UnConventional
It’s been just over a month since the submission of four years of work, and to reward myself I spent most of that time preparing books,… Read More »UnConventional
comics
1,460 days, 45,000 words, 1,000 comic pages
I’m writing this in horizontal repose, finally free of stress and watching my body succumb to the rigours of an overwhelming deadline after weeks of caffeine… Read More »1,460 days, 45,000 words, 1,000 comic pages
2017 Bringing it home
It’s been exactly four months since my last post, and I owe it to myself to get back on track with posting again. So, what’s… Read More »2017 Bringing it home
Copy-right?
I’ve emailed Henry Rollins, and the management of Pink Floyd, The Rolling Stones, Rodriguez and Ben Lee asking for permission to use their lyrics within… Read More »Copy-right?
Bike crash redux
In The System of Comics (2009) Thierry Groensteen uses the term Spatiotopia to refer to comics’ system of structures that sit within each other working independently and interdependently. Frames,… Read More »Bike crash redux
Ch-ch-chan-ges
Draft 2 changes for the day. Wow. It’s not much, really, is it? What am I actually doing with my time? I don’t even play… Read More »Ch-ch-chan-ges
Workshop anyone?
I’ve been lucky enough to give a host quite a few workshops at libraries and such over the last couple of years. Pretty cool that… Read More »Workshop anyone?
Kim Jung Gi
Watching Kim Jung Gi’s live drawing demonstrations gave me permission to draw in my sketchbook directly with ink pen. No planning, straight-ahead drawing, allowing the theme and… Read More »Kim Jung Gi
After the snooter
Eddie Campbell is one of those prolific and ridiculously proficient artists who for some reason are not living in a golden castle on top of Success… Read More »After the snooter
Ingram Sparky proofy
After much fuggerizing around I’ve finally managed to upload a PDF of the 2014 Diary Comics that Ingram Spark didn’t spit back at me. Not… Read More »Ingram Sparky proofy
Draft 2 begins
After consulting with my supervisor Andi Spark and after feedback from my mother-in-law Doris, I am going over the pages I’ve completed so far and… Read More »Draft 2 begins
Equilibrium
Drawing a page on the Cintiq again after a few weeks away. Focusing on attitude and body language. And a timelapse of the process, if you’re… Read More »Equilibrium
Hand to eye
When watching television or movie, even the most mediocre of offerings, the enthusiastic artist, I’ve found, can keep the pen moving and the hand to… Read More »Hand to eye
Writer-artist/Artist-writer?
This panel is from American cartoonist Joe Matt, taken from his collection of comic strips Peepshow. As a cartoonist/practitioner in autobio comics, there is a constant… Read More »Writer-artist/Artist-writer?
Gone
Here are some storyboards I put together for a student film. I was strapped for time with this and used photos and reference images directly… Read More »Gone
10,000 hours
There’s an adage that 10,000 hours of practice is what’s required to become a master. While that is more of an incentive for persistence than… Read More »10,000 hours
Interpreting
Following on from the last post and still using the cover of Action Comics #1, here I’ll investigate different modes of interpretation. Formalist reading. What are… Read More »Interpreting
Describing
Traditional art writing and critique can be broken down into a system of steps, including describing. The description is crucial because it draws attention to… Read More »Describing
Triangle of Representation
Scott McCloud’s Triangle of Representation (Understanding Comics, 1993, 52) lends a non-linear sliding scale of representation that might be used to assign values to an… Read More »Triangle of Representation
Sign of a sign of a sign
Here’s something interesting. Jonathan Culler in his book Literary Theory: A Very Short Introduction says: Traditionally, Western philosophy has distinguished “reality” from “appearance,” things themselves from representations… Read More »Sign of a sign of a sign
Ethnography in practice
I have lived for almost four years with a German Fraulein, and undertaken six trips to her homeland. It has been a gruelling journey with… Read More »Ethnography in practice
Autoethnography
What is Autoethnography? According to Dictionary.com, it’s a Noun. Yay research. Wikipedia goes on to say that: “In its early guises Autoethnographies were insider accounts… Read More »Autoethnography
Elastic Medium
In the space of comics the typeset letter quivers with the voice of the drawing hand, the referent of the written word becomes rubbery and… Read More »Elastic Medium
Logocentric
“Logocentrism” was coined by the German philosopher Ludwig Klages in the 1920s and refers to the tradition that regards words and language as a fundamentally important record of… Read More »Logocentric
The Lonely Cartoonist
Douglas Wolk in his book Reading Comics: How Graphic Novels work, “whereas the great majority of mainstream comics are made by teams of writers and artists,… Read More »The Lonely Cartoonist
The Ol’ German catchup
I’m sitting in a section of a very old farmhouse in North-West Germany called Ostfriesland and finally have the time and brain capacity to catch… Read More »The Ol’ German catchup
The hump
I’m at the stage of the graphic novel that I’m referring to as the hump. The big, horrible, hump. I’ve turned 15679 of a total… Read More »The hump
Flu commentary
If you’ve always, ever since you were a tiny kipper, desperately wanted to hear someone battling with Man-Flu talking about their work making comics, then… Read More »Flu commentary
Man Flu
I felt a scratching in my throat on the opening of Paul Cleveland’s Sins of Academia exhibition on Friday. Woke up on Saturday feeling decidedly… Read More »Man Flu