 We are excited to present a new series of interviews
featuring members of the Renderosity Cartoonist Team. Each week
these outstanding artists put the "giggles" in our funny bones, and
the "thrills and chills" in our adventurous spirits. This week our
featured cartoonist is James True, also known on Renderosity
as jtrue. James is a man of many talents; an extraordinary
cartoonist, an incredible illustrator, an inventor of wacky
creations, and the birth-giver to PoserSpeak. As a member of
Renderosity's Comics' Team, James shares his talent with us, by
creating often over-the-top, but always hilarious, cartoons for
Renderosity Front Page News weekly cartoon strip. As the creator of
PoserSpeak, James has given the 3D artist an outstanding time
saving Poser utility. Read on as James takes off his hats to expose
the man beneath the hair.
James, I know how incredibly busy you are ... I have seen you
in your office. However, with all that you have going on, how
do you find the time to manage all of your projects? Manage?
What's that Ha? Time is both a blessing and a curse. I tend to
follow my bliss, which professionally has led me to cartooning and
programming. It also tends to lead me to a somewhat empty bank
account too. But, I am getting better at that. I have been
self-employed for almost ten years. The programming tends to keep
the lights on, while the cartooning tends to keep my soul on.
My Office by James True
Let's take your hats off one at a time: first hat, Cartoonist.
When did you get started creating cartoon strips? Was this a
lifelong dream, or something you just "fell" into? I've always
been a doodler. My first official cartoon was a political cartoon
in College at the University of Tennessee Chattanooga; the
Acme-Bible Belt was the caption. Sorry I don't have the toon
anymore. When I saw all the letters (mostly of protest) about my
toon, I was kinda hooked. I don't like making people mad, but
seeing the reactions really encouraged me. I then started doing a
weekly strip called Gavin's World. No more angry letters but
I still had fun making it. After school, I moved to Kansas City and
camped out at Universal Press Syndicate. The goal was to get a
strip in syndication. The folks at Universal Press were very kind
and supportive, but said "no" to my first round of comics The
Tao of Cow. It was a bummer being told no and I probably should
have brushed it off quicker than I did. However, I did have some
stuff published in the local weekly papers in Kansas City, so it
wasn't a total loss. My comics went into a deep sleep for a while.
Later I moved to Asheville, NC, where I still currently live. I was
the Art Director for the local weekly paper for two years. I would
draw a lot for that job, some cover art and internal art. I decided
I needed to work for myself and started programming for the web. I
really fell in love with the Internet. The paperless medium is a
wonderful thing. It wasn't 'till I found Renderosity that my
cartoons were reborn. Have I said thanks for that yet? Thanks
Renderosity! On behalf of Renderosity, we would like to
thank you for sharing your humor with us on a weekly basis.
My personal all-time favorite true stories strip is
Spinach, so wonderfully poignant ... touching both funny
bone and heart. I almost am afraid to ask, but ... where do you
come up with your out-of-this-world cartoon themes? Sigh,
Spinach was a bumpy love story in Kansas City. A really cool person
in my life stirred up a lot of emotions for me. This toon kinda
sums it up. If you've been to West Port, you can find the coffee
shop I drew that in, I think the pigeons are still there too.
Spinach by James True
Above, you mentioned several publications that your strips have
been featured in, as well as appearing weekly in the comic section
of the Renderosity Front Page News. Are there additional
publications where we might have seen your work? Here's an
expanded list. The University Echo, Health Line Marketing Group,
The Kansas City New Times, Mountain Xpress, Lark Books. Those are
the somewhat biggies Next hat, Illustrator. Do you have a formal
art degree? Do you feel that an art degree (or formal art training)
is necessary to make a living with your art? Or, do you feel that
artists never truly make a living from their art, that is, until
after they have died? Yikes, after they've died. Smile, as far
as my perspective can see, after I die, all of you guys will cease
to exist so I doubt it seriously. I took some art in College. I
majored in Philosophy though, because it was more fun. I guess that
means I should say something profound. Art, Music, Math, and
Philosophy all share a core theory, which helps any artist. Sharing
familiar ratios and harmonies within your medium is really what its
all about. Its what we recognize about ourselves in the works of
others, which truly triumphs. Don't let yourself disguise who you
really are. Thanks James for that rare serious moment, and
thanks for that insightful and very sound advise. Ok, let's remove,
yet another hat, Wacky Inventor, or should that be inventor of
wacky inventions? What inspired your Adult Size Sit-N-Spin
invention? What is your favorite invention? You saw that? Wow,
I'm impressed. Oh, you would be surprised at what I have seen
[laughter], but, do tell us about the inventor in you.
Sit and Spin by James True
Well, I like sculpture. The Adult-sized sit-n-spin was exactly
that, my sculpture. What inspired it? I like to dumpster-dive. The
sit-n-spin was a collection of things I had found in Asheville. I
only added the paint, the rest was recycled; Shopping cart wheels,
telephone wire spool, and a VW steering column. My favorite
invention? Probably the concept of time. To this day, it's still my
favorite. We are getting close to the hairline, next hat,
Creator. PoserSpeak is not just another Poser shortcut utility; a
mind-blowing experience, allowing Poser artists the ease of
animation, with timesaving steps in the process of teaching their
Poser figures to speak. But, don,t take off the creator hat just
yet, first give us your background in computer programming. In
the seventh-grade, our school got its very first Computer Science
department. Mr Bower would let me tinker with the computers during
Gym class sometimes (Gym Yech!). Everything else was self-taught
through books, projects, and websites. I've been in computer
programming a while. One piece of code for the Autism foundation I
wrote was mentioned in Wired magazine. I have programmed for folks
like: Sun Microsystems, the US Navy, and the University of Hawaii.
I am also a founding partner in Gigfoot.net, a self-automating web
hosting platform. Wow, I am very impressed, OK, now ... remove
that Creator's hat, and give us the back-story of PoserSpeak. How
did you come up with the concept, and exactly how does your program
differ from other similar programs on the market? The
PoserSpeak idea was probably mostly my brother's idea. I showed him
Poser, and he asked how to make them speak from inside of Poser. We
started brainstorming it, and the beta version we were using
developed into something bigger. It's in version 1.38 right now. I
hope to release more features soon.
PoserSpeak by James True [listed under
3dtrue]
What, or who, is your muse, your inspiration? The answer is
my environment. The people in my life, my family, my friends, the
strangers I see, the voices in my head, the funny lady next door,
the telephone, the shower, the dog walks, and the quiet between it
all. I agree with you on finding the muse in the "quiet in
between." Finally, what advice would you like to share with
cartoonists who yearn to make a living doing something they
love? Follow your Bliss, but keep it on a leash. Try not to
dwell on which one of you is actually leading the way though, just
enjoy the walk. Be especially sure all your business bases are
covered from creation, to marketing, to distribution. Learn to
enjoy every aspect of your business so they will all improve. Also
keep a loose interpretation of the word living [laughter]. I have
never made a living from cartooning. But I have made a
living where 10% of my time was spent cartooning. I will take that
for now. I have been experimenting with marketing cartoons again
for the last couple of weeks. For example, I am now selling color
glossy magnets off my new website www.jtrue.com. So I guess here's
the advice, take every opportunity you get to engage in blatant
self-promotion [more laughter]. You never know what can happen till
you try.
Billy's First Dogma by James True
James True's cartoon strip true stories appears weekly in
the Renderosity Front Page News weekly comic strip. We also invite
you to visit the following:
All supporting images are copyright, and
cannot be
copied, printed, or reproduced in any manner without written
permission from the artist.
 "Lets Talk" with Dee-Marie
is a monthly featured column
by Dee-Marie:
Senior Staff Writer, and Managing Editor of
Renderosity's Front Page News October 10,
2005 |
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