeed in business.” – Mr. Burns
Today I’m talking about something that, as an artist, you’re probably not going to want to hear, or think about, or do, but you’ve got to do it anyway if you want to be an artist with job security. And that is, you have to become a business person whether you like it or not.
Why should you even want think this way? What does it matter?
It matters. Your art is your product and you sell it to clients. Those clients are either the public, which makes you in the service or product industry, or other businesses, which makes you in the “business to business” industry.
Realizing this and understanding what this means may be the difference between you doing well and not having any money.
Below you can watch a video where I talk about this. You can either watch is or read along below the video. I say basically the same thing. Make sure to read up on what I’m sending my e-mail subscribers below so you can see the goodies you get for subscribing:
The Animation Industry
I’ve really started to think about business recently and I’ve never had to think about it because I’ve been at the Simpsons studio for so long. I’ve been on the show for many years but the average time an artist is on a TV show or a feature film is two years.
Usually, as an animator or artist, you’re like an independent contractor. When you’re freelancing, you’re an independent contractor. You’re like a small business working for a bigger business.
As an artist or freelance artist, you are in a business and your product is your art. You are selling your product to somebody or another business. If you’re trading your art for value (money)–that’s a business transaction. You need to learn how to manage a small business in order to know what’s working, how to leverage it, how not to get jacked by taxes, things like that.
If you’re really serious about making a living doing your art, you have to learn this for more than one reason. One major reason is, even if you’re working in a studio environment like I am, if you know business then you understand what the higher ups are working with and what they’re thinking. If you can understand that and give them that, and make yourself a valuable asset to them because you have that business mentality anyway, you become more valuable as an artist.
Another reason is if you’re not in a studio or you’re doing freelance, you want job security. A good way to get good job security is to have a head for business. You need to think about how you are going to sell your product in ways that are going to give you the money you need in order to survive and have job security.
The Rule of One
There’s this rule called The Rule of One.
The worst number in business is the number one. One product, one form of marketing, one stream of revenue, one product, one client, etc. You don’t want one. Usually as artists what we end up doing is focusing on “one thing,” such as wanting to be only a comic book artist, only an animator, or only doing fantasy illustrations for Magic The Gathering.
That’s ridiculous, because when that one thing goes away, you’re out of work.
What do investors do with their portfolios? What’s the common wisdom?
They diversify.
That means that you don’t put all your money in one market. You put some money in foreign currencies, some in land, oil, etc. so just in case one market fails, you have all these other markets that keep your portfolio safe.
Why don’t we as artists do that? Why don’t we diversify? If you do art, you should do it not only for a client, but also for yourself so you can market it and even license it. Find different avenues for your art. You should do comics, cartoons, everything. Do it all at once.
That way, if you’re not working in the studio anymore, you’re at least still doing freelance, or selling comics, or starting an art school and bringing in revenue from that. You have job security, and you’ve got the skill to create assets to make you money.
Mini Business
So if you’re only focusing on the one thing, you’re not very secure financially. Don’t do that. Find, distribute, and diversify the business. Create a model that will allow you to do that.
Learn to hire out. For example, a virtual assistant can look up references for you, check your email, send out your tweets, etc. for $150 a month so you can work on the stuff you need to work on. You’ll need the time to be producing a lot of content in different formats so you can be a successful business.
I hope this gives you something to think about.
If you have any questions, feel free to ask.
Simpsons Holiday Cards Continue
In this week’s e-mail newsletter, I continue my highlight of this year’s Christmas cards from my fellow Simpsons artist. This week Head Director, Producer David Silverman makes an appearance in the way of his New Year’s card.
If you want to get a copy of this sent to you, opt in before next Thursday and I’ll send you copy of the e-mail.
FAMILY
Had a great Christmas with the family.
Alesha gave me a copy of THE FOUR HOUR CHEF for the Kindle. Not because I don’t know how to cook but because I wanted to read the chapter on “meta learning.”
I got Alesha money. The left over money from a “commission” of sorts I finished before Christmas.
The kids got TONS of presents from everyone. The highlights of best present, by kid are:
Elizabeth (5 years old): a new fish she saved her money to buy.
Dante (4 years old): A Super Mario Brother DVD (not a game but the animated TV show from the 80s)
Ambrose (2 years old): A toy airplane (he loves airplanes.)
Luke (1 year old): Wrapping paper.
We spent a lot nights up late. Lots of sleepy kids this week.
Also we met Santa Clause AND Saint Nicholas. Santa showed up at our Christmas eve party and gave kids presents. Saint Nicholas showed up at the Kid’s Mass on Christmas eve, looking like a what he is, a Catholic Bishop. He gave Elizabeth a candy cane as we left the church.
It was a good Christmas. I hope you had a good one too.
The liturgical Christmas season has started (before Christmas was Advent), I hope you have a wonderful Christmas season and a Happy New Year.
THE SIMPSONS NEWS – Artists and the Value of Learning to Market Yourself.
Simpsons Quote:
Homer: (places a dollar on the counter) I’d like a colossal donut, please. Just like the one on the sign. (Homer is given a regular-sized donut.) D’oh, nuts! That’s false advertising!
How often do you hear an artist talk about marketing?
When does it come up in a drawing class? What art school has a special class dedicated to Direct Marketing?
Is it even part of the artist’s radar? Do we even consider it to be a valuable skill or does marketing have a negative connotation?
I’m going to explore this topic this week. I’ve come to believe it’s an essential part of an artist’s skill set and I’ll explain why below.
You can either watch the video or read the post. They both say pretty much the same thing:
Marketing
I was never taught marketing. Not in any art class I took. It wasn’t ever mentioned. I don’t know any artist who was taught marketing in any art school they went to.
I’ve been learning a lot about marketing recently. I’ve come to the realization that everyone who draws…well, not just those who draw, EVERYBODY, period, should learn marketing.
Why?
Because, we’re ALL selling something.
Any person that’s gone to a job interview to get a job for any reason, is selling something. That something is YOURSELF.
You’re Already a Marketer
When you go to a job interview, what are you doing? What’s a job interview?
It’s a “pitch session.” A “pitch session” of YOU. You’re pitching yourself, your service, as someone who has what they need.
What’s a resume? It’s “testimonials’ of your past work, right? It’s proof that your worthy to have the job. It’s “social proof” that you’ve got experience.
Marketing is the same thing. It’s pitching a service, pitching a good, pitching something of value to someone. A value you exchange for equal value, in the form of money.
Marketing in the purest sense is getting the word out, that you have a service that will help other with what they need.
Direct Marketing
When I talk about marketing, I’m not talking about any kind of marketing. I’m talking specifically about Direct Marketing.
Direct Marketing is a different kind of marketing. It’s not like Brand Marketing. It’s not like having a billboard with a Santa Clause drinking a coke or someone on TV eating a burger. That’s not what I’m talking about.
Direct making is getting your potential customer to directly respond to your ad. When you put an ad somewhere, you get a direct measurable result.
When you put money into a Direct Marketing ad, it results in getting a client. The ad you use gives information that allows your client to contact you for your service. That way, if you spend money, say, in a newspaper ad. The amount of money you spent on the ad pays itself back through the clients it brings in and may even bring MORE money than you spent on the ad.
This response marketing, is measurable.
Brand Marketing is far more difficult to measure. There’s no real way to measure if anyone will buy your burger or drink you soft drink, just because you put an ad up with your drink in it without some way to track an actionable response.
Big companies do this because they have enough money to throw at Brand Marketing. As artists we can’t afford to be wasting our money this way. We need results from any marketing you may pay for. You want something you can measurable results from.
Avoid “Hope Marketing”
There are many forms of Direct Marketing. There are also many sources to learn about Direct Marketing. I highly recommend you seek them out and learn these things.
Without it, what will happen is, you’ll put your portfolio online and you’ll sit and think that by taking that action people will magically go to your site and give you work.
Not going to happen. It’s what Direct Marketers call “Hope Marketing.” You don’t want. You don’t want to put yourself out there and “hope” someone sees your work and gives you a job.
You want them to come to you because you’ve gone out of your way to show them what you can do for them.
Direct Marketing should never be about you. It should always be about what your service can provide for other people. For you potential clients.
It’s about them first, “here’s what you’re having problems with, I can help you with that.”
That’s what Direct Marketing is all about.
I advice everyone, but specifically you artists, freelancers, animators whatever your in, to learn this. It doesn’t matter if you’ve got a good job in a studio or a steady job.
Learn it. I guarantee, it will help you no matter what your circumstances. It’s a very important skill set, to hone, learn, and have.
I hope this has given you some food for thought. I may be writing more in depth about this in the future.
Simpsons Crew Christmas Cards
If you like or dislike what you’ve read here, please leave a comment. I’d love to hear from you. If you have anything to add, even more so.
This week, in my newsletter, I sent some examples of Simpsons Christmas cards that my co-workers handed out this year. They’re all very cool and Simpsons related. This is the kind of unique item, you’ll never see in stores…or anywhere.
If you’d like to receive a copy of this e-mail, opt in below before next Thursday and I’ll send to you.
Yesterday I managed to get my latest Drawing Website post up on my site.
It was the closest I’ve ever come to not meeting the post deadline. I honestly thought I was going to upload it later in the week.
There were so many false starts, so many useless and unused drawings.
It took me a while to even wrap my head around exactly what part of my topic I was suppose to focus on. I was in a panic about it.
I then, simply sat down in a quite place and began to write. The post took shape, I knew exactly the artwork that was needed to illustrate my points and I cranked away at them the next day, whenever I had a chance.
Once the artwork was done, I wrote a second draft of the post and it was ready to go.
So here is it, just for you. I hope you like what I wrote:
THE SIMPSONS NEWS – Agreeing To Do Work That You Don’t Know How To Do And Quickly Learning How To Do It.
Simpson Quote:
Aim low. Aim so low that no one will even care if you succeed. ~ Marge Simpson
When the opportunity presents itself, to do something that you haven’t done before artistically, take it.
Over my years on The Simpsons, I’ve had opportunities to work on other Simpsons things besides the show.
Sometime I accept to do work I’ve never done even though I tell the person I have. Especially if I know I can learn to do it quickly.
It’s a little trick I learned in my animation class in high school. Basically taking on a project that you don’t know how to do and then quickly learning how to do it.
What I’m going to be talking about this week is how I did this and ended up cleaning up a few scenes of a Church’s Chicken commercial.
You can watch the video of read the text below it. It’s practically the same thing. The only difference is that I posted some images from the scene I cleaned up. You can also see the final commercial below.
And make sure to scroll down and read about the special audio surprise I have in store for anyone who’s opted in to receive e-mails from me:
Advice From My High School Animation Class
I used to go to a regional occupational program (ROP) in a different high school from mine. There they taught animation. The teacher in that high school was very well connected to the animation industry and that’s where I got my start.
One of the big pieces of advice our teacher gave us was, if someone asked us if we could do something artistically and if we knew that it would be possible for us to learn how to do it but we didn’t know how to do it yet, we should say, “yes” to the job.
“Oh yeah, I could do that. No problem,” and then very quickly go learn to do it. that isn’t to say that you should do something so out of your skill set that there’s no way for you to learn how to do it. but agree to something that your reasonably certain that you’ll be able to do.
How I Ended Up Doing This
This is an example of what I did many years ago as I was doing Character Layout on The Simpsons. I was on the show for about five or six year by that point. There was a producer I didn’t know that just walked into my cubicle, perhaps by recommendation. He introduced himself and then asked me,
“Can you do clean up?”
And I’d never done clean up. All I had done at that point was Character Layout and that’s a very different skill set. I had also animated and inbetweened but I hadn’t ever done any clean up. Nothing that I had done up to this point required me to clean up my roughs in any final way.
Well, I knew how to inbetween so I didn’t think it would be that difficult to do clean up. So I said,
“Oh yeah, I know how to do clean up.”
So he says,
“Oh good, because I have this giant stack of drawings. Can you clean this up by this date next week?”
“Oh yeah, I do that all the time,” He smiled, thanked me and waked away.
As soon as he was gone I went into complete panic mode because I hadn’t done any clean, ever.
Crash Course Time
So I immediately got up, went to the phone, and called up a good family friend of mine that happened to be a clean up artist at Disney,
“Dude, you have to have lunch with me TODAY. You got to tell me everything you know about doing clean up.”
That day I drove over to Disney, we went to the his desk, he showed me what he was doing and how he did it and basically gave me a lesson on clean up during lunch.
Then I came back to the studio and started working on the clean up job.
The Result
It turned out fine. It was good work. I did a professional quality clean up job.
I had never done it before. I had just been taught to do it. As I did, I got better at it. But it wasn’t super difficult for me to do.
I had enough experience at that point to be able to pull something like that off. Learning clean up wasn’t too far off from my general experience that I didn’t know what I was doing. It turned out I knew how to do it well.
There’s more to clean up than just pretty lines. It’s also doing good inbetweens AND there was a part that I was asked to reanimate and time as well.
Clean up itself was just a skill I needed to know to round out my education and it wasn’t a big barrier.
I hope this is helpful and instructive.
Just remember, if you don’t know how to do a thing but you’re reasonably sure you’ll be able to learn it quickly and handle it, go ahead and accept the job. As long as you then quickly learn how to do it.
You get more experience that way. You learn more skills and your perceived value increases.
Here’s The Final Commercial:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wqXvmPYBc50
Special For All My E-mail Subscribers
Sit in on an audio conversation with Simpsons artists.
In this week’s e-mail, I sent out an audio recording of a lunch conversation I had with my friends and co-workers: Paul Wee, Tommy Tejeda, and Herman Sharaf.
You basically get a virtual seat at one of our many crazy and fun “comic book Wednesday” lunch conversations.
If you want to hear it, opt in before Thursday of next week and I’ll send it to you. Who knows, if everyone likes what they hear, there might be more to come.
MOVIES – Superman: Man of Steel
So Awesome. I hope it’s as good at the trailer makes it seem:
THE SIMPSONS NEWS – Increasing Your Value as an artist by Doing What Others Can’t or Wont do
Simpsons Quote:
“You tried your best and you failed miserably. The lesson is: never try.” – Homer Simpson
Sometimes an art job is…well, to put it mildly, unappealing.
Artists simply don’t want to do it or don’t have the skill to.
At some point, after being in the art industry for a while, you can choose what jobs you’re willing to have and which ones your not so excited about.
Let’s say, for whatever reason, you turn down an unappealing job. In fact, it’s an unappealing job that MOST artists turn down or can’t do, though it’s still a good paying job.
You’ve just thrown away an opportunity. That job that no one wanted or couldn’t do, may very well have been the job that set you apart and made you look better than the rest. You would have become a more valuable artist.
I’m going to be talking about that in this week’s post. How doing what others can’t or wont will increase your value as an artist:
Drawing as Work
I just wanted to point something out that I’ve noticed and this is something that happens in just about every industry, and the art industry is no exception. The job is perceived as work–it’s a job.
We get our job done and then we go home, and we want to relax and have nothing to do with our job. An artist draws all day, for eight hours, and goes home and just wants to relax. That’s okay, that’s perfectly fine.
The thing is, sometimes an artist is given an opportunity in work or freelance to do something that might be more work. This work might be a pain in the neck, something they don’t want to do. But, it’s something necessary that whoever is giving you the job is really counting on it getting done. So they go to you, and you turn it down.
What does that do to you?
Well you’re not the go-to person after that. But had you said yes and accepted the job, your perceived value from that person would’ve gone up.
What Happened to Me During THE SIMPSONS Movie
Let me show you an example from my life from both sides, when I turned down a job and when I didn’t. They happened around the same time.
During the Simpsons movie, there was a ton of work that had to be done at the Fox lot. What ended up happening was that production would come around and ask artists,
“Can you work this weekend at the Fox lot?”
Just imagine how the artists were all overworked already because production was heavy. We needed a break, we needed a little rest. We wanted a free weekend. Just about everyone refused.
When they came and asked me, I said yes, and I was on the Fox lot working on the weekends. I thought it was a good opportunity and a good place to be, and it turned out I was right.
I eventually ended up working at the Fox lot ONLY. I was among all the other people who had agreed to come to the lot on weekends. The perceived value of every artist at the Fox lot increased, and it was much easier for us to be the go-to people than the people who refused.
How I Lost my Freelance Gigs
While I was working at the lot, it was a very intense and very heavy duty experience. It meant I had no free time, I had to stay there, and had no control over when I could leave.
I got a phone call from one of the art directors for the comic book that I worked on. I’ve been doing comic books on the side for twelve years.
The art director called me up and asked me to do a freelance job while I was at the Fox lot. He was desperate, and he was begging me to take the work. I couldn’t do it. If he had given me the work, there was no way I could meet the deadline. I wasn’t in a position to take the job.
Because I couldn’t accept the job, I hadn’t been called back by him in five or six years.
The Point
So, you take the opportunities that you can get. Don’t refuse work because you don’t want to do it; I refused it because it wasn’t humanly possible to do it, and even THEN it had negative effects.
I took the work that no one else wanted at the Fox lot, and it benefited me.
I recommend being willing to do what others are unwilling to do, and being willing to do what others cannot do, and that will increase your perceived value as an artist and secure more work in the future.
E-mailing Bum Thumbnails from “The City of New York vs. Homer Simpson” episode
This week my newsletter group gets a behind the scenes look at my thumbnails of the bum in this scene:
It was a good time. I laughed so hard during our talk.
Raul also put all kinds of goofy music and sound effect depending on what we spoke about.
If you want to hear out conversation go over to the Man vs. Art site and give it a listen.
And make sure to check out the post because Raul has done a cool little video about drawing a picture using “The rule of thirds”.
WEBSITES – Designing Super Basic Compositions
New drawing website post is up. This time I took on the daunting task of picking ONE tip on composition and wrote about it.
Really, it feels ridiculous to only pick one. I’m not sure what it was about this particular post compared to the other ones but this one REALLY felt like was I leaving a lot out.
Did I not pick the right principle to talk about? I’m not sure.
THE SIMPSONS NEWS – Increase Your Value as an Artist by Learning to Draw What You Don’t Like.
Simpsons Quote:
Homer: But every time I learn something new, it pushes out something old! Remember that time I took a home wine-making course and forgot how to drive?
Marge: That’s because you were drunk.
Homer: And how!
If there’s something you don’t like to draw as an artist, it’s very possible that there’s a simple reason why.
There’s also a way to actually start liking to draw what you originally didn’t like once you fix this problem.
On the show, as a Layout artist, you are often given assignments with things you simply don’t want to draw or don’t like drawing. As a professional, you don’t always have the luxury of simply skipping over the parts you don’t want to do.
On this post, I’m going to be sharing with you what I did to start liking to draw what I didn’t like.
You can either watch the video or read the post. The info is the same, only the post has a few example screenshots AND I added ANOTHER video of an example from an Miyazaki movie I didn’t mention in the video:
The Stuff We Tend Not to Like to Draw
I’ve learned to draw what I didn’t like to draw and by doing so discovered that I liked to draw those things.
And here the things artists usually don’t like drawing, mechanical stuff, stuff in perspective, backgrounds, buildings, cars…etc.
A lot of time, as artists, we just don’t like to do that because we see it as too technical, and rigid.
Ironically, that’s what makes it easy. Because it’s mechanical it’s a little more “mindless.”
How You Can Learn to Like It
But once you know how to do it well enough you find the things that make it exciting, gestural, and dynamic. Then it suddenly become fun.
But you have to actually get good really at it before you really start enjoying it. That’s part of the reason you don’t enjoy it, because it’s still technical and you haven’t found the “art” of it. Once you get passed that point, when you finally start to get it, it start becoming fun.
You start experimenting more, and it become much more entertaining.
How I Learned to Draw and LIKE Drawing Cars
I’m going to give you an example, from my work life.
I used to be a Character Layout Artist and I didn’t like drawing cars. Car where a pain in neck. They were no fun. I wasn’t good at drawing them and it felt too much like a technical drawing when I worked on them.
One time I had to do a scene on one of the episodes (Realty Bites) where Homer and Snake where fighting on top of Snake’s car Little Bandit. Little Bandit was like a convertible and then they had to fight on top of this moving car.
So I had to draw the car and I had to draw the fight scene.
I like drawing fight scenes, I always find them to be a lot of fun. You get to be dynamic, and it’s really exciting. I wanted this section of the show. I wanted to do these scenes but they had a moving car.
Lucky for me, the A.D. (Assistant Director) of the episode was really really good at drawing cars. So much so that it was his hobby. He liked to drawing cars for fun. It’s what he drew in his spare time.
So I went over and asked him, if he could give me some pointers. Just what is it that I should do when drawing a car? How do I make the process easier and faster?
He sat me down for about thirty minutes to an hour and gave me lessons on drawing cars.
One big take away from this lesson was when drawing cars, you should give them shocks. That way, the car’s wheels will stay on the ground, but the top part of the car will move a little bit.
Just that little tip was enough to expanded my mind. It was so perfect, because I could give the car gesture.
When you’re first drawing something, you’re usually drawing gestures. You’re usually drawing the power, the punch, the physics, and then you draw the figure around those elements.
When you gave the cars shocks, you get this extra element of physics and power you could add gesture to. Suddenly drawing cars became so much more fun.
I didn’t draw the cars perfectly, but I wanted to start drawing them.
Part of me always liked Japanese cartoons. I wanted to be able to draw giant robots, and machines like they do in those cartoons. Like that crazy car chase scene in Hayao Miyazaki‘s CASTLE OF CAGLIOSTRO. Brilliant BRILLIANT!
This sort of thing was was kind of driving me too (no pun intended).
The REAL Problem
This is when I realized that the reason why I didn’t like drawing cars is because I didn’t know how to do them well. Therefore I couldn’t find a thing about it that I liked doing. Once I did, then it was fun, and I didn’t mind it.
It became a fun challenge.
And in animation you don’t just draw one car. You have to draw, like, a billion different little cars and different positions, as they move though space. So I appreciated the lesson.
My Advice to You
If you have something you don’t like drawing, go out of your way to find somebody you can learn from.
Or just go out and do the things you don’t like to do, and FIND the thing that makes you like it. This will increase your value as a artist more. You’re probably not the only one who doesn’t like drawing that thing.
If you can do it and others can’t or won’t, suddenly, you’re more valuable. Everyone else is skipping out on that stuff which means, YOU shouldn’t.
Alright I hope this is very helpful.
E-Mails and Comments
Please leave a comment, and opt in to receive emails from me.
This week I sent out an e-mail where I talk about the LOGORAMA Simpsons spoof I storyboarded.
If you want to receive this e-mail, opt in before Thursday of next week. The opt in is down below the gratuitous screen shots of Homer punching Snake in the face.
Its a blog written by Chris Ledesma Music Editor of the Simpsons and it’s fantastic.
In fact, I don’t know how he does it but Chris is dropping all kinds of news and info on upcoming shows that I wouldn’t dare say.
It’s actually REALLY cool. He lets you know what shows he’s working on, and explains the process as he tells you about the up coming shows that haven’t been aired yet.
I talk about old shows, he talks about new one.
AND he talks about the creation of the music for the show, which is fascinating.
THE SIMPSONS NEWS – Increase your Value as an Artist by Increasing your Skill Set
I’ve been asked to speak about things artists can do to keep their jobs, and get more work.
This is a big subject, and I’ve got a lot of thoughts on the matter.
Besides doing what my friend Chris Oatley advices, which is:
“Do great work and be great to work with.”
I’d add this:
“Make yourself more valuable.”
There are many ways to do this and I’m only going to talk about one this week. In the upcoming weeks I’ll write about other ways.
You can watch the video or read the “transcription” below it. It’s actually not a direct transcription, it’s a cleaned up clearer written version of what I say on the video. It’s a little more to the point.
Please forgive any redundancies in the video and the pointless rant at the end:
Increase your Skill Set
One way to increase your value as an artist is by increasing your skill set. I know this because I’ve actually done it.
Why make yourself more valuable?
Simply put, it will give you more opportunities to keep your job or get more work.
It’s also a very competitive industry. The more skills you have the more value you’ve got.
If you’re already working in a studio and they need something you can provide, why not offer those extra services once you’re already there. That way they don’t need to go looking for someone else.
What I’m NOT Saying
I’m not saying that your portfolio should have EVERYTHING you can do. If your getting into the industry for any reason, such as storyboarding or animation your portfolio ought to be focused on those things.
So a storyboarding portfolio should have storyboards. An animation portfolio should have animation. For character design only have characters designs.
Don’t be putting background painting or animation if you’re trying to get a job as a character designer in your portfolio. It’s a bad idea.
When to Show Your Other Skills
Once you’ve got the position, once you have the job, once your in the studio or have the freelance job, THEN you can offer these other things. Then you can show you can do a little bit more.
Disclaimer
If you’re a freelancer, please take this with a grain of salt, because I only live off working purely off of freelance once. And it was only for a year. I don’t have a lot of experience with that sort of life.
Any other time I did any freelance work, I did it while still working at the studio on The Simpsons. My experience of living off of freelance is limited.
How to Increase Your Skill Set
One of the things I did while working on the show, was take classes on the side.
So after work, after working eight hours, I’d go and take a two, three or four hour class. I did this for about four years.
I was fortunate enough that, at the time, a lot of art schools had popped up that taught animation disciplines. Disciplines like character designs, animation, development art…things like that. And the teachers where actually, industry professionals.
So I took animation classes from Disney animators and Warner Brothers animators. I was TAUGHT by ANIMATORS how to animate. I was taught characters design by professional character design artists. I was taught feature development art by feature development artists.
I’ve taken painting classes, sculpting classes, a TON of figure drawing classes. And I STILL go to figure drawing to this day.
I’ve taken Storyboard classes, clean up classes, Maya classes, Photoshop classes, ACTING classes. I’ve taken classes for just about everything I could think of, just to increase the value of my skill set.
It was money well spent, investing in myself. That’s one thing that you should never quit doing: investing in yourself.
My Advice to You
My advice to you is, don’t be like I and my friends used to be. When we got in the industry we wanted to be animators so we didn’t want to DEMEAN ourselves by doing clean up or “finished our drawings”. We were ANIMATORS.
We just wanted to do gesture drawings and ACTING. We didn’t want to finish a drawing, that’s GRUNT work. People BELOW us do that, right?
No!
If you can’t finish a drawing, you don’t know how to draw. You’re just pretending to draw.
My point is, don’t be arrogant and simply learn the minimum amount of skills to get by. Learn to do as much as you can. You never know when the other skills will come in handy.
Done
Alright, I hope this helps. If it does, leave a comment, if it doesn’t leave a comment. If you have follow up questions, guess what, you can leave comment.
Better yet, if you like this, opt in to get the companion e-mails that go along with this blog. Sometimes I send stuff that compliments my post and sometimes I do very unique things on it that have nothing to do with the post but might still be entertaining.
BOOKS – Dark Rift
I managed to finish editing my wife’s book this week. I had a few more notes for her to take care of and it was off to the “printers” (a.k.a. Amazon and Create Space).
It’s such a good read, I can’t wait to see the reaction of the fans to this new part of the story.
Alesha put in a bit more of what people have been asking for, some background information of some of the characters in the story. More background information on Isabella (the protagonist). AND you get an up close and personal look at the Grey Tower itself.
This book gets epic and some nail biting stuff happens.
The book will launch soon at Amazon and the Kindle. When it launches, the Kindle book will be free for a limited time (about two days). If you want to know when this will happen, Click Here and opt in.
You’ll also get a chance to win a $10 Amazon gift certificate PLUS a signed hard copy version of both, THE TOWER’S ALCHEMIST and DARK RIFT. The offers ends on Nov. 27, so hurry up. Your chances are REALLY good right now.
WEBSITE – The Drawing Website
I had a heck of a tough time getting these posts ready to publish this week.
THE SIMPSONS NEWS – How to Sell an Animated Sitcom and Become Rich.
Simpsons quote:
Mr. Burns: What good is money if it can’t inspire terror in your fellow man?
So how do you sell an animated sitcom to a studio and make a lot of money?
Well today I’m going to answer this question.
You can either watch the video below to get the answer to the question or you can read it. It’s the same information:
The Pitch Fests
I’ve seen plenty of people pitch, and pitch, and pitch their animated cartoons to different studios all over the place for years.
I’ve heard all the stories. I know this not first-hand, because I haven’t done it myself, but I’ve heard about it from friend and colleagues. I’ve seen it, I’ve seen the process. It’s a job unto itself. It’s a lot of work and it rarely results in anything.
Yet, I’ve also seen people who never pitch anything have studios come over to them and offer to make an animated cartoon off of their ideas.
So based off all the stories I’ve heard, all the things I know about sitcoms, trying to sell them, trying to pitch them, all the conversations I’ve had with my friends that pitch, observations about how the entertainment industry seems to work and some understanding about marketing and business, I’ve come to the answer to this question.
Disclaimer
Now here’s a disclaimer: even if you do what I suggest, which I would say is just a suggestion and could even be considered theory, there are a lot of factors involved. Including an executive having a bad day or having a good day, or liking your face or not liking your face, or just not being in the mood to hear your pitch…that could be a factor.
So there’s an element of human chaos in the process as well. They IS an element of chance, so there’s still room for you to get lucky.
The Answer
So the answer to the question is very simple. It’s very simple, but it’s difficult to do.
The answer is this: if you have a proven track record of consistently selling your entertainment to an audience and making a lot of money off of it, then you can sell a sitcom to a studio.
Let me repeat that: if you have a consistent track record of selling your entertainment, the stuff that you’ve come up with, to an audience and actually make a profit off of it, good money, not just a penny or two, then you can actually sell a sitcom.
Why?
Because you have a proven track record, because you can say to them,
“This is the sitcom I’ve done…this is the cartoon I’ve made, or here’s the comic I’ve created and it’s selling and it’s actually making me more than enough money to make a living. And I can do that with not only this, but with other projects I’ve got. I’ve got this project over here, and it’s also making money. I’ve done this play over here, and it’s also making money. I’ve written this novel, and it’s making money.”
They’re not going to take a chance on you if you haven’t shown that your stuff can sell. Why would they trust you? Would you trust a random stranger that just showed up and said,
“Hey, give me a million bucks, I can make you money”? When they haven’t actually shown that they can? No, you wouldn’t do that, so what makes you think that they’re going to take a chance on you if you haven’t done it either.
What the Studios Want
All the studios want is to make money. They want to make entertainment that turns a profit–that’s their business. So you have to show them that you can do it. That’s it. That’s what you’ve got to do. And it’s a really easy answer, but a difficult thing to do.
But you’ve got to do it, because then you’ll have the experience to know and be able to tell them and show them,
“Hey, I can make you money.”
The Irony
And here’s the irony: that if you’re doing it, if you’re consistently making money off of entertaining an audience, and you’re making a good living, then you probably don’t need a studio.
When they finally show up, it’s like,
“Why do I need you? I’m making a good living,” or, “I’m actually getting rich off of my own ideas.”
The Major Factors
Because it’s not about the idea–it’s about the proper execution of the idea.
Where the successful are separated from the unsuccessful is not in the idea, but the execution. If you have a really skillful execution of an idea, then you’re increasing the chances that it will actually sell and make a profit.
It’ s not the idea itself because ideas are a dime a dozen. But the skillful execution of the idea is one major factor in making a profit.
Another major factor is marketing that idea. Finding the audience.
And the other major factor is how much value you’re putting onto the packaging of the idea so that it actually turns a profit.
So that’s the answer to the question. So I’ll repeat it again: have a proven track record of consistently making a good profit from an audience, from your ideas or your entertainment, and that’s it, that’s what you’ve got to do.
If you can’t do that, then no one’s going to trust you, because you’re not good at it. So you have to be good at it. No one’ s going to go and pay you for something you’re not good at.
Comment
So that’s my answer to the question, and let me know what you think. Do you think I’m full of it? Let me know, put a comment below.
E-mail
In this week’s e-mail, I sent out even more behind the scenes drawings, just like I did last week.
This time, there’s some crazy Bart drawings, among other chaos.
If you would like to see what was sent out to everyone, sign up to receive the madness. If you sign up before next Thursday, I resend you this week’s e-mail.
BOOKS – Dark Rift
I finished reading the manuscript for my wife’s book DARK RIFT. It’s the sequel to the THE TOWER’S ALCHEMIST and it’s really good.
I wrote some notes on it and she revised it. I have to go back and reread the whole thing in order to proofread it and to make sure everything is as clear as it can be.
We’re hoping to start the pre-launch of the book by the end of the month.
If you want to be in on the pre-launch, go to THIS PAGE on my wife’s site and opt in. You’ll be informed about when the book will be available. You will also receive an exclusive sneak peek of the first chapter via a FREE pdf download.
I finished working on the cover.
Here it is, along with the description of the book:
Savior.
Monster.
A Time Wizard who will be the damnation of many…
The world already suffers a bitter taste of hell on earth, in a World War II where Nazi warlock vampires battle with Gray Tower wizards in the streets of Europe.
The Gray Tower, in its quest to stabilize a world that hangs on a delicate balance, has issued an order: Kill the Drifter.
Isabella George, an alchemist trained by the Tower, knows the identity of the Drifter and refuses to go through with it, because it hits too close to home. Instead of executing the Drifter, she protects the Time Wizard at all costs and ensures that the power to control Time never falls into the wrong hands. She sets out to lift the severe decree of the Gray Tower, and prove to the Master Wizards that the Drifter is the only way to win the war.
As Isabella unmasks traitors and embraces unlikely allies, her greatest danger may lie in her own heart–from the brutal desire for revenge, to the crushing guilt she carries…and the dangerous passion she tries to deny when she’s with one man in particular.
As she attempts to sort things out both in her heart and head–and not mix up the two, a figure from her past comes along and makes an enticing offer to solve all her problems. The only payment required is her soul.
THE SIMPSONS NEWS/VIDEO – How, not listening to Han Solo, caused me to lose my job.
Great kid! Don’t get cocky!
Non-Simpsons Quote:
Great Kid! Don’t get cocky! – Han Solo
In 2002, about 10 years ago, I got laid off from The Simpsons.
Back then I had been working on the show for about 9 years. I had worked my way up in reputation so I was one of the more preferred layout artists on the show.
People WANTED me on their crew. I knew it, and I LIKED that status. Because of this I started getting more and more cocky.
Click on the video below to hear me tell this story. It’s the first video I’ve ever done for this blog. I hope you like it.
If you’d rather read it, I’ve provided transcript of sorts below. It’s the same story. The text version is a bit more cleaned up and more to the point. Whichever way you choose is up to you:
The Problem with Being Cocky
Being cocky made me very very comfortable.
In this industry, being comfortable, is the worst thing that can happen to you because what ends up happening is exactly what happened to me. I started getting lethargic. I thought anything I drew was going to be awesome.
I started phoning it in. I started doing whatever I wanted. I just, drew whatever, said to myself, “That will be good,” and just turned it in. It my work really wasn’t all that good.
Since I was, “one of the best guys,” or “more preferred guys,”…well…what could happen, right?
Of course, bad quality work, equals people not wanting to work with you. What ended up happening was that I went from working on a lot of permanent crews, to becoming a “Floater”.
The Problem with Floating
A “Floater” was a layout artist that wasn’t assigned to a permanent crew. Their job was to come and help any crew that was in trouble during revisions. It’s a position you didn’t want to be in.
Most of the time, being in revisions is very very stressful and time consuming. BUT if you where a “Floater” you would get in at the last minute, like two weeks before shipping.
This means the deadlines where harder, the work had to be done faster and this doesn’t help the quality of your work.
To make things worse, if burns you out.
So after I’d been helping out two or three shows this way, I was so burned out, the quality of my work was sooo bad…there really was no way for me to get out of that hole. I was just on a downward spiral from that point on.
There was nothing I could do about it. People just didn’t want me on their permanent crew after that.
I don’t think anybody actually knew this was happening. This just didn’t want me on their crew.
The Review
There came a point where one of the directors I was working for, gave me a review. It wasn’t a very good review. It was an, “okay” review. But at that point they were looking to lay people off.
So when the season ended, they told me that I’d be back next season.
Between seasons, we have a hiatus. This usually last about one, two or three Months depending on the quality of artist or how much in demand you are or what position you’re in.
Well, my hiatus went from, one Month, to two Months, to three Months…and that’s when I started getting worried.
I had a friend at the time, on the show, who was a background guy. He called me up on the phone,
“I heard through grapevine, that you ain’t coming back,” and I was like,
“…oh man…”
I called the show and talked to the producer and she said,
“Yeah, we’ll call you when we find out what’s going on,” but she never did. That was it.
It was a soft layoff, but it was a layoff.
So for an entire season, I didn’t work on the show.
The Best Worst Thing, That Ever Happened to me.
This was the best possible thing that ever happened to me. It was a life altering experience.
Sometimes things like this are the best thing that happened to you and it definitely was the best thing that could’ve happened to me.
I found myself. I found what I wanted to do. I met my wife during that time. I mean…it…wasn’t so bad.
What happened during that year is a story for another time. For now, lets just say, that circumstances came about that caused me to call the show again one year later.
Surprise Amnesia
So I’m on the phone with the producer and she’s like,
“Oh yeah, come back. You can start on this date!” and it was like,
“What?” It was as if they had forgotten why they didn’t want me.
“Yeah come back!”
“Wha…?!” It was crazy.
When I showed up to the studio people where like,
“It’s about time you came back,” that’s when I realized they’d forgotten that I totally blew it that last season I was there. Or perhaps no one really knew but a small group of people who no longer worked there anymore.
Well, I wasn’t going to say anything about it. I just decided that I was going to do the best work I’d ever done EVER.
Ever since then I’ve been dotting my “i”s and crossing my “t”s, making sure everything I do is always the best I could possibly do.
I’m never going to get cocky ever again.
So that’s the story.
The Moral
So if you’re in the animation industry or any kind of art industry, learn from my mistake. Listen to Han Solo.
“Don’t get cocky kid!”
The moment you think you know, is the moment you stop learning.
Comment
When has being cocky bitten you in the butt? Let me know in the comments below. I’d love to hear from you.
Some Behind the Scenes Goofiness
In this week’s e-mail, I’ve sent five examples of artwork my co-workers have done of me.
They were done to show how dignified and respected I am at work.
Here’s a sample of what these love letters are like. These is a little comic my friend Erick drew of his experience when I would look over his cubicle wall:
Yes, I have more of these indignities…uh…I mean dignities in this week’s e-mail.
If you haven’t opted in to receive my e-mails and you too want to see the madness and tom foolery that animators get into in their spare time, feel free to opt in below.
If you do so before next Thursday, I’ll resend this e-mail to you.
Just found your page about Italy! Loved it! Lived in Italy a couple of years; just doing a YouTube video about how to get to the Sistine Chapel. Your sketches brought back so many memories (especially the “Metro at Rush Hour” type).
Dear Luis,
Very interesting and thoughtful blog. If you are interested in Catholicism and boardgames you might appreciate “Vatican” the boardgame I designed. It has been selling worldwide and we have gotten very favorable comments
Sincerely,
Stephen Haliczer Ph.D.
Distinguished Research Professor
Product Designer
The College of DuPage Press
Hey! I’ve been trying to call you for a couple weeks! I should have checked your blog sooner. I thought you might have had the baby by now! Congrats! Call me ya bum. My number…unlike yours… is the same xxx-xxx-xxxx.
im doing a piece of it coursework and wondered if i could put your
“computer stoopid” picture on it.
I would acknowledge where it came from beneath it and in the bibliography.
If the answer is yes then could you tell me the artists name too?
thanks. keith.
I just came upon your Nephilim skeleton debunking image….very interesting.
I wish we could have met at Comic Con to discuss certain issues. Nothing that
I would want to discuss openly here.
If you want to discuss something privately, you could always e-mail me. The address is up there under the “Hi, Welcome!” about the top commentators. It’s luis(at)luisescobarblog(dot)com.
Can you give me permission to use one of your illustrations for a tee shirt. I really want to wear “there must be some way to plug this keyboard into this game” – It’s how I see the world.. and you explained everything I want to tell the world in that one illustrzt8ion.
Gina
Yes, Gina. You can make it into a shirt for yourself off of that cartoon. I’m flattered.
I’ve been thinking about making shirts off of my little cartoons but I’m not sure which ones to do. Outside of an occasional cartoon that really hits home for someone, I’m not sure if they would sell.
Hi Luis,
My name is Phil and I came across your site while looking up information about animation and voice-over work. I’m a huge fan of the Simpsons & Futurama and a big Billy West fan (Ren&Stimpy, Futurama, Ect.). It is truly amazing to me how so many individuals come together to create these animated cartoons and the quality of the end product. I’m curious from your perspective how much work you have to re-do sometimes because of the networks and the way they censor some of the work that is being done. Best of luck to you in your projects. – Phil
You’d be surprised Phil. The biggest censors of the show are the writers themselves. They often pull back a joke they think is going too far. Sometimes, some of the jokes are funny too. It’s the artists that end up complaining about it. For example, there was a joke in one of the Halloween shows that all the artists thought was really funny. It was the show where Homer goes back in time on his toaster. In one of the futures he comes back too, he finds himself married to Patty and Selma. He discovers this when they show up waring lingerie. They looked really nasty, with their flab and hairy legs. When we saw it, everyone roared with horrified laughter. It was crazy. For some reason, during the re-write, they cut the gag because they thought it was too much. It was very disappointing. They didn’t even put the scene as an extra on the DVD.
It does. Thanks for the reply Luis. That gag actually would have been hilarious! Too bad it didn’t make it. I wonder if some unnecessary second guessing happens though because the writers feel they may be going over the top? (If that’s possible.) I know there is that fine line that writers and creators have to walk probably not only with the content of the show that’s created but with the networks as well. At least from what I understand in reading interviews and seeing convention interviews. Storyboards I think really help to set the tone of an episode and I bet it probably helps to justify many of the ideas that get spun out during the writing sessions of the writers. You all do great work on the show and I’m going to continue reading through your website. Thanks! – Phil
Hello there. I was researching nephilim for a report and I foung your blog. Its too bad those pics were all frauds. If they had been real, it would have been amazing.
After I read your stuff on the pictures I hung around a little, and read your “about me section”.
I am merely curious, so if I overstep a boundary, please feel free to tell me so.
I was wondering, sir, since you state that you are in fact a roman catholic, weather or not you believed in the deity of Jesus Christ?
I myself am a Christian, but I research other religions and alternate sects of my own. You could say its a hobby. In any case, if you find my inquiry impolite, I am sorry. I mean no offense.
Heh, no Christine, your question isn’t impolite. It’s good of you to ask. Too often people just assume things about Catholicism without asking.
The simple answer to your question is, “Yes”. Catholicism, teaches that Jesus Christ is God, the second person of the Holy Trinity.
The slightly more involved answer is as follows: The Catechism of the Catholic Church (the official book that explains all that the Catholic Church teaches) in paragraphs 446-451 ( http://www.vatican.va/archive/ENG0015/__P1H.HTM ) states the following:
446 In the Greek translation of the Old Testament, the ineffable Hebrew name YHWH, by which God revealed himself to Moses,59 is rendered as Kyrios, “Lord”. From then on, “Lord” becomes the more usual name by which to indicate the divinity of Israel’s God. the New Testament uses this full sense of the title “Lord” both for the Father and – what is new – for Jesus, who is thereby recognized as God Himself.60
447 Jesus ascribes this title to himself in a veiled way when he disputes with the Pharisees about the meaning of Psalm 110, but also in an explicit way when he addresses his apostles.61 Throughout his public life, he demonstrated his divine sovereignty by works of power over nature, illnesses, demons, death and sin.
448 Very often in the Gospels people address Jesus as “Lord”. This title testifies to the respect and trust of those who approach him for help and healing.62 At the prompting of the Holy Spirit, “Lord” expresses the recognition of the divine mystery of Jesus.63 In the encounter with the risen Jesus, this title becomes adoration: “My Lord and my God!” It thus takes on a connotation of love and affection that remains proper to the Christian tradition: “It is the Lord!”64
449 By attributing to Jesus the divine title “Lord”, the first confessions of the Church’s faith affirm from the beginning that the power, honour and glory due to God the Father are due also to Jesus, because “he was in the form of God”,65 and the Father manifested the sovereignty of Jesus by raising him from the dead and exalting him into his glory.66
450 From the beginning of Christian history, the assertion of Christ’s lordship over the world and over history has implicitly recognized that man should not submit his personal freedom in an absolute manner to any earthly power, but only to God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ: Caesar is not “the Lord”.67 “The Church. . . believes that the key, the centre and the purpose of the whole of man’s history is to be found in its Lord and Master.”68
451 Christian prayer is characterized by the title “Lord”, whether in the invitation to prayer (“The Lord be with you”), its conclusion (“through Christ our Lord”) or the exclamation full of trust and hope: Maranatha (“Our Lord, come!”) or Maranatha (“Come, Lord!”) – “Amen Come Lord Jesus!”69
Luis – my name is Luis Escobar – every now and then I Google my name just to see what pops up. Well – I often come across you. No doubt – you have discovered me too. Anyway – sure there a ton of our Luis Escobar’s out there but I thought that I would just say hello and let you know that you have a cool name. BTW – I am the third Luis in four! Grandpa, Father, me and my son. Louie’s all around!
wow – that was fast – I am a photographer, distance runner and high school cross country coach. I live in Santa Maria California. Married with three kids. Your work is great. You are very skilled. I will take some time and learn a little more about you and your work. Very cool. Well – I am off to a work with one of my running students. I will look forward to talking with you a little more in the future. Luis
Howdee Luis, if you are a real Christian then i would suggest you to do some research on your big boss (Matt Groening being a 33rd degree mason).
Loads of subliminal messages in the Simpsons, and occult symbolism.
(Even 9-11 was announced).
Greetings…. (Peace be upon you)
I would like to present to you all the sciences related to cosmogony together with its rules as per its identity which is something not similar to any of the other things and is out of any and assimilation according to the following point of view:
1. The theories of on cosmogony lack the fundamentals of the origin of things as they are mainly based on incidence and on the unseen.
2. The cosmic extension that has been taking place is the result of the range of vision through using the telescope and any other instruments because the thing being seen is determined by vision and this is one of the universe laws.
3. Knowing the within secrets of man will uncover secrets of the universe as the apparent entities of existence are of six kinds: the perspective (what is being seen), the tangible world (what can be touched and felt), what can be weighed, what can be heard, things that have flavor and things that have smell. These, in most cases, are overlapping and are counted six in number.
The origin of all entities are bare pictures of materials, void of force and readiness; it shines in debate and is complete when read. The investigation of scientists is restricted to this reading (capability and liability) where the material is with all its atoms, energy and speed and this alone is useless compared with its radiance.
The first cosmic law is that nothing can be determined unless established with what is contrary to it. And things are sometimes concrete and sometimes abstract and both are the same according to law.
The origin of radiance is the brain and by saying this I do not mean perception but the simple core of it. By formulating this equation the truth becomes uncovered.
The subject is highly complicated and can only be clarified by word of mouth or by arguments.
So, what do you have to present. (show)
بعد التحية :-
أود أن أعرض عليكم جميع علوم نشأة مفردات الكون وقوانينه وفق ذاتيته التي هي شئ ليس كباقي الأشياء خارجه عن حد التعطيل والتشبيه حسب النظرة التالية :-
1/ أن نظريات نشأة الكون تفتقد لأصول نشأة الأشياء وتحيل على ألصدفه أو الغيب .وكذلك استغراق البحث في الأفاق لم يأتي بغايته إلا بقدر ربطه بالوعي الإنساني.
2/ التوسع الكوني الحاصل هو نتيجة المد البصري من خلال التلسكوب وغيره لأن المنظور أليه يثبت بالبصر وهذا أحد قوانين الكون
3/ معرفة أسرار بطون الإنسان تكشف أسرار الكون حيث أن مفردات الوجود الظاهر على ستة أنواع (المنظور أليها ). (الملموسة). (الموزونة). (المسموعة). (ذات طعم). (ذات رائحة). وتكون في أغلب الأحيان متداخلة .وأصل الأشياء كلها صور عارية عن المواد . خاليه من القوه والاستعداد . بمناظرتها تشرق وبمطالعتها تتم . وبحث العلماء ينحصر في هذه المطالعة (القوه والاستعداد) حيث المادة ودقائقها وطاقتها وسرعتها وهذا وحده لا جدوى منه بقدر إشراقها . . وأصل الإشراق هو العقل ولا أقصد به الإدراك أنما هو )جوهر بسيط درأك محيط) وبتكوين هذه المعادلة تنكشف الحقيقة .
الموضوع غاية بالتعقيد يوضح بالمشافهة والجدل فما هو عرضكم ؟
توضيح:-
* أود أن أبين بأن وسائط الإدراك هي الحواس ألخمسه + تحسس الوزن.
* إما أحوال الإدراك ( تصوراته أي المعاني التي يلبسها ) فهي ستة أيضا ثلاثة وخلافها :-
1/ الحياة والموجود ولها صور فمثلا صورة الحياة هي الماء.
2/ الحركة والسكون ولها صور فمثلا صورة الحركة هي الهواء.
3/ الانفعال والسكينة ولها صور فمثلا صورة الانفعال هي النار.
* إما مراتب نفس الإدراك إي نفس ألصوره فهي خمسه:-
1)الجماد 2) النبات 3) الحيوان 4) الملكوت 5) الإنسان وصور ذلك كثيرة.
*** وكل هذه الصور تندرج ضمن تصورات الإدراك .منها ظاهره ومنها كامنة إي لم تظهر لحد الآن . والتوسع الكوني الحاصل هو ظهور لبعض هذه الصور الكامنة.
*وأروع إبداعات الإدراك هو العقل (جوهر بسيط درأك محيط ) ولكل واحده تفصيلاتها الوظيفية.
ووظيفة العقل هي ربط كل الصور المذكورة أعلاه بعوالمها الحسيه ألسبعه. وعالمنا هو العالم السابع وفق نمطيته الحسيه. وتجري آثار العقل على كل الصور الكونية فتصبح محسوسة وفق قوتها واستعدادها التصوري.
قد لا يفهم الموضوع بشكل جيد كونه لم يطرق بتاتا
I’m doing some onsite interviews at Mystic Dragon’s Festival of Books. Would you have time to talk with me about your work and “The Art of Draw Fu”? at 4 pm on August 15th? Please let me know (and your “Black Terror Kid” comics, along with your comic about your trip to Rome, are really fun!).
by Dan Kennedy.
Luise,
That is a great illustration of the Podcast Expo. Sorry you did not make it to the Mass.
God bless,
Fr. Jay
Just found your page about Italy! Loved it! Lived in Italy a couple of years; just doing a YouTube video about how to get to the Sistine Chapel. Your sketches brought back so many memories (especially the “Metro at Rush Hour” type).
Dear Luis,
Very interesting and thoughtful blog. If you are interested in Catholicism and boardgames you might appreciate “Vatican” the boardgame I designed. It has been selling worldwide and we have gotten very favorable comments
Sincerely,
Stephen Haliczer Ph.D.
Distinguished Research Professor
Product Designer
The College of DuPage Press
Hey! I’ve been trying to call you for a couple weeks! I should have checked your blog sooner. I thought you might have had the baby by now! Congrats! Call me ya bum. My number…unlike yours… is the same xxx-xxx-xxxx.
im doing a piece of it coursework and wondered if i could put your
“computer stoopid” picture on it.
I would acknowledge where it came from beneath it and in the bibliography.
If the answer is yes then could you tell me the artists name too?
thanks. keith.
Sure, absolutely, go right ahead. Thanks for asking.
Hi Luise,
I just came upon your Nephilim skeleton debunking image….very interesting.
I wish we could have met at Comic Con to discuss certain issues. Nothing that
I would want to discuss openly here.
Hope to hear from you,
Den
If you want to discuss something privately, you could always e-mail me. The address is up there under the “Hi, Welcome!” about the top commentators. It’s luis(at)luisescobarblog(dot)com.
Can you give me permission to use one of your illustrations for a tee shirt. I really want to wear “there must be some way to plug this keyboard into this game” – It’s how I see the world.. and you explained everything I want to tell the world in that one illustrzt8ion.
Gina
Yes, Gina. You can make it into a shirt for yourself off of that cartoon. I’m flattered.
I’ve been thinking about making shirts off of my little cartoons but I’m not sure which ones to do. Outside of an occasional cartoon that really hits home for someone, I’m not sure if they would sell.
So go right ahead Gina. Have fun.
Hi Luis,
My name is Phil and I came across your site while looking up information about animation and voice-over work. I’m a huge fan of the Simpsons & Futurama and a big Billy West fan (Ren&Stimpy, Futurama, Ect.). It is truly amazing to me how so many individuals come together to create these animated cartoons and the quality of the end product. I’m curious from your perspective how much work you have to re-do sometimes because of the networks and the way they censor some of the work that is being done. Best of luck to you in your projects. – Phil
You’d be surprised Phil. The biggest censors of the show are the writers themselves. They often pull back a joke they think is going too far. Sometimes, some of the jokes are funny too. It’s the artists that end up complaining about it. For example, there was a joke in one of the Halloween shows that all the artists thought was really funny. It was the show where Homer goes back in time on his toaster. In one of the futures he comes back too, he finds himself married to Patty and Selma. He discovers this when they show up waring lingerie. They looked really nasty, with their flab and hairy legs. When we saw it, everyone roared with horrified laughter. It was crazy. For some reason, during the re-write, they cut the gag because they thought it was too much. It was very disappointing. They didn’t even put the scene as an extra on the DVD.
Hope that answers your question.
It does. Thanks for the reply Luis. That gag actually would have been hilarious! Too bad it didn’t make it. I wonder if some unnecessary second guessing happens though because the writers feel they may be going over the top? (If that’s possible.) I know there is that fine line that writers and creators have to walk probably not only with the content of the show that’s created but with the networks as well. At least from what I understand in reading interviews and seeing convention interviews. Storyboards I think really help to set the tone of an episode and I bet it probably helps to justify many of the ideas that get spun out during the writing sessions of the writers. You all do great work on the show and I’m going to continue reading through your website. Thanks! – Phil
Hello there. I was researching nephilim for a report and I foung your blog. Its too bad those pics were all frauds. If they had been real, it would have been amazing.
After I read your stuff on the pictures I hung around a little, and read your “about me section”.
I am merely curious, so if I overstep a boundary, please feel free to tell me so.
I was wondering, sir, since you state that you are in fact a roman catholic, weather or not you believed in the deity of Jesus Christ?
I myself am a Christian, but I research other religions and alternate sects of my own. You could say its a hobby. In any case, if you find my inquiry impolite, I am sorry. I mean no offense.
Heh, no Christine, your question isn’t impolite. It’s good of you to ask. Too often people just assume things about Catholicism without asking.
The simple answer to your question is, “Yes”. Catholicism, teaches that Jesus Christ is God, the second person of the Holy Trinity.
The slightly more involved answer is as follows: The Catechism of the Catholic Church (the official book that explains all that the Catholic Church teaches) in paragraphs 446-451 ( http://www.vatican.va/archive/ENG0015/__P1H.HTM ) states the following:
Arianism was a Heresy that the Catholic Church fought against that deputed this belief around the years AD 250-336 which concluded in the Council of Nicea. For more info go to: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arianism or http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/01707c.htm .
Hope that answers your question.
thank you. most people would out-right refuse to answer that question nowadays.
May the Lord bless you, Luis!
Luis – my name is Luis Escobar – every now and then I Google my name just to see what pops up. Well – I often come across you. No doubt – you have discovered me too. Anyway – sure there a ton of our Luis Escobar’s out there but I thought that I would just say hello and let you know that you have a cool name. BTW – I am the third Luis in four! Grandpa, Father, me and my son. Louie’s all around!
HA ha! Yeah, you have a great name too.
Wow! That’s a lot of Luisesesss in your family. Pretty cool. Love your site dude. I’ll link to you.
wow – that was fast – I am a photographer, distance runner and high school cross country coach. I live in Santa Maria California. Married with three kids. Your work is great. You are very skilled. I will take some time and learn a little more about you and your work. Very cool. Well – I am off to a work with one of my running students. I will look forward to talking with you a little more in the future. Luis
Cool. Anytime.
i like simpsons, starting watch becouse my doughter like it
I write comment but strange dropdown
Howdee Luis, if you are a real Christian then i would suggest you to do some research on your big boss (Matt Groening being a 33rd degree mason).
Loads of subliminal messages in the Simpsons, and occult symbolism.
(Even 9-11 was announced).
Greetings…. (Peace be upon you)
I would like to present to you all the sciences related to cosmogony together with its rules as per its identity which is something not similar to any of the other things and is out of any and assimilation according to the following point of view:
1. The theories of on cosmogony lack the fundamentals of the origin of things as they are mainly based on incidence and on the unseen.
2. The cosmic extension that has been taking place is the result of the range of vision through using the telescope and any other instruments because the thing being seen is determined by vision and this is one of the universe laws.
3. Knowing the within secrets of man will uncover secrets of the universe as the apparent entities of existence are of six kinds: the perspective (what is being seen), the tangible world (what can be touched and felt), what can be weighed, what can be heard, things that have flavor and things that have smell. These, in most cases, are overlapping and are counted six in number.
The origin of all entities are bare pictures of materials, void of force and readiness; it shines in debate and is complete when read. The investigation of scientists is restricted to this reading (capability and liability) where the material is with all its atoms, energy and speed and this alone is useless compared with its radiance.
The first cosmic law is that nothing can be determined unless established with what is contrary to it. And things are sometimes concrete and sometimes abstract and both are the same according to law.
The origin of radiance is the brain and by saying this I do not mean perception but the simple core of it. By formulating this equation the truth becomes uncovered.
The subject is highly complicated and can only be clarified by word of mouth or by arguments.
So, what do you have to present. (show)
بعد التحية :-
أود أن أعرض عليكم جميع علوم نشأة مفردات الكون وقوانينه وفق ذاتيته التي هي شئ ليس كباقي الأشياء خارجه عن حد التعطيل والتشبيه حسب النظرة التالية :-
1/ أن نظريات نشأة الكون تفتقد لأصول نشأة الأشياء وتحيل على ألصدفه أو الغيب .وكذلك استغراق البحث في الأفاق لم يأتي بغايته إلا بقدر ربطه بالوعي الإنساني.
2/ التوسع الكوني الحاصل هو نتيجة المد البصري من خلال التلسكوب وغيره لأن المنظور أليه يثبت بالبصر وهذا أحد قوانين الكون
3/ معرفة أسرار بطون الإنسان تكشف أسرار الكون حيث أن مفردات الوجود الظاهر على ستة أنواع (المنظور أليها ). (الملموسة). (الموزونة). (المسموعة). (ذات طعم). (ذات رائحة). وتكون في أغلب الأحيان متداخلة .وأصل الأشياء كلها صور عارية عن المواد . خاليه من القوه والاستعداد . بمناظرتها تشرق وبمطالعتها تتم . وبحث العلماء ينحصر في هذه المطالعة (القوه والاستعداد) حيث المادة ودقائقها وطاقتها وسرعتها وهذا وحده لا جدوى منه بقدر إشراقها . . وأصل الإشراق هو العقل ولا أقصد به الإدراك أنما هو )جوهر بسيط درأك محيط) وبتكوين هذه المعادلة تنكشف الحقيقة .
الموضوع غاية بالتعقيد يوضح بالمشافهة والجدل فما هو عرضكم ؟
توضيح:-
* أود أن أبين بأن وسائط الإدراك هي الحواس ألخمسه + تحسس الوزن.
* إما أحوال الإدراك ( تصوراته أي المعاني التي يلبسها ) فهي ستة أيضا ثلاثة وخلافها :-
1/ الحياة والموجود ولها صور فمثلا صورة الحياة هي الماء.
2/ الحركة والسكون ولها صور فمثلا صورة الحركة هي الهواء.
3/ الانفعال والسكينة ولها صور فمثلا صورة الانفعال هي النار.
* إما مراتب نفس الإدراك إي نفس ألصوره فهي خمسه:-
1)الجماد 2) النبات 3) الحيوان 4) الملكوت 5) الإنسان وصور ذلك كثيرة.
*** وكل هذه الصور تندرج ضمن تصورات الإدراك .منها ظاهره ومنها كامنة إي لم تظهر لحد الآن . والتوسع الكوني الحاصل هو ظهور لبعض هذه الصور الكامنة.
*وأروع إبداعات الإدراك هو العقل (جوهر بسيط درأك محيط ) ولكل واحده تفصيلاتها الوظيفية.
ووظيفة العقل هي ربط كل الصور المذكورة أعلاه بعوالمها الحسيه ألسبعه. وعالمنا هو العالم السابع وفق نمطيته الحسيه. وتجري آثار العقل على كل الصور الكونية فتصبح محسوسة وفق قوتها واستعدادها التصوري.
قد لا يفهم الموضوع بشكل جيد كونه لم يطرق بتاتا
Lol been stalking you. You’re pretty good. Not bad for a dad of many. Very talented. Don’t know how you keep up. Chat soon on twitter
An overwhelming desire to keep sane helps.
I’m doing some onsite interviews at Mystic Dragon’s Festival of Books. Would you have time to talk with me about your work and “The Art of Draw Fu”? at 4 pm on August 15th? Please let me know (and your “Black Terror Kid” comics, along with your comic about your trip to Rome, are really fun!).
Yes, absolutely. I’d be happy to.
Great, thank you! Could you email me a contact for you, at the above email link, and I’ll send you more information (and I’m ordering your book now!).