I do think that Terry Austin did a lot for your art on the X-men by having a bold style of inking your work.
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A prime example of the whole being greater than the sum of the parts. Terry’s drawing style is very different from mine, but there is definitely magic in the combination.
As a young pup I remember being very confused the first time I saw Mr. Austin's pencils. It was then I started to understand the value of collaboration in the visual storytelling, and started to look for evidence of it elsewhere.
The next eye opener came soon with your own inks on your pencils for your starting run on Fantastic Four. Different, but appropriate for the theme of the undertaking.
No rush. As much as I know I'd love to see more, I prefer the person making it to be happy with it than to get a rushed thing out the door. This isn't McDonald's after all.
Agreed on inking - the right inker with the right penciler can make magic happen, just like the wrong one can make a thing of beauty into an ugly monstrosity. The 80's saw a few really magical combos. Byrne/Austin, Perez/Tanghal, Miller/Jansen. Those 3 are combos I always think of where things clicked. Maybe not for as long as ideal, but dang did it click at the right time in those 3 cases leading to 3 legendary runs.
I'm guessing most of the time an editor just picks the 2 based on who is available and who they think will work well together - I suspect often putting a fast inker with a slow penciller or vice versa in order to ensure titles got out on time. Did many (any?) pencilers get to pick their inker?
Part of this “slow down” is the feeling I have that some serious surgery may be in order! Possibly even retroactive!!!
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This might be a dumb question (I've never had eye surgery before), but the way you use the word 'surgery' in this context put the question in my head...are you seeing things on the pages that you didn't see before your surgery?
Part of this “slow down” is the feeling I have that some serious surgery may be in order! Possibly even retroactive!!!
That is actually a great feature of this format. Like a novelist, you can polish and refine to until you are satisfied. Nothing is done until you walk away from it.
When I get stuck, sometime just bumming around, looking at things others artists have done motivates me in some small way. Either a book, art, or photograph can restart the dream-engine of my brain. Sometimes it's "Oh dear, even I could do that better than that!" and sometimes it's just plain "Wow, I want to steal that!". Trying something different on for size is good, but also going back to what motivated you to pick up pen and pencil in the first place is a safe bet.
Starting is hardest. Perhaps a doodle? How about one of Storm in her new costume out in nature somewhere? Walking across the surface of pond? You do her and environments so well. Argle bargle it your heart's content. Play with the lighting and render the shadows like Neal!