Category: Japanning

FROM MY LIBRARY (Sixth Reading)

Art, Comics, Japanning February 3, 2024

This previously published post has been revised, updated and transferred from the old COFFEE TABLE series, which has been discontinued, to the more recently added FROM MY LIBRARY series of posts, as the Sixth Reading.

It was looking likely that I was going to have a yōkai Xmas with master mangaka Shigeru Mizuki material on my reading list for December, however, the reading did not get underway until after the New Year period. In any case it was a wonderful read. This industrious creator of both autobiographical and fantasy manga with the gekiga approach to graphic storytelling of placing cartoon style characters over realistically drawn backgrounds has reached legendary status in Japan but needs to be better known in the rest of the comics world. Welcome to another visit to my little library collection of comics art, with books, journals and associated paraphernalia related to my research, study and enjoyment of the comics medium. Today, manga!

Mizuki’s cover illustration for GARO magazine of his character Kitaro carrying a basket crammed full of yokai characters.

After serving in New Guinea for the Japanese army in World War II Mizuki got his start in graphic storytelling as an apprentice artist in kamishibai, or paper theatre, in which successively shown painted cards operated and accompanied with vocal and musical narration by a street performer, told a story to audiences standing on street corners in Japan. Mizuki moved on to the print media from street theatre, making manga for the rental market and participating in the emerging gekiga form of alternative comics developed by Yoshihiro Tatsumi. Interested in the ghosts and spirits of Japanese folk tales he developed his Kitaro character in a series of yōkai stories based on a popular kamishibai play by Masami Ito called Hakaba Kitaro from 1930s.

Early shape and form of Mizuki 's popular character Kitaro.

Early shape and form of Mizuki ‘s character Kitaro with his father Medama Oyaji.

Mizuki found an outlet for his stories in GARO magazine, an eye-catching creative, comics art anthology publication of alternative manga. There he gained an assistant, Yoshiharu Tsuge, the developer of nejishiki, or Screw Style manga. In the stories Kitaro’s deceased father, Medama Oyaji, reanimates himself as an eyeball and, with the eyeball as a head, grows a new body, hangs out in Kitaro’s hair and his hollow eye socket(Kitaro had lost one eye) and tries to help his son with his adventures.

Early shape and form of Mizuki 's character Kitaro. with Ratman.

Kitaro with father and Nezumi Otoko.

Shigeru Mizuki 's popular character Kitaro.

One of Shigeru Mizuki ‘s manga on my library shelves…this one featuring his popular one-eyed character, Kitaro.

An increasing number of Mizuki’s works have been translated into English and published by the outstanding Canadian comics art publishing group Drawn & Quarterly. This is a very serious comics based publisher that not only publishes comics and graphic novels but also analytical textual studies of the comics medium.

The Mizuki manga about the old woman who taught him yokai.

This is the Mizuki manga about the old woman who taught him all about yokai.

Autobiographically based war comic on Mizuki’s time served in the Japanese army in the Pacific in World War II.

In Onwards Towards Our Noble Deaths (originally published as Soin gyokusai seyo! in 1973) based on his own experiences in the Japanese army in New Guinea during World War II, he portrays the sadistic officers who, driven by their ideological beliefs, were cruel to their own troops. This English translation has an introduction by comics analyst and critic Frederik L. Schodt.

Japanese history gets the Mizuki mix of cartoons and realism-Vols.1 & 2

Japanese history gets the Mizuki treatment: a mix of cartoons and realism-Vols.1 & 2

Japanese history gets the Mizuki mix of cartoons and realism-Vols.3 & 4

Japanese history gets the Mizuki treatment: a mix of cartoons and realism-Vols.3 & 4

SHOWA 1926-1989 is a four volume history presented in manga form with contrasting graphic treatments of the history portrayed with the newspaper/media representation running alongside the cartoon adventures of Mizuki and his family living that history or the effects of it. It’s an awesome manga publication.

PREVIOUS UPDATE: 30 NOV 2015. There is some sad news breaking today that Shigeru Mizuki has died, aged 93.

Other Blog Posts in my series on Comics:

Imaginary Worlds Symposium

International Exhibition of Drawings

Savage Pencils

MY COMICS ART TRAVELS: Third Stop-Japan

animation, character design, comic art, Comics, Japanning, printmaking, Travels November 1, 2021

This post features one of my many visits to Japan to study and research manga and anime.

Doctor Comics in Japan, outside of Takadanobaba Station, under the railway tracks, actually, (see steel girder supporting a section of the tracks above the mural at top of photo). Here, near to his former Tokyo Studio, is a memorial mural to the anime and manga artist, Osamu Tezuka, October 2016. (Photo by Louise Graber)

Japan is known as the Character Kingdom with its merchandising of manga and anime figurines and collectibles, many at an affordable price. (Photo by Louise Graber)

Doctor Comics recognises Anime and Manga characters designed by Shigeru Mizuki, in the toy store, *Yamashiroya,* in Ueno, Tokyo. (Photo by Louise Graber)

Doctor Comics studies a scroll in a window of the bookshop area of Tokyo called Kanda. (Photo by Louise Graber)

Another print shop in Kanda… (Photo-©2016 Dr. Michael Hill).

In a shop window in Kanda Doctor Comics finds figurines of characters from Shigeru Mizuki’s manga and anime *KITARO*. (Photo-©2016 Dr. Michael Hill).

Those same Mizuki characters again in another shop window. (Photo-©2016 Dr. Michael Hill).

A beer ad with cartoon figures (Doctor Comics sometimes enjoys a beer whilst reading manga). (Photo-©2016 Dr. Michael Hill).

…and DIY printmaking, at Ogawamachi Railway Station where one can print the station logo on a post card or whatever at the stamp desk below…(Photo-©2016 Dr. Michael Hill).

Stamp and stamp pad plus work desk await. (Photo-©2016 Dr. Michael Hill).

All photos postcards, postcard art and printmaking by Dr. Michael Hill aka Doctor Comics.

My ON MY TRAVELS… posts form part of my graphic based material that includes painting, printmaking, cartooning and scrapbooking. Some other graphics related posts in this series not dealing with comics production are the following:

THE GRAFIK GUITAR

CARTOON

POSTCARD

BLOTTING PAPER The Comic: Production Report No.29

Art, Blotting Paper, Cats in Comics, Comics, Germania, Japanning, printmaking November 7, 2018

It has taken me a little while to finish wrapping up production of this title but things are finally taking shape. The latest development in my comics creation and production scheduling is that two of my titles will now be merged. These two titles are my most recent project working title The Cat Cooking Comics In Kappabashi and my longer, earlier work Blotting Paper: The Recollected Graphical Impressions of Doctor Comics. The former, that took the form of some kind of sequel to the previous title, now becomes an additional chapter, actually the final chapter of the Blotting Paper graphic novel. My initial thoughts were to make it a stand-alone comic despite it having some connections to the main title by virtue of sharing some of the same characters. However, I have now opted for the overall closure of the long production period of Blotting Paper, the main title, and decided to wrap it all up in one bundle. This means that The Cat Cooking Comics In Kappabashi will cease being a proposed stand alone comic title and instead become a chapter title of the already established comic titled Blotting Paper: The Recollected Graphical Impressions of Doctor Comics. However, its associated Blog posts, three in total, that were completed with the different title of The Kappabashi Cat Nos. 1, 2 and 3 will remain as existing blog posts, retaining their original title and date and history, and accessibility on this site. I hope that’s clarified matters.

The above photograph shows a rough draft mock-up of the working title and cover design of the former proposed comic The Cat Cooking Comics In Kappabashi that is now being merged(see explanatory first paragraph above) with Blotting Paper: The Recollected Graphical Impressions of Doctor Comics as Chapter 6, the final chapter of the intended 300 page graphic novel. Although the Doctor Comics character does not appear in this chapter one of his cats, Cohl, does. Living in the Kappabashi area of Tokyo Cohl learns the Japanese form of woodblock printmaking called sosaku hanga, the same method that Doc had employed and demonstrated to his cats at their home in Sydney whilst making a series of creative prints. This edit wraps things up in terms of the story. In this final chapter of Blotting Paper Cohl becomes, as the title of that chapter infers, The Cat Cooking Comics In Kappabashi. Wherever he was at this time, I am certain the Doc would have been impressed. (Art and Photo-©2018 Dr. Michael Hill)

A page from The Cat Cooking Comics In Kappabashi , now Chapter 6 of the graphic novel Blotting Paper: The Recollected Graphical Impressions of Doctor Comics. (Art and Photo-©2018 Dr. Michael Hill)

Above, another page from Blotting Paper: The Recollected Graphical Impressions of Doctor Comics showing Doc at work making woodblock prints, an act that Cohl would have observed on several occasions back in Sydney when Doc and the cats lived together, and that would have possibly inspired Cohl to take up woodblock printmaking once he arrived in Japan. (Art and Photo-©2018 Dr. Michael Hill)

Another page from Blotting Paper: The Recollected Graphical Impressions of Doctor Comics showing Cohl being impressed by examples of the the art of celebrated Japanese printmaker Shiko Munakatta that Cohl’s new Japanese friend Moto takes him to see…and below, another page from the same title showing Cohl’s visit to an art supply shop in the Asakusa area of Tokyo to purchase woodblock printmaking tools, again thanks to his knowledgeable art school friend Moto. (Art and Photo-©2018 Dr. Michael Hill)

Yet another page from The Cat Cooking Comics In Kappabashi , now Chapter 6 of Blotting Paper: The Recollected Graphical Impressions of Doctor Comics, showing Cohl’s artistic development with his printmaking and his creative juxtapositioning and merging of his prints with panels and pages from randomly found manga during his travels in Tokyo. (Art and Photo-©2018 Dr. Michael Hill)

I hope these alterations and edits of the original plan will bring these separate units harmoniously together under the one title of Blotting Paper: The Recollected Graphical Impressions Of Doctor Comics. It seems the best solution at the moment

BLOTTING PAPER The Comic: Production Report No.28

Art, Blotting Paper, Cats in Comics, Comics, Japanning February 27, 2018

This is most likely the final post in reports documenting the production progress of my graphic novel/artist book Blotting Paper: The Recollected Graphical Impressions Of Doctor Comics. Initially I thought that this would be a sequel with a different title but I had second thoughts about keeping them as separate entities and now merge them as a final chapter under the same title Blotting Paper: The Recollected Graphical Impressions Of Doctor Comics. Owing to the absence of the Doctor Comics character in this new chapter, it contains hardly any of his anecdotes and even fewer human characters as it drifts more in the direction of the funny animal comics genre. The principal character, Cohl the cat from the Blotting Paper graphic novel, has some adventures in the Asakusa area of Tokyo to which he has travelled in search of his missing friend and flatmate, the other cat, Busch.

The work book with the working title-©2017 Dr. Michael Hill.

The story continues in Berlin where Cohl, having heard no word from his friend Busch for almost two years, decides to follow him to Tokyo and try to find him. Cohl has been very comfortable in the German city and consequently reluctant to move but his curiosity has awakened him from his cultural slumber.

Curiosity stirs the sleeping cat-©2017 Dr. Michael Hill

In addition to the restaurant supplies district some scenes take place in Kanda, the bookshop area of Tokyo. Cohl initially explores the manga shops but then extends his search to sources of traditional woodblock printing books as well as books about yokai and other spirits.

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At the end of the Blotting Paper graphic novel (page 286 above and page 287 below) Cohl is content to remain in Berlin but is attempting to contact his friend Busch who had left Germany for Japan with his new mate Barks.

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Owing to the absence of the Doctor Comics character in this new comic, it contains hardly any of his anecdotes and even fewer human characters as it drifts more in the direction of the funny animal comics genre. The principal character, Cohl the cat from the Blotting Paper graphic novel, has some adventures in the Asakusa area of Tokyo to which he has travelled in search of his missing friend and flatmate, the other cat, Busch.

In the Asakusa area of Tokyo where Cohl goes to look for Busch (page from the Blotting Paper graphic novel).

Doctor Comics researching the bookshop area of Tokyo. (Photo by Louise Graber.)

BLOTTING PAPER The Comic: Production Report No.26

Art, Blotting Paper, Cats in Comics, Comics, Germania, Japanning February 28, 2016

I am happy to announce completion of production and commencement of publishing stage of the fifth and final issue of my artist book/comic Blotting Paper: The Recollected Graphical Impressions Of Doctor Comics. The pages are being printed, collated, trimmed, bound and covered and copies will soon be mailed to my personal readers. Each copy will have an original postcard size print on the cover.

Original print on cover of new issue-© 2013 Michael Hill

Four years since the publication of the first issue that I launched at Hondarake-Full of Books in Sydney in February 2012 a total of five issues have been produced and published in serial form and I am now considering collecting these in graphic novel form. This will provide me with the opportunity to make some revisions to the story and artwork. The five issues have generated 200 pages of material and I imagine there would be an additional 20 to 30 new pages to develop aspects of the existing material. And then again, there remains the possibility of yet a further new chapter. We’ll see.

Woodblock ink print and painting-© 2014 Michael Hill

Location photograph, Germany-© 2014 Michael Hill

Rough scan of artwork, Germany-© 2016 Michael Hill

Rough scan of artwork, woodblock prints, handwriting, cartooning Tokyo-© 2016 Michael Hill

Rough scan of artwork, illustration, sketching, cartooning, Tokyo-© 2016 Michael Hill

Rough scan of artwork, Photography, character design, Tokyo-© 2016 Michael Hill

Rough scan of artwork of a cat scanning artwork, Germany-© 2015 Michael Hill

For details of the production of all five issues of this artist book/comic and a continuing visual history record and time-line overview of the project read the related reports below.

BLOTTING PAPER The Comic: Production Report No.25

Art, Blotting Paper, Cats in Comics, Comics, Germania, Japanning October 3, 2015

This is another report documenting production of my artist book/comic Blotting Paper: The Recollected Graphical Impressions Of Doctor Comics. Creation and production of the forthcoming issue 2 Tickets to Tokyo Bay has begun and deals with the continued adventures of the cats Busch and Cohl and their canine acquaintance Barks. Set mostly in Japan but with some scenes in Germany it follows these characters in funny animal style and includes further recollections from the archives of my alias, Doctor Comics, including his visits to Japan and research into manga.

Dirty laundry hung out to dry, ink painting-© 2015 Michael Hill

A seasick cat at sea, ink sketch-© 2015 Michael Hill

The characters Barks and Busch travel from Germany to Japan by sea, arriving in Tokyo Bay. Whilst their passage on a container ship is cheaper than flight it is not without some difficulty and discomfort.

Choreographing a cosplay routine, pencil sketch-© 2014 Michael Hill

Cosplay costume design, ink and pencil sketch-© 2013 Michael Hill

Being back on land in Tokyo is more conducive to fun and frolicking and access to a bigger range of food. They visit a manga fair and then Kitchen Town where they eat cake.

A Munchianesque Halloween cake design in Kappabashi, Tokyo, photo-© 2009 Michael Hill

Barks and Busch are on their way to Tokyo Bay-© 2015 Michael Hill

The view at sea, print-© 2015 Michael Hill

Printmaking is again involved in the design of this issue with woodblock, linocut, rubber, bakelite and wooden stamps along with drawing, collage, calligraphy and handwriting plus a continued move into cartooning. The intention is to produce the comic in an artist book type format and to have it more or less ready for self-publication around the end of the year.

Japan, fish island, collage-© 2015 Michael Hill

And home of Otafuku, ink painting-© 2015 Michael Hill

UPDATE: 2 November 2015

This is the third report documenting production of the fifth and concluding chapter of my artist book/comic Blotting Paper: The Recollected Graphical Impressions Of Doctor Comics. Production of the new issue 2 Tickets to Tokyo Bay is continuing with images currently being created along with some previously made works recorded during my travels in Japan and Germany. The script has first been developed in word form and accompanied by some conceptual colour coding. This was followed by a second draft consisting of roughly sketched visuals of the script with coloured pencils and associated descriptive comments or dialogue. There are examples of both of these development stages, below.

Developing a first draft script design-© 2015 Michael Hill

Visual roughing out of the script-© 2015 Michael Hill

One scene in the script is a graphical recollection of my Doctor Comics alias. It reveals the design of one of his logo stamps/seals or chops that was roughed out on a paper napkin in a Sydney restaurant with guidance from a member of the Japanese Consulate. Here is a scan of that design development along with attachments including a photo and a Japanese photo booth print sticker.

Developing a seal design, collage-© 2008 Michael Hill

Another sequence involves Japanese sea monsters.

Seeing strange things at sea, ink and pencil sketch-© 2008 Michael Hill

Possible print for the cover-© 2009 Michael Hill.

POSTCARD ART

Art, Comics, Germania, Japanning August 5, 2015

This post begins a profile of another artistic activity that I have been active in for a few years now, namely the design and printing of limited run art postcards. These are some of the early cards. More will be added in subsequent posts to this one e.g POSTCARD 2, 3 etcetera. I hand-printed these postcards that were created from a combination of drawing and printmaking. I would make random, numbered editions of say 8, 19 or 33. A print run greater than 50 was rare. The total would be determined by the amount of blank cards I had and the available time for production. Once I finished a session that meant the end of that particular batch as I would not repeat the design. Cards in an edition are all original prints, or monoprints, so-called by being similar in design but with no exact duplicates.

First postcard in my Abstract series-© 2006 Michael Hill

The following three postcards show variations produced in one edition: (1) the overlaid pink patch is in a different position on each card and its shape and strength of colour vary; (2) the dragon stamp(the small curvy line) is in almost the same position on two cards but not the third and its legs seem absent in two impressions; (3) the large black and yellow mass varies in colour and texture from card to card; (4) the Post Office marking is at the top, bottom or missing; (5) my MH signature seal, whilst generally in the same position, is actually upside down on two of the cards…a creative accident!

A postcard from my Abstract No.2 series-© 2006 Michael Hill

Another postcard from my Abstract No.2 series-© 2006 Michael Hill

A third postcard from my Abstract No.2 series-© 2006 Michael Hill

Reverse side of postcard from Abstract No.2 series-© 2006 Michael Hill

A postcard from my Abstract No.3 series-© 2006 Michael Hill

A postcard from my Abstract No.4 series-© 2006 Michael Hill

A postcard from my Abstract No.5 series-© 2006 Michael Hill

Beer drinking, on most occasions a bottle of stout, marked the end of an edition to celebrate completion. This was usually late in the afternoon as I never seemed to print in the mornings. After a few years I supplemented this hand-made approach with digital printing, making copies from the scanned original. But then I eventually abandoned that and returned to the hand-made process.

UPDATE OCTOBER 12, 2015: A selection of these art postcards have been displayed in exhibitions over the past few years, the first in 2007 titled Abstract Nos. 1-11 at the DAB LAB Gallery in the courtyard of the Faculty of Design, Architecture and Building of the University of Technology, Sydney.

Pop-Up Postcard Exhibition: Abstract Nos.1-11, DAB LAB Gallery, UTS, 2007

Pop-Up Postcard Exhibition by Dr. Michael Hill: Abstract Nos.1-11, DAB LAB Gallery, UTS, 2007.

Detail: Pop-Up Postcard Exhibition: Abstract Nos.1-11, DAB LAB Gallery, UTS, 2007

Detail: Pop-Up Postcard Exhibition by Dr. Michael Hill: Abstract Nos.1-11, DAB LAB Gallery, UTS, 2007.

Exhibition flyer designed by Michael Hill

Exhibition flyer designed by Dr. Michael Hill.

Reverse of ABSTRACT exhibition flyer designed by Dr. Michael Hill.

UPDATE NOVEMBER 6, 2015: At Hondarake Full of Books in 2012 the launch of my artist book/comic Blotting Paper was accompanied by a mini exhibition of 33 0f my art postcards from the Abstract, Landscape and Seasons series.

An exhibition of postcards accompanying the launch of my artist book/comic Blotting Paper at Hondarake Bookshop, February 2012 (Photo by Louise Graber)

An exhibition of handmade art postcards accompanying the launch of my artist book/comic Blotting Paper at Hondarake Bookshop, February 2012 (Photo by Louise Graber).

Fukushima Kids 2013 Auction, Japan: 10 postcards, made in small sets of 5-30, each print a monoprint, unique. Reverse side is signed and dated plus has artist’s stamp. Cards can be kept or mailed. These postcards were made on machine made cardboard following the Japanese sosaku hanga method of printmaking.

BLOTTING PAPER The Comic: Production Report No.24

Art, Blotting Paper, Cats in Comics, Comics, Germania, Japanning May 8, 2015

And still not there but very nearly done! Completion of the art and text on all pages of the fourth issue of my artist book/comic Blotting Paper: The Recollected Graphical Impressions Of Doctor Comics has nearly reached the finishing line. After that all that will remain is the publishing production process of those pages. This includes the sequential stages of the pages being printed, collated, trimmed, covered and bound. Similar to the preceding three issues the present one has a total of 40 pages plus endpapers and covers. For this issue these covers will feature a wraparound print that includes the title. And being an artist book there will be a limited number of books published, in this case 30. Each book in this first edition will be numbered and signed by the artist.

Planned wraparound cover for Issue #4 (Monoprint-© 2011 Michael Hill)

With some spot colour still to be added plus a few paragraphs of handwriting, a bit of toning touch-up here and there and a little overprinting that might get overlaid I have spread out the pages in a probable sequence on the floor of the studio to get some sense of how the story flows and whether the juxtaposition of the page-spreads works throughout the issue. So there may still be some alterations to the sequencing in the final edit. I try to see a sense of rhythm in the overall progression of pages.

Pages from Issue 4 in layout spread-© 2015 Michael Hill

UPDATE 6 JULY 2015: COMPLETION OF ISSUE #4! It took a little longer than expected but now it is done! At last I have crossed the finishing line with completion of production of the fourth issue of my artist book/comic Blotting Paper: The Recollected Graphical Impressions Of Doctor Comics. The pages have been printed, collated, trimmed, bound and covered with title labels. Copies have been mailed to my personal readers. A possible launch is being looked at in Tokyo in October.

Issue 4 copies ready for distribution-photo © 2015 Michael Hill

Leftover pages and bits, photo-© 2015 Michael Hill

After running past the planned deadline and a bit over budget I decided to finish up in a D.I.Y mode. This resulted in a somewhat hand-crafted look.

Tabletop work-space pages and tools-photo © 2015 Michael Hill

Work clothes hung out to dry-photo © 2015 Michael Hill

Now it’s on to the next and likely final new issue although reprints of previously published chapters remain a possibility. Tentatively titled 2 Tickets to Tokyo Bay Chapter 5 will be set in both Germany and Japan and follow the continued activities of Doctor Comics’ cats and their new canine companion Barks in funny animal style. It will also contain some further comics related recollections from Doctor Comics’ past in particular his dealings with manga and mangaka. Below is the ad for Chapter 5 on the back page of Issue 4.

Teaser for 2 TICKETS TO TOKYO BAY the forthcoming Chapter 5-© 2015 Michael Hill, READING DRINKING -© 2014 Gene Kannenberg, Jr.

Teaser for 2 TICKETS TO TOKYO BAY which is the titles of the forthcoming Chapter 5-©2015 Dr. Michael Hill, here listed with the (insert) READING DRINKING Blotting Paper review of Chapter 2 – ©2013 by my American colleague Gene Kannenberg, Jr.

BOOKBINDING THE GRAFIK GUITAR

Art, Comics, Japanning November 13, 2013

My hand-made artist book, The Grafik Guitar, has recently undergone a wonderful transformation by virtue of being creatively bound and covered by Imogen Yang. The result: it’s art!

The Grafik Guitar artist book, front cover-bookbinding design by Imogen Yang. (Photo-© 2013 Michael Hill).

The Grafik Guitar artist book, endpapers. (Photo-© 2013 Michael Hill).

The book consists of 38 prints on the theme of the deconstruction of elements of the guitar. The images were carved in lino and wood following the Japanese creative print (sosaku hanga) approach using Japanese knives, gouges and chisels and printed on Chinese 2 ply paper with Dr. Ph. Martin’s water colour ink and some sumi.

The Grafik Guitar artist book, pages. (Photo-© 2013 Michael Hill).

Imogen emboss-printed the guitar strings block onto a strip of kangaroo skin for the front cover and had me add my signature chop. Her use of 6 thick binding strings to the front and back cover boards echoes the guitar’s 6 strings and I can’t explain the stitching pattern she has employed to bind the pages together. As an iteration of the cover design she has used my separate guitar strings prints for the endpapers. Wow!

The Grafik Guitar artist book, cover and stitching, bookbinding design by Imogen Yang. (Photo-© 2013 Michael Hill).

The book is currently on display at the Art Gallery of NSW in the 16th annual exhibition of the Australian Bookbinders. The exhibition runs from 7th November to 14th December in the Research library and archive.

The Grafik Guitar artist book on display in the Art Gallery of NSW.

THE MAKING OF MY The Grafik Guitar ARTIST BOOK The following post shows some of the linocut prints I produced in the construction of the book. My artist book The Grafik Guitar consists of 38 monoprints on the theme of the deconstruction of elements of the acoustic guitar, namely the machine head, tuning pegs, fretboard, strings and sound hole. The separate elements were carved in lino or wood then overlaid in various combinations and intensities to form composite monoprints. The Japanese creative print method (sosaku hanga) was adopted as part of the approach to this project using Japanese knives and chisels. The blocks were printed on Chinese paper with water colour ink, sumi and additional hand colouring.

A design application of the work was made in the form of a poster, program cover and published conference proceedings cover for an international popular music studies conference in Sydney, IASPM 1999.

Other posts of my graphic based material include:

RESEARCH CARTOONS

POSTCARD-Second Series

PRINTMAKING: Fish One

Archive of Australian Alternative Comics: 2ND SEQUENTIAL ART STUDIES CONFERENCE

Archive of Australian Alternative Comics, Comics, Japanning May 1, 2013

It was ten years ago this month that the second Sequential Art Studies Conference took place at the University of Technology, Sydney. At a time when minicomics, having blossomed throughout the 1990s, made more of an impression in the local alternative comics scene. The event was billed as A Mini Conference on Minicomics and featured presentations by comics creators as well as scholars. The conference was convened by Spiros Tsaousis(now Spiros Xenos) and I and was a sequel to the first Sequential Art Studies conference in 2002, and again held in association with Supanova Pop Culture Expo. Included in the event was a minicomics market.

CALL FOR PAPERS: 2nd Sequential Art Studies Conference May 23, 2003, Sydney. The Interdisciplinary Studies Unit of the Faculty of Design at UTS (University of Technology, Sydney) http://www.uts.edu.au will again host this new scholarly conference that will be held during the same week as the Sydney Writers’ Festival. The inaugural event in 2002 attracted a small but stimulating range of papers from local academics and students and it is hoped that this year’s event will build on that. Scholars are invited to submit 250 word proposals which address alternative approaches to comics, whether local or global, recent or historical, online or offline, artistic or commercial. The conference will adopt an interdisciplinary approach and so welcomes papers from a broad range of areas. Send proposals by email to either of the conference convenors and coordinators by February 28, 2003: Michael.Hill@uts.edu.au Spiros.Tsaousis@bigpond.com

CONFERENCE PROGRAM: Scholarly Papers

4.00pm Opening of Conference and Welcome Assoc. Professor Steve Harfield Assoc. Dean of Research Faculty of Design, Architecture and Building University of Technology, Sydney

4.05pm The Sydney Morning Hell of Glenn Smith, Michael Hill, Interdisciplinary Studies Unit, Faculty of Design, Architecture and Building University of Technology, Sydney

4.30pm Fear and yearning of “manga Japan” in Australia, Craig Norris, School of Communication, Design and Media, University of Western Sydney

4.55pm Taming the ‘Superhuman’ Shrew: Identification with Superheroes in Comics and the Popularisation of the Human Potential Ethic, Adam Possamaï, School of Applied Social Sciences, University of Western Sydney

5.20pm The Problem of The Yellow Kid: From Single Panels to Sequential Images, Spiros Tsaousis, La Trobe University

Craig Norris, University of Western Sydney.

Adam Possamaï, University of Western Sydney

CONFERENCE PROGRAM: Artist Presentations

6.00pm Alex Major (Naomi and Poggie)

6.20pm Komala Singh (Moshi Moshi)

6.40pm Bernard Caleo (Big Cardigan Comics)

7.00pm Katarina Knebel (Cult Fiction Comics)

7.20pm Ben Hutchings (Geeen Comix)

7.40pm David McDermott (Glitter Shy)

Bernard Caleo proclaimed his comics manifesto and promoted Tango.

Bernard Caleo ‘performed’ his comics manifesto and promoted Tango.

Komala Singh talked about her minicomic Moshi Moshi.

David McDermott goes Glitter Shy and had some pages ‘performed’ live in his presentation with lines read to projected images of the panels.

Chloe Lyttle introducing David Maccad.

Ben Hutchings going Geeen!

Katarina Knebel talks Cult Fiction Comics.

Alex Major describes his minicomic Naomi and Poggie.

Minicomics market at the conference.

This is the thirteenth in a series of posts called Archives of Australian Comics History that document moments in the recent history of Australian comics, particularly alternative comics and the Australian Small Press. I started researching this subject in the late 1990s and it eventually led to my PhD thesis: Ph.D. Macquarie University, Division of Society, Culture, Media and Philosophy, A Study Of Contemporary Australian Alternative Comics 1992-2000 With Particular Reference To The Work Of Naylor, Smith, Danko And Ord, 2003. On completion of the research I donated the materials and comics I had collected to the National Library of Australia: Michael Hill Collection of Australian Comics.