Category: Artwork & Creative

Every creative person cringes when they see / hear / read their first widely-exposed creation. My wife Tandye does it with her early art, my friend Colin does it with the early incarnations of his music, I did with with my first published story, and Rachel Deering does it with her early work in comics. “You gotta start somewhere”, Rachel tweeted yesterday, along with a link to Mrs. Peterson and the Wolf – her “first attempt at writing AND lettering”.

Illustrated and coloured by Glen Ostrander and originally published in Nix Comics Quarterly #3, “Mrs. Peterson” is like a Tales from the Crypt episode condensed into five pages: smart alec kid sticks his nose where he shouldn’t, smart alex kid gets fucked up. It’s fun in a way that makes me want to high-five someone and then play Rob Zombie really loudly. You can read the first two pages below, then visit Rachel’s site to read the whole thing (or buy Nix Quarterly #3, loaded with lots of other comics too and a steal at five bucks).

Given my mandate of only sharing werewolf stuff I like, “Mrs. Peterson and the Wolf” is certainly worth posting about on its own merits. However, I particularly wanted to share it with Werewolf News readers because I think Rachel’s feelings about it are a prime example of the self-critical tunnel vision that afflicts creative people.

This is Rachel’s first published writing and lettering job, so all she can see are its flaws. I can totally relate to that. I can’t read my own story in Wolf-Girls without cringing at what I perceive to be sloppy mistakes and missed opportunities. Nevertheless, I think creative types (including myself) would do well to remember that audiences won’t notice 99% of the flaws we see in our own work. We’re too close to be objective, and so over-exposed to the thing, whatever it is, that even the subtlest nuance seems hamfisted and strident. Irrelevant. As creators, we must be kind to our first creations. If anyone likes it, we have succeeded, and the fact that we made and finished a thing at all is something to celebrate.

And of course, when we’re done celebrating, we can always go and make something new.

This morning on Twitter, Penny Arcade’s Mike Krahulik (aka Gabe) posted the cover art for the ninth Penny Arcade book, “Passion’s Howl“. Here it is.

I’ve been delighted by every werewolf-related endeavour Penny Arcade has undertaken. This image is no different, despite the fact that it’s making me feel skittish and antsy in ways I can’t quite define. No word on a release date yet.

I have two Rachel Deering – related things for you this morning. Firstly: original werewolf painting for sale! In an effort to finance some 2012 convention appearances and book printing costs, Rachel is selling an original 3′ x 4′ acrylic painting by Ohio tattoo artist and painter Toby Gehrlich. Created in payment for designing Gehrlich’s art book, this fearsome beast has lived in Rachel’s office since 2011, and now it can hang in your office, den or nursery. If you’re interested, get in touch with her via Twitter.

Secondly: if you’ve wanted to read the first issue of Rachel’s werewolf comic Anathema but missed out on both Kickstarter campaigns through which it was available, get ready. Are you ready? Good. Now, click this link for a free PDF of the first issue in its entirety. That’s right, she’s giving away the first issue of Anathema for free. If you haven’t read it yet, please stop what you’re doing and dedicate the next 20 minutes of your life to some serious self-enrichment involving werewolves and righteous vengeance.