Week 4-Designer March 31, 2010

I didn’t get a whole lot done over Spring Break, however I did manage to settle on a specific story and start doing some rough pages for it. Below is my written outline, and the current comic pages I have roughed out. The characters main goal is still to win the Battle of the Bands, but the central conflict is between the two sisters. My working method does not involve an actual written script. Rather, I use an outline as a guide as I draw each page. I feel that by now I know the characters well enough that the story practically writes itself. Once again, I owe my own sister many thanks for her support and input.

 P.S. “The Runaways” movie is now playing in a limited release and gets its wide release on Friday, April 9. Joy!

… And now a few related sketches.

Week 3-Designer March 17, 2010

I have to confess that I’ve been neglecting this project lately. I have yet to write any song lyrics or script for the story, but I think I’m closer now to developing my plot. One thing I’ve realized is that the more characters you have the longer your story gets, so I will probably reduce my number of characters to the most essential ones. I think the plot will be about the band Destroying Angels competing in  a Battle of the Bands type of competition in the hopes of getting their big break. I will need to do more research on these kind of contests, whether it means watching a live show or seeing one in a movie. “The Runaways” is coming out soon, too, which I am definitely going to see, and hope it will give me some inspiration.

I still haven’t tried making any actual comic pages yet, but I hope that I will have some time for that over spring break (I’ll be visiting relatives in Florida, which will take up most of my time). I’m leaning towards a maximum of 18 comic pages, with only the cover having any color and the interior pages inked in black and white. I also still haven’t decided where the story will be set, though I’ve considered taking a research trip to Cleveland to visit the “Rock and Roll Hall of Fame” and exploring the city a bit. I was also recently in Chicago which has a big jazz scene, but I was only there for about a day and didn’t get to experience any of the music there.

Below are some recent drawings I’ve done in relation to the project. Most of the characters are the same as they were described in my last post, except for Brant and Chloe. I made them younger and unmarried, so their whole dynamic with my main girls is much different now.