Creating a Graphic Novel : Art – Food – Photography

With Week 6 finished, this week was the penultimate session for this course. Started again with various gesture drawings with the model using a bamboo stick as a prop. This is the first time the model used a prop. To capture it as part of the picture was an interesting experience.

Especially in the next drawing where the model was pulling the bamboo. It shows the pose and the different muscles at work to get into that position. The proportion is a little off but it does capture movement well.

Using willow charcoal to get a portrait of the model looking down. If I had a little more time I would have built up the shadows to give it a more three dimensional feel.

The final portrait was done using graphite in a “thinking” pose. Given time I would have also worked on the shadows and finished off the details. I really wanted to capture the wrinkles on the forehead as they were very pronounced on the model but it didn’t quite come through.

Only one last week to go before the course ends! It’s really amazing how time really goes past with 22 more days left to Christmas. The final week is meant to be a hand and eye study . . definitely looking forward to it!,

After having my story accepted Tango 8, I was invited to the launch party December 17! Unfortunately with work going crazy approaching the Christmas season I won’t have the opportunity to take the journey down south for the event. However, still looking to get my hands on a copy of the anthology!

“Yes, glorious contributors, a place and a date have arrived for the launching of the incredible issue 8 of Tango, the giant Australian romance comics anthology.

A bumper issue.

242 pages!

70 stories!

70 contributors, of whom you are one.

It’s looking incredibly beautiful, a gob-smacking, heart-rending, lip-smacking array of tales.

So please come to . . . “

More details :
http://cardigancomics.com/

“Bond, James Bond”.
The tagline of from MI6’s most famous spy is not uttered once through the whole movie. Quantum of Solace picks up about 30 minutes from Casino Royale (Hint : Watch Casino Royale again before Quantum of Solace) with Bond tracking down a secret organisation with nefarious plans in Bolivia. Through the movie, Bond is still hurting from the death of Vesper in the prequel to this film.

The cinematography is breathtaking, however the action sequences mimic Bourne Identity with fast moving camera changes which I’m not a big fan of. Daniel Craig’s portrayal is different to the traditional Bond and there are no gadgets, one liners, villians with gimmicks or multitude of beautiful women usually associated with a Bond film. It’s a great spy film however Bond traditionalists might not enjoy the new direction.

Gregory Woronchak is freelance artist who’s worked on storyboards for a few TV series as well as on a computer game (Prince of Persia : The 2 Thrones). He’s got a resume of some amazing sequential work and pin-up work and took the time out to answer some questions for this site.

Where are you from?

I’m from St Hubert, Canada. I’ve lived in Canada my entire life, but have many American friends and aquaintances. I’m blessed with a beautiful wife and two sweet girls, and own too many comic books.

Haha . . you should see my collection. Although I’m moving away from the 32 page monthly to trade paperbacks. That way I get the whole story without missing an issue. How long have you been drawing?

I’ve been drawing all my life, but became a full-time freelancer about 8 years ago.

How would you define your art style?

My default style tends to be ‘old school’ superhero comics, with an emphasis on storytelling and acting, rather than adding lots of unnecessary details.

Any influences? Favourite artists?

George Perez is probaly a major subliminal influence, since his New Teen Titans were one of the first comics I actively collected; I also love the style of early Keith Giffen and Trevor Von Eeden, and am a huge fan of Jack Kirby, John Byrne, Neal Adams, and Joe Kubert. I have tremendous respect for these classic guys, their skills and work ethic define ‘professional’.

Big fan of everyone you named, especially Joe Kubert. Anyway your Dejah piece is incredible! How did you create it?

It’s acrylic on illustration board. I’ve included the preliminary underlying drawing, on top of which I painted. My goal was to create a dramatic scene with focus on Dejah, and a nice flow to the composition. Anytime I undertake an illustration, I try to figure out which ‘camera angle’, lighting, and or/pose will create artwork which tells a story.

DEJAH – Preliminary Sketch

DEJAH – Final Acrylic

The preliminary sketch really has a nice sense of movement with a dynamic quality to it. The final colours brings the whole piece to life.

For more information about Greg check out the below links :

• Comic Space
• Sore Thumb Graphics

Following on from Week 5, the class started with some gesture drawing. It’s an easy way to capture the sense of movement of the model. I hope to develop a gesture drawing into something more academic. It’s a good way to get started on getting a “sense” of the subject.

During Week 6, we revisited the foreshortening exercise, with the model standing up on a table and trying to sketch her from the bottom. The first attempt didn’t capture any change in perspective but I think the second attempt captured it better.

Final drawing of the night was a charcoal portrait of the model. I needed more time to get the hand right, it’s not quite in proportion to the rest of the model. When I get the chance (and time), it would be a worthwhile exercise to go back on some of the drawings and “complete” them. It’s hard to capture and do everything I intend to in a limited timeframe.

Only 2 more weeks before the end of the course and 4 more weeks till Christmas! Time really does seem to go past much quicker these days. Anyway looking forward to Week 7!

I was very excited to pick up Heroes Volume 2 – Graphic Novel over the weekend. It collects the short online comics of the TV Series. With a multitude of characters in the show, it would be impossible to give an adequate back story to everyone so the comic provides stories “behind the scenes”.

With different writers and artists, some of the stories are better than other but this graphic novel is a great addition to the Heroes mythos. My favourite story is the first one “It takes a village” which chronicles the origin of the Haitian.

A delicious latte from Chatswood (North of Sydney CBD).
I prefer the lighting of this picture to the previous latte picture I posted up. The black table gives a much better contrast.

American Samoa is one of the smaller Pacific Islands with a population of approx. 68,000. Although adopting a lot of American culture, it wasn’t particularly touristy or developed which is perfect for those seeking a peaceful adventure. With the main source of income derived from exporting tuna, it also boasts the freshest sashimi.

A single beach umbrella in Western Samoa.
It’s hard to believe how blue the water was.

The main road skirts around the island with small pockets of houses and shops. I like the way the clouds seem to roll across the island.

A small rock formation called “Fatamafuti”. It really seems to exist by itself out in the ocean. If you look carefully there is an odd resemblance to a face.

Rain clouds building up over the hills past the airport.

The weather in American Samoa was very erratic, bright sunshine one second and heavy downpour the next. The humidity can be stifling but nothing a cool swim can’t cure. Leaving in a small twin prop, gave the final chance to look at this tropical island from the sky.

Update 25-Nov-08 :
Changed name of rock outcrop to Fatamafuti.

Based in Vancouver, Robin Thompson has been working for almost 10 years on a horror oriented comic Champions of Hell while writing and drawing the highly controversial Zombie Jesus and a bi-monthly comic strip called Lil’ Natas. He also the inker on Outnumbered.

He primarily works with pencils and inks. The below Tigra picture was the work he wanted to showcase. It’s very well done, composed of simple, clean lines. For further enquiries on his work you can contact Robin at robbothompson [at] hotmail.com.

I couldn’t make it to Week 4 so Week 3 was my latest update. The class started with 15 sec then 30 sec and finally 1 minute gesture drawings. The combined poses on the one page gives it a life like quality. You have to concentrate to pick out the different poses.

The next task was trying to draw a moving model. My first attempt (not shown) didn’t really capture the movement. This was a much more difficult task than I initially imagined. I tried to flesh out at least one component which were the feet on the figure to the left.

The final task was a portrait and I don’t think I got the proportion quite right. The eyes were a bit too big. I need to keep stepping back and get an overall view of the picture. I think I’m putting too much focus on details.

Karl Mattas (life drawing instructor) has been fantastic through this process. A lot of new techniques to practice and hopefully improve on. Karl has agreed to an interview which I will post up on the completion of this course. Now onto Week 6!