Comic Books – Part I

I am currently making a comic book. It has been in the works for months now, but I am finally at a point where I have something I can share with everyone. It is not completely done yet, but the storyline is and that is the first part of my comic book how to series. My idea to make a comic book came from an event that happened last year. I was putting food in my worm bin (Literally, a bin full of worms that you put food into. They eat the food and turn it into castings which is extremely rich fertilizer.) when I noticed a strange shaped worm wiggling around. I picked it up with my shovel and saw that it was one worm with four ends all attached in one spot. I examined it a little longer, took a picture of it, and put it back in the bin. I told everyone about my worm and most people gave me a strange, grossed out look when I described it, but a few people offered suggestions as to how it mutated. Some of these theories were pretty funny, and I wrote them down along with a little sketch. That is how the idea to create a comic book about a mutated worm began.

When I was a kid, I liked to the read the comics in the Sunday paper, but I didn’t like comic books. The graphic superhero books were too violent and the wholesome Archie books were too boring. It wasn’t until I was in a small library in Utah that I found a comic book I liked. It wasn’t the typical type of comic book. It had a hard cover, was over thirty pages and was full of collages and pen and ink drawings. The book was titled “100 Demons” and I loved it. It was interesting and beautiful. Ever since then I have had a completely different idea of what it means to illustrate a story using frames. This book has been a source of inspiration for me as I write my comic book and decide on the illustration style I want to use. As you start your book, I suggest looking at other comics, children’s books, and illustrations. It is good to have an idea of the type of style you want your book to have. Is it graphic, cartoonish, artful, or none of the above? Next, is the story writing.

First, you need a general idea or theme for your comic. Mine is about a mutated worm. He is the underdog that has not come to terms with all of his limbs and how they can be of use to him. The overall theme is of determination, discovery, and has a lot of educational tips as well.

Next, you need a plot. This is a depiction of the drama and it’s resolution. Adding twists and turns always makes for a more interesting story and, of course, a surprise ending is always fun. With the plot you must establish the setting (where and when it takes place) and the characters in the story, especially the protagonist and antagonist. My story is going to take place in a worm bin, in a basement in a house in Philadelphia. It is summer. The protagonist is the mutated worm, the antagonist is the unknown. The story begins with the mutated worm not fitting into his environment. He meets a friend along the way that helps him out. Just when things are looking up, a horrible thing happens in the bin and the mutated worm decides to take action. Worms are very soft-bodied, calm, slow moving organisms who do not cause problems or make a fuss. All but one special worm.

Now that your story has a life and some characters, you should develop the main characters more. For this exercise I am writing what was given to me by my mother, an English teacher. She gives this to her students when they do creative writing projects. I am putting all of this in here because I think this is the most important part. The character development will shape the way the story will evolve, how they will interact with the other characters, and even the illustration style.

Writing a character sketch.

Elements: what does the character look like, what does the character say, what do they do, what do they think or feel, what do others say about the character, what traits make the character a hero/heroine?

Here are some examples of traits: shy, courageous, aloof, confident, withdrawn, brave, caring, angry, selfish, prankster, fashionable, sincere, sly, stubborn, smart, devious, crafty, aggressive.

Name at least two important character traits and at least three examples to support these traits.

Example: Mutated Worm is smart, brave, and withdrawn. He can figure his way out of the worm bin and outwit a fruit fly. He will help the rest of the worms in the bin instead of waiting for another to do it. He will do it alone if he has to. He has a lot of food allergies and does not look like the other worms. He can’t seem to do anything right or keep a job. He is smart but maybe too smart. He asks questions you are not supposed to ask and wants to know the answers. His other limbs are his cohorts. One limb is shy and does not want to get into trouble or attract attention. The other limb is always curious, has a knack for saying the wrong thing, and is the instigator. He is also the smallest limb.

Once a character sketch is done for at least the protagonist and their companion or the antagonist, then get started on writing the story. I started my story with an introduction since this is my first comic in a possible series. It begins with a look at the universe and comes all the way down to a single worm. This was done to show how the size of one’s body is not as important as the size of your heart and intelligence. Then, I separated my story into segments so that I knew how many pages my story would be and how to set up the frames when I start to sketch the book out. For instance, the first page is my introduction and the setting. The second page starts with the main character’s current situation and how he is dealing with it. The next pages will go into why the worm can’t keep a job or fit in, and then what happens in the bin that makes the worm the hero. Don’t forget that if you plan on making your comic an actual printed book, you will probably be stapling the pages together in the center. That means you will take a few large sheets of paper and fold it down the middle, line them all up, and put a staple through them in the center (over the fold). This is the type of binding comic books use and is the cheapest. However, this also means that the number of pages in your book has to be a multiple of four. This is because each she of paper is folded in half and creates two spreads. Some solutions to this problem is to use the inside front cover as the first page of your story or as a writer’s note (depending on whether you are trying to save space or need extra space) and to do something similar for the inside back cover. Another suggestion is to start the introduction to the comic on the cover. The best thing to do is avoid it while you are still in the writing phase of the book and plan accordingly.

Start writing your story and developing your characters. The next post will be about sketching the frames, different layouts for your page, illustration styles, camera angles, illustration supplies and printing the book.

Collage Greeting Cards

I do not know where or when the act of note giving originated, but it is a part of our American culture. People give cards with presents, to celebrate holidays, as a thank you and so on. I never understood why my mother sent a Christmas card in the mail to all our family members when she knew we would be seeing them (and giving another card to them) on Christmas Day. Often times it is expected to give a card, and sometimes even considered rude not to. I feel this is the reason why the act of card giving has lost it’s sentimental value. It is now one more chore you have to do. This not only takes the fun out of giving cards, but also out of receiving them. Who really wants a card from the dollar store with your cousin’s name scribbled at the bottom? Unless your cousin is famous, and his signature is worth something, not many. This is what led me to making my own greeting cards. I put the fun back into card giving as well as the sentimental value. Well, that and the fact that I didn’t want to spend $50 on greeting cards one holiday season.

I have gone through many phases when it comes to making cards. First, I tried making the cute, scrap book looking ones with the pretty papers and little flowers glued to them. That proved to take too long because who owns all those little fancy papers anyway? Not a college student. Then, I went through a small card phase. Every card was really small and therefore cute, because everything that is a quarter of it’s normal size is cute, or so I thought. That worked well, and left me with little space to write which was good since I usually find all that open space on the inside of a card somewhat daunting. Next, came my watercolor phase where every card was a small painting, and then my cut paper cards. These last two were the most time consuming of them all and I began designing one card and doing the same for everyone due to time constraints.

The idea for collage greeting cards came from one I saw made for a friend of mine. I liked the idea of taking an old card, say one of the money cards you received from a relative that just has their name scribbled at the bottom, cutting pieces from it, and making it into something a little more memorable for someone you care about. To make one of these cards you will need: glue stick or rubber cement, magazines, old greeting cards, postcards, construction paper, or any other type of paper that you are ok with cutting up, and scissors. As a quick warning, be careful with the type of glue you use. White glue will also work, but depending on how thick the paper is, it may make the card bubble and curl up when dry.

First, you want to take either construction paper or some type of heavy cardstock for the base of the card. Fold the paper over and trim it to the size you would like the card to be. Also, remember that cards can be horizontal and open at the top or vertical and open on the side. Next, start looking for images that have patterns and colors you think the person receiving the card would like. I like to crop images so that you cannot tell exactly what you are looking at or rotating an image so that a photo of a sky is upside down or sideways. Although you can find some beautiful photographs in magazines such as Smithsonian, the cards are more about your creative input, not the photography. Sometimes I cut out phrases and key words that I like and form my own messages that don’t make a lot of sense, but are fun to read. Other times, I just spell out the person’s name in different letters and put a few words I like scattered around the card. The personality of the person I am making the card for always affects what colors and patterns I use.

All that is left now is the assembly. Once you have everything cut out, or a few key images, you can begin gluing the card together. Make sure to let the images hang off of the sides of the card. When it is all dry, trim the edges so that it is neat and straight. I like to fold the card and then trim the edges so that one side isn’t longer than the other.

That’s about it. Now you have a card. I hold on to old greeting cards and use the inside text for specific things I want to say such as “Happy birthday.” Sometimes I leave a blank space so I can write whatever I want. It’s up to you as to how you want to convey your message.

For the envelope, you can buy a box of them to use for any card you make, or you can make your own. For this you take any envelope and open it up completely so all the flaps are unfolded. This is a free stencil of an envelope. To make it the size of your card, scale the width and height of the large, center rectangle to be a quarter of an inch larger than your card. The flaps will need to adjust accordingly. The possibilities for the envelope itself are endless. The flap can be straight or pointed. It can be different colors or have an inside color. Remember to check the post office guidelines before mailing. There are size, thickness, and color restrictions. As long as you keep it a light color, an average size, and do not make it a square you should be fine. You can also take it to your local post office to be sure.

The best part of the process, is giving someone one of your cards and watching them enjoy looking at it. This is a project that is hard to mess up. All you need are a few colorful pictures, some wacky phrases when taken out of context (in one card I used “be well” from a tea package) and you have a thoughtful present for anyone.

How to Make a Blog

This post is about how I made this blog and what I learned along the way. I am going to suggest that you use WordPress, of course. That is what my blog is on. It is a great site. However, there are other sites like Blogger.com that are also very easy to use. If you go with another site, and later decide to move your blog to WordPress, some sites let you switch your posts over pretty easily. Since I have an account with WordPress, this is the one I am going to be using as my example.

First, you have to set up an account. With an account, you can create an unlimited number of blogs. When you visit your blog, it will have an ordinary, default theme for the design. You can pick a different theme to use and, depending on the theme, change it up a little bit. However, in order to really make some design decisions, you have to pay to change the CSS. Now, if you have no idea what CSS is, then don’t even bother with it right now. My frugal side beat out my designer side, and I decided not to give WordPress any money. Instead, I chose a theme that had a header because you can import your own image and replace the default header and then narrowed down my choice to the theme that had the title for the blog at the top.

The post section allows you to easily post an article on your blog. You create a heading and then just start writing. There are a few text editing options and most of the buttons are self explanatory. WordPress also has an easy-to-use and understand help section for all of this. Once your post is written, read it over once or twice for spelling and grammar corrections, and then look to the right for more options. You have an option to post your blog immediately or save it and post it later. Below that, you can type in tags for your blog. These are keywords and short phrases used to describe your post. If a search is done on a topic your blog is about, using tags to hi-lite keywords is a good way to make sure your blog shows up in the search or a good way to describe your post in a few words. Below the tag box is the category box. This allows you to keep your blog organized and make it easy for people to find posts under a specific topic.

If you want your blog to be more complicated, you can also add pages. These pages are not additional blogs but just a blank page to put on it whatever you want, and essentially create a website. You can decide whether your home page shows your blog, or if you want it to be another page. You have to go to the Appearance section to change this and it is laid out for you step-by-step in the help section. Your pages can be about yourself, the blog, your personal business, or almost anything. However, if you want to get rid of “wordpress” in your URL, you have to pay to purchase your own domain name, something you can do through WordPress. This site is now becoming a cheap and easy way to create a website, not just a blog. If you decide to go this route, just remember that you will not be able to get rid of the WordPress loook of it completely. You can pay extra to change the CSS, but you cannot delete the text at the bottom that says wordpress and who designed the theme, you can only make the size of the font really small.

Now, that’s not all. In addition to WordPress.com, there is also a WordPress.org. They are essentially the same site. It is the same company and the interface is almost identical. This service is for those who still do not know much about web design, but want a website that they can easily edit, or for those who want a more complicated blog. With WordPress.org, you must buy a domain name and have web hosting. You can either purchase it right before you start, or use an already existing account, just make sure they fit WordPress’s requirements.

If a simple blog is what you are looking to start, go to wordpress.com, create an account and get to it.

Mosaics – The Frugal Way

Mosaics are an interesting art form. The various types of materials you can use are endless. Some are very detailed and extremely complicated in design. Others are abstract and made of bottles, broken plates, and pieces of ceramic. I always wanted to make a mosaic, but thought it required buying a lot of tools and expensive materials. That was until I read an article about egg shell mosaics.

Egg shells are great for making mosaics for a few reasons. One, they are free if you happen to eat a lot of eggs. Two, they are thin and light, so you can use white glue to adhere them to a surface and they don’t weigh down the piece you are making the mosaic on. Three, they can be painted whatever color you can make with your paints. What more could you want?

These are the materials you will need: white or craft glue, egg shells (preferably in big pieces like after you crack one open not from peeling them), some kind of surface to make your mosaic on, spray paint or acrylic paint in at least two different shades, and a fixative.

I started my project with deciding what kind of surface I was going to make the mosaic on. Mosaics are often seen on furniture, but I have seen walls, floors, flower pots, and picture frames with mosaics on them. For this project I bought a 18″ square table from IKEA in a lime green color. Since the surface was already clean, smooth, and a fun, bright color, I was ready to start my mosaic. If you are using a surface that is not clean and smooth, you have to make it just that. If your piece is wooden, you should sand it down, give it a coat of primer (or if you’re like me, just paint it the color you want and see how well the color shows), and paint it a color you want the surface to be. If it is not made of wood, skip the sanding and primer step and just paint it the color you want it to be. Since we are using egg shells, there is no need for grout, so the surface color of your piece will be seen in between your shells and should be taken into consideration when designing your mosaic.

Next, decide on a color scheme or image for your mosaic. I am more of a fly by the seat of my pants kind of designer, so I went with an abstract image that slowly started to form as I began gluing down the egg shells. I am a strong believer in not over thinking your design and letting it take form as you go. However, there are some amazing mosaics out there that were carefully constructed and well thought out. You be the judge of what type of design you want. You can do some research and look up some mosaics, but I suggest looking at only a few and not trying to copy anything. If you have too detailed of an image in your head, chances are, it’s not going to look exactly as you envisioned, and you will just end up getting frustrated. If you still do not know what you want to do for a design, look at some art nouveau designs, fabric patterns, or designs from art periods that you love.

Once you know the colors you want to use, buy the spray paint in these shades. If you want to make it easy for yourself, use only two colors for the egg shells and a third color for the surface of the piece. Lay some newspaper outside, place the shells on the paper, and spray them so you don’t see any more white. You will probably need to give them two coats and make sure you rotate them once they are dry to make sure you don’t have any white (or brown) spots.If you want a more complicated design and will be using more than four colors, buy acrylic paint and hand paint the shells.

Now it’s time to make the mosaic. When making a mosaic, it is best to start from the outside and work your way in, but since the pieces are so small and not sharp, it’s not a big deal where you start. I started with blue and green pieces on the outside of the table until I ran out of shells. Then I painted some more shells bright yellow and used them for the center. All you have to do is put a thin layer of glue on the surface, take a piece of the painted shell and flatten it on the surface with your finger. The shell will break into little pieces and you want to make sure they are completely flat against the surface. Since the shells are rounded, you really have to press on them to make sure they will stick.

Once you are done gluing the egg shells on, and the glue is dry, spray or paint the entire piece with a fixative. This is clear and will give the mosaic a nice finish and protect it from getting chipped. I have used both a spray fixative and mod podge and suggest using the spray. It has a more uniform finish and you can buy it in glossy or matte. And that’s it. Your mosaic is finished.

Now that your first egg shell mosaic is complete, try experimenting with the size of the shell pieces and the intricacy of the design. After making this table, I hand painted shells in a variety of colors and shades. I used these pieces to make a mosaic of a Van Gogh painting. It was done on cardboard, I drew a grid on the board to help me map it out, it took forever to do, and it’s still not finished, but it was a fun learning experience. You can also cut out some of the steps from the process and use the natural color of the eggs. When I buy eggs from local farmers at the market, the egg shells are usually a variety of shades of off white and brown. This would make a nice neutral colored piece and natural colors always have a beauty to them that you can never recreate.

Inspiration

This blog stemmed from a conversation I had with my grandmother, otherwise known as Baba. Baba told me that she liked to look in the store windows and see all the fancy designer clothes, furniture, and fabrics for sale. She never bought these things. They were too expensive for her, and she didn’t want them. Baba would look at the dress on the manequin and think to herself, “That dress is nice, but I don’t like this part.” When she got home, the fabrics would come out and she would get to work on making herself a dress like the one she saw in the window but the yellow lace would be replaced with another type of fabric and of course it would have pockets, you should always have some kind of pocket she says.

I listened to my grandmother talk, and smiled because I think the same way. When I shop, it’s not so much me buying things I like, but me looking at what is in the stores and recording the things I do and don’t like. I pick apart the designs and think about how I could make it better. This becomes a problem when I actually need to buy something. I know what I want and trying to find it in a store is difficult. This is why I make a lot of my own things. Plus I find it satisfying knowing that I created something, it is always a fun learning process full of reading, asking questions (occasionally receiving a demonstration), and experimenting, and I can avoid wasting time going from store to store not finding what I need.

This blog takes you through what I create and shows you how it was made. But before I get started on a project, I think it is important to discuss where you go for inspiration. As I told you earlier, my grandmother receives inspiration from window shopping, as do I. However, this only goes so far as these products are already someone else’s work. Where do you go to find ideas that are all your own? Well, I am always looking. Recently, Philadelphia had an event called Hidden City Philadelphia. The purpose of this event was to make people aware of places considered to be hidden jewels of the city and artists created some type of installation, sound piece, or performance in this space. I attended a few and found it to be absolutely inspirational. I love old buildings and think the wear and tare on paint, signs, and architecture is beautiful as well as makes for good textures when designing. It is up to you to find what inspires your work. Have fun and take pictures to document what you see. It’s always helpful when you can refer back to photos.