Could my journal entry BE and longer?

Big thanks to Jark and Spyed for the warm welcome to their fine site here as well as a big thanx to everyone that's dropped by and commented on my artwork!! You guys make my job worth doing so it's extremely appreciated. I wish that I could reply to every comment you guys leave as well as all the kind notes you send but there just doesn't seem to be enough hours in the day. I hope to get around to answering all the notes at some point so please bare with me.
   I wanted to try and answer some of the questions I get asked almost daily in this journal entry so everyone can see them since a lot of them are repeat questions.

Why are you here on Deviant art?
   Originally, I simply needed a place to store my artwork so I could send links to people through e-mail instead of attaching large files. I thought I would go pretty unnoticed since I don't have an avatar or really told anyone I was here but people seemed to have found me. I don't have any sort of agenda or anything but if someone buys one of my books the next time they're in their local shop because they saw my work here, I really can't complain.

Why don't you have an Avatar? Get an avatar!!!
   I've been meaning to do that but haven't had the time or energy. I swear I'll get around to it eventually. Maybe I'll have a contest for someone to design a avatar since I seem to be a retard at getting one done-HAHA!
EDIT: Captainslag was cool enouph to make up a really dope avatar for me so I now have one for my main page. Do the guy a solid and drop by to see his work at [link] . Props to him for doing this for me!

What's it like working for Marvel?
  Um well, it's pretty fun but I work my ass off daily and have very little free time. I think there's a misconception that I actually 'WORK' for Marvel but the truth is that I'm a freelancer like most artists on Marvel books so I don't technically work for Marvel but am contracted through them to produce art for their books. Same goes for the other companies I've done work for (Darkhorse, Dreamwave, Image, etc.)

What kind of ink do you use?
     This one's easy- none. Most of the artwork you see in my gallery is pencils only. I don't ink my work but when I do have inks, they're normally done by a professional inker and not me since I'm simply a penciler. Check the description under each entry and it says what went into the piece. If it says for example "pencils by me and colors by Danimation" then it's simply that, pencils and colors, no inks.

What program do you use to color?
    I think this is another misunderstanding by some people. Most of the work in my gallery is only penciled by me and colored by someone else. The 4 colorists you'll find in my gallery are Gary Yeung, Edgar Delgado, Seed, and of course Danimation who makes up the bulk of the colors in my gallery. I have been known to color from time to time and you can see some of it in my gallery under pieces like Fooly Cooly or Ultimate Captain America. Check the description line under each piece to see who did what. When I do color, I use Photoshop 5.5.  I believe Gary, Edgar, Seed, and Danimation all use PS 7.0 mixed with a little painter.

What did you do to get to work for Marvel?
    Very simple, I worked my ass off. I draw everyday for hours and constantly practiced. I draw from my imagination and from real life to always keep myself sharp. If you want to work in comics you have to be able to draw EVERYTHING!!!! This means anything from a car exploding to a coffee mug, a dog to a tree, and all types of people. Meaning good looking young people, old people, fat or skinny, and black, white or Asian. Got all that? Good, now be able to draw a quality page in about 8 hours everyday. Be constantly open to feedback from other people and be prepared to have your feelings hurt because the best critiques are brutally honest. Once you get to the level that you think you're ready to try your hand professionally, go out to conventions and meet as many people as you can. Learn about the industry and what it takes to work here. Don't be afraid to start small for indy book often working for free because this is where you'll do your most growing and improving. It's hard and most people don't realize how difficult it is until you get your foot in the door. Be prepared to put everything you have into your art and do it because you love it. It's the only way to keep yourself from going crazy.

How did you learn to draw? did you go to school?
   I drew all through grade school and high school and attended the Savannah College of Art and Design for a couple of years but most of my ability came from drawing as much as possible. For years I would fill an entire sketchbook in about a month. You can be taught to draw but most of your skill will come from simply sitting down and drawing. Listen to what other artists tell you and be open to critiques and pointers since you can learn from others experience and apply them to your artwork.

Can you look at my gallery and give me some pointers?
   I get asked this more than anything else and wish to god I could oblige everyone in this request. I'm extremely honored that people would ask me to view their work but it would be a disservice to the artist if I can only give 1 or 2 sentence critiques like "work on your anatomy" or "draw from real life more". These don't really help an artist since you really don't know what these comments mean without more explanation. I like to give very detailed critiques but I simply don't have the free time to give an artist here the attention they deserve. There are, however, many extremely skilled artists here on DA that I've seen give some very good critiques so I would suggest cruising the message boards and seeking these artists out. They're a wealth of knowledge.

How can I get one of your 2004 Sketchbooks?
   Okay, I think I've finally worked out a method to get sketchbooks to all those people that have asked for them. I've set up a Hotmail account at markbrookssketchbook@hotmail.com . What you need to do is shoot me an e-mail saying you would like a sketchbook. I will reply with info and an order form you can print out giving detailed info for shipping costs. I will ship both in and outside the US so shoot me an e-mail and I'll get back to you ASAP. The sketchbooks are ashcan size with 38 pages of sketches, finished linework, and character mock-ups most of which has never been seen in print. Each sketchbook is $10 plus shipping and random sketchbooks will have a small sketch drawn on the inside cover.  If you would like to see the cover to the sketchbook, look at the '2004 Sketchbook' entry under my gallery.

Thanks guys and I look forward to posting more artwork!!
-Mark Brooks

Here endith the rant.