Posts Tagged ‘storytelling’

4 results.

The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Creating a Graphic Novel

by Jason Brubaker on December 21, 2009 at 11:24 am
Posted In: Blog

This last week I ordered a copy of The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Creating a Graphic Novel and I just finished the first 4 chapters.  Hmmm.  I’m not sure what I think about it just yet but I am definitely going to write a review about it once I’m finished.  My first thoughts?  It’s very long winded and not enough pictures.  Especially since it’s about making graphic novels.

[EDIT: 8-25-2011] I finished reading it finally and I have to admit that there is some great information in there especially with the technical stuff towards the end. The information on distribution, ISBN’s, barcodes and all that fun (non artistic) stuff was the most helpful but there was a lot that I felt didn’t apply to me because I wasn’t trying to make a normal comic. Most of the artistic advice was good for complete beginners  (or complete idiot’s as the title says) and maybe people who want to publish traditional American style comics but I don’t feel like it applies to graphic novels as much. So, buy it if you are looking for some good technical information but I’d still suggest getting Making Comics by Scott McCloud over this any day.

The only thing that really bothered me about it was the constant joke telling. About 50% of the text was a joke. I felt like I had to speed read it to get the good information which became increasingly frustrating as I was trying to figure out when to take it seriously and when it was comedy filler. I admit that it was good humor but, for me, a how-to book needs to have solid information so I can reference it later when needed.

So my final decision is to get it in addition to other How-to books on the subject but not as a stand alone.

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Now back to my graphic novel…

The pages below are finally starting to get into the story of reMIND.  The first batch of pages were all designed to give a mood and feeling associated with this story as well as introduce things.  To be a Hayao Miyazaki intro so to speak.  Miyazaki has been a huge influence in my vision for the last 10 years or so.  I am not saying that I understand what he does or that I’m even close but if I can achieve just a fraction of his mood setting genius then I will be satisfied.

If you haven’t seen any of Miyazaki’s films then for the love of everything holy, please do.  My favorite so far is Spirited Away. Here is a link of you want to buy any of them from Amazon.
Miyazaki Films on Amazon.

Sonja (the girl) has always been a huge struggle for me because I never really made a model sheet for her and never really knew what I wanted her to look like.  In fact she was a guy at one point.  Some shots my wife had to pose and some (like these) I was able to pull it out of my head.  I always worry that the continuity will be off but at the same time I love animations and graphic novels/comics that don’t care to much about it so I guess I should stop freaking out.  It is what it is.

Anyway, Here is a progression from my newest page of reMIND.

Line art then a gray tone pass attempted when I thought reMIND was just going to be black and white.  Haha, the days of simplicity are long gone. Then the finished painted art.

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Making Comics – Thumbnails

by Jason Brubaker on May 13, 2010 at 6:00 am
Posted In: Blog, Making Graphic Novels

Page Layouts and Thumbnails - How I Started

Planning out pages has been the most challenging aspect of creating reMIND and when planning a good set of pages, I always start with thumbnails. I’ve mentioned it before in the past assuming everyone knows what I’m talking about but since every artist is unique with their workflow I figure I should show the early stages of mine. I also noticed many young artists visiting here, trying to make heads or tails on how to start their own comic or graphic novel so hopefully this can shed some light on the subject enough to get the ball rolling.

After I finish a loose script (and I mean loose. No dialogue. A script with the main plot points. About a chapter per page) I started my thumbnails. Thumbnails are super small drawings just to get the initial ideas of composition and page layouts out of my head and on paper. Sometimes I have a clear idea in my mind but most of the time I don’t. If I have absolutely no idea where to start I force something out, however crude it may be, and this usually gives way to ideas that eventually start to gel.

I usually don’t like to show my thumbnails because they are so sloppy and bad. In the case of the pages above, you can really see where I struggled to figure out what to do. There are a few rehashed versions of the same things. Now days I like to draw my thumbnails with ink. This forces me away from little details. If I mess up then I have to start another one. It keeps the ideas fluid and loose.

Thumbnails can easily get really messy and scattered here and there and lost on small random pieces of paper. To battle this bad habit I’ve learned to keep all my thumbnails in nice tidy sketchbooks. I learned this working with many commercial directors. Many would keep similar hard bound sketchbooks clearly marked for each project in which they could collect all their random thoughts.

I started doing this for reMIND long before it was a graphic novel. The top book with the Fuel sticker is full of storyboards and concept art when I was planning on making reMIND an animation called “Vittles”. Most of these pages are full of clipped sketches and thumbnails, taped down to keep organized. I’m glad I did this otherwise I would have lost track of most of it.

This is the first image of Victuals (Vittles at the time) that I liked. I cut it out and taped it to the front page. Yeah, that says Tender Vittles 3.2 for some dumb reason. I just like that cat food name. I don’t have a cat…really. I don’t even really like cats. I just like drawing Victuals.

Above are some storyboard thumbnails for the animated version in it’s extremely early stages. The yellow panels were sticky notes that I later taped in the book. The lower left page is the first sketch of a lizard man. Sonja was going to be a boy at one point and above is a sketch.

Anyway, that’s my way to develop ideas. I’ve got to keep it all organized or I never get anything finished. And hey, it’s fun to look at later on…or put in a blog.

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Funny, He Looks a lot Like Me

by Jason Brubaker on June 28, 2010 at 5:00 am
Posted In: Blog

Happy Monday! Here are the new pages.

So, I know you must be wondering why I chose to make three full pages with the same camera angle. Was I being lazy? Was I inspired? To tell you the truth, I’ve always enjoyed coming across scenes in a comic similar to this where you can just absorb the characters acting a bit more than normal. When I started this scene I though it would be easier to do than the other pages, but I soon found out that I was mistaken. It’s way harder to draw your characters over and over in the same scene from the same angle going through a series of emotions without making them look like they are morphing into obscurity. It’s easy to draw a character from one angle once because you have nothing to compare it to. But here, every frame can be compared to the surrounding frames so you have to get ‘em right.

I’m not sure what Sonja and Lizzlie are thinking when they look at each other but that’s why I love it. I have my opinion, but I’m not gonna share it because for me, having these kinds of moments really allows the reader to put their spin on things. It may not be storytelling 101 but I’m not trying to be normal here.

Which brings me to another subject. I’ve been told that my story or character names are too weird. At times it bothers me that I can’t please everyone but I have to keep reminding myself that this is my story and this is what I wanted it to be. Not everyone is going to agree with me or understand my ideas. I’m sure some people will hate it when it’s all said and done and that’s okay too. Some people don’t like strange things that force your imagination to bridge the gaps to make sense of it all, but I do. I love experiencing unique worlds where you can never tell what’s going to happen next because it’s unrestricted by our laws or physics. Isn’t that what sci-fi and fantasy is all about?

One of the most rewarding parts about making your own graphic novel is the ability to make a story unaffected by studio opinions, market statistics or investor money. I didn’t start this to write the same old story I’ve seen a million times or because talking cats are the popular thing right now, or  even because my boss told me to. I’m making reMIND because I love it. This is what I wish I could find whenever I go to a comic book convention.

Oh yeah, next week is a biggie! We finally get to see what Sonja was hiding in her workshop. Plus, this Thursday will be Part 3 of my How To Color a Graphic Novel series.

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Vote now to see one of the frames of next weeks pages.

linklogo7 Trent Kaniuga Interview

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Holy Kelp!

by Jason Brubaker on July 6, 2010 at 5:00 am
Posted In: Blog

Secrets are reveled in this weeks new pages.

Sorry I waited an extra day to post this week. I finished these pages before I finished the final colors of page 64 and it looked like a completely different scene.  After looking at it again on Sunday night I realized that it needed a little overhaul to match the mood set earlier.

I have a confession to make before someone points it out. I’m sure there are some Flight fans touring my blog and in Flight #2 there is an awesome story called Monster Slayers by Khang Le. I love Khang Le’s comic work and I totally copied a scene from his story in this page. It’s on page 102 of Flight #2 where one of the main characters is about to die and thinking of a girl. You see what’s in his mind but he tells the other character he doesn’t know what he thinking about. It’s so brilliant that I had to add something like that to this page. Originally I never planned on the first three frames but after seeing Khang Le do it so effectively I had to add something like that.

Only 12 pages left of Chapter 2 and several more questions will be answered so keep coming back for more. I also have a big announcement on Thursday if I can get it ready in time. All the hard core fans of reMIND should definitely check back then to lock in your spot in the history books of reMIND!

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Vote now to see one of the frames of next weeks pages.

linklogo7 Trent Kaniuga Interview

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