davidcampiti

[davidcampiti]

SCAMMERS EVERYWHERE

Sometimes these reminders need to be said: MUCH of social media, in particular Facebook, consists of scam ads. The too-good-to-be-true advertisements that show up in your feed usually are. 

 If you see a marvelous product you want with a really low price and free shipping, use your head. Use Google to search the product, and you'll usually find the real thing is much more expensive, or is something being crowdfunded at a much higher price and doesn't exist yet. I clocked about 30 of these in my feed in the past week.

But it's way more than that. Individuals selling items -- toys, puppies, phones, whatever -- that insist on unorthodox pay methods ARE SCAMMERS.

If someone asks you to prepay or make a down payment via PayPal, that's fine; pay for it as a purchase, which gives you protection so you can get a refund through PayPal if necessary. If the seller insists on PayPal's "Friends and Family" option, offer to pay the 3% PayPal processing fee. If she STILL Insists you can only pay by "Friends and Family," which offers you zero protection, it's a scam. If she insists on prepayment via CashApp or Venmo or any other option that doesn't offer you protection, it's a scam.

If the seller pivots to any variation of, "I wouldn't cheat you, I'm a Christian," it's a scam. (History has shown some of the worst crimes perpetrated on humanity have used religion as their justifications.)

Meeting up in a parking lot to trade cash for a purchase? Do it in a Police Station parking lot. (If you're in Clermont, FL, there's a big, bright parking lot at the Police Station where they encourage transactions there.)

Think. Plan. If it sounds too good to be true, it is. If it sounds "off," it is.

[davidcampiti]

SCAMMERS BE SCAMMIN'

TRUE STORY: One of our artists brought us a client who wanted design work done. They asked him to start and would pre-pay. So far, so good.

Even before we received the check, the client sent me multiple emails requesting a deposit receipt to confirm we'd received/ deposited the check. While doing so, he wrote to the artist -- leaving me off the email -- saying an emergency had come up, they needed half the money returned. By wire transfer. To yet a different name and address from anything so far.

* The check came from an LLC in Massachusetts. Yet that check was shipped from another company in California. Instead of the check identifying the project being commissioned, it stated only "Payment Approved." First flag.

* Client seemed hesitant to give me his phone number, or his full name, and his generic email address gave no name from which we could perform client due diligence. Second flag.

* While he wrote to me asking for a deposit receipt, he wrote to our artist -- NOT copying me -- saying he needed half the money returned. He specifically left me out of that information loop while wanting a deposit confirmation. Third flag.

* It would have made FAR more sense for him simply to write me saying "Plans have changed, we can only pay for the 1st phase, so do not deposit that check; tear it up and we're putting a check for the revised amount in the mail to you today" rather than a far more complicated process of receiving/depositing/clearing/issuing rush refund. Fourth flag.

* He was pushing for a rush refund by methods different from the way he paid us (wire, Zelle); those methods cost a fee to send to him and offered us no protection. Fifth flag.

* The name and address for the requested wire transfer did not match any information on the check OR on the envelope's shipping address. Sixth flag.

* Even though our bank technically clears a check in a business day or two, we've had occasions from new clients where their check bounced and our account got docked for it 10 days later. We also had one instance where someone else did this exact same thing -- sent us a check, asked for a refund and, after we did so, their original check bounced. Seventh flag. But we were able to stop payment on our check and not get stiffed.

Our bank rep advised us not to issue any type or refund for "Seven to 10 business days" to make certain the LLC check clears and nobody tries to "stop payment" on it, as the only way to ensure the money is there. Once our Bank gives the all clear, I told the client I'd mail a refund by check -- the same method we were paid -- to the name and address on the original check.

As a faster alternative, because I have not yet released any money to the artist, I suggested the sender call his bank to stop payment today on the LLC check. "You could then pay us the revised amount and we could start from scratch."

Client wrote back that I'm a liar, that I was being selfish, that this delay could cost a child's life. I reiterated that his bank could stop payment on it, problem solved, and even sent him a link to the LLC's bank how to do it. In response, he continued to demand refund by wire transfer and even threatened to call the FBI. (!!!)

Of course it was a scam. Just by me holding off one day, I got to see the client's check to us BOUNCE, proving it was indeed a scam all along. Nearly thirty-one years of running Glass House Graphics gives me a pretty good spider-sense about this....

Discuss.

[davidcampiti]

Back in late 1989 Innovation Publishing had licensed its first novel -- Anne Rice's THE VAMPIRE LESTAT. We were attempting to adapt a 400-page novel with a 400-page adaptation, 32 pages per issue, cardstock cover, every panel fully painted. Wiser heads at Marvel told me I was a fool to attempt it, there was no way it would sell. 

 I hired Daerick Gross to paint the 12-issue series. It was some masterful work. It was ultimately Innovation's best-selling series and became a graphic novel distributed into bookstores worldwide by Ballantine.

We enjoyed working with Daerick so much that we brought him back to paint the adaptation of the classic film Forbidden Planet, which I scripted. He also painted covers for The Color of Magic and other Innovation projects. He even directed other talented artists in our direction, such as Miles Teves and Dell Barras.

Meeting Daerick was a treat. He looked like King Arthur and carried himself in regal fashion. When we offered a signed edition of The Vampire Lestat hardcover, Daerick flew in for the signing. Scripter Faye Perozich, Daerick, and I sat around a table signing -- with Daerick buck naked, as was his style. 

 The following year, at San Diego Con, we all shared a house I'd rented for the week. I remember one evening there when an in the-buff Daerick was playing Monopoly and drinking with George Broderick, Jim Elliott, and me. Daerick out-drank everyone with no obvious effects. George didn't drink. Jim drank too much. George commented, "Daerick and I are like apples and oranges...or like bananas and...peanuts." Daerick's whole personality was as outsized as his talent.

I only saw Daerick a couple of times after that. Once I brought a guest to visit Daerick in his art studio, a short walk from Hollywood Boulevard; he met us in the buff. Another was a short greeting at a later convention. After launching Glass House Graphics, I recall at his request arranging a couple of jobs for him at Marvel, but he had another agent who muscled his way into them, so that ended our working together.

Across the decades we stayed in touch, primarily here on Facebook, yet we never managed to reconnect in person.

Yesterday I learned that Daerick Gross has passed. We'll miss both the man and his great talent.

[davidcampiti]

TODAY'S ART REVIEW

<<<Thanks for showing me.

The work isn't quite at the level we need for our clients.  

In terms of page details, a few quick notes:

* Page 1 -- Establishing shot/setting problems.  In the panel 1 establishing shot, the only things to Bruce Banner's right are double-doors, a smaller window, and the fast food service area.   In panel two, the soldiers smash through from...where?  It's not through the too-small window. Why would they need to shatter a door they can simply open?  That means there was another display window somewhere, but you didn't establish it. 

* Page 2 -- What's more, you don't EVER establish it on the pages that follow! Instead, you use out-of-place manga lines, to cover up that the soldier had to STEP BACK several feet in order to aim and shoot his oversized weapon.  Given that Bruce Banner was up against a wall in his booth, the blast must have destroyed the booth and the wall behind him, in order for there to be that much space in the bottom panel.

* Page 3 -- I honestly lost all understanding of WHERE this is taking place.  No backgrounds, no context.  Are they outside now?  Still inside?>>>

[davidcampiti]

SEEKING ADVICE

Today I received this email: "I'm looking for some advice. I'm an aspiring comic artist, I'm still learning by attending the last year of comic school. I'd like to know what a professional penciler or colorist portfolio should look like for you."

Here was my answer:  

Before submitting your portfolio, take the time to check out what the publisher is publishing.  Check out their website.  Look at their books. If your stuff doesn't "fit" what they're doing, it may not be the best place to seek a job.  

Be smart with preparing your portfolio.  If you're preparing a .PDF of your work, create a cover page with some great art, your name and full contact information and credits (if any).  Make sure your name is in the file name of your .PDF, so there's no guesswork who sent it.

See if the potential employers have specific requirements for your submission.  If they want a single .PDF of your work, don't submit .jpgs. If they want a download link to your work, send tht link, not an email stuffed with a large file.  Don't send them to an ArtStation or DeviantArt account that's packed with old stuff or art unrelated to the job you want.

A professional portfolio should be clear about what kind of assignment or job you are applying for.  More important, it should look as though you've already been doing it for years.

For a professional editor or agent, it's disheartening to see a portfolio that LOOKS like an "art school portfolio" stuffed with unrelated assignments and sketches.  

If you want to be a graphic designer, show your finished graphic designs that look like read book pages, ads, brochures, or whatever you're showing.  If you want to be a cover artist, show me some covers.  If you want to draw licensing art (Disney, Dreamworks, whatever), you have to prove you can draw on-model without copying/tracing drawings you've already seen.

If you want to draw comics, then DRAW COMICS. Showing sketches of characters with balled-up fists and gritting their teeth are useless to me.  Comics are sequential storytelling where characters live and breathe on the page in consistent environments convincing in the style you use.  Body language, gesture, expression, are all critical.  Do characters interact with their environments? Do they make eye contact? Are they believable?

Also remember that experienced editors and agents already know all the tricks.  If your work looks digital to them, they'll wonder why you didn't do enough to make it look better.  If you swipe, they'll usually catch the swipes.  

And if you use AI (plagiarism software), you've already lost the job.

[davidcampiti]

THE ELECTRIFYING TALE OF TESLA

True story: Two writers with whom I work dreamed up a TESLA comic book that teamed the real-life genius inventor Nikola Tesla with his real-life author friend Mark Twain for a buddy-action-movie-style series of adventures. At once clever and exciting and (overall) historically accurate, the scripts were illustrated by Filipino artist Bong Dazo, best known for Marvel's DEADPOOL and THUNDERBOLTS, and for STAR WARS at Dark Horse. Bong did a masterful job designing and illustrating the project.

TESLA caught the interest of a client aspiring to publish projects that would capture Hollywood's attention. On that publisher's board of directors was a movie producer who claimed TESLA was ideal for Hollywood, and they would push the project aggressively if the company co-owned it. Contracts were signed for TESLA to appear in a serialized anthology. Four installments were completed. Three were published. Glass House provided all of Bong's concept art, and they told us the Hollywood push began.

First came a curious lack of feedback/updates regarding the Hollywood situation. Then came bigger concerns: Among them was the contractual guarantee that if the material got used in a certain promotional book, the creators would receive $10,000. The book was published; the payment never came.  

The actual breaking point occured when the publisher, looking at the eight series he was releasing, decided to do a crossover mini-series. His new (licensed) character would, in each issue, enter and interact in the "world" of each otherwise-unrelated series, theoretically throwing more attention on his line of books. 

At first it sounded interesting, and per contract the authors had the first opportunity to write any tie-ins/spin-offs. The problem was that the publisher assigned HIMSELF the writing job for the new-mini-series. His excuse was that the company needed to save money and, as publisher, he would write it all for free; we soon learned that he paid himself the company's top writing rate for the crossover stories.

The authors blocked the crossover, cited breach of contract, and demanded the property revert back to them. Two years of fighting over ownership and payments ensued, with the publisher demanding reimbursement of art costs on the unpublished issue and the authors simply saying "deduct those art costs from the 10 grand you owe us, and pay us the balance." Finally, those contracts simply expired with the publisher never paying that balance, and Bong died waiting for the situation to be resolved.

Before long, a TESLA feature film hit theaters; publicity said the film was based on an earlier script the director had written but had never been made. And yet that SAME PRODUCER who told us he was shopping TESLA for us was credited as producing this film. It was certainly a far different -- and way less fun -- story. But given the lack of transparency in the whole situation, one wonders how much, if any, of our TESLA material was used in pitch decks and presentations and such to shop and develop the film that finally got made.  

At the very least, if the producer's interest had shifted from our TESLA to this other TESLA at some defining point, you'd think we'd at least rated the professional courtesy of advising us as much.

[davidcampiti]

UNREALITY CHECK

True story: A publisher planned to make a big splash at Comic-Con. He had an impressive 20' x 20' booth space in a desirable location and wanted to make the most of it. He'd ordered a massive metal booth from China that got shipped in directly to the Con.

It all sounded great. The booth looked impressive. The night before set-up, he rounded up everyone including his wife, handed out booth assembly instructions, and explained his set-up plan: The booth was already at the Con. He would drive everyone over in a van early in the morning, and his team would have all day to set up the booth.

As he spoke, I thumbed through the assembly instructions with dread. Then I pulled out the convention's exhibitor paperwork and read the set-up rules. Basically, if a booth took more than half an hour for two people to assemble, the exhibitor had to pay for the con's Union workers to assemble it. I held up the paperwork and asked the publisher about it.

"Don't worry about that," he told me. "I have a plan to get around it." Ahh. Tomorrow was going to be one of those days. I shook my head in disbelief.

The next morning, we entered the Con to start set-up. When we arrived, the booth containers were on the convention floor at the location. I took one look and realized the misgivings I'd had last night were spot on; this booth couldn't possibly be assembled without a crane. Lou Ferrigno standing on Arnold's shoulders couldn't have assembled this thing. Besides, it was incredibly obvious this would take the Union team hours, even with a crane.

I waited for the train wreck to begin via the publisher's grand plan to circumvent the Union workers. Here it came. The publisher said, "I have to leave to run errands. There's the booth, the assembly tools were shipped with it. If the Union reps come over, tell them you've got it covered, you don't need their help." Then he left. Yes, that was his grand plan, to leave and let his wife and his team fend for themselves.

As the team stood around confused and stunned that they'd been left to fend for themselves, a Union rep came over with his clipboard and a contract for services. The publisher's wife bravely tried to say what he'd told her to. The Union rep looked at the booth containers, half-smiled, and basically said, "Uh-huh. Right."

Then he pulled over a folding chair, sat down in the booth space, crossed his arms, and waited.

"That went pretty much like I expected," I said aloud. "I'm taking my wife and daughter to the zoo." And I did.

End of the day, I returned to the convention center to see what was happening. Nothing was done, because the publisher didn't authorize the Union to begin assembly. As I turned to leave, the publisher arrived, upset that the booth wasn't up. He argued with the Union rep, oblivious to the fact that a crane was needed to assemble the booth.

In the end, the publisher had to pay TIME AND A HALF for the full assembly because the Union workers had to stay late to work on it. And, of course, full Union fees for the teardown, as well.

[davidcampiti]

POSTER CHILD

True story: A publisher made a deal to produce comics and posters featuring a popular YouTube celebrity. Glass House Graphics created 10 painted covers for the project. Because the celeb agreed to attend Comic-Con and spend the whole time signing at the booth, the publisher decided to release all the images as retail posters.

"We'll make a million dollars at the Con!" the publisher told me during an in-person meeting.

I couldn't find words at that moment. Seeing the look of confusion on my face, he explained further. "I'll print them in China, air freight them in directly to the Con. I'll even create a massive new booth with the celeb's face gigantic on it. Ten posters, we'll print 10,000 of each."

"Jesus, that's a lot of expense," I said, running likely numbers in my head. "A new booth, airfreight shipping, the event's Union costs to set it up, the drayage charges to store and forklift out that many posters...."

The publisher wasn't hearing me. He was on a roll. "It'll be $20 for one signed poster, a sliding scale, if they buy all 10 it'll be $10 each, $100 for the set. We'll move 100,000 posters at the show and make at least a million bucks."

I shook my head in disbelief. "Nope. I'd suggest printing 500 of each, maybe you'll sell 5,000 total if you're lucky," I told him. "If he has time to sign any leftovers, you can sell them online later. Your math doesn't match reality."

"You're an idiot," he argued. "Of course it does."

"The arithmetic...doesn't...work," I said, with deliberate emphasis. "The Convention is 10 hours a day, maybe four hours on Preview night. That's 44 hours MAX. You're expecting a lot for a celeb to be there every minute. Even if he intends to, he'll have to break for lunch, to stretch his legs, bathroom breaks, probably have a meeting or two, some buddy will come by who he'll need to chat with. It will all take away from his signing time."

"I'm allowing for that. We'll have hired staff to corral people through the line fast."

"All right," I said. "So someone goes through the line, selects a poster or two, pays for them, talks to the celeb, maybe hands him a gift, they chat for a few seconds, he makes a joke, they take a picture together, shake hands, then on to the next person. Their special moment, that's maybe one minute." I pulled out my phone and ran the calculator. "Sixty people an hour. In an ideal world, 44 hours x 60 people an hour is 2,650 people. If each buys a poster or two, you'll MAYBE sell 5,000 posters at the outside."

"You're wrong," he told me. "We'll sell multiples."

Of course, the publisher proceeded to do as he pleased: Pricey new booth, 100,000 posters air-freighted in at considerable expense, con staff expenses, celebrity costs, all of it.

After Comic-Con was over, I heard that roughly 4,800 posters got sold. While some of the 95,000+ leftover posters shipped to a warehouse, many were left on the convention floor to be trashed. The company imploded shortly thereafter.

And as you might suspect, the artists who painted those posters never received their comp copies OR a dime of their contracted royalties for the ones that did sell.

#truestory #comic con

[davidcampiti]

THE IMPORTANCE OF HONEST COMMUNICATION

Decades ago, DC Licensing contacted us for Mike Deodato to draw a superhero lithograph to be sold exclusively through the Warner Bros. Studio Store. At the time he spoke no English, so I worked with a coordinator in Brazil to handle the jobs. Deodato gladly accepted the assignment.

DC Licensing was clear about the SIZE. They didn't want the standard 11" x 17" original art proportions. They wanted two 11" x 17" sheets taped together for a more squarish 17" x 22" proportion and more room for detail. My coordinators in Brazil, translating and handling the job, said it wasn't a problem.

When the finished line art file reached the client, they contacted me. "We need Deodato to scan the rest of it. We're missing both sides of the artwork." For close to a week I kept bugging my coordinators to rescan it, and each time they assured me the art was two 11" x 17" pages taped together, and they were scanning both pieces in their entirety.

In the end, DC Licensing never received the image in the proportions they wanted. They ran out of time, and used the art as-is. They published it but weren't happy that it wasn't the format they'd planned. That meant we never got another assignment for Deodato from them; they never even sent us one of the lithographs, so to this date I've not seen the printed product in person.

Years later, after I no longer worked with the coordinators, I visited Deodato at his home. I learned that a.) Deodato had never been told to draw the poster in any size other than standard 11" x 17"; b.) the coordinators never contacted him to draw additional imagery to fill out the size Warner Bros. required; c.) Deodato never even heard about the proportions struggle until we sat together in person to talk about it.

Sure enough, he pulled out the original art to show me -- 11" x 17", the size which they'd repeatedly assured me it was NOT.

#DClicensing #warnerbros #mikedeodatojr

[davidcampiti]

Sigh*....FLASH?

SPOILERS!  I waited this long to post my thoughts on THE FLASH movie, so most folks who wanted to had a chance to see it.  This is NOT about Ezra Miller's dumpster-fire real life; it is about the movie.

I didn't mind it while watching it, but the further into the movie we got, the more it unraveled -- the story and the CG.  Producers delivering bad SFX and backpedaling to call it "intentional" seemed desperate to me.  Iris West had ZERO chemistry with Barry Allen. The falling babies sequence hurt my head, starting with WHERE in the hospital the nursery was located.  WHY did they have to use ZOD again?  Doesn't THE FLASH in the comic books have a wild rogues gallery of villains to choose from?  If they HAD to use Zod, why not be SMART about it?  

That's the key to the movie -- NOT being smart.

I have EXACTLY the same problem with THE FLASH that I had with SPIDER-MAN: NO WAY HOME: The adult in the room has to behave like a fucking idiot or the story doesn't function.  

In SPIDER-MAN, Peter Parker went for help to Doctor Strange, the adult who most helped save the cosmos outside his mentor Tony Stark  All Stephen Strange had to do was ask a few adult questions:  "What problems are you trying to solve?  Have you tried writing your intended college asking them to reconsider? Should I reach out to them? Or perhaps Pepper Stark, head of Stark Industries, could speak on your behalf? Are you sure you want EVERYone to forget you?  Me? The Avengers? Trusted family or friends?"  A three-minute grown-up conversation from the adult in the room would've prevented a catastrophe.  Instead, Doctor Strange had to be a fucking idiot.

Similarly, THE FLASH expected us to believe that BATMAN, the world's greatest detective, was too stupid or clueless to ask some basic questions of the FLASHes, one of whom was still a kid and the other an awkward adult who clearly depended upon the guidance of "his" Batman,  How about:  "How precisely did the Superman of your world defeat Zod? Did your Batman, knowing of such super-powered aliens, just let them do their own thing, or did he figure out a weakness?  What's this Kryptonite you mentioned? Can we track its radiation signature?  Let's hunt down some kryptonite."  He'd be the adult and strategize.  But instead of being the world's greatest detective, he too behaved like a fucking idiot.  The so-called greatest detective is more to blame for the failure than the Barry Allens.

I had zero use for the Aquaman tag, and the George Clooney Bruce Wayne ending, played for laughs, only confused things.  I think they could have used ALL THREE of the endings they filmed, scattered across the end credits, which would've been more interesting than the confusing Clooney-as-Batman tag. .

Sure, I loved seeing Keaton back as Batman and wished he'd used the Batmobile at some point. Instead of hermit Bruce living alone, though, I'd have far more enjoyed Flash dropping in on Keaton and Michelle Pfeiffer enjoying a night away from their usual socializing.  

Sure, the poorly CG'd cameos from Christopher Reeve, Adam West, and so on were sweet, building on what Berlanti's similarly-themed Crisis on Infinite Earths attempted to do, none of it contributed to the story. and characters just stood around and posed. It delivered nothing beyond the most basic fan service.

I hoped finally for something amazing from the DC films.  This wasn't it.

#theflashreview #dccomics

[davidcampiti]

MISSING IN ACTION

True story: A very slow-but-excellent artist had been abusing playing the "I need an advance on the pages to pay bills" card. Still, he was so good we were planning his next project, and I traveled a significant distance to meet with him to discuss the details, a lunch we'd planned a week ahead. He was bringing with him pages of art we'd sold to a client, that I would ship for him.

He didn't show, didn't text, didn't call. I texted him multiple times. "I'm already seated, our table is in the back." "Are you here?" "Are you on your way?" No answer. I ate lunch and left.

More than a week later, he sent one page of art and, of course, asked for an advance on the next pages as he fell further behind.

What was his explanation for not showing up, not warning me ahead of time he wasn't coming? "Dave I'm sorry if I didn't make it to the meeting for some reasons."

That's right, he emailed me a placeholder and didn't even put in the excuse.

So my reply, when he asked for another advance? "I'm sorry, I can't do that anymore for some reasons."

Was I wrong?

[davidcampiti]

THE TALE OF JASON PERKINS, MY REAL-LIFE AI

JASON PERKINS is a name every Glass House artist, and many of our clients, will recognize. Not only has Jason long been my company's webmaster and top website designer, he's been an A-level video editor, graphic designer, photo retoucher, and much more.

The Wonder Woman I'm posting here on my blog is his work. He received a high-res photo of Telemundo actress Gaby Ramirez from Playboy Mexico and created the costume, changed the makeup and muscle tone, even added volumes of hair with completely new lighting, and made it look terrific.

Ours has been a 15-year working relationship that's bizarre to think about. We've never met. We've never video chatted. We've never even spoken on the phone. 100% of our communication across all this time has been emails or, rarely, text messages.

I've long called him my Guardian Angel -- saving the day for me again and again, always there, always dependable. It's as if he's always existed there, helping me as this disembodied existence in the ether, my ultimate AI, where I only had to type what I needed...and suddenly it was done, always great and without hassle.

We've accomplished so much great stuff creatively and have been working toward a new animated feature film. And we'd spend so much time typing back and forth about creative things, personal things, hopes and dreams and plans a'plenty.

On January 31, 2023, I received a call from his wife Suzanne. She is now his widow. Jason Perkins has died of a massive stroke at only 56 years old.

His family is in shock.

We've lost a massive talent.

I've lost a unique friend and confidant.

I am devastated.

[davidcampiti]

ALL RIGHTY, SO WHAT NOW?

The time: One week ago.  This appears on Messenger:  "Good day Sir, I am willing to work in your project. Thanks sir."

I reply:  "My company is producing more than FIFTY projects for a bunch of clients.  Which project are you asking me about?"

"If ever sir whatever I am willing. Comics interior pages sir. Traditional pencil and ink.  I have no knowledge in digital sir."

"I am looking at our website list.  You are not on our roster.  What's more, I do not see where you sent to me a portfolio of your work."

"Ok sir, I will send some of my works"

"Seriously, you wrote to me asking for work when you did not submit a portfolio to my company or any information about yourself?"

....Silence....

The time:  Moments ago.  The place: Messenger.

"Good day Sir, I am declining my approach for whatever reason. Thanks for your time. Godbless."

[davidcampiti]

"ANOTHER CHANCE" EXPLOSION

True story:  An artist whose work I long appreciated wanted to join our roster. He'd sent samples periodically since 2016; I'd watched him grow, enjoying his covers, pinups, and occasional story but wondered why he had not soared to stardom status.  Perhaps I could make the difference. 

I started him with a cover assignment, but he didn't follow the description and even his revised layout required a lot of back-and-forth.  Then he went quiet for many days.  He finally responded that he'd had to take care of his mother after complications with COVID, but he was back in the studio to resume work. Too late. I'd already reassigned the cover, which was drawn/colored/approved/paid for before I heard from him.  And I wondered precisely how COVID had affected his keyboard and telephone. What stopped him from a 1-sentence update warning me he couldn't finish the job on the agreed-upon schedule?  I told him as much, saying he needed clear communication; he told me he understood. Another project came his way, a 4-pages-wide banner/poster for a big event to honor certain people.  A reasonable budget, basically 8 large panels, lots of references all provided, a clear deadline -- I wrote to him, "Our last attempt to work together didn't go so well...."  He took three days to accept the job offer, blaming it on his sick mother.

On September 14th, he agreed to the 4-page assignment and generous three-week deadline of October 5th, acknowledging that included time for a colorist to do his part. On September 20th, the client asked why she had not received a layout to review.  I emailed or texted the artist multiple times each day asking for updates, to which he didn't respond. In fact, he didn't deliver the layout until September 29th.  I reminded him that he needed to pencil and ink the art in time for the colorist to deliver by October 5th. Client asked for corrections to the layout; October 5th, deadline day, still no revised layout, and the artist begged for "extra days,"  

Client gave him an extension to October 15th, which of course he blew right past.  The artist wrote, "Sorry about that, I was sick and that's why I missed the deadline I asked for more for you, and soon after that i took a test i was diagnosed with COVID and went to the hospital and stayed a few days away from my studio and drawing board, but I'm fine, i just had this mishap that made me waste time, I would like to finish the work, I will do my best, but i need a few more days to finish the pencils and inks, if i can continue i will be grateful. Sorry I didn't let you know I was sick."  Yet again, I was left wondering what prevented the artist from having someone text me a 1-line warning me, so I could reassign the job to meet the deadline.  He promised to deliver by October 22nd.

On October 18th, he wrote he was "finishing the details and will be sending it to you tomorrow." "Tomorrow" became four days later, yet he turned in only pencils for two of the eight large panels.

Eight more days passed before he completed pencils, on October 26th.  Bizarrely, some of his figures were oddly distorted, as if references had been adjusted in Photoshop without the Proportions locked.  I questioned the error multiple times. When he finally addressed it, he blamed the client, saying the distortions were in the pencils but the client approved them that way. The artist began delivering inked images one panel at a time for the colorist; of course, those distorted images were still not corrected, so the colorist had to make the revisions as best he could.

What's more, when the client and colorist asked about missing images in the Dropbox, the artist insisted he'd uploaded them.  So I screen captured a shot of everything in the Dropbox, sent it to the artist, and said, "SHOW me exactly where those images are."  He blamed the error on Dropbox and not on his failure to check/confirm the upload, and we lost yet another day waiting for him finally to upload the remaining pieces.

In the end, the colorist stayed up working 28 hours straight to deliver the files, coloring and adjusting and finessing and assembling the many pieces to deliver an acceptable final piece to the client.

Oblivious to his harm to the client and his many, many. muck-ups, the artist wrote to me afterward, "Sorry again for this inconvenience and delay, but in the end the job worked.  I would like another chance and hope we can continue working together."

Seriously?  My webmaster removed him from our roster today.  I don't need that kind of stress or damage to our company's reputation.  And our clients deserve professionals.

[davidcampiti]

LOCAL BUSINESS

While I totally agree 100% with supporting local companies with your business, sometimes those LOCAL BUSINESSES work hard to make it difficult to bring business to them.

As example: I needed some large posters printed for an event, so I reached out on a local printer's website, following their instructions for a quote. Three days later after no response, I emailed them. No answer. So I called them, gave them the info including my event date deadline, and it sounded as though it was their first time getting my quote request.

"I'll get back to you," the printer said regarding the quote. After three more days of no follow-up, I ordered the posters online from a big printer and had them in my hands two days later.

On the DAY of the event, the local printer sent me a quote of more than DOUBLE the printer I used and requiring a two-week turn-around. 

Clearly the local printer neither wanted nor needed my business.

[davidcampiti]

WHEN FREE IS EXPENSIVE

Sometimes "free" is too pricey.   Last week I bought over $150.00 worth of stuff at BJs Club (our local equivalent of Sam's Club).  That qualified me to come back the next week for a free turkey.  The coupon for it appeared in my phone app. Today I went back to get it, along with a few other items.  The lines were crazy-long, so I went through self-checkout (which I hate doing because I don't work there).  I scanned the other items but the turkey's barcode wouldn't scan.  It set off a flashing alarm for a manager to deal with it.  One came over, scanned his card, punched a few buttons and said, "You're fine now."  So I finished the transaction and looked at my receipt. No turkey on it.  So I began a new transaction for just the turkey.  The alarm flashed again.  Another manager came over, asking, "What's the problem?" I explained I went through the whole transaction paying for these other items but the turkey didn't scan, another manager came over to deal with it but it still didn't show up on my receipt.  He looked at the receipt and said, "Your turkey's not on here."  "I know.  I just told you that."He tried scanning the turkey; the alarm went off.  He tried punching in the codes.  It took him five attempts before it registered.  The checkout spat out a receipt.  "Here ya go, you're good," he said, handing it to me.I worked my way through the long line of the receipt checker. "You didn't pay for the turkey," he told me at the door.  "I know, I got a free turkey from the coupon," I replied, pointing to the second receipt in his hands.  "That's not it," he told me.  "This says TRANSACTION CANCELLED."   "What??"He called the manager; I had to move aside while other people went through their receipt check.  Finally he got back the message for me to take my cart over to Customer Service. I got through another line. I explained what had happened and added,  "You guys offer free turkeys. You just don't want people to leave the store with them. That CANCELLED receipt wasn't gonna get me out the door."  "No, it wasn't."  She took my BJs card, pressed some buttons, and handed me another receipt.  "That one will."I got into another long line to go through receipt checking again. By the time I loaded the turkey into my car, I realized that I'd spend more than an hour getting my "free" turkey.  My hour's time is worth more than the value of the turkey. I ended up on the down side of the ledger.

[davidcampiti]

HELLO, GOODBYE!

True story: An artist for whom I'd gotten a couple of small jobs and was coaching on good samples did a test for an established western series -- just character studies.  They were beautifully drawn, but for some reason he drew them 6 heads high -- they all looked short, especially given that heroic characters are usually drawn 8.5 to 9 heads high.

For the heck of it, I elongated the bodies in Photoshop to the correct height and, after I made some other adjustments, they looked great. I submitted them and got a thumbs-up from the editor who then needed to see a couple of pages of sequentials to land the monthly series.  The artist agreed, and I warned him to go with the correct heroic proportions.

Instead, he drew the sequential pages with the characters all FIVE heads high.  I couldn't submit them.  This wasn't Terror in a Tiny Town, after all.  I asked him, "Why did you do that?" The only answer he gave was, "It makes them juicier."  He wouldn't correct the pages and dropped off my radar.

A couple of years later, an editor at another company asked me, "Whatever happened to that guy?"  It turned out he'd submitted the same stuff I'd coached him on two years earlier and caught their attention.  They assigned him a two-page test and, if he "knocked it out of the park," they'd pay for the sample and give him the rest of the book -- the series, in fact.  

He received the script and vanished.