Every
time I attend a comics festival or convention I walk away with a head
full jumbled thoughts and emotions. There are always so many things to
see and so many things to learn. There are endless lines of booths set
up with smiling faces just waiting to show you what they have created.
There are mobs of people wondering about looking for their favorite
creator or for that one book they’ve been waiting weeks for. And there
are a ton of panels: panels on the meaning of “comic books,” panels on
creating comics, panels on marketing comics, workshops on writing,
drawing, inking comics, workshops on printing comics. Tons of
information to be assimilated so you can run out and be a part of the
wonderful world of comics. I freakin’ LOVE it!!!
I
truly do love comics. I love the combination of art with story. And I
REALLY love these small press shows. No Marvel or DC. No huge companies
with a lot of suits dictating how to maximize profits or dismissing
people who don’t meet their criteria. I love the simplicity of being
able to produce your own ideas and display them for others to enjoy.
Like Jeff Lemire said, it is nice to be able to sit there and write a
story, draw it out on paper and hand it to someone to enjoy. BAM! There
it is! All you need is a piece of paper, a pencil and an idea and you
can make your own comic.
And
it is all creator owned. That is the focus of Stumptown Comics Fest and
what sets it apart from other comic conventions. Everyone there owns
the rights to their creations as opposed to giving up those rights to a
huge corporation like Marvel or DC. Not that I wouldn’t work for Marvel.
I love that world and the characters they have created, but I also want
to create my own worlds. There were quite a few creators at the
convention that work for Marvel or DC, but also own their own creations.
That would be the ideal for me, add to the wonderful world of Marvel
while also telling my own stories.
I
got to walk around and see quite a few old faces and some new. It’s
always good to see Jamie Rich and Joelle Jones. They are always at these
conventions and always lots of fun. It was good seeing the peeps at
Periscope Studios, a local studio comprised of a variety of creators
working all across the comics field. Got to see Andy from Cosmic Monkey Comics,
Kabel from Sequential Arts Gallery, Elisabeth from TFAW and Dark Horse,
Zack Soto and Jason Leivian from Floating World Comics. You run into even more
people from the comics community here in Portland, which is vast.
People from the Geek Council, from Alter Ego, from the multitude of
comic shops and art galleries, PDX Yar, Geeklesque. The list goes on and
on. Portland is a comics town and I love it.
Some
of the new peeps I met include Blue Delliquanti, creator of O Human
Star out of Atlanta, Georgia. She was friendly and fun to talk to. I
chatted with Hazel Newlevant and Will Coker, two locals that have
contributed to Stumptown Underground, a local zine anthology I help edit. I got a copy of True Believer,
Lucy Bellwood’s first comic that came out for this show. I ran into
Addam Pool and Anh Huynh, two of the editors for Stumptown Underground I
have not seen in months. You should check out their cute site, Adorable People Studios. I got to talk a bit with Theo Ellsworth and Sean Christensen, two more local artists that are pretty rad. I got to catch
up with Daniel DePaolo, who is a great artist that has also done work
for Creator’s Edge Press, the comic publisher I worked with last year. I met Paul Friedrich and bought a couple of
his cute and funny prints. You should check out all their sites and buy a
ton of their work. They are all great!!
Here
is a list of the panels I attended. I have written blogs about each of
them if you are interested. Click on each to bring it up then hit the
back button to come back here and read the next. I learned a little
something from every one of them. Quite a few of the same themes
resounded throughout.
Emi Lenox: Journal Comics
Stan Sakai: Of Rabbits and Ronin
Brian Michael Bendis: Writing for Comics
The New Underground
Erika Moen: Online Self Promotion
Jeff Lemire: From Script to Inks
and
Quit Your Day Job!
Every
year I leave the festival thinking, “I need to create!!!!” and getting
upset with myself for not having anything to show for all my work.
Sometimes I feel like I am just spinning my wheels. But then I look
back and think of everything I HAVE accomplished. I have only been
focusing on comics for the past three years. Over a year of which was
spent working for Creator’s Edge Press, a comic publisher out of
Washington, who I drew 6 issues for and a lot of the time in the past
three years have been spent sending in sample pages to Marvel which got
passed around to the editors. Nearly every creator at the convention and
who have spoken up about breaking-in have said it took them nearly ten
years to get to the point they were making a living off comics. Given
that, I am just getting started. One thing I DO know is that I really
want to start popping out books and get myself a table at next year’s
Stumptown Comics Fest!!! C R E A T E ! ! ! ! !
05 May 2012
Emi Lenox: Journal Comics
Emi Lenox, a local artist and creator of EmiTown, a journal comic covering
two years of her life, hosted one of the first workshops of the
festival. I was really looking forward to this one. Not only because
Emi is pretty awesome and friendly herself, but because I have always
had a passing interest in autobiographical comics. With a drug dealer
stepfather and too many mornings waking up in strange places and no idea
how I got there, I have a wide array of stories I could tell. One of
the reasons I keep from doing so is the fact that journal comics seem so
freakin’ trendy right now. I guess they have always been around and hopefully always will be.
Emi started out with a history of journal comics including Clumsy by Jeff Brown (which I ended up buying at the festival), French Milk by Lucy Knisley, American Elf by James Kochalka and Craig Thompson’s Blankets. Another one I have been looking for is Ed Brubaker’s Loser, about his previous life in the meth world.
Emi then gave us an example of how she would create her daily pages. She would start off drawing thumbnails about something that happened that day and then just start writing words down or thoughts from throughout the day and then draw around them. It is a sketch journal, so sometimes it is fun just drawing.
She also stressed keeping it real. There’s no need to try to please the reader, something also stressed by Brian Michael Bendis and Erika Moen. She mentioned how sometimes her mom would call her up, “Oh, Emi” after she would mention birth control or how she would include stories about her break ups. I agree. Keep it real. When it comes to autobio comics I prefer them to be raw and real and not sugar coat anything. Like Clumsy, by Jeff Brown. He doesn’t sugarcoat anything and shows his insecurities and blowing up emotionally. These things are what life is all about, the things that make life interesting. It drives me crazy when I see someone I haven’t seen in awhile and when I ask them how things have been they respond, “Oh, you know. Same O, same O. Another day. Another dollar. Living the dream.” Arrrrgh!!! Some people just can’t see the beautiful things in life that surround them or realize that they are having grand adventures every day. But even those perspectives make good auto bio comics. Experiences, whether good or negative, are all pretty amazing.
Journal comics also give you a subject to write and draw. So often people, myself included, worry , “What am I going to draw today?” Why not your life? It’s there every day. You can’t avoid it. If you ever need something to write just start writing about your day. You never know what will come out of it. And you may learn something about yourself.
After the festival, I came out thinking about the various projects I am working on. I have my long story that is going to take over two years to produce, but I am thinking of various smaller/quicker projects I can do as well that will help me get a table at SCF next year or at the Portland Zine Symposium this Aug. So much I want to do. Time to trim off the excess and focus!!
She had everyone work on a page for the day. It WAS a workshop!! Here is my page.
Emi started out with a history of journal comics including Clumsy by Jeff Brown (which I ended up buying at the festival), French Milk by Lucy Knisley, American Elf by James Kochalka and Craig Thompson’s Blankets. Another one I have been looking for is Ed Brubaker’s Loser, about his previous life in the meth world.
Emi then gave us an example of how she would create her daily pages. She would start off drawing thumbnails about something that happened that day and then just start writing words down or thoughts from throughout the day and then draw around them. It is a sketch journal, so sometimes it is fun just drawing.
She also stressed keeping it real. There’s no need to try to please the reader, something also stressed by Brian Michael Bendis and Erika Moen. She mentioned how sometimes her mom would call her up, “Oh, Emi” after she would mention birth control or how she would include stories about her break ups. I agree. Keep it real. When it comes to autobio comics I prefer them to be raw and real and not sugar coat anything. Like Clumsy, by Jeff Brown. He doesn’t sugarcoat anything and shows his insecurities and blowing up emotionally. These things are what life is all about, the things that make life interesting. It drives me crazy when I see someone I haven’t seen in awhile and when I ask them how things have been they respond, “Oh, you know. Same O, same O. Another day. Another dollar. Living the dream.” Arrrrgh!!! Some people just can’t see the beautiful things in life that surround them or realize that they are having grand adventures every day. But even those perspectives make good auto bio comics. Experiences, whether good or negative, are all pretty amazing.
Journal comics also give you a subject to write and draw. So often people, myself included, worry , “What am I going to draw today?” Why not your life? It’s there every day. You can’t avoid it. If you ever need something to write just start writing about your day. You never know what will come out of it. And you may learn something about yourself.
After the festival, I came out thinking about the various projects I am working on. I have my long story that is going to take over two years to produce, but I am thinking of various smaller/quicker projects I can do as well that will help me get a table at SCF next year or at the Portland Zine Symposium this Aug. So much I want to do. Time to trim off the excess and focus!!
She had everyone work on a page for the day. It WAS a workshop!! Here is my page.
Stan Sakai: Of Rabbits and Ronin
I
have been a fan of Stan Sakai’s Usagi Yojimbo since the early 90’s,
shortly after getting into comics. It may very well have been one of the
first independent comics I picked up. I actually first met Stan in San
Diego at the Comicon in ‘94. I left two disposable cameras on his
table, completely forgetting about them. A few months later he posted in
his letters pages that he had found two cameras and if someone could
describe them he would love to get them back to them. WOW! I sent him a
letter and a few weeks later I got them in the mail with a lil drawing
of a smiling Usagi saying, “Cheese!” I never developed them and
displayed them on my mantle at home. About 10 years later I saw him
again and he asked me if I liked the picture. I said of course I did. I
love Usagi. Then he told me he wasn’t talking about Usagi. He had taken a
picture of himself with the camera!! D’oh! I had no idea. 8)
Stan had quite a few fun stories to share. He talked about being friends with Kevin Eastman and Peter Laird, the creators of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. The first issue of Usagi came out the same month as TMNT. He talked about getting Usagi on the TMNT cartoon and how hard it was to find a voice for Usagi. He hadn’t really thought about his voice. When someone asked Sergio Aragones what Groo sounded like he replied, “Spanish!” because he thought of him in Spanish.
He talked about travelling with Sergio and how they would always be working, on the bus, on the train, on the plane, in the restaurant, in the bar. Everywhere. All the time. He said they would push and inspire each other. Must have been nice having that kind of support.
He said his work schedule consisted of him waking up at 5 am, doing all his internet interactions then working throughout the day. His kids would stand outside the glass door to his studio watching him and he would feel guilty for not being able to play with them all day. But work calls. I often feel the same way about my roommates. They are always wanting me to watch a show or movie with them, go to the park and run around in the sun or many other great things. But I gotta work!!
He also said that he always has the TV on while he is working. He said, to him, his comics are movies. I feel the same way. I also watch a lot of TV and movies while working and think of my comics as mini movies. I was a film major for one semester until I decided I didn’t want to work with so many people. A sentiment shared by Jeff Lemire. I would much rather sit in a studio by myself, working away into the night.
He said that he would study directors as opposed to comic creators as far as storytelling is concerned. I also do this. I learned a lot about pacing and storytelling from studying Alfred Hitchcock, one of the best.
He said he has been approached numerous times with proposals for Usagi on the big screen, TV and other media. The craziest of which was by Oliver Stone for a live action movie. The one he regrets not coming to fruition was a muppet movie by Jim Henson ala Dark Crystal. Wow. I agree. That would have been an amazing thing to see!!
Stan Sakai is one of the nicest and funniest guys I’ve met. And Usagi Yojimbo is one of the consistently entertaining comics out there. If you have even a passing interest in Japanese history or samurais or anthropomorphic animals check it out. Rabbits, samurai and ninjas!!
Stan had quite a few fun stories to share. He talked about being friends with Kevin Eastman and Peter Laird, the creators of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. The first issue of Usagi came out the same month as TMNT. He talked about getting Usagi on the TMNT cartoon and how hard it was to find a voice for Usagi. He hadn’t really thought about his voice. When someone asked Sergio Aragones what Groo sounded like he replied, “Spanish!” because he thought of him in Spanish.
He talked about travelling with Sergio and how they would always be working, on the bus, on the train, on the plane, in the restaurant, in the bar. Everywhere. All the time. He said they would push and inspire each other. Must have been nice having that kind of support.
He said his work schedule consisted of him waking up at 5 am, doing all his internet interactions then working throughout the day. His kids would stand outside the glass door to his studio watching him and he would feel guilty for not being able to play with them all day. But work calls. I often feel the same way about my roommates. They are always wanting me to watch a show or movie with them, go to the park and run around in the sun or many other great things. But I gotta work!!
He also said that he always has the TV on while he is working. He said, to him, his comics are movies. I feel the same way. I also watch a lot of TV and movies while working and think of my comics as mini movies. I was a film major for one semester until I decided I didn’t want to work with so many people. A sentiment shared by Jeff Lemire. I would much rather sit in a studio by myself, working away into the night.
He said that he would study directors as opposed to comic creators as far as storytelling is concerned. I also do this. I learned a lot about pacing and storytelling from studying Alfred Hitchcock, one of the best.
He said he has been approached numerous times with proposals for Usagi on the big screen, TV and other media. The craziest of which was by Oliver Stone for a live action movie. The one he regrets not coming to fruition was a muppet movie by Jim Henson ala Dark Crystal. Wow. I agree. That would have been an amazing thing to see!!
Stan Sakai is one of the nicest and funniest guys I’ve met. And Usagi Yojimbo is one of the consistently entertaining comics out there. If you have even a passing interest in Japanese history or samurais or anthropomorphic animals check it out. Rabbits, samurai and ninjas!!
Brian Michael Bendis: Writing for Comics
This
was probably the panel I was looking forward to most. I love listening
to Bendis talk about comics and creating. He teaches a graphic novel
writing class at PSU. I would love to sit in on that awesomeness!!
He started the panel with a clip from Adaptation, the somewhat autobiographical Charlie Kaufman movie. It was the scene where Nicolas Cage, portraying Charlie Kaufman, goes to a writing seminar and Brian Cox tears into him.
And it’s true. There are crazy ass things going on every day in life.So many people don’t even realize all the amazing, crazy experiences they are having every day. Open your eyes every once in awhile and see the wonderful world, good AND bad, all around yourself!!
“Why do you want to write?” This is one of the first things Bendis asked. “Why?” Are you doing it for fame? For money? To have people like you? There are always people that are going to hate you, that are going to send you hate mail. Someone once said, If you haven’t pissed someone off then you aren’t doing it right. I agree. You shouldn’t worry so much about making people upset. Haters are gonna hate.
He also talked about keeping it real. A friend of mine was once telling me about some new songs he was writing and I stopped him and asked, “What does this have to do with your kids or your divorce? Where’s the song about your Mom passing away?” “Aw, people don’t want to hear about that.” BULLSHIT!! People LOVE to hear about that. That stuff is real! People can relate. Express yo’self!!
Bendis said that there is no need to follow trends and try to break in that way. One week blue may be the rage and you decide to write about blue. By the time you write about it and make your book people don’t care about blue anymore and love orange. Orange is the new craze. Just write about what you want to write about. Again, keep it real and don’t worry about writing that perfect novel.
This is one of the things that I tell people ALL the time, but have not been following myself. I always tell people to just draw, just write. Don’t worry about continually rewriting and editing and making the perfect story or piece of art. The more you write, the more you draw, the better you get. Write some crap. Draw a horrible picture. Then do it again. Over time you will start picking out what works and what you don’t like. Only by making mistakes can you learn how to avoid them. Over time you will grow to become a much better creator.
He also talked about how writing for comics is quite different than writing for other mediums. You can leave a lot out and let the artist flourish and they will add aspects to the story you never thought of. “You flourished all over the place!”
He showed scripts from various writers to show how different they are. Writing comics isn’t like writing screenplays. There is one standard for screenplays and if you don’t follow it then people won’t even look at it. Everyone writes comics differently. Dan Slott includes photo references right in his script and writes very “kinetically.” Geoff Johns writes out lil paragraphs for each character and for each place and anything else for the script before he even gets to page one panel one. Alan Moore? He hits the caps lock button and writes PAGES for each panel describing EVERYTHING he can think of that pertains to the panel. Dave Gibbons would go through the script and underline the one thing he needed to know to draw the panel. One line among MANY!
He also said that the colorist gets cover billing on his comics. And I can see why. Coloring does as much to create mood as the writing and the penciling. I’m looking forward to painting my comics.
He talked about reading something in print that he had written months ago and thinking, “Who rewrote this? Did some intern rewrite this? This is crap!” Then going back and realizing it was exactly how he wrote it, but he had written so much since then he had completely forgotten what he had written.
“Give your script to someone that doesn’t give a shit about you.” This is the only way to get a true evaluation. He said it may be the scariest thing to do, but you can’t just show your mom and friends and take their praise seriously. If this person that doesn’t give a shit about you says something doesn’t work, then it probably doesn’t work. Be willing to change, to let go of that “perfect” scene if it doesn’t add to the whole. I don’t know who I would show my script to. It seems even acquaintances would also try to portray your work in good light. Even someone that comes through your line at work or a freakin’ barista. Where do you find these people that don’t give a shit about you?
If you are interested in the creation of comics or writing in general then I suggest listening to Bendis every chance you get. I does podcasts with Word Balloon, The Bendis Tapes, which are always a pleasure to listen to. He is full of great advice and always gets me pumped up about comics!!
He started the panel with a clip from Adaptation, the somewhat autobiographical Charlie Kaufman movie. It was the scene where Nicolas Cage, portraying Charlie Kaufman, goes to a writing seminar and Brian Cox tears into him.
And it’s true. There are crazy ass things going on every day in life.So many people don’t even realize all the amazing, crazy experiences they are having every day. Open your eyes every once in awhile and see the wonderful world, good AND bad, all around yourself!!
“Why do you want to write?” This is one of the first things Bendis asked. “Why?” Are you doing it for fame? For money? To have people like you? There are always people that are going to hate you, that are going to send you hate mail. Someone once said, If you haven’t pissed someone off then you aren’t doing it right. I agree. You shouldn’t worry so much about making people upset. Haters are gonna hate.
He also talked about keeping it real. A friend of mine was once telling me about some new songs he was writing and I stopped him and asked, “What does this have to do with your kids or your divorce? Where’s the song about your Mom passing away?” “Aw, people don’t want to hear about that.” BULLSHIT!! People LOVE to hear about that. That stuff is real! People can relate. Express yo’self!!
Bendis said that there is no need to follow trends and try to break in that way. One week blue may be the rage and you decide to write about blue. By the time you write about it and make your book people don’t care about blue anymore and love orange. Orange is the new craze. Just write about what you want to write about. Again, keep it real and don’t worry about writing that perfect novel.
This is one of the things that I tell people ALL the time, but have not been following myself. I always tell people to just draw, just write. Don’t worry about continually rewriting and editing and making the perfect story or piece of art. The more you write, the more you draw, the better you get. Write some crap. Draw a horrible picture. Then do it again. Over time you will start picking out what works and what you don’t like. Only by making mistakes can you learn how to avoid them. Over time you will grow to become a much better creator.
He also talked about how writing for comics is quite different than writing for other mediums. You can leave a lot out and let the artist flourish and they will add aspects to the story you never thought of. “You flourished all over the place!”
He showed scripts from various writers to show how different they are. Writing comics isn’t like writing screenplays. There is one standard for screenplays and if you don’t follow it then people won’t even look at it. Everyone writes comics differently. Dan Slott includes photo references right in his script and writes very “kinetically.” Geoff Johns writes out lil paragraphs for each character and for each place and anything else for the script before he even gets to page one panel one. Alan Moore? He hits the caps lock button and writes PAGES for each panel describing EVERYTHING he can think of that pertains to the panel. Dave Gibbons would go through the script and underline the one thing he needed to know to draw the panel. One line among MANY!
He also said that the colorist gets cover billing on his comics. And I can see why. Coloring does as much to create mood as the writing and the penciling. I’m looking forward to painting my comics.
He talked about reading something in print that he had written months ago and thinking, “Who rewrote this? Did some intern rewrite this? This is crap!” Then going back and realizing it was exactly how he wrote it, but he had written so much since then he had completely forgotten what he had written.
“Give your script to someone that doesn’t give a shit about you.” This is the only way to get a true evaluation. He said it may be the scariest thing to do, but you can’t just show your mom and friends and take their praise seriously. If this person that doesn’t give a shit about you says something doesn’t work, then it probably doesn’t work. Be willing to change, to let go of that “perfect” scene if it doesn’t add to the whole. I don’t know who I would show my script to. It seems even acquaintances would also try to portray your work in good light. Even someone that comes through your line at work or a freakin’ barista. Where do you find these people that don’t give a shit about you?
If you are interested in the creation of comics or writing in general then I suggest listening to Bendis every chance you get. I does podcasts with Word Balloon, The Bendis Tapes, which are always a pleasure to listen to. He is full of great advice and always gets me pumped up about comics!!
The New Underground
This
was a fun panel to attend. It reminded me a lot of Art School. A lot
of time was spent trying to decide just what “Underground” meant. Is it
the quality of a book? Is it the amount of money backing a book? Is it
anything not Marvel or DC? Is it an aesthetic? Is it Do It Yourself or
can it still be underground if printed through a publisher? All very
interesting questions and the conversation that ensued was great. It’s
such a gray area, much like the question, “What is art?” Something I
think about quite often.
Jason Leivian, owner of Floating World Comics, arguably the BEST comics store ever, came up with the topic. The focus was on underground comics becoming the new mainstream. On one hand many underground artists and writers are now working for Marvel and DC, giving them an underground feel. Also, as Jason was proposing, there are so many “underground” comics in the market today that it may be becoming the new “mainstream” as underground gains popularity and more people are starting to explore comics outside the big publishers.
Personally, I would love to see the underground share of the market overtake the mainstream. It would be nice to see the majority of comics take on a more personal air and not just be two big publishers duking it out in spandex. I think this would help bring in an even more diverse audience.
They’ve been doing this in Japan for decades! Last I heard 30% of everything published in Japan was comics. They have comics about everything you can think of; housewives, school, business, and of course demons and robots. Nearly everyone in Japan reads comics.
Content of the big companies is driven by the money flowing in from advertisements. They dictate what can and can’t be shown and will demolish anything they fear is cutting into their profits, even firing people that speak out against them. Underground, you don’t have to answer to anyone. You can express yourself more freely. Of course, even underground comics can get you in trouble with Johnny Law, but there tends to be more freedom of expression and a more DIY attitude which I love.
Jason Leivian, owner of Floating World Comics, arguably the BEST comics store ever, came up with the topic. The focus was on underground comics becoming the new mainstream. On one hand many underground artists and writers are now working for Marvel and DC, giving them an underground feel. Also, as Jason was proposing, there are so many “underground” comics in the market today that it may be becoming the new “mainstream” as underground gains popularity and more people are starting to explore comics outside the big publishers.
Personally, I would love to see the underground share of the market overtake the mainstream. It would be nice to see the majority of comics take on a more personal air and not just be two big publishers duking it out in spandex. I think this would help bring in an even more diverse audience.
They’ve been doing this in Japan for decades! Last I heard 30% of everything published in Japan was comics. They have comics about everything you can think of; housewives, school, business, and of course demons and robots. Nearly everyone in Japan reads comics.
Content of the big companies is driven by the money flowing in from advertisements. They dictate what can and can’t be shown and will demolish anything they fear is cutting into their profits, even firing people that speak out against them. Underground, you don’t have to answer to anyone. You can express yourself more freely. Of course, even underground comics can get you in trouble with Johnny Law, but there tends to be more freedom of expression and a more DIY attitude which I love.
Erika Moen: Online Self Promotion
Erika Moen is another comics mainstay here in Portland. She is also a member
of Periscope Studios and became well known for her autobiographical
comic Dar. She has been making a living off her comics for awhile now so
I was looking forward to hearing what she had to say about self
promotion and any other insights she might have had.
She started off talking about the benefits of making a webcomic. There’s the continual work that will always help you hone your craft. “Personal shame is a great motivator. It’s Wednesday. You HAVE to update!!” You gain a devoted audience over time. You also present yourself as a reliable creator. All of this is why I am making my Jinko comic a webcomic.
She then talked about “Do it yourself” Vs “Do it for me” when it comes to building the website. I am all about DIY. One of the benefits she mentioned with DIY was that most people will see that as a sign that you are fully invested and dedicated. Another boon is earning revenue from ads. She didn’t go too deep into this. I wish I would have asked how much revenue this really creates and if it was really worth it. She also gave props to Project Wonderful that puts ads on your site as well as puts ads for your site on other webcomics.
A couple other things she mentioned was putting your name on everything. It is all a way to get your name out there. Exploit other people’s popularity. Make fan art with their characters. Do guest comics. But don’t act entitled. Creators don’t have to display ANYTHING you do. “Don’t be that guy.”
Don’t overwhelm people when a new book comes out or you start a new project. She said she announces it during peak hours, again for the night crowd then once more the following day. This sounds like something more people should adhere to. It drives me crazy when you get a thousand posts throughout the day for weeks at a time. I want to quit following that person. I know they are excited, but you don’t want to drive people away.
One of the things that I have learned is that the best way to promote yourself is making product. You have to have something out there to show people. Word of mouth does most of the rest of the work. Be a nice person, be friendly. Thank your fans. Make some freebies. Do sketches and drawings. Have contests.
She also said to keep your bad day to yourself. Or at the very least make it entertaining. I agree to an extent. Sometimes real emotions can let people know that you are real, but I do get tired of people who whine or are always FML. I did think this was interesting since so many people love to read autobio comics that are very human and deal with the ugliness of being human. I think it is OK to let a lil humanity out online, but, again, don’t overdo it. Having it in print as opposed to tweeting about it in real time does make a difference. People can distance themselves from the person and relate a lil more when these emotions are in the context of a narrative.
Someone asked how she deals with negative comments online. She said that she ignores them. Once or twice she had let herself get caught up in negative comments and it is never a good thing. “Don’t feed the Troll!!” Bendis has talked about this as well. People are always going to hate you. You can’t avoid this. “Haters gonna hate.” Erika’s words not Bendis’. 8)
She started off talking about the benefits of making a webcomic. There’s the continual work that will always help you hone your craft. “Personal shame is a great motivator. It’s Wednesday. You HAVE to update!!” You gain a devoted audience over time. You also present yourself as a reliable creator. All of this is why I am making my Jinko comic a webcomic.
She then talked about “Do it yourself” Vs “Do it for me” when it comes to building the website. I am all about DIY. One of the benefits she mentioned with DIY was that most people will see that as a sign that you are fully invested and dedicated. Another boon is earning revenue from ads. She didn’t go too deep into this. I wish I would have asked how much revenue this really creates and if it was really worth it. She also gave props to Project Wonderful that puts ads on your site as well as puts ads for your site on other webcomics.
A couple other things she mentioned was putting your name on everything. It is all a way to get your name out there. Exploit other people’s popularity. Make fan art with their characters. Do guest comics. But don’t act entitled. Creators don’t have to display ANYTHING you do. “Don’t be that guy.”
Don’t overwhelm people when a new book comes out or you start a new project. She said she announces it during peak hours, again for the night crowd then once more the following day. This sounds like something more people should adhere to. It drives me crazy when you get a thousand posts throughout the day for weeks at a time. I want to quit following that person. I know they are excited, but you don’t want to drive people away.
One of the things that I have learned is that the best way to promote yourself is making product. You have to have something out there to show people. Word of mouth does most of the rest of the work. Be a nice person, be friendly. Thank your fans. Make some freebies. Do sketches and drawings. Have contests.
She also said to keep your bad day to yourself. Or at the very least make it entertaining. I agree to an extent. Sometimes real emotions can let people know that you are real, but I do get tired of people who whine or are always FML. I did think this was interesting since so many people love to read autobio comics that are very human and deal with the ugliness of being human. I think it is OK to let a lil humanity out online, but, again, don’t overdo it. Having it in print as opposed to tweeting about it in real time does make a difference. People can distance themselves from the person and relate a lil more when these emotions are in the context of a narrative.
Someone asked how she deals with negative comments online. She said that she ignores them. Once or twice she had let herself get caught up in negative comments and it is never a good thing. “Don’t feed the Troll!!” Bendis has talked about this as well. People are always going to hate you. You can’t avoid this. “Haters gonna hate.” Erika’s words not Bendis’. 8)
Jeff Lemire: From Script to Inks
It
was cool getting to see Jeff Lemire. I haven’t read anything he has
written nor have I read an issue of Animal Man, ever, which is one of
the comics he is currently writing, but I have always thought the
concept behind Animal Man was interesting. I’ve looked through the first
issue in the New 52 and it looks pretty trippy. After meeting him I
think I may pick it up next time I go to the comic shop. I usually fall
right into their ploy of “doing a panel and gaining new followers.” I’m a
sucker for meeting creators in person. 8)
This is one of the things I love about comic conventions, you meet people that love comics and their passion fuels your desire to create.
Jeff Lemire has been making comics forEVER. He won the Xeric Award for his book Lost Dogs in 2005. He also is currently writing Sweet Tooth for Vertigo and Animal Man for DC and more. Pretty busy guy. Personally, I am looking forward to seeing his art for his Batman run written by Damon Lindelof, co-creator of Lost and screenwriter for the new Star Trek and Prometheus. Looking forward to seeing what they create together.
In this panel, Lemire showed us how he layouts a page, what tools he uses and even inked a page on an overhead opaque projector. I like his loose inking style. I am constantly torn between a loose style and little details. As most of the creators said, Lemire included, most of your style comes from drawing every day. You start picking out things you like and discarding those that you don’t. “Be aware of your weaknesses and work on those.” ~Lemire
He said that when he is working on a script that he is going to draw himself he basically just writes the dialogue and figures out how many panels are going to be on a page. He leaves out the details since he is going to be the one drawing it all out.
He also said that he now pencils relatively tight, figuring out all the problems in the pencils so he can let go and shut off his brain and just have fun inking. This is also how I have grown to work on my own pages. I pretty much pencil every detail I can then let go a bit more during the inking. I love that final stage, letting go with quick energetic lines on top of a solid foundation. Weeeee!!!
I hope Lemire comes back to town or ECCC. He was a pretty laid back kind of guy and entertaining. Looking forward to checking out his comics.
This is one of the things I love about comic conventions, you meet people that love comics and their passion fuels your desire to create.
Jeff Lemire has been making comics forEVER. He won the Xeric Award for his book Lost Dogs in 2005. He also is currently writing Sweet Tooth for Vertigo and Animal Man for DC and more. Pretty busy guy. Personally, I am looking forward to seeing his art for his Batman run written by Damon Lindelof, co-creator of Lost and screenwriter for the new Star Trek and Prometheus. Looking forward to seeing what they create together.
In this panel, Lemire showed us how he layouts a page, what tools he uses and even inked a page on an overhead opaque projector. I like his loose inking style. I am constantly torn between a loose style and little details. As most of the creators said, Lemire included, most of your style comes from drawing every day. You start picking out things you like and discarding those that you don’t. “Be aware of your weaknesses and work on those.” ~Lemire
He said that when he is working on a script that he is going to draw himself he basically just writes the dialogue and figures out how many panels are going to be on a page. He leaves out the details since he is going to be the one drawing it all out.
He also said that he now pencils relatively tight, figuring out all the problems in the pencils so he can let go and shut off his brain and just have fun inking. This is also how I have grown to work on my own pages. I pretty much pencil every detail I can then let go a bit more during the inking. I love that final stage, letting go with quick energetic lines on top of a solid foundation. Weeeee!!!
I hope Lemire comes back to town or ECCC. He was a pretty laid back kind of guy and entertaining. Looking forward to checking out his comics.
Quit Your Day Job!
Boy,
was I ever looking forward to this panel!! That dreaded day job is
always getting in the way of creating. Granted, it’s a fount of
experiences of which I can totally make me some stories. But, how do you
get out of it?
The panel consisted of Daniel Duford, Jeff Lemire, Joelle Jones and BT Livermore and was hosted by Ryan Alexander-Tanner, the artist for Dave’s Killer Bread. After introducing themselves they each gave a rundown of how they got started making comics and where they are now. Lemire and Jones both work or have worked for DC and Marvel while still pursuing their own works independently. BT Livermore self publishes his comics and works with various clients on illustrative projects. Duford is a teacher at PNCA and also makes comics. I think we all agreed that teaching art is NOT a day job, but an expansion on his artistic endeavors. One of the interesting tidbits Ryan pointed out was that the two that are working for Marvel and DC are both college drop outs while the other two who work independently both have college degrees. As my buddy, Father Phil has always said, “Drop Out Now!!”
When asked how long they were working on comics before they quit their day job, most said they were making comics since they were very young. So, like, FOREVER! Jones said she held onto her bartending job a lot longer than she really needed to. I can only imagine that it would be very difficult to give up a solid job for one that can come and go with no guarantee that you will always have work. Lemire said he thought he would always be cooking at a restaurant and making comics in the meantime. It never occurred to him that he would be able to support himself off comics. Now he is all over the place, working on multiple projects. Sounds like heaven to me!!
The main thing I have gleaned from nearly every creator I have heard talk at a convention or on video or read in a blog is that the main way to succeed in comics is to keep working hard. Put everything you can into it and don’t ever give up. Make comics your life. This is what I tell most people I know who complain about not making it. Just keep working. You’ll get better and you’ll continually gain new followers. Go make some comics!!
Here's a drawing of Daniel and Joelle.
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