inky hands

Life as I currently know it is so boring and tedious (christ do I hate job hunting) that it drove me to actually create a short comic, instead of just kind of scribbling down doodles and ideas as usual. I managed to get an inordinate amount of ink on my hands whilst inking it (because I'm a big spaz). It's pretty silly and retarded... but it was fun. I'm hoping this creative kick will continue and not just be a one-hit wonder. Here are the first few panels. The rest of the two page comic is up online somewhere (if you can find it, mwahahah)...

Tilda Wonderpup

Tilda gets my comic book make-over...

Art School Confidential part two

rough sketch of image for back page of our final project, a 4-page comic, which had to be 'about the sea'. ack. as it was our interpretation of 'the sea', i went off on a tangent and did something about revisiting the normandy beaches.

CB: tell me about skool
H: it was FUN. it made me feel happy
H: and kind of unblocked
H: and more creative
H: all of which are good
CB: wow. that's the best ever!
H: i forget how stifling office environments are
H: we went to the comics museum one day too, that was cool. it's only tiny but interesting


couple of panels from first page of final project, about normandy beaches

CB: is the class done? will you keep drawing?
CB: what were the other students like?
H: yeah it was only a week long
H: yes i think i will... although i'm still not much of a drawrer (that's so not a word)
H: other students were a real mix - almost as many girls as boys, ages from.. 18 to 40-ish... some had previous illustration experience, some had none
H: a couple of people dropped out by about the second or third day, which is kind of lame
CB: yeah! in a week class! losers
H: exactly
H: one guy was talking about getting us all to keep in touch and starting a quarterly comic where each have four or five pages to fill
H: which could be cool


panel from third page of normandy beach mini-comic.

H: looking at all the different kinds of comic book and graphic novel, there are so many that are like.., my style - ie, relatively basic - of drawing - like quite a few of the autobiographical graphic novels and stuff
H: you know what i mean?
CB: yeah! that's what I was saying
CB: I mean look at Scott Pilgrim
H: yeah - i did a few sketches and stuff from those american manga style books, they're pretty easy to copy
H: and i can copy quite well. guess it's just another way of learning.
CB: it totally is! that's what I did from when I was 9
H: lolCB: I mostly copied the Dungeons and Dragons manuals. LOL*
H: hahahah brilliant

So in summary:
I had a good week, it was good to be in a creative environment again and have the opportunity to just sit and draw and sketch all day.

In terms of what I learned, I think the Eisner and McCloud books actually do a better job of teaching the theory and work behind it all, of which I thought there'd be more in this course. However, for me personally, I can't underestimate the powers of the practical side of the class; I have sketch books coming out of my ears but I can never quite bring myself to sit down and properly do some work - so the act of actually *having* to was a good breakthrough, and I'm kind of hoping I can keep that momentum going. I have those three books I've just referenced on my shelf, which I totally intend to re-read once I've waded through the three stacks of books I have to read (most of which are on loan from schminnie or the library, so I really should get cracking).

I mean, it's not like I'm going to go off and become an illustrator. We all know this isn't a new career path for me. It was mainly about branching out and opening up - and escaping the office - all of which it did.

The one downfall of the week: the proximity of Central St Martins to Gosh Comics... It's been recommended to me before, but this was the first time I'd actually visited. And needless to say I went most days and spent too much money.

*CB, don't disown me for publishing that...

The finished back page image