Every other week I get together with my bro & Scholastics cartoonist Jamar Nicholas to take subscriber questions about the world of comics and art!

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Ok, let’s hear the prompt for the newest episode, and you can drop your questions after in the comments.

JAMAR SEZ:

This prompt isn’t what you think it is!

--well, maybe it is. This isn’t about Robbie Van Winkle (yes that’s his government name) , dba VANILLA ICE, it’s more about what we like to call, Culture Vultures.

Back in the space that Vanilla Ice came out, who rocketed straight to the top of the mainstream, Other people in that space who were fighting for ‘realness’ took offense to VI’s stardom, READ: 3RD BASS, who also had problems with the Beastie Boys, and one of Hawthorne’s favorite tale, MC Hammer, who almost got 3rd Bass erased in California, but that’s a story for another time.

So who owns a medium? Who can claim a thing and who can’t?

Also a B side to this prompt is being able to creatively switch lanes. Like, you knew Idris Elba was a rapper and doing DJ sets all over the earth?

What about Tom Hardy, who just put out an album with CZARFACE? Whuuuuut? Bane put out a rap album?

Who stole the soul?

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Mairin-Taj and I discuss whether the sketches leading up to a work of art themselves also “art”, or is that the wrong question altogether? All while she poses and I draw LIVE for all of you!

Get the show’s companion artbooks here - https://www.thinktankcomics.com/product-category/art-books/

Get Blackwing pencils like the ones I use at my link: https://blackwing602.com/mikehawthorne

We’re hosted by the wonder folks at Curio Gallery and Creative Supply in downtown Lancaster, PA. It’s run by Matt and Nicole, both are artists and the absolute best. If you’re anywhere near the area visit them OR just reach out for special orders!

https://curiolancaster.square.site/

Thanks, and enjoy the show.

Your boy,

Mike

Let’s keep going with that issue, but change things up a bit.

Let’s talk acting.

Last page we saw Kingpin in a position he’s not comfortable with, being under threat instead of being the threat. As far as he’s concerned, that ends now.

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Friend,

Here’s the newest episode of IAHTT. We went over our allotted hour because we got deep into the discussion of this show’s theme, as well as Jamar’s trips to the Rueben Awards and his experiences as a National Cartoonist Society leader.

The show goes out to all supporting subscribers, so…

There’s lots to gleam from this episode so sit back and enjoy.

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Want to join in? Then you know what to do…

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Ok, let’s hear the prompt for the newest episode, and you can drop your questions after in the comments.

“I know, I know--Jamar won’t EVER shut up about Philadelphia. To know him-slash-me is to love me, ‘batteries thrown at santa’ warts, and all.

This fortnight, I want to focus on something a bit more cerebral--the idea of cultural shifts, in music and in cartooning/comics.

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This week we’ll start dissecting a new issue, the issue in the Venom event tie-in story. This takes place after much Venom-craziness was already underway. We find Kingpin and his team locked in a panic room while the world outside goes mad.

To hint at all that has gone on Chip and I went with an establishing shot of Kingpin’s office. Clearly something has gone wrong, as his office is a wreck. But I also used some panel-in-panel tools to establish several things at once.

We establish the 1. wrecked office, 2. the city in trouble, 3. some kind of large threat (Venom dragon?) outside and finally 4. the hidden panic room.

That’s a lot to show all at once and could become confusing if not handled with care. The various “panels” allow me to frame all important details the reader needs to understand the story.

I started with a 2 point perspective guide to layout all that out, with the office and the city outside all on the same grid. The angle allows for showing a clear shot of the windows and the back wall with the panic room vault door.

Once inside the panic room I continue framing the important details. The assistant’s phone, the worried assistant, the big security guard (he’ll come into play on next page, but for now think of him as Chekov’s gun), the two handlers working the computers and finally the monitors showing the (lower case “c”) carnage outside.

In front of it all, is the Big Guy. Kingpin. I need him to feel different than everyone else in the room. I want the man to feel like a monolith, one that even a Venom-God can’t intimidate.

He’s lit a little differently from the other figures here, as a way to serve that idea. He has one main light source illuminated his head from the right and slightly behind, with a reflected secondary light source to the left.

Using two light sources makes him feel more solid than anyone else in the panel and placing the main light source to the right and behind leaves his face in shadow and creates more mystery.

I don’t like to leave the lighting to the colorists. I want to establish it as much as possible using the art itself, so I block in the shadows with an eye towards where all the light sources are. Once established these “lights” need to be locked down and kept consistent throughout the rest of the scene.

So when I move to the subsequent panels I bring those shadows onto the Assistant talking to Kingpin.

I also try to think of the light as different colors. It may be a hold-over from my training as a painter, but whatever the reason it helps me figure things out when it comes to modeling the figures.

Of course, the feelings of the character need to come through. Kingpin is about to make a pivotal decision here and I want to subtly show the turn in his thinking. So I used his placement in the two panels below as a kind of “zoom” in to help show that change.

it also allows for some directing of the reader’s eye from panel 3 to the important page-turn of panel 5.

I also used the Assistant as a framing element for the Kingpin in panel 3, boxing him in. In panel 5, he’s broken out of that, literally and figuratively. He’s too big and dangerous to be contained so I don’t try. I let him burst out of any panel constraints and take up the entire bottom of the page, including a corner of panel 3.

Your take-away should one that you can illustrate how a character feels without the dialogue and you can show how strong a character is without having him punching Daredevil.

Ok, see you next time.

Your boy,

Mike

Here’s the newest episode of It Ain’t Hard to Tell, IAHTT! Please enjoy as Jamar and I talk all things comics and cartooning.

Not a supporting subscriber? Well, don’t miss out.

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Every other week I drop an AMA comic podcast, It Ain’t Hard to Tell here on Substack. So every other Comic Art Tuesday my partner in crime and Scholastics cartoonist Jamar Nicholas gives us a prompt for the show and supporting subscribers can ask us anything!

It came in a little late last night, so sorry for the delayed prompt.

Anyway, read on then drop your questions below.

JAMAR SEZ:

You all know that Mike and JN, dba Your Play Cousins, aka BODEGA VOLTRON, love a good story that takes place over the span of one night.

Can the heroes make it home by dawn?

That’s the plot of a million movies, more famously, THE WARRIORS, HANGIN’ WITH THE HOMEBOYS, and a cult favorite of mine, JUDGMENT NIGHT, starring a hilariously evil Dennis Leary.

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What is this column? I’m going to do that classic “answer by saying what it’s not” thing. First, it’s not going to be the definitive answer on anything. It’s not going to be “the way”, I’m not going to preach from on high on how things should be done.

I draw for a living in an age when folks are trying to crack the code to make art, but I want to share the human experience behind the images you all see. This business is wonderful and treacherous, I’ll share stories here about how I get by.

If that’s instructive, then cool. But none of this is gospel.

My name is Mike Hawthorne, and welcome to Draw is Life

“To attain knowledge, add things everyday. To attain wisdom, remove things every day.”

― Lao Tse

It’s August. I’m a college professor, so that means I’m starting to mentalling switch into “teaching mode.” I tend to give myself “homework” in June to prepare for my Fall Semester. I break out my weathered books on anatomy and figure drawing, re-watch old lectures, review my class materials, all in hopes that I’ll refine my knowledge and present it as well as I can. However this year I’ve avoided that normal routine. It’s not because I feel more prepared than in past years. It’s quite the opposite. I’m feeling less sure of my approach than ever.

I tend to teach the more technical aspects of art. Anatomy, figure drawing, perspective. Things that are quantifiable, measurable, easy to point out what is “right” or what is “wrong.” I like it that way, mostly because I resent art instruction that is… well, not instructive. I like when I can show a student a tangible thing that improves their work in that moment, not some opaque, often incomprehensible philosophy. These kids are investing hard-earned money into their education and it’s my debt of honor to make sure they get it.

I still feel that way now, but something has turned in my head. I’ve watched class after class leave my studio at the end of each semester and each year I’ve been left with the question, “did I do enough to help them understand?” Over 13 years of teaching at the college level, that question has gained weight and I can feel it bearing down on me.

So this summer I haven’t done what I’ve usually done. I worry that it’s been a rote way of approaching the work that I’ve stopped thinking much about. I’ve spent more time just thinking of the work. Making myself sit with it. In doing so one day a random phrase popped into my mind, “Feynman’s technique.”

Richard Feynman wasn’t an artist. He was, what we artistic folk call, a nerd*. A really, really smart one. He dabbled in some silly thing called physics**, won some awards or something, and helped make a really big bomb.

Anyway, this term “Feynman’s technique” is associated with him and this technique for learning (and teaching) a subject. He had four steps to his “technique.”

1. Choose a subject, research and absorb it.

2. Teach it to a kid, avoid complicated jargon.

3. Find your knowledge gap, places where you struggle to explain the subject.

4. Review, fill the gaps, and simplify how you explain it.

I’ve been repeating those four steps every year since I began teaching. At least, I’ve tried to do them. This time around, I suspect that last step has tripped me up.

For example, when I taught anatomy I’d use Feynman’s technique to prepare but inevitably when it came time to teach the students I’d end up overwhelming them with anatomical terms and their corresponding muscles or bones. I knew it was too much to absorb in one lecture so I’d nail it all down in handouts I’d make for them. I’d tell them to try and focus on understanding what I’m presenting and to review the terms later in the hand outs (which later became my accidentally-written anatomy book and “Drawing Cheat Codes”).

The thing is, I’m not sure they ever truly “got it.” I’d be torn between giving them what they paid for and simplifying the material so they can digest. I’d always end up favoring the “giving them what they paid for” approach. Next thing you know I’m telling them about nine serratus muscles, of which we see maybe four, but only when subcutaneous fat levels are low aaaaaaannnnddd now we’re in the weeds with a room full of students whose eyes are spinning around in confusion.

So this year, I’m taking my foot off the gas. I’m making myself think, not just mindlessly do. I’m sitting with the idea of how much fat I can trim from the subject without losing the flavor. To do that, I’ve chosen to do less, better. I’m thinking more about the flock and less about being the shepherd. I want to find a way to guide them better from within, not lead them along from the front. If I’m always pointing the way my students will never learn to become wayfinders on their own.

I must find a way to teach by removing things from my approach. My job is to teach them enough skill to build a vessel, it’s up to them to capture the spirit.

Wish me luck.

*Sorry

**I know what physics is. I’m breaking balls. Again, sorry.

References:

https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/physics/1965/feynman/biographical/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Feynman

https://fs.blog/feynman-learning-technique/

Thanks for reading.

Your boy,
Mike

Hope all is good in your neck of the woods. Normally I post things coming out in the future on Fridays, but today I’m sharing something with you now!

Mairin-taj and I drop one episode of my figure drawing podcast Life Studied every month, but this month we’re giving you an extra episode as a special “thank you” for being a Supporter.

Sit back, and enjoy as I draw for you and talk art with my friend and art model Mairin-taj.

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It’s Comic Art Tuesday! This weekend at SDCC it was announced that I did a cover for Star Wars: The Book of Boba Fett, so I thought I’d share my process for the making of that cover.

As always, we started with layout thumbnails. Little sketches, done as roughly as I can get away with and still get the idea across.

I had two takes. One big action shot, and a quieter “classic” movie poster kind of shot.

I confess, I was leaning towards the action one. The folks at Marvel chose the other idea though.

Such is life.

I decided that although the layout was done straight on, I wanted a lower angle for the actual cover. I kept the Suns behind him to establish where he is in the universe.

Here’s the first round of pencils.

You may notice that there are several issues with the art. The new show features an older, heavier Boba. I drew a thinner version, the one from the original movies. Also, his outfit is a little different now, mainly in that he doesn’t have the little cape-thing on his back. Additionally the rifle is his old one, not the one he uses in the show.

So, here’s the second go-round on the pencils.

Once the major corrections were made I scanned this into Photoshop, where I made more subtle corrections. I added the suns in digitally and adjusted Boba’s proportions to make him look wider and heavier.

This fit the older Boba in the show more closely.

Once OK’d, I started inks.

I lowered the composition a bit to include more of his legs, then printed it onto a new sheet of Bristol to ink .

I had some time before the deadline, and no real background to worry about, so I had the luxury of building up the textures slowly. I used a lot of brushes here, a variety of flats and rounds, to block in all the blacks and line art. I didn’t do much “feathering” as I wanted to go in with a black pencil to soften all the edges in the blacks as well as add a “grey’ tone in some areas. I used a fair about of two-directional cross hatching, which is always a good time.

That black pencil really is fun to use in the inks, but it can be tricky too scan. So when all was inked I scanned in color instead of Bitmap, adjusted the file to get rid of the underlying blue lines, then saved as a greyscale file at 300 dpi.

The final colors were done by Dan Brown, who has consistently killed it on my covers as of late.

I love the red/orange/green palette and the texture plays up what I did with the line art instead of trying to outshine it. Love his work!

AND, that’s it! Hope you enjoyed the peak at my process.

Happy Drawing.

Mike

I’m working on several covers at once this week. Though I can’t share what they are yet I can share some progress pics.

I’ll share more when I can.

There is one cover I can share tho, as it was announced today at San Diego Comicon! I did a cover for Star Wars: The Book of Boba Fett!

Colors by Dan Brown!

Thanks and enjoy your weekend,

Your boy,

Mike

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Hello!

On the newest episode of IAHTT Jamar and I talk one hit wonders, evil eyes and Jamar’s travels in the world of book publishing!

Supporting subscribers get the show every two weeks. You know what to do…

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Ok, on with the show!

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Want to join the fun? Then become a supporting member!

Ok, now let’s hear from Jamar-

“AYYYYYYYE!

Mike and JN are back again... and running hot!

The prompt for this fortnight’s session is about... One Hit Wonders.

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But I found enough for me to study. I particularly obsessed over Otomo’s Akira. I still have 30 year old copies of the books in Japanese that are dog-eared as hell from me using them as a textbook.

From him I learned to go way hard in the paint when it comes to backgrounds, but also know when it’s time to drop them out for the sake of the story. I learned to use action lines as a way to emphasize an action, or movement, never just to avoid drawing backgrounds.

With this Daredevil page, I dropped out all backgrounds for the sake of the action. I’d already worked hard to establish the space, the inside of a NY prison, so the reader would have that mental image going into this action sequence. I needed them to get a sense of the direction DD is going, as well as how fast he’s moving.

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Mairin-taj and I are back from a short break with a new episode of Life Studied.

We talk about the challenges an artist faces in pursuing a drawing practice and some ways we use to get around them and to get back on track.

Supporting subscribers get the show a week early, so join us!

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Thanks and enjoy the show!

Best,

Mike

PS - Get the Blackwing pencils I use for the show here AND the Life Studied artbook here

Thanks!