LA Times Festival of Books

If you’ll be at the LA Times Festival of Books this weekend at the USC campus, come find me at Booth 513. I’ll have tons of my prints and plenty of my children’s book. Plus admission is FREE :)

The Shooter

"The Shooter" is a 3 page comic I created based on an idea I got two years ago. I finally had some time to devote to it. Hope you like it!

After shipping out the books and rewards to all my amazing Kickstarter backers, I'm happy to announce that my "SMALL DOGS" book is now available publicly on my Storenvy page. Simply click on the link below to check it out and for anyone who'd like their copy dedicated to someone in particular I'd be happy to oblige :) Happy Friday, everyone and remember to stay small!

http://mauricioabrilart.storenvy.com/

"Small Dogs" Is Going To Press

"SMALL DOGS" Update: I'm happy to say that earlier this week I was able to sign off on the new patch proofs I received from the printer which means that "Small Dogs" is going to press! Yup, after a few rounds of adjusting the color settings, I can finally get the book printed at the quality I wanted. I'll be obtaining all the other cool rewards for my Kickstarter backers in the mean time but if you'd still like a copy, you'll now be able to get one after I receive them. THANK YOU to those of you who supported the campaign and made this possible!

"Small Dogs" Kickstarter Update

The first proofs for "Small Dogs" children's book are in, and I got to review them in person with my client rep yesterday. They're looking good, and I just have to make a few tweaks that only my eye can probably see as I want to make sure the artwork is printed as great as it can be. Thank you to Kickstarter and to everyone who's supported this project for allowing me to even get this far in the process. I can't wait to share the end product with all of you.

Last Kickstarter Weekend!

Just three days left on my “Small Dogs” children’s book Kickstarter. It’s been fully funded already so if you’ve been thinking about jumping on board but were just waiting, now’s definitely the time to do so. A BIG THANK YOU to everyone who’s helped put this book into production very soon. I can’t wait to share it with you all :)

http://kck.st/1R4DLTn

SMALL DOGS Kickstarter 100% Funded!

HAHA in between the time I made this image and was about to post it, my Kickstarter campaign got FULLY FUNDED! Seriously THANK YOU FOR SUPPORTING AND/OR SHARING IT! The way Kickstarter works is now any additional funds raised will go toward stretch goals which are ways to enhance the existing rewards or add new ones. In the mean time thank you again for your support and for those that haven’t yet pledged, if you do now you’re guaranteed to get the book. Cheers!

http://kck.st/1R4DLTn

SMALL DOGS Kickstarter First Week Almost Over

Holy moly! Thank you so much to everyone who’s supported my first ever Kickstarter. Despite all the planning and preparation I did, that didn’t stop me from being crazy nervous the moment it went live. For those that don’t know, it’s a children’s book that tells the sweet story about how a young Chihuahua deals with the fact that he’ll never be as big as the other dogs and decides to embrace his differences. Thanks for reading and checking it out if you haven’t :)

http://kck.st/1R4DLTn

SMALL DOGS Kickstarter Going Strong

This story is meant to show kids that sometimes we might want things in life that we can't control (like being a big dog for instance), and instead of looking for a magic solution the only thing we can control is how we react to it. This particular scene shows young Seth hearing something that he'll soon come to hear throughout the story - that he's too small to do anything helpful. 

Please check out the page if you haven't done so yet: http://kck.st/1R4DLTn

And thanks so much to all of you who've already supported the book :)

New Batman Short Film Coming Soon!

My new film is my take on the Batman origin. It's a lot shorter than my previous films but I think you'll like it all the same :)

SMALL DOGS Kickstarter Has Officially Launched!

I'm happy to announce that the Kickstarter for SMALL DOGS has LAUNCHED! Now you can get your own signed copy along with other cool rewards that include custom art of you or your pet. If you're a fan of my artwork and enjoy the kind of storytelling I do, I definitely think you'll enjoy this book. Your support would mean the world to me, and if this isn't your cup of tea but you'd still like to help, please share it with anyone you think might enjoy it. Thank you so much for reading and for any and all support!

http://kck.st/1R4DLTn

SMALL DOGS Friendships

At the heart of my "Small Dogs" story is the value of friendship. Little Seth's journey to prove the big dogs wrong wouldn't be complete without the help of Chester the aspiring superhero Pug and Winston the nerdy Dachshund. I'll be posting some more details about these three and their story as the Kickstarter draws near. Thanks you for all the support and encouragement thus far!

"Small Dogs" Coming Soon

Many of you can probably tell that storytelling is at the heart of what I do. Along that line I'd like to introduce another story. It's a children's book called "Small Dogs" that I wrote and illustrated three years ago. The book you're seeing here is a test copy which I've used to help me edit and refine it to the point that I feel it is ready to be shared with all of you. In the coming weeks I plan to post more information about the story in anticipation of launching my first ever Kickstarter campaign to help get the book printed. I've put a ton of work into this and I genuinely hope you'll enjoy seeing it. Thank you for all of your support and encouragement so far!

"A Smallville Man" Deleted Scenes & Lessons Learned

To round off the revisit of my Superman short film, I thought it'd be interesting to share with you some of my "deleted scenes." Of course these are just illustrations ranging from rough sketches to fully rendered images, but they're still valuable in examining the creative process as well as just being a fun look into the different directions the story almost took. Hope you enjoy!

DAILY PLANET SEQUENCE

Our first introduction to Lois and Clark takes place within their office, so I thought a shot showing the interior of the Daily Planet office outside their door would be an appropriate transition. Due to time constraints I had to cut this scene out, but I also realized that in the end it wasn't as crucial as I had thought. The transition from the exterior of the building to the shot of Clark's hand pinning the paper was more than enough to link the characters with the setting.

TAKEAWAY #1: Keep only the parts that are absolutely necessary to the story.

This shot was an additional part of the Lois and Clark Daily Planet sequence and was ultimately scrapped due to time limits but rightly so. I can imagine if the song was longer I might have been able to include this shot, but it would've been completely repetitive. The shot overhead tells the same story and much more interestingly in my opinion. 

TAKEAWAY #2: Avoid telling the same story with different beats.

This shot was intended to go right before the scene where we first see Superman flying from the Daily Planet. I thought it would be an interesting way to depict the goodbye between him and Lois but again got scrapped due to time constraints.

TAKEAWAY #3: Sometimes you just gotta lose some stuff even if you think it's cool.

SOUTH AMERICA SEQUENCE

In my original story I had the South American farmer joined by a group of his fellow farmers as he stood up to the construction company attempting to kick them off their land. I even got so far as to fully illustrate a few of these scenes. I ended up abandoning this concept for story reasons.

TAKEAWAY #4: Don't be afraid to backtrack just because you've already done a lot of work.

Really early on I played around with the idea of having large mechs serve as the machines used by the oil company to clear the farmers' land. I wanted Superman to have something physical to fight, but I quickly realized that I wanted the story to feel more grounded in reality. Yes it includes a superhero from another planet but that is the accepted premise of my story and for some intuitive reason including technology like these mechs just didn't feel right. So I quickly scrapped it in favor of the more realistic military/guerrilla conflict.

TAKEAWAY #5: Quickly decide on the rules of your story's reality and commit to them.

This is probably my favorite shot from the entire project and it never made the final cut. Why? Because I couldn't quite fit it organically within the story I wanted to tell. Originally Superman was supposed to attack the military once they had attacked the farmers, but I realized that that would have betrayed the nature of his character. Only after trying to safely deescalate the situation would he have resorted to using his powers just as his father had taught him.

TAKEAWAY #6: Always think through your character's decision-making process.

I really liked this shot of Superman emerging from the helicopter crash so much so that I even got around to almost finishing the rendering. However when it came time for the final cut, I had to scrap it in favor of the shot pictured below that catered to the actual storytelling by also showing the jet flying above.

TAKEAWAY #7: Don't compromise your storytelling just for the sake of pretty visuals.

ADDITIONAL DELETED SCENES

Sometimes scenes were cut for highly important reasons (as shown above), but sometimes it was also from just having gone down the wrong creative rabbit hole. The following shots are a mix between the two that I just wanted to share.

Thanks for reading!

WIP Comic Page

Here's a sneak peek at a little comic page I'm doing. Don't really want to say too much about it as it'll give it away, but it should be done soon!

My Interview for Iconicast Podcast is Online

I recently had the honor of being interviewed for ICONICAST PODCAST which is a podcast based around a more scholarly approach to superheroes, geek and pop culture and everything in between. I love that they view this subject matter through a more culturally conscious lens so it was my pleasure to be a part of it. In my segment of the episode I talk about the inspiration behind my short film "A Smallville Man" as well as the rest of my art and brand of storytelling. Check it out when you get a chance over at http://iconicastpodcast.com/episodes/

"SMALL DOGS" - Meet Chester

Chester is a portly Pug whose passion for people food is rivaled only by his love of comic books. He becomes Seth's friend when Seth moves to the city and helps him understand what it's like being a small dog. Happy Monday, everyone!

My Superman Film "A Smallville Man" Surpasses Previous Batman Film "A Gotham Fairytale" in Views

I simply cannot believe that my Superman film "A Smallville Man" has garnered more views in just two weeks than my previous Batman film has in over a year and a half! Wow! I must admit that even though I am a die hard fan of the Man of Steel, I wholeheartedly believed that this film wasn't going to be received as well since Superman's appeal tends to face more of an uphill battle than Batman's does.

It's been my experience that everyone loves Batman, and if they don't it's probably because they aren't a fan of comic book characters to begin with but at least they usually hold nothing against him. Superman on the other hand though - forget about it! Big blue definitely has his fair share of fans, but I've never encountered nearly as many in my personal life as I have for the Dark Knight. And conversely of those who are not his fans, I've encountered a significant number who actively dislike him whereas I've never encountered a single comic fan who wholeheartedly dislikes Bats.

Different opinions aside, this saddens me because I tend to discover that the majority of the hatred toward Superman results from a poor understanding of his character and/or the stories centered around him. Arguments relating to his over abundance of powers or his clean-cut boy scout personality are typically cited as to why most find him "boring", and while some people may genuinely be turned off by stories of that nature, I usually find that most people just jump to that argument out of instinct.

So you can see why I was so surprised to see my Superman film "beating out" my Batman one so soon. Of course I don't view them as competing with each other, but it is nice to see Supes get a warm reception by fans like me. Thanks for reading!

"A Smallville Man" - My Superman Film is Now Online

I must admit that when I finally posted "A Gotham Fairytale" online, I never had any intention of making a second film. I thought that if I was lucky I would get maybe a couple hundred views and then move on to one of my other pet projects. So you could imagine my surprise when what I thought was just a silly little Batman video suddenly started generating a huge positive reaction all over the internet. It was being lauded on several of the most popular comic and entertainment websites, even got a plug on Canadian radio (thanks, Fearless Fred!), and inspired several Batman fans to personally write me to tell me who much they enjoyed it.

So now it is once again my honor to share with you all my second film entitled "A Smallville Man," which features an original Superman story set against the song "Walk" by American Rock band Foo Fighters. It explores the relationship between Superman's past and present through separate stories that take us from the jungles of South America to the quaint streets of his hometown of Smallville. For those not familiar with South America, it's like America but south. The two story lines ultimately converge thematically to show that the "S" on his chest represents not just the power of his alien abilities but also the strength of his humanity. 

You can watch the film on Youtube here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d7n3-Ea3BW8

I conceived the story shortly after I posted "AGF" online and then serendipitously found the music for it on one of my evening jogs. As with "AGF," I worked out the story first and then let the music help influence the pacing of the narrative. The first spark of inspiration came originally after watching 2013's "Man of Steel." While I enjoyed the intent of the flashbacks in the film, I felt like they missed the mark of the importance of the Kents' role in teaching Clark the morals that would eventually guide him when he becomes Superman. 

What I've always enjoyed about the mythology of Superman is that he becomes this great hero specifically because it was the Kents who found and raised him. If he had landed anywhere else, he would have become someone entirely different. So "A Smallville Man" became my outlet for emphasizing that part of the mythology. It became a story about how what makes Superman the hero that he is can be traced back to the influence of his parents, in this case his father's willingness to do the right thing by standing up for someone else.

Thanks for reading and I hope you'll enjoy the film!

Batman Animatic: Progress Update #2

I have been working on and off for the past year and a half on a Batman animatic for an original story I came up with years ago. In case you're not familiar, an animatic is a kind of 'film' made up of a series of storyboards edited together, sometimes with voice acting, music and other cinematic effects to give an idea of what the final scene could be.

I'm hoping to finish this by the end of the summer, and have it be ready for uploading to Youtube by end of August (at least that's the deadline I've given myself). Until then, I'm excited to share a few images from the animatic, and I'll be posting more in the coming weeks! 

This has also been a rather interesting project as I've had to explore new styles and approaches to make my art visually appealing while at the same time easy to finish in a short amount of time. So far my animatic is running at almost 200 individual images! This is definitely a labor of love as I'm not intending it for any professional use but rather simply for the joy of telling the story that's in my head. 

If you've been following my other posts, you'll know that I've got several other serious projects in the works as well, and this one just got put on priority simply for the sake of getting it out there. In the past I used it as a break from my other work, but lately I've been so frustrated by its long incubation that I decided to just finish it so I could move on with my other projects. So as a great man once said,

"You either get busy living, or you get busy dying."