Joe Golem and Drowning City

[noble_enough]

Thank you Kees. I completely agree.

I've experimented with both tube and dry pallets, there are benefits to both and the more expensive ones don't always have better results. But I still wonder what specific combination Mike uses. For both paint and paper.

When it came to inking I used so many different pens for so long, sticking with one for a while and dealing with the problems they had, eventually Microns were my pen of choice despite the bleeding/smudging that would occur. But back in 2009 at SDCC I asked Mike what pen he uses to ink and he showed me the Staedtler sketch pens. I bought some, tried them out, and will never go back to anything else. They are perfect for what I do. No bleeding no nothing just perfect ink..

Hence why asking a industry professional what tools they use can be a good thing.

[Kees_L]

Yeah, we completely agree: asking certainly won't hurt!

But not receiving an answer may be the result of many different factors:

Likely because of time seeming limited or perhaps potential incertainties over one's own expertise might be things, even for *pro's*.

I'm fairly confident a lot of artists will be complete snobs over what tools they prefer, snobs or either superstiteous even, but even the biggest snobs or "super-stits" might not feel totally confident over their own expertise all the time?

And even confident artists knowing everything might still believe in keeping options open or thinking self-experience might just be to work best?

[the goddamn batman]

Whatever dude.

[Kees_L]

Oh and Noble / Mike S.,

one more thing: honesty dictates I should let you know I had a few new thoughts on the matter, by which I could be to reassess myself, kind of, potentially in a fully new light:

How would you feel, if a new interview would come to reveal to you, how mr. Mike would have been gladly using a totally new and different pen-brand for a while now, to most favorable results? (This is merely a hypothetical, mind you!)

Would you still feel happy with using your preferred pen brand? Or would you feel yourself led astray for any of it?

You see, this would be how I would think every person should feel glad about how everything in this world would potentially be all relative, consisting of countless options or ways all leading to something or somewhere.
It would be why all people should welcome any doubting or insecurities, eventhough people should remain to seek out goals with following them through despite all the optionalness or relativity.
People should feel empowered by their own doubts or insecurities both as by the myriad of varying options available to them, more rather than feeling hampered by them.

Nothing has to ever be or become onesided or binary - really nothing at all, not for any people capable of thought or doubt at least.

Or artists lacking their preferred tools at some or any point would find themselves totally incapacitated like poultry shot in the wing!

And that would not do.

[noble_enough]

Well I'd be lying if I didn't say I would try that pen as well!
But I think it would just be to see what he was talking about.

I doubt I would make the switch just because of him being an artist I admire as a way of trying to be 'just like him'. Thinking if it works for Mike it will for me. As that is not always the case.

But whenever an artist I admire posts the materials they use I always try them out to experiment with new things.

For instance I used to use india ink for inkwashing, I couldn't control it that well but I kept at it. Really it just layered on too dark to quickly no matter the water ratio I used. (I really fumbled with it for the longest time) And then I asked another artist I like who does a lot of inkwashes what he uses to make the layers come out as such and he stated that he uses Sumi inks, which I had never heard of at the time. I tried it out, loved the results, and now I use that for ink washing.

I don't want to ever get to the point that I say 'these are my tools and I'll never use anything else' because I want to always try to new stuff so I always seek new suggestions from professionals who know what theyre talking about. Despite what Google thinks, it doesn't always know best.

And I know that what hypothetical, but I seriously I can't imagine any pen better than I'm using now, zero complaints all around. :)

[Kees_L]

Heh, well Noble, know that I now want to be using that pen of yours .

Once at a signing or con-thing I attended some pro's got to be talking materials. And a pro in question made a face at the stuff he was using at that particular time (in a jolly way I might add) - and a strange sensation went through the fans waiting in line for any sketches to acquire.
It really seemed as if some of them were thinking: well I don't want no inferior materials on my sketch, thankyouverymuch...

And everyone kept frowning at the box of watercolors in question, but at the same time sounding way polite about the results with some relief to it.

And the pro's I've heard speaking on stuff to use foremostly would be ping-ponging at feeling secure both as insecure over what stuff to use. But all of them told me that quality materials would be handy if not totally vital that much. They were quite confident over coffee or either soda drinks to being a major thing .

[the goddamn batman]

Just to chime in an unwanted opinion;

Best thing I ever did was ignore what tools my favorite artists use and find what worked for me.

[noble_enough]

Just to chime in an unwanted opinion;

Best thing I ever did was ignore what tools my favorite artists use and find what worked for me.

Yep, I look for what works best for me, but with the variety of stuff out there that you can buy... I've found its best to start with supplies people use and support and seeing if that works for me or not.

Otherwise you can go to an art store and drop a grand on different kinds of pens(paints, pencils etc) just to try to find something that works for you, which to me seems a waste of money. Plus I don't have endless buckets of money to use like that.

But thats just my opinion

[Middenway]

Yep, I look for what works best for me, but with the variety of stuff out there that you can buy... I've found its best to start with supplies people use and support and seeing if that works for me or not.

Otherwise you can go to an art store and drop a grand on different kinds of pens(paints, pencils etc) just to try to find something that works for you, which to me seems a waste of money. Plus I don't have endless buckets of money to use like that.

But thats just my opinion

I hear you there! Nothing worse than buying something and after using it a few times realising it's not a match for you at all. Especially going through uni, I was frustrated trying to find the right tools for me when I had barely any money to spend. It really sucked.

[the goddamn batman]

Sure that sucks. We've all done it. It's part of the process.
Try passing those things on to other artists.

I've got a box of all the stuff that didn't work out for me.
But in the end I've got a couple things that do work for me, and they're priceless to me. That box of stuff I don't use? Totally worth finding the stuff that did.

[Scurlogg_Hawkk]

Cool new stuff from the master itself.Gooooooddd

[Big_H]

Joe Golem and the Copper Girl

In 1925, earthquakes and a rising sea level left Lower Manhattan submerged under more than thirty feet of water, so that its residents began to call it the Drowning City.

In Joe Golem and the Copper Girl, hard-nosed private detective Joe Golem and his employer are faced with one of their strangest cases yet. When a young mother named Rachael Blum arrives on their doorstep, frantic about the bizarre changes in her daughter's appearance and the terrible dreams plaguing the girl, it's up to Joe to separate nightmare from reality. But Joe Golem knows better than anyone that sometimes, the two are one and the same.

Special release as an eBook February 28th, 2012.

http://www.christophergolden.com/copper.html

Does anybody know if this is just a short story? I'm assuming since Joe Golem and The Drowning City comes out after this, March 25th.

[Big_H]

http://www.amazon.com/Joe-Golem-Copper-Girl-ebook

It's only 5KB so I'm guessing it is a short story but it's also just a buck!!!

[Middenway]

Joe Golem and the Copper Girl

In 1925, earthquakes and a rising sea level left Lower Manhattan submerged under more than thirty feet of water, so that its residents began to call it the Drowning City.

In Joe Golem and the Copper Girl, hard-nosed private detective Joe Golem and his employer are faced with one of their strangest cases yet. When a young mother named Rachael Blum arrives on their doorstep, frantic about the bizarre changes in her daughter's appearance and the terrible dreams plaguing the girl, it's up to Joe to separate nightmare from reality. But Joe Golem knows better than anyone that sometimes, the two are one and the same.

Special release as an eBook February 28th, 2012.

http://www.christophergolden.com/copper.html

Does anybody know if this is just a short story? I'm assuming since Joe Golem and The Drowning City comes out after this, March 25th.

http://www.amazon.com/Joe-Golem-Copper-Girl-ebook

It's only 5KB so I'm guessing it is a short story but it's also just a buck!!!

Anyone else hear about this? It's a 32-page ebook.

Yeah, definitely just a short story.

[Big_H]

Whoops. Missed your original post Middenway. I just saw it on Golden's web site and got excited.

Has anybody heard what they'll be doing for the second book in their two book deal???