I usually work in silence.

There was a time when I couldn’t work WITHOUT music playing…. or at the very least, something like NPR playing in the background. I needed that extra oomph of stimulation to fire my brain and imagination into life to draw effectively. But for some reason, over the past several years, I’ve stopped listening to almost all music (or talk radio) while I work. It began to feel like an intrusion. Music is supposed to be the ‘soundrack of our lives’… and it seems to be so important to so many facets of every day life. It’s certainly important to adding emotion and context to film and television. Take a song like DON’T YOU (FORGET ABOUT ME) by SIMPLE MINDS — it’s inextricably linked to THE BREAKFAST CLUB film. I can’t hear that song without thinking about the movie. And many comics creators use favorite music as soundtracks and/or inspiration for their comic book projects. I’ve kind of lost that connection over the years. I think that may be, in part, because I don’t feel like there’s a lot of music being done now that DOES connect with me.

That’s not to say that I don’t occasionally find a song that really appeals to me and has me playing the hell out of it until I’m bored with it. I was just recently sniffing around the JAMAR NICHOLAS NETWORK forums (or JNN) and someone posted a link to a song called CRAZY by an artist (or group) called GNARLS BARKLY. The song really connected with me when I heard it, and I immediately purchased it from iTunes. It’s difficult to describe why I enjoy it so much….. it’s got everything to do with the way it makes me feel. It’s fun, upbeat, hopeful and a bit quirky– and yet there’s something very powerful resonating under the surface…. with the orchestral flow of strings and vocal harmony during the chorus, it’s got a soundtrack quality and depth to it that moves me. Once in a while, I’ll stumble across something like this that helps me build my OWN personal story of music.

Maybe it’s time to break the silence again.

This is Entry 237.

Not too long ago, I was contacted by an online acquaintance about the possibility of doing some character design for an animated project that was in the beginning stages. The idea was to create an animated film that would feature Ringo Starr as a ‘secret agent’ type. Now, Ringo Starr has a very distinctive face, and so I thought it would be fun to work up a sketch or two– and it was indeed fun. I never heard anything about it afterward…. so it either didn’t get off the ground or it went on without me. Either way, I enjoyed it, and thought I’d share one with you here.

This is Entry 236.

Mike