Lead Artist on CARNIVAL COMICS!

I'm pleased to announce that I am the new lead artist for CARNIVAL COMICS, which publishes Jazan Wild's phenomenal series the CARNIVAL OF SOULS. The series started out at Marcosia with huge critical success. It has continued onto the digital APP platform to be enjoyed worldwide! Other offerings by CARNIVAL COMICS include the ATOMIC DREAMS graphic novel and every Halloween, Jazan Wild's FUNHOUSE of HORRORS, which yours truly drew Issue #2 of.

I will continue the FUNHOUSE series annually as well as continue the saga of CARNIVAL of SOULS starting with Issue #0 and continuing from Issue #4. The ride has only begun and there is so much more the story has to offer.

You can read this year's FUNHOUSE of Horrors for Free here: http://www.myebook.com/ebook_viewer.php?ebookId=16007

For where to find the rest of the books, search your smart phone for "Carnival Comics" or visit the official site: www.carnivalcomics.com

See you there!

Paint the Town Red

Here is my interview with KVIA News Channel 7 promoting The Hal Marcus "Paint the Town Red" Exhibit with Kelly Foss. The exhibit is open till Jan. 29th 2010 so come down take a look. The gallery is on the corner of Yandell and N.Mesa here in El Paso, TX. If you're a big art fan, these original pieces are great for a Christmas gift.

Holiday COMMISSIONS!

I've never done this before so we'll see how this goes. I've just caught up on a few things and while I'm still busy, I'm making time to offer commissions at lower rates for the Holidays. It makes a great gift.I don't do commissions often because it usually takes me forever since my schedule is so tight but I've tried to streamline my commitments lately to focus on a few specific projects.

I can now do commissions but I'm not sure for how long. I'll keep it simple.

Pencils and Inks are-50$

Just pencils-40$

Print with FREE head shot of your choice-20$ (Ask about available prints 11x17")

These prices are usually double and it would usually take much longer to get them but this is a great deal for Christmas or to just get some art on sale. I'll do known characters but original characters may take a bit longer, so please have reference ready if you want something like that. Otherwise, Marvel or DC characters are preferred. Happy Holidays!! RV

e-mail me @ rudyvasquezart@gmail.com

An old letter to a timeless love....

This was a private letter to someone....who's description is beyond mere words to me.

Immortal Beloved, I'm not writing this for any other reason other than I wanted to write it somewhere and for some reason I didn't want to put it in my journal. I wanted to share a singular thought with you. At this moment as I signed on to write this to you, the Original "Save the Last Dance" by the Drifters came on. At just the right moment too, it's one of many, many old songs I have on this play list and it was that one that had to come on as I typed my first words to you. Anyway, today is a dreary overcast afternoon...sometime past noon and I just finished ushering the kids out to the back yard to play as I wait for my seasoned grilled chicken and rice to cool for lunch. As I do this, my Dad has been reading the paper this morning, watching PBS and has made a few calls. A few calls to my grand mother's house, my Aunt's cell, and my Mom's work. You see, it's about that time my Mom should be pulling up from her job. That beat up, paint peeled, upholstery stained with the lives of a couple generations of children, family van, should make it's way to the front of our house any minute now. It's an hour and a half past the time my Mom gets out of work and we haven't received a phone call. As my Father paces in a subtle way, but very clearly uneasy, he ends up at one point in the living room, standing in front of the door, looking outside like a boy...waiting. His head drifts to the left and to the right as if to say, maybe on this day she will drive up from the opposite end of the street. Maybe I'll catch her at the moment she rounds that corner. Watching him, I couldn't help but relate and recall the many times I was in that position. My mind and my heart immediately stepped into my father's as I felt those days I worked at our home. Remembering that feeling I would get without looking at my watch but feeling like it was about that time you arrived from work. At times it was when you went out and you're excursion or errand ran just late enough that the tinge or worry had set in. In any case, there I was...finding myself, like my father, standing in front of the window peering out every 10 minutes, hoping to catch you as you drove up. At times for lack of a screen door I would open the door and stand under that poor excuse for a porch. Perhaps if I threw the trash out, I would tell myself, I would find you driving up as I walked to or from the dumpster. So, I watch my dad, even now,...with no TV on,..no music, just his uneasiness at the unknown whereabouts of the person he loves. A longing. Maybe the other 23 hours of the day as they work, or run an errand or do their own thing they are content..at ease in the absence of the other. It is at these moments, those slivers of time between those other moments when we feel that connection. To miss, to long, to love someone. Because, I see him and I see myself. If it were anyone else, my Dad would go on living, watch ESPN, read the paper, have lunch. I think it's at these moments, when he thinks perhaps it's taken too long, that those thoughts creep in. What would I do if she were ever gone? If she never drove up, if she were not in his life? I see a man, who loves a women and doesn't "need" but "wants" her to be with him. Not two halves of a whole but complimentaries of one another. He looks out that door, as I did. Wondering what life would be like without her. That is love. I'm not ashamed to have waited for you. I feel a little better everyday and understand that I don't "need" a women to wait at the door for me. She doesn't have to get up or peer out...but I do want someone that, in those moments,...thinks of me; gets a pang as I did, because there is a longing. A want, to Not want to live a life without me. Not a take it or leave it person. Where is the connection, the beauty of mutual partnership that God created for us to be happy, if she goes on without that gut feeling at his prolonged absence? I don't know what this is, or where we stand. I'm as confused as ever I can be, but that's where we began. In obscurity, with no real boundaries or structure and maybe that's where we'll end. I want someday to look out that front door like my father for the woman I love and have my heart sigh when she drives up. Someday.....

Well, there she is, my Mom's home. Thanks for listening. Rudy

The more I teach the more I learn.

Before I get started boring you, here's something I found interesting. I had researched my genealogy and names origin in school and decided to redo my research to see if it was accurate. It was correct and thought I'd share it with you.

VASQUEZ-From the root VASCO; son of.

From the medieval Spanish name Velasco, which came from the Spanish surname Velázquez, which possibly meant "CROW" in Basque. A famous bearer was the Portuguese explorer Vasco da Gama, the first person to sail from Europe around Africa to India.

Alternate meaning-"SHEPHERD" of-from the Basque region (Southern France to Northern Spain)

RUDY:

Old Germanic in origin. Rudolph; meaning- FAME WOLF

I thought it was cool. So, I guess I'm a famous Wolf that Shepherds Crows/Ravens. I had some acquaintances that believed in tossing some black magic at people, via the Raven. I imagine if I put stock in that nonsense it wouldn't affect me much.

The stuff I write will be both philosophical and practical so take what works for you and disregard what does not.

I will be doing this in a very specific way by using the book of Five Rings by Miyamoto Musashi as translated by Stephen F. Kaufman (Hanshi 10th Dan) as a template. Like before I will liken the martial arts with the art of comics. I want to emphasize that Miyamoto Musashi is Japan’s Sword Saint and possibly the greatest swordsman that ever lived. He lived in a time when killing was a way of life. Just like the old west so his ideals are extreme and uncompromising. For the few of us that choose this “art” of comics as way of life and not just a hobby we must view it in an uncompromising way. If not, the quality of the art suffers, our paychecks suffer and the efficiency of reaching our goals will suffer.

DEATH

Musashi was a warrior. To a samurai, achieving perfection was death. Or in death we finally realize perfection. We recite that perfect poem as we relinquish the graspiness of life that clouds our minds. For us, admitting perfection in our own skill or art is a rare if not completely unattainable thing. In fact if we begin to view our work as without flaw then, we are indeed dead. (Value your Editors) There will be no chance of improving upon perfection and so what will be the point of continuing? That is not to say that we cannot view someone else’s art as perfect. That is the nature of “subjectiveness”.

MASTER

“Warriors understand the only real measure of his ability lies in being able to beat men in fights.”-Musashi

This is true for a warrior because that is what he does. His occupation is rooted in combat. We as artists, more specifically comic book artists may in theory compete with one another in an over crowded market but in truth the only person we need to fight is ourselves. Be aware of those that make exclamations of superiority. Those that bark more than they bite like the Chihuahua. Those that seek rivalries and conflict in an industry like ours are simply insecure. Fame seekers that are done before they begin. Beating others makes you a fighter, but conquering yourself makes you a Master in the only way that makes sense. Every time you are working on something, try to beat yourself. Study and push yourself. Friendly rivalries have there place, the other kind only distracts you from defeating the only thing you need to be concerned with. Your own limitations.

For instance, I learned a new word this week: Mary Sue. Or for a male, Gary Stu. This is a character, or a style of writing that is created for one purpose: Wish Fulfillment (Of the writer/creator) I’m plugging this subject in here because this occurs a lot in this market where it’s so easy to do. With a publisher as big as Marvel and DC with so many editors and fans it’s hard to get anything by that is selfish to the writer because rest assured an irate fan that feels a good story is taking a back seat to the selfish wishes of a writer will be heard and acknowledged. They are paying for it after all.

In a smaller market where we can pretty much publish whatever we want with Print on Demand and even old style photo copy comics, we don’t have those checks and balances as much. So unless you have honest friends or editors with balls, we can get caught up in our Mary Sues and create and write characters that only serve us. Now, if we don’t care about what others think or don’t care about pushing ourselves as creators it’s ok. However; if we want to push ourselves, avoid creating all powerful, generic characters or hollow stories that push the limits of the generic. (Hence my NAZI-ZOMBIE-NINJAS in my Fan Girl piece) It was tongue in cheek.

It’s not easy writing something original these days, or creating something completely original but it’s not impossible. Quantity is not quality so as long as you keep trying to say something honest and evaluate your self you have nowhere to go but up.

Thanks for listening,

Humbly yours,

Rudy V.

RED SHIFT Web Comic-Wednesday Updates!!

I've got several things on my plate, not the least of which is the work I'm doing for ROGUE WOLF Entertainment. They're a new publisher that does online comics that eventually get collected into printed comics. I've picked up the art chores on their weekly updated Space Opera, titled RED SHIFT. It's updated every Wednesday and my first contribution to the saga posted last week. http://comics.rogue-wolf.net/redshift/

A new page posts tomorrow. So please go there, bookmark this site and check back every Wednesday for a new advancement on the space saga. The pages you'll see are free but if you want the full issue down loads and color pages, it cost a subscription. Either way you can start the story from the beginning and get caught up at no cost to you.

While you're there, read The VEIL and NOCTURNAL ESSENCE. I'll be doing a few pages for NOCTURNAL ESSENCE (Vampire/Werewolf organized crime stuff), as well but I'll update you on that.

DON'T FORGET TO BOOK MARK THAT PAGE, IT'S FREE!!! http://comics.rogue-wolf.net/redshift/

Thanks again for your support, it makes all this worth it.

Give me a True LADY

You know, especially in this generation, I feel there is a shortage of gentlemen. Believe me I agree and I hear it all over. It's on T.V., it's on the radio, it's complained about by the women we know. They say, " Where are the real men?" "Where are the gentlemen?"

Especially, with the uprise of sub cultures, in rock, or hip hop where recording artists are singing about women in ways that I wouldn't repeat to any girl I know, at least not if I was serious. lol-The thing is, are we programming the women too? Are they starting to buy it? Are they becoming, bitches, and hoe's, and just fine pieces. Do they think that, that is where there actual power is?

In a way they're right. For most men, we are ruled by one thing. This is an absolute statement but in a nutshell, it's "sex". The thought of it, the prospect of it, the sight of it. Women somehow have learned to use their appearance, they're bodies, their behavior to manipulate us. I can't say I blame them.

Still, this isn't something we all don't already know. What I'm here to point out is our FOCUS on GENTLEMEN, and our LACK of focus on the ABSENCE of LADIES.

Being either one means, having manners, being kind, and most importantly being considerate. The problem is, having already admitted that there aren't many "gentlemen" out there, who's demanding that a woman act like a "lady". As long as some idiot guy gets sex at some point he doesn't care how he's treated. If he doesn't like how he's treated or isn't going to get any he moves on to the next target/victim.

Yeah, I think women are so used to being the "victim" and demanding that they be treated with respect that they think nothing of their lack of respect for men. Their lack of consideration, thoughtfulness, courtesy. A woman that uses these qualities with not only people she knows, but with anyone, is a woman worth respecting. Anyone else is only a little girl and deserves how men treat them.

I suppose as long as more guys keep playing the game and "acting" like nice guys to get what they want, the "girls" won't have a real need to grow up.

I personally have encountered so many little girls with no, courtesy, that finding a real women with etiquette, manners, and consideration is like the holy grail. Believe me, if you are one, I will value you as a friend because it reminds me they exist. If I am ever lucky enough to call a true lady a partner, I'll appreciate that for what it is.

For the rest of the girls, you're a dime a dozen. Sizing men up, like men do you, acting like behaving as we do is cool. Cussing, smoking, ignoring, drinking to the point of embarrassment, not calling, lying,..ect.

Don't complain about men and how they treat you. You're not earning any kind of respect. Only that he'll be nice to you, until he gets it.

Don't complain about the lack of gentlemen,....they're just as rare as a true LADY.