Sequential Project Artist Research

Sequential Illustration Research:

Blankets:

‘Blankets’ is an autobiographical graphic novel by Craig Thompson, published in 2003. ‘Blankets’ has had a lot of inspiration of my sequential project. Craig Thompson demonstrates both amazing art and storytelling, in this beautifully woven tale of the troubles of come of age.

I particularly liked his use of panel boarders, and the way he uses different types of panel sizes in order to pace the reader. Allowing for dramatic pauses, and quick witty dialogue, that plays out in the imagination almost in a film like fashion (Well, at least for me it did).

In an interview I watched he explains what he called the “Breathers”. At the end of every chapter the pages become increasingly sparse, until one small image is left for a whole page. This gives the effect of the chapter winding down, and helping the reader understand a chapter is coming to a close. It’s a chance for the mind to think back over the previous chapter before moving on to the next.

 

It’s a powerful technique that makes the book much more interesting to read. The whole book is full of interesting panel designs, and the panels themselves become a part of the art and story.

Another interesting aspect of this book is the transitions between a traditional comic book style, and a more abstract art style that seems to focus on patterns and shape. It gives the book a really interesting dynamic, helping the reader visualize both the chaos and beauty of the narrators mind-set.

In this image you can see Thompson using vertical panals to empithise the tree imagery. I also think it could be referencing heven and hell, since ‘Blankets’ has some religious undertones. The double page spread it also very symetrical, making it pleasing to the eye and connecting the pages and giving the story flow and pace. The use of panels in the image help separate the characters abstract thoughts about guilt and religion from the actual main body of the story. It helps to keep the narrative understandable.

 

This illustraion takes up a whole page, and is an example of Thompson using abstact imagery to describe more accuratly how the characters in the story are feeling.

 

This image shows how Thompson uses panels and pacing to help punctuate the story. This page is explaining what it was like to move out of his parents house. The page on the right is especially powerful thanks to the large empty space underneath the panel. It empathizes the emptyness of the characters room. The use of the lonely small text at the bottom of the page, also adds to this point.

 

I want to try and intertwine Thompsons expert use of paneling and pacing into my own sequential work.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ydWAPCpOfr8 (Interview with Craig Thompson)

Mark Crilley:

An American illustration and writer, best known for his work in manga style comics. I really like Crilleys work, especially his attention to detail, which is his hallmark.

In this double page spread from Brody’s Ghost you can really see Crilleys detailed style. His use of atmospheric perspective adds a really cool sense of depth and ‘smog’ to the image, adding to the futuristic city feel. This big double page spread also helps the narrative, bringing us out of the action and story for just a moment to catch a breath and give the setting some personality. The main characters can still be seen however as two dots in the building on the right, middle floor.

 

This image again demonstrates the use of panelling in comics, it’s not as abstract as ‘Blankets’ but it still aids the action and story. The horizontal long panels reflect the character lying down in his bed. Giving the page a very slow feel, just like the character slowly getting out of bed.

 

I want to use marks use of depth and detail in my own work, and try to recreate the epic feel of his double page spreads.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Csbgkb1vhp0 (Mark talking about how to layout pages)

Copper:

Copper is a web-comic series that I’m particularly fond of. I really like the style and way it is presented, it’s very clean cut, and pleasing to look at and read.

Each episode takes place over only 1 large page, making it almost look like a piece of art in its own right. Each is beautifully coloured, and looks very vibrant.

 

Below is a link to the artists process, I want to study this process and see if I can work it in to my own project, especially the inking and colour aspects.

http://www.boltcity.com/workshop/copper_tutorial/ (The process of making a Copper comic)

Animals Again

Still trying to draw animals :)

Figure Drawing and Violins

In my never ending quest to improve my figure drawing, this week I drew a women playing the violin. I also continued to look and study Andrew Loomis's book (Figure Drawing For All It's Worth).

Guitarist In Movement

Music is an emotional thing, it has energy and soul. A good musician will 'feel' the music, and as a result their whole body will move with the rhythm. Below is a series of drawings of Andy McKee performing Drifting (look it up on YouTube, it's amazing).

I did a couple of smaller pencil sketches first, before attempting the larger charcoal drawing.

Portraits

Capturing a likeness is one of the hardest things to achieve in a drawing, well at least in my opinion it is. The subtleties of the human face are a difficult thing to recreate. This is what I've been working on this week:

Animated Animals

I've always found animals amazing things, but I've never been able to draw them particularly well, this is something I've been trying to improve recently. I'm trying to intertwine what I'm learning about the moving human figure and implement it with animals, to make them look more animated.

When drawing an animal I will always try to find a picture of the animals skeleton online to study, I always find it useful to get an understanding of the underlying structure and how it all fits together first.

Drawing Figures With Movement

I've been trying to improve my figure drawing, in particular capturing the emotion and energy of a movement. To do this I've been drawing from life, but also looking at books. One particular book, Figure Drawing For All It's Worth by Andrew Loomis has been very helpful in understanding balance and movement.

Suspended Life Drawing

I did a life drawing session in which the model was suspended from straps on the ceiling. The idea is that it would create more dynamic poses and help improve foreshortening. Here are the results: