Little Steps

It's been a while since my last post because it's getting more difficult to report on progress without giving away crucial details of the story. I'm probably going to switch my blog schedule to weekly posts to accommodate this little issue, so stay tuned every Friday for new installments.

For this week, I'll share with you my ongoing struggle with satisfying self expectations. I know this story won't get finished overnight, but since I already know the conclusion in my mind I can't help but feel a sense of disappointment every day I go to bed without actually finishing it. I take little comfort in whatever progress is made each day because all I can think about are the pages left to complete. It seems like the finish line is stretching further and further away from me, rather than getting closer.

I always tell myself that the journey is more important than the destination, and I've always felt that way about art. However, I really want to finish this project, and it just doesn't seem like I ever will. I've never spent five years on an art project before, and I'm not sure I'm well suited for this kind of creative timeline. Hopefully this is just a passing angst I'm feeling today, and tomorrow I'll find new motivation. It just seems I have to find that new motivation more often than usual these days.

I'm at a point in the story where even showing an entire panel will reveal too much spoiler information, so I'm relegated to close-ups for now. In this panel Carl is expressing a level of shock that I hope will be shared by the reader at this moment when the full story is released. #Inktober

Productivity Without Progress

I completed two pages today, which should be very satisfying, but it actually got me no further towards finishing the book. As stated in my previous blog, I think I might have rushed through the last few pages in terms of pace. My initial solution was to slow things down with the next few pages to compensate, but today that seemed like a cop out (which it should have from the very beginning).

What surprised me was how easy it was to add two extra pages BETWEEN pages that have already been completed. Normally if I've left gaps in the narrative it would require redoing an entire page to accommodate a couple extra panels, but no - apparently I rushed through the past few pages so majestically that I was able to add entire pages, uninterrupted between existing pages, to fill in the gaps. I essentially achieved the perfect level of incompetence to allow for entire pages to be inserted within the completed narrative as a correction - SCORE!

In spite of where the day started, I think the new pages work out well, and I'm glad I spent the time to clean the story up. However, it also means that I've made no real progress towards the end of the book. I usually motivate myself with the realization that each page completed brings me one page closer to the conclusion of the story. Unfortunately I finished today with the same final page I started with, albeit with a better lead-up than existed this morning.

#Inktober

Mix It Up

Losing perspective is the biggest challenge I encounter with this project. Without anyone else to consistently bounce ideas off of, I can easily get lost in a direction that would kill the overall story. I do have an editor who I bring in when each book is done, and he combs through it with a keen eye for errors and narrative flow. I'm lucky to have this guy doing his thing, but unfortunately he only comes in at the end of the creative process. This can lead to uncomfortable situations; let me give you an example -

When I gave my editor a working draft of "Shadow Play" to go over, his initial feedback was painfully revealing. He loved the story, and proceeded to go over the narrative and all the things he liked about it - before I had to stop him. He was actually describing a completely different story than the one I thought I had written. When we sat down and went through it page by page, I was able to see it through his objective eye. At best, it required an interested reader to fill in a lot of gaps with assumptions and educated guesses, and at worst it was just plain confusing. I ended up redoing "Shadow Play" from scratch. No revising of pages here and there, or fiddling with the text - I completely rewrote the whole damn story. So if you're curious - yes there is a completed alternate version of "Shadow Play" that has never been to print. I'm sure it'll make an interesting bootleg one day.

The lesson I learned from this is to step back from my project as often as possible and work on other things. Getting too engrossed in the story can lead to developing dangerous blind spots that obstruct seeing obvious narrative gaps and inconsistencies.

#Inktober

Tempo

I just finished a two page sequence that felt like it was paced very well in the script, but once I see the pages inked, I now think it rushes through some key action.

I remember this as being the primary takeaway from my first book; be explicit and be patient. It's easy for me to assume the reader is following along with my thought processes so it's tempting to rush through a sequence of events and feel that it plays out coherently for the reader. Put simply, I needed to start using two pages to convey what I previously would pack into one. This makes me more conscious of the story and aware of the audience, rather than just spewing ideas as they form in my head.

Anyway, I have the luxury of revising the next few pages to adjust for this. Just thought I'd share one of the issues I deal with from time to time.

#Inktober

Tools of the Trade

Thanks to a thoughtful request, I'm allocating this post to describing the tools of my trade. For the current book, my surface base is the Borden & Riley #234 PARIS BLEEDPROOF PAPER FOR PENS paper. It's a very smooth surface, but also flexible enough that it doesn't crease when handled too much - which my pages often are, and this has been an issue in the past.

My medium of choice is the Sakura MICRON Archival Ink pen, #2, #3, #5, and #8. I should note that the second book, "Shadow Play," was inked with traditional crow-quill pen nibs and India ink on illustration board, and I encourage you to examine and appreciate the differences between the two techniques.

The following is an image of my actual workspace with a page-in-progress, followed by the required inked image for #Inktober, which again - I encourage you to caption. The last image is of my cat, just because he's awesome.

#Inktober

Rainy Day Inspiration

The story finally entered a another chapter today, and it's injected new energy to into my daily schedule. It feels like I'm on a whole new story with the change of scenery, and the artwork is flowing more smoothly as a result. It also helped that there was steady rain all day to keep me focused on work and not tempted to go outside and distract myself.

I'm actually going to get back to work so I'll keep this post short. If there's anything about the creative process for making this book that you're curious about, feel free to send me a message. I imagine I'm going to run out of things to talk about before the month is out, so I'm happy to address any questions that might be out there.

#Inktober

Working Based On A Schedule or Working When Inspired?

I struggle with a problem many artists should be able to relate to: How to motivate myself to work when I don't feel inspired. There's an old Faulkner quote that I always found enlightening and frustrating at the same time - "I write when I’m inspired, and I see to it that I’m inspired at nine o’clock every morning."

There is definitely something to be said for having a set schedule for work, and I make sure I have dedicated time for graphic novel work each day, but it doesn't always mean I get quality work done during that time. However, when I work while inspired I always get a high volume of quality work done. The problem is that I'm not always inspired when I need to be. Therefor I've settled on a hybrid method.

First thing is that I make sure I'm at my drawing table for a set time each day and prepared to work. I'll start with some warm up sketches to get loose and hopefully be ready to tackle the next page in front of me. If for some reason the drawing is looking or feeling forced, I'll usually stop for a while and take care of some of the more mundane tasks such as scanning and cleaning up pages, or fiddling with the script. If I don't get much drawing or inking done during this scheduled time, I tend not to worry too much about it. I've ruined my share of pages by forcing through work when I'm not feeling it.

The way I make up for lost productivity during scheduled time is by having my book and supplies with me at all times so whenever inspiration strikes throughout the day, I'll have my tools with me to work. Since I only need a table and chair for my workspace, I can turn most environments into a suitable studio.

So far this method has keep progress moving along at a steady pace, although it would be easier if I could figure out Faulkner's secret.

It occurred to me today that it's going to be difficult to post an image each day without revealing too much of the story. To manage this, the panels will necessarily be cryptic. I invite you to submit captions, and if I get any interesting ones I'll post them. #Inktober

Boring Format Stuff

Creating a page for this series involves a few standard steps that I'll share with you today - aren't you lucky!

1. After I've written out the basic dialogue/narrative for each panel, I draw and ink the page. At this stage I don't include the speech bubbles or captions, as the text may still change. If you have a copy of the first book, "Lost Southern Cross", you'll notice that the speech bubbles and captions are drawn in by hand prior to including text. Following the final edits, this resulted in some cases of oversized bubbles/captions with very  little text, and some cases of undersized bubbles/captions with too much text crammed into them. As a result, for the next books I decided to add these in the final step of the process, rather than the first.

2. After the page has been inked, I scan it to my computer and clean it up in photoshop. This first involves maximizing contrast without losing any detailed line work. This is done by adjusting curves, increasing contrast, and in most cases manually filling in gaps and lines where appropriate. Once the page looks clean, I adjust the image size so all the pages are exactly the same size. At this point I add in the panel and page frames with the line tool.

3. I now consider the page complete until the final edit of the entire book is complete. Once the final edit is complete, I add the speech bubbles and captions in photoshop. I'll dedicate another blog post to how those are created.

This image represents a completed page, prior to speech bubbles/captions being added. It's also an example of a page with no action so I decided to use different style and composition techniques to add visual interest. #Inktober

A Clarification from Carl

Work continues with another page completed today, but I've been asked to use this blog post to correct clarify a statement from my September 23rd post "Mapping the Story." Carl took offence to my characterization of him as not being "the most coherent or thorough storyteller." I certainly meant no offence, and stated as such, but after reading his message I feel that a clarification is in order. Rather than provide one myself, I'll simply relay Carl's message to me below, verbatim. Apologies in advance for the language -


Mark - 
I'm glad you're getting your ass in gear and trying to finally finish this little cartoon of my story, but I'm a little pissed at you referring to me as 'incoherent,' and 'not thorough' in my relating of this tale to you. First of all - Fuck You! and secondly, that's just a piss poor description of the gold I've given you. You kids these days are spoon-fed entertainment like it's candy; mindless zombies bombarded with special effects, big noises, and flashy lights that you forget five minutes later. I told you a story that not only happened, but had you glued to your seat for an entire night at the bar. If you feel you need to clean it up and make it more digestible then you've missed the fucking point. The story is raw, unfiltered, and rough around the edges - AS IT SHOULD BE. Consider this fair warning - you know I'm monitoring your progress, don't screw this up.

cordially,
Carl

I chose this panel today because outside the context of the story it looks pretty creepy, but to me it's very sweet. I'm in a sweet/creepy mood today. #Inktober

First Chapter Finished - and Some Added Motivation

I hit a satisfying milestone today by finishing the chapter I've been slaving on for the past few weeks. There isn't a lot of action in this chapter as it relies heavily on dialogue, so getting through the art felt very tedious. The primary challenge for me was in finding ways to draw the same exact scene in panel after panel without looking visually repetitive.

Unique angles, modifying the line styles, and changing perspective were all used to illustrate a conversation that spanned several panels over a few pages, but simply takes place seated around a table. Looking at the finished pages, I think it works but I'll let the audience be the judge once the book is released.

The next chapter has some bold compositions to tackle so I expect momentum to start picking up over the coming days and weeks. As a compliment to my self-imposed scheduled, I've decided to take part in #Inktober drawing challenge. I only just found out about it today so I'm starting three days behind, but I'll make sure I post an inked panel or page each day for the rest of the month.

Mapping the Story

As I continue to work through this series, the most common questions I get asked relate to how it actually gets written: Is the story already written out? or more specifically - Do I start with a general idea, specific script, or any planning at all before I start drawing each page?

Since I'm working from a story told to me over the course of an evening at a local bar, I had an oral narrative to work from. However, given that it was a drunken conversation, and the source (no offence, Carl) wasn't the most coherent or thorough storyteller, I was left with little more than a basic framework of plot points and loosely defined characters. From there I created the first volume, "Lost Southern Cross", one page at a time - relying on an organic process to let the story unfold as I saw each page emerge before me. This allowed me to gauge the success or failure of visual and written elements as I went along, rather than commit myself to a direction that might not do justice to Carl's Story.

As I proceeded through the second volume, "Shadow Play," it was clear that I needed to script out the story in a more organized manner to ensure continuity, and that process has become more diligent as I completed the third volume, "The Protégé," and now find myself working through the fourth.

Even with the increased planning and scripting, my approach has been to allow for as much organic development in the story as possible. I've found that leaving space for each page to develop independently and impact the direction of the next page - and rest of the narrative- has served Carl's Story well.

While I'm confident in this approach for this project, my advice for anyone thinking about creating a graphic novel is to thoroughly script out your story first. By that I mean write it out panel by panel, with descriptions or sketches of the action in each so you can monitor balance between text and image, and also keep an eye on overall pace. Art and text serve different purposes in a graphic novel and should compliment each other in service of the story, not fight each other for the reader's attention.


Progress To Date On Book 4 - I've scripted and inked 13 pages so far (2 today). I'm not sure exactly how long this installment will be, but I'm assuming 50-70 pages as that has been the norm for the previous volumes.

sneak peak - Carl and Jeff enjoying a night out, Suzie keeping a caring eye on Charlie, and a mysterious stranger taking in the music. *Bonus points if you can guess the band that's playing.

The evolution of a drunken bar tale into a five volume graphic novel series

Me and Carl, November 2009

In 2009, while at at my local bar, I found myself sitting next to Carl. He was another regular, but rarely spoke to anyone except the staff, and usually just to order another drink. He was an old, broken down, surly bastard whom everyone was content to leave alone. However, this was a slow night; not many people around to chat with, so I decided to break the ice and ask Carl, "So, what's your story?" I'm not sure if he was trying to scare me off with the tale he began to tell, or if he'd just simply been waiting for someone to ask, but either way - he shared a story so unique and unbelievable that I promised to turn it into a graphic novel for the world to enjoy. With the first three volumes now completed, I'm left with the final two to finish his story. As I work to finish the last two installments, I'll use this blog to post progress and insights into the evolution of this project. Check back often to track the development and ultimate completion of "Carl's Story."