The Deadbolt Witch
Posted by johnamor | Filed under Work
As moon looms high and head hangs low,
There sits terror in the hearts that know
That be you simple or be you rich
Your home may harbor the Deadbolt Witch.
Mottled skin of ashen gray,
Eyes so black they blot the day.
If you so spy her be not brave
Know that your children you cannot save
Best keep her out of house and home,
Sure to lock up when you’re alone;
For if the deadbolts you forget,
A laugh from your quarters you will regret.
1997
Posted by johnamor | Filed under Trash
We were tired and hungry. All of thirteen, fourteen years old, with all the mental fatigue a full day of freshman year leaves. Clint wouldn’t stop complaining about how bad an idea it was, and Andy didn’t yet know how to set his new cellphone to silent. It was the early evening of some girl’s birthday, I forget whom now, but I was supposed to sing a song for her at her party. She had asked. Clint had broken two strings on his guitar from practicing minutes before. So here we were, outside the school’s music room. Straining eyes, clear minds, and a wet rag forced down the throat of my conscience.
It had of course occurred to us to make our way to a mall somewhere to legally purchase designated item, but understand that we were lazy high school kids who, by definition, would seek out the stupidest way to accomplish anything.
I didn’t know shit about picking locks, Clint was a different story. He had a Swiss knife with a pull-out pair of tweezers. I guess that’s standard issue. Andy’s ridiculously noisy phone was our flashlight. The whole thing was my idea, naturally, being the idiot that I was/am, so my two best mates in the world agreed to pin it all on me had anything gone tits up. The school was lit well enough at six in the evening, but the music room was a way’s away from all the larger lights, in the part of the school that was there before all the new canteens and annexes. And when one recalls that it was a Jesuit school and remembers all the stories of headless priests and floating nuns, suddenly being in the dark old recesses of the campus becomes even less awesome. But I remember thinking that even some religious wraith would have been a more welcome sight than a custodian or security guard right then. Clint was on his knees with a knife jammed into a doorknob. Andy was illuminating the deed. We were pretty hard to mistake for anything other than misguided youths.
I got distracted by a cockroach and was about to warn Clint that it was heading for his foot when I heard a dull click and the music room door swung open.
It took us all of fifteen minutes to remove a #1 and 2 from the guitar we all liked to use during regular classes. It was one of those thick boxy types with a nice heavy sound to it. I figured if we were going to go through all this trouble, we might as well make the most of it. I had packed the strings into my bag when Clint grabbed another guitar and stripped more of the same strings. “Just to be sure,” He said.
And that’s when a sudden wave of self-actualization washed over me and made me see the John Hughes scene we were in, in third person. There I was, making a big deal about something as trivial as not being able to impress some girl, and my two best friends in the world coming through for me, risking suspension. Expulsion. All just to be sure.
“She better be one hot girl,” Andy said.
At least it was a fun party.
It was two in the morning when Andy sent me a text message saying he had just found a complete set of strings he had forgotten were in his bag.
Good times.
Disclaimer: The events and parties in this text piece may or may not be fictional. All of it is true, up until the point it isn’t.
Tags: good times, high school, journal, memories
The Serpent Seed Doctrine
Posted by johnamor | Filed under Research
Ridiculously talented artist and good friend Miko Punsalan brought this little gem of alternate religious history to my attention a while back, and it struck me as something rife with storytelling and story-making potential. Another one for ye ol’ research notes:
Briefly stated, the “serpent seed” doctrine revolves around an interpretation of Genesis 3:15 which states that there are races of mankind on earth which are directly descended from Satan himself. This doctrine maintains that Satan (the “serpent”) cohabited with mother Eve and engendered a race of men, which are not descended from the direct union of Adam and Eve. It also maintains that this “serpent seed” race is yet present on the earth, and the Blacks and/or the Jews are generally alleged to be the products of this Satanic union with Eve. There are variations on this belief, at least one of which is that the serpent seed race now on earth descended from men of a pre-Adamic race; that they came from the “Satanic” world which preceded the Adamic age, and are not descended from Adam at all. Another is that Cain was the son of Satan and Eve, not the son of Adam and Eve (this variation is utterly ridiculous since Genesis 4:1 states “Adam knew his wife; and she conceived, and bare Cain”).
— excerpt from Steven M. Collins’ “Serpent Seed Heresy” essay
This notion makes a point of noting that the serpent wasn’t cursed to crawl on his belly until after he was cast out of the garden, which hints that he appeared as a man-like creature to Eve. In any case, while I am in no way supportive of racial and anti-semetic sentiment of any sort, some interesting elements of this may come in handy in a future story. We’ll see.
Tags: serpent seed
Micro 002
Posted by johnamor | Filed under Art, Trash
Tambaloslos studies (tiny sketchbook)
(via android)
Tags: folklore, sketch, tambaloslos
Micro 001
Posted by johnamor | Filed under Research
The Blair Witch.
The Ghostly Old Woman from Insidious.
The Woman in Black.
What is it about crones that hints at something so malignantly evil? Do you simply not live to be that age without snacking off a crib or two?
[via android]
Tags: crones witches
Backgrounds, A Love-Hate Relationship
Posted by johnamor | Filed under Rants
My wife and I have recently gotten into The Legend of Korra cartoon. For those of you unfamiliar or living in a foxhole, it’s the sequel to the Avatar: The Last Airbender series from Nickelodeon. I bring this up because a pet peeve of ours when watching animated shows is seemingly rushed or “lifeless” backgrounds, which the Avatar cartoons are never guilty of having.
Confession time. I hate drawing backgrounds. I think every artist finds himself at a point where he does too. The thinking behind it is I got into comics to draw dudes punching each other and hot babes swooning as the hero walks away from an explosion — I get that. I really do. Who gets into comics to draw a park bench? A window is a boring-ass detail to put on paper, and then you go and multiply that by… I dunno… New York. Backgrounds are of the devil, right? Right. At least I used to think so.
From The Legend of Korra; Nickelodeon
I’ve given thought to this, probably longer than I should have, but it’s really not about detail as much as it is about something I like to call Perceived Production Value. I have no idea if that is already a working term that professionals use, but for the sake of my point I’m going to run with it.
Frankly speaking, there is no need for a special effects budget for comics. You can have literally anything you can dream up appear on the page. It’s just a matter of how far your head can go, as well as how much time you’re willing to put into it. So why not take advantage of this and make scenes look as expensive as you can make them? Build a city. Hire a ton of extras. If it’s a nature shot, “spend” a ton of “cash” to “travel” to the most remote locales you can find. The imagined production behind the shot results in a realistic element within the context of the story, and that adds value. If you pull it off, and give it just the right amount of heart your story deserves, 9 times out of 10, you will have created something special.
From Conan the Barbarian; Dark Horse Comics
Perceived production value. If you can make characters live in a place rather than just be in it, you know you’ve succeeded. If you can create a scene immersive and believable and REAL enough, that’s when you know you’ve done your job right.
Backgrounds probably won’t ever stop being a challenge for me, but that only speaks to it’s importance, I think. Nothing important ever came easy, after all.
Tags: art theory, backgrounds, illustration, make comics
Great Moments in Predation
Posted by johnamor | Filed under Research
Tags: animals, crocodile, nature, predation, wildebeest
Urban Animal #3 Cover
Posted by johnamor | Filed under Art
Urban Animal #3
Story and Art by John Amor
Joe continues to struggle with his curse as Frye and Phoebe search for him after the incident at the University of Prizetown. Meanwhile, dark plans to control the young changeling’s fate go into motion.
Dystopium Sampler
Posted by johnamor | Filed under Art
On the few days-hours-minutes I actually get to just futz around and draw whatever I want, I’ve been consciously making sketches tight enough to later on compile into a sketchbook. I’m a lot busier than I’d like to be these days, but I can’t really complain about that. That said, I wish I could complete the thing faster than I currently am, but that’s just how it shakes out. I was inspired by what Brian Wood did a while back, releasing his sketchbook for free. And it wasn’t like it was just a buncha rough stuff either. Dystopium will be a free downloadable cbr and/or pdf file in the coming months, so those of who you care, stay tuned. In the meantime, here’s a few things that’ll be in it…
I quite doubt it’ll be the most thematically unified thing I’ve ever shared with people, but eh… what’re you gonna do?
Tags: dystopium, john amor, sketchbook
Pantsphone Chronicles X
Posted by johnamor | Filed under Photos
