Page 1 of Issue 2! I'm back in business. I'm going to try to be updating at least once a week (maybe twice), which is a bummer but I've got another project I'm working on. Plus actual commissions from time to time!
So yeah... I'm busy.
Anyways... About this page.
I've been working on my anatomy a lot more. My lovely girlfriend got me a book called "Anatomy for the Artist" for Christmas and I've been studying that a lot.
I'm greyscaling with actual watercolors now instead of watered down india ink and greyscale markers. I like the feel of it a lot more.
This page is a little bit wordy. I know I'm not a good writer and that's okay...Human City isn't about the writing to me... but it's not something I'm not working on. I always found my favorite writers just come out and just say what is going on and although it seems too obvious and that it won't work... it usually does and it's pretty kickass. So I tried a little bit of that and I'm going to practice it a little bit from now on.
This chapter we're going to stop being so goddamn vague and get into the meat of this story.
Speaking of wordy... these author notes are too wordy. I''m out of here.
Hey everybody! Thanks for the kind words and for sticking around for the 2nd chapter.
Sketch- it's like you broke into my apartment and checked out the stages of putting this page together when I wasn't there. Next time do you think you could take my dog out? He hates being locked in the bathroom when I'm not home.
Djeinus- I would highly recommend getting into that book! totally worth it.
HEY! IF YOU WANT TO E-MAIL ME... YOU SHOULD
human-city@hotmail.com
Thats a real good perspective on writing you have, I have to say i agree completely. I dont know how you approach this work, but for me personally I plot visually and write in dialogue as I go along and I find that it works well.
Someone recently put me on to a new technique that I might try: instead of thinking of a script as words spoken, think of it as a series of interactions - which actually fits if you approach things visually, as you say you do, This kind of "scripting" can actually make your visual thinking more dynamic and spur new ideas. Then you start thinking of how a character would react rather than as a person rather than as a "written/drawn construct," does that make sense?
So, this begins with throwing out the idea of the script as dialogue. Start writing one in simple sentences - "Person X does this thing, then this happens." (Keep each sentence as simple as possible, active verb tense only, absolute minimal descriptors) As you go along, since you have the story thought out, you will know the major plot points that you want to hit after a series of interactions. If these sentences don't hit the larger plot you had in your head when they should, or there are big gaps somewhere, then you probably want to revisit things and think a bit - but now you have a good solid idea of how things "unravel" on paper, with no time wasted on pictures drawn and no dialogue written. A sequence of simple sentences like this will make a script where any problems will arise before you draw a single picture, or even feel like you are writing a "script" per say but you actually are, in a much more meaningful way.
If a certain bit of dialogue you came up with seems great, hang on to it. But if it can come in any part of the story, you can use it (or place it) more freely when you have a more solid story plotted out. It should match up to story and character, and if it doesn't at the end of the day, then (and this kills me, knife through the heart) stick it in a file folder for later use.
So dialogue? If this process allows you to get a good grip on the flow of the story, then you can get more creative with the dialogue, and do fun things like hiding what people really think behind what they say, avoid too much exposition, foreshadowing events, keep it simple, and basically as long as you can get from Point A to Point B then the dialogue becomes your tool and not your evil master, does that make sense?
i REALLY like this page... my first impression was "nice greys... and noticeable attention to the anatomy" which was funny when i read your notes. As for wordiness, it can be difficult to make your dialogue fit on the page, but if your style is dialogue driven, then screw convention and do what works.
