FRANCO’S FREE-FOR-ALL FRIDAYS… By FRANCO One of the things about being in the creative business is figuring out how to be creative. How to do business. How to do marketing. People don’t realize how many other things you need to do to keep being that creative force you want to be. Above all we’re in this business because we’re artists. Many make the assumption that being an artist is a solo pursuit, and sometimes it can be. Time in the studio is often spent alone with little interaction with others as you create. But as an artist, I have found that having a network of other artists around you can give you insight into your own artwork and helps you be a better creator. I’ve got some pretty talented friends and from time to time I’ll reach out to them and ask them questions that I think will have different answers depending on the person but give insight to the creative process. Here, I’ve reached out to friend, writer, artist, and all around badass, Sara Richard, who has created comic-book covers, book illustrations and other work for DC Comics, Marvel, IDW, Oni Press, Dynamite, Simon & Schuster, Hachette, British Vogue, Vanity Fair, and others. FRANCO: What’s a creative day like for you? SARA: I’m really not much of a morning person. I wish I was. Every time I need to get up for an early flight, the quiet morning sunrise is really magical. But! That’s not how my body works, I’m a bit of a night owl. So I usually get a good breakfast and coffee in and tucked into working about 11 a.m. Depending on what the project is and how intense my brain wants to hyperfocus for the day, I’ll work until I’m bleary-eyed and the sun has long since set. F: What is the biggest challenge of being creative? S: Honestly, trying not to get sidetracked or fall down any rabbit holes. I’m really detail-oriented and I’ve gone down “side-quests” (as I like to think of them) that have probably eaten into a lot of real work time. But! Who knows, maybe that knowledge will save me in my darkest hour, right? Or at least kill at trivia. I’d also say, trying to separate your passion of creating from the business side of artistic freelancing. It...
FRANCO’S FREE-FOR-ALL FRIDAYS! By FRANCO I get really bogged down in the day-to-day family things that happen sometimes. And creatively, when working on a few different things, my brain hits a wall and needs a hard reset. It will take different forms and I’ve learned to let myself go in those directions. Even though I know I should be working on the projects I’m supposed to. Here’s a great example of what I mean. Cleaning out some art supplies I found this brush marker that doesn’t supply a fluid amount of ink on the paper and, seeing as how I have a hard time letting go of art supplies, I decided to explore what I could do with it. Results of dry ink and some paint markers on colored paper: — Want more FRANCO’S FREE-FOR-ALL FRIDAYS? Come back next week! — MORE — NINJA KAIJU and MOTHMAN: Two Projects With Very Different Roads to Publication. Click here. — NINJA KAIJU: A Book Only for Those Who Love Fun. Click here. — Franco and his forehead have traveled the world and he writes and draws stuff. Franco is the creator, artist and writer of Patrick the Wolf Boy and Aw Yeah Comics! Franco has worked on books/comics, including Tiny Titans and Superman Family Adventures. Franco was also a high-school teacher and is one of the principal owners of Aw Yeah Comics retail stores. Dan made Franco add that he has won three Eisners. His new books, Action Cat & Adventure Bug: Let’s Do This!, with Art Baltazar, and Ninja Kaiju: Unleashed, with Scoot McMahon, both from Papercutz, are out...
An APPRECIATION for the actor, who has died at 65. By FRANCO…
FRANCO’S FREE-FOR-ALL FRIDAYS!
