Week 5-Judge April 7, 2010

Well, I wish I could say I received a lot of comments for this post, but the sad truth is that out of the numerous people I contacted via e-mail, only eight of them gave any kind of response and two of those were from my parents. Two more bits of bad news are, first, my original written story outline seems to be missing (I might have left it at school last week), and two, “The Runaways” movie does not seem to be coming to Columbus. Nonetheless, I will present the questions I asked my judges and the replies they gave me.

Questions:

1) Is my story solid enough? Are the story and characters interesting, and do you want to see what happens to them?

2) Does the art style look more realistic than my previous work? Do the characters look like distinct individuals? Am I drawing their instruments right?

3) Should I try to get the comic printed out on paper, which would cost money, or post the pages online as a web-comic? Should I do it all in color (more time, effort and money) or no color?

Answers:

1) General consensus was that the story was simple and easy to follow and the characters seemed interesting, but in the current rough pages their true depth has not yet been delved into. Some judges were confused about what their ages were, and a few asked how and why they became a band and entered the contest. One major recurring theme was about the world the story takes place in. People wanted to know what it looked like, who else the heroines interacted with, where they worked and lived, etc.

2) Certain judges said that the art style still looks too much like anime. One said this made the heroines appear to be younger than I intended, another said they all seem to have the same body type, another suggested adding some racial diversity to the cast. Very little was said about whether I was drawing their instruments correctly or not.

3) The majority of the judges favored the web-comic format in black and white, with color reserved for the cover page, though strong interest was expressed in making a printed version as well.

Synopses of non-repeating comments: “Dress more dangerously so they look more grown-up” “Target audience? Who is it?” “I would like to see the part of the story line that leads up to who found out about the battle of the bands and what could the money do for them as a band” ”Don’t pay money to publish your book. Use a service like BLURB.com” “I think the boy band needs a different approach to them being a rival band…I love the sisters idea…I’m not sure I grasp the other two girls in the band yet…The characters, like the instruments, seem realistic but do not feel unique enough” “Seeing a character’s private life interests me … As I learn each character’s personal habit or likes and fall in love with some characters, I get hooked to the story.” “Allude to why they chose their band name … Don’t overdo the cursing. Ask [cousins/siblings] for music advice” “You also have a great opportunity to insert scenes where they make wise life choices and make it a teaching moment for others.”

So, where does this all leave me now? For starters, I recognize that in order to cover the issues of character development and world building I will need to extend my page number beyond 24 to some higher multiple of twelve like 36 or 48. I have already begun writing a revised outline which adresses the issues of showing where the story takes place, devoting more time to introducing each heroine as an individual and some of the other people they interact with.

Next, I am pushing myself harder to move the art style further away from an anime look. I don’t know if I’ll really be able to break away from it completely, but I can certainly try. So far I have only concentrated on my four main heroines and the instruments they play, but I am beginning to start on the rest of the cast as well. Another major change I should mention here is that I have decided (and was already thinking about) to make Felicia the bass player half-Chinese.

For the final product, I have decided to do the comic in black and white inks with a colored cover page, meaning I’ll have to pick up my pens again. I’m leaning more toward the web-comic route but one judge brought this website http://www.blurb.com/ to my attention, so a printed version isn’t completely out of the question.

As for the Five Week Plan, I’m currently drawing a blank. I guess the first thing to do would be to finalize my story and finally settle on just how many pages it will take to tell it. Then I’ll have to take some time designing the supporting cast, settings and props. After that I’ll need to rough out all my pages in pencil, then tighten and clean them up, and ink them in. When the pages are done I will have to scan the inked pages in to add dialogue text. Then I will draw, ink and color the cover page. So, let’s break all this up into five week steps.

Week 1: Finalize the story, determine how many more pages it will take. Design supporting cast, settings and props (instruments, vehicles, etc.)

Week 2: Rough pencils of all comic pages to decide panel layouts and compositions.

Week 3: Ink comic pages, scan pages and type in dialogue.

Week 4: Draw, ink and color cover page.

Week 5: Final product due. Post cover and all finished pages here on the blog.

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.

Week 1-Explorer February 24, 2010

This past week I’ve been doing a lot of writing in order to develop my characters and get an idea for what their story would be like. Here is what I have so far, straight from Microsoft Word. Some of this information may be changed in the future as my plans become more solid.

Destroying Angels is an all-female four piece rock band. Their story is about how they try to get work in a highly male-dominated field, as well as their struggles to get along with each other and face their personal demons.

The Band: History

Courtney and Willow Blair are sisters from a military family. They have a close bond but very different personalities. One thing they have in common is their love of rock music. When they finish high school, the two of them move into a cheap apartment and decide to start a band. They recruit Felicia Duff as their bass player and Dana Lloyd as their drummer.  Generally the girls compose and perform their own songs. They cannot afford to hire a manager, though, and thus have to do their own publicity and hunt for performance gigs. The music scene in their town is dominated by male groups, adding sexism to their list of obstacles.

The Band: Members

• Courtney Blair: Lead singer. She is based on the rider of the white horse, who represents Conquest (not Pestilence, which is a common misconception). Courtney and her sister Willow grew up in a military family. She is cheerful, spontaneous, outgoing and loves to entertain. However, she is also conceited and self-indulgent. She is the youngest and the least responsible member of the group, but without her great singing they would be lost. Very flirty and vain, she tends to think she is the leader of the band since she is the center of attention at their shows. She is too irresponsible to hold a steady job and is constantly sponging money off of others, especially the many different boys she dates. She often feels jealous of her sister Willow and has a one-sided sibling rivalry with her.
• Willow Blair: Lead guitar and backing vocals. She is based on the rider of the red horse, War. Willow is the elder of the two Blair sisters and takes pride in their military background. She is very much a tomboy and the true leader of the band. Willow has a lot of drive, energy, and passion, and tries to inspire it in others, but also tends to dominate people, is easily angered and forceful. Her relationship with her sister Courtney is especially volatile. She finds her careless behavior annoying and often argues with her over missing band practice and rehearsals. Joan Jett is one of her music idols, and to relieve stress she will exercise to her music.
• Felicia Duff: Bass guitarist. She is based on the rider of the black horse, Famine. Felicia has the most creative talent and composes most of the band’s songs. She is an introspective thinker, very kind, considerate and artistic, but she is also a sarcastic loner and easily depressed. Felicia is a perfectionist, often frustrated with her creative works and dwelling on what could be improved. Felicia’s mother is a former beauty queen and was always critical of her daughter’s looks and weight. As a result, Felicia struggles with an eating disorder, a challenge made worse by her job working in a restaurant.
• Dana Lloyd: Drummer. She is based on the rider of the pale horse, Death. Dana was raised by her grandmother after her parents died when she was a child. She now works in a nursing home. Ironically, although she has had the hardest life, Dana is more emotionally stable than her band mates. She can often be found wearing headphones and tapping a beat to the music no one else hears. Dana is a compassionate and dependable friend. She is calm, sensible, observant and pleasant, but also shy, lazy and resistant to change. Usually Dana is very quiet, speaking only when necessary, and rarely sharing personal information with others. She keeps many secrets, but her biggest secret is that she is fighting a losing battle against a terminal illness.

Family

• Willow and Courtney’s parents: Michael Blair entered military service at the time of the Gulf War in 1990. Meanwhile his wife Lisa fought for equal rights and shared her feminist views with her two young daughters. She was also a fan of The Runaways in her youth and their albums sparked her daughters’ interest in music. After the attack on the World Trade Center in 2001, Lisa decided to join her husband in the War on Terrorism. Mr. and Mrs. Blair are now both on active duty in the US Army, and so have had limited contact with their daughters since they finished high school. They are both very loving parents, supportive of their daughters’ musical interests and encourage them to pursue their dreams. They also taught them basic self-defense skills, to always believe in themselves and to look after each other.
• Felicia’s parents: Robert and Karen Duff were divorced when their daughter was in her early teens. Felicia does not understand or get along well with her shallow, disapproving mother or Paul, her snobbish wealthy boyfriend. It is due to Karen’s hypercritical treatment that Felicia developed the eating disorder she now struggles with as an adult. She has more in common with her creative and thoughtful father who lives in another city and works as a freelance writer. He took her to her first rock concert, paid for her music lessons and gave her the bass guitar she still uses today. From him she also learned the importance of being herself and how to write lyrics and poetry. When she was old enough, Felicia was glad to move out from under her mother’s roof but does not have enough money to move to her father’s city. Although they still live in the same town, mother and daughter could not be more distant.
• Dana’s parents: John and Susan Lloyd were both killed in an accident when Dana was still a child. While they were alive they made a profound impact on her future by introducing her to the Beatles at a very young age. The two of them were both major fans of the band and found each other through their shared interest. While grieving the loss of her parents, young Dana found comfort in listening to their vast collection of Beatles records. The song “Let It Be” restored her sense of hope and was the first song she learned to play drums for. She always carries a photo of her parents, visits their graves on a regular basis and believes their spirits watch over her. Sometimes when she seems to be talking to herself, she is actually talking to them.
• Dana’s grandmother:  Margaret Lloyd, the widowed mother of Dana’s father, became Dana’s legal guardian after her parents died. Having much experience with loss in her lifetime, she taught Dana that dying was not a bad thing, that the people you love are never really gone, and to live every day as if it were your last. In her youth she was a fan of some early rock and roll pioneers such as Elvis Presley, and some girl groups like The Supremes and The Shirelles. She is now a very traditional Christian woman but still loves and supports Dana in her very contemporary life goals. She is also the only person Dana cannot keep secrets from and knows about her illness.

Friends

• Brant Suffolk: Owner of one of the only shops in town that sells used rock music instruments and equipment, where the girls always go to buy whatever they need. Brant also gives guitar lessons and was Willow’s first instructor. He has played in many different bands in the past and gained a vast knowledge of the music world. Practically everything Willow knows was learned from him. She regards him as a father figure and goes to him for advice on a number of things besides music.
• Chloe Przewalski: Brant’s wife and longtime girlfriend, a music expert in her own right. She was classically trained in opera but went on to be the lead singer of various local rock bands. She was Courtney’s teacher and remains a role model of hers to this day.
• Pete Camarillo: An employee at Brant’s shop. He knows a lot about music but lacks the skills and ambition to play. He is also a computer and technology geek who has helped the girls record their albums. Courtney likes to flirt with him, but he is more interested in Felicia.
• Melanie Groningen:  A close friend of Dana who is also her co-worker at the nursing home. She is a loyal fan of the band and starts a fan club for them, which consists mainly of herself and her friends. She and the fan club help the band with promotion by making fliers, merchandise, and websites. Willow thinks Melanie and her club is a nuisance at first, but comes to appreciate their devotion in time.

 

I have also been doing plenty of research for my project, mainly from the books I mentioned in my previous posts. “The Girls’ Guide to Rocking” has been especially helpful, but my one complaint is that it has no glossary section. Luckily I managed to find an online source of musical terms, the Virginia Tech Multimedia Music Dictionary. The image below is a labelled diagram I scanned  from the book, with definitions I found of their parts from the aforementioned dictionary. There are also diagrams like this for the drum set, bass guitar, keyboards and amps. I’ve scanned some of them and written most of their terms down in a notebook for my own personal reference.

 

• Body: The resonator of a stringed instrument or some percussion instruments. The term also applies to the electronic versions of stringed instruments that are solid to avoid the unwanted sound from the resonator.
• Bridge: That part of a stringed instrument which supports the strings.
• Fret: A narrow strip of wood, ivory, or metal set into the neck which mark the exact points where the string should be “stopped” to produce the notes more brilliantly and in tune.
• Fretboard: [aka fingerboard] The part of the neck of a stringed instrument where the fingers of the left hand stop the strings.
• Headstock: [aka pegbox] The location on stringed instruments into which the tuning pegs are inserted. This is where the player adjusts the tension of the strings to control its pitch.
• Neck: The part of a guitar… that extends from the pegbox to the body of the instrument and upon which the fingerboard is found.
• Pickups: An electromagnetic device mounted under the strings of an electric guitar or electric bass that senses the frequency of the vibrations of the strings and converts them into electrical impulse for amplification or recording.
• Strings: A thinly stretched natural or artificial fiber or metal that is attached to string instruments. The string is tightened to an appropriate tension, and set into vibration by being struck, plucked, or bowed.
• Tuning Pegs: On string instruments, a device to control the tension of the strings.

 

Explorer, In Class February 17, 2010

I scanned multiple sketchbook pages filled with notes and drawings for this project. I will try posting them in a semi-chronological order, but first a bit of introduction.

These drawings start from about November 2009 up to now. They aren’t really well organized, but I hope it gives a sense of my creative process. When I first started with this rock band idea I began with an older group of characters in mind. They were my take on The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse, in which War and Pestilence were males and Famine and Death were females. Then I thought “Why not make them ALL female? There aren’t a lot of all-female bands out there, and I’m better at drawing girls, anyway.” So War and Pestilence became women.

As I developed the band concept further I found myself drifting away from fantasy elements and down a more realistic path. This came at a time when I was feeling particularly frustrated with my art and the label of “cute anime” it’s been stuck with. I also began sharing my feelings and ideas with my sister, who provided me with some great feedback and inspiration. Thanks to her I’ve learned much more about real women in the world of rock music, and she helped me develop my characters into very interesting people. I am thinking of calling their band “Destroying Angels,” since the original Four Horsemen still provided me with my foundation for their identities.

Personal Choice Project – Post #1 (cont.) February 11, 2010

Click the above image to see the art I’ve already been doing for an all girl rock band story (possibly a comic book?)

I found this book at the library and it is just packed with useful information about all kinds of important stuff everybody who likes rock music should know. Boys can read it, too.

I just ordered this book from Amazon.com. I already have “Understanding Comics” and “Reinventing Comics,” so this was the only one missing from my collection. Scott McCloud definitely knows what he’s talking about.

Personal Choice Project – Post #1 February 10, 2010

Jeff Smith’s BONE saga has been a favorite of mine since I was 12. I love his art style, his storytelling skills, and his ability to tell a dramatic story with a sense of humor. I prefer the original black and white comics to the new colored versions since I grew up with them, and his drawing skills are so strong without colors.

 

I know very little about the Runaways, but the concept of an all-female rock band has always appealed to me. I have been thinking lately of making a story about band like that, and I already have character ideas but I’m still trying to decide on the plot. I am also trying to learn more about women in rock music, and why female bands are such a rare phenomemon. I am also looking forward to seeing the new movie about The Runaways this March.

Design for Media: Rock N Roll (cont., 2) January 26, 2010

Design for Media; Rock n Roll January 20, 2010

Rock and roll (often written as rock & roll or rock ‘n’ roll) is a genre of popular music that originated and evolved in the United States during the late 1940s and early 1950s,^[1][2] primarily from a combination of the blues, country music^[3] and gospel music.^[4] Though elements of rock and roll can be heard in country records of the 1930s,^[3] and in blues records from the 1920s,^[5] rock and roll did not acquire its name until the 1950s.^[6][7] An early form of rock and roll was rockabilly,^[8] which combined country and jazz with influences from traditional Appalachian folk music and gospel.^[9]

The term “rock and roll” now has at least two different meanings, both in common usage. The American Heritage Dictionary^[10] and the Merriam-Webster Dictionary^[11] both define rock and roll as synonymous with rock music. Conversely, Allwords.com defines the term to refer specifically to the music of the 1950s.^[12] For the purpose of differentiation, this article uses the latter definition, while the broader musical genre is discussed in the rock music article.

In the earliest rock and roll styles of the late 1940s and early 1950s, either the piano or saxophone was often the lead instrument, but these were generally replaced or supplemented by guitar in the middle to late 1950s.^[13] The beat is essentially a boogie woogie blues rhythm with an accentuated backbeat, the latter almost always provided by a snare drum.^[14] Classic rock and roll is usually played with one or two electric guitars (one lead, one rhythm), a string bass or (after the mid-1950s) an electric bass guitar, and a drum kit.^[13]

The massive popularity and eventual worldwide view of rock and roll gave it a widespread social impact. Far beyond simply a musical style, rock and roll, as seen in movies and on television, influenced lifestyles, fashion, attitudes, and language. It went on to spawn various sub-genres, often without the initially characteristic backbeat, that are now more commonly called simply “rock music” or “rock”.

This is the song I plan to use in my project. Even though it comes from the sixties, I want to use a more fifties style in my designs like in the image below. It’s energetic, bright and upbeat like the Beatles’ tune. I may or may not end up using human figures in my images, but I want to capture that same kind of look and feel somehow.

I bought this book four years ago but I’m not sure if I still have it. I remember it had a whole chapter on “Atomic Age Color” that I want to look at again for inspiration.