Creating a Graphic Novel : Art – Food – Photography

Word Smith 2 is now LIVE! It’s been a great start but there’s still 30 days left to go. Please check it out and support, even sharing the link around will be much appreciated. Be sure to watch the video, it’s short (90 seconds) but took ages to put together!

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1917428739/word-smith-volume-1-and-2-the-competition

Only 3 more days before Word Smith Volume 2 launches on Kickstarter. It’s happening on the 27th October 10pm AEST. Here’s the amazing variant cover (by Wallace) that will be available. I love the cute little red panda!

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1917428739/word-smith-volume-1-and-2-the-competition

Word Smith Volume 2 is coming to Kickstarter. It’s happening on the 27th October 10pm AEST. Keep the date free!

The printing proofs are now done! Another step completed. It’s happening! I can’t wait to have this done and be able to send out the printed graphic novel to everyone.

Printing Proof :

It’s really awesome to receive feedback from school libraries. Mill Park Primary School has recently added Tabby and Word Smith into their collection. Thanks Sharon for supporting graphic novels!

Slowly going through the editing process to make sure everything is perfect! It’s getting very close now before I can get the stuck into the printing process. It won’t be too much longer before I can start sending out the reading PDFs.

Editing Proof :

Lettering is now completed on 5 Seconds Volume 3. Now it’s time for editing! Check out the uncoloured pencilled and inked drawn in page on this link.

Lettered :

Word Smith is slowly making its way into school libraries across Australia and it’s amazing to receive feedback like the below. This was sent to me by Kerri Olsen (Library Teacher Aide – Wynnum West State School).

Upon receiving a copy of Word Smith (a graphic novel by Stephen Kok) for our library, I knew straight away it was going to engage our students and it certainly has. The storyline is age appropriate and carries within a great message. Words used wisely are indeed so powerful.

The illustrations are also vibrant and colourful, capturing and holding the reader’s attention. I also believe, the graphic novel genre will keep it current and constantly on loan! We look forward to the next Stephen Kok novel with anticipation.

It’s awesome to receive photos like these. Here’s Owen Heitmann (Amplified Press) working his way through the entire Sigmate Studio catalogue. He mentioned that Word Smith was his favourite!

Owen Heitmann :

I love getting reviews about my work! Even negative reviews are a learning opportunity to see how to improve. St Therese (Mascot) passed Word Smith to two of their students and I’m happy to share the full review from Heather and Tricia (Year 6) below.

Word Smith Book Review
by Heather & Tricia
St Therese Mascot
Year 6 – 2019

From reading the title we were already hooked in with curiosity. We were instantly overwhelmed with questions on what the title meant and what this novel was about. Being artistic people, we loved the design of the front cover. Observing the style that was presented to us through the title we inferred that this book had something to do with mechanics.

The storyline was quite eccentric compared to other books. The main characters certainly stood out. Victoria’s stunning, bold attitude, led the way through the novel making it both plot and character driven. Being able to see from all the characters perspectives changed the story for us as we were able to comprehend the character’s perspectives on topic and opinions. This affected our view on the characters as we were judging everyone by their looks and stereotypes.

It has an ever-changing plot. Not only do the twist and turns change the storyline and characters but the turmoil differentiates the characters personalities. These hurdles on their adventure make cliff hangers for us as we waited to find out secrets and questions answered.

The hurdles in Word Smith are perfectly timed and aren’t chunky. Some problems took us by surprise, but took the story down a path we would have not expected. Although unexpected, the paths lead to an amazing storyline that was memorable.