Into the Unknown
One small step for a humble, unknown comic book maker...
Welcome, friends!
First: thank you! Committing to one more email in your inbox is a huge gesture. It shows you not only have at least a passing interest in my creative work, but also, it is a huge step toward making it possible for me to do what I am most passionate about: creating art, educating others about art, and supporting other artists and creators in the community at large.
These newsletters may change over time, but here is what I want to offer you in return for signing up:
Keep you up to date on the development of my latest comic, The Airship, and other stories I am in the process of writing and publishing.
Share art tutorials, resources, and other inspirations I have discovered that may help others who have creative interests.
Offer my recommendations for things I am reading, watching, and listening to related to creative arts and my interests in paranormal mysteries and high strangeness.
Share some personalized Sterling entertainment whenever possible!
In time, I would like to also bring in other creators who are peers and mentors of mine to share their work, writing, and maybe some interviews, as well. More on that to come. I am always open to input on anything you would like to know more (or less) about!
With that out of the way, let’s dive in:
Known Facts of Events to Come
Updates on My Creative Projects
“The Airship” Update:
As some of you may be aware, I am currently working on producing my first one-shot comic book script, The Airship. This comic is inspired by the real-life mysterious airship sightings that occurred across the United State between 1896-97. Unfortunately, the artist who was originally contracted to create the art had to drop out due to scheduling conflicts. I am disappointed I will not get to work with this person, but roadblocks like this come with the territory of doing creative collaborations.
The good news is, with the help of the creative team I hired at Comics Experience, we already have another artist who has agreed to take on the comic. I don’t want to reveal too much too soon, but I am very excited about the sampling of work I have seen! I recently saw the first page layouts, and I was over-the-moon pleased with some of the interpretations. As more work becomes available, I will try to share some early looks in this newsletter.
If you are interested in producing your own comics, I can’t say enough good things about the Comics Experience team and all the knowledge they have taught me in their classes. I will continue to share more about the company in the future, but you can learn more now here: comicsexperience.com
Crowdfunding Update:
I also told many of you that I would be raising money through a crowdfunding campaign to produce my comic. This is still going to happen, but because of the delays with the artist, I am pushing this timeline out to later this year. I was VERY fortunate to have some unexpected income and investors that allowed me to pay for much of the artist fees, so now my campaign will be focused less on art production and more on printing and distributing copies of the final book for all my supporters. Woohoo!
Secret Arts & Forbidden Knowledge
Recommended Advice, Tutorials, and Resources for Creative Types
Since part of the focus of this newsletter is exploring the mysteries of the creative process, here is a video I watched recently that gives some good tips and insights on creating a comics page and roughing pencil sketches. The artist is a professional named Ryan Benjamin who started his career at Image Comics. In the second video, I set it to start where he describes how he was vetted and hired by the legendary Jim Lee!
These videos come from Proko.com who does a great job of interviewing artists about their work and methods. He also offers some fantastic tutorials.
Recommended Haunts & Carnies
What I Am Reading, Watching, and Listening To
What to Watch:
Nightmare Alley
Format: Movie
Director: Guillermo Del Toro
Actors: Bradley Cooper, Cate Blanchet, Willem Defoe, Toni Collet, Rooney Mara
Where to stream: HBO Max
Guillermo Del Toro rarely disappoints me, and this film may be one of my favorites of his to date. The script is very tightly written, and the cast is a tour de force. Bradley Cooper has a phenomenal performance. On top of that there is some fantastic 1930’s/1940’s set designs and costumes, nightmarish carnival imagery, and some unique insights into the tricks and trade of mentalism—I highly recommend it. Very well executed and right up my “alley.” (Eh? Eh?? So sorry.)
What to read:
The Department of Truth, Volume 1: The End of the World
Format: Graphic Novel
Writer: James Tynion IV
Artist: Martin Simmonds
Letterer: Aditya Bidikar
If the current state of America has you questioning what reality is and isn’t, you might find The Department of Truth as intriguing as I did. The first volume delves into a secret government agency called the Department of Truth that is meant to protect reality from a group called the Black Hats who seemingly have powers to turn conspiracy theories into reality if enough of the population starts to believe them. (Sound familiar?) The book has some very creepy artwork and some familiar names from American history running around as characters, so you really get that feeling of blurred realities while reading it. Definitely a book for our times.
What to Listen to:
Jim Harold’s Campfire
Format: Podcast
Where to stream: Apple Podcasts and other podcast platforms
I listen to a lot of paranormal and weird news related podcasts partly to find inspirations for my writing, but mostly because I enjoy some good, real life creepiness. I recently discovered this podcast which has apparently been around for years, and it is so far one of the best I’ve found for stories. The reason is, it doesn’t focus on the classic legends that are told over and over again on other podcasts. Instead, Jim Harold only interviews regular people who call in with their very own experiences with the paranormal, alien sightings, cryptids, and my favorite: “head scratchers.” Head scratchers are the stories that don’t easily fit into one of the other categories such as doppelgangers, time slips, or black-eyed children. It’s a good one to turn on while you are cooking or doing something else and just let it run.
Spooky Guests & Ghostly Characters
Guest Columnists, Artists, and Other Stuff
The Latest Strangeness: Weird News with Casey O’Malley!
Casey O’Malley is an expert on all things strange in the realm of UFOs and paranormal activity. I used to help design and manage his Instagram account, @flyingsaucersareswell. He claims he was shadow banned from the platform, so naturally I gave him a column here so his expertise does not go to waste. This week he’s got some very intriguing videos of a UFO and a Yowie (the Australian Bigfoot!) You can read his column at the link below along with a counterpoint op-ed by his wife, Judy.
Sterling Martin is an artist and designer living in Chicago, IL. His background includes drawing, writing, theatre, teaching, improv & sketch comedy, and whatever else he can get his hands on to be creative. You can find him on the internet at:
Instagram: @sterfest.art
Website: sterlingmartin.design
Twitter: Maybe someday?
Linkedin: I’m pretty sure I have one of those
Facebook: Ugh, do I have to?