High Maintenance Machine

I have the great honor of running a guest strip today over at the wonderful, epic webcomic, Sordid City Blues, which is the brainchild of my friend Charles Schneeflock Snow. Charles and his wife just welcomed their own little bundle of miracles into the world. Emma Fae Snow, and a few of us in the comics world are pitching in to give Charles a little break since he won't be sleeping for the next 18 years.

If you weren't familiar with Charles's work before now, I suggest you free up your afternoon and plow through the 64 or so chapters featuring some of the most complex characters in webcomics (mature readers only, please). You won't be sorry. And if you're one of the 3 people that read all the way through the super-long interviews I've been doing with cartoonists I like, then stay tuned, because Charles has agreed to chat a little bit about his creative process some time in the near future (when I get around to asking him some questions).

Sorry! I forgot to post this yesterday. Enjoy the THRILLING CONCLUSION!

Also, I started a local comics group here in Michigan: http://grcomics.org.

Page two of my forthcoming story in the BAM Too anthology.

Here's a short comic I drew for the upcoming anthology, BAM Too,with editorial contributions by none other than losttoy (Take a bow, David!) Stay tuned for the rest of the story, but more importantly, keep your eyes peeled for this print collection. It promises to be pretty cool.

Hey Indiana folks! On Saturday, Wendy and I, along with our good friend Lisa of artgoodies, will be at the Indieana Handicraft Exchange in Indianapolis from 11am-10pm. We'll have books, zines, comics, and original art for you and yours! Admission is free, and there us an Indie Music Fest going on at the same time. That sounds like a good way to spend a Saturday if I've heard of one.

More info at http://www.indieanahandicraftexchange.com/. See you there!

This is just the proof copy, but they'll be available for order soon! If you get both volumes you'll even get a wonderful hand-made slipcase from Windy Weather Bindery (NOT PICTURED)!

Hey everyone! This awesome book will be available this weekend at MoCCA, table #434 from Shelli Paroline! I have a little 2 page story about "Emo Luke Skywalker." Here's a little preview:

But everyone who contributed to this is awesome, so make sure you get a copy. The first volume, Harvest is When I Need You The Most, was widely lauded last year after its debut. The follow-ups will not disappoint!

I'm not sure where I first saw P. Beare's comics, but I assume it was by following a link from someone's Livejournal. The fluidity of his line and the terrific pacing and framing of his strips drew me back, over and over. I chatted recently with Mr. Beare about his comics, gag cartoons, and the influence of film on his compositions. Enjoy!

How did you get started making comics?

I've been drawing cartoons since I was very little, but these drawings were always very ephemeral; doodles, essentially. My first attempts at drawing comic strips was in my teens. I very much enjoyed comics like Deadline and Crisis, but my efforts were very poor, so I stopped bothering. I didn't think about comics for many years, and resumed my aimless doodling.

In the summer of 2005, I made a concerted effort to sell some gag cartoons to Private Eye and the like; I didn't sell any, but it got me drawing with a more consistent style, and while investigating cartoon outlets on the web I discovered that many of the artists I'd admired in my teens now had a web presence. I found out about some other artists from outside the UK, like Raina Telegemier and Robert Goodin, and bought some of their stuff from Poopsheet Foundation. I found out about Caption, a British Small Press Convention, and I went along. And then I found Livejournal, and all the talented people therein! Isn't the internet incredible?

Around about 2006, I started using cartoons and comics in some of my teaching materials (I lecture in Video Production). "Otto Focus" was part of a small aide-memoire I produced for students prior to a field trip. The main thing that got me into regularly creating comics was Stripfight.org. Most of my comics originated as ideas for that weekly comic-creating challenge.

I first saw your work on Stripfight.org. What happened to that site?

Bee-Eye took over the running of it, but I regret that I haven't participated for ages (though I did design a 'board-girl' for the website). The last round I saw had only one entry, so I think bee-eye is reviewing the upkeep of it. Shame. I came up with ideas for each round, but my weekend routine meant that I rarely drew the strips.

A lot of your work tends to mix seemingly ordinary people with elements of absurdism. What attracts you to absurdity? Is it unfair that Americans often assume that absurdist humor is distinctively "British"?

I usually try to make my characters plausible, real-world inhabitants, rather than absurdities. So I have to make odd things happen to them. But I think all humour must be intrinsically absurdist. But it's not enough to be completely absurd. I think "the Mighty Boosh" is utterly absurd, but I never laugh at it. It lacks a baseline of normality. Whereas "Big Train" makes me howl with laughter, because you have a conflict between absurdity and normality. (hope these references mean something to you!)

As far as 'Britishness' goes, I think that British humour is typified by a willingness to be dark; to forego the moral ending. Which possible means there is more scope for a surprising ending? Perhaps the need to "learn" is too ingrained in American narratives? I'm not sure. What is American humour if not absurdist? Ironic, maybe. I think irony occurs when the normal and the absurd aspects of something are seen to be the same thing.

Your work seems to be pretty influenced by gag comics and cartoons, where you lead your reader in one direction, getting them to believe you are talking about one thing before surprising them in the last panel with something totally unexpected (and often hilarious). Do you have any favorite gag cartoonists?

I do like the drawing style of many gag cartoonists: Charles Addams, for example. But no, the misdirection that you describe is something that I find to be rare in gag cartoons. There can exist a contradiction between what we intially see and what we subsequently understand by reading the caption, but I think you need sequential art to fully lead the reader up the garden path. I like my stories to have only two of the following: A beginning, a middle and an end. The reader should be engaged if you let them fill in the gaps. I wish-wish-wish I had the skill to combine this much information into a single gag cartoon. I think that good comics (and brilliant gags) suggest a longer story outside of the plot that is depicted. The biggest inspiration to me is Edward de Bono, who has written many books on Creativity and Lateral Thinking. Many of my ideas are the result of principles of reversal, exaggeration, or provocation that he recommends to generate ideas. Another influence is television comedy that observes these same principles, such as Monty Python, Father Ted, Big Train etc.

The composition of your panels strikes me as somewhat cinematic. For instance, in the strip "Closing Time," you use a steady yet tight "shot" of a little girl playing with her toys to hide the punchline of the story. In the last panel, you use the full page to "pull back" and give the reader a view of the whole scene as you see it. Do you see film as an influence on your compositions, or on your work as a whole?

Definitely, because I lecture in video production, and can see a parallel between film and comics. The most important commonality between film and comics is that they are comprised of fragments, and gaps exist between these fragments, whether they are panel borders or edits in film. The viewer/reader had to bridge these gaps, or ellipses, to construct something coherent. The skill in both film and comics is to leave out as much as possible without compromising coherence. An engaged reader/viewer is one who is required to do a lot of work to understand the 'whole' that the fragments suggest. Some of the principles of video production, such as the 180 degree rule, are useful for preserving the orientation between figures in comics too.

When I write a comic script, I work really hard to edit it down to the bare minimum of dialogue, but I often use the drawings to fill in some of the communication I removed with non-verbal clues. However, I never think about what the reader needs to fill in on their own (I probably should!) Do you give a lot of thought to what you intentionally leave out of your strips?

Too much. Sometimes I use post-it notes; sometimes I use the slide sorter view in Powerpoint. Rearranging the sequence; putting panels in; taking panels out: Plotting, basically. The plot is my contribution; then the reader inserts their bit of inference and these two together gives you the story! With "Junior" in particular, I gave a lot of though to what should be left out. I had loads and loads more: events before they arrive in the countryside; Junior's first evening alone in the wilderness; the mother getting broody again at the sight of another unaccompanied child. But I thought, "people will understand these people. They'll get the back story. And the futire consequences. I don't need to show that." Plotting is, for me, the most time consuming part of developing a comic strip. I end up in a revolving re-evaluation loop and then never draw anything! It's principally a matter of motivation. If my story has too many panels, I know that I will lose interest in drawing it half way through, so I have to do a lot of editing in order to persuade myself it will not take too long to draw. Junior was a real chore. The character likenesses went to pot.

One of the principles of screenwriting is enter a scene as late as possible, and leave as early as possible. Readers are clever: they can fill the gaps. This applies to comics too. The most extreme- and clever- example I have seen is this Perry Bible Fellwoship one:

Image from Perry Bible Fellowship.

But the gaps are also a defining feature of the medium. A comic is not just a page of illustrations. The temporal and spatial relationship between the pictures is important. "Choice of moment/ Choice of Flow", McCloud calls it. I think you have to consider what is left out if you are considering the flow.

But with text and dialogue too: yes, I spend a lot of time refining that. I can't stand text taking up so much space. I'll spend an hour rephrasing a block of speech to reduce the word count by one. I have a lot of ideas that are very dialogue heavy, and I think, "this is funny, but it's just talking heads. What I've written here is not a comic, it's a TV sketch. Or a radio play". If you can hide the pictures and still understand the story, it's not a comic: It's a radio script with illustrations. Comics are about the combination of pictures with words, so you need to recognise which of these is the most fitting at any moment.

Could you explain the 180 degree rule?

You might have heard of crossing the line? Same rule.

Imaging a line that connects two interactants. The 'camera' must not cross this line, otherwise screen direction is disrupted. There is a great book called Shot By Shot which has some more sophisticated systems for preserving orientation when you have 3 or more people in a scene.

I'm thinking that I should maybe blog more about how video production can teach us things about comics.

In your film work, did you ever do story boarding, or was the drawing you did totally unrelated to your work life?

My background is in the areas of video signals and systems. I teach some basic Computer Graphics, and have done some investigation into design principles and typography to support this. But none of my teaching is related to drawing, although a lot is related to image making, either in Photoshop, or on video-tape. I often use cartoons or other images in handouts, just to break up the text, and to distinguish the sheet from every other handout they receive.

Do you tell your students that you draw the comics and illustrations in your lecture slides?

They do know that I take a lot of pride in my teaching materials. They might think it is clipart I suppose. I really like my job, but one piece of good advice that I got when I started teaching was: "Don't try to make them like you. Just let them know that you like them." I've always observed this rule, so I never volunteer any information that might appear to be an attempt to be 'cool'.

You draw most of your strips with a brush (or brush pen?)? What attracts you to that particular tool?

One of the things that frustrated me when I first started attempting comics is that pencil drawings often have a vitality that is lost when inking. Some of my first proper comics were 'inked' with a black pencil crayon. Most of my drawings now are done with Faber Castell Pitt Artist Pen. They are nice and scratchy when new. I usually pencil roughs with any old HB, trace these onto layout paper in detail with a blue mechanical pencil, and then ink them as hurriedly and fluidly as possible. I know that some artists think that the tools are irrelevant, but my productivity increased by infinity percent when I discovered those pens.

And there are a few strips that were drawn with a pen, and they have a totally different feel than your other work (e.g. Otto Focus). What makes you choose a pen over a brush for a certain strip?

Sometimes, I 'ink' directly with a mechanical pencil. This is usually when I am in a hurry. I often use this approach when making classroom resources, posters, and greetings cards. The result is a slightly different style; I call it my "2d" style (evident in 'fluff' and 'otto focus'). I use it much more for drawings than comics. When I use the brush pens, I try to create much more of a sense of depth and dimension.

I was having kind of a crummy day, mostly because I hadn't drawn anything all day and it was almost bedtime. Then I got sucked into the internet, and noticed that daleof did this lovely drawing of the amazingly talented Sarah McIntyre (aka jabberworks). So I drew Dale. Now I feel better!

Since I moved back to Grand Rapids, Michigan, 6 months ago, one thing that I've been missing is th company of other cartoonists. So, armed with the internet, I decided to start chatting up my fellow comic artists through the magic of email, and to share what I find with my generous readers. Today I report back on a little chat I had with Joe Decie, whose comics have a way of presenting absolutely ordinary moments in a way that is simultaneously subtle and profound. Plus, his ink washes have this gorgeous texture to them and I wanted to know the secret to his success. Enjoy!

Livejournal folks can always follow Joe at joedecie.

How did you get started drawing comics?

I first strip I drew was a diary comic for Delaine Derry Green's anthology Not My Small Diary back in 1999. At the time I was very involved in Mail Art and Fluxus type works and was making little books and zines and posting them out around the world. Delaine sent me one of her diary comics, so I thought I'd give it a go. I drew a fairly poor two pager and then that was that. Several years later and now aware of Indie comics I drew a few new strips for her anthologies as well as one for Atomic Books I Keee You!. Around this time (2006?)I started reading a few diary comics; Jeffery Brown and James Kochalka. I used to occasionally read the American Elf Strip online, and in January 2008, chatting on the American Elf Forum, I said that I thought I'd like to start drawing a dairy strip and James recommended the Web Comics Nation site. I set one up and as I was only working part time, so had plenty of time to knock out strips. Before this I wasn't really aware of "web comics" but recognising Edward J Grug from issues of NMSD I followed a link to his LiveJournal and from there discovered a whole community of indie comic drawing folk.

Your work seems more influenced by still photography than by comics. Can you talk a little about your influences?

Interesting that you should mention photography, as before I got into drawing comics I was taking a lot of photos; a couple of rolls a week. I lived quite near a pro lab who would develop my pictures (slide film, cross processed) Then when we moved to the other side of town, I just stopped taking them. Maybe I do tend to think in terms of frames rather than panels. Anyway, influences in the comics world? I wasn't really aware of many artists when I first started drawing my strips. Since then I've read a lot more, but consciously influenced by? I guess my friends on LiveJournal. There are plenty of artists I admire...  Shall I name a few names? Jess Fink for her Ink work, Lucy Knisley for drawing, James Harvey for his edge, Grug and McLeod for their story telling... I could go on?

Do you have any influences outside of the visual arts? Any writers who have helped you shape your work?

Not directly. Let me think, there's definitely comparisons I could draw with people who's books I enjoy. For instance I like Charles Bukowski's novels and poems and also some of Billy Childish's poems too, and I guess both share an autobiographical monologue with my work. But then again they both have a grimy edge that's a million miles away from my stuff (I don't tend to do stories about sex and drugs - my grandpa reads my comics). Hmmm who else? well I like the way Chuck Palahuniuk twists and distorts his stories. Also I've always liked short stories; the way you are thrown into a situation with little background information, then quickly to the conclusion. I like the ones that don't come to a satisfying end too.

Musicians?

I don't think so. I listen to a lot of music but can't think of how it influences my drawing. If I were to find a link it would be tenuous.

You tend to play a lot with lettering in your comics, from the titles to your unique handwriting. Do you give a lot of thought to how you draw your letterforms when you are working on a comic?

When I was a teenager I was a graffiti writer. I spent hours everyday learning graffiti scripts and, although I no longer paint graffiti, I still have an interest in writing styles and enjoy the act of drawing letters. I hate to see badly lettered comics, there's no excuse for it! it amazes me that so many people would put so much effort into their drawing, only to  ruin it with some sloppy comic sans.

You say at the beginning of your minis that your comics are a work of fiction, and on the covers you say that the stories are "True and Made Up." Yet many of the strips you draw celebrate the absolutely ordinary moments of your day in this beautiful way, something that I can't imagine fabricating. How much of your work is fiction, all comic book disclaimers aside?

Very little is made up, probably only the really fantastical stuff.  But I do like that I've left it open so that If the idea takes me I can embellish or exaggerate. It's a get-out clause. Also I like the idea that I'm leaving the reader to decide what's fact and what's not. But no, most of it's real. Or I made the whole thing up, my real name is David.

I love that you leave the veracity of the stories open-ended. Sometimes when I was reading along, I knew that some things weren't true (like when you find a bloated body on the beach), but I kept wondering, did he find the other, ordinary items he lists? Do you have a purpose or vision that dictates how these fantastic moments get cut in with the true stuff?

Well I carry a note book, so I'm often writing down both ideas and things that happen to me (I did find the other things on the beach). You know when a small child is talking about their day and suddenly the story arcs off into ridiculous lies? I never really grew out of that phase. The trouble is that now sometimes people don't believe the true stuff whilst others believe my every word. More often than not I need not add a twist, real life stuff can be pretty interesting. I've slowed right down with my production, probably only doing one story a week. I'm not sure if this is a good thing, because maybe I'll miss out on drawing a lot of those everyday moments? but I just don't have the time to do more, as my drawings and washes have become far more involved and time consuming than they were this time last year. Plus I have a son now, and he demands my attention.

You use a lot of ink washes in your work. What drew you to the ink wash?

I wasn't very good at cross hatch, so I did some washes instead. This was on the third or fourth strip I drew. It wasn't really something I considered, I'd never done watercolours. The thing is, I hate to break from a style or routine, I like consistency. It's an autistic trait of mine, I don't like things to chop and change; once I've set out with a certain style I'd find it painful to change. So once I'd started with the ink wash, nib pen and the realistic-ish style of drawing, that's what I've stuck to. On the one hand this is good as I'm constantly improving with these areas but here in my other hand I'm missing out on so much... I recently bought a wacom tablet, but I hardly use it for my strips as it would break from my style too much.

Can you explain to me how you manage to get such nice scans of your washes?

Hmmm, nothing special. I scan on a cheap Epson scanner into Photoshop, then adjust the brightens and contrast a bit, tidy up some of the white areas with the eraser tool and that's it really. If I'm gonna print the strip I have to work a little harder messing with the levels and curves as things tent to print a fair bit darker. I have all these saved as Actions so, in theory, the process should be quick, but in practice I seem to spend hours messing around in Photoshop.

My few attempts at scanning colour work has been a right nightmare though. I think If I were to do more colour stuff I'd have to invest in a better scanner.

I love that your washes have these beautiful tonal layers in them, rather than just being a smooth, consistent patch of grey. Since you had never done watercolor or washes before your strips, did you have a certain aesthetic in mind, or a particular artist, that inspired you to do the washes?

No, I'm just learning. If you look back at the washes last year they were pretty crude, I'm trying to refine what I do and also test myself to try and improve. Obviously it will get to a point where the washes look overworked and contrite. Then I'll have to unlearn a bit. I enjoy the process of painting, so it's something I'm willing to give time to.