Tag: artist book

BLOTTING PAPER The Comic: Production Report No.9

Art, Blotting Paper, Comics August 21, 2012

Work continues on the production of the second chapter of my artist book/comic…Blotting Paper: The Recollected Graphical Impressions Of Doctor Comics. This report looks back at two of the main characters from the first chapter, the feline characters Cohl and Busch. These are funny animal characters that belong to Doctor Comics.

_{The cats in my Blotting Paper comic. (Felt pen drawing-©2012 Dr. Michael Hill a.k.a. Doctor Comics)}

These feline characters Cohl and Busch are named after famous cartoonists of mine Émile Cohl and Wilhelm Busch. They live in the apartment with Doctor Comics as his companions. They l-o-v-e fish! They also know about comics, as much and possibly more than their owner, the so called Doctor Comics. In lecturing mode Doctor Comics has been known to channel Cohl! That cat is incredibly well read but with a distinct bias toward bandes dessinées.

_{The subconscious landscape. (Monotype print-©2012 Dr. Michael Hill a.k.a. Doctor Comics)}

Printmaking is playing a formidable role in the design of the spirits, ghosts and apparitions in this chapter. I am experimenting with sequential prints. This is a hangover from my animation days when I utilised the technique to generate large volumes of artwork.

_{Dreaming time. (Monotype print-©2012 Dr. Michael Hill a.k.a. Doctor Comics)}

Monotype print in sumi ink of etheric body. (© 2012 Michael Hill)

In this chapter the Doctor Comics character is teleported into the supernatural world via a dream experience. To obtain a shadowy landscape for some ethereal figures he encounters, sumi-ink blots have been soaked on soft paper. Over and under-inking the blocks has resulted in intense black or under-inked white patches on the printed paper.

This dream sequence occurs toward the end of the chapter. There Doctor Comics confronts fearful looking ghostly figures that step out from the background. The monotype printing method and the use of sumi ink enabled the making of experimental images with a restricted palette. The incorporeal characters were manifested and embodied in this manner. Examples of these are in the monoprints of the etheric body and the shadowy phantoms above and below this paragraph.

And it’s not all ghostly material. There are also some amusing moments of Doctor Comics buying graphic novels, interacting with his cats and cooking.

_{Abstract drawing. (© 2012 Dr. Michael Hill a.k.a. Doctor Comics)}

This new chapter also includes experimental approaches to drawing including abstract, contour and blind contour. It’s creative fun time with this drawing process.

_{Abstract contour drawing.(© 2012 Dr. Michael Hill a.k.a. Doctor Comics)}

Using line as an element of construction and expression, drawn, printed or written, although restrictive, is quite expressive. I find that drawing details very carefully of constantly changing scenes with accompanying alterations in point-of-view leads easily into abstraction.

_{Abstract drawing to music.}
_{(© 2012 Dr. Michael Hill a.k.a. Doctor Comics)}

Drawing anything whilst listening to music invariably produces a pattern of abstract lines on paper that is most expressive. I follow the lines whilst I am making them and try to keep up with the tempo of the music. No erasers! A quicker tempo produces less inhibited lines and surprising shapes.

_{Blind contour drawing of Donald Duck.}
_{(© 2012 Dr. Michael Hill a.k.a. Doctor Comics)}

Another fun drawing exercise I have utilised is copying a character or object without looking at my drawing. I try to follow the outlines of the object but don’t look down to see how the drawing looks. Without the constant checking things can drift and shift out of perspective and registration. The contours can be accurate but out of place. How about you? Do you draw? Have you ever created images using printmaking methods? I would love to hear. Feel free to post a comment about your image-making approach on this blog and I shall respond. Till next post, Michael.

BLOTTING PAPER The Comic: Production Report No.8

Art, Blotting Paper, Comics, Japanning June 28, 2012

This is the first report documenting the production of the second issue of my artist book/comic…Blotting Paper: The Recollected Graphical Impressions Of Doctor Comics. The new chapter is titled A Blot on His Escutcheon. It delves deeper into the character of Doctor Comics, the environment in which he lives and his life in comics. I am making progress with this and hope to self-publish it next year. The book is partly based on my career in art and design education in Sydney. I worked within these disciplines and their application within the areas of film, video, animation and visual communication. I have employed aspects of comics art in my teaching. Storyboarding, word and image projects and as a medium in itself are examples. I have also employed it in my study and research…the presentation of lectures and conference papers…the staging of conferences, symposiums and exhibitions and the writing of a doctoral thesis. My own comic has fictive passages as well as auto-biographical elements. Printmaking is being utilised as an image-making medium. This includes the Japanese sosaku hanga method, along with pen and ink drawing, collage and found materials.

_{Proposed title page for issue #2. (Pen and ink drawing and collage-© 2012 Dr. Michael Hill a.k.a. Doctor Comics)}

I’m currently learning to draw bones by reading the osteology chapters in anatomy books and studying the illustrations really carefully. In Chapter 1 I used fish bones as an image and as a printmaking substrate for the sosaku hanga technique. In Chapter 2 there will be drawings of human bones of the hand and foot. I have had the opportunity to study some broken bones incurred in falls from bicycles. Speaking of cyclists I also make reference to the Bookseller of Glee character.

_{Bones of the hand and foot. (Pen and ink drawing-© 2012 Dr. Michael Hill a.k.a. Doctor Comics)}

This bookseller rides a penny farthing type of bicycle and will play a part in this issue. I had my portrait of this fine gentleman in the Glebe Sesquicentenary Art Exhibition(see below). It was also a finalist in the 2010 Bald Archy Prize. Titled The Bookseller of Glee (mixed media-drawing, painting and collage on paper)…it is a postmodern portrait of Roger Mackell, co-owner of Gleebooks (4 times Australian Bookseller of the Year). He is a generous character gleefully disseminating books and promoting the joy of reading. The portrait caricatures him and his store’s contribution to the intellectual life of Glee Village and its nearby universities. In my portrait the main street is constructed from the writings of French literary critics and philosophers…whose work the bookshop stocked in the 1980s.

_{The artist…Dr. Michael Hill a.k.a. Doctor Comics and his portrait of a particular Glebe bookseller. (Photo by Louise Graber)}

More bones (pen and ink drawing-© 2012 Michael Hill) — _{More bones (pen and ink drawing-© 2012 Dr. Michael Hill. a.k.a. Doctor Comics)}

I have been drawing more bones. In the meantime I am putting a call out for feedback on this post. I would really love to hear what you think of what I am doing with my blog and bones.

_{Bones of the hand, heel and hips. (Pen and ink drawing-©2012 Dr. Michael Hill a.k.a. Doctor Comics)}

BLOTTING PAPER The Comic: Production Report No.7

Art, Blotting Paper, Comics, Japanning April 21, 2012

Design and production of Issue #1 of my artist book/comic…Blotting Paper: The Recollected Graphical Impressions Of Doctor Comics…involved a range of graphic techniques. These included drawing, handwriting, collage, photography, typography and printmaking. Selected production items were displayed at the launch with a description of my working method.

_{Searching for inspiration with sketching and sake. (Photo-© 2012 Dr. Michael Hill a.k.a. Doctor Comics)}

The first stage of the process is getting an idea. This may come from reading and research, travel, visits to galleries to look at art and objects and make sketches. One sketch book in the photo below shows a collaged image of a fictitious Japanese monster Shitake Man. Some sake also proved useful at this preliminary stage.

_{Sketch book collage and sake cup. (Photo-© 2012 Dr. Michael Hill a.k.a. Doctor Comics)}

Concepts and images come to mind in the second stage, design. Sketching determines the shapes that will be obtained through image-making techniques.

_{Printmaking tools: chisel, blocks, type, sharpening stone. (Photo-© 2012 Dr. Michael Hill a.k.a. Doctor Comics)}

_{Bamboo baren, seals, string, sumi ink, brushes and printed postcard.(Photo-© 2012 Dr. Michael Hill a.k.a. Doctor Comics)}

Where printmaking is involved the third stage brings out brushes, ink and paper for the printing part of the project. A baren is piece of dried bamboo that has been stretched over a board. It is used to ensure that the paper makes good contact with the inked block. The pressure applied can be varied to produce the degree of intensity of the ink. The autumn postcard print in the photo above has been constructed from 5 layers of print.

_{Bench hook, brushes, bamboo jar. (Photo-© 2012 Dr. Michael Hill a.k.a. Doctor Comics)}

Copies of my artist book/comic…Blotting Paper: The Recollected Graphical Impressions Of Doctor Comics …are available exclusively from the launch venue Hondarake: Full Of Books till 31 May 2012. The store is located at Level 1, 465 Kent Street Sydney phone: 02 9261 5225 online shop: http://fullofbooks.com.au

_{The book with original print on cover. (Original print-© 2011 Michael Hill a.k.a. Doctor Comics)}

Another brief break between posts. I welcome your feedback on this event, if you attended, as well as to this and my previous posts, Michael.

BLOTTING PAPER The Comic: Production Report No.5

Art, Blotting Paper, Comics, Japanning February 4, 2012

Good news for me! The first issue of my comic Blotting Paper: The Recollected Graphical Impressions Of Doctor Comics is to be published…in a signed, limited edition. Scheduled for 11 February 2012 at HONDARAKE Full of Books in Sydney (details in the poster below). The comic will be launched by my friend and colleague Gene Kannenberg, Jr. via a Skype link from the U.S.A. Kannenberg, a noted comics historian, is the director of ComicsResearch.org. He is former Chair of the International Comic Arts Festival…and the Comic Art & Comics Area of the Popular Culture Association…and he has written widely on comics art including the book “500 Essential Graphic Novels.”

_{Poster designed by Louise Graber incorporating original print by Dr. Michael Hill a.k.a. Doctor Comics.}

The launch will be accompanied by an exhibition of 33 of my handmade art postcards. These have been produced following the sosaku hanga ‘creative print’ style. This method originated in a movement that emerged just over a century ago in Tokyo. Creative prints became the voice of a group of artists who went under the name Pan. They met for sake parties by the Sumida River. It was the centre of the Floating World of old Edo and site of the classic Ukiyo-e print movement. James Michener wrote: “…in contrast to the classical system in which the artist merely designed the print, leaving the carving of the blocks to one technician and the printing to another, the newer print artists preached that the artist himself must do the designing, carving and printing. A new term was devised to describe such a print-sosaku hanga, meaning “creative print.” ” (Michener, 1968: The Modern Japanese Print p.11). I follow this method in my printmaking.

_{One of my art postcards in the associated exhibition–© 2010 Dr. Michael Hill a.k.a. Doctor Comics.}

_{Another of my art postcards…no two cards the same…similar but different!–© 2010 Dr. Michael Hill a.k.a. Doctor Comics.}

_{An art postcard from my Abstract No.11 series-© 2007} _{An early effort in my series of making art postcards.}

_{(Pen and ink drawing and collage-© 2011 Dr. Michael Hill a.k.a. Doctor Comics)}

_{Above is a collage of 4 separate pen and ink/felt-tipped pen drawings. These separate drawings have been collaged together: (1) Sydney Harbour Bridge. (2) rear view of Doctor Comics walking (3) hand holding bag (4) hand inserting key in door. These drawings will be included in the first issue of the comic. The drawings are from different pages in the comic but have been brought together in this collage…and have been overlaid in the same graphic space. This grouping forms a visual sign or motif for promotion of the comic. I would love to read feedback on this and my other posts.}

BLOTTING PAPER The Comic: Production Report No.3

Art, Blotting Paper, Comics August 9, 2011

Production of the first issue of my comic Blotting Paper continues despite delays from my ongoing academic commitments. However, my intention of having the first chapter finished by the end of the year remains. Comparing research to production I have discovered the enormous amount of time it takes to design and create artwork. I can write a thousand word critique of a comic in just over an hour…but creating one page of comics art will take me several times that. Many of the comics creators that I have interviewed say their rate was “a day per page”. I wish!…but I don’t really mind as I love the feeling of being deep in creative space. At the moment, besides printmaking, I am also doing some drawing. I love it and the mental space it takes me into. I like the feeling of getting lost in there.

_{My ink sketch of the Sydney Harbour Bridge for the first chapter of my comic…it could use a little more detail, perhaps? (Pen and ink drawing-© 2011 Dr. Michael Hill a.k.a. Doctor Comics)}

The bridge and Doctor Comics, pen and ink drawing collage #1(© 2011 Michael Hill) — _{Rough collage of Doctor Comics out walking and contemplating near the Sydney Harbour Bridge…a rough draft design, including corrections, in pen and ink.}
_{(© 2011 Dr. Michael Hill a.k.a. Doctor Comics)}

I am experimenting with a range of image-making media to produce the artwork and text. Below are some of the images that have been generated through printmaking at Studio Buljan, in Sydney. (My thanks to Katharine Buljan for the access to her studio). These prints appear in the first chapter of my comic The Ingurgitator. The chapter begins in sunshine in Sydney then things take a dark turn into the subconscious terrain. There is also the evening ritual wherein Doctor Comics cooks dinner…then drinks wine whilst reading his recent comics purchases. During this time he converses with his feline friends. The evening often ends in a dream state that is a melange of art, thought, taste and reflection.

_{Doctor Comics has his evening proverbial swim in a sea of sumi ink.}
_{(Monotype print-© 2011 Dr. Michael Hill a.k.a. Doctor Comics)}

_{Losing one’s footing and feeling out-of-depth and the fear of ‘going under’.}
_{(Monotype print-© 2011 Dr. Michael Hill a.k.a. Doctor Comics)}

_{Struggling for breath and sinking into the blackness.}
_{(Monotype print-© 2011 Dr. Michael Hill a.k.a. Doctor Comics)}

These images are monoprints, so called for their singularity…only one of each is made. However, by re-inking the block and marginally alterating the images, a degree of continuity is maintained. This enables a sequential element to come into play. I have learned this approach in creating the artwork for animation projects. For me, working in printmaking, comics and animation is both labour saving and exhaustive. The images come up quickly but the act of re-inking and printing the block destroys the originals. There is no going back. I enjoy working with the inky element of printmaking. It is so graphic! Any thoughts? Comments about this and my posts are welcome, Michael.

BLOTTING PAPER The Comic: Production Report No.2

Art, Blotting Paper, Comics July 10, 2011

_{Title page from the first issue of my comic using experimental printmaking techniques with rubber stamp letter stamps and smudges.-© 2011 Dr. Michael Hill} _{a.k.a. Doctor Comics}

The above image is an experimental graphic impression of the typographic design of the title of my emerging first comic. Keen to experiment graphically with rubber stamping I have moved the letters during printing to create a smudged effect. I have also used some askew registration and mixed the fonts. How postmodern! My comic is based on my experiences…both practical and metaphorical…that I have had in a career in higher education. This involved teaching and research at an art and design college…followed by a university, in the disciplines of film, video, animation and visual communication design. The subject of comics often arose and I actively endorsed that. Initially considered as an effective method of teaching storyboarding it then became a medium in its own right. I also began to research the comics medium. This ultimately led to my doctoral research in comics studies and the gaining of my Ph.D in that field. The Art and Design schools of Sydney College of the Arts were virtually neighbours. As mentioned in my previous post, I became involved in printmaking when I temporarily swapped classes with a colleague…my graphics students with her printmaking students for a couple of sessions, and her students learning animation with me. I became very interested in the printmaking studio and its graphic methods…and began to learn printmaking techniques myself. The printmaking lecturer and I taught each other the rudiments of our respective skills. It was a good exchange. I enjoyed it both as a technical medium and as a form of artistic expression. Consequently, printmaking became an adopted part of my artistic practice. In my own comic production I have employed printmaking to generate titles and visual expressions. These have been edited and combined in my developing graphic novel project Blotting Paper.

_{My printmaking design of the title page of the comic…an attempt at animated typography but a bit on the blurry side!}
_{© 2011 Dr. Michael Hill a.k.a. Doctor Comics.}

I experimented with the visual communication design elements of the work and found this approach both exciting and productive. I also began to think of my project extending beyond a single issue…possibly even becoming a graphic novel?

_{Another example of expressive and experimental typography-© 2011 Dr. Michael Hill a.k.a. Doctor Comics.}

The ‘graphical impressions’ are drawings and prints of graphic memories. These were generated and printed in ink from rubber, wood, lino and other surfaces. The titles were made with rubber type and my name credit from a linocut. Besides printmaking as a method of image-making I also did some drawing…using traditional metal dip pens, pencils, felt-tipped pens and brushes plus a range of inks.

_{Title page for Chapter 1 of my comic/graphic novel Blotting Paper titled The Ingurgitator. (collage, sketch and printmaking assemblage- © 2011 Dr. Michael Hill a.k.a. Doctor Comics)}

PRODUCTION UPDATE: Recently the production progress of my comic has experienced a few interruptions. On the plus side of this I have been working on interesting studies projects during the delays. One project involves the works of Tezuka, Rintaro, Matsumoto and Miyazaki, and their films. These include Galaxy Express 999, The Dagger of Kamui, Laputa-Castle in the Sky, and The Girl Who Leapt Through Time. Another project involves workshops in the sosaku hanga technique of creative Japanese printmaking. Both of these activities will form part of a Japanese Cultural Festival in Suva in the South Pacific. I shall be participating in and teaching at this event. In terms of my comic’s progress, I have pulled some pieces of completed work together. I have also been modifying other work that I had considered completed. That’s the title page design(above) for the first chapter The Ingurgitator, as it currently stands. Although created in colour a black and white version may appear in the comic. It consists of a combination of image-making techniques including drawing, painting, inking, printmaking and collage. The original collage/sketch, below, was made during a trip to Shanghai to attend the Animation Expo in Hangzhou in 2007.

_{Original image and early draft of The Ingurgitator final image, above, from my Shanghai sketchbook. (Collage and rough sketch- © 2007 Dr. Michael Hill a.k.a. Doctor Comics)}

So there is my third post on this blog…a month since my previous post…which seems to be a better and more manageable gap…and the second post on my comics project. I would love to hear any comments and suggestions about my blog…including the frequency of my postings, Michael.

BLOTTING PAPER The Comic: Production Report No.1

Art, Blotting Paper, Comics, Japanning June 12, 2011

This is the first post documenting the production and progress of my own creative comics project. After studying and researching comics for the past few years…and reading them since I was seven…I have now decided to have a go at making my own. I have more experience of researching comics than producing them. In fact I gained a Ph.D. for my research into comics. That is where I picked up the “Doctor Comics” tag. Then I decided to write some blog posts on the topic…and that led to the decision to create my own comic. The title of my comic is Blotting Paper: The Recollected Graphical Impressions Of Doctor Comics. My research into comics art is now being followed by the creation of it…in a self-reflective approach. I like the juxtaposition of research and production although it may prove difficult to balance. We will see. Please let me know what you think of my efforts. I expect that my comic will be partly autobiographical and partly fictive. It will include comics art related events from my academic career…and my attempts to carry the comics flag in art and design tertiary education. There will be anecdotes relating to my Doctor Comics’s adventures and to my own longstanding interest in comics art studies.

Following a few false starts the first chapter has been written, the design roughed out and the artwork constructed. My experience in printmaking was employed in the generation of some of the graphic work. Techniques included woodblock, linocut and Japanese sosaku hanga techniques along with the use of rubber stamps and seals. Printmaking has also shaped the title of the comic, namely Blotting Paper. It suggests the sometimes messy outcome of shaping words and images in ink on paper…and the latter’s absorption and rejection of it. It is a process where things can get messy at times…but I enjoy the appearance of inkblots and stains and attempts to resolve graphic issues arising from it. Drawing, photography, typography, collage and handwriting have all been utilised as image-making techniques. My intention is to construct a free form, creative comic in an artist’s book format. I really enjoy the process of printmaking…including its potential to produce variations on a theme e.g. unexpected blots, streaks and stains. I would also like to acknowledge of how I first learned it. That was at Sydney College of the Arts whilst working in the Film and Video department of the Design School. I was approached by a fellow academic from the Art School who wanted to learn animation. So we arranged a swap deal. If I taught her basic animation techniques she would introduce me to the art of printmaking. That sounded interesting and it worked like a charm. I fell under the printmaking spell. In fact, I’m still under it!

_{Typographic design with rubber type assemblage of title of my comic.(Photo-© 2011 Dr. Michael Hill a.k.a. Doctor Comics)}

I am how much more time it takes to create a comic than to read or review one…but I am enjoying the creative and technical challenges. I now expect I shall be spending more time creating and less time critiquing comics art in the future. I have since altered the order of emphasis in my social media profile…from ‘critiquing and creating’ to ‘creating and critiquing!’

Some of the stamps, chops and seals. (Photo by Michael Hill) — _{Some of the stamps, chops and seals I have accrued and assembled for this project are from my printmaking days. (Photo-© 2011 Dr. Michael Hill a.k.a. Doctor Comics)}

Red cat (pencil and ink drawing-© 2010 Michael Hill)

Accompanying the Doctor Comics character in the comic are his cats, Busch and Cohl. They not only live with him and keep him company but they also read his comics and critique them! Being talking cats they also give him feedback, advising him in a critical manner, of his skills, shortcomings and selections. These comics reading cats are a seeming contrast to him…although their characters are still being designed. One possible design is the Red Cat above. Future posts will document the graphic resolution of this matter.

_{My animated ink sketch of Doctor Comics rushing to buy cat food at feeding time. He had run out of it and his cats are unpleasantly difficult to deal with when hungry! I have used an animation technique approach of juxtaposed sequential stages of the action for this one…to emphasize Doc’s movement. (© 2010 Dr. Michael Hill a.k.a. Doctor Comics)}

Well that’s the third post on my blog…three weeks since the last one…smaller in size…and the first one dealing with my own developing creative project. I think I’m starting to get the hang of it. Thanks for the feedback I have received…I welcome any comments about my blog and my comics project. Here’s to comics art, Michael.