Luna

Here's Luna, a fellow geologist of Terry's:

Red Flag Journal Entry #3

Though I did again spend around 8-10 hours on my project this week, I am still not up-to-date with journals.

Again, I spent most of my time on the project practicing to draw. I have also read the first two volumes of Full Metal Alchemist - once I read the third I will journal about it for research. Though I still can't draw a lot of body poses or faces at many different angles, I've gotten much more consistent at what I can draw, and I have been experimenting with what I can't.

I met with Ms. Backus on Monday, and I will again tomorrow.

So the thing is, even though I've spent an ample amount of time on this project, I still feel like it's not enough. As I've said before, my spare time has been very limited just in the past few weeks and will be until about June, which is when the project ends.

Mentor Meeting (Journal #2)

I met with Ms. Backus yesterday, and we talked about my most recent journal ("Head Angles") and my plans for next week.

I said last week that I would start the graphic novel as part of my plan for that week, which so far I have not gotten around to doing. I have gotten plenty of drawing practice, though. I'll start it this week... if not by Friday then over the weekend.

My schedule is going to be much more packed now that spring season has started, with crew and tennis taking up a lot of my time. Though, I think I can still get in one or two hours a day, and I still plenty of time on weekends.

I'm planning to meet with Ms. Backus again this Friday.

Head Angles

Here's something I've been struggling with, these past few days as I've been drawing. Part of drawing humans is being able to draw from any angle, including above- and below-shots. Unfortunately, these are the hardest to draw as I have to consider facial feature placement, angles, and the dreaded space under the chin in the case of below views.

I know these aren't the most extreme of facial angles, but here are some examples. As for the first face, according to my reference sheet the nose and and mouth should be drawn closer together than in a straight-on face. It's hard to do that without making the mouth look too high. Another difficulty is the shape of the nose - if I try to draw the entire thing, it looks too long and sharp. So here I've resorted to just drawing a few lines to indicate that the nose actually exists.

In this second picture, the head isn't really angled up that high but for this kind of view and higher up, I now have to draw lines to separate the front of the chin from the bottom. If you would feel your chin for a moment, there is no definite "edge" to your chin - it smoothly curves to the bottom of your head. Unfortunately there is hardly a way to draw a smooth curve with lines, so it looks like the chin stops abruptly on the face.

Leo

Here's a sketch of Leo, Terry's roommate:

Red Flag Journal Entry #2

I spent maybe 8-10 hours so far this week on my WISE project, with a large portion of that time on Wednesday.

Most of my work on the project this week was to practice drawing. I drew every day of the week, but some days not as much as others - Monday I did a lot, and Wednesday I spent almost all day drawing because it was a snow day. (If you're wondering why these drawings aren't up here yet, they will be.) In terms of research, I've only read one graphic novel this week (a volume of Scott Pilgrim), but I have visited an online tutorial for inking drawings.

I did meet with my mentor on Friday, and we talked about how I would start the graphic novel this week. I haven't started it, but I will devote the coming three-day weekend to doing so. I will meet with Ms. Backus again on Monday.

Hmm... I've only had one journal entry this week, so far. I will get two other entries up tonight. I was in class, so that's something I'll be writing about (though the class period was mostly spent on talking about applying for grants for our projects, which I most likely won't be doing).

This week, while my journal count have not been up to par (yet), I still think I have spent an adequate amount of time this week. My plans for next week is to... practice more drawing, and be well into "penciling" my graphic novel (I say it in quotes because it will be done on the computer).

Terry (first drawing)

This weekend was very busy for me, but I did manage some time to sit down and draw for a bit. Here's an excerpt, a sketch of Terry (the main character).

Red Flag Journal Entry

I think my last week has been much more productive than the last few. I've been blogging almost every day, and I've spent at least one hour working every day. Some days I work on my plot, which is now almost halfway finished - though if I work on a lot more tonight, I could get much more than halfway. As for practicing and hands-on work, since purchasing a sketchbook on Tuesday I've been practicing drawing hands (which is very difficult, especially at obscure angles). I'll be posting pictures either later tonight, or tomorrow night. Also, I read several graphic novels which would count as research.

I met my mentor Ms. Backus on Monday, and we talked about restructuring my project timeline. I'm meeting her again tomorrow (Friday).

Overall, I think for the first time, I've been doing enough work to fulfill WISE requirements this week. I'll definitely work as hard in the coming weeks, because I still have much, much work to do.

Sketch Book and Practicing

Today in English class we got an article print-out explaining the importance of hands-on practice. One thing the article emphasized was being able to step out of one's "comfort zone" as the only way to really improve at something. I've heard the phrase too many times by now, but the author makes a good point. As an example, the author explains that if one only plays the same songs over and over again on a guitar, they will be good at those songs but unable to play others or adapt to learning quickly. But if one steps out of their "comfort zone" and actually practices something with which they're not familiar once in a while, even though it is not fun it is much more constructive than playing well-rehearsed songs over and over. On the other hand, it's also important to practice with repetition, of course.

Link to the article

I do practice drawing in my spare time, but I always get the feeling that I don't do enough. I draw on loose-leaf paper which gets scattered all over the place, so to help organize better I puchased a small sketch comic that I can draw in. In addition to being a place to store all my sketches for Tempus, I think it'll be easier to show other what I've done, when I get around to it.

Mentor Meeting

I met with my mentor Ms. Backus today, and we went over what my plan was for the next two months - basically, how much time I would set aside for everything.

One thing that came up was that I realized that just as part of my personality, I cannot get things done unless I have a definite deadline. So I've set deadlines for myself. Plot done by this Friday; penciling done by May 1st, and inking by June 1st.

As I've said before, I've gotten a good part of my plot written down, but not as much as I may have made it seem - I'm about halfway done with the first part (the entire graphic novel will be broken down into three).

Restructure

So by now, it seems like my two-week plan was far too optimistic. It's been five weeks now, and I still haven't finished the plot yet (though I've got a good portion done).

Though I am pretty far behind (I've gotten red-flagged), I am finding myself with a better sense of timeliness. These past few days I've been working more than I have in the weeks before, as I've been reading comics (doesn't sound like research, but trust me, it is) and writing. Hopefully by the end of the week this week I will be caught up in journals and have the plot done.

I know I've made a lot of... seemingly empty promises in previous posts. By now it seems like the ones I make now are equally void. But now I know where my priorities are, and though I couldn't tell you for sure that I will meet them, I sure as hell will try.

Barry Deutsch

Barry Deutsch is a cartoonist who recently published a graphic novel named Hereville. The novel follows an "eleven-year-old troll-fighting Orthodox Jewish girl", but I don't know much more than that, since I've never read it. Anyway, Deutsch visited my school today and I attended one of his presentations. It was pretty exciting - he first drew a caricature with strange facial features, then moved on to read an excerpt from Hereville.

What I found most exciting about his presentation though, was that he walked us through his process of drawing. Like what I'm planning to do, Deutsch creates all of his artwork on the computer. He uses much more sophisticated art equipment than I do, namely a Wacom Cintiq tablet and Adobe Photoshop. I suppose that makes it easier for him to draw, but nevertheless it is time-consuming: in an hour of drawing (compressed to a four minute video for the purposes of his presentation), Deutsch could finish about one panel to his comic book. Of course he's a professional, and he colors and shades his work, but that's still quite a long time, so in my graphic novel I won't be focusing on those things. In any case, it was very interesting to see how a professional drew comics.

Scott Pilgrim: Precious Little Life

Having heard of the recent movie adaptation, I decided to read the Scott Pilgrim graphic novel series.

They're pretty short. I read the first volume, Scott Pilgrim: Precious Little Life on the bus ride home. Yet, the author Bryan O'Malley is able to convey so much information for the reader in these few pages. Right at the start of the graphic novel Scott Pilgrim, a 23-year-old who is part of the band "Sex Bob-omb" is revealed to be dating a high school girl, Knives Chau. Chau's character is ingeniously used to simultaneously reveal much about Pilgrim's personality and lifestyle and create a conflict when Pilgrim falls in love with another girl, Ramona Flowers. O'Malley's style of artwork is cartoonish, yet he's still able to draw distinguishable characters whose appearances reflect their personalities, as well as convincing settings.

Maus I

Maus I: My Father Bleeds History is a graphic novel by Art Spiegelman about the Holocaust. The novel is told in the point of view of the author, the son of a Holocaust survivor, who visits his father's house from time to time to learn about his experience in the Holocaust. One notable aspect of the graphic novel is that Spiegelman chooses to represent the different groups of people with different animals: the Jews being mice, the Poles pigs, and the Nazis cats. This was to easily distinguish between the three different kinds of people, and allowed Spiegelman to easily depict the times when his father would pretend to be a Pole (a mouse wearing a pig mask).

Compared to the first graphic novel I picked up for this project, Watchmen, Maus has a much simpler art style and seems to focus more on conversation and description rather than action. Narration or dialogue accompanies each panel, and events like shootings and hangings seem to all happen at a distance - for example, in a scene where Vladek (Art Spiegelman's father) volunteers to help bring his family to safety, he is simply drawn looking around the corner at a shooting represented by only sound effects.

Maus transitions seamlessly between two worlds: the world of Vladek Spiegelman struggling for survival, and the world of Art Spiegelman as he interviews his father. Yet, the two worlds could be no more different - one takes place in work camps, attics, and secret bunkers in Nazi-controlled Poland, and the other in a relatively peaceful neighborhood in New York. In the 1940's Vladek would be scavenging for food, digging hideouts, and making decisions that could determine the fate of his wife, his family, and himself, and in the 1980's he would be counting his pills, pedaling his exercise bike and having arguments with his second wife Mala over his will. To show this contrast is a great way to expose the true nature of the Holocaust. Over the course of the novel, Art Spiegelman's interviews also reveal much of his father's true personality, which runs consistently with his actions during the Holocaust.

The graphic novel ends on a cliffhanger, as it is continued in Maus II.

The Base

Today I made a sketch of a design of the main base - including dormitories, a lab, a cafeteria, a garage and a dish system to communicate with Earth, all topped with solar panels. I can't use my scanner at the moment, but I'll have this (and other sketches) up over the weekend when I can.

Also, here are some characters:

Terry - main character, 19/male. Majoring in geology. Introverted and dedicated to his work.
Beryl - 19/female. Majoring in... also geology? Maybe biology. Also a good student but antagonizes her father early in the story, setting the plot in motion.
Beryl's father - 47/male. Chronology* professor. Built the time beacon, and heads the research facility.
Beryl's brother - 23/male. Also studies chronology. A rather minor character, really.
Luna - 20/female. Beryl's roommate. Majoring in physics, or earth science. Complete opposite of Terry, extroverted but not studious.
Leo - 19/male. Terry's roommate. Majoring in biology. Fun-loving and open-minded, though maybe too much of the former.

*A chronologist as defined in our world is someone who puts historical events in order - usually either human history or the history of our earth. However, in the world in which this graphic novel takes place, Chronology is an imaginary science that deals with manipulating the passage of time.

I don't have any last names in mind yet. I currently have graphical designs for Terry and Luna.

"Making Comics" by Scott McCloud

During Winter Break I read the book Making Comics, a graphic novel-style comic tutorial book by Scott McCloud, author of the graphic novel series Zot!. Making Comics answers the Five W's of drawing comics not by explicitly teaching a certain style to draw, but rather focusing on concepts and details such as pace, perspective, dialogue, and most importantly facial and body expressions.

Here's one thing I learned. Did you know that there are six basic emotions? Joy, sadness, anger, fear, surprise, and disgust. Every other emotion is either a variation or a composition of these emotions, for example: joy and fear make desparation; anger and disgust make outrage; sadness and surprise make disappointment. What's important about this is that each one of these six emotions evoke different facial muscles, so to convey a convincing emotion I should learn what parts of the face are stressed and when.