I am graduating soon! I created these postcards to send out to my family. I also sent out copies of “Luke Holds Off”, too, which I hope were well-received. In other news, the impromptu gallery show went well! A lot of friends and comedians came out to show their support. For such a last-minute show, it was a huge success. Everyone drank my beer.
When I was a freshman I was dying to take the classes that the upperclassmen were in. I would spend hours looking through the course catalog at all the electives I could take. All sorts of comic book classes were available. Scripting, Inking, Manga, Superheroes. The two that appealed to me were Mini-Comics and Alternative Comics.
This year, I took both.
NOTE: I enjoy writing these reviews of classes and the assignments given. Some of these posts become very long and strenuous, so I identified that problem by breaking up longer sections into separate posts. In this blog entry that you are reading right now, I display the final image (or images) of the comic along with a general look at the assignment goals, and what I did to meet them. Separate posts provide more in-depth looks at certain aspects that go into the creation of the comic or illustration. They show sketches, original pencil work, and I talk about where the ideas came from and the troubles I faced while making the final piece.
Project 1 – Not a Box
Booster Puzzle
I hit the ground running on the first project. Our first assignment wanted us to create a comic that didn’t conform to traditional panel shapes. We were not allowed to use squares or rectangles.
The first idea was more puzzle-like. The narrative was more linear, and I planned to create a puzzle that had to be put together entirely to be read. It would have a beginning, middle, and an end. The story would start off with a character that answered the door in every panel, revealing more about a painting that he was showing off at a party. Once the puzzle was complete, it could be flipped over to reveal the painting the main character was speaking of in its entirety. But with some suggestions from the class and little bit more guidance from the professor, the idea evolved into something better.
At some point early in an artist’s career, creating a resume is going to come up. And just like having a website, creating a resume is always better to do earlier than later. I’ve been trying to create the best document that shows my accomplishments, and every year I find myself tweaking. If you want to avoid some of the pitfalls I ran into, here is the evolution of my resume from 2008 to today.
1. List All Your Credentials
I began at JobCentral, SCAD’s online career resource, to create my first resume. It outlines the basics and advises you what to include. Start off by listing your accomplishments, jobs you’ve had, awards you’ve won. Based on your major you can even include your participation in a gallery, where your work has been published, etc. Don’t be afraid if your accomplishments stretch back to high school; use it anyways.
My first shot at making a resume
I sat down to think about where I’ve been these past two weeks. Where have I been? I have neglected posting to my website, because I’ve been making comics every week. Believe me, I wanted to post all the exciting projects, but had to stop myself from showing them prematurely. But what about the past 8 weeks? What have I been doing all quarter???
Below I have posted many of the original pages of artwork and comics I made for classes, comedy shows, and other projects. Some of them have been posted earlier this month, but most will be coming soon! Add me to your RSS feed to get updated when some of these pages hit the web, and when you can actually READ my comics. Thanks for watching me, and in the coming weeks I promise to show you some of the coolest things I’ve made this quarter.
PS. I also tabled at SCAD’s Mini Comics Expo, and wrote about it on the SEQALab website. Head on over there to see some of the pictures I took!
This class is a classic. David Gildersleeve was my professor, who is also the original creator of the class. He seems to be the quintessential teacher to take this class with, so it was obvious to enroll in it. There are plenty of assignments, but I love doing lots of work where a lot of it is left up to the artist. There is a lot of research and reference-shooting done for this class, so come prepared with a camera or 24-hour internet access! I loved this class, the other artists brought their A-games, and I had to bring mine, too!
Project 1: Savannah Building
I was very pleased that my first assignment came out this way. We went on a field trip and took plenty of pictures, so I had lots of reference under my arsenal. I gave a lot of attention the pipes in the foreground and the blinds, and the rest was just fillin in the page. I had a vision of the kind of character I wanted to draw. I had a Mediterranean guy in my head with a huge nose with a similar look to how French artist Rudolph Guenoden draws himself in comics. It came out exactly how it was in my head (which is pretty rare for me). I even drew him in the exact angle I wanted.
Savannah seems to come up in almost every SEQA class at least once, so drawing from life wasn’t too hard. After a while, you just start drawing the town from your head because you know it so well. You don’t just realize what landmarks or recurring images are in the town, you know the feeling too, and are able to incorporate the emotion of the town into the drawing as well.
