Purple Monster

And July is almost here and I am EXCITED! I thought I’d work out exactly what I will be working on fro Camp Nanowrimo. As I have a tight schedule for the comic book I might have to give that priority – it is all already written so that is all drawing and digitazing and stuff which wont quiet fit in with how the website records stuff. So I am going to be trying to do the writing along side the drawing!

But what to work on first!

Punk in Pink?

The Godex Trilogy?

The Prometheus Series?

More comic book script or the film script?

Or do I look at rounding the flash fictions set in the world off at 100 or something?

This has also got me thinking about October and November and what I am going to be writing for those writing challenges! I normally do something dark and gothy for October though that is kind of how the Godex trilogy started! I’ve gotten into a pattern of always doing a new thing based in the same world for these challenges especially Nano. I’m thinking I might either go right back to the beginning of the Aquatic Apes or out into space and the remnants of what they had set up out there.

I’ve already time lined it!

First thing that needs to happen though is that I need to go through what I’ve already written and see where the wholes are I think!

As July is almost here I thought I would announce that I’ll be taking part in Camp Nanowrimo – it is a more laid back version of National Novel Writing Month that occurs in November. I have signed up and been allocated a cabin with writers I know from Bristol – the cabin structure of a small group that is yours makes it slightly different from the normal “nano” experience and is one I am looking forward too.

My aim is to work within the Punk’s Universe – there is now a lot of material created for this – 3 novel series, comic books scripts, flash fictions, a movie script and so on but none of it is finished. So I am aiming to write another 50, 000 words but it will be spread out over the novels which don’t all have endings or beginnings or middles!

I have also worked out the final time line for what needs to be done by when for the comic book Bamboozled which will be released in February – so I will be working on that as well.

So I’ve been having trouble drawing the Punk for the front cover – I know what position she should be in and stuff but I just couldn’t work it out to draw it. None of my drawing books had the pose so I tried to get my little girl to pose for me but she was grumpy so it’s ended up being my husband. Now all I have to do is work out how to fit the cloths onto the form!

Yesterday I went to the library and started looking at the comic books and graphic novels whilst my 8 year old read books. Firstly I inspected the types of art work used and the quality of the art work, none of it including Marvel et al… was what I would call perfect and there were a lot of different styles too.

Also when I looked at the story lines most of them were very jumpy and hard to follow, the older more established names where better but still slightly tongue in cheek – which is a good thing as I was worried that mine was coming out too silly and fragmented.

My conclusion is that I have been worrying way to much.

I’ve continued practicing my drawing each day and have produced a page of eyes.

Some of them are my own and some are drawn/copied from a manga how to draw book.

I think there is a def. improvement which makes me feel that I might just be able to pull this off.

I’ve mainly been working on my college stuff so my poor Graphic Novel script is being neglected. On the plus side I am getting somewhere with the script for college – it is actually 4 scripts but none of them is very long so that is fine. Of course they are for puppets who are awful at taking stage directions!

I have been doodling away – I was walking up the stairs and thought ‘this is my house and I’m planning on fixing and painting these wall – hmmmm’ and so I drew a face.

It was quiet hard to do as the wall was bumpy so the pencil was going all over the place – it was also completely free hand with no idea what I was actually drawing in the first place!

This is what happens when you spend too long trying to design your characters for Script Frenzy!

So I’ve been making more notes 🙂

The comic should have manga overtones but not be manga, there should be an element of fusion between manga and “marvel” / “DC” comics and the old 1940’s cowboy comic styles. The style should also be fluid and changable to help represent the mode of the comic. It should help distinguish between the real world/base world of the comic ‘verse, from the virtual and dreamscape, for the latter two it can be more abstract and the tone alter completely in these cases.

In general lines should be crisp and clear and though backgrounds should be highly detailed, each panel should not be too busy.

Absence and flow between panels should give a sense of movement within the visual narrative.

The fantastical nature of some of the backgrounds and characters means elements from fantasy and scifi art should be examined.

Easter Holidays are upon me and I have kids, so yesterday I took my girls climbing and then did some shopping. Not a day I expected to be productive with but the 3 yr old fell asleep so I ducked into a coffee shop – gave the 8 yr old some activity books and drew and doodled and even scripted.

The picture above is not the style I am aiming for for the Punk Graphic Novels but I was experimenting with line work. It is drawn in felt tip in my visual poetry journal (a moleskien for those who are interested).

I also managed to finally sort out the visual concepts for the main characters symbols so it was a productive day 🙂

Though the kids did manage to get orange juice on the sketch pad I am scripting in but then I got coffee on it the other day :/ As long as it is all still readable we are fine!

There are a few things that have come up in the last few days and they are mainly that I need to make sure that the comics can stand alone and make sense to those, who unlike me, are not immersed deeply in the world and it’s trivia. Terms such as optronics need explaining so I need to think carefully before using them. I don’t want to completely eradicate such things though as I feel they add a touch of the other to the stories.

I am currently using my 8 yr old to whiddle such issues out for me – if she can’t follow it then there is a problem.

Currently bar the odd thing here and there and her trying to correct my spelling – she has laughed and sighed and asked the correct cliff hanging questions. I feel this is a good sign.

Other issues include the fact that some of the dialogue is a bit clunky in some places and needs a royal edit.

Also I need to look into font legality – as some of them you have to pay to use – not a well known fact and one most people don’t bother about anyway but I don’t want to be stung on the bum as it were.

Then there is ISBN – what do comics count as? Books or mags?

And then … do I release it in digital format and maybe even for free? I will be revisiting that last one as it is a big question for me.