This graphic production stage series of posts that were made over several years, shows some selected, assorted shots of the “making” stage, whether for animation, comics, postcards, prints or paintings, in a small studio setting, with music playing in the background. I always work to music. Some photos even show the music equipment and/or the selected CD playing for that session.
Working on my comic BLOTTING PAPER here…you can see the title block around the middle of the photo, towards the top….it’s a printmaking moment…the letters of the title appear in reverse in this photo but when printed will be the right way round. I tend to use printmaking a lot in the generation of images. That drop-cloth underneath all of the objects has a history of being printed on…nothing specific, just spillages and stains. (Photo and artwork-©2013 Dr. Michael Hill) Although we are in the studio here I can take this case outside and around with me if I happen to be working on location somewhere, like in a park. You can see that it is quite battered but it still closes shut, firmly…and chock-a-block full of printmaking bits and pieces. (Photo-©2013 Dr. Michael Hill) I also have a tin of colour pencils…I love those water-based aquarelle types…you can see the brush and the water jar at the bottom right so when I use the dry pencils first I can later add a wet brush to make the drawing appear like it was painted or inked. There are also a couple of rulers, one wooden, the other steel…useful for measurement or obtaining a straight edge to an image…plus pencil shavings and a CD cover. (Photo and artwork-©2015 Dr. Michael Hill) Or I can start with wet drawing with a wet brush dipped in ink…still in the studio. There’s a linocut block face down on the drop-cloth next to some brushes and an open jar of ink. (Photo and artwork-©2018 Dr. Michael Hill) I also have a set of rollers for inking blocks of wood or lino for printmaking…plus another good look at all the ink stains on the drop-cloth as a result of many, many printmaking sessions. (Photo-©2017 Dr. Michael Hill) Following printing of the main image comes the stamping of my name block, completing the postcards with a touch of that classic red Chinese ink. (Photo and artwork-©2019 Dr. Michael Hill) There is a different name stamp on this one…I have a few versions…all designed by me…M for Michael…that’s me, and that’s how I write my letter “m” in scripted upper case. (Photo and artwork-©2021 Dr. Michael Hill) A bit of a hectic printmaking session here with 5 different designs of postcards being stamped…and there’s another version of my shaped “m” on these cards…half writing, half symbol…developed with a Japanese colleague…a group of hills, roughly in the shape of the letter “m” for Michael, but also for “hill” from the Latin mons, mantis…mountain or hills…and there’s a zucchini in there…was it a snack or did I use it as a stamp? (Photo and artwork-©2020 Dr. Michael Hill) Finishing off with a plate of vegetables on the printmaking table in the studio…this lot is not for eating but excellent material for inking and printing, particularly the flat bits, dipped in ink and pressed down on the selected print surface…can be messy but a good source of abstract textural patterns. Don’t eat after inking! (Photo-©2022 Dr. Michael Hill)
Doctor Comics 