I’ve been drawing my Retrofit book for a couple of weeks now, and thought I might share some of my process with you. 

Firstly, here is my desk. It is very tidy. 

Next, this is the view out of my window. I can (and do) stand here for a very long time just watching either the clouds or the rain or the birds or the things moving in the wind. TRUE FACT: the row of roofs on the front of SMOO 6 was drawn from this very spot. Fascinating, I’m sure. Anyway. It’s a good place to stand and stare when you’ve got something else to do. 

The comic… Although I have an idea where this particular story is going, and a rough idea in my head about how each page will play out, I’m still making a lot of it up as I go along. I do this by scribbling on bits of paper and thinking and wringing my hands and prevaricating a lot. 

Then I rule out the page and draw things. I’m drawing at just over A4 size at the moment, at about 125% (I think) of what will be the print size. You can see a finished page and its thumbnail in this picture: 

My process at the moment is quite stripped back. Other than a pencil sharpener and a ruler, my only tools are a 4H pencil for light outlines, a 6B pencil for ‘inking’, and an eraser. 

I’m trying not or over-draw things before I get to the ‘finished page’. I guess the analogy would be with music – trying to get as close to the energy of the first take, warts and all. I’m tired of putting myself in situations where I’ve over-complicated an approach to drawing that makes me sad or anxious or angry when it goes wrong. This, for now, feels a good way to draw. I find it very mindful and relaxing*. 

Here are some finished pages:

I’ve done about 16 pages now, so I’m about halfway there. Once I’ve done all 36 or so in this way, I might go back and add a bit of texture with the side of the pencil – some shadows, motion, that sort of thing. Then I’ll do the lettering. I’m keeping a note of the written narrative as I go a long, but sentences are coming and going. It’s an act of distillation - a bit like poetry, I guess – where you balance what you need to say with words for the story, versus what you’ve already said with an image, versus what they might say together, in harmony or juxtaposition.

The story is going to be called ‘Grand Gestures’. It’s fictional, but may also be the most personal thing I’ve done to date, so there we go. It’ll be out in the Spring. 

*I’ve come to love the process of drawing. But that doesn’t mean I’m not wracked with the usual self-doubt, besieged by self-criticism, demanding unattainable standards of myself or wanting to pack in the whole thing and live in a hole – I am still a cartoonist, after all.

While drawing Smoo #3, I ended up going back to pages I thought I had finished, scrapping them, and then redrawing them. This was a pretty new (and unenjoyable) experience to me: although I intuitively knew that this was what proper folks called ‘editing’, I had previously planned my comics to the point where I  knew just what was happening on each page, and was happy to get scribbling. Smoo #3, on the other hand, was a little more ad hoc, and I was coming up with layouts as I started to pencil. I’m not so sure I like it that way and consequently, things went awry. In fact, if I’m honest, I’m sick of the sight of these later pages, even now, given the distraction to which they drove me. Naughty Simon, rushing things.

Anyway, the first image below is the original page I had drawn for Fake Blues Pt. 2. I quickly figured it lacked the impact or dynamism it needed, and with curse words and a sense of panic, I decided to do it over again. The second image is the page as it finally appeared in Smoo #3. Of course, looking at it now, I can see how to improve that version, too…

Process, Process, Process

When I first started Smoo Comics in 2007, I had very little idea of how on earth one could ever go about producing a comic. I had no idea that artists’ often drew originals somewhat larger than their eventual published sizes, for example, and very little idea about anything else, either. It was to this end that I remember finding Kazu Kibuishi’s process page, in which he detailed how he produced Copper, immensely illuminating and inspiring: revisiting it also makes me want to do a process post too, for people like me who don’t really know what they’re doing.

Given the present paucity of my own process related pearls of wisdom, I’m staving that particular ambition for the time being. In the meantime, here are some process pictures from #3. It turns out I really should get a scanner to capture these pencils in their barely-there glory rather than taking low-res photos of them, but you know, DIY, and all that.

Things I’ve read and stuff:

In other news, I’ve recently discovered the work of Jason Martin (who is awesome). His Laterborn mini-comic has been one of my favourite purchases of recent times. I suggest that if you’re a fan of Jeffrey Brown or King-Cat, then you will probably like Laterborn, which both speaks to, and distinguishes itself from, the work of those two other artists in a wonderfully confident, yet understated way. There’s some reviews over at Optical Sloth, should you need persuading.

I’ve also been keeping watch on Rob Jackon’s blog for updates on his latest stuff , too, and there seems to plenty going on, including fantastic tales of both the futuristic and goblin-related varieties. The Gin Palace Anthology also seems to be shaping up very nicely. Go see!

I’ve also enjoyed reading funny stuff from Alex Potts and the verdant verbiage of Jim Medway’s Garden Funnies mini-anthology. I’ve also, once again been blown away by Kevin Huizenga’s Ganges #3: it’s the kind of thing that both makes you want to give up drawing altogether and inspires you to hit the Bristol Boards and do something of your own. Oh and Blammo! I read Blammo: you should too.

I’ve also been listening to Touching Earth Made of Steel, whose second record, “The Carl Wilson Lake Mystery” is just as good as this review says that it is. Check them out!

Mostly, though, I’ve been writing my PhD. You can stop yawning now.