24HCD 2014: Ragnor & the Treasure of Golub

Two weekends ago, it was 24 hour comic day at the Comic Bug in Manhattan Beach.This was the 4th year for me. I came into it with no idea what I was going to draw. My go to character for 90 Minute Comics has been Ragnor lately so it was pretty easy for me to think of a silly story for him. I finished inking all 24 pages around 4 am and then went back to shade with my grey marker. About halfway through my grey marker ran out of juice so I stretched it as far as I could. This year I went home the earliest yet, around 5 am. Every year I go home a little earlier, I'm getting old maybe?

Ragnor is busting outta jail.

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Scott McCloud at LAAFA

This past weekend I attended Scott McCloud’s Understanding Comics Workshop held at the Los Angeles Academy of Figurative Arts. Scott McCloud worked for Marvel briefly in the 80s but has since then been writing his own graphic novels and webcomics. He’s won an Eisner for his webcomic Zot! but is best known for his non-fiction books Understanding Comics and Making Comics. When I wrote my master’s thesis at Drexel on digital comics I referenced his work pretty heavily so I was excited to hear him talk.

It was a two day workshop that focused on making comics, not really the drawing part, not how to draw but what to draw. How do we present our ideas in a clear and readable fashion? I’m not going to go into detail on the actual content of the course, I’m sure McCloud wouldn’t be too happy if I’m giving away for free the content he makes part of his livelihood from. I will say this, his enthusiasm for the subject was bursting at the seams. He was down to talk comics at any point, on breaks, at lunch (most of the class went out together at a nearby diner), before and after class. He even offered to buy anyone lunch that couldn’t afford to go out. It was nice to be in a class full of people that were stoked about comics and storytelling, I could recommend some of the most obscure comics to people and chances are that they already knew about it.

Scott McCloud critiquing a student's comic.

At the end of the weekend we did an exercise that I am pretty familiar with, one that I happen to do every week. My results:

My word was 'fish.'

The venue for the workshop was interesting, I have heard of Los Angeles Academy of Figurative Arts (LAAFA) for a while now and had this picture of it as a fancy old building. I guess its just the vibe I got from their website. In real life, however, it looks like a strip mall combo of a dentist office and tailor’s store. Its the most unremarkable building from the outside in a rather unremarkable (a little run down) area of Van Nuys. On the inside, however, its actually very atmospheric with high ceilings and (contemporary) master paintings covering the walls.

All in all, I would definitely recommend this workshop to anyone interested in comics or visual storytelling in general.

90MC: answer & cupcake

some of my bros and I get together and make comics in 90 minutes. last night’s random words were: answer & cupcake

90 Minute Comics

Perspective Drawing Class Week 1 - 3

I've been trying to work on my drawing weaknesses lately. One of my biggest one is drawing environments and architectural elements in perspective. I rush through my drawings too quick and don't have the patience to slow it down and get things right. Perspective is one fundamental that I feel I never got enough instruction. To address this, I am taking a perspective drawing class at the Concept Design Academy in Pasadena taught by concept artist, Polina Hristova. I'm forcing myself to take it slow and do all of the beginner exercises.

One of the fun things I learned was that the horizon line crosses a figure at the exact same height on the figure's body no matter where they are located in depth.

Also I learned how to transfer lines:

aaaand how to make repeating shapes with two different sized boxes:

I've begun a one-point perspective drawing of an interior of a 1910s era bar. Its in the initial block in phase right now. I'll continue adding details and interest as it goes on.