Velda: Girl Detective by Ron Miller

Ron Miller, who besides being a phenomenal, world-renowned artist with an extensive and impressive resume, is a close friend of mine who moved to my humble, little hometown of South Boston, Virginia a few years ago.

Ron (or Mr. Miller as he is known to his friends) is well-respected in the art field and his name rings bells to those in the know. I was blessed and fortunate to have such an icon move into a town where saying you’re an artist generally gets you a tsk-tsk and a pat on the head.

Anyway, with all of the “serious” artistic pieces that Ron creates every year, his secret passion is a small-press comic book series that he has created called “Velda: Girl Detective”. Velda is a super-sexy heroine from the days where pulp fiction ruled. She’s no-nonsense and she always gets her man. Ron incorporates humor as well as a message in each Velda story.

I was fortunate to be a part of the Velda movie that Ron directed a year or so ago. I play a small part, but I had fun on the set (most of the actors were people I had already known working with the Halifax County Little Theatre)

If you care to watch, here is the short-film of which I am a part of in its entirety. I believe I’m somewhere around the middle. It’s fun, interesting, and pays respect to old-time film noir. Thanks for allowing me to grace your set, Ron!

So, sit back, get some popcorn or a root beer and check out my motion picture debut. Let me know when you find me.

Velda: Girl Detective from Ron Miller on Vimeo.

Everywhere I go, people keep telling me that, as an artist, I need two specific things: a Mac and a graphic tablet. Well, I don’t have a Mac yet (although I desperately want one), but I was lucky enough to have my friend Ron Miller graciously donate one of his older Aiptek tablets to my artistic cause.

I forgot it and left it in Virginia when I moved to California last year, but when we went back on vacation, it was the first thing I packed. Graphic tablets scare me. I’m extremely uncomfortable using tools that I am not familiar with, and this tablet is no exception.

Last night, however, I grew a pair and decided to, at least, try a few things with it. Besides not having hardly any hand-eye coordination, I’ve found that I am easily frustrated.

Regardless, I kept at it for a few more minutes and the above and below are my results.

Not too pretty, but not too shabby for a guy who just got his art cherry popped. I’m gonna keep at it, and maybe my later tries will look infinitely better than these initial attempts. I am so envious of you guys who can just whip out your tablets and create instant masterpieces.

I’m practicing, though, and maybe I’ll catch up to you one day.