This week was a but different than the last two weeks because I did not do any drawing. I went back to focusing on the written aspect of my project. I'm almost done with my written narrative, in fact, it will be completed this tuesday. I have decided that instead of a comic I'm just going to Illustrate my text. I have seen it done really successfully in a recent issue of batman. In this batman comic there were not panels with pictures and speech bubbles, but blocks of text with images that went along with it. This style worked pretty good with the batman comic, the only difference is that the batman images were rendered in 3D, while mine will only be 2D. I will post a picture for you to see what im taking about. I'm a little concerned tho that since my story is a bit long, that nobody will want to read it and give me feedback :(. I will need to know what parts are working and what parts are not, what i should probably add or take out, just critique on story elements and writing style. I do intend to take it to the sweetland writing center but I would also like to get feedback from my faculty and classmates. I outlined my story into an outline of its important parts, I was advised by Hanna to do so, so that I would keep myself on track while I was writing and not forget what where the important parts. So I would not spent to much time working on parts of the story that were not as important, while the main pieces were not complete. This outline splits the story up into sections. I guess if I want anyone to even think about reading the story I will just give them the outline, then give them the story one piece at a time, because i know everyone had their own stuff to to, and not much time to sit around reading my long ass narrative.

What I need to do: Finish the writing by tuesday, and have the rest of the character designs/descriptions done by the following tuesday. Then its DRAW DRAW DRAW!!!!!!

I'll post a copy of my outline for anyone who would like to read.

Sanguine moon

Main Points Outline

1. The story starts off in the middle. George Is Allen’s Assistant and close personal friend. Since Allen has become a monster, he has begun to kill off members of a gang in order to take revenge for the death of his friend Pikarra, and as a half ass means of justifying his choice to become a monster to satisfy his own selfish needs. Members of this gang abduct George on his way home from work because the gang has noticed that the police for some odd reason have taken a sudden interest in George (Allen and his company to be exact) and believe that George must be in the know about something. George of course knows nothing about what is going on. After taking George and questioning him Allen suddenly Appears and kills allot of the gang members. George recognizes his boss and close friend and the two of them are both quite surprised to see each other. Allen then begins to tell George why he is there and how he came to be what he is, and this is where the story starts, at its true beginning.

2. The story starts with Allen and his best friend Christopher sitting in class. Christopher and Allen have been friends since they were small children. Allen is a very morose and cynical person, his character is set up as having a very depressing outlook on life and very negative views and opinions when it comes to women. He refuses to own up to his role in things, blaming his situations in life on outside causes. Allen is then attacked by a stranger who turns out to be some sort of monster, and after the stranger gets to know Allen’s personality better through the tasting of his blood he finds Allen to be most amusing, and decides to give him a choice, he can die now, or become one of them, but before Allen is made to decide, the monster says hill give him a taste of his power and then let him decide.

3. After being bitten into by his demonic oppressor Allen is taken to a dark and seedy nightclub where he is forced to fight against a group of strangers, it is here that Allen begins to understand the abilities that he would gain should he chose to become a monster. He finds that he would have the ability to control people through a kind of possession as he uses this ability to kill the group of me he is pitted against. As Allen is killing these men, he is not in control of his body, he is there, in his mind, but his body is acting of its own accord, forcing him to bear witness as it commits these horrible acts. After slaughtering the men Allen wakes up home in his bed, where he wonders if it had all been a dream.

4. Allen gets up and goes to class as normal wondering if he dreamt up what had just happened. Throughout this part of the story Allen notices that no matter what or how much he eats, he is always still hungry. In this part of the story you learn that Allen was betrayed by a woman he once loved, and that is part of the reason he is as depressed and cynical as he is. He is lonely and believes that nobody really cares for and understands him, which would explain his outlook on women. Allen ends up being forced to be social and go out to a bar by Christopher and this is where he meets Pikarra (very important character) Pikarra is very beautiful and free spirited. She has an openness and quirkiness about her that makes it easy for Allen to open up and speak to her. Through their conversations Allen begins to feel like Pikarra is the only person in the world that truly understands him, that he can connect with and relate to on a deeper and more intimate level (by intimate I don’t mean sexually).

5. The next night as Allen and Pikrra are eating dinner at a diner, two gang members come in the place and start shooting, Allen ends up shot and Pikarra tries her hardest to save him and ends up shot in the process. Pikarra dies, but Allen does not, as he finds out that the events of the other night were not a dream. He kills Pikarras murderers, and uses her death as a means of excusing or justifying the choice of becoming a monster.

End

Unfortunately this week was a little less productive than weeks past simply because I was on fall break. I told myself that I was going to be really productive over fall break and do allot of work on my IP, but I was not as productive as i wanted. Over fall break I spent friday from about 3 pm till 6:30 or 7 working in my studio on finishing my painting of Pikarra. I also wanted to finish my writing over break but never got around to that. I spent all of my studio time drawing on thursday, i finished painting Pikarra and began her bust shot. I decided that because im new to the style of painting that i was doing, and the fact that i just takes me so long to do im not going to paint anymore of my character sketches. I realized this week that it is basically November and that I am nowhere near where I had originally wanted to be in terms of my progress. Im very behind schedule. Starting next weekend (due to the fact that I have a midterm on monday and a research paper outline due on wednesday) Im going to start working double time on my IP. I have been in IP for almost two months and dont really have much to show for it except for my written word and a few drawings. that shows of course that i have indeed been working, I have not at all been wasting my time, but personally I want to have more to show for myself. I need to be making more progress!!! and im going to start, I want more work to show off!!! Its time for me to pump out character designs for all my characters and begin modeling sets so that i can hit the ground running and start drawing!! I did realize that the more I write, the more attached I get to my writing and want to keep it in its novelistic format instead of dumbing it down to script form so that i can make a comic. I decided after talking with stephanie that im going to draw a few comic pages, and lay out a few text pages with Illustrations separate and decide which path i really want to walk. well thats about all ive got for this week, so here is another sample of my writing along with my painting of pikarra.

The old man then began to laugh loudly “damn, I knew there was something special about you. You sure are a selfish self centered bastard, and you know what’s funny is that you are to wrapped up in your own desires to even realize it.” the old man then began to laugh some more. “No shortcuts huh, well see about that” and with that the old man sank his teeth into Allen’s neck. After feeling the old mans hot breath on his throat followed shortly by his throat being bitten into Allen’s mind went foggy. Like a junkie on a bad trip he found himself unable to focus in on much of anything at all, his brain felt like it had been turned to mush and he eventually lost consciousness. After drinking his fill of Allen’s blood the old man then threw him over his shoulder and signaled to his peons that it was time for them to go. “You are not gonna kill him?” one of the younger freaks asked. “No” replied the old man he’s coming with us” and with that the four of them took off into the night.

When Allen came to he found himself lying on the floor of what seemed to be a nightclub. On the dance floor of the club there was a huge crowd of people that formed a circle, and in the middle of the circle stood three men who looked as if they had just traveled to hell and back. The men’s clothes were tattered and torn, and the wounds they carried as well as the two sword like weapons they held in each hand suggested they were currently engaged in a fight for their lives. The men stood back-to-back swinging their weapons at any member of the crowd that dared to come to close. His eyes burning and unable to see anything at all and his mind stuff fuzzy, Allen felt a strong arm grab him by the shoulder, and a voice that he recognized as being the old man from earlier that night whisper in his ear. “You want a break kid, ill give u one. Have a taste of our power and see how u like it” and with that the old man snapped his fingers and the whole club went dark. As the lights went out Allen felt both his vision and his mind return to normal, and just as they did her realized he was standing in the middle of the dance floor facing the three men holding swords.

Much like last week, this week was a bit different. I spent all sic hours of my studio time this week drawing. First I finished the test that I had started last week on how to properly draw Christinas curly hair, it turned out much much better than I thought. The only problem is that the process used to draw it is a bit labor intensive, and thats not good mainly because of how much im going to have to draw her when I start production on the comic. When I finished the Christina test I began drawing my character sketches. I drew the Character Pikarra for the first time. She turned out pretty well considering this was my first time drawing her, there are some parts about her that could be a little better, but they will work themselves out the more I draw her and get a feel for her character. When I originally started drawing I had planned on just inking the drawing in black and white like I plan to do with the actual graphic novel, but since I want to develop a painting technique for cover pages and extras I just went ahead and began painting Pikarra. So far its turning out pretty good, when I'm done with the picture I intend to erase the lines and just have a painting, It should be finished within the next day or so.

As for what I plan to have done for next week, I would definitely like to have the story completed and ready to hand out. I would also like to have more characters designed. So for next week im going to finish the story and at least have finished both Pikarra and Allens character designs.

Here is another sample from the Story

The moon stood high in the sky as the snow quietly fell. It was a cold winter night, and as Allen sat in front of the window of his friend’s two-bedroom apartment he could feel the cold wind creeping in, giving him goose bumps. “God dammit” he said to his friend who just happened to be sitting next to him “turn up the damn heat, im fuckin dying here man” turning to Allen with a somewhat agitated look on his face his friend replied “sorry dude but I don’t know how, shouldn’t you be worrying about your tuition bill anyway instead of worrying about how cold it is in my apartment.” Hearing his friends words Allen let go a heavy sigh realizing that regardless of the rooms temperature, he needed to come up with a ridiculously large amount of money by five O Clock the next day or he was going to get kicked out of school.

Allen threw himself across the mattress of his friend’s ragged futon with a gesture reminiscent of that of a spoiled child who received pajama pants for Christmas instead of the new game he wanted. He laid there across the multicolored blue fleece futon mattress, trying to calm himself down and focus on ways he could get himself out his current predicament. Staring up at the sealing Allen began to rant “god dammit this shit just aint fair, how the fuck do they expect me to come up with this kind of money on the spot, this damn school systems set this shit up on purpose just to con people like me” at that moment his friend cut him off saying “what do you mean con people like you, dude the only reason you are in the situation you are in right now is because back before school started, you and your mother decided to lie on your forms so that you could try and cheat yourselves into more aid money, nobody is trying to con you out of anything.” jarred by his friends forceful tone as well as the truth in his words Allen let out another sigh and jokingly made a comment about how he should been a drug dealer like one of his friends from high school because if he had, by now he’d be rich. “Dude” his friend cut him off saying “If you were a drug dealer all you would be doing is giving up what you are dealing with now for a new and more dangerous set of problems, there are no shortcuts in life man, and if you learn anything from what you are going through right now I hope you at least learn that”. Unable to respond to his friends words of wisdom Allen just laid across the futon, staring up at the sealing until he heard the sound of his computer going to sleep on the table less than one foot away from where he lay. After turning his head to look at the screen he lost himself in the images of the beautiful woman that danced across his screensaver. The beautiful model he had be obsessing over since high school, he swore to himself that his future success in life would lead him strait to her, but after the sound of his friend congratulating himself for passing gas so loudly snapped Allen back to reality, he felt a great sadness as he got up to close his computer. “No shortcuts huh, life’s just not fair”

This week was a bit different from weeks prior. I spent my studio hours on Tuesday writing my story, well mostly. The time i didn't spend writing i spent thinking about the sheets we received feedback from my what why and how. I started thinking mostly about the no time no money option because lets face it, I've got limited time and no money :\.

Today was a great day in my group. My project proposal wasn't all that great. To be honest i felt a bit confused about what was needed in my case, because until this point I have talked mostly about the reasons that I want to make comics, my reasons for wanting to write stories and develop characters, and I remember Hanna telling me in so many words that what I was saying was not good enough. What I was saying was not good enough for her, she wanted something deeper. I agreed with her, saying my reason for writing stories was to create characters that people cherish and fall in love with is not a good enough answer, even though those are my true feelings. When I told her the moral of my story Hanna was very interested, and I was excited, and realized I was being to vague. When writing my proposal in the first paragraph (the what) I gave a short synopsis of my story. My group members told me that was not such a good idea, they were disappointed in the fact that my proposal was not saying the same types of things that I have said in previous class sessions as pertaining to the reasons why I want to do my project. My group told me that the synopsis of my story is not what's important at this point, but I need to go back to explaining why it is I do what I do so that people will understand, and I agree. My group was very helpful today, especially Anna Foster! Anna is a great group member and has some of the most wonderful and helpful things to say, its amazing just watching her go lol, she's such a great help. I was amazed watching her help our other group members hash through their problems and confusions, I need to be a bit more like her when it comes to these kinds of things!

I started drawing today, I spent most of my studio time writing again but i decided to tackle a problem that been bothering me for some time now lol. A character in my comic, has dark and curly hair, and for the life f me I have no idea how to draw it lol. Her character is based loosely off of a singer called Christina Millian, who has the same type of hair. Today i began to draw a picture trying my hardest to mimic Christina's hair, I tried using lines but it didn't work out to well, so im going to have to try nd pull it off using value. Im scared lol, im no god at using values, but to get these curls drawing lines wont due, so i gotta use changes in black and whit to create the illusion. Im worried because since I'm drawing a comic, I have to make her hair as simple as possible since ill have to draw so many pictures of it :\ well i started, I'm not to far yet but Ill upload what ive gotten so far and a pic of Christina so that you all can see what im going for. Which brings me to my next point...

Ok, time for a confession. I have been writing my story for a couple weeks now, and since I'm not done and don't have it to hand out, I feel like I'm sort of losing out on the whole IP process, getting useful feedback an all that good stuff. But, the reason ive been so dead set about getting my story written and handed out before I start drawing is simply... I'm afraid. when I draw, my drawings always seem to come out looking in some way like manga/anime. I don't draw manga/anime and when if use reference when I draw I use 3D figures and real life pics, like with the pic of Christina I'm uploading. Regardless of what reference I use my drawings still have a manga feel to them. I don't mind, and I have slowly but surely begun to sort of develop a look that is unique to me but, I'm afraid. I learned how to draw by copying manga images so its always at the core of what I do, somewhat unconsciously. Im working to develop a look that is unique to me, but to be honest I like manga style comics the best. I think they are the most attractive looking comics out. American comics are a bit ugly in my opinion (I tried to read the watchmen, I could not stomach the ugly drawings lol) not all american comics, but most are so plain and unattractive, and the ones that are not, look so amazing because the artist has such a flawless panting technique, they look great because of ungodly skill with a paint brush. I love manga comics, they are my passion and have a special place in my heart and that has made things very hard for me. It seems like all my life people have been doing nothing but trying to discourage me from drawing manga style comics to the point that i honestly have a hard time even calling myself an artist. I never understood why me loving these types of comics were a bad thing, why people always try to discourage me from doing it, they ask me why, why, why. Because I love it!! because its been my passion ever since I was a small small child!!! I live, eat, breathe and dream it!!!! Is that not a good enough reason??? I have asian friends in the art school that draw manga, and their images look so much more manga than mine do, but nobody ever gives them a hard time, they never question them, why not?? is it because they are asian so its Ok? I'm black so its not Ok?? My passion for manga, and my teachers' hatred of it has made my journey through the art world one of the loneliest most discouraging experiences of my life, I feel like nobody believes in or supports me! I am alone! And thats just looking at it from an artistic point of view, there is still the fact that I'm an African American whose number one passion in life is something Japanese, but thats a conversation for another time. My art is technically manga, but as I stated I am beginning to have a style that is my own, I will get there, especially since Im making stories depicting African-Americans, but i feel thats its something that has to happen gradually and on its own. I am afraid that Hanna and Stephanie are gonna try to shove it down my throat and discourage me from doing it, they will force me to abandon my passion and do something else, force me to focus not on getting my story out in the world, but to instead practice abandoning my manga style drawing. I have never been so passionate about an art project before in my life and Im afraid of it being torn apart simply because I draw in a specific style. I figured that as long as the story was good, how the drawings looked would not be as big a deal, which is why I've been trying to hard to get the story written and handed in, and avoiding posting any of my drawings. I was hoping they would really like my story and just let me do what I do when it came to my drawing style. Sigh, there it is, the reasons I've been so obsessed with completing my story. I hope you all don't think I'm crazy for dumping all that into my blog lol, but I felt that unless i just let go of those fears and got it off my chest I would not benefit from this whole IP process.

Damn it feels to have have gotten that off my chest, well here is a little section form my story, just a taste of what's to come:

After walking down the long path that began at the end of the stairs Allen began to get this strange feeling, almost like someone was watching him, or like he was being followed. He shrugged the feelings of like they were nothing and continued on his way, but images of that strangers’ pupil-less eyes began to haunt him, and just as the feelings began to become too much for Allen to handle he felt a tap on his left shoulder. Quickly spinning around to see exactly who it was that tapped him, he was surprised to find nobody there. “What the fuck” he whispered to himself, he could have sworn that somebody had just tapped him on his shoulder. Dismissing what he thought had just happened as having been a figment of his imagination, Allen turned back around to find himself nose to nose with the stranger he encountered at the base of the stairs. Staring into those white, bloodshot pupil-less eyes sent chills down his spine and shook him to the very core of his being, but before his mind could even comprehend what was going on the stranger punched him square in his nose. Raising both hands to his now bloody nose Allen fell backwards into the snow, but in the time it took for him to fall and recover from the shock of what had just happened, the strange man that had just attacked him was gone, almost as if he had vanished into thin air. “What the fuck, what the fuck is going on?” Allen shouted, “What the fuck was wrong with his eyes, those fucking eyes”. Before Allen was able to finish the thought he was having about his attackers eyes, the stranger descended on him from above and Allen felt himself being snatched from the ground.
Soaring through the icy night sky Allen tried to scream for help, but before he could get the words out a cold and clammy hand griped his throat and began to squeeze with tremendous force. Blood shot from his mouth and Allen found himself barely able to breathe let alone say anything. After crushing his throat to keep him from screaming, the stranger let Allen go and he began to fall back down to earth. After the tree branch he grabbed to stop him from hitting the ground broke, Allen tumbled down into the snow breaking his left leg as he landed. Taking the broken tree branch in hand Allen tried to stand, but before he could get to his feet the stranger was on him. He grabbed at the branch Allen held in his right hand and pulled it from him with so much force that it dislocated his shoulder, the stranger then took him by the neck and it was at that moment Allen heard a stern voice come from directly behind his attacker. “That’s enough,” the voice said, as Allen looked to see whom the voices had come from he saw two figures appear out of the darkness. One of the figures was that of an older man who appeared to be in his late fifties, the other much younger. “This one does not belong to you” the older of the two men said “hand him over” and upon hearing the older mans request Allen’s attacker released the grip he had around his throat. The older man then began to draw closer to where Allen had fallen into the snow and when he got close enough for Allen to see his face more clearly he noticed that his eyes had no pupils.

He he he he, gotta wait for the rest, I should be done writing by this time next week, but Ill post more for anyone who is curious, Ill gladly give copies to anyone whose interested

This week has basically been the same as last week, continuing to write out what im going to crate my IP project on. I spent the usual six hours of my studio time (more or less) writing. I am finding tho that for some reason it is becoming difficult for me to get what's in my mind out on the paper. I don't usually have this problem, im guessing it has something to do with the way im working so hard to get things done so quickly, I have been trying to be done with the writing process for two weeks now but its taking longer than i had originally anticipated. I find that when i hit a point that im stuck at my progress slows down allot, probably because im trying to force it out in the interest of time. I don't think that this is good because i don't want the quality of my writing to go down. I think this weekend if i find it hard to write im going to take a small break and do a few character designs, its taking a break but still being productive.

Speaking of my writing, for tuesdays small group get together I ended up reading a portion of my story aloud to my group members. I was pleasantly surprised by the positive feedback that i received, and an interesting point was made. Since my writing is a bit detailed i was asked whether i was gonna make a frame by frame comic book, or have like pages of text and illustrations to go with, at first i was set on making a frame by frame comic but i am beginning to have second thoughts. The pages of text coupled with illustrations is beginning to sound most appealing. If i decided to go with the text and illustrations i would most defiantly be able to cover more story than i would if I was doing a comic, plus id be able to keep my writing intact (i will admit, im growing quite fond of my written words lol)... i dunno, something to think about.