Self-Publishing - Lettering - Research

 I reached out to the comics community via twitter to ask for advice on lettering, specifically why a lot of comics are in capitals and for examples of any that where not in capitals, so I can analyse what would work best for my work, I want a balance between handwritten and professional.

Some observations:

• The fonts seem to be quite thin
• Lower case lettering varies in high often, meaning the line spacing needs to be larger.
• Most speech-bubbles seem to be centrally aligned

Professional Casestudy - Lizzy Stewart

 Lizzy Stewart is an illustrator and author, she also teaches illustration! The reason I am drawn to Lizzy and her practise is that she has a really great portfolio with a mixture of interesting projects within it. She doesn't seem to be bound to one type of output, but has a really distinct style in her illustration. 

Her online shop is full of illustrations, zines and graphic novels and her online presents feels really natural. She has been published by small press, and large press, and self published too. Lizzy was the artist in resident at Edinburgh Book Festival 2022, she made a zine as part of her trip which I absolutely love. You can read it here.

Its really interesting to see someone have to much range in their work (in terms of projects) but still feel extremely true to her style and visual language. The exact thing I want for my own practise.

Accessed May 4

Autobiographical Creators - Further Research - Interviews

I wanted to do a deep dive into other autobiographical comic creators, to hear what was behind their work. I found a number of really great youtube videos, which I have watched and made notes from.

• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E6JdRwpLABg - Kate Beaton

• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XYf_pwGXusw- Kate Beaton 

• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JQLX1DMjd1w - Rachael Smith

• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J6vZZXL6hdA - Tillie Walden

• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XkIWKhYorOs - Tillie Walden (specifically Spinning)

• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FuFET6XqaqU - Thi Bui

• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3DumdJBAHRs&t=2s - Katriona Chapman

Autobiographic Comic - Research - Further Research

Mention modern and old comparisons

Ducks - Kate Beaton

Ducks is hefty at 436 pages, its published by Drawn and Quarterly. The story spans two years in the life of Kate as she works away from home in various oil mines in Canada. It details the difficulties Beaton (and the few other women on the site) deal with daily; from misogynistic comments to sexual abuse and rape. 

It's Lonely at the Centre of the Earth - Zoe Thorogood

This book is 196 pages and published by Image, it feels like quite a different book to what they usually put put, which is interesting. It's a very gritty portrayal of Thorogood's experiences with depression and anxiety. Portrayed in an abstract way which is very effective. It sometimes dips back into childhood memories, but mostly is real time counting down to an event.

Fun Home - Alison Bechdel 

Fun Home comes in at 240 pages, and is published by Jonathan Cape; it feels very in keeping with their other work. Fun Home spans a long timeline, from Alisons childhood through her college years sand beyond. Its a very personal look into family life, and doesn't always focus on one topic, rather a general look at Bechdel's life, which really helps you feel like you know her.

Dissemination Methods - Pitch Pack Research

I did some further research into putting together a Pitch Pack, or something to send to a potential publisher that covers everything they might nee dot make a decision on whether my work is something they want to pursue. Whilst currently my ultimate goal isn't to be published (rather self-publish) I think this will be a really important exercise I learning how to sell my own work in a concise manner.

Pitch Perfect - How to make the most of pitching to a publisher.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wT4f1lwawDE

The key points from the above video were to be concise, understand what it is you are pitching and be sure of it; whilst working on a basic idea is fun for publishers, they often don't have the time so knowing your story outline is important! Try and stand out, embed images into the email itself and keep the clicks a publisher needs to do to a minimum. Its worth chasing up after a week or so, but leave it at that if you don't hear back. It's important to research the publisher and the kind of work they publish first too, if the work is irrelevant it's going to look worse on you in the long run, as its wasting publishers time. Check out their website to see if they accept pitches, especially if you don't have an agent. 

Dissemination Methods - Riso Print Research

I wanted to explore making prints of some of my work, to sell alongside my eventual comics work; at fairs, conventions and maybe online.

I want to do this via some traditional printing methods, firstly riso, which is a technique I have not used before but love the look of. Before starting, I wanted to do some research into the riso method to make the most of the process! 

Footprint, a local Leeds Riso printing co-op, says: 

"Riso printing works along the same basic principles as screen printing, although digitized and automated.  The computer (or scanner unit on top) describes the image to the risograph in binary code, telling it to create millions of tiny holes into a thin filmy sheet, called a ‘master’.  The master is then wrapped around the drum.  When the drum spins, the ink is forced out through these little holes, transferring the image onto the paper as it passes by. Different coloured inks are printed in layers.  The paper is fed through the one-colour machine (pictured) once for each colour and for each side"

 

Out of the Blueprint says:

"The darkness of your greyscale artwork will roughly correspond to the intensity of the ink in print. Any artwork that’s black on screen will print using the full saturation of the ink, and any pale grey artwork will come out as a pale tone. Prints often come out lighter than you’d expect, so if in doubt, go darker! "

Below is an example they give of the various colours and opacities:

Fig from https://outoftheblueprint.org/files/

Tips I've picked up:

• The inks are semi transparent, so can be layered! using the multiply cool on photoshop/procreate is a good way to see how the work will look printed
• Full pages of ink are a bad idea, and can cause printing problems
• If printing text, don't overlay it, as the misregistered way riso printers work will make it hard to read.

Digital Presence - Case Studies

Lesley Imgart

Lesley is an illustrator, artist and writer. She has a really great following on social media, posting almost daily (although not always brand new work!). She has a really clear website with about me section which also covers contact information, an online shop (hosted by Bigcartel) and portfolio; which is really in-depth, shows a lot of past work, names/brands of who she has created work for. 

Hannah Hillam

Hannah is an illustrator and comic book artist. With a HUGE following on social media. She posts on her instagram daily, although again, it's not always new work but often referring to her online shop. She hosts her online show (via Squarespace), and she also hosts her portfolio on the same site. I noted Hannahs portfolio was mostly in her distinct style drawings, with no specific details of client work, however, she does have an agent which she refers to often, with contact information!

Emma Carlisle 

Emma is an artist and picture book maker. She has a really nice online following, although is not a frequent poster! She also has a really successful Patreon; with a great community behind it. Her website is really clear and full of examples of her work, but no specific portfolio, but it all really does add up to one. She hosts an online show with Shopify, and h as a mixtures of self-published books, published books, prints and original work.

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

 

Writing Workshop - Andrew McMillan

I caught up on the Andrew McMillan Writing Workshop, although based around the Folktale Week Prompts it was incredibly thought provoking and gave lots of exercises to help think beyond what was the initial thought brought forward by the word. He also discussed how to change the timeline/perspective of the story. Below are a few of my notes from the call, which may not make much sense detached from the workshop.

Fool - 3

Tree  - 1

Star  - 2

Rebel  -5

Costume   - 7

Potion - 6

Victory  - 4

Foolrebel

Everyone scoffs at her ideas, they call her a fool for rebelling against the rules don't seem to get her anywhere, yet she always rebels. And not many people understand why… She seems to distrust all authority, and cause trouble in doing so! But yet, she seems so controlled and full of strength. Should that strength be something that we follow? Maybe she does know best.

Tree

Star

Fool

Victory

Rebel

Potion

Costume

The tree was full of stars, or so it seemed, the fools claimed their victory at its discovery, and praised it as a wonder of the world. They didn’t expect the people to rebel against the prophecy of the tree, so they created a potion from its leaves and bark. Something something costume

The tree was full of stars, or so it seemed, the fools claimed their victory at its discovery.

They used to say that the tree was full of stars, but now, the fools know they claimed their victory too soon.

The tree was full of stars, a reminder of the victory, but it wasn't there any more.

The stars shone down on the tree, a beacon of the village, but now, they knew they were the fool.

Source: https://www.patreon.com/sarahdyer/posts

Review of Past Work - Diary Sketchbook Pieces

I have kept a diary sketchbook for a long time, often pieces that are unshared and quite personal; even if that isn't something that is immediately obvious to the viewer. Below are a few snippets:

I worked the same on every page, in pencil and ink, a drawn boarder with a short sentence, occasionally one that spanned two images, often with dates and locations. 

Each image is drawn from a reference photograph, for that reason I think they seem quite stiff, with errors that you would get my not exploring the piece in real life. I am proud of these images, they emote a specific period in my life.

The below are from 2017-2020

The bottom piece was when I begun experimenting painting with ink, and was the first time I had taken a sketchbook with me on holiday, and although not drawn on location, it was drawn whilst still in the country, Belgium, from a photograph I had taken.

Comparing past to present; the themes within my work, and what I am drawn to are still very much the same. Interesting buildings, nature, hidden narrative. And although I have definitely grown from these pages, eg. experimented with many materials, drawing on location, adding more colour etc. it's clear where my interests lie and it's enjoyable to see that consistency. 

Folk Tale Week - Short Form Narrative - Creator Research

Folk Tale Week is a week long collaborative community exercise that happens yearly on Instagram. Created by illustrators to provide seven prompts to initiate ideas for other illustrators to create, each prompt to be posted/shared each day for a whole week. The group initiative builds community of creators working on similar themes at the same time, but the interesting part is always the various interpretation. The pieces can be individual, or as a short week long narrative. Prompts can be combined or the meaning abstract. 

The prompts are released a month before the selected sharing dates, giving participants time to prepare their ideas and being working on their art.

This year I plan to participate for multiple reasons; to push myself into creating narrative work, to share that narrative work, as well as to work on subjects I wouldn't choose myself, in order to stretch my abilities, whilst still applying my own style, thoughts and preferences onto said work.

Whilst I am working on the narrative side I wanted to research some past Folk Tale Week creators and their creations. Particularly those who did choose to work a narrative between the prompts, and those who work traditionally. 

Below are three creators who's contributions stood out to me:

Emma Carlisle - Emma is a landscape artist, children's book writer and illustrator. I loved the energy in this piece, the texture and vibrance, whilst keeping Emma's authentic style.  The combination of the prompts, and the unique outcome is inspiring.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Emma Carlisle (@emmacarlisle_)

Sarah Dyer - A Children's picture book creator and illustration lecturer.  I love Sarahs collage work and seeing in worked into a narrative piece is wonderful. The overall composition and texture of this piece (and every other Sarah created for this Folk Tale Week) are beautiful. I also really loved the dark undertones of the story.

View this post on Instagram

Sarah van Dongen -  Sarah is an illustrator. I discovered Sarah through Folk Tale Week, being drawn in particularly by her play with size and perspective. Although Sarah Van Dongen chose to treat each prompt separately, this one piece tells such a huge story. With the who characters, the background and the details of the home.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Sarah van Dongen (@sarahvandongenillustrations)

Reference: 

Emma Carlisle - https://www.emmacarlisle.com/

Sarah Dyer - https://www.sarahdyer.com/

Sarah van Dongen - https://www.sarahvandongen.com/

Autobiographic Comic - Research

With illustrated memoirs being my focused I revisited a selection of comics I had previously read to break them down a little further. I choose the below as they are not only releases from different publishers, allowing my to then move onto researching the publishing side, they also cover a variety of autobiographical subjects, have varying styles and lengths.

87,000 Steps - Kristyna Baczynski - Self Published

A beautiful riso printed comic which is self published. A short piece of 24 pages, covering a small life event; a trip to Amsterdam, from start to finish. Touches on real world news events which help set the scene.

 

Fig 1.

Tillie Walden - Spinning - SelfMade Hero

A comic of age memoir. The panels are clean and colours simple, the book itself is 400 pages. Different from others as it is written retrospectively, but spans a long time, from Tillie being age 8 to 18. Deals with discovered sexuality, depression, first loves and general teen issues whilst keeping that teen voice, which I feel is quite important.

Fig 2.

Zara Slattery - Coma - Myriad Editions

A really interesting mix of real life and dream world, with clearly distinct illustration styles between the two (real life sketchy and one colour, dream world feels more painted, and full colour). A really great example of using real life reference in a piece, including letters from family. Again focuses on one big life event, and covers 256 pages.

Fig 3.

Luke Healy - Americana - NoBrow 

Another memoir detailing a specific journey, but this time one that is an endurance walk lasting over a month. A very nice simple cartoon style, with basic colours, but also mixed with a couple of pages of text. The book comes in at 344 pages, and does go into details on the struggles Luke has both physically and mentally. Also covers personal conversations with family, and Luke's bigger issues. There is also a lot of humour throughout. 

Fig 4. 

Julie Doucet - My New York Diary - Drawn & Quarterly

 Although this book is only 104 pages, Doucet's cartoon style crams in so much detail and information into each panel that it would easily feel three times as long. A personal day-to-day illustration diary, which gets very gritty and very personal. These diary span 6 months in 1991, but were published a few years later. Does touch on political news, allowing you to understand the context of Doucets Life at the time.

Fig 5.

Fig 1. Kristyna Baczynski, 2017, 87,000 Step, Self Published. 

Fig 2. Tillie Walden, 2017, Spinning, SelfMadeHero.

Fig 3. Zara Slattery, 2021, Coma, Myriad Editions.

Fig 4. Luke Healy, 2019, Ameriana, NoBrow.

fig 5. Julie Doucet, 2011, My New York Diary, Drawn and Quarterly.