Tag: comics

THE KAPPABASHI CAT: Production Report No.3

Art, Blotting Paper, Cats in Comics, Comics, Japanning March 25, 2018

This is the third and most likely final post in a series of reports documenting the production progress of The Cat Cooking Comics In Kappabashi, the sequel to my graphic novel/artist book Blotting Paper: The Recollected Graphical Impressions Of Doctor Comics that was completed in 2016. Somewhat similar in vein to its predecessor in its graphic narrative approach it differs by being both less autobiographical and less of a graphic memoir and markedly more fictive and humorous. There are strong links between the two publications, however, and I am having second thoughts about keeping them as separate entities. There is even a remote possibility that I will somehow link them together…merge them in the same publication as they feature several of the same characters from Blotting Paper: The Recollected Graphical Impressions Of Doctor Comics. So we will see! In the meantime, 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.)

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.

Read the previous posts on this new production The Cat Cooking Comics In Kappabashi No.1 and No.2 plus details of the production of all five issues of the Blotting Paper: The Recollected Graphical Impressions Of Doctor Comics artist book/comic, now combined in graphic novel form, and a continuing visual history record and time-line overview of the project read all of the production reports on the following posts: Issue #1: No.1 No.2 No.3 No.4 No.5 No.6 No.7 No.8 No.9 No.10 No.11 No.12 No.13 Issue #2: No.14 No.15 No.16 No.17 No.18 No.19 No.20 No.21 No.22 No.23 No.24 No.25 No.26 No.27 No.28 No.29 Issue #3: No.30 No.31 No.32 No.33 No.34 No.35 No.36 Issue #4: No.37 No.38 No.39 No.40 No.41 No.42 No.43 No.44 Issue #5: No.45 No.46 No.47 No.48

THE KAPPABASHI CAT: Production Report No.2

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

This is the second in a series of reports documenting the production progress of The Cat Cooking Comics In Kappabashi, the sequel, or possibly even continuation of my graphic memoir/artist book Blotting Paper: The Recollected Graphical Impressions Of Doctor Comics that was completed in 2016. Essentially similar in vein to its predecessor in graphic approach it will be different through being less autobiographical, less of a graphic memoir and more fictive. It will contain fewer anecdotes, fewer human characters and is much more of a funny animal comic. The principal character is the cat Cohl from the Blotting Paper graphic novel and his adventures in Tokyo to which he has travelled in search of his friend Busch.

bpdigi-p28696

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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A second and a third draft of the new comic have been written but the design and artwork are still at the preliminary stage. As in the Blotting Paper graphic novel printmaking is being employed along with other forms of image-making including drawing, typography, handwriting, calligraphy, collage and photography. As with the earlier publication the intention is to make a comic in an artist’s book/graphic novel type of format.

Read the first post on this new production The Cat Cooking Comics In Kappabashi No.1 and details of the production of all five issues of the Blotting Paper: The Recollected Graphical Impressions Of Doctor Comics artist book/comic, now combined in graphic novel form, and a continuing visual history record and time-line overview of the project read all of the production reports on the following posts: Issue #1: No.1 No.2 No.3 No.4 No.5 No.6 No.7 No.8 No.9 No.10 No.11 No.12 No.13 Issue #2: No.14 No.15 No.16 No.17 No.18 No.19 No.20 No.21 No.22 No.23 No.24 No.25 No.26 No.27 No.28 No.29 Issue #3: No.30 No.31 No.32 No.33 No.34 No.35 No.36 Issue #4: No.37 No.38 No.39 No.40 No.41 No.42 No.43 No.44 Issue #5: No.45 No.46 No.47 No.48

THE KAPPABASHI CAT: Production Report No.1

Archive of Australian Alternative Comics, Art, Blotting Paper, Cats in Comics, Comics, Japanning October 28, 2017

This is the first in what I intend will be a regular series of reports documenting the production progress of the sequel to my comic/artist book Blotting Paper: The Recollected Graphical Impressions Of Doctor Comics that was completed in 2016. The current draft title of the new book is The Cat Cooking Comics In Kappabashi. It is in a similar vein to Blotting Paper in its graphic approach but different in that this comic will be less autobiographical and less of a graphic memoir and much more fictive…however, several strong links remain between the two titles. It will contain fewer anecdotes of Doctor Comics and much more about his cat Cohl’s adventures. Nevertheless, strong links between Doc and the cats may persist to the extent that, initially, I thought it could fit as an extension to Blotting Paper, even as a further chapter within that title. We’ll see. A first draft of the comic has been written but the design and the artwork have yet to be commenced. As in the earlier comic printmaking will be employed along with other forms of image-making including drawing, typography, handwriting and photography. As with the earlier publication the intention is to make a comic in an artist’s book type of format.

The story begins 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.

For details of the production of all five issues of the Blotting Paper: The Recollected Graphical Impressions Of Doctor Comics artist book/comic and a continuing visual history record and time-line overview of the project read all of the production reports on the following posts: Issue #1: No.1 No.2 No.3 No.4 No.5 No.6 No.7 No.8 No.9 No.10 No.11 No.12 No.13 Issue #2: No.14 No.15 No.16 No.17 No.18 No.19 No.20 No.21 No.22 No.23 No.24 No.25 No.26 No.27 No.28 No.29 Issue #3: No.30 No.31 No.32 No.33 No.34 No.35 No.36 Issue #4: No.37 No.38 No.39 No.40 No.41 No.42 No.43 No.44 Issue #5: No.45 No.46 No.47 No.48

SCRAPBOOK: A Few Pages More

Art, Comics, Film, Japanning August 22, 2016

In this post I’m adding even more sample pages from my scrapbook, the previous postings of which can be found here and there. There is only one copy of the scrapbook so I like to think of it as another constructed artist book of mine. It contains images of other people’s work that I admire along with some assorted memorabilia of my own. These are images that I have collected and arranged, and in some cases, altered.

Japanese anime magazine with emphasis on profiling new work.

A Japanese anime magazine with an emphasis on the profiling of new work. One of the first Japanese words I learned from hearing it so often on TV was atarashi, meaning new.

Lex Luthor discovers his artistic side and has fun with paint.

Mixed Bag, from Nara and Mizuki to Van Gogh. I like the idea of using notebooks as well as some of the forgotten images you can find in them.

Baseball cover for Peanuts collection with Schulz’s wonderful criss-cross ink-line representation of grass.

Sports page-Formula One and Football.

Some Kamishibai cards.

San Francisco, sand and sea-the postcard is Californian but the beach is Australian.

Manga Bat Wing and monster on painted sea page. The comics panel is from a Japanese version of Batman.

Eisenstein with cats and dog and mouse-Krazy, Mickey and Norakuro.

Closure.

Posts of my graphic based material include: THE GRAFIK GUITAR BOOKBINDING THE GRAFIK GUITAR CARTOON MORE CARTOONS RESEARCH CARTOONS UNIVERSITY CARTOONS POSTCARD POSTCARD-Second Series POSTCARD-Third Series POSTCARD-Fourth Series PRINT Fish Tai PRINT Fish Two SCRAPBOOK SCRAPBOOK-More Pages SCRAPBOOK-A Few Pages More and the posts on production of my artist book/comic BLOTTING PAPER: Issue #1: No.1 No.2 No.3 No.4 No.5 No.6 No.7 No.8 No.9 No.10 No.11 No.12 No.13 Issue #2: No.14 No.15 No.16 No.17 No.18 No.19 No.20 No.21 No.22 No.23 No.24 No.25 No.26 No.27 No.28 No.29 Issue #3: No.30 No.31 No.32 No.33 No.34 No.35 No.36 Issue #4: No.37 No.38 No.39 No.40 No.41 No.42 No.43 No.44 Issue #5: No.45 No.46 No.47 No.48

BLOTTING PAPER The Comic: Production Report No.44

Art, Blotting Paper, Cats in Comics, Comics, Germania, Japanning July 6, 2015

Done! Completion of publishing production of the fourth issue of my artist book/comic Blotting Paper: The Recollected Graphical Impressions Of Doctor Comics has been accomplished. The pages have been printed, collated, trimmed, bound and covered with title applies. 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.

For details of the production of all four issues and a continuing visual history record and time-line overview of this project read all of the BLOTTING PAPER production reports on the following posts: Issue #1: No.1 No.2 No.3 No.4 No.5 No.6 No.7 No.8 No.9 No.10 No.11 No.12 No.13 Issue #2: No.14 No.15 No.16 No.17 No.18 No.19 No.20 No.21 No.22 No.23 No.24 No.25 No.26 No.27 No.28 No.29 Issue #3: No.30 No.31 No.32 No.33 No.34 No.35 No.36 Issue #4: No.37 No.38 No.39 No.40 No.41 No.42 No.43 No.44 Issue #5: No.45

SCRAPBOOK

Art, Coffee Table, Comics, Film, Germania, Japanning June 7, 2015

In this post I am profiling another artist book I have made…my scrapbook. Only one copy, it contains images of other people’s work that I admire along with assorted memorabilia of my own. This book is not yet finished but once filled will possibly lead to another one. It does have some history though. Subsequent posts will be added to this one and the content of the book may change over time as images and pages are altered, removed and added. To begin with here are some sample page-spreads.

Double page scrapbook spread in progress.

Double page spread in progress.

Starting with a blank paged, hard-covered sketch book I covered the covers with cloth then painted some of the double page spreads in various colours and a range of textures. To these I added images that I had collected or made, gluing them onto the pages, sometimes in random fashion and other times in related groupings. This relationship might be in terms of colour or commonality of subject or simply a whimsical choice. The above spread shows Kamishibai frame boards on the left and animation drawings by the cartoonist Chuck Jones on the right.

Double page spread in progress.

This spread juxtaposes a theatrical illustration with an add for a Gary Panter book. The white blotch at the join is accidental resulting from torn paper from the closing of pages before the paint had dried then re-opening them. It looks good though, I think.

Double page spread-prints and seals.

Above are some printmaking images and a selection of Chinese seals.

Double page French spread.

Front cover has been covered with cloth.

Top edge shows extent of painted and pasted pages.

Side view of scrapbook on table.

Posts of my graphic based material include: THE GRAFIK GUITAR BOOKBINDING THE GRAFIK GUITAR CARTOON MORE CARTOONS RESEARCH CARTOONS UNIVERSITY CARTOONS POSTCARD POSTCARD-Second Series POSTCARD-Fourth Series PRINT Fish Tai PRINT Fish Two SCRAPBOOK SCRAPBOOK-More Pages SCRAPBOOK-A Few Pages More and the posts on production of my artist book/comic BLOTTING PAPER: Issue #1: No.1 No.2 No.3 No.4 No.5 No.6 No.7 No.8 No.9 No.10 No.11 No.12 No.13 Issue #2: No.14 No.15 No.16 No.17 No.18 No.19 No.20 No.21 No.22 No.23 No.24 No.25 No.26 No.27 No.28 No.29 Issue #3: No.30 No.31 No.32 No.33 No.34 No.35 No.36 Issue #4: No.37 No.38 No.39 No.40 No.41 No.42 No.43 No.44 Issue #5: No.45 No.46 No.47 No.48

BLOTTING PAPER The Comic: Production Report No.43

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

Almost 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

The next post should be the post-publication post! For details of the production of all four issues and a continuing visual history record and time-line overview of this project you can read all of the BLOTTING PAPER production reports on the following posts: Issue #1: No.1 No.2 No.3 No.4 No.5 No.6 No.7 No.8 No.9 No.10 No.11 No.12 No.13 Issue #2: No.14 No.15 No.16 No.17 No.18 No.19 No.20 No.21 No.22 No.23 No.24 No.25 No.26 No.27 No.28 No.29 Issue #3: No.30 No.31 No.32 No.33 No.34 No.35 No.36 Issue #4: No.37 No.38 No.39 No.40 No.41 No.42 No.43 No.44

TRACKING COMICS AND GRAFIKS IN BERLIN

Art, Comics, Germania August 18, 2014

This post visually documents a recent walking tour of Berlin’s Staadt Mittee area with local resident and linguist Mailef as my guide. The plan was to see the graffiti and traces of an artists’ commune (kunsthaus) and to visit Renate comics shop and bibliothek which has been located there since the early 1990s, in order to look at some of the German kunst comicbuchs (art comics) in stock.

Finding the Tacheles building. (Photo-© 2014 Louise Graber)

Looking at street grafiks. (Photo-© 2014 Louise Graber)

Mailef escorted me to the Kunsthaus (arthouse) Tacheles building on Oranienburger Strasse on a site that was previously part of East Berlin when the wall was up. The Tacheles (translation “let’s talk business”) building had, over a century, successively housed an elegant shopping arcade, Nazi offices then squatter artists. The building was damaged in World War 2 then repaired by the GDR, vacated in 1989 then occupied as an international artist squat in the 1990s. The artists were eventually displaced/evicted by representatives of the investors in 2012.

Recording some images. (Photo-© 2014 Louise Graber)

Renate Comics Shop. (Photo-© 2014 Louise Graber)

Art comics (kunst comicbuchs) by the hundreds were available at Renate Comics, many of which were signed and marked as limited editions. These varied in size from A6 minicomics to the larger A3 format. Art postcards (kunst postkartes) have become an additional creative outlet for comics creators and there was a range of these in a rotating rack on the pavement outside the shop.

Postcard rack at Renate's.(Photo-© 2014 Michael Hill)

Maike Leffers and poster. (Photo-© 2014 Michael Hill)

Art minicomicbuch purchase from Renate- Pure Sultana by Franziska Schaum.

Art minicomicbuch purchase from the shop- Pure Sultana by Franziska Schaum.

BLOTTING PAPER The Comic: Production Report No.36

Art, Blotting Paper, Comics, Germania July 2, 2014

Job done! Production of the third issue of my artist book/comic Blotting Paper: The Recollected Graphical Impressions Of Doctor Comics was completed and the book launched in June at Comic-Salon Erlangen in Germany to which I had been invited by design colleagues, Professors Markus Fischmann and Michael Mahlstedt of Visuelle Kommunikation, Design und Medien Department of Hochschule Hannover University of Applied Arts and Sciences where I did a visiting academic gig back in 2007. Comic-Salon is the largest comics convention in Germany with 25,000+ attendees. Oh joy!

COMIC SALON, Erlangen. (Photo-© 2014 Michael Hill).

On the trading floor at COMIC SALON (Photo-© 2014 Michael Hill).

Launching Blotting Paper #3 at COMIC SALON. (Photo-© 2014 Hoschule Staff).

On display at COMIC SALON (Photo-© 2014 Michael Hill).

For Sale at €15 per copy (Photo-© 2014 Michael Hill).

Donald Duck comics appeared to be very popular at COMIC SALON (Photo-© 2014 Michael Hill).

Cosplay at COMIC SALON (Photo-© 2014 Michael Hill).

For a visual diary record and time-line overview of this project that includes development of all three issues you can read the BLOTTING PAPER production reports on the following posts:

Issue #1: No.1 No.2 No.3 No.4 No.5 No.6 No.7 No.8 No.9 No.10 No.11 No.12 No.13

Issue #2: No.14 No.15 No.16 No.17 No.18 No.19 No.20 No.21 No.22 No.23 No.24 No.25 No.26 No.27 No.28 No.29

Issue #3: No.30 No.31 No.32 No.33 No.34 No.35 No.36

Issue #4: No.37 No.38 No.39 No.40 No.41 No.42 No.43 No.44

BLOTTING PAPER The Comic: Production Report No.33

Art, Blotting Paper, Comics April 19, 2014

NOW DEEP IN PRODUCTION MODE! In this fourth report documenting the production process and progress of the new issue of my artist book/comic Blotting Paper: The Recollected Graphical Impressions Of Doctor Comics, Chapter 3, The Chthonian Turn or The Cats’ Revenge I am approaching the 30% mark in terms of completion of the artwork. On the other hand I am slightly more advanced in terms of scripting and page layout but I am keeping things open in terms of resolution of the story.

A spread of artwork on the studio floor.

I find the creation of the images, the entire image-making process, and the resultant generation of the artwork the most pleasurable part of the production process. Culling, selecting and editing the artwork is a tougher task.

A more detailed glimpse of the spread of artwork.

Printmaking has been employed to make more of the image-making this time around, more than photography but about the same proportion as drawing and, in terms of style, abstraction is making an impression.

Another more detailed glimpse of the spread of artwork.

Further developments and an update on progress will be posted on this blog next month but for a visual diary record and time-line overview of this project, you can see all of the BLOTTING PAPER production reports on the following posts:

Issue #1: No.1 No.2 No.3 No.4 No.5 No.6 No.7 No.8 No.9 No.10 No.11 No.12 No.13 Issue #2: No.14 No.15 No.16 No.17 No.18 No.19 No.20 No.21 No.22 No.23 No.24 No.25 No.26 No.27 No.28 No.29 Issue #3: No.30 No.31 No.32 No.33 No.34 No.35 No.36