Tag: artist book

POSTCARD ART-Seventh Series

Art, Coffee Table, Comics, printmaking May 27, 2020

Continuing my Blogging with yet another post profiling the design and production of my art postcards that I have been doing for quite some time now…see links to the previous six POSTCARD posts below. On this occasion I am looking at assorted batches I have made in the past going right back to the beginning of design and production of them in 2006 and subsequent batches from the following few years.

Title: *Pink, Purple and Black*-©2006 Dr. Michael Hill. A lot of rubber stamping going on here like dancing to a visual cacophony of pounding(I do stamp to music sometimes)…the repetitive stamping in places results in the layers of ink gradually fading and even running out.

Title: *Abstract No.14*-©2007 Dr. Michael Hill. Another instance of percussive printing and the parallel linear overlaying to a Japanese language character.

Title: *The Jewel Box*-©2007 Dr. Michael Hill. This set is gentler and more composed and offset with a rectangular tracing of coloured carbon pink pencil.

*The Graphic Guitar*-©2008 Dr. Michael Hill. Muddled shape is all wet and inky and brown.

*Mountainous blue view landscape*-©2012 Dr. Michael Hill. And now a couple of cards in the vertical format, above and below, steep and blue.

*Mountainous blue view landscape*-©2012 Dr. Michael Hill. Same, but a bit different…from the variations on a theme box.

And heading towards the finish of this little set, *Abstract Pink on Blue*-©2010 Dr. Michael Hill…another from the crumbling shapes domain.

To conclude this post, we move from the abstract to the figurative, *Black Bird Landing*-©2011 Dr. Michael Hill.

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

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

BOOKBINDING THE GRAFIK GUITAR

POSTCARD-Second Series

PRINTMAKING: Fish Two

BLOTTING PAPER The Comic: Production Report No. 30

Art, Blotting Paper, Comics, printmaking August 10, 2019

CONFIRMING THE CONCLUSION. As prefaced in the previous blog post on this subject BLOTTING PAPER The Comic: Production Report No.29, I have now completed the final stage of the writing and editing of my comic so that all six chapters can now be compiled into the graphic novel format. This includes the previous three separate comics that made up The Cat Cooking Comics In Kappabashi No.1 No.2 and No.3 that were not initially going to form part of the BLOTTING PAPER comic. The title remains Blotting Paper: The Recollected Graphical Impressions Of Doctor Comics and all six chapters will be made available on my Blog. Below are some photos from the original launch of this title back in 2012 at Hondarake Full Of Books bookshop in Sydney (see my blog report of that event No.11 ) and so now, eight years later the work is essentially finished, apart from any further tinkering with the content that I feel shall improve the overall completed work. Now here is a photo flashback to the original launch.

The moment of the launch on a Saturday afternoon in Sydney.

That’s comics scholar Gene Kannenberg, Jr. onscreen in a live cross from the USA launching the comic.

The package deal, my comic with an original print and bookmark in a specially printed bag. (Photo-©2012 Dr. Michael Hill)

A display of my postcard art was installed as a decorative corner in the bookshop. (Photo-©2012 Dr. Michael Hill)

Some of my woodblock prints of fish from my animation TOXIC FISH were used as a decorative canopy over the launch. (Photo-©2012 Dr. Michael Hill)

PRINTMAKING: Fish Two

animation, Art, experimental, Film, printmaking January 28, 2017

This is the second post in my series of making fish prints made using the woodblock printmaking method for my experimental animated film titled Toxic Fish. As the ocean fish are poisoned their bodies swell up then disintegrate. The static shape of the fish from the woodblock holds firm at first before being flooded by toxins. The method employed was to gradually over-ink the block so that details were dampened into puddles and definition reduced.

A woodblock print with overlaid hand-colouring for the animated film Toxic Fish-© 1990 Michael Hill.

Here is a photo of me carving one of the blocks using a Japanese chisel. Warning: this is not the recommended way to of doing it! It is much safer done on a fixed bench with one carving away from, not towards, oneself. The photo is condensed pose of the process for promotional purposes.

Hand carving one of the woodblocks for the animated film Toxic Fish-Photograph © 1990 Demetra Christopher.

If you liked this post you might like to look at others on my Blog.

PRINTMAKING: Fish One

THE GRAFIK GUITAR

POSTCARD

PRINTMAKING: Fish One

animation, Art, experimental, Film, printmaking July 23, 2016

This series of posts will profile a collection of creative prints that I have made over the years, beginning with a series of fish. Using the woodblock printmaking method with variations in inking to make monoprints, the prints made could be used in animation. Six species of fish were featured, the first of which, featured here, is the Japanese Tai or sea bream. I was very attracted to the idea of working in both animation or printmaking at the time but found it difficult to sustain both and then to choose between the two. I found the answer in combining both mediums. Animation’s enormous need for artwork could be more speedily met by using the printmaking medium. I was doubly happy but have since settled on making comics which falls in the space somewhere in-between the other two.

Shooting my 1990 animation Toxic Fish on the Oxberry animation rostrum camera with artwork produced from woodblock printmaking.

Posts of my graphic based material include:

BOOKBINDING THE GRAFIK GUITAR

CARTOON

POSTCARD

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.

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.

BLOTTING PAPER The Comic: Production Report No.23

Art, Blotting Paper, Cats in Comics, Comics, Germania March 1, 2015

Not quite there yet! I might still need another month to finish this issue. So I’ll say again, this time with the added word “hopefully”, that this looks like being the penultimate report documenting production of the fourth issue of my artist book/comic Blotting Paper: The Recollected Graphical Impressions Of Doctor Comics, Chapter 4: Beer, Chocolate and Comics before completing the final chapter tentatively titled 2 or 3 Tickets To Tokyo Bay?

Chapter title page, handwriting on painted paper collage-© 2015 Michael Hill

The cats go to Germany with Doctor Comics’s stash of comics related books, mementos and research materials. They meet a canine character who kindly assists them in arranging matters. Beer is drunk, comics are consumed and a plan devised.

Chapter page, collage of painted paper, woodcut print and ink drawings-© 2015 Michael Hill

One of the cats, Cohl, sorts through Doc’s research materials and reflects on some of his deeds including one that involved Belgian comics. Cohl also attempts to emulate Doc’s art practice, making sketches and playing with art materials, more drawing than printmaking. The other cat, Busch, enjoys what Germany has to offer in the way of beer, fish and fun. Both cats and their canine companion enjoy the chocolate.

Chapter page detail, inked calligraphy brush on paper-© 2015 Michael Hill

Chapter page detail, collage of photograph and found graphic packaging-© 2015 Michael Hill

More visual developments and an update on progress will be posted on this blog in around a month’s time as I bring this chapter to completion and start moving towards Japan as the setting of the next chapter.

Promotional chocolate stack, Berlin, photo-© 2014 Michael Hill

Sketch of Doctor Comics character, ink on paper-© 2014 Michael Hill

More visual developments and an update on progress will be posted on this blog in three or four weeks time as I near completion and point towards Japan as the likely setting of the next chapter.

BLOTTING PAPER The Comic: Production Report No.22

Art, Blotting Paper, Cats in Comics, Comics, Germania January 3, 2015

NOTE: R E- E D I T C U R R E N T L Y I N P R O G R E S S!

Here is the next report documenting production progress of the next issue and chapter of my artist book/comic Blotting Paper: The Recollected Graphical Impressions Of Doctor Comics- Chapter 4- Beer, Chocolate and Comics. The story continues with both cats arriving in Hamburg in a shipping container on a freighter and ends with them, possibly accompanied by a newly acquired canine friend on another freighter bound for Tokyo Bay, Japan being the setting for the subsequent chapter. This scenario may of course be altered in coming weeks.

The 0909 lines document-ink stamped on paper-© 2015 Michael Hill

I am continuing my graphic experiments with ink and paint on paper, printed, torn and drawn, and sometimes collaged, to create documents, scenes and settings as well as thought and voice balloons for the characters.

Graphic Thought Balloon, ink and paint on paper-© 2014 Michael Hill

Graphic Voice balloon, ink and paint on paper-© 2014 Michael Hill

Set design, painted paper collage-© 2014 Michael Hill

Ink and watercolour drawing of Hamburg-© 2007 Michael Hill

These were quick sketches made on my previous travels in Germany. They were kept in notebooks and forgotten till it seemed they had both relevance and resonance for this project and consequently led to my finding ways of working them into this chapter.

Ink and watercolour drawing on paper of design details in Germany-© 2007 Michael Hill

More visual developments and an update on progress will be posted on this blog in three or four weeks time as I continue to close in on completion of the comic.

UPDATE 20 JANUARY 2015: In response to a query in the comments below I have now added examples of how I might use the abstract landscapes as backgrounds or graphic expressions:

Using abstract landscape as background-© 2014 Michael Hill

Using abstract landscape as thought balloon-© 2014 Michael Hill

More visual developments and an update on progress will be posted on this blog around the end of the month as I near completion of the comic.

BLOTTING PAPER The Comic: Production Report No.21

Art, Blotting Paper, Cats in Comics, Comics, Germania December 2, 2014

This is the second in a series of regular reports documenting the production of the fourth issue and chapter of my artist book/comic Blotting Paper: The Recollected Graphical Impressions Of Doctor Comics. These reports are updated approximately on a monthly basis. The new chapter Beer, Chocolate and Comics deals with the cats recovering from the demise of their patron and their travels in Germany and the world of European comics.

Double page handprinted spread from Chapter 3–© 2014 Michael Hill.

Continuing the turnaround of events and forward momentum that the above image from Chapter 3 illustrates the cats begin to get on top of things, take control of their situation and consequently develop and express their characters on their travels abroad.

Beer label collage character from Blotting Paper comic-© 2014 Michael Hill

I have been playing around with a beer label collaging idea, mostly from Belgian and German bottles, and have come up with this character so far but I expect there will be others. With the European theme and setting I am also considering including some bilingual content, preferably English and German and possibly even doing a combined issue #4-5.

Fish woodcut from way back-© 2002 Michael Hill

Fish woodcut with pyschedelic sauce from way back-© 2003 Michael Hill

The subject of fish and the technique of woodblock printmaking also return. And there is cooking too, of both fish and comics!

The Busch approach to managing a comics collection-now available as a postcard-© 2014 Michael Hill

Linocut, type, roller and ink dish after a print session. (Photo-© 2014 Michael Hill).

In addition to collage there were ink and paint printed images of an abstract nature that serve as backgrounds, settings or sometimes even graphic expressions of the characters’ thoughts.

Abstract print image from Blotting Paper comic-© 2014 Michael Hill

The art work also features several words and images made with pen and ink including some quick-sketch location drawings from previous visits to Hamburg and Hanover and more recently to Berlin.

Dip pen with nibs by Gillot and Muller and ink from Lamy.

Quick Ink and watercolour drawing of Hannover-© 2007 Michael Hill

For location drawing I usually carry a small leather bag of art tools…

Packing my art bag for a location drawing session. (Photo-© 2014 Michael Hill).

More visual developments and an update on progress will be posted on this blog in the new year.