Come to think of it, the creative process involves different sides of the same methodology.
Working elbow-to-elbow with Bill Green in the Communications Department at the National Electrical Manufacturers Association (NEMA) for 13 years, I came to appreciate an individual who seamlessly merged talent with technical expertise.
Visit his site to learn more
As I began writing Hounded, I asked Bill if he would be interested in illustrating the main character who begins as Tony and evolves into Colin. It was like asking a kid if he wanted ice cream. When he finished the assignment, I was like a kid with an ice cream sundae.
Without reading the book—it wasn’t yet written—Bill captured the essence of the protagonist’s growth in three pictures. It’s what he was born to do.
“I started drawing when I was four years old,” he told me. “My dad was an engineer and I was influenced by his drawings.”
Skip ahead 10 years. Bill entered a “Draw Me” contest sponsored by the Famous Artists School in Westport, Connecticut. I remember the ads tucked into the back pages of magazines and newspapers, because I entered one of those contests, too. Although Bill was offered a scholarship, he didn’t enroll in the school. But it served as a wake-up call.
He remembers that his grandparents didn’t see a sustainable future in art, but his parents were behind him. He signed up for art classes at school, got pencils and ink, entered competitions, and won awards.
A graduate of the University of Baltimore (M.A., Publication Design) and the Maryland Institute College of Art (B.F.A. Graphic Design/Illustration), Bill put in some 30 years in the corporate world. He recently retired to pursue his art fulltime.
Visit Bill’s website to learn more.
Having written a graphic novel, he has ideas for two additional ones. He’s also playing with another 15 storylines. In addition to belonging to artists’ groups, he attends shows and festivals, and plans to enter contests.
“I want to stay immersed,” he said. “My wife is 100 percent behind me.”
I know Patricia. I can see her smiling. She’s been urging him to do this for years.
Once I gave Bill specific guidelines for Hounded, he got to work.
“I like to look at content and context first. What do the characters look like from the front, back, and side? How do they look and feel? Once I have the sketches, I go to actual scenes. What angle works best? What will the scene look like? What would be dramatic?”
Once he picks his favorites, Bill delves into robust drawings and inking.
“Being a traditionalist, I work out ideas on paper first.” Then he digitizes them using digital layers inks, color, and shadings.
It’s one thing to appreciate Bill as an illustrator. It’s another to tap into his expertise as a web designer.
Last week, I discovered a major glitch on my website. Five years ago, I took a class in WordPress and built my own site. I know enough about the platform to get myself in trouble—and I sure did. When I added Hounded to my store, customers could not access it.
After 10 hours of doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result, I fell into bed. At 2 a.m., I sat up and said, “Bill Green.”
The next day I hired him. Six hours later the site purred like an electric motor.
I asked him about his dual talents.
“I never thought I would look at reading and writing code as part of the creative process,” he said. But with an affectionate nod to his father, Bill noted they were simply different sides of the same methodology. “Dad was on back end and I was front end. I became fascinated with a graceful interface.”
Take a look at Bill’s illustrations on my website. If you choose to order a personalized copy of Hounded, it’s easy, thanks to a graceful interface.
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