ga-ren In reply to ScrapComics [2015-04-23 22:24:46 +0000 UTC]

Wow, epic praise indeed! Brian was a big artistic favourite of mine when he was drawing Judge Dredd. If I could harness a tiny portion of his drawing and inking skill I would be very happy.

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ga-ren In reply to Sol-Caninus [2014-07-10 22:34:39 +0000 UTC]

Well - at least it will be interesting to see if I get a response. I have been very absent from DA recently.

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Sol-Caninus In reply to ga-ren [2014-07-11 00:53:19 +0000 UTC]

It will be interesting to see if and how the group members fulfill the mandate to learn from each other.  From what I can see, the focus on inking is way too narrow and their is no education of which to speak.

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Sol-Caninus In reply to ga-ren [2014-02-27 01:36:24 +0000 UTC]

Haha.  Check the parent of this comment.

You keep putting your replies in the comment field (parent of a reply) instead of clicking reply and putting them in the reply field.  Only way I found this was by reviewing your profile page.

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ga-ren In reply to Sol-Caninus [2014-02-27 09:50:35 +0000 UTC]

My main problem with computers is that I never remember the right way to do stuff!

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Sol-Caninus In reply to ga-ren [2014-02-27 13:37:41 +0000 UTC]

I fall into that too - and we are not the only ones.  Haha.  

There is no other way except to be vigilant about whether one is making an original comment or replying to one.  To reply, always click "reply".  Otherwise it's like mailing a letter to yourself (then wondering why the other party didn't write back, lol).

So, no problem.  Just thought you should know.

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ga-ren In reply to Sol-Caninus [2014-02-27 23:24:50 +0000 UTC]

Ha Ha, so that's why people are ignoring me!

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ga-ren In reply to Sol-Caninus [2014-01-19 18:46:54 +0000 UTC]

Been doing some inking on my attempt at a Viking comic, plus a Caricature job, the day job and extra Racketball games as I joined the League!

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Sol-Caninus In reply to ga-ren [2014-01-19 20:12:13 +0000 UTC]

Racketball!  That's one I didn't see coming.  Good show  

Illustration gets awfully sedimentary.  One sits too many hours.  While he strains the same arm and hand muscles with repetitive actions, the heart barely pumps and the rest of the body seems to atrophy.  Exercise is so important!

So then, as William Borba has Amazons, you have Vikings.  I take it that it's realistic style and loosely historic, not cartoonish, like Hagar?  Comic book format, or strip?  Single story, or series?  Since you're inking, then you've already finished with the story creation. scripting and layouts . . . 

. . . lol.  Excuse me.  This is what I'm tuned into, now.  The focus of learning shifted from drawing to story writing and production.  It all comes very naturally to you, but to me it's like math class. It's taken me forever to tease apart the components and steps.   

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ga-ren In reply to Sol-Caninus [2014-01-19 20:33:59 +0000 UTC]

I am swimming, cycling and playing Racketball, not all at the same time of course and all at a fairly easy going pace! Trying to make up for all those years of being chained to the drawing board perhaps.

I have posted some of the layouts on my Comic Art section ...when I have the time I am working at my own adaptation of the Victorian novel - Vandrad the Viking by J.Storer Clouston.

I am not doing a full screenplay style script but I am treating the novel as my script then I have also written a summary version of each chapter and broke that down into thumb nails. Then I sketch up some page layouts it is a slim volume and the text and dialogue seems perfect for a comic strip approach.

I am still having problems stopping myself from over working each page by cramming it with detail when I started off aiming for a simpler approach, still I have only just ot going after lots of pro crastination, which included making a 'Viking village!

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Sol-Caninus In reply to ga-ren [2014-01-19 22:17:35 +0000 UTC]

Yes - I saw the village and the layouts in the Comic Art section.  

I thought adapting an existing work to graphic novels would be an easy way to get started producing.  Viewing it from a distance, it still seems that way.  But up close, attempting exactly as you've described, I lose all sense of proportion - even when the story is my own!  So, hats off to you! (  BTW- now that I have a way of organizing the material, it should get better.)

In Spring I had surgery, which interfered with exercise.  The same for injuries this summer, and now the snow and crazy weather does the same.  It's getting too easy to make excuses to stay in, read and draw - and more, those are good reasons!   

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ga-ren In reply to Sol-Caninus [2014-01-20 14:13:35 +0000 UTC]

I think it helps that I chose a book written in a very straightforward way, there are no deep moments of character introspection to navigate and most of the dialogue and text seems to break down quite easily into picture by picture moments. I still have the freedom to  'have fun' with fight scenes etc and I am only aiming at the level of say an average 1970's Conan, that  is not to put them down, what I meant is that I am not trying to do a complex multi layered graphic novel but a straight forward adaptation of a simple adventure story.

I would be very pleased if I managed to get anywhere close to the standards of a Conan comic.

I have another Viking project which would make use of all my research, but in a more cartoon style approach, it is based on a simple paragraph size Folk Tale I came accross ..this would demand more input on the writing side from me but as is always the case, I would be more relaxed and faster with the Cartoon style.

I guess I am using my experience of working from scripts and my recall of how they were broken up and how much text and dialogue is appropriate for one panel. the pet hate of every artist is a script which asks you to show more than one or two actions in a panel and also has word balloons of extensive conversation! I recall Jim Baikie, in an interview complaining about a script which asked him to draw a fight scene at the base of the Eiffel Tower while showing other characters arguing at the top! Another moan was writer's who are quite happy to write a panel description such as - Then the entire Souix nation appeared over the hill!

Sorry to hear of your health problems hope that things improve given time. A friend gave himself a hernia by attempting too many sit - ups after months of inactivity - instead of building up gradually. 

I have just spent an hour trying to teach my son some Judo, and reaquainting myself with the sport - I have a tentative plan to gradually improve on this then to do a couple of training weekends when I can afford it and to get a Coaching qualification. I think it is a feasible business plan as I live on an Island without a Judo Club. I have no intention of doing any serious Judo, just Coaching - I am just not sure of exactly what would be required of me on a Coaching Course..but I will no doubt get some answers when I apply for my license.

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Sol-Caninus In reply to ga-ren [2014-01-20 15:06:42 +0000 UTC]

Bravo!  (Sounds as if a Judo strip is an obvious project.  So many ways to approach it.  And it could be used for a bit of self-promotion in various arenas.)

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kirbykalibak In reply to ga-ren [2013-09-30 16:52:58 +0000 UTC]

 holdaway is another I know-the rest ill def checkout thanx.

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ga-ren In reply to kirbykalibak [2013-09-30 21:37:51 +0000 UTC]

Watch out on Brian Lewis as I discovered there is another artist who shares the name. Brian Lewis died quite a few years ago. A search on Google for Brian Lewis - Comic strip artist should produce results. I forgot all about Sydney Jordan, he did the SF newspaper strip Jeff Hawke and later Lance Maclaine.The first time I became aware of Brian Lewis was when he drew an episode of Dan Dare in 2000 AD while Dave Gibbons was ill or on holiday.

He had actually been working away since the early 60's.

Have you ever seen Holdaways work before Modesty Blaise, I have one collection somewhere - Romeo Brown , it is a sexy, funny newspaper strip ?

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kirbykalibak In reply to ga-ren [2013-09-30 23:31:17 +0000 UTC]

I looked up alcatena and discovered I had actually seen his work before. I like it ,ill  have to check  out some more of his stuff.

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ga-ren In reply to kirbykalibak [2013-10-01 14:51:37 +0000 UTC]

I remember writing an article in the mid 80's for a Fanzine about Starblazer comics in Scotland, my favourite artist was Alcatena but due to the anonymity of the creators - I did not know his name.

Yes - he did some work for DC Comics and also with Tim Truman.

He was a brilliant inker and amazingly imaginative with mythic imagery and aliens.

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kirbykalibak In reply to ga-ren [2013-10-01 19:37:09 +0000 UTC]

yeah I had a batman elseworlds he drew.and I remember him doing some covers for dc in the 90s

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kirbykalibak In reply to ga-ren [2013-09-30 23:24:24 +0000 UTC]

yeah its funny to discover how long some of these guys were around before you knew of them ,I remember the first time I seen  herb trimpe on a book in the 80s I was like "this new guy sucks"lol. im only aware of holdaway thru modesty blaise  ill check out romeo brown.and syden Jordan.

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ga-ren In reply to Sol-Caninus [2013-09-02 11:31:22 +0000 UTC]

Thanks for the link. it is always a pleasure to see Kubert's layouts - there should be a magic 'transfer device' that gives the every artist the same fluency like Wally Wood's elusive 'magic pencil'.

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Sol-Caninus In reply to ga-ren [2013-09-02 17:33:03 +0000 UTC]

Have never seen Wood's pencils.  Have a link to them?

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ga-ren In reply to Sol-Caninus [2013-09-02 22:05:06 +0000 UTC]

It was actually a quote memory..as a boy, Wally Wood wished for a ' magic pencil' that would make him able to draw like his FAVE Artists. I might be able to find an old magazine with some 'early' Wally Wood pencils for you.

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Sol-Caninus In reply to ga-ren [2013-09-02 23:55:48 +0000 UTC]

Ah!  Silly me.

I've seen early inks but never any pencils. That would be great, if you could. Thanks!

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