Weird Tales Spots
279. WEIRD TALES SPOTS - A black ink and black color pencil drawing on 11 x 14 coquille board.
Weird Tales editor, Darrell Schweitzer, asked me to draw a new Contents Page Logo (see drawing on top) and several spot drawings that he could use on a regular basis to fill in empty spaces that happen when laying out pages of the magazine.
The thing about spot drawings is that sometimes they can take as long to do, or even longer, than a full page story illustration. I remember having difficulty coming up with ideas for these drawings, I would start one after another, being satisfied with none of them. I must have started over a dozen sketches that I threw away before I stopped and decided to have lunch. But after lunch ideas came to me easily and I was able to make these three drawings in about three hours.
My career as an illustrator was filled with days when I began a day being very enthusiastic about an assignment, but after working for awhile I found myself floundering, unable to do a proper job. And then there were days when I got out of bed very un-enthusiastic about going to work. I had to force myself to climb the stairs, one step at a time, to get to my drawing board. I had to convince myself that I needed to go to work every day, to do the work, and to get the job done. And once I got going things began to go smoothly, and at the end of the day I was really happy with what I did.
So, each day was a challenge, and eventually I came to appreciate what it means to be a professional.
Weird Tales editor, Darrell Schweitzer, asked me to draw a new Contents Page Logo (see drawing on top) and several spot drawings that he could use on a regular basis to fill in empty spaces that happen when laying out pages of the magazine.
The thing about spot drawings is that sometimes they can take as long to do, or even longer, than a full page story illustration. I remember having difficulty coming up with ideas for these drawings, I would start one after another, being satisfied with none of them. I must have started over a dozen sketches that I threw away before I stopped and decided to have lunch. But after lunch ideas came to me easily and I was able to make these three drawings in about three hours.
My career as an illustrator was filled with days when I began a day being very enthusiastic about an assignment, but after working for awhile I found myself floundering, unable to do a proper job. And then there were days when I got out of bed very un-enthusiastic about going to work. I had to force myself to climb the stairs, one step at a time, to get to my drawing board. I had to convince myself that I needed to go to work every day, to do the work, and to get the job done. And once I got going things began to go smoothly, and at the end of the day I was really happy with what I did.
So, each day was a challenge, and eventually I came to appreciate what it means to be a professional.
