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The diversity, DIY mentality and lack of editing in small press publishing often leads people to ask, 'what is good art?' Many of the best small press publications would never make it in mainstream comics because they are not considered to be 'good' art. As ever, Pete has some interesting thoughts about this on his blog, as well as info about long time small presser Andy Lukes new work:
![54952362_9d145b4ed7_m[1].jpg](http://www.lomooreblog.com/images/54952362_9d145b4ed7_m%5B1%5D.jpg)
Ran some workshops last week: Stencil workshop in Gateshead for 11-16 yr olds on Thursday and Friday and a portrait workshop in Sunderland on Saturday. Here is one of the stencils made by one of the kids, they all came out pretty good.
the venue for it was an indoor market, which was kind of weird, but turned out okay in the end. I think this used to be a flower stall.
![Img_photo002[1]](http://static.flickr.com/27/57975337_9b24f59fc5_m.jpg)
The portrait thing was at the Winter gardens and was meant to be 'famous faces' i.e. the kids draw their favourite celebs. We ended up with a lot of Michael Jacksons and the Mitchell brothers from Eastenders, which came as a surprise to me.
One of many Michael Jacksons...
Charlotte Church.
Some of the kids didn't want to draw celebs, so we ended up with a picture of me (see below) and some fruit.
I think it looks a lot like me. Except I have hands.
Interview with Bryan Talbot went really well, got some great info and got to see his new book in progress, 'Alice in Sunderland', which looks excellent. Hope to post it all up soon. Also, it turns out that he's giving a talk at the Uni around the middle of November (I think it'll be his famous One bad rat talk).
And, I can now confirm that I will be at the Brighton Expo. I will be tired and cranky though, as we are going on saturday morning and getting a very early flight to London, then travelling onto Brighton.
The course has been shortened by 2 months. We are now finishing in July instead of September. Can the university do this? Apparently, yes they can. I don't know why we weren't warned that this might happen or why they have decided to implement this change during a course instead of at the start of the next year. The tutors have tried to point out some positive points, none of which are relevant to my circumstances.
So now I have even less time to do an already ridiculous work load.
I'm teaching in Gateshead tomorrow and Friday and interviewing Bryan Talbot tomorrow, then teaching in the Winter Gardens on Saturday, so there probably won't be any new entries until Monday.
The amazing Chip Kidd now has a website. Woo-Hoo! Good is Dead
News round-up:
Paul Gravett has a new website (found this through Bugpowder)
Great 'life of Pi' illustration competiton happening, check it out here and get drawing!
The horror anthology by new publishers Scar comics (Run by Andy Richmond and Shane Chebsy) has gone to print and should be out in time for the Brighton Expo.
Okay that's enough news.
This weekend I got some painting, some research and some drawing done. We went out to the Carling academy, the new jewel in the Newcastle/Gateshead crown. Okay, maybe not a jewel, more like some diamonte sellotaped somewhere around the back of the crown. And the crown is like one of those paper burger king ones.
Read on at your own peril. WARNING: CONTAINS BILE AND SOME MILD INFREQUENT RAGE.
Let me begin by saying that it is probably quite a good gig venue, but we went for a club night not a gig.
Girls, be warned, you will be searched. About one in five guys will be searched, so if you want to sneak in any drugs, knives, guns or alcohol (which seems to be their main worry) then get a guy to sneak them in for you. But make sure he's about 3 away from the last guy to get searched. There is also a ratio of 1 member of security to every 3 customers and 1 barman to every 200. Let me also point out that the difference between security personnel and bouncers is that bouncers are there to stop trouble and security are there to protect the establishments revenue. You won't be getting served anytime soon, so you might as well relax and enjoy the music. Although the DJ's seem to think that the White Stripes are Indie and that the Pixies are retro. Oh god, you will feel so very old and as you try in vain to work out how that last round added up to more than your overdraft you will make a mental note to never ever go back there again. The company was great, but my indignance at the whole crapyness of the place did bring it down a bit. On the plus side I have never witnessed dancing like that anywhere else.
I'll probably end up there again, but I'm sure I won't enjoy it. No sir.
Comics International will be bringing out a special edition for the Brighton comic expo (being held mid november). They've asked reviewers to contribute a longer than usual review of their favourite comic of the year. I've cheated a bit, in that I've chosen something that is a graphic novel and it isn't small press (which is the section I normally review.) But to be honest, my favourite thing this year has been Earthboy Jacobus by Doug TenNappel. Close runners up would be Superf*ckers by James Kochalka and (if you consider that the collected edition was released this year) New frontiers by Darwyn Cooke. There are probably some other amazing comics that have come out this year, but I won't remember about them until after the things gone to print. And then people start e-mailing me to ask why I didn't choose their comic....
Speaking of e-mails, anyone wondering what's been reviewed, in C.I.'s Oct issue, I have reviewed Paper Tiger comix issue 2 and There's no time like the present by Paul Rainey.
There should be an interview here with Paul soon,hopefully.
I've often wondered why comic shops have never managed to grasp basic sales tactics. Why are they completely different to any other retail outlet? We're blessed in Newcastle with some very friendly comic shops, but most places aren't so lucky. Personally, I believe this to be one of the greatest problems for comics as a medium as it breeds that exclusively geeky image that makes comics really unappealing to new readers, especially girls.
There is a good article about this over at comicbook resources at the moment. If you've often thought about this, or you are a comic book retailer wondering how to make more money check it out:
comicbook resources article
Doing some painting, (that's a watercolour of some kelp ).
Went to the aquarium on Sunday, via Tynemouth. O'Neills were hosting a surfing competition and it was the busiest I have ever seen the beach (picture below)
The aquarium was fun, I got an annual pass so I can go back and do more drawing whenever I need to. Fish are hard to draw because they move pretty fast and quite suddenly too. And even if you draw them right, they still look funny. There were a lot of postcards in the giftshop with images of great white sharks, which I am sure I would've remembered seeing on the tour. Maybe their enclosure was being cleaned that day, or maybe the giftshop are liars.
By the time we left the moon was out and it looked really nice. Here is a photo I took of it, although my digital camera is the cheapest piece of crap money can buy, so it didn't really capture the moment. I will share it with you anyway.
During my character designs and also in one of the key scenes in the novel, an interesting thing came up. The character was wearing a pair of converse, this is based on some aesthetic reasoning but also because it works well in the scene I just referred to. I wondered if I should change it to a similar looking trainer or stick with a branded product. I decided to stick with my initial sketches, mainly because I knew that if I needed reference material it would be no problem! Also, it will change how some people read it, because of brand associations and within the context of the story I knew that would work to my advantage. Anyway, I contacted Converse just to see what their policy was and was told that it was fine to go ahead. Hurrah.
So, what am I doing at the moment? well, apart from exploring colour, struggling with character design and layout I'm also doing some theory work. We've been having lectures on design theory and soon we will have to give a presentation based on these but about our own work, then hand in a 4000 word essay on it too. So I've been doing A LOT of reading. Tons, infact. I think my forthcoming interview with Bryan Talbot should be quite informative too.
Outside of the course, my freelance work is going well. I am doing some cartoon bees for a roman fort, some book illustrations for Essential works publishing, colouring and activity sheets for an art gallery and getting ready to do some workshops too. I'll be doing some world war two comics with young people, teaching the art of stenciling as a drop in workshop and doing a workshop for the Big draw at the end of October.
Keep reading for my current statement of intent (which is an outline of what I'm trying to do during the MA course)
Statement of intent
Leonie O’Moore MA Illustration and Design
My work during the MA course falls into four main strands:
1. Graphic Novel
2. Weblog
3. Dissertation
4. External work
1. Graphic Novel
The term ‘graphic novel’ in this instance refers to a comic book of 80 pages or more in length.
This is a practical piece of work which will inform, but also be informed by, my research. I want
to attempt to create a larger consistent body of work than I have previously been able to, which
will be more complex and have a more challenging narrative. I hope to create something that
is innovative and engaging, but still accessible. Many experimental or advanced works of
sequential art are difficult for inexperienced audiences to relate to, so I am concerned with
designing in a way that will enhance the narrative without alienating the reader.
My book will be made with the adult market in mind. This is a broad audience. Within the
confines of a comic store marketplace it is predominantly a male audience of between 16 - 30
yr olds. However, if sold or displayed elsewhere, there is a much broader market. This is
something I have explored with previous work and research.
I would like to create something that the audience can engage with emotionally. I have
developed a basic story outline which deals with ideas of evolution and adaptation as well as
isolation and ego, told from the point of view of an ‘everyman’ character. I want this book to be
very honest and personal in a way that my commercial work does not normally allow.
I have been making comics for over ten years now and I want to reassess and define my
work. I am, in a way, looking for a new approach to working, but I want to build on my expertise
rather than begin on a completely new path. I am hoping that the size and scope of this
project, as well as the time frame, will help me to explore my own artwork, ideas and
philosophies in a more in depth way than a comicbook would allow.
Key Issues to address will be: within the graphic novel
I aim to have a finished piece of work ready for publication and distribution by the end of the
year.
Visual Style Characters/environment, illustrative style
Typography
Pallette
Narrative Content
Tone
Pacing
Format Original artwork
Reproduction
Presentation
2. Weblog
An important part of how I work is to collaborate and share ideas and techniques. As such, I
have decided to blog the next year of my life. In this way other artists, students, tutors and my
intended audience can look at my progress, research and influences and comment/discuss
these with me. The weblog will form the cornerstone of my research as well as being a unique
tool for the dissemination of that information.
Also, the blog acts as an online diary that I can refer back to, which will give me a better insight
into my processes than standard note taking would allow. Unlike a diary, though, it allows for
the inclusion of imagery, links, video, music and downloadable documents as needed.
So the blog will be used for:
Documentation of ideas, research and process.
Dissemination of research.
Feedback from all over the world and cross pollination of ideas from other media.
Personal reference tool and diary.
Promotional tool for finished practical work.
A common element to tie together all areas of my practice.
At the end of September I will send out a press release to relevant
people/publications/websites to alert them to my blog.
The blog can be viewed at:
or via my main website and is available as an RSS
feed for regular update alerts.
3. Dissertation
The dissertation will be related to graphic novels. I am very interested in uses for graphic
novels (other than entertainment) and audiences for graphic novels outside the specialist
comics collector market.
I will probably explore different uses and then do a case study of educational applications of
graphic novels.
4. External Work
The work I do outside the course is very pertinent as it is within in the field of comics and comic
research. Exhibitions, published work, conventions and reviews will all shape my MA work. I
can conduct interviews at conventions, gain feedback at exhibitions, try out ideas on smaller
pieces of work for publication and use my position as critic for Comics International magazine
to keep up to date with current trends and ideas in the field.
I will use the blog to relate all these extra activities to my MA.
Went to a new electro - pop night at the Cooperage in Newcastle last night, it was very good. Apparently there will be another one soon, so come along if you can.
also, I 've been getting to know my fellow MA students. Opposite me is Ray Brown who not only is a skilled model maker, but also did some kick-ass sci-fi book cover illustrations in the seventies. Check out his site here: www.raybrowndesigns.com.
I've also learnt the meaning behind the Indian flag and eaten some Chinese beef snacks (which were described to me as being 'like candy, but with beef'). This has all been an unexpected positive point of the course.
I've started doing some work in colour, see above. Anyway, normally colour would be one of the last things I would add and usually I don't get to use colour at all due to printing costs. I had hoped to do this graphic novel in colour, but hadn't thought I'd be addressing it so soon, even before finishing my character designs. A tutor has suggested I do it now, to help inform my line work I think. I've done some paintings ( watercolour and gouache respectively) and pantone pieces and it has been enjoyable. When I started doing Monstrum Horrendum I did some paintings and character studies in colour, really just for myself and to have a few colour pieces for the website if I needed them. I wish I could have done the whole thing in colour because even as I was writing it, I had such a strong pallette in mind. Often I finish comics and wish that I could pass it on to Dave Stewart or Laura Allred to colour (some day...sigh....). I think many small pressers are faced with this dilemma, and it is probably a big contributing factor in the rise of web comics.
Also, I am currently interviewing Paul Rainey via e-mail and Bryan Talbot has just confirmed that I can go and interview him! Will be putting it on my blog.
Just saw that Creative Commons is fundraising at the moment. Article over at Boing Boing and full news here. This site is published under a creative commons license and I think it is a very worthwhile project. One of the main points of this blog was to share my research and discoveries during this course, and the creative commons license really helps me do that. If you want to find out more about Creative Commons, you can do so here.
Having fun doodling, making some progress with character design. I have also written out the general story and main scenes / important moments in the story, will begin to do rough layouts soon and develop the story that way as I want the visuals to contribute a lot to the story, rather than being too tied to a script.
Nigel Auchterlounie (creator of Gone, Pigboy and Bunny Girl, etc.) came around with his new comic strip for the Andy Richmond / Shane Chebsy collaborative anthology. It's really good, he drew the panels A4 and then scanned them in and stuck them together to make a 2 page strip. It made think about my format and way of working. I'm going to need to rough out my panels as early on as possible. Planning like this means that if I want to work really big I can, because I will know how it will all fit together later.
The other thing I want to do is work out some character sheets. Apart from helping me with the writing of the characters, it will also help me stick to a consistent look throughout the year. I've never bothered with this before, but then again I've never worked on one long piece before. I think any major inconsistencies with the characters will really distract from the narrative as well as looking disjointed and clumsy. I like looking at animation character sheets because they often have how not to draw the character as well as the correct way. I think this approach will help me really pin down a lot of traits and attitude of the character. There are some good model sheet archives over at www.animationmeat.com.
So, I think, by the end of this term I would like to have my character sheets and rough panel lay outs done.
Went to Cullercoats (pictured above) to do some drawing, but the tide was in so I missed out on all the great rockpools. So, I mostly jsut drew rocks, the sea and some people. Will try to go again soon. Just doing as much sketching as I can of things that may be useful or relevant to my story.