Recommended Reading

THE DC COMICS GUIDE TO COLORING & LETTERING
by Mark Chiarello and Todd Klein

I usually avoid 'how-to' books like the plague. More often than not, they're not very helpful and say more about how the author thinks everyone should write or draw than giving you useful tips for finding your own way through the minefield of creativity.

(Two exceptions, at least on the writing front -- Ray Bradbury's ZEN AND THE ART OF WRITING, which is more about finding inspiration than the actual mechanics of writing, and Tom Monteleone's COMPLETE IDIOT'S GUIDE TO WRITING A NOVEL, which is both useful AND highly entertaining.)

Having said all that, when I sat down to figure out to color things on a computer, I had no idea where to start, and the couple of tutorials I found on the web weren't really geared towards the kind of things I had in mind, so I did the unthinkable and went out to buy a 'how-to' book.

Which is more or less how I ended up with a copy of THE DC COMICS GUIDE TO COLORING AND LETTERING. Nothing against Todd Klein (my second favorite comic book letterer after John Workman), but I picked this one up for Mark Chiarello and his advice on coloring. Mark is an unbelievable artist in his own right, and if you doubt me, look at any of the stunning covers he's done for DC Comics, where he serves as Art Director.

Mark breaks down the process of modern comic book coloring in the kind of clear, straight-forward language that even a color-ignoramus like me can understand. And his step-by-step instructions on preparing art for the computer are comprehensive and invaluable. Not to mention the book is filled with some stunning artwork from guys like Adam Hughes and John Paul Leon.

So while I don't usually recommend reading 'how-to' books, I have to say this one turned out to be incredibly useful.

Twittering Away The Time

After mercilessly mocking everyone I know who 'tweets', I set up my own twitter stream. Not sure I'll have much to say, but if you want to follow me, go to twitter.com/matthewdowsmith or click on the 'follow me on twitter' link in my gadget bar.

UPDATE: And since I'm finally accepting all of this technology, now I'm on Facebook, too.

From The Files: THE KEEP

Still working on my secret project, so I thought I'd put up another piece of art from my files.

Dagon Editions, a graphic novel publisher in France, is putting together a new edition of F. Paul Wilson's THE KEEP and wanted some bonus materials to help make this edition as complete as possible.

I pulled everything I could find out of the boxes in my office and scanned them for the Dragon Editions guys, but going through my old computer files, I came across the presentation piece I put together to sell Paul and IDW on the idea of doing the project.

I don't usually like seeing my work once it's done and sent out, but I still kind of like this piece. It turned out more or less the way I had planned, which is pretty rare for me.

I gave the original art to FPW a little while ago, but I'm glad I still have a scan of it.

Art For Sale

It's that special time of year... tax time. And for freelancers, it's an extra special time. That time when we look at our tax bill, look at the amount of original art sitting in boxes, and think yeah... I should probably sell some of that.

So... I've got original black & white Matthew Dow Smith art for sale -- pages from all six issues of SUPERNATURAL: ORIGINS, all six issues of MIRROR'S EDGE, and issue 5 of STORMWATCH: PHD. And there are a few other random one-off things I may be able to dig out.

If anyone's interested, you can email me at matthew@matthewdowsmith.com or matthewdowsmith@gmail.com and I'll let you know the pricing. In general, prices range from $50 for a multi-panel page and $100 for a full splash page.

Let me know what you're looking for and I'll see if I've still got it. And good luck with tax season, everyone

From The Files: The October Girl

Since I can't post anything I've been working on this week (between the rights issues and the secrecy of the project, that would BAD), I thought I'd put up an older piece that never saw the light of day.

When I first started thinking about writing a novel, I was pretty sure it would be called THE OCTOBER GIRL, and feature a character called Autumn (pictured above). I got about halfway into the book before realizing it was just an Evan Fade novel without Evan in it. So after a lot of soul-searching, I abandoned the draft I was working on and folded her into my plans for a FADE novel.

At some point in that process, I considered pitching THE OCTOBER GIRL as a graphic novel that would tie into FADE. I even worked up a couple of presentation pieces, including this one. But as the FADE novel began to come together, it became clear that Autumn was more important to Evan's story than I had originally planned, so I had to abandon the graphic novel idea as well.

Still kind of like this illustration, though.

On Shelves Now

MIRROR'S EDGE #6
(DC/Wildstorm)

Looks like the last issue of our MIRROR'S EDGE mini-series has hit the shelves, complete with an incredible cover by Niko Henrickson (see cool illustration to the left). Once again, I'd like to say how great it was working with these people. My third project in a row at Wildstorm, and hopefully not the last.

From the DC website:

"In order to save what's left of her family, Faith must break into the headquarters of the city's premier security firm. To add to the difficulty, she must then break out. If she's caught, it could mean the end for everybody. In the finale of the miniseries event written by famed game writer Rhianna Pratchett and illustrated by Matthew Dow Smith (SUPERNATURAL: ORIGINS) we conclude this adventure further fleshing out the incredible video game world!"

Now Playing

CELL
by Stephen King

Still listening to audiobooks while I work. This time, I thought I'd finally give CELL a listen. Downloaded it a while back from iTunes, but my mood shifted and I needed to listen to something a little less post-apocalyptic.

I have kind of a strange history with this book. It's the first Stephen King novel I didn't finish reading. As a life long fan, I can't think of any King book that I didn't devour within 24 hours, but this one just didn't hold me. I put it down about halfway through and moved on to other things.

Strangely, I've done the same thing with all of his books that came after CELL. Just couldn't get through them. Not sure if my interests changed (I have been a little burned out on traditional horror novels for the last year or so), or if maybe King's writing just isn't holding my attention the way it used to.

Either way, I became determined to finish those books, even if that meant listening to them on audio. I listened to all of DUMA KEY while working on the last issue of MIRROR'S EDGE, and I've got the audio version of LISEY'S STORY in my car, buried under some Radiohead CDs.

(Still can't get into LISEY'S. I keep losing interest at the same point, even on audio. Right at the end of the first section, which is a prolonged flashback. Loses me every time. I'll have to make it past that point one of these days. I'm sure there's lots of interesting stuff later on.)

I'm about 3/4s of the way through CELL now. Further than I made it through the actual book. Still not resonating with much as his earlier works like SALEM'S LOT and BAG OF BONES (which has to be one of his best, in my opinion), but I haven't lost interest in it, yet.

Though I have to say, I kind of wish King was reading this one himself. I'm kind of funny about that. I prefer hearing the author reading the book. Not sure why. They don't do fancy voices or anything, but it's more interesting to hear the writer read their own words. Just brings a little extra something to the table.