Archive for October, 2009
You are currently browsing the Draw Jerel Draw blog archives for October, 2009.
19
Oct
2009
Memory Dog: Part 1
This is cover art I just finished for StarShipSofa a science fiction online podcast/magazine. It’s a great podcast for short fiction, and industry news. If you are into sci-fi at all it’s worth checking out. The painting is for a story called Memory Dog, by Kathleen Goonan, who’s an award winning writer, probably most known for “In War Times” which won the John W. Campbell award for best novel in 2008. The story “Memory Dog” is absolutely fantastic and you should give it a listen when it comes out in a couple of months. I’ll post a link when it’s released.
This one is another foray into drawing and inking by hand and then coloring in the computer. I think I’m finally getting the hang of it. This time I relied heavily on filters, fades, noise generators, and fractals. In the end there were over ten layers in photoshop in order to get the feel that I wanted. I was really trying to find a nice midpoint between comic book and painting with this image and I think I achieved it. Though part of me always wants to put more ink on the page because I love it so much. I also really pushed myself to not be shy with color. The story spends so much time in the inner mental world of the main character, that it begged for a full range of bright popping color, I had to fight the urge to tone down my range and I’m glad I did, the result pops nicely. Hope you like it, and don’t forget to check back and listen to the story in a couple of months.
14
Oct
2009
One Android: A little back story.
The main project you’ll be seeing updates on here at the blog, will be, of course, on One Android. As many of you know One Android is a character project I began developing way back in the year 2003. I made about 40 single page and often single panel comics, like these.
Often comical, often sad, often semi-autobiographical. Anyway, fast forward a few years and I still had them, still liked them, and still didn’t know what to do with them. I fished around with a few comic book publishers to see if I could get a bite. Nobody seemed particularly interested in publishing such a book, but the response was still genuinely positive so that got some gears turning.
Over the course of 2007/2008 I worked on writing a story for One Android. It had to be something that explained how this character came to be, what it was doing in the world, and what it’s desires were. Fortunately a lot of this came quickly, so much of the personality of One Android was already understood from doing the “one-liner” style comic pages. I ended up with a 70 page manuscript and now since the beginning of 2009 I’ve been turning that manuscript into a graphic novel. Well, several graphic novels. As it turns out, one page in a manuscript equals 4-10 pages in comic book form. Anyway, I’m hoping I can finish Book 1 by the end of the year. And will be self publishing it with a grant if I’ve got a bit of luck. It’s been an incredible journey so far, and I’ve learned so much in the process. I can’t wait to see where it takes me next. Here is a quick sample page to wet appetites.
12
Oct
2009
One Android builds a blog.
Well, it’s finally happened. Still got a few nuts and bolts to screw in to this thing but it’s finally here. Check back soon for updates, and even more on the main page.
