I dropped in on Steve Harpster yesterday to pick up a fax, and found him inking some pencils I'd brought him earlier this week. I think this may have been the first time I've ever seen another artist ink my work. Since Steve has a very slick inking hand, I knew he'd make something beautiful out of my chicken-scratch, but it was still odd to see. He wisely re-evaluated some of the figure work and tweaked details and compositional elements... but, there's something about giving one's pencils over to an inker that feels a bit like giving one's toddler over to kindergarten.

I suppose it's the same with anything. I've seen my scripts directed by others as well. It's always a moody combination of "ooh, I never even considered that. How cool." and "aargh. That's really not what I meant. Why would they do that?" A little sweet-and-sour.

All in all, it's a strange experience, collaborating with another artist ...and it's something I've done only rarely. And that's truly a shame, because I never fail to learn from working with other artists, especially those more seasoned than myself.