Aberrant Press

Just a quick thought before bed…

One day, this man:

Will play, in a biopic, this man:

When this happens, I should demand a casting credit…

Today is the birthday of Gramm Matthew, Esquire. You might know him as the creator of Disposable Graffiti, but I’m lucky enough to know him as one of my best friends. To show him some love, why not check out his DeviantArt page and buy a zombie print or five. Alternately, you can also contact us to purchase a copy of Disposable Graffiti or just wait around a little bit for me to get it up in the store I’m installing here.

I know, I know. MoveOn.org is a big, commie-infested organization with designs to destroy America, but you have to admit asking for an investigation into people who probably tanked our global economy willfully is a shared desire no matter which party you vote for… Even if you don’t believe that regulations should be tightened, punishing people who defrauded the public is sorta a good thing. With that said, you can sign a petition to the president asking for this by clicking here.

And just in the interest of full disclosure, here is the letter that I included:

Dear Mister President,

I am of the opinion that you have been far more effective in these last few years at instituting change than most seem willing to give you credit for. I have seen that generally your policies are aimed at taking the long view and are based on the principle of getting what can be done realistically accomplished. I sign this petition and send this letter in the fervent hope that that same view includes investigating those responsible for moving forward with a business plan that was guaranteed to disrupt the solvency of our nation’s (world’s, even) economy. I don’t demand immediate action or swift revenge, but instead ask for a thorough investigation followed by any appropriate legal action (ideally in full view of the public eye) within the statute of limitations for any applicable crimes. Up until this point, most would argue that your stance on “Wall Street” corruption has been weak, but I continue to hope that this is just another case of you taking the long view.

Sincerely,

Justin Newberry

P. Craig Russell has a funding campaign up on Kickstarter right now for a series of videos and a DVD dealing with the art of graphic storytelling. Russell is a master of the form, so helping to get these made should be the goal of anyone looking to become a better artist in the medium (I’ve already pledged).

So here’s Jupiter, just out there somewhere… Spinnin’ around… Plottin’ the destruction of us all…

The title is more than a bit sarcastic. Actually, I’m a little dismayed that I have had the site up for this long and only posted on it 100 times. Over the course of three years that equals about two and a half posts per month. Yes, I have blogged much more than that throughout the years in various places, but this is sorta my e-home and I feel like I’ve taken as little care of it as I have my actual home.


So with that in mind, I’m making it my goal to step up my game and be at 1000 posts three years from now. That’s only one a day, but when you consider I was only doing one every fortnight, I think it would be a serious improvement. I’m also making it a short-term goal to get a store on this website, because commerce is encouraging. So even though the new year has already begun in earnest, I’m making these my resolutions. Check back more often, safe in the knowledge that I will be posting content at a brisker pace from now on. If it seems like I am being negligent in this, feel free to chide me until I’m back on track. Here’s to the next 900 posts!

Did these on and after Free Comic Book Day for people. Had such a long back list that it took me nearly a month to catch up!
First is a weird one that some guy asked for. He wanted Colossus wearing a sombrero and sporting a Jesus tattoo while shaking some maracas with an explosion in the background. So that’s what I went for:

Here’s a quickie Vader I banged out in about five minutes for a lady who was in a hurry:

Next, here’s one I did of a woman who wanted herself as Wonder Woman. I always hate doing these during an event because they take forever and the people you are drawing tend to stand, which throws off the perspective a little. It still came out alright though:

And finally, we have a pretty stand one of Death and Dream from Sandman. I didn’t want to just do them standing around, so I tried to do something that spoke a little bit to the characters:

I don’t know, man. It just sorta popped into my head and refused to leave without a full-on Photoshop exorcism. So here you go: my friend, Greg, who’s last name happens to (sorta) be…

So I had tried to fund my graphic novel on Kickstarter awhile back, but fell short of the goal. This time out, the goal has been lowered and I’ve got my fingers crossed. Check it out below!

And what the hell, here’s the widget, too.

I had to write this. I did not choose to sit here, clacking away on my keyboard at two in the a.m. to tell you an anecdote about the drive to create. It’s flowing out of me and to stop it, to dam up the torrent pouring forth would be giving in to fear. In truth, I have to get out of the way or risk being whisked off by the current. The rational man in me wants to do something else. Surf the web. Clean the house. Jack off. Anything but do something that I genuinely want to do; something that I in fact revel in: telling a story. Already, in choosing to preface it, I open myself to criticism and ostracizing. “Ooh, look who thinks he’s an artiste!” Fuck it. I lay myself before you and am prepared should you pull daggers on me.

What spurred this on? The snowball started it’s downhill descent the other night at our weekly Drink and Draw meeting. Gilbert (the artist on Super) had just read The War of Art by Steven Pressfield. It had enlightened him; putting down in words what he already felt deep in his gut and in a way that said it in easy, defined terms. In reading it, the treatise felt like a “well, duh.” sort of revelation, but one that he (like most artists) obfuscated through the doubt and terror embedded in his psyche. Like a good friend, he had to share it with the rest of us. “Get it.” was his command. Get it I did… Two days later. I got it two days later, because at my core, I’m a procrastinator. Which is a big part of what The War of Art is all about: fighting past the bullshit we throw in our own way in order to be what we want to.

Finally sitting down to read it, after wasting the bulk of my day online keeping up with people on Facebook and reading articles on Cracked (be forewarned, it will steal your entire day), Mr. Pressfield’s writing instantly sucked me in and did for me what I think it must have done for Gilbert. It held up a big fucking mirror with which I could see every inch of my weakness. It covered not only the reasons people procrastinate (he even gives them the all-encompassing name “Resistance”), but also the answer to fighting said Resistance. No real surprise that it’s the simplest answer there is (do the work), but it’s said with such certainty and clarity that this easy solution becomes an instant internal mantra. Do the work, Justin. Fuck everything else; fight through it and do the work.

Which brings us to the crux of the story. This thing was motivating me in a way that I hadn’t felt since I first starting writing Super years ago. I felt the absolute need to write something. If we refuse to let Resistance hold us back, if we indeed just do the work, the stars (for whatever reason you choose to believe) will start to align and in fact help you along the path. Resistance will put up a fight about it, though. While sitting here, plowing through the sage words of advice and considering what I’d write upon finishing, my roommate called. She needed to be picked up from a casino twenty-five minutes drive from the house. Would an hour away from this give Resistance time to take hold and sap me of my drive for another evening, thus making it doubly hard to resume the fight tomorrow? I climbed into the truck and started to pull away from the house when she called again. Her boyfriend had just gotten off work and was already on his way.

The stars align.

I stop off to grab a quick bite to eat, and come right back here. Armed with not only a still fresh desire to write something, but something to write about as well. Something I knew instantly that I had to write. How could I sit here and read such a thing, be given a perfect example of it in action, and then not pour it back out onto digital paper? I can’t. I won’t. I think back to when Gilbert and I started Super. I remember saying that I was no longer asleep; that I was finally awake. We plunged in and worked hard until we didn’t. Life got in the way. The desire for comfort pulled us away from our desks and onto the couch (usually to watch Star Trek: TNG). We nodded back off and struggled to get the book finished, losing years in the process. Tonight, The War of Art reawakened me. I can’t guarantee that I won’t slip, that I won’t have lazy days here and there, but I will fight as hard as I can. Because I have to.

Now if you’ll excuse me, I have to go back and finish reading The Art of War. In this case, I don’t think Mr. Pressfield will mind my procrastination…

Kermit sums it all up nicely (and in song, to boot)!