I did this sketch a long time ago, found it a couple of weeks ago and though I’d actually finish it. Not that I have yet… I did however start to play around with some values and coloring. This is what I have so far. I’d love some input on what direction to go with. I’ll put up another one with some color as it progresses.

This “cover” was a way to test out a style I was hoping to illustrate a shorter story I’ve been dabbling with. If it ends up well, we might get to see a whole, shorter comic in this style. Sounds exciting, right? But don’t pop the bubbly until I actually finish something. I have a bad habit of not doing that lately. But, this is something at least.

Have a superb Christmas and a happy new year!

God jul och Gott nytt år

I simply wish, to wish the few people struggling to read these articles a wonderful Christmas and a very happy new year. Who knows what it might bring.

Lastly, a little digital greeting from the depths of Sweden.

God jul och Gott nytt år

So, here we go. I started playing around with some one page stories. Actually more to improve my drawing technique, but I felt one of them could end up telling a cute story. Time will show if it does.

I also felt like trying out something I never had before. Acrylics. I went and bought some canvas and paint, brewed myself some coffee and got to work. At first I felt like a drunk infant with two left hands. After a while, it started to feel a little bit more natural, but it was still all trial and error. I came this far before calling it quits for the night.

I am pretty disappointed with the composition, values and color and decided I wasn’t gonna give up on the piece. So I redrew a small sketch to try and fix the fundamental things I felt went wrong in the first attempt. I’m basically only gonna mention compositional errors, as listing all the things that went wrong with the actual painting and color mixing might make the Internet run out of characters.

Ignoring color and perspective from now, let’s start over and go back to composition. This is what I plan on improving for the next attempt:

1. The last attempt lacked any interesting depth, I’m moving the house cliff further into the distance to add some depth.

2. Shape the composition to help the eye travel along a curve that motions towards the house.

3. Give the house some more space. Re-crop the picture a little bit.

4. Rework some of the values to make sure the right things pop and creates points of focus.

I guess that’s it for now, let’s see if I can keep the posts coming this time, I for one hope so. And, hey, if you do like or don’t like what you are seeing/reading, by all means, let me know.

As you were.

The lack of dialogue in sequential storytelling puts an enormous emphasis on actions and settings, making it vital to the story that these are easily comprehensible. The medium doesn’t express emotions and actions in the fluid sense that film does, but still needs to convey these emotions or actions by utilizing the one frame that captures the essence of the action. This demands a certain sophistication and consideration from both the author and reader as they both need to agree on how a few pictures can convey elaborate emotions and intensive actions. This collaboration between reader and author is true in all kinds of storytelling, but in the cases of those without dialogue, it needs to be particularly fine tuned.

“The absence of any dialogue to reinforce action serves to demonstrate the viability of images drawn from common experience”.

— Will Eisner

If executed well, this pantomime storytelling has the possibility of reaching a worldwide audience, giving every reader, regardless of language skills, the possibility of absorbing the story and its message. This is a perfect example of the medium’s power.

I recently went on a short vacation to Palma, Mallorca. Besides the numerous hours spent exploring the towns local galleries and cultural activities wolfing down tapas and sippin’ rum and coke, I took the time to visit the La Seu Cathedral. The cathedral itself was rather breathtaking, but something in the entrance caught my eye. Among a bunch of 13 century paintings of saints and virgins being impaled by arrows, I found a pantomime sequential narrative. A rather gory one.

At a first glance most frames look alike, but after reading it with the focus and concentration that a pantomime story requires, I found that it read surprisingly well because of one main reason: The use of symbolism in order to convey ideas and actions. The artist rendered the action of burning flesh to the simple image of smoke, the action of flogging with an image of a whip, and divinity with a halo. The lack of closeups, and the restrictions of the artist and the canvas makes this usage of graphical elements essential to conveying the story properly. For example, without smoke, skin being burned by a hot iron could be read as simply prodding. Without the halo, a saint turning into a martyr could be a criminal receiving his punishment.

Here’s the photo in higher resolution for those interested in closer peeks.

The story is being created by the reader each time it’s read, making it oh so important for the author to “guide” the reader down the plot he wishes to convey. When dialogue isn’t an option, breaking down actions and items to the essential basics can help the masses of readers interpret the story.

So what are the conclusions I’ve made when it comes to pantomime sequential storytelling? To begin with, it’s a long word. Secondly, it’s important to keep actions and expressions simple and slightly exaggerated, in order to have one pose, item or icon to convey the desired action. Also, to not let environments and scenery disturb the reader from the main message. And lastly, to draw and write for the reader, using all the tools mentioned above to help him form the story. The reader will interpret the imagery according to his own experiences. Help him draw the the right conclusions.

1. Keep actions and expressions simple and slightly exaggerated.

2. Don’t let environments and scenery disturb the reader from the main message.

3. Draw and write for the reader, as he will interpret the imagery according to his own experiences.

I had the intention to create a pantomime story of my own for this article but I’ve unfortunately been swamped in work. I suppose I did find a little time between work, worshiping the sun and complaining I got sunburned. To be honest I actually cheated and found this year old little narrative I drew one rainy day at the country side. It’s simple, not too exciting but works as an example to the guidelines mentioned above.

Here’s a version in higher resolution.

I started with establishing the character in the scenery, still keeping it simple (This is also the place i’ve reserved for the title “Minor Miracles”). Right now the scenery is not that important, as long as I communicate the well, and the boy heading for it, it’s enough for now. Then I take my time to show the boys intent, slowing time by splitting up the action into 3 frames, letting the reader share the boy’s hesitation of dropping the coin. The coin falling receives a high narrow frame to indicate direction and emphasize the action. Next, the three frames stretch out the action of the boy listening, time moving slower indicated by the movement of the clouds, and the boy’s shift in posture. All expressions and body language are exaggerated to really show the boy going from “hopeful” to “surprised” and to later examine the source of his surprise. He then happily walks away, and now the reader is left wondering what made him so content. Finally in the last frame we receive the explanation as to why in absence of the traditional “plop” the coin made a “ding” sound as it hit the bottom of the well. It landed on its edge on a piece of rock. That wish certainly has to come true. It’s almost a little miracle.

Oh, and before I forget. Susan Bernofsky wrote an article for The Wall Street Journal about how the Donald Duck comics change significantly when translated into german. Susan describes how the liberal translations give them further depth and the characters even start quoting poets and authors. This doesn’t really have anything to do with pantomime storytelling, but it was a darn good read.

See for yourself.

I guess that’s it for now. I’ll try and squeeze the next article in a bit quicker than this one. But considering how I did with this one we should all be happy if I can make it a Christmas special.

After enjoying Michael Chabons “Kavalier & Clay” I’m now finishing of “The Yiddish Policemens Union”. It’s the result of Terry Pratchett making love to a dark crime novel.

The project showcases a multidisciplinary group of passionate artists from across Canada and the United States and is expecting to be available in shops by 2010.

I throw the word “comics” out there and you are all bound to get different associations. What I’m pretty sure of though is that the majority immediately have their thoughts drift towards terms like: super heroes, juvenile, villains, heavy metal, violence and super powers. Not an unexpected association but far from doing the whole medium justice. This prejudice is changing, and boy am I excited about that, but first let’s have a quick look at where it all came from.

This genre of endless heroes, bad guys, guns and sparsely dressed women had it’s major peak during the 1930-40’s, sparked by the release of “Superman” from Action Comics in 1938. Before this both China and Europe saw a big boom in the industry, the perhaps most famous example being Herge’s “Tintin”. Being the most famous of the genres of comic and having the history and spread it once did has left a big impact in what values we associate with the term comics. The industry quickly realized just how much money could be made and comic book companies could literally grow over night. Characters were copied, manuscripts reused, everything to sell as many copies as possible and keep the kids of the world hungry for more heroes. But there was still those who fought to give the medium justice.

In the late 1970’s the term “graphic novel” was popularized, though coined more than two decades before. The term was one of the many attempts artists used to try and distance their more serious, adult work from the abundance of “childish” super-hero comics, “funnies” and daily strips.

Will Eisner, infamous for popularizing the graphic novel, once defined the term “sequential art” as:

“…the arrangement of pictures or images and words to narrate a story or dramatize an idea.”

This I believe is a generalization of the medium and a step away from the, according to me, silly debate on the labeling of different levels of quality of comics. When we start to look at it as simply as this: Comics tells stories with sequences of images and words, we reach the real question of this article. Why are comics considered so inferior to “serious literature” and art?

There are graphic novels worthy of being on any top ten list of literature, cartoonists that should be exhibited and praised to the likes of the artists of “fine arts”. Some of the best stories I ever consumed has been through the medium of sequential art. So why should we let the history of comics affect how we value the quality of its storytelling abilities? It’s absurd. Do we think less of television as a medium because it still airs “Two and a Half Men”? Perhaps, but it’s not TV’s fault that Charlie Sheen is an incompetent turd.

What’s really exciting is that these things are actually starting to happen. Even here in my home country of Sweden, far away from the birthplace of the comics, am I starting to see a higher acceptance of the medium. One of my favorite illustrators Peter Bergting is currently in the making of a graphic novel together with acclaimed writer Jens Lapidus. The project got good press and front page exposure, but was it because of the actual rise of the graphic novel as a medium or Jens’ reputation as a writer? I don’t know but I don’t really care, all this attention is more than I could ask for.

Other international examples are all the comic based stories hitting the big screens. Ever since Frank Millers “Sin City” we’ve been seeing tons of characters and stories with comic origins in the cinemas and on TV: V for Vendetta, 300, Heroes, Hellboy and now recently Watchmen to name a few. Not to exclude such icons as Batman, Superman and X-men. But do the audience of today know where these stories come from? You hear people go “Nah, it wasn’t as good as the book” but have you heard someone say “It was okay, but dude, have you read the comic?!”? Maybe we are starting to.

Is it the bad reputation and the exploitation from the early 20th century that’s been holding the medium back? And are we actually starting to see an increased interest and faith in it? I sure hope so. Ask me, and I believe there shouldn’t be a label or any distinguishes from comics to graphic novels, hell, not even from comics to literature. A lot of great cartoonists, comic writers and sequential artists pour their soul and themselves into their work to the likes of any great writer or artist. Sequential art is exactly that. Art. Anyone who doubts the complexity and depths of comics should definitely read through Scott McClouds “Understanding Comics” and keeping reading my articles before making up their mind.

At the end I suppose it’s all about communicating the story in the best possible way, and I will love and praise any form of storytelling that does. And if it happens to be accompanied by some of the most beautiful visual languages known, I can just linger and enjoy myself a little extra before turning each page.

If you excuse me, I’m off to find a copy of Watchmen before watching the movie…

Sequential storytelling has always been a media of the masses. From ancient hieroglyphs to comic books and do-it-yourself IKEA furniture instructions, these sequential images are so common, they can very easily find their way into the hands of millions. By conveying a story, instructions, or message through a sequence of pictures, the form of sequential storytelling through pictures avoids language and culture barriers, while being economically efficient at the same time. Stories told in visual terms are universally accessible and immediately understandable to a diverse and international audience. Even though some say that a picture doesn’t always succeed to convey a thousand words, language can be just as large of a barrier, especially if those thousand words are written in a language that the reader doesn’t understand.

Picture based storytelling has predated verbal language for centuries, always serving as a direct and efficient manner to communicate ideas and information. From the cave paintings of early man to the ceiling of Rome’s Sistine Chapel, pictures, when linked to convey an overarching narrative, have a unique ability to teach and inspire. So why is it that this media is still struggling to achieve the exposure it deserves?

This wonderful and visually rich media does not only reach its audience in a larger extent than almost any other media, but it’s cheap and works great for educational, editorial, and advertising purposes. So despite all of this, why are juvenile comic books the only thing people associate sequential narrative with? Why are the majority of flight safety pamphlet and instruction manuals so poorly made? And why hasn’t the graphic novel received more notoriety in the literary world? For further reading on sequential narrative versus “proper litterature” and fine arts continue to my other article “Comics, the inferior litterature?”

Picture-based storytelling as a form of media is all around us, and it affects us on a daily basis. However, I simply believe that people take it for granted, and by doing so, we overlook its potential. I think that if we acknowledge the strengths of this media, we can really push its boundaries and help dissolve the idea that “childish comics” should not belong in the modern world of communication. Eventually, maybe we will begin to consider this type of media for what it is:
One of the most powerful means of communication in history.

There’s tons more on the issue of sequential narrative as a mass media and loads of wonderful examples, but I think this is enough for now. It has made me think of another question though, regarding the idea of whether or not sequential storytelling could also be a media created by the masses, basically by people with no artistic background. Hieroglyphs, flight safety pamphlets and graphic novels are all the work of craftsmen. But today, when we mix it with another media of the masses- the internet- we see results such as web-comics, where anyone can publish their work, as editors aren’t necessary and readers are easily found at arms length. What if there was a tool, simple enough for anyone to use, that made it as easy to create sequential narrative as it is to consume it? A thrilling thought, but let’s save that bugger for later.

I hope this was as fun for you to read as it was for me to write. ’til next time!