NO MORE INK

A while back I realized it was probably more handy to include an entire series (or as much as I can) into one post instead of posting them two or more segments at a time. Does this make sense? Let me know, because I'd be posting more often the other way around.

But sadly, as much as I'd like to continue my current comic, I'm going to have to buy some more pens. I may do some experiments with fountain pens before that.
We'll see what happens.

Rest assured this comic will be concluded!

Oh hey! Notice the shadows? Makes it pop right? Right!

This enough color for you, Perrin?

I keep catching spelling mistakes and they make me look stupid. Yes they do!

Tinkering with Color

Seriously folks. There are so many bugs in blogspot. I really should be able to choose between regular and italic font whenever I like.

...I digress.

My palette has always been limited by my disinterest in color. I enjoy color, but I have always found it entirely unnecessary when it comes to my own work. I'm one of those kids that chose "black" as their favorite color way back in kindergarden . Given a coloring book I would turn the paper around and start drawing with a pencil.

I'm surrounded by color 24/7, must I contribute as frequently as all the other kids that like to draw?

The answer to the vast majority is, yes.

I don't mind working in color at all, but I've always been criticized for my narrow spectrum. What can I say? I'm a total amateur. I literally only just began to take color seriously.

I've been afflicted with laziness ever since senior year of high school. In all seriousness, I think I might never have been diagnosed with "senoritus" if my peers hadn't warned me against it in the first place. If allowed to live in ignorance, I might have remained the diligent automaton that I once was.

But as much as my laziness has affected me artistically, I can't say that it is the sole reason why I choose to primarily work in black and white. Perhaps I wish to leave more to the imagination? Or mabye I really AM some kind of philistine?
Time will tell, I reckon.

...Anyhoo, I'm running out of ink in all my fine pens. I'm left with all the wider pigment markers so I thought, why not fool around a little?

This comic is an experiment more than anything else. Not sure if you should expect another page...

The Thing About Falling in Love (FINALE)

Ok. Now I very much, very seriously have to get new pens. My ink is nearly gone!

It'd be fun to tinker with fountain pens next. That'd be fun.

Yup.

There's a lot more of could have said on the subject of love (OBVIOUSLY) but I'm trying to keep my comics short.

In other news, in case you don't follow blogspot, I now have another website, HERE for all you TUMBLR fans...

The Thing About Falling in Love (PART IV)

It would be nice to have a stand I could set up to draw people's portraits, but I'm unsure of the legality of something like that.
Nuts.

People love having themselves drawn.

The Thing About Falling in Love (PART III)

Note to self: get more pens.
Going to take a day or two off after today.
Yup!

Every post allows me to write labels or tags that will help my site show up in search engines. The genius of technology has allowed there to be a prompt system that memorizes previous entries. So all I have to type is the letter "P" and suddenly the computer prompts a memorized "Prince of Nestaria."

...Only problem is that I can't write "love," it won't let me. It seriously won't let me.

I try to write "love," but the computer changes it to "gay lovers," every time.
Every, time.

I wonder if it's trying to tell me something...

The Thing About Falling In Love (PART II)

In all seriousness, the user interface when it comes to arranging these images in Blog Spot is...lacking.

...lacking!

The Thing About Falling In Love (PART I)

Another look

As much as I'd like to launch into making Suicide happen, the real thing I should be focusing on now is a bullet proof query letter, and a small chunk of the comic that I can tease a publisher with. So they say.

Speaking of teasing, here's another bit from the manuscript.

I had the comic on display for a while in a gallery at New Paltz. I left out a comment book and got probably the best compliment I've ever been given about it in there:

"You know, I've never really been a fan of those "tell all autobiographical" comics that seem to dominate the independent scene. In the first place, they always seemed ridiculously self-indulgent, and even when dressed up with self-depreciating humor, they seemed egotistical as hell. Also watching someone reveal their deepest and darkest with such honesty makes me feel a bit like someone has invited me over to watch their masturbation session.

I don't pretend to know why "Suicide" is different, but it's the first autobiographical comic that's made me feel something other than mild disgust. It's incredibly well written, and it never sinks into the whiny bitch-fest that it so easily could have become.

Congrats."

Comic!

I've been tinkering with different papers, pens etc for some time.  And then it occurred to me after reading some Scott Mcloud that I should really be focusing on layout, backgrounds and detail.  A big problem with me is that I'm more concerned with the idea and less concerned with the product.

So while I take a lot from my work, others can't relate as much.

I'm perfectly capable of delivering good detail, it's just a question of pushing myself there.

So yeah.  I made a fun little comic about my girlfriend (and muse) and I.

Yup.

I'm still not 100% satisfied with some of the tools I've been using.  I find the Sakura Pigment marker a little sloppy, and not dark enough.

I actually bought a repitograph but I've been too scared to use it.

Right now frame borders are what's bugging me the most.

I more or less was at one with them by the end of the strip.

I (and others) don't mind the freehand quality of the frames, but some of these are simply not good enough.

Scrutiny!

Nothing special

Finished editing the first edition. Now it's disc burning time and off to Kinkos. With nothing else to report I thought I'd include this photo of me, in the process of making the comic. Observe my hair. Observe how awful it looks. Make notes. Get inspired.

First Edition Finished! (yay)

In late September I began work on an intense autobiographical comic, I didn't know it then but that comic would consume my life until November. Right before Thanksgiving I managed to finish it at a whopping 42 pages (a personal record).

Only 8 pages in Richard Gere told me that if I continued the comic I'd be successful. And then again a couple weeks ago Liz Chaflin told me the same thing. Friends, artists and professors have all told me that I must get it published, which is exactly what I intend to do.

First things first is getting it copywritten. So it goes...

Work for the FCC

I've always found it horribly frustrating the idea that mental abuse in marriage is good material for a comic strip.

The Great War's Beginnings

This is the very first comic in "The Great War" series. This is what basically got me fired from my first job washing dishes in a pub. They were drawn in ball point pen on the backs of various schedules and print outs that I found in the trash. Apparently working on graphic novels on the job is frowned upon in the restaurant business. I don't see the problem, I was only pages in...

Because of the poor quality of the scans, I have written you a transcript. How nice!

COMIC ONE:

King: "Bazil! What news from the Western front?"

Bazil: "It bodes ill sire. ...The troops are stricken with doubt and mutinous thoughts, and every day the enemy grows stronger with reinforcements from the South! The Queen's confidence in the General may have been misguided, I suspect they are lovers! ...My Lord...we must retreat from this war..."

King: "NEVER! ...No Bazil. We can not retire, without dishonor. I will not succumb to my brother. We must merely adopt a new stratagem. ...In the meantime have my spies keep watch on the Queen, I will not suffer her betrayal."

Bazil: *sigh* "Yes my Lord."

I'll have the second comic up sooner or later. It's harder now that my personal computer is being repaired. Relying on the school's programs has proven somewhat problematic.
Heerererergggll...

Hurray!

Today marked the first meeting of Free Cake Comics, a club I started here in SUNY New Paltz. All of us met at a workshop with Jessica Abel (http://www.jessicaabel.com/) on making comics.

The most I got out of it really was seeing everyone involved and being able to communicate with them. From there we started the FCC and will very soon be putting out our very own zine! How nice!

Though no work is up yet, we do have a myspace so feel free at any time to check out our stuff!
http://www.myspace.com/freecakecomics

Though it was only our first meeting I'm already getting a positive vibe from everyone who came. I feel it will be the most fun organization I'll ever be a part of on campus.

The Great War and Sheep's Pond

"The Great War," is an interesting project that came to me working as a dishwasher. Before then all my graphic novel attempts were complex stories that puckered out due to the lack of good characters. "The Great War" revolves around character and very little plot. It is a war fought by eccentrics, and the story of the war is told in fragmented moments from brothel girl to emperor. Eventually I'm going to scan the very first comics to the series which I cherish, grease stains and all. Before then all my serious graphic novel attempts were all hyper-realistic, but in "The Great War" I allowed myself a much more liberal framing.

****

There is more than one Sheep Pond dotting Nantucket, but only one Sheep's Pond. It was with a dismissive revulsion that I heard it referred to as Miami Beach, but that name is a falsehood.

Every year my family and I stay in Cape Cod for two weeks. As a child this trip would include my grandparents, aunts and uncles, and my six cousins. We all stayed in "The Ranch" which my grandparents would rent out. After a long day in the sun on Coastguard Beach, we would walk to Sheep's Pond. The pond is one of many kettle holes left behind the Ice Age. Gigantic chunks of ice were broken off as the ice scraped across over North America. Slowly they melted and left behind freshwater ponds that are still scattered across Massachusetts to this day.

Just walking on the edge of these ponds you see damsel flies, dragon flies, frantic schools of minnows, the curious offspring of Striped Bass, and the varying stages of bullfrog. These speckled squirts were the focal point of my attention as a kid. My brother and I would catch them and hold them, peering into their yellow eyes until they leapt from our palms. I remember one year a group of other boys were doing the same thing, only they would throw the frogs as hard as they could against the water until they lay motionless. I still mourn the loss of them from the pond.

The beauty of Cape Cod is constantly mingled with its rugged nature. It is my favorite place to be.

Last summer we found ourselves back in the pond. I hadn't tried to catch a frog for years. I had the pleasure of showing my best friend for the first time what it was like, and found myself once again filled with child-like excitement. I was not particular over what I caught as long as I had something to show for my lunges.
You should have seen it!

Comics: an extensive history

Here is the story of my life relative to comics. My first comic was drawn in Kindergarden. It was called Justin Man.

I believe there were several issues of Justin Man, drawn in pencil and crayon and though I do not recall if they were saved they are vivid in my memory. A single issue was composed of maybe two or three pages of literary wonder. A single script was mainly composed

Justin Man fought a number of enemies but my personal favorite was always the Robot. I wouldn't draw multi-page comics again until the fourth grade. Until then I emulated my favorite cartoonists (Bill Waterson, Gary Larson, B Kliban), producing my own silly gags and one-liners.

It was in Freshwater Florida where I saw my very first episode of Ed, Edd and Eddy on the Cartoon Network. I was completely inspired, lord forgive me. I took an existing character of mine and then basically copied the world and characters of the cartoon show in my own vein. Though I am embarrassed by this period it served as a playground where I did everything you're not supposed to do. A panel was an entire page. Speech bubbles were out of proper sequence. The human hand was nothing but a ball attached at the wrist. Nearly every character looked exactly the same, no matter the gender. But as I said, I learned from all these faux pas. In the meantime the comics were actually quite popular in the classroom. At one point I learned that selling out can back you into a corner. Crazy, right? I have at least 30 issues of these comics. At best they are vaguely amusing, in my opinion. My dad still loves them though.

I was over "Meister Man" by the 7th grade, and quite embarrassed. I departed from comics almost entirely save for the occasional phase when I would return to the one-liners and odd illustrations. During this time people would look at my art (and always have) and would ask "Do you do comics?" I would always retort with an irritated "No." because I didn't like the idea of being type-cast, artistically.

Finally in the 10th grade I resurrected Justin Man. With a new slew of amusing enemies (Lobe Duck, Bubba the Pidgeon Man) and a considerable leap in vocabulary, Justin Man was in every sense a new phenomenon. This time the stalwart hero was transformed into a goofy, somewhat dim underdog in the scheme of things. Generally the villains were defeated in some freak accident.

In senior year I undertook what I consider now to be my first attempt at a graphic novel. The project consumed my life for a good three months in which I drew nothing outside the confines of the work.

In the future the UED (unite earth directorate) sends astronauts into space to seek out worlds that can be colonized. Those worlds are marked and then groups of people and families are paid to live there for four years. If these groups can survive for the alloted times then the planet will be colonized.

The novel was about one such group. The whole endeavor proved quite destructive for me mentally, and in the end I realized to my horror that it was essentially Steven King's "The Shining" set in the future. Balls. I decided from that point never to touch a graphic novel ever again.

Six months later I was at it again. This time making an epic fantasy based story. Nothing special, but damned fun to draw. I realized later that not every character should look like me, that's a bit of a stretch. There was another departure after that one, as some things require a touch more planning.

I suppose at this point I should explain that I almost never have a plan. While most people who draw comics make thumbnails, pencil everything in, and then ink it up. I just ink it up. When I discovered pen and ink I never went back. So generally I plow through comics one page at a time. People think I'm crazy but it's worked out okay so far.

Last summer marked my first job, working as a dishwasher in a pub. I would argue that it was a good experience but only in an argument. Otherwise I will start whining and wishing that I had my summer back. I learned there that I truly needed to do art as a career. I was eventually fired for tearing down fliers and drawing comics on them. Whoops.

Working in that sweaty, greasy dive inspired The Great War, which I worked on over the summer and into the next semester of my junior year in college. This semester, actually. It was in Cape Cod on our annual family vacation that my best friend Alexander the Great and I spoke on the future. I was frustrated and worried, not knowing what to do with my life. My mother still believes I should have a go at Hollywood. Suddenly Alex turned to me and said "...Why don't you just do comics?"

I stared blankly.

"Christ. Why don't I just do comics?" I had no answer.

I don't want to ever limit myself to one thing. But I know that my passion for comic making is very real. This realization has changed me in ways I never thought possible. It's funny, a year ago I would have slapped myself for saying so.

Funny how life works out, aye?