Saturday, December 18, 2010

Dance Party In Hell

Heeey folks, hope you're well.


Here's a drawing I'm working on to put on some flyers advertising my show.

It's a dance party in hell. Of sorts. Still debating whether or not to add some shading, but y'know what, I don't think so. :p It looks fab with flat colour.

Saturday, December 4, 2010

Pages 54 & 55

Next - pages 56 & 57

Previous - pages 51, 52 & 53

Issue 3 is now progressing much faster than I expected, SOOOO...let's begin.

It'll have some coloured bits as a storytelling device. I'm going to regret doing that once I go to have this printed, I'm sure. :p

Also a splash page.

I don't care for this all that much, but a friend told me she wanted it on a shirt. I'll definitely keep that in mind if I ever re-draw it. XD

Monday, November 15, 2010

Pages 51, 52 & 53




Next - pages 54 & 55

Previous - pages 47, 48, 49 & 50

These are the last three pages of book 2. Although I'm about 4 pages in on book 3, I'll still take a break from posting for a little while. Hope you've enjoyed book 2. I love you all, thanks for your support.

I will be doing an art show/book launch at Unreal City on January 15th - more news on that as it develops. In addition to the art & books, I found a button maker machine buried in my closet at my parents' house and I'd like to make some buttons to sell at this thing. If anyone out there has any suggestions for LSA button designs, I'd love to hear them. :)

Tuesday, November 9, 2010

Pages 47, 48, 49 & 50




Next - Pages 51, 52, & 53

Previous - pages 45 & 46

Has this ever happened to anyone? No?

Well, never mind then.

Hmm, I just realized that the layout of page 47 is pretty confusing. The way I've drawn it makes it looks like you're supposed to read those three/four bottom panels clockwise, but that's incorrect. D'oh!! :X

Wednesday, November 3, 2010

Pages 45 & 46


Previous - pages 43 & 44

Next - pages 47, 48, 49 & 50

This conversation is getting rude.

But you know, if anything, for a couple of teenage boys it's nowhere NEAR rude enough. :X *sigh*

A number of people have asked me where I had my books printed, so I'll remind you again...it was Lulu.com, the go-to place for many webcomic artists. Very pricey though. I've gotten in touch with a local printing place about my next print run but after almost a month I've still heard nothing about the status of my order. I'm not impressed. Should've just used Lulu again, I guess.

I also had my business cards printed through http://www.vistaprint.com and that was fairly inexpensive. Plus they throw in cool stuff for a couple extra bucks, like a metal business card holder or stickers with your design printed on them.

Monday, October 18, 2010

Pages 43 & 44


Next - pages 45 & 46

Previous - page 42

OK, I guess I have enough of a buffer to post a few more pages. As usual, I don't even know if this sequence works or if it's just totally pointless. You guys need to tell me if it doesn't work, 'kay? :p

Monday, October 11, 2010

Page 42 & book 2 cover



(Previous - pages 40 & 41)

(Next - pages 43 & 44)

ain't that somethin!

Once again, go here to see the cover without Blogger JPEG artifacts.

Book 2 is so close to being done - just got one more page to finish and then a back cover to draw. Onwards to book 3 - where the actual craziness begins!

Wednesday, September 22, 2010

Wednesday, August 25, 2010

Pages 34 & 35

(Next - pages 36 & 37)


(Previous - pages 32 & 33)

NEEEEEW PAGES AT LAST, YESSSS

Page 34 continues on from my based-on-a-true-story sequence. Yes, sometimes the conversations I overheard in computer class were racist. I hope it's obvious that these inappropriate comments do not reflect MY views. :0

Page 35 begins a new sequence that...well, isn't really based on a true story. It's just supposed to show Jeremy acting like a typical sullen teenager and his dad reacting to this. You'll see.

Thursday, August 5, 2010

Minor update

First off, a big hello to my new followers, and thank you so much for your kind comments and encouragement - it means a lot. Please let me know if there's anything you're confused about or anything you think I could improve upon - either artistically or story-related.

With that said, I apologize for the lack of updates. I had to move house back to Canada and it was a mad dash to get my flat in Bournemouth cleared out. I'm back home now and still kind of settling in. My drafting table is currently at my parents' house an hour away, so I haven't been able to draw any new LSA pages for a while. I know that sounds like a lame excuse, but I seriously can't draw on a flat surface anymore - I need the slight angle that the drafting table provides. :0

My other excuse is that I've started working at 8th St. Books & Comics in Saskatoon. I've seriously been wanting to work there since I was 16 (I'm now 25), and I always assumed it was just a pipe dream. Needless to say, it's been pretty awesome so far.

Now let's see some pretty pictures, cause I NEVER post a new blog entry if I've got no PICTURES to include!



This is a stand for my books & business cards that I made with help from my mom and Thea (thanks, you two!) for the show my course did in London. Most of the books got taken, because I'm a complete bonehead and never made a sign saying they were actually £3.50. I just pray they went to good homes. Hey, if any of you folks are out there reading this, please gimme a holler! No, I don't expect you to pay up - I just want to hear from you. :)

As Thea & I were working on this stand, the security guard came over and asked how long it had taken us so far - I said that I didn't remember, but then we pointed out my work to him (the instructors had printed the first three pages of the comic on huge, HUGE sheets of paper) and he said something like "Oh, wow! I saw those earlier and loved them! I thought a man had drawn them!"

.......and I was left wondering, what on earth is THAT supposed to mean? XD Women don't draw comics, or CAN'T draw, period? It sounded awfully sexist, but actually it was just hilarious.


Some new-ish pages. Some of these are already finished - I'll post them when I have a bit more of a buffer.

And finally, the model sheet for Jeremy's dad, Bill. This is dated November, I see - and yet he doesn't even show up until page 35 or something like that. Wow.

Saturday, June 26, 2010

Pages 32 & 33




(Previous - pages 30 & 31)

(Next - pages 34 & 35)

Based on a true story. In grade 11 I was in a rather disorganized computing class just like this one, where the teacher hardly ever seemed to be around - giving a group of my fellow students a license to have loud, irritating and offensive conversations much like this. (Embarrassingly, it also gave ME a license to waste plenty of time online, mostly on Audiogalaxy and the Pitchforkmedia forums - aka "Pitchforkmedia Smackdown" or "PFMS" - that's what Jeremy's reading in the first panel. Ha ha. ha. I still came out with a 90-something in the class.) No one else in the class seemed to care about this. Maybe that says more about me and my inability to ignore static...

Anyhow, one day I made the mistake of telling these people to shut up, and then they began bullying me. For the remainder of the term I sat in the cornermost cubicle in the classroom, as Jeremy is doing here, just to hide from them.

I've opened up the comments field to anonymous users, which means any & all visitors to my blog can now comment! Try it out, won't you please? ;p

I'm also still trying to figure out how to install WordPress & its respective webcomic updater plugin to my website, but until then, I've added "next" & "previous" links to each blog post here, which should make the comic much easier to read. Enjoy!!

Thursday, June 3, 2010

Pages 30 & 31



(Next - pages 32 & 33)

(Previous - pages 27, 28 & 29)

Hi-ho, folks! I'm going to be away for a couple of weeks - tomorrow I'm traveling from Bournemouth up to Scotland with my auntie. It's going to be amazing and I'm really excited. I thought it would be best to post some new pages before I leave!

Below those we have a business card I just made for myself, rehashing one of the drawings from page 31. Since I work in so many different styles, I had trouble finding an image that best represented what I do - I thought this worked quite nicely. Now I just need to figure out how to get rid of 250 of the blasted things! ;p

Tuesday, May 25, 2010

Chapter 2 Splash Page

The splash page to chapter 2, which I coloured out of extreme boredom. It's supposed to be about lacking identity, and feeling disconnected...or maybe I just really like drawing fake collages. The background is loosely based on a schematic diagram of a CB radio.

I'm feeling really discouraged lately, since nobody seems to be reading this comic...I know I need to make a proper website for it, since it's kinda difficult to read the way it's set up on this blog - despite my best efforts. I don't want to put you off by talking about this too much, though...I gotta stay positive...

Wednesday, May 19, 2010

Pages 27, 28 & 29

I...I CAN'T hold off any longer. Here are some new pages.


(Next - pages 30 & 31)

(Previous - page 26)

PLEASE tell me if these make any sense at all, any feedback is seriously appreciated!!

Thursday, May 6, 2010

close, up, over

More "visual music." I'm not sure how or why "twirling ribbons" signify music, they were probably just really easy to draw. :p

I really think I should just set aside a day to colour stuff I've already drawn. Just for the hell of it.

Also HEY GUYS GO AND LISTEN TO THIS RIGHT NOW http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FRTzuutL6mA&feature=related

Tuesday, April 27, 2010

Synesthesia


I'm trying to represent music visually in this next sequence and it's proving rather difficult. I had a look at the Bach Toccata & Fugue in D Minor segment of Disney's Fantasia again to see if that would inspire me, but no such luck. So I drew this based on an old sketch from a couple years ago and it seems to be closer to what I wanted. Whether or not it accurately represents sound is another matter. At least it looks nice. :p

The biggest problem is I'm trying to draw this as black & white lineart, but to be a better representation of synesthesia, it would work much better in colour. I think I'll do a black & white and a coloured version and decide later which one to use.

Sunday, April 25, 2010

Page 26

(Next - pages 27, 28 & 29)

(Previous - pages 24 & 25)

What, you've never found subliminal messages in your cereal before? ;p

This is the end of chapter 1, by the way...it might be quite a while before I add any new pages. Still working the kinks out of chapter 2's (partial) script. I PROMISE you I will do it though, no matter how long it takes. I'll post some more sketches later on to prove I'm still working.
Here's the revised splash page that I forgot to upload earlier.

Monday, April 19, 2010

Pages 24 & 25


(Next - page 26)

(Previous - pages 22 & 23)

More dry brushing. That's Jeremy's friend Keith smooching Erin. Because apparently it wasn't enough to show Jeremy frozen AND impaled on tree branches. (???) JEEZ, Elaine. D: (This is still the dream sequence, of course)

From this page we can also deduce that Keith probably plays hockey and smokes a lot of weed.

I just ordered some new brushes, because all of mine are pretty much shot. I've read that it's normal for a brush to only last about 20 comic pages, which is kind of depressing considering how expensive they are. Oh well. :p

However, I did order the cheaper W&N "Sceptre Gold II" sable/synthetic blend brushes. I must be the only person on earth who prefers these to the ridiculously overpriced Kolinsky Series 7 sables. I find the Kolinsky much too stiff, with too much of a point on it. I'm sure I'm boring you to tears talking endlessly about brushes, so I'll end this here... :p

Saturday, April 17, 2010

SHINY SHINY

Handed in my project yesterday! :D And here's the finished, printed book...or at least a proof copy. No, it doesn't have my name on the cover...I hope I don't lose marks for that... :p


See how shiny it is!!

I'm hoping to order a small print run in time for the year-end illustration exhibition. GO AUCB, WE'RE THE BEST!!! I'll sell whatever is leftover from that at 8th St. Comics back home. Watch this space!

And just to prove to myself that I AM going to continue this thing...

The beginnings of issue 2, for real! OH JOY!!! :D

OH how I hate drawing cars...I suppose if I drew them more often I wouldn't have so much trouble? :p

Wednesday, April 14, 2010

What do I want from comics?

I've already talked about some of my comic-based influences and how they've affected my own comics. I'll close off this series by talking about the last comic I drew before this one and the type of comic I'd like to make someday.

Comics can be used to tell any type of story, in any genre, with any art style, but ideally I think that they should at least try to make some use of their form as it connects with the story. I'm talking about things that can only be accomplished with comics. "Huh?" you say. I'll try to explain. One comic I tragically haven't read but have been DYING to read for years is Nick Abadzis' Hugo Tate. (Abadzis also drew the award-winning Laika, the true story of the first dog in space). The story of Hugo Tate follows a character who starts out drawn as a stick figure, and gradually becomes more realistically drawn as the story progresses and his character arc develops.

Another comic I haven't read that supposedly makes use of other formalist techniques is David Mazzucchelli's Asterios Polyp. I've got a copy waiting for me in my file at the comic store when I get home...four months from now...sigh.

The very best example of this I HAVE seen is Dylan Horrocks' Hicksville. This tells the story of a fictional town in New Zealand where everyone reads comics, which also houses an underground library of comics that were never drawn - by real-life creators who "never got the chance to tell that magnum opus." The story contains several comics-within-a-comic, mimicking a wide range of styles - Golden Age superheroes (vs. modern-day superheroes), surreal underground comics, mini-comic gag pages, and so on. The superhero spoofs are particularly important as the main storyline concerns a character called Dick Burger, a former resident of Hicksville who moves to America and makes a fortune from a superhero franchise, which he has stolen from another creator's work. Maybe Hicksville wouldn't appeal to someone who isn't a huge comics nerd like me, I don't know. (There are plenty of comics-centric in-jokes - the town's local cafe is called The Rarebit Fiend, for example. And be sure to watch for Stan Lee's cameo!) I still highly recommend it because, like Bryan Talbot's One Bad Rat, it doesn't get the attention it deserves.

Other ideas I've seen include sculpting word balloons so that they become a part of the artwork and environment - weaving around objects, invading a character's personal space, and so on. I've decided to do similar things later on in my comic, such as having several unreadable thought balloons piled on top of each other to demonstrate the rapid thought processes of a manic person.

The page layouts also effect the story - I remember writing about this in my essay, how comic pages usually follow a straight grid and innovative frames are only used for dramatic situations or to create a disorientating effect. I tried this back on pages 3 & 4 especially, and a little bit on pages 22 & 23 below.

Phew...I hope all of that made sense. Let's take a break now to watch Printheads.


...Yeah. Basically it was a story about these two British neo-pagan hoboes (one's a wizard, one's a librarian) that drive around England in an old 1970s Ford Cortina (yes, because you REALLY see a lot of those on the road) fighting demons. And...no, that's all. Not very original. (The guy in the back seat there is basically Shaggy from Scooby Doo if he was obsessed with aliens.) I did make the mistake of giving the basic concept to someone else to write a script from, and we disagreed on how it should play out. I don't think it would have been much better if I'd written it myself, but never mind. Like all the others, it was good practice drawing comics, and I've moved on.


...Then again, I drew this 24 Hour Comic version of the same story which featured an evil Russian librarian turning into a giant potato monster (who is defeated by a bottle of malt vinegar) so...maybe I SHOULD have written it myself and made it as ridiculous as possible, thereby having as much fun as possible. (Why all the librarians? There was some sort of underlying book theme, about certain books being portals to hell - ALSO not very original - and a villain called "Spill Fector" who was a 1000+ year old demon trying to rewrite the entire world to fit his own unique vision. SOME of this stuff has potential but I just never figured out how to make it work)

Most of what I learned while drawing Printheads was dry technical stuff - perspective, proportions, composition, that kind of thing. I'm more careful with how I compose my frames now because I noticed there was often too much "dead" space in the Printheads panels. It's also much easier for me to find the correct horizon line when I start to draw a perspective grid - it sometimes used to take me three tries to get it right and now I can nail it the first time every time. Finally, I now use a brush to ink the characters and most other foreground elements, as it's much faster than using fineliners for everything.

So where does this leave me today? After finishing Look Straight Ahead (and believe me, I'm GOING to finish it - it is my DUTY), what kind of comic would I like to create in the future?

As evidenced by Printheads, I'd just really really like to tell some sort of swashbuckling adventure story. This story should be original, entertaining, and fun - there should also be a good amount of humour. Hmmm. Shall we look to cinema for inspiration again?

Oh! A Chinese Ghost Story, of course! This has everything you could ever want from a film: adventure, romance, a good dose of humour, scary bits, great visuals and plenty of action. Although I guess I'm thinking of targeting a slightly younger audience with my hypothetical adventure story. My mother has also been after me to draw a children's book for years, but I just haven't come up with a good idea for one yet.

What other comics would I like to draw? I definitely also want to draw something surreal, dark and creepy, with a very angular art style. (In fact, about a year ago I DID start drawing a comic called "Hornet's Heart" about an evil man who murders his wife and tries to make it look like an accident - the reason being that she wants a divorce and he doesn't want her to get half of his possessions. Of course he gets his comeuppance - his wife comes back as a giant hornet and kills him. The only reason I didn't finish drawing this comic is because I can't draw insects to save my life.)

It's tough for me to write these learning logs simply because I've been drawing comics for 8+ years and have learned as I've gone along, through trial and error - and back then, a lot was based on instinct. I'd draw a close-up of a character or a long shot or something, but I wouldn't know WHY - now I know that a character's face should be shown if it's important to show their emotions, and a long establishing shot is for showing the surrounding environment and grounding the reader in a setting. This all sounds very obvious now, and I'm trying to work out things that aren't quite so obvious. Such as...how can I REALLY make page designs work to my advantage, and perhaps make certain pages works of conceptual art in themselves? How much can I get out of just black & white? How can I make GOOD use of negative space? For example, could I have just ONE small panel in the center of a page, as Craig Thompson sometimes does? How many panels per page is too many? (Hey - deliberately overloading a page with panels could serve the same purpose as piling thought balloons on top of each other - to show a character is deeply confused and frightened. HEY!)

I think that's about all I have to say. My project deadline is tomorrow (the 16th) so unless I think of something between now and then...later!