X Men First Class

Here we have a really amazing piece of art, by the maestro and my good friend, Dave Williams
and myself. Be sure to drop by Dave's gallery to check out the amazing pencils.
A little bit of background. I probably spent as much time on this piece than any in my career. It was the perfect storm. A) I consider Dave to be one of the best of the best our art form has to offer. He's a legitimate genius in my book. It's always a bit nerve wracking to work with someone like this for, essentially, the first time. I dont want to be "the guy that f'ed up Dave's masterpiece.
B) As some of you already know, Ive been dealing with some hand issues. Due to a neck injury a number of months back I was left with some minor nerve damage resulting in a small tremor in my drawing hand. NOT good. Ive spent the last 4 months trying to work through it. Its been a slow-going, frustrating process that had left me burnt out, discouraged, and considering the future of my career in inking. Im happy to say that, due to regular Acupuncture treatements over the last month and a half, my hand seems to have returned to me. Im back to about 95% and feeling much more optimistic about things.
However, I was working on this cover in the midst of the worst of it all. I agonized over every single line. Nothing really flowed for me. The end result was, in my opinion, much stiffer and mechanical looking than Id otherwise have done it. Much of the spontenaety of my lines were sucked away since I had to put so much effort in to my hand control. It took twice as long to do.

Im not saying Im not happy with it. In fact, I think its a very successful piece. I just know that I could have done better and me being the harsh self-critic that I am, all I see are the faults.

The fact that Dave was happy with it brings me endless amounts of joy and more than a little relief. Considering how difficult it was for me to pull off, I consider it a big triumph. I hope you do as well!