Found word Zine

A little zine created with the intention of using found words and reasonably unrelated images to explore narrative and image.

Diary Comics - Playing with Panel Layouts + Words

After reading 99 Ways to Tell A Story by Matt Madden, I was drawn to the 'Vouyer' style he depicts, where (as the title probably shows) the writer/creator/artist illustrations from their point of view, eg. behind the camera.

I've recently been researching illustrations and comic creators who use this technique. Lesley Imgart is a great example of this.

I'm working towards being more vulnerable in my work, and feel like this is the direction that most authentically matches my intentions. 

I have now started a separate diary sketchbook to work on, and build on, similar pieces on a much more regular basis so I can develop my personal diary drawings.

 

Photo Reference - Cropping for Interest

I use a lot of references photos in my work, I received feedback that I should consider cropping into these images to pick out details or interest, focus on what draws me in. Below is a quick exercise where I did this, I've since sketched from them.

Original Full Image

Original Full Image

Original Full Image

 

Folktale Week - Narrative Play - Version 2

I've made a few changes to my Folktale Story, I really wanted to lean into the idea that this is an anti-capitalist story, and that "the fool", eg. the worker, discovered that they aren't valued, noticed or important, and rebel against that.

• The Fool & The Tree - The same journey every day. No matter the weather, no matter the season. They relied on her. Through the woods she went, to find the biggest tree, and then she climbs…
• Star - And as she reaches the top, just as the sun goes down, she masterfully sows tiny crystals into the sky. 
• Rebel - But tomorrow will be different. She had grown tired, and it was time for a break. A trip to the village. With her cloak , so no-one could recognise her. 
• Costume - The gates swing open, and what a blinding sight. LIGHTS! Strung from houses, hanging from poles, in every colour. Was it even nighttime anymore?
• Potion - All this time, to work so hard for something not to be seen. She pulls the bag of crystals from her belt and throws them into the drinking well. 
• Victory - The next day she does not begin the climb, and when the sun goes down…. It is darker than ever before, and the stars still shine.

I also decided to switch the character to she/her pronounce and have them be visually more feminine, to be able to put myself into the story a little bit more. Below are a few of my pages were I am experimenting with colour for the first two prompts, and the final one with the character inserted using the collage technique I have before.

Really love the finished product, and think adding a little bit more depth will be very closed to being something I am ready to call a finished piece.

Building on the Zine Exercise

 In week 2 we were given a zine exercise, to fill an entire zine whilst on location. Choosing the things that drew out attention.

I focused on the taxidermied animals, particularly as we were told my the curator that as this was a Victorian collection, it was highly likely that the specimens were killed specifically to be studied. 

Since this I have put together a number of zines; one on location in Knaresborough, one depicting a fictional street scene which I ended up not being a huge fan of as the narrative I envisioned with the characters on the street didn't quite work.

Pages from Cliffe Castle  Location Zine

Pages from Knaresborough Location Zine

The third one I enjoyed making a lot, a simple colour scheme, with a short, fun rhyming dialog: I Always Walked In The Woods

                                      

Short Form Comic - A Walk to a Waterfall - Thumbnails and Narrative

A Walk to a Waterfall is a diary comic based on a short solo trip I took to Settle in August 2022.

The themes are depression, isolation, and hope, all encompassed in a physical journey.

One of the elements I plan to visually portray in this comic is a looseness that usually comes along with working on location. To recreate this I'm going to give myself a time limit for each panel, alongside a limited colour pallet. 

It will also be hand lettered, to instil the diary feel of the piece. This will be added outside of the time limit.

On this trip I took many references photos, and did work in my sketchbook whilst there. I used theses alongside notes I made on the trip itself to create a script and thumbnails.

Script: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1-yrhTDx0OgpIJMNI6_QAklkNcOEV2r6FTi--mXZ6Q8I/edit?usp=sharing

Thumbnails:

Form and Life Drawing Practise

 The movement of form is definitely an area I want to improve. I have started a specific life drawing sketchbook, attended various classes in person and digitally. I want to use this practise in a practical way in my work, eg. to create natural movement in my characters.

Below are a few examples from a recent class; See You Naked Mondays, at Left bank, Leeds.

I also begun working from reference to practise creating simple walking motion.

Adding Narrative with People

I wanted to start working on adding people into my work, it's something I usually avoid, but the stories I am creating are reliant on people being present, particularly myself. I researched resources on building characters and character design; through this I discovered Sarah Dyer, Sarah is an award winning picture book maker and teacher, who also has a Patreon where she shares exercise  on character and narrative

I began working through these, I particularly enjoyed a warm up exercise of drawing a page of faces, here is a little video of my process:

@okaychloegreen Warming up with 23 faces.  ♬ Animal Crossing (New Horizons Lofi) - HYGH Lofi Music & Lobit & Cooky

Having an aim which is simply to fill the page allowed me to loosen up, think less and intuitively draw faces the way I like and enjoy. It gave me the chance to experiment and think differently.

From this I moved onto experimenting drawing myself quickly and loosely. I tried various materials, ink pencil, brush pen, crayon, as well as various expressions until I found something I really liked.

       

I then worked on adding more detail and getting used to the character.

Sources:

Sarah Dyer Patreon, Digital, 2021: https://www.patreon.com/sarahdyer/posts

 

Colour and material Experiments

I decided to start with colour and material experimentation, with those I am familiar with, what I am drawn to, and the opposite; colours I usually shy from and new materials to push myself out of my comfort zone.

I started with laying down a variety of base colours and working on top of them with various materials; water-soluble crayon, pencil and brush pen. The base layer was always gouache to create a matt finish.

The purple/lilac background were the most appealing of the experiments, however its obvious that darker background colours are difficult to work over; this made it difficult to create details, the base gouache interfered with brush pens. Whilst I enjoyed the overall nighttime feel of these, it wasn't what I what I envisioned.

I next went onto playing with colour pallets using pencil and brush-pens. Including some rough and quick landscapes to test them out.

I'm always drawn to pink and green, so spent a little longer doing two full scenes from reference photos.

Materials used: Tom-bow brush pens, Neocolour II, Lumiance pencils.