Taking Cues from the Greats - Part 2

"I just love Yanina! She's so cute and thick!" [From a dear friend]

"Yanina as goth punk" pencil

I was introduced to R. Crumb or for the uninitiated, Robert Dennis Crumb, in the back of the class in junior high.  

As I continue to draft my webcomic series, Summer to Winter, I have to hearken to my heroes and sheroes in comics.

Now this was the late 1980s and superhero comics were my jam, but I loved comics enough to step out of my comfort zone to read what others were interested in.

"Yanina as goth punk" inked  

 

Enter R. Crumb... For anybody familiar with his work, he tends to draw beefy, meaty, and hairy people, mostly his women being beefy and meaty. 

"Yanina as prep goth" final piece

His women are often tall and curvaceous with imperfections such as moles, an odd angled nose, and exaggerated ethnic facial features. And yes, his earlier works were racist and derogatory, but the volume I viewed opened my mind to how a comic could show a variety of human beings and still make them *seemingly attractive* to take center stage.

"Yanina as prep goth" pencil  

Since I was so used to the so-called ideal perfections of the feminine form in superhero titles from DC and Marvel, 

Crumb's art took me by surprise to see women, and men, with hair on their thick legs, thick lips, protruding nipples through tight shirts, butt crevices in tight pants, shorts, and micro mini skirts.

In comics, I've noticed that regardless of the woman's height and or shape/body type(and even the shapes were severely limited among feminine bodies), comic women were always 110-120lbs.

110-120lbs. Read that again. 110-120lbs. Regardless of body type, shape, height, and age. 110-120lbs. Now, at the time, I'm about 12-14. I don't know why I'm annoyed by this. I just am. 

Even though R. Crumb's beefy, meaty women were not the first outliers I've seen in comic form, they were very rare to me. And certainly not weighing in at 110-120lbs!

Crumb's work is also... A LOT. With such sweaty, hairy, and messy people in these pages came very frank and stark depictions of sexual activity, intensity, and desire. Pun definitely intended that it was naked and raw. With characters fondling, groping, and self-pleasuring...

Comics in the 1980s were viewed through a sexist and prudish lens. I could read comics at home, but outside, it was frowned on for a GIRL to read comics, and more so, such "filth". Male classmates introduced these R. Crumb comics to me, and I remember at the time they thought I shouldn't view them. That they were not for my eyes. Mind you, we were all the same age. I was loud in my demands, and rather than get in trouble for sneaking comics into our school space, they grudgingly let me read over their shoulders. 

R. Crumb's comics were everything that adults who hated the comics media on a whole: unsavory, unflattering, grotesque, obscene, and worst of all, sacrilegious. His comics spoke on religion, and especially his version of Genesis was as unflinching as they came. 

It is no wonder I depict a variety of body types in my own works, especially when it comes to my women, girl, and feminine characters. For which I have received a lot of negative feedback and criticism. 

It is no wonder I draw many of my female/feminine characters the way I do. And write what I write, pushing my own envelope, stretching into unfamiliar storytelling territory, to break out of my own creative comfort zone.

Because I depict my characters in varieties, because no body type is taboo in my stories and illustrations, along with some negative comments, I've received so much more positive criticism and glowing feedback!

If you want to check out more on R. Crumb and his works [I must warn you, if you're easily offended, easily grossed out, and prefer your art/comics to look "clean", "polished",  and without blemish, then his artwork may not be for you. Just saying] - Welcome to rcrumb.com - The Official Crumb Site

Until next time, Dear Readers!

Taking Cues from the Greats

Los Bros Hernandez, or the Brothers Hernandez(Gilbert, Jaime, and Mario) are legends in the comic book/sequential art world. I posted about them some years ago on this blog. 

Right now, as I draft this webcomic series, Summer to Winter, I have to hearken to my heroes and sheroes in comics.

[FROM MY TWITTER PAGE]Here is what I tweeted earlier today:

Taking cues from #LosBrosHernandez 'Playbook' by showing a character going thru physical time, changing emotions, in just a few panels. Will speak more on this soon on 'Pretty in Print' #blog - inprettyprint.blogspot.com "Summer to Winter" by C. K. F. Welsh Jr(1/2022). #FurryComic

"Peter's discontent"(Summer to Winter) P1

"Peter's discontent" (Summer to Winter)P2

What I mean is, if you're familiar with The Hernandez Brothers, and in my case, I mean Gilbert and Jaime, this pivotal scene involves my male love interest and how, even though he seems to have it all, he does not have it ALL. He has loving family and friends, good looks, he's from old money, and he doesn't lack in dates and casual hook-ups. But he knows he's lonely and there's something missing. 

I took a cue from how Gilbert and Jaime show the passages of time and corporeal space in just a few panels, but the emotional impact within the characters is enough to stun the reader. I'm no Hernandez, but, I hope by remembering how the Hernandez's brothers' techniques they use in their collected works, series, one-shots, crossovers, and universes, that I did this two-pager, in showing Peter's emotional state versus how glamorous his life seems to be, justice.

When You Find the Sweet Spot

 When you find that sweet spot during creating

As some of you may know, I work occasionally on some comic stuff. Not professionally, but my own stories. I've gotten two comic strips published (one became shortlisted in a humor contest) and I've been creating a slow and infrequent stream of comics over time.

For one particular fellowship I applied for, I created a 20-page graphic novel within a month and a half. Let me say I will not do that again! I didn't get the reward, but I learned more about myself as an artist in a more urgent medium. Similar to when I am involved in Inktober, the October event where artists globally participate by creating an ink illustration a day.

Why am I saying all this?
That's because I think I found the style I needed for one particular story. Tentative title is "Summer to Winter" and it's from my main character's poem. She falls in love for the first time and with her high school  homeroom teacher. Before you screech to a halt, don't worry, I don't normalize abusive relationships in my stories. As a writer, I try to depict violence for what it is - something abnormal that can be overcome through solidarity, healthy emotional support systems, and the idea that the vulnerable and the oppressed need protecting as well as dignity and respect.

During graduation, she lets her teacher know how she feels about him before they part ways. They keep in contact during her college years but part ways again before both come back into each other's life through a crisis. Eventually, through trial and error, they become a couple. The story does not end there. There are other secondary and tertiary characters involved in their own romances and who get their own stories told but all eventually revolve around the former student and her former teacher's romance because the other cast members were from her class or her school.

This story started in the early 2000s and because I wanted to be one of the next U.S. manga creator, I purchased actual comic paper from my local comic bookstore. I tried inking with nibs -you know, dipping nib pens into ink bottles?- I even used an ink wash with paintbrushes. Yes, I was INSANE.

It turns out that it took me a month to create ONE PAGE. A MONTH. I would need 200 years of life to complete this story, so I scrapped it!

Years later, I tried a line art style. Black lines, solid blacks balanced with white. That worked for a time. I worked on regular-size art paper. I created more pages, however, the plotting was all wrong. The pacing had slowed, character motives weren't clearly thought out, it looked good and I was happy with the new look but I wouldn't want to submit this anywhere.

I scrapped it once again. I worked on other things. The same journals I used for other stories, I began scripting some of the more complex comic stories. I applied for freelance work. I submitted to contests, fellowships, and grants (I'm going back to applying for writing grants - wish me luck!). I also worked on other stories and submitted to publications.

And then I opened an Instagram account so I could show partials, unfinished sketches, draft pieces and progressions that I didn't want on my DeviantArt account. That's when I noticed the feedback I received from followers, friends, and colleagues. Another artist friend suggested using markers. I used to use them as a kid but now there were even more sophisticated types and different brands. They can make a piece resemble ink work, ink wash, watercolor, acrylics, and even pastels. Let me try some other formats! Let me experiment and since Instagram isn't commitment, dabble and see the responses.

Former student: This doesn't look like a draft! It looks finished! It looks professional! What markers are these?
Friends: I love your comics! Amazing outcome! Dreamy, steaminess, and romantic.
Colleagues: I know this character is your ideal man. You made this man good looking in just a few strokes. What materials do you use?

Pretty positive and a boost to the confidence I needed to try again. I have also been advised by peers and students as to how to market and I'm doing my research as I go. I also found some illustrator-friendly software while I was researching the software that would makeover my website, so I need to practice that as well.

And as always, thank you for sticking with me. In which ever format this comic story appears, I will let you, my dear readers, know the links and where to view and/or buy it.

A pleasure as always.

I Completed A 20-page Graphic Novel!

Month of February was both a difficult month emotionally, mentally, and physically for me.

I won't get too much into one of the reasons but I can talk about the other reason: I worked on a 20-page graphic novel! It was a rush job as I only had roughly two months to complete it.

Instead of using my special micro nib pens for inking, I decided to use my double-head black designer markers instead. It gave a children's book feel. I drove this idea home especially that I used a junior high school-aged Latin-American boy as protagonist.

I had my mom and five co-workers read the graphic novel and received only positive and heartfelt feedback!

The application package had four deadlines and, on my part, I completed the cover sheet, my bibliography, a resume, and the work sample (graphic novel)! I already had an appointment with a professor colleague who worked on my letter of recommendation. I only have one letter left. That deadline isn't until the first day of next month.

I posted cropped pages of the comic on my Instagram (@Handdrawnbycarmenjr) since it's in the submission process.

Please wish me luck and keep your fingers crossed!

Inktober 2017 - Part 2

Inktober 10/2017

Inktober 10/2017

Inktober 10/2017

Inktober 2017 - Part 1

Doing something different. Will post more than one item per post so my dear readers and visitors can get more bang for their buck!

Note: My years of artwork can be seen on DeviantART. However, since I haven't uploaded these Inktober 2017 pieces yet, they made their debuts on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram! But you, my readers, can enjoy them here!

Inktober 10/2017

Inktober 10/2017

And as always, leave comments and I'll be sure to respond!*

*Be kind and be professional