My (kind of) 24 hour comic

That is, I’m cheating.  I’ve wanted to draw this story for 2 and a half years, and I came into today with the script and half of the thumbnails done (oh, also, it’s not even the official 24 hour comic book day.  That was Saturday).  So it’s not a REAL 24 hour comic.  But I’m trying to do the bulk of it in a day, so follow along!

I’m trying something new and inking digitally straight off of my thumbnails.  Expect some floundering and mistakes, but hopefully it will make for an interesting new style and a good learning experience!

I’ll post pages here as I finish them:

It’s done!!!  And it only took a week!!  Whooooo!

Who will win? ‘Cause I concede

I have a confession to make: I am a job hoarder.  I spent so many years without enough interest in my comics to make a comfortable living that now my first instinct is to make grabby hands at every offer I get.

I’m very lucky to be in a place now where I have too much work to do every project I want.  I made this chart because I need to keep my plate free enough to say ‘yes’ to jobs I really want, and do a good job on the projects I’ve already committed to:

They were laughing and drinking and smoking and singing

My latest movie reaction comics: for Magic Mike! As always, SPOILERS.

You’ll see the world like a bird

Sketch dump! :D I’ll be coloring some of these and posting them to my Tumblr, so be sure to visit.
I looooove gender-swapped fan art, but it really bugs me when people essentially just apply costume ornaments from a dude-character to a chick in a swimsuit.   That kind of fan art is about as true to the character as this is true to Santa:
“If Thor’s beefy for a man, he should be frickin’ beefy for a woman,” said Tally to no one.

That’s a little comic from my ALA Anaheim trip last weekend.  By the way, that was a good time.  I bought signed copies of Smile from Raina Telgemeier and July Diary from Gabrielle Bell, was surprised to sell out of books at my Image signing, met tons of awesome people, and even got to go to Disneyland.  I would definitely go to ALA again, and am considering the Seattle conference this winter.
People in L.A. show a lot of skin!  I had a bit of culture shock.  I feel really self-conscious when I wear a tank top.  Nonetheless it was nice being in that warm, predictable climate for a while.
Something weird happened on Monday.  I’d spent all weekend doing the convention and hadn’t had a chance to sketch for fun in daaaaays.  My family made a last stop before the airport in Huntington Beach, and I told them I wanted to just sit on an inconspicuous bench and draw people for a while.  5 minutes later, a nice woman asked me if I did caricatures!  I said sure and drew her, her husband, and her son for about 15 minutes.  She offered to pay me but we settled on her buying me ice cream xD  It was bizarre but also really nice to think that I might be able to survive if I was stranded somewhere with just my sketchbook and pencil.

And on with the DC fan art…. :D
 
My mental image of Catwoman comes from…
A) Darwyn Cooke,
 B) Adam Hughes
 C) Batman the Animated Series

 

Imagine living in a box

I did another series of movie reaction comics.  This time the film is Pixar’s Brave, in theaters today.  Here’s a spoiler-free text review before the spoiler-full comics:

This movie is fantastic.  If you think that our tastes are at all similar, or you have a heart or a mom, you should go.  The bottom line is: this is a well-crafted, beautiful, fun, surprising, and touching film.  It has been advertised in a cringey, slapstick way to get children into the theater, but don’t worry: this is not a lowest-common-denominator animated film.  It’s another Pixar masterpiece.  Quite a bit of the movie was withheld in the commercials, and it’s WONDERFUL.  You are in for pleasant surprises.  I recommend watching it in 2D; the film is a little too dark in 3D and some of the lovely details and textures faded out.

THESE COMICS CONTAIN SPOILERS.  Go watch the movie first — these probably won’t be funny unless you’ve seen it, anyway.

And all of the talk about changing your fate (“You can rise to meet it if you choose”).
And the closing gate and trying to escape into the woods.
And the misty, forested mountains.
And the animal mom protecting her human child. 
And the animal mom at risk of becoming an actual demon.
Horses, in my mind, are this feminine symbol of freedom and power and grace.  …I thought that was a well-documented thing, but apparently it’s just an association I have.  I was looking around the internet for any writing that had been done on it, or a catchy name for the trope or something, but came up empty.  ANYWAY, women riding horses = overwhelming ‘FUCK YEAH’ response in my head.
One of my friends pointed out that the triplets are always trying to steal buns/cakes from Maudie that look like boobs, complete with berry nipples.  And now I can’t unsee that subtextual subplot wherein the triplets are on a quest for Maudie’s goodies xD
LOOOOOOOVED THIS.  Commanding a dead silence by walking?  So cool.  And that austere expression on Queen Elinor’s face?  Just…GUH. PERFECT.
And then Merida demonstrates how much she has grown and come to understand and appreciate her mother (and the power she wields) by performing it just like her.  asdf;ljk.  One of those moments that is so perfectly foreshadowed it’s shocking you don’t see it coming.  PERFECT.  PERFECT!
Also, Merida…even I can sew better than that.  I mean really.
TWO LADIES ON HORSEBACK?  A MOTHER AND DAUGHTER ON HORSEBACK?!! *dies*
Cool/funny things that it would be repetitive for me to draw because they were done perfectly in the film:
-”Legends are lessons.  They ring with truths.”  (And so do Pixar films)
-Little Merida!  Especially the teeth–somehow they captured little-kid-mouth just right in her design and expressions
-One of the triplets lip synching perfectly with his father during the bear story
-The crow.  Just delightful.
-Every single instance of Queen Elinobear moving in an effeminate way despite her altered stature 
-”I’ve decided to do what’s right and break tradition.”  SO much love for that line.
-Merida going toe to toe with her father in a sword fight and winning?!
-Cutting his peg leg out from under him!
-Momma bear getting superbear strength when her daughter is in trouble 
-Mor’du’s spirit rising from the back of the rock
-Naked triplets!  Perfect timing, comic relief

I just added a donate button to this blog.  I am by no means starving, and I appreciate your traffic on its own merits, but if I raise a few dollars on these review posts it will help justify continuing to make them.  Thanks again, everyone!

I wanna be somebody’s buddy

I went to see Prometheus last night.  Short review: I really enjoyed it and would watch it again.  Read on for some spoilerific comics that happened between 1 and 2 AM:

I will go see Spider-Man.  I smirked because I enjoy people back-talking commercials.

A race of muscle-y, alabaster Voldemorts.  Like in the Bible.

Also you are the most interesting character and I adore you.

He seriously said that.

I LOVED the gender/sex subtext in the movie, even though there was some seriously disturbing stuff (not too much worse than the other movies).  Essentially Prometheus was about creation and the conflict between parents and children.  Some really, really interesting things happened between characters.  I want to watch it again and just focus on that.

Okay, so you’re not Ripley, but that was pretty cool how you were a total badass in the third act.  I so called that self-abortion in the special medical machine.  And even though it was one of the tensest scenes in the movie, I was cracking up at her having to program it for a male operation.  NICE, Prometheus.

“I want to see the baby.”  “Don’t worry about it.”  “WHY ARE YOU SLYLY PUSHING THE MONITOR AWAY?”  “Don’t worry about it. :D

And little glowy mochi-ball eggs!

FAVORITE RECURRING JOKE.  Sassy robot strikes again!

Screaming only makes the ship want to squash you faster!!

I have no introduction, I just breathe it in like the air

In this post I’m going to answer a question I received via e-mail (abridged):

“…In your blog, and in Between Gears, you mention a lot of printed comics and books (the Flight series comes to mind) and other works that you read and found it helpful to study the art from. (I)…am looking to expand my collection of graphic novels, formerly limited to Bone and some of the Firefly tie-in books (and, of course, Between Gears). Could you do a blog post on good books to start a sequential art collection/library for aspiring artists?”

There are so, so many comics in the world, ‘getting into comics’ or beginning a collection can feel really daunting. I’d say just go to your local comic shop and ask for recommendations, but that’s a mixed bag depending on the quality of the shop. In Portland we have Floating World Comics and Jason Levian, who gave me great, tailored recommendations and kept me in comics when I was about ready to give up reading them. In case you live in a place without a good shop or can’t go to one for another reason, here is a list of comics that I personally recommend. (As an artist, I’m naturally attracted to books with art styles I like, so I believe this list will work for those looking for art inspiration/education.)

First off, here are a few that are so good, I’m telling you “don’t ask, just buy”:

I Kill Giants (Titan Edition contains project notes)
The War at Ellsmere
Hemlock
Anya’s Ghost
Koko Be Good
Beast
Blankets
Nausicaa of the Valley of Wind (make sure to buy at the 10×7″ dimensions or larger so you can see the line art details!)
Scott Pilgrim
Pluto
12 Reasons Why I Love Her
Mysterius the Unfathomable

Other books I have on my shelf at Periscope:

1) Betsufure – A random tankōbon I picked up the last time I was in Japan. I love manga tankōbon because they contain chapters from several artists/genres and have lots of variety and inspiring ideas for page layouts and toning effects. Try looking in a large bookstore’s magazine area or in a Japanese bookstore for one that appeals to you.
2)Batgirl: Year One – The artwork is incredible. Just incredible. All in all this is a really fun book and something I could get into, not being a hardcore comic reader and not having a lot of past knowledge of DC characters.
3) The Secret World of Arriety (a comic made from screencaps from the film) – Studio Ghibli makes many of their movies into comics like this, and I love them because they serve as a library of different moments from their films. I use them for inspiration, color palette inspiration, choosing the best moments to draw for particular sequences, and acting reference.
4) Oh My Goddess! – Really clean line art and clear storytelling. Chapters are fun, self-contained stories.
5) Angelic Layer – Some of the best action sequences I have ever read.
6) Les lumieres de Lamalou – Claire Wendling is a master cartoonist. Her pencils and environments make me cry on the inside a little bit. The colors are also lovely.
7) Demo – 12 self-contained stories written by Brian Wood. Each is drawn by Becky Cloonan in a different style!
8) How to Draw Anime and Game Characters (volumes 1-3) – Wonderful art books for drawing characters and giving them life/personality.
9) Yotsuba – Hilarious, clear, self-contained stories. Character designs are instantly recognizable and characters have their own distinct personalities/tastes/expressions; they feel much more real than the average comic character.
10) Patsy Walker: Hellcat – Immonen and Lafuente both have expressive, funny, and original styles.
11) Cross Game – Great mix of realistic backgrounds and simplified characters. The story is very quiet, yet manages to engage and quickly becomes a page-turner.
12) Courtney Crumrin and the Night Things – Dark/creepy aesthetic and really wonderful draftsmanship using only black and white.
13) Objects, works by Kilian Eng – A great collection of environmental and design illustrations that each inspire a million story ideas.

Also, let us never forget the vast gift that is webcomics:
1) Emitown
2) Bucko
3) Works of Emily Carroll
4) Out Foxed
5) Hark, A Vagrant!
6) Works of Marc Ellerby
7) Tragedy Series

If you go out and explore and follow your own tastes, you’ll find much more than this and stumble onto things I have never even heard of. Never give up! Never surrender! Never stop reading comics! There’s so much good stuff out there.

Get back get back up

I was too tired/happy to post anything at the time, but I finished my Oni book last week!!!!

I really wanted to finish before the holidays. Now I have a bit more capacity to handle the holiday+birthday+other time constraints and stress that are coming up.

I made this progress chart in November to help motivate me to finish:


(24 penciled/inked/toned pages in a month, what’s up)

The 9 check-offable boxes after ‘Celebrate’ were a joke, but looking at it later I decided that I should create 9 distinct rewards for myself — turn it into a kind of ritual and commemorate the end of a big book project. It was fun coming up with a list of things that I’d been wanting to do (rather than buy, it being the holidays anyway and material rewards requiring less creativity/more money):

  • Spend a day drawing fan art
  • Climb the *****’s fire escape onto the roof
  • Hike somewhere nice and watch the sun rise on New Years morning for good luck
  • Go to the Sky High trampoline gym (can you tell that I like heights??)
  • Christmas movie marathon (The Snowman, Just Friends, Love Actually, Die Hard, Tokyo Godfathers, Elf, Rudolph)
  • Get dressed up and spend a day going into EVERY boutique on 23rd (more to satisfy my curiosity than to actually shop…how are there so many nice boutiques on one street?!)
  • Go into Counter Media (The porn scares me off every time I think I’m going to go in! xD But I’ve heard there are good comics in there…!)
  • Spend a long, lazy weekend morning at the gym (work out, hot tub, sauna, shower and get dressed nicely, eat lunch at one of the nice restaurants upstairs)
  • Draw a cover for my Ghibli sketchbook and give it to the next person to draw in

I’ve done 2 of these already, and am looking forward to the rest. :)

I’m a lady got my mind made up

Comics Underground last night was AMAZING! Thank you to everyone who came out! I had a great time and I know the other presenters did, too.

I put my comics from the event online; click on either title image to go to the comic:

Don’t you want me to be the captain of your submarine up periscope

Deconstructing Comics Episode #285 part 1 takes a look at comic studio set-ups. I talk about Periscope Studio around 19:40. I have to research my Periscope history…!

Portland Comics posted an article on Periscope today as well.


7 new Between Gears pages up today if you haven’t read them!

Copyright © Natalie Nourigat
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