Scruffy Doodles and Insomnia

Update to the doodles I uploaded last night...


I got sturck by insomnia last night, so ended up messing around with the built in edit tools on my phone, and made these. Nice, ain't they?

Scruffy Doodles

I've been working fast and scruffy on some character designs for the MAYA film. These are really scruffy, I admit, but I kind of like that... I'm meeting Andy tomorrow to start to see where we go next, and I'll be starting on a storyboard/animatic soon. Sorry for the quality, I took them on my phone off the living room floor!

Doodlin'

Here's a tryout of a doodle for the comic, admittedly hastily done, but it was a test of using a Wacom tablet to draw with. I've never really got the hang of that hand-eye-monitor-tablet thing, and end up fighting the mouse and the pen which I have in each hand, like a prog rock keyboard player. It's a left handed thing I think - I've got so used to controlling the cursor right handedly (?) with the mouse, that when I get the pen, and default back to leftness, i feel like a toddler trying to copy Escher, and the cursor flies around of it's own accord.



I kind of like it, although I think the line is a bit too brushy, too painted, but I think that might be some of my own clumsiness causing that. I'm so used to dragging my vector lines around to make outlines, that it feels a bit uncomfortable, and like I'm not getting on the screen what I get on the page, but I'm going to stick with it for a while...

The bigger question I'm asking myself is about the character design, and whether this kind of design can carry a longer, more mature narrative. I've always held that there's enough weight in really simple characters to carry stories, that part of why I wrote 'Angels', to kind of take the deadpan playmobil characters and see how they'd hold up in an 'adult' narrative. I kind of think these new style characters may be too cute to carry yet another spooky tale of grief, loss and loneliness. The look a bit er, card-y to me, or like they suit a single shot panel or 3-frame strip. Oh, I dunno, I guess I wont be able to tell until I've done more work on it. I'm also concerned that it might be a bit self conscious to force difficult themes on cutesy characters like when people deliberately gross-out sock puppets or fluffy bunnies. And I don't want that, I want people to care about the characters, have an emotional connection, and perhaps the cutesy thing just knocks people back...

In other news, and I'm not going to go into too much detail, I talked yesterday with the Harris about the idea of a game based around one of their collections, a kind of Monkey Island point and click adventure which would reveal the history of the collection and the person behind it. That is so deliciously Web 2.0/ARG/Transliteracy that it makes me feel a bit sick with joy and so on. I'm loving working with the Harris, it's like having a big fat digital canvas to play on, and everyone seems to be getting really excited about the potential for their Internet work to become a significant part of their plan.

Fridge Soup

I just started on a new comic strip, inspired by the great stuff I've seen on ComicSpace, and the recent re-readings of my Love and Rockets collection. I've even started going back into Page 45, and I'm pleased to have overcome that weird fear!

I'm still trying to work out whether to go for old style pen and ink, or to go for redrawing my pencils in Flash. I've done a bit of both over the past few days, and I'm still stuck. I think it's obvious that I'll be doing both for a while, so I'm not so concerned about making a definite decision. Add to that the fact that I'm not doing this for any other reason but my own amusement, and the pressure of that decision all but disappears. Me and Steve and Chris talked late last year about creating a comic, and spent some time trying to construct a 'world' or overarching scenario that our stories would fit in to. However, as Steve's Horror career has suddenly become really hectic, we've not had the time to bring it all together, so I'm going to plough ahead, and invite Steve and Chris to join in wherever they like, once I've begun to get a sense of what it is I'm doing.

I'm relieved that we didn't 'set' the world ultimately, as I think it was a really self conscious way to go about it, and would have restricted our freedom. I think it'll be better to have the opportunity to grow the strip organically.

Here's a picture of some initial doodling...



I said I'd post some webcomics I've enjoyed, so here's some links;

Shrouded - The first issue of this is great, a bit Ginger Snaps, a bit American Werewolf, and even a bit Texas Chainsaw Massacre. Issue 2 promised soon.

Geek Blather - This comic is written collaboratively using a Role Play process through Live Journal. Very Web 2.0! I'm wondering if that's the way that me, Steve and Chris might develop our own comic.

Eekeemoo - Really nice sketchy strip. Monsters, little eskimo characters, what more do you want?

Thumpculture - Fight Club meets Street Fighter, in a sort of fantasy Soap romance thing.

Befriendification

I just joined www.comicspace.com, a MySpace for comic makers, drawers, fans etc, which I read about on Drawn. It's great, and also a wee bit humbling when you see all these fantastic artists out there. I've never joined a kind of 'open' networking site before, especially one that has 'Befriendification' (as comicspace calls it), as it's always seemed a bit - well pointless i guess - and a bit wrong for a 36 year old! But I'm really interested in the way webcomics have grown, and the idea that a non-print comic can have a global audience, it's kind of perfect Web 2.0, so I joined, cos i figured that it makes sense to join a network like this, one where you're sharing work, rather than just hanging out, and it's exciting because it feels like being involved in a Zine culture, which I always imagine the web should be - ie free, homebrew, social.

I've been getting back into the comic subculture, which I've missed. I used to make a comic called Eek!, a small press thing that I used to pay for with my housing benefit cheques just after leaving University. It was a great thing to do, and linked me in with a whole network of really nice people who were really into making, reading and sharing underground leftfield comics. After a while though, I couldn't sustain it, writing 36 pages bi-monthly and dodging the landlord on my way to the copy-shop. And when I stopped, I felt a bit embarrassed, for no good reason really, and didn't enter Page 45 (our local comic shop) for about 10 years, thus missing out on so much good stuff.

I guess getting back into comics has partly come from Steve, who buys comics like I drink coffee (many and often), and his links to sites like scans daily, which puts up obscure strips from yesteryear, and from reading Drawn. I realised that the web is a perfect structure for comics - for instance the chronological nature of a blog allows the release of a comic in small, episodic chunks, whether that be your 12 part graphic novel or daily (syndicated!) 3 panel strip.

I'm going to add a webcomic links bar down the side, so I can show off what I've found, and if you find any gems, please let me know! - by the way, my comicspace page is http://www.comicspace.com/garethhowell

Back to the drawing board...

Christ, that was a bad pun, sorry about that.

Well. It's over. We had the opening of the MA exposition last night, which seemed to go well, then our group went and got nicely drunk! It was really nice to see everyone, especially as it doesn't happen that often, and nice to see everyone relaxed and having a laugh...

So now, it's on to new things... I'm hoping to carry Digital Me on, and write some more articles and do more interviews. It's really made me enthusiastic about the web again, and about understanding how it works, not technically, but as a network and all the things that might include...

Anyway, the next thing is a new comic! I haven't made a comic in years, not since 1994 when I made Eek! Comic, spending my dole money on photocopying and graphics pens. The idea for a new comic started when i did some illustrations for Plug Magazine, and they spoke about giving me a page a month to develop a strip. I spoke about it with Steve and Chris, and asked them if they wanted to do some writing, so we're meeting next week to start to put some ideas down. I really like the idea of using the tracing drawings I made from Second Life, so I'm going to use Second Life as a photographers studio, and set up shots in there. Good ol' Second Life!

I'm really glad to be getting back to comics, I love 'em! Every time I move house, I rediscover my collection of favourite comics and they always get a re-read. Recently, I re-read three books from Love and Rockets, Jaime stories mainly, set in a fictional hispanic area of LA. They are amazing, and the drawing is so beautiful. Jaime's characters are so beautifully realised, but so comic-y and graphic at the same time. When I first read them, they were a real relief from the emerging 'serious' comics scene. At the time, Superheroes were getting the - ooh, but aren't they a bit dark treatment, which has become the standard for nearly all comic characters since. That's not to say that stuff like Watchmen and Dark Knight aren't brilliant, it's just that they provided a template for a lot of much worse comics to follow! Love and Rockets though, had an amazing mix of comedy, wrestling, old-style superheroes, punk rockers all brilliantly realised in a believable if occasionally surreal world. They were also comics with really strong female characters, something all but non-existent in the other comics I was reading, especially Gilbert's Love and Rockets strips, which are beautiful. Of course I know that that's a huge generalisation, there have always been strong female characters in comics, but I suspect not so many you wished were your mates. They had a massive influence on me when I was younger, and having re-read them, I realise they still have an intense power. I can just look at the pages for hours. This one pic doesn't begin to do it justice, but you can see how great the drawing is;

I can't wait to get started on this new comic, I think I'm going to head home and get doodling right now!

Spooky Second Life Ghost Picture

More messing about with image editing from second life screen grabs...

Ok, I realise it's all just lame filter nonsense, but it's quite nice all the same I reckon, and done in a rush.

Pictoplasma is coming, look busy!

Hi there. I have a long post hiding in my draft folder about exactly why cartoons for grown ups should be allowed to be cute (see Pocoyo post), plus some great quotes from Charles Schulz. It's proving to be a bit of a difficult one, but I'll post it as soon as it's done. In the meantime - I got an email from Pictoplasma today, calling for film submissions for their upcoming conference. 'Angels' was in the Characters in Motion screenings last year, and also in the book and DVD that accompanied it.

So, I need to make an animation before 1st Sept! I'm desperate to do it, even if it's just to justify a holiday in Berlin in October! I've decided to work in Machinima, using a character design which didn't make it to the final cast for Ricard's project.

She sort of looks like this;

To make character development simple, I'm going to exploit Second Life to the full, and take advantage of it's in-built tools. I'm also going to pretty much use this doodle as the beginnings of the character/story. This gives me a set of rules.
Here they are;

1. She is a bit sad to begin with.
2. It is cold where she lives.
3. She can fly.
4. She can teleport to new places.
5. She can change into anything.

I'm going to develop the piece as a 3 minute trailer. The rules suggest a longer story with episodic sub-stories. The teleport immediately allows for 'Quantum Leap' (that's not me being clever or fancy in any way, I mean the 80's sci-fi series with Scott Bakula) story development - she can be anything/anywhere each time, framed within a larger journey.

And that's all I have, although I'd like to include a monster. Maybe one that eats towns. But it's pink - and really cute. She is friends with it. I think I'd like ghosts in it. I'd also like a baby faced oracle who lives in the sky - maybe the narrator?. It should also have some romance in it, because that would be lovely. Maybe the episodes are true stories. So it's a documentary, set in Second Life. Narrated/presented by a girl who can fly. Er...Oh. I don't know, I might be getting carried away.

That monster I was telling you about.
Baby faced oracle who lives in the sky...

Ok, here goes - it starts like a fairy tale, a girl in a cold, gloomy Northern town wants to get away. One day she discovers/is given the power to fly - and change into things. She flies off. The trouble with flying is she doesn't know how long she can fly for, so occasionally she drops from the sky and lands in places she knows nothing about. And then all sorts of crazy adventures ensue.

I just thought - this might be a way to start off the fictional blog stuff too. I'm sure this is just cos I'm off on holiday next week - I'm already getting into the beach ideas flow.

Any ideas? - Seriously, if you have any - please let me know! I'll credit you on the film - you can even come and do a voice if you like! Anything - plots - tales, character ideas, new places to visit...whatever!

All apologies...

All apologies to Pocoyo, Where the Wild Things Are, BatImp etc. - Thought I'd post this doodle as I'm trying out some new character design ideas - I think it's quite sweet though! I've made some wallpapers of it - if you want one, contact me and tell me what size and I'll mail you one.

One of the artists, Alula (Sherry Pollitt and Andrea Scott), who sells work through our shop introduced me to the Japanese word Zakka, which they described as 'products that make you feel happy and light as air'.

I looked it upon Wikipedia, and got this;

"Zakka has also been described as "the art of seeing the savvy in the ordinary and mundane". On one level the zakka boom is just another in a series of consumer fads, but on another it's plugged into something spiritual. Cute, corny and kitsch is not enough. To qualify as a zakka, a product must be attractive, sensitive, laden with subtexts."

Finally, I have found a doctrine to live by!

A little flash doodle

Space....Man

I doodled this yesterday. I'm going to colour it up in Flash, and I'll post the finished version next week. I just thought you might like to see it. I might even turn the spaceman into a Machinima character.

Ricard has posted some stuff about the machinima project on his site - http://www.la-interactiva.co.uk

Don't put your avatar on the stage, Mrs. Worthington

I was in Second Life yesterday, tidying up the final bits on the avatars so Ricard can start filming, and started thinking about the whole game/animation/art/performance sphere that I've touched on briefly before.

Ok, so what's happening in second life is this - I've created costumes that the avatars (actors) wear. Then the puppeteers (players) control the actors who play the characters. That's quite a few layers - like playing a superhero; Christopher Reeve plays Kal El plays Clark Kent plays Superman.

It feels like a stage/game space. I am in a game, building objects. - However, I'm not building objects like i would in, say, Maya - I'm standing there (- or at least my avatar is) physically building objects, and adding textures and moving them around. Once I've made these objects, they exist and mimic the real world, but they are toys - props. That is, if I build a car in Second Life, it is only pretend - I don't need the car to get around, I can fly and teleport, so it's just a nice made up thing.

When I was at 'May You Live in Interesting Times' in Cardiff last October, the group I was with were talking about the difference between gaming/performance and art. Blast Theory were at the festival presenting Can You See Me Now, a performance game that exists both in the real world and virtually. It's a kind of 'tig' game, with players on the streets and online occupying the city and a 3-d representation of the city respectively. If you compare it to, for example, a Zelda game, there is a subtle difference. In Can You See Me Now, you play as yourself, and your tactical and even moral choices within the game are yours. If you play Zelda, you are a player 'playing' Link, in Link's world, with Link's concerns and character traits.

Second Life strikes a strange space in-between. In the world, I can have a Virtual Cardiff if I want, and an almost completely open ended experience. I can't however play as myself. That is, I can't go in as Gareth Howell, there are a set of predefined names I must use. To my constant regret and embarrasment, I am now Gareth Shatner in Second Life. Then there is the generic avatar, which looks nothing like me, which is probably a good thing! - And if I change my hair, jacket, bum and belly size or whatever in SL, it's unlikely I'm going to choose my standard issue George @ ASDA jeans, so I become a character. Like if I'm in a game. Or a play.

So then, if I'm in the game, as a character, then make that character dress up and act as another character, we're back to the Superman analogy. In Machinima, we're making characters who serve a narrative, and have motivations, gestures and 'voice' which are not me (as the player).
However, I guess Gareth Shatner is me. Or is he? I'd never dream of saying 'LOL' to anyone, or breakdancing at a meeting, and try as I might, I can't fly. Gareth Shatner can. And he can build things, and he can lose 10lbs just by dragging a slider. And he's an actor. In Machinima films. I hate him!

So where do I sit in this? I'm not the director, 'cos I can only control Shatner, not the rest of the cast. I've decided that in Second Life, I'm like Jiminy Crickett, or the Numskulls. And the monitor in my office is actually inside Shatner's head, just behind the eyes. That makes me feel good, because I was getting all confused!

Remember the Golem I was on about? Here's the doodle of him and the magician that sprang my insomnia last week.

Here's him a bit nicer...












And here's him cynically reworked to cash in on another card frenzy invented by Clinton's.













The other night when I was walking home (and not even drunk!), I found myself trying to walk like him, practising for the day I don the ultra-lycra Motion Capture suit. I really do wish I could lose 10lbs by dragging a slider!

Hi, welcome to my blog!

I thought i'd add some doodles to show the kind of work I'm making. You can also see my film 'How it was that we got to be Angels' if you follow the link on the left.





All images copyright Gareth Howell. PLease don't use them without asking me first!