Re: ANDY LEE IS THE MAN!!!
MON, 10/21/02, 4:39 a.m. - In Response To: ANDY LEE IS THE MAN!!! (Monsieur Jean)

Hey, thanks for the update on Andy in Paris:)

Very glad that you were able to spend some time with him. I'm sure he's loving Paris.
I bet he did a lot of sketches!

Thanks for all the kind words. Please give my hello to Numa and the comic store crew!

DM

Allright everyone. Open your eyes for the extra talented artist named Andy Lee. Had the pleasure to meet him this week end at a Paris convention where I was taking care of the artists at the sketching booth, and man, all those painted sketches I saw going...sheesh...art, real art. No wonder he's one of David's close friend: you can see the same love for art in both!Ando also, being a friend of David you can't find a nicer guy. He even helped us unload the truck at the store after the con...
Anyway, just everyone, please!! Have a look at Andy Lee's work!! It's amazing!! Chinese ink painting with an oriental style, had colours, style, and an amazing sense of esthetism. And you ALMOST get it. Just go to his website...one click away!! http://www.findandy.com/

Hi Chris,

I remember you. I hope you are doing well. Wow, this post sort of took me by surprise. I remember when I was in high school thinking how great it would be to be able to go to the Kubert School, and it is flattering that my name has been mentioned in your class.

It's kind of a strange question for me to approach because I never begin thinking that I want it to look like me. In fact, I'd probably try to avoid doing a characarature of what people my consider "my look".

Trying to re-use some of the stuff you scrapped may be a good solution. I've found myself in that situation often. After I think something may be finished, I then assess it and look for any weak or boring or unnecasary parts, and I try to fix or eliminate them. So I have often ripped out the good parts and done away with the static stuff, and re-pasted them onto another board. Hopefully in a way that has it's own life and vitality.

The only example that I can think of my working from someone else's script is my DD story with Bendis. So if you keep with the Ellis script that might be helpful to look at. But the other thing to consider is that Bendis wrote it with me in mind.

I did a Grendal story (black/white/red) that Matt Wagner originally wrote for Jon Muth, and I inherited it when Muth got too busy. So that may be an example of working from a script that was not written with you in mind. The question being, how to communicate what is necasary in a way that best supports and breathes your own life in to the script without being a slave to the information you need to convey in a way that could make it stiff or boring.

Hope this helps.

Please give my kindest regards to Joe.

DM

hello Dave,

this is chris sandford. i have met you twice; once at NY-i gave you a painting i did of ice, and the other at last Philly-con. anyway, i have an assignment for Joe kubert, in which we are to ape a popular comic artist's style. i chose you. i found a warren ellis script at his website and used that. i did the roughs and showed them to joe. problem is i followed the script very closely and i guess i lost your "flair" to it. joe said your layouts wouldn't have followed the strictness of the script, that you would have made it look much better. which is true. i just don't know what to do. i approached it wrong and i need to do it again.

i would like to know what you would have done and how i could better go about doing the assignment. i am thinking i should come up with my own script, something that would more directly reflect something that you would have done. i am pretty darn familiar with your work so i shouldn't have much of a problem, but i am running out of time and still don't know what to do. i have three pages to work with. what should i do? i don't want to straight up copy something you have done, i just want to do it HOW you would do it.

i ripped up what i did. i thought of going the barron storey route and take the good elements from the destroyed work, and create something from them. i don't know.

well, thanks for your time, sorry this is so long. i would greatly appreciate any feed back and even your blessing on "ripping off" your style. thank you

chris sandford
sandman

I thought this was kind of cute, and it's pretty relevant.

I've been gradually introducing my younger sister to Kabuki over the past few months. She's really getting into the series, she loves David's art, and was so jealous when she saw the pictures I brought home from seeing him and Anh at Wizard World.

Anyway, she recently went out and got a pet turtle. He's pretty small, and mostly just swims around. She's named him after Mr. Mack himself, in fact. Once, when I asked her what he was up to in his aquarium, she responded with: "Probably just eatin' and poopin'."

I'm new to David Mack's work and i enjoyed it a lot. I just read Skin Deep, Can anyone suggest a good next. Like i said I'm new to this comic and there is so many i don't even know where to go from here.I'd like to learn more about David Macks work. Thanks

I appreciate that you read my work. Thanks for the kind words.

Metamorphosis continues right after Skin Deep, so that may be a good NEXT book for you. And Circle of Blood is the very beginning. So it is also a good one to start with and will give you a new perspective on Both Skin Deep and Meta.

There are a total of 6 Kabuki stories collected in paperback or hardcover. The volume number (order of reading is on the spine of each).

Let me know what you think of the other books when you get a chance.

Kindest regards,

David Mack

A reminder that Andy Lee and I intend to be signing at the Motor City con THIS weekend. I'll have original art, prints, books, and more. We will be happy to sign any of our books that you bring or pick up from us.

Just to make it clear, I was surprised and flattered at the mention of me, not the assignment itself.
I do understand the practical value of this. When I was in college, some teachers had us do the same kind of projects in our drawing or painting classes. Not in reference to comic artists but other historical artists. It gives you a good jumping off point. And lets you get passed what you might percieve as the superficial aspects of one kind of painting or another. Lets you see it from the scaffolding up. I've done paintings "in the vein of" (as our teacher called them) other painters throughout art history. In my case, I think it broadened my perspective a bit.

--I can't believe that Joe (Kubert), whom I regard highly as a comic artist, would actually give a lesson in "copying" another artists style.

Its not as if this "practice" isn't done enough in this industry already (and at the professional level to)!

Artists should inspire other aspiring artists and even to the degree of influencing them in their formative years. BUT just learing to copy them (I know this was just supposed to be a lesson....in...copying?) whats the practical use?

Its like showing toddlers how to walk with cruches instead of on their own. Of course we learn by example. But if students should be learning by
observing or studying the "why" of another artist's work. And then applying the information of what was observed to their own work.

I know I may have gone on to long about this, but the notion of copying (especially at the level of a Kubert school) is very unsettling.

sincerely, Toby

My girlfriend bought me that book a while back! Funny,

DM

Dr. Seuss also had a turtle named Mack in his poem "Yertle the Turtle".

Just a coincidence probably.

-John