Doppo Page Two Plus Other Stuff

Another page from the unfinished Doppo story.I actually really like it but the story wasn't there. So it goes on my pile of work to return to and rethink at a later point. I have at least a dozen projects at this level. The trick is keeping notes on all these things. I sometimes stumble on old ideas in sketchbooks I've completely forgotten.

So at the moment I'm working mainly on Maddy Kettle. I finally got the story completely hammered out with Top Shelf and I'm so excited.  Because editing took so long the book will likely take a bit longer to complete than I thought. But I want to put out a great book so it'll be worth it. I've also decided on an agent, which is a huge relief. I'll post more on this as everything's finalized but as it stands I have a fantastic contract that puts me exactly where I want to be career wise.

I'm actually feeling pretty fatigued these last couple of weeks after all the agent hunting, contract hunting and all the worry involved. There is nothing more exhausting than the business side of work. Stress will wear me down ten times faster than actual toil.

Doppo In The Tundra

Here's a comic I started while waiting to hear from editors, it's always good to have these kinds of side projects. Unfortunately I lost interest in this one about four pages in, which happens sometimes. To me it means the story isn't right. At this point I put the pages away to pick up at some later point to reconsider. My intent was to do these stories in pencil and then work on them in Photoshop. I'm attempting this technique with another story now.

Showing The Swans how It's Done

I'm In A Book!

What a cool project to be a part of! Thanks so much to J Torres for getting me involved and thanks to the Kings and Queens of Gabba land for letting me play there. This is a wonderful book. You can order it here. This is actually my first time published by a major comic book publisher. I'm very happy!

What I'm Reading

The Shadow Speaker

Henry has decided we should all be up at 5:30 this morning so I'm here yawning and befuddled. Julie is " a bit of a mess" But the day has started with or without us so here I am.

Above is the Shadow Speaker from the comic I've been working on. I've made several attempts at this comic and so far nothing is quite how I want it but I'm still trying. I like the fully digital art I did but I find it takes too long, it's so precise. So now I'm trying a combination of pencil and digital. Hopefully this is something I can sustain. I'm also considering publishing and thinking about self publishing it in 30 pages collections as well as online. still thinking about it.

Happy Easter All!

Struggling to get some work done is a usual Holiday activity for me. Just finished brunch and am now struggling against a looming nap.

More Pages From Draft One Of Shadow Speaker/Talker

Here are some more penciled pages from Shadow Speaker (Talker? I'm still not sure yet)that were rejected. I think there's some nice stuff here but it wasn't what I wanted so i needed to go back and start over.

Shadow Speaker Take One

My first try at the ghost story comic book I wrote, Tales From The Shadow Talker. There were a number of things I liked about this first attempt but all in all it was verging too close to a realistic style, which is something I revert to when I'm uncertain of something. I get too tight. When I went back and redid it digitally, the results were far closer to what I wanted. I also felt the rhythm was a bit off here. It often takes a few tries to get something. Whenever I go back to the drawing board writing revisions are also almost always inevitable as well. No idea why that happens. You can see the revised first page here.

Right now I'm reading Dick Briefer's Frankenstein which is a wild fun collection of comics. Ben Towle sent me this link about it this morning. Interesting stuff!

Hound Dog

A favorite of mine.

Drawing Things Down

Working on proposals and personal work today. Not much to report.

Snowstorm in Spring

A character sketch for a project I'm working on. Inspired first by Inuit masks and later by Studio Ghibli spirits. A new little comic I've been working at between things that I'll let loose sooner or later.It's still snowing today and it's the 19th of April. I didn't even have that in mind when I drew this, which goes to show how little of what I do is conscious. I think.

Polar Bear In Bird Disguise

A sketch from my sketchbook, played with in Photoshop, for a proposal I'm working on. I'm mostly working on developing stuff these days. Hopefully I'll have some more news soon.

The Lost Monster

A sketchbook sketch coloured in Photoshop. The weather was so dreary yesterday I just wanted to watch movies and eat popcorn. I managed to get some drawing done too. Thinking of ways to start getting more projects out there. It's such a tough market right now you have to think beyond the way you'd normally approach things.

At Night In The Cemetery

Here's an illustration I did for a project that never happened. I think it's vague enough you can't really tell what the project was.

This is all digital, done in Photoshop.

Mary Of The North

Apparently Mary is a pretty popular Inuit name.... A character for my Doppo stories which appear to be writing themselves. I won't complain.

Also, my friend Drazen was just interviewed in a Chinese arts magazine. Check out this beautiful spread. 

The Old Wall Two

Another portfolio piece, this one continuing the loose narrative idea of the old wall. I'm doing one more piece in this series and then it all goes in a sendout.

Portfolio Days

Here's another piece I'm working on for my portfolio, part of a three part series. When I'm done these three pictures I'll be putting together a sendout for publishers. This will be about eight pictures. After that I'll be concentrating on proposals.

Feeding The Ducks With Henry

To blow off steam and just have fun Julie, Henry, the dog and I walked down t the park to play on the slide and feed the ducks and swans. So much fun.

Fat Winter; Pencils, Mass Transit, Agents and Phase Two

Above is Doppo the Arctic fox, one of my favorite characters to draw. I probably sketched it in under a minute.

Just got home from the city. I live right on the outskirts and need to travel downtown to get art supplies. I took the GoTrain which is part of Toronto's mass transit system. It goes from here (Etobicoke) to downtown Toronto in about 15 minutes. On the way it winds through all these industrial backlots and crumbling Victorian brick factories. I love that trip. After the train drops me off it keeps going west to Aldershot, which is known for it's military base. I am always tempted to stay on the train and keep going. I almost get overwhelmed with curiosity every time. I've never been that far west and I wonder what's out there.

I went in town to buy pencils. I bought a huge pile of 3Bs which is currently my hardness of choice. Just soft enough to give a rich dark line but not so soft that it disappears in one drawing session, eaten up by the electric pencil sharpener. I also bought jogging pants. This has been one unhealthy winter.

Also, today draws to a close what has become n annual search for an agent. I've had problems with this. It's funny but I have an easier time getting published than I do getting an agent. Whenever I've had a really good idea it never seems to take long to find a home for it. Agencies are different. I don't know why but I have some guesses. I think your relationship with a publisher is short term. You do a book and that's it, no real obligation after that. With agencies it's different, the relationship is meant to be a reciprocal one that ought to last for a long time, years. Another thing is marketing. An agent is as concerned with how well they can market you, maybe more so than how talented you are. And how well an agency can market you can depend on how well you fit into the overall style of artists they already represent. If you're too different than their other artists it can be hard to market you and if you're too close to their current artists it might create redundancy in their agency or even competitiveness.

In any case, this round of agent hunting is over. Now it's phase two. Which is a funny way of saying I'm putting together proposals to send to publishers. So far this has been the most effective thing I've done. I think my ideas are good and publishers like the idea of one person doing both the story and the art for picture books and comic books. I think the industry seems to be moving that way.

Anyway, that's enough rambling for today.

The Old Wall

Another portfolio piece. I really like this character and am thinking of doing a couple more of her.

A Proposed Troll

A first go at a new dummy book. I have a pretty big list of ideas I'd love to do as picture books and chapter books and comics. So hard to get this stuff to reach the right people.

Shadow Talker Page One

Here is the first and only page I finished for the Shadow Talker webcomic I had planned to do this Spring. This page took about five days to do and I soon realized it would be a total disaster to devote myself to this project as well as Maddy Kettle, financially. So I shelved it more or less, I've been continuing to write it and even considering doing it as a middle grade novel. I think the core idea and story are really good and I'd love to tell the story in some way.

This is also the first fully digital comic page I've ever done. I penciled it on one layer and inked it in successive layers.

Looking Over

Here's a sketch for another small portfolio piece I'm working on. This week has been all about catching up. Looking for new projects and ways to get new projects, including getting a new agent. Even with pretty good contacts I feel like I'm spreading myself really thin looking for contracts as well as working in new art. Also, I really want to get more of the current work I'm doing out there.

Full Of Candy

Post Halloween exhaustion! Candy crash! A new portfolio piece! Again, this one's pencil and digital. My confidence with this process is really growing. I've said it before but I have to say it again, this process really helps me do the exact kind of pictures I want. I've always wanted to be able to produce work that shows my drawing prominently but is richly coloured. I couldn't fully pull this off using ink and watercolour or pencil and watercolour because the paint would inevitably hide much of my linework. This has been driving me crazy for years. So, this is closer to what I've had in my head.

What I do is; take these very finished pencil drawings and scan them in. I rework them extensively on the Cintiq using Photoshop (CS4). Reworking the black and white drawing. Mainly I lighten it up with white lines. Part of my preferred technique has always been to go too dark in the initial drawing and then recover the highlights. In the past I've white ink, gouache or acrylic to achieve this. It's much easier using the Cintiq and very easy to correct. I also play with curves quite a bit to get the exposure just right.

I than duplicate the background drawing in another layer and set the blending option to multiply (I think... ) All the colour work is sandwiched between the two layers. This method keeps the colour beneath the linework, so that nothing gets lost beneath the colouring. It's like having two layers of clear paper and the line drawing is sitting on top of the colours, if that makes sense. (I use a lot more than two layers but you get the idea) Each layer of colour is set to a different opacity, I'm going for a slightly washed out look, not overly intense but with moments of richness. This process is just an extension of my traditional work so the learning curve has been pretty gentle.

And if you're wondering this is a bit of an homage to Maurice Sendak.

Following An Idea

Here's a sketch from a book proposal I'm working on right now. I also wanted to share this article on the current difficulties in the comic book field. It's a bit depressing but it's good to know the realities of the field. The important thing I gleaned from this article is the need to be diverse in your work. It seems obvious now but I wish I knew this a few years ago.

And on sort of unrelated news, PIXAR is looking for a sketch artist right now. Google PIXAR sketch artist jobs and you should be able to find it. If you're a student or a practicing illustrator/cartoonist I encourage you to give this a go. I think it'd be a great experience.

New Stuff

Two new pieces I did for my portfolio. I'm trying to get a few simple pieces with children before I move on to more elaborate ones connected to some book proposals I'm working on.

Sick Day

On the weekend Henry had a fever and was just generally sick. So Monday I kept him home. I managed to get lots of work done, surprisingly, but the best parts of the day were hanging out with Henry. Going for a walk just before the rain arrived, drawing on the Cintiq. Henry's all better now but of course I have a cough. Koff koff.....

The New Site Is Up!

Finally! my new site is up at www.ericorchard.ca  and it's one I can edit, so no more anxiety over outdated portfolios online. I used Squarespace, a website creator/host for people who are clueless, like me. I couldn't have done it without lots of help. Michael Startzman gave up some of his time to help me out an get the site the started. He basically did everything. Thanks so much! And Ben Towle led me through the labyrinth that is online portfolios. Thanks Ben!

Good Morning Parrot Sketches

Some sketches for a new portfolio piece I finished this week. I think I'm happier with the bottom sketch here than the finished picture but that happens sometimes. A sketch and a finished piece will both have things I love about them and I can never seem to get all those things in one image.

"Another Robot Daddy!"

Last week Henry sat down on my chest while I was laying on the couch sketching for a project and proceeded to demand I draw robot after robot for him. "Another one, Daddy!" He yelled. It was actually really fun. Henry loves robots.

Zoom! April Fool's Cold!

Here is a sketch for a portfolio piece I started and that went totally off the rails. Meaning it didn't work out. Which is fine, a lot of my stuff doesn't work out but I learn a lot from these pieces and many of them I still like even if they aren't good enough to represent me in a portfolio.

About midday yesterday I suddenly felt a cold coming on. It had been sneaking up on me for days, peeking around corners, calling and hanging up but it arrives full fledged in the afternoon. I had got lots of work done but ended up in bed for most of the day. Hoping I feel better today.