Cartooning!

Taking what we see and stripping it to its core.

One thing that I hear a lot is that cartoons are easy to draw.
It's a really interesting point of view because they are deceptively simple in appearance but study it for any length of time and you open up a deep well of secrets that wind on and on forever after. It's something I wanted to blog about as I've got some experience with it now. Before that though- wanted to blab a little about how much cartoons and comics mean to me.

In my short lifetime (I'm 25), I've often experienced people who look down their noses at Cartoons. I had a primary school teacher who would make fun of me because I wanted to be a cartoonist. His mocking taunts still stick with me, not as a reminder of failure but as fuel for the fire of success.

Some though, some that one would expect to be more informed, go even further, dismissing cartoons as some sort of juvenile form of art adding the same distaste towards Comics or Animation- two fields of creativity that are already looked down on and never given their full due credit.

Truth is, for me- cartooning is much more difficult than any other form of art I've explored and as extension of that, one of the most impressive. I've studied art at a 'fine art' level because when I left school to pursue art, my only option was to enroll in a class that examined and took all of the 'mediums' of Art on board, except digital mediums or ironically; anything I use now to earn a living.

As such, Instead of learning how to draw storyboards or crafting character designs, we were looking at Fine Art History and its influence on culture as well as questioning the true meaning behind Modern Art, the only class I enjoyed was our weekly life drawing class, because it was freedom to interpret the body as you see it. And interpretation is something I'd later learn is key to being a cartoonist. It was during these two years of study that I met so much of the negativity facing any piece of art requiring imagination.

As a result, I struggled to even pass my classes because I fought tooth and nail for comics to be considered worthy as 'Art', writing dissertations on their worth and impact on culture and examining the process behind them. I know now, it was certainly the wrong place to be vocal about the art of imagination but it is still something that upsets me to this day- the lack of respect for the heroes of the comic world.

It could be born out of a sense of duty to the cartoons and comics that raised me- As a kid, I would  read a comic book and it would inspire my imagination to a world beyond wonder, I saw cartoon shows and wanted with all my heart for them to be a real place I could explore. When I got older, practically every authority figure over me scolded me for drawing things that weren't real, for using imagination- this always made me fight harder for my right to do so.

This was probably because of the incredible base of confidence my parents established in me as a child, they believed in my dreams and supported my efforts- especially if I drew something that didn't exist. I come from a talented family of artists, both on my mothers side (My grandmother was a tremendous poet) and my fathers side (My Grandfather painted beautifully)and so art is something our family has always respected and admired, a respect I perhaps mirrored onto my love for everything comics and cartoons.

I don't really know why I was so stubborn about comics getting respect when I was younger. I got a B- in my Art GCSE exam, the lowest grade any one in my family ever got for Art class because the teacher and I locked horns from the moment we were together. Art at GCSE was basically projects that were centered around a single word and up to the student to produce work inspired by what that word meant to them. She never liked what I turned in because I'd always find some way to twist that word to my favour- to allow me to draw planets or animals or something other than a flowerpot on a table. I know now she was trying to guide me to getting the grade I deserved, by setting me particular tasks or dismissing my own ideas for hers but I never backed down.

Silly goat, I was.

I'm very happy to say I've long since eradicated that stubborn streak but I think it speaks volumes about how I feel about cartoons and comics and informs my own opinion on the matter.

Now that I've my first years under my belt, I think cartooning is so impressive to me because of the sheer challenge. Drawing is a skill, as is every aspect of what we consider 'art.' It all requires discipline and practice, studying everything we might otherwise take forgranted. With a cartoon though, I feel there's that added challenge- you can't just reference the object or person, you have to draw from your minds eye. It's about reconstructing what we all see and recognise then stripping that down to its bare core, it's essence, so you can reimagine it as something new. And it's in that process, that I marvel at the skill of others I admire, their ability to create imagery that awes and inspires because it's not real- but it's informed by reality and brought to life by their unique vision.  So maybe That's why I love comics and cartoons, that's why I fought in education to have them earn some respect- there's a whole world we can't see. With comics and cartoons- suddenly, we can.

-Adam

What's in 2013?

I haven't decided to make any over-the-top goals for 2013, or set myself targets that I'm not confident I can achieve. This may fly in the face of what a New Years Resolution is supposed to be(something challenging?)but there is challenge enough in what I will try to achieve.

• Bring back Felicity.

This has already happened, with a brand new website launched at the very beginning of the year and pages uploaded every Monday. How has it been going so far? At this stage pretty good! I'm enjoying working 'part time' on Felicity and producing one page a week is a fun exercise that so far has been without any stress(I've pencilled around the first 10 pages and every weekend I ink and colour them in time for Monday morning uploads.)

• Pitch something.

I've got three major books on the go at the minute- Felicity, Scoundrels and Magpie. They're all projects that I do in my spare time, for free. With no promise of much success anywhere a long the line. I don't see this as a pointless endeavour and never have- they all exist to help me practice and help me to become a better artist. That all said though, I've made a promise to myself this year to put together a pitch to send to a publisher. I've had my eye on a few Comic houses that I feel I'd fit well with and even have developed some new projects purely for them- this year has to be the year I actually show them.

• The Magpie.

The last goal of 2013 is to bring The Magpie to life. I've had the storyline bouncing around in my head for a year now and I've been developing it slowly but surely into a visual form I can see clearly. By the end of the year I want to have that book sitting on my shelf, completed! More importantly- I will not be uploading Magpie online in its entirety(or perhaps not at all)because I want to strictly pursue publishing for it. I feel it'll be the best chance I have at getting my work published when examining the contents of each of my projects. A super hero comic is going to have quite a challenge to actually stand out but it also has the immediate advantage of fitting in.

That's it for me in terms of art goals! I am still currently doing contracted work on a game that should wrap up this year at some point, as well as the odd trickle of commission and of course my non-art related job! The only other thing I plan to get done this year is get Married. I don't know the first thing about weddings, I'm a wedding nooblet. But I can't wait.

-Adam

The Fate of Felicity.

Felicity was supposed to have seen a third Issue as early as Summer '09 and yet here we are, closing the year '11 and no sign of the elusive third part to the ongoing adventures of Team Crimson.

So where is it?

Well I'll tell you! It's a long tale of what I hope has been evolution and learning.

To begin with the simplest answer- Issue 3 is right here on the computer I type this on, in a folder, labelled FELICITY ISSUE 3. It's a complete comic, coming in at 105 pages. Those pages are inconsistent in terms of polish and attention- some in black and white, some in colour. Some are as old as January 2010, some are newish- with my hand having revisited them in June of this year but overall it's a totally readable- complete visual representation of my Issue 3 script.

So why isn't it online? Because it isn't finished. Issue 1 and 2 are full colour adventures, coming in at a fraction of the scale but never-the-less a complete 'polished' outing. I'm a stickler for consisentancy and reason one for Issue 3 not seeing the light of day just yet is that it isn't finished to the same degree.

Reason two is the kicker- Over the past two years I have begun to really involve myself in the world I wish to go into, career wise. I've taken on more Freelance work and explored more options open to me than I have in my life previously. What this boils down to is a lack of free-time. And Felicity exists because of Free-time- my choice to spend my time off to create and tell a story. Now, I still have free-time but when you're working Freelance jobs between working in a go-out-the-door job for half of your week, sometimes your free-time needs to be exactly that, free time.

Reason three is my standards. In 2009 I finished Issue 1 of Felicity, which was the first comic I've ever made. That wasn't a long time ago- and the amount of learning I've had to do since then has been astonishing. Comics is a craft whose many intricacies go deeper and deeper- as soon as you think you understand what you're doing you realise there's a whole other world you're suddenly involved in- and guess what? You've no idea where to go. There's no rule book to comics but there is also a million things you can do wrong.

Since creating Issue 1 I have studied the craft of comics in many different areas, from basics like timing and story-telling, to how far you can push the boundries of layout and composition. Really addressing the flaws in my own work for Issue 3- laser focusing on what I've done wrong and working to fix it with my next effort. And while this is a natural thing that all craftsmen and artists go through(learning and evolving)it's also a process that takes a lot of time and patience- it's a process that creates tension and stress. It's a process of building walls that we eventually need to smash through and sometimes our journey to get to those walls are creatively draining and test the very limits of what we are capable of. That in of itself isn't good fuel for a comic journey- and can seriously hinder your progress(That said though, it isn't what I'd call Artists Block, it's more so a coming of higher standard, and feeling that your work no longer reaches it.)

My standards have been raised considerably from when I first started out on Felicity, I know I'm a better artist than I was back then so I want to make sure that my work now reflects that- what that means for production on Issue 3 is a self-critique of each page and each panel, which upon reflection can sometimes seem completely uncalled for but mostly is a necessary part of getting better.

Reason Four is time. Relating somewhat to what I've said previously on why Free-time is involved, time itself is an issue. I've reached the point now where I have to carefully manage my time to allow me access to various things I deem important in my life. I need to prioritise work I'm going to be paid for over work I'm not, that's basic common sense. But what it means for personal projects like Felicity is a queue for my time and my attention- despite the fact I may not want it that way, that's the way it is beginning to be and that is the way it will now continue to be. There is only so much time in a day and I need more than a day to really make any progress on Felicity.

HOWEVER!

Time and thought has presented a solution.

Felicity Issue 3 will be released, and it was never an intention to cancel it. I admit that I have been idiotic with my tight-lipped approach to its fate, having now pretty much destroyed the following I worked really hard to build. I trust that there are some folks who can understand that life gets in the way of these things and who believe I really have done everything I can to get as far as I have without going mad in the process.

So the solution?

It won't be a colour comic.

It'll be purely black and white and available in exactly the same format as its older sisters- online in a flash-flip book. Which leads me to the last point concerning it. Felicity will also be released as an APP on iOS devices sometime in the new year- aswell as that; shorter iOS device only stories set in the same universe are due to come in the next year. That's an exciting prospect that I really look forward to seeing realized with the help of my friends.

And on that note I want to thank a few people-

Firstly Paul J Holden who has mentored me on many of the aspects of being a comic artist, earlier in the year called me on Skype to be frank about his concerns with me and the directions I was taking with my art. He raised some difficult points to hear about whether or not it was really worth my time to be working on a comic that has no publisher, no money and not a great deal of a following when I could(and should)be working for money, on all kinds of books that are going places with writers who can help push me up the ladder.

At time I found it offensive and disappointing, something I've come to realise is the exact reason why I need to take a step back from Felicity. There are a whole host of reasons I could(and don't worry, won't)go into as to why I created the comic and continue to draw it, some of which I feel are hugely key to me being where I am with my current ability. But these kinds of things are what they are; personal stories. And no matter what your grand ideal is for said personal stories- the reality is that they aren't going to be understood or accepted in the same way you understand or accept them. That the reality is, you shouldn't get too attached or you'll not have the perspective to understand where next to go and potentially, as PJ highlighted to me, be caught in a inward spiral of just creating story after story for 'yourself' and never achieving anything in the process with your talent.

I could list PJ as one of the reasons Issue 3 isn't online(as his comments put me off my stride on it for a good few months)but ultimately I have to thank him for helping me get my head screwed on about things, working on Felicity is a labour of love and it can always continue to be that but I can't expect it to solve my problems of being stuck in a dead end job that has nothing to do with my abilities.

Secondly Sonira, a friend and huge supporter of Felicity, I probably owe more to her than she realises. She's behind the Character selection sprites you see on the Felicity Website. She also made and mailed me a 99 Plush, which sits proudly on my desk as a reminder of the support behind me when I can't seem to get the standard I want. She has done countless fanart to voice her support and excitement for further installments and has even created a parody comic 'FALICKITY' which above all else makes me feel like I can't ever let her down by slacking on Felicity.

It is an immensely powerful force when someone takes time to create something in tribute to you or your work, out of the blue, out of the nowhere a hand signalling that someone out there loves what's happening and has got your back. I thank her for that, I'm not sure I ever properly have. Her continuing fanfare for all things Felicity doesn't go unnoticed and is certainly the voice of encouragement when I feel alone with where I'm headed.

There are so many supporters on DeviantART who question the whereabouts of this next Issue, who are the folks I feel like I've let down the most with this delay- it's a hugely amazing thing for me to have anyone read my comic and want to read more, you tend to expect the worst and folks have been extremely accepting and kind to what I've created. Also I've been so lucky to have received more-than-I-should amounts of Fan-art and been able to see so many takes on my characters through art-trades. Anyone who has ever drawn one of my characters is so to blame for me caring so much about these books and I need to thank them as well.

Lastly to thank Tracy Deines and Darryl Walker- two people the closest to my heart who have shared in so much of my struggle to complete Issue 3. Darryl is solely responsible for the fact Felicity has an on line presence at all, taking my designs and making them work on anyones computer screen- he also sprinkles the magic dust that turns my pages into a digital comic book that readers can flick through and browse. Thats a huge weight off me, it's also an impossible barrier that alone I couldn't achieve- to know that when I finish a comic, I can pass it to him and have that magical moment of seeing it 'finished' without it being spoilt is something I look forward to. Tracy by comparison has been around since the beginning and is one of the earliest voices of support- her voice now literally being the loudest. She knows what she has done for Felicity and how she continues to help it to rock on. Before this blogpost gets any LONGER or Smuushy, I wanna end on my plan for 2011.

You might have seen in previous blogposts that I've been working on a short story(Don't worry, this one is ACTUALLY short, and PJ- it has a start middle and an END!)called THE JOURNEY. Ideally, I want it to release sometime around Christmas Eve. MID to late December.

That's a goal I don't really want to compromise, so I doubt Issue 3 will see a 2011 release, which makes me feel abit pathedic actually, however! With the new black and white goal kicking off, I can rest assured that I'm not only halfing my production time but probably shaving 2/3 of the time per page(Colours takes me forever)so I can expect to finish it to a polished standard very early in the new year.

As for the fate of Felicity beyond that, we'll have to see. I need to take my time away from it for awhile after I complete Issue 3, there are things I need to get out of my system and goals I need to achieve, I will not stop with Felicity until I finish the story- I just might take a lot longer to get there.

-Adam.

A note to myself

There are no excuses.

Expressing yourself is never easy but always necessary.

Freedom is always present to do what you can with inspiration.

Stop wasting it.

Creativity is a gift and should be shared.

Never doubt your own ability to express and perform.

Art is what the beholder makes of it.

Art is your language, our language.

Always tell a story, even if that story is a bad one.

Never ever stop.

And stop holding yourself back.

-T

Did you know?

Mass Effects 'Mako' was inspired, in design- by the shark with the same name? Google image (Mako) to see an instant resemblance. This is very cool news to me- Sharks are incredible creatures and it's no wonder they were chosen as a base for inspiration.

Probably not wrong to suggest the 'uncharted worlds' were compared to the 'ocean'. Another possibile reason they arrived at sharks for a theme of inspiration.

I love Mass Effect.

I also love Soul Calibur 4(although the two aren't comparable obviously.)

I only wish the A.I would decide on a difficultly level and then stick to it. There are 8 stages in arcade mode(no option to choose a difficultly). You fight for 2 rounds each stage, 3 if it's a draw.

I can clear the first 6 stages with perfects (Not getting hit once) and then all of a sudden that skill I have means nothing because the A.I reads my moves and blocks them accordingly.

Then as soon as my guards down I'm treated to an unblockable barrage of impossibly powerful hits and spams from the computer. It's like hitting a brick wall. It makes no sense, they should atleast make each fight alittle harder as you go, not easy, easy, easy, IMPOSSIBLE.

It's impossibly annoying. Kills your thunder pretty fast when the computer decides to be completely unbeatable. It's just hard to think of the A.I being too smart and not the usual too dumb.

The most irritating thing about it all though- is the fact I've beaten Arcade mode plenty of times before and I never ran into this bother. Now I can't clear The Apprentice stage without getting ruining my Perfect-streak.

But I still love the game, it's got alot of depth. That's why I love it, you can actually train to become better.

Felicitys Artwork should be finished this weekend- as I finally have a day off : D
Goodtimes.

-T

Batty Bat Bat

Really long time no post. *Wrist-slap*.
Right now I'm nursing a headache which I've had lingering around up there since I got up this morning. I'm sure my shift at work didn't help things but I'm totally confused as to why it has yet to clear. I've sent in four of those tablet-troopers since this morning. Must be pinned down at the minute, another few hours and I can send the last of the reinforcements in.

I've been working on at Felicity, kinda irritating because I can't really spare anytime for much else and it seems like I'm not working at all. My Deviant Art is in serious need of something being uploaded so, as I have a headache, I may just take time out and sketch something under the sun before it disappears for the day.

The Dark Knight. Suprisingly lived up to the insane hype everyone and their mothers gave it. I won't drone on about it because there's so little I could say that isn't being said by 100 million other people. I thought Heath Ledger stole the show and that his Joker was incredible, I think without that performance the film would have been elevated out of that grounded reality it seems to maintain. That's what makes the film in my opinion- Chris Nolan, as a creative visionary certainly succeeded in the notion of creating a realistic story about a man who dresses up and fights crime. It all feels very real.

That said, it isn't perfect and there's alot I don't care for- always out weighed by the good however. And I still hate Chris Nolans fight direction. You can never see what the hell is happening, that sort of chlosterphobic type camera work is great when used correctly but mix it in with odd compositions and blurry-blur-blur-blur and it causing more headaches than whoas.
But that's part of his style, the entire film is in his style so credit to him.

Okay, head throbbing. Have to go.

-T

Oh Yeah...

I am re-realizing how close I am to actually getting Felicity Issue One finished. It is both an awesome yet frustrating sensation. Still alooot of work left in it but it's actually going to get finished. Considering how much I've had to overcome in my personal life since I started this and how much this actually means to me, I'm quite giddy at the idea.

Oh lawdy.


I hope I don't somehow obtain yet another illness, or tragedy or immense distraction in the next week or so(Read:Dream girl? Don't come into my life until riiight after I finish this k?)

-T

Who Am I?

The Other night I couldn't sleep and I remember getting up eventually and at some point doodling. I found the doodles again today- thought I'd upload them.

Whenever I can't sleep like this, I usually wake up to lyrics scribed messily on paper- was a suprise to see messy little doodles instead.

-T

For Starters

Hi there!

If you're reading this then you've probably gotten here through the magical link I left at my DeviantArt. If that's the case, then Hai guise! Thanks for dropping in. If not, then please tell me how the hell you found this site D:

I plan on using this blog to just reference everything really. I'll have opinions on Movies, Games, TV shows. I'll have sketches and alot of unfinished artwork. I'll have lyrics, songs and tabs. I'll post all the crap of the day that rattles around my head. I plan on just using it as somewhere to cover all aspects of my thought.

Expect a random and more close to the heart adventure on here.

-T