Weekly Review 5

How much time did you spend on your project?
I spent 5 hours on hands-on and 3 on journals and another 2 on research.

What did you do for hands-on?

Finished a page (inked) and finished a sketch (will be inked by the end of today).

What Research did you do?
I was lent a book by Marley (The Fantasy Artist's Figure Drawing Bible) read through that.
Looked through the website Write Fuzzy to investigate their publishing. Not for me.

Looked through Imagisnism Studio's art collection. Inspirational illustrations that are along a similar style I'm trying to grasp (but without the immense detail).

Did you meet with your mentor? What did you talk about?
I did, it was brief. Just reminded me to go meet with some people she suggested. As well as making sure I had an idea of how I was going to go through with things (schedule.)

Were you in class this week?
Indeed. Shared a bit for show and tell and brought in some research for Jackie. Though borrow the book, she looked through it and was apparently helpful

What do you think your fulfillment of WISE requirements was?
Actually doing my journal entries this week instead of slacking. I did do the work the previous week, I just didn't write about it. I did some some back up journals, and made up for them.

What are your plans for next week?   
Get most of the sketches done if not all. Ink what I can.Talk to some people from the Family Reading Partnership to get an interview. Could actually do that this week....hmmmmmm. Figure out color schemes too.  Aaaaaaaaaaaaand 

Be happy. Indeed.

Imaginism Studios

The way that I see it, this studio...is awesome. I've been following their blogs and stuff through a website for a few years now, and it's incredible just how amazing they are. The main guy I think his name is Bobby Chu. The studio is Toronto Canada. I feel like all these amazing artist are in Canada.

Like ktshy (internet name). Her stuff is brilliant and awesome. Check it out. http://ktshy.deviantart.com/

Or like Bryan Lee O'malley who wrote the comic book sensations Scott Pilgrim! Also incredible....and Canadian...

But to the point. Imaginism Studios...they are just too cool. I mean...look at his stuff!!

It's APPA. Who doesn't love Appa? (And for those who are unaware, Appa is a flying bison from the hit TV series Avatar: The Last Airbender. But how could you not know that?)

This is titled "Beam Me Up Scotty" What's not to love?

Winnie the Pooh Winnie the Pooh...Cuddly Fuzzy...What are the words?

They also have did the designs for a good number of the characters from the Alice In Wonderland movie from last year! I'm not exactly a big fan of the movie, but the visuals were indeed incredible.

Sooooooooooooo detailed...Just looking at the art is so motivational. I don't know what to do with myself...I've seen over live-streaming videos works in progress come to life with incredible detail that seems effortless...it's scary!

Bobby Chu does these online classes where he gives a topic out over his feed and people have to draw it in a hour or two. Limited time frame is the point. And then he chooses which one he likes and he'll give them a the piece he was working on at that time as well. Sometimes it will be guest artists who are well known for the their styles in movies and such. They've had Chris Sanders who was worked on Lilo and Stitch and How to Train Your Dragon, and others I can't remember. (But that last one blew me away.) Oh and the guy who directed/designed for Ice Age. Meh. But anyway, there is a huge following...it's great..:P

Here's the Blog! http://imaginismstudios.blogspot.com/

And this is so brilliant as well...

Well...Good night. :)

One Day One Sketch

Page 16 Sketch

So THIS was completed today.

My tribal warriors look AWESOME. WHAT.

I really am in love with the staff. But to get to the point. This, was completed in one day of work. It doesn't seem like a lot. But it is to me. I'll need to trace this on to my good paper and then ink it, but it is progress. If I can do one of these each day for the next week, I'll have 9 pages in detail sketch. Then inked (because I won't want to stop) and then sorta colored. Still waiting on that...

Detail stinks, but I must learn to love it. Learn to love it....learn to love it. Guh.

MOTIVATIONAL POSTER.

It's a little sad because I'm not doing crew anymore....but the message is right. :D

Mentor Meeting 3/29/11

Hmmmmmmm....not much to talk about. We went through the steps. Asked me how I was doing. I shared my worries. I got suggestions on that tree-man I drew.

I asked her about my worries about have the pieces sync. We I see all the pages together, I don't want the colors to be so drastically different that they don't look good together. I'll be waiting until I can look at all the pages together to decide on set color pallets.

Mrs. Spence suggested printing thumbnails of the pages together (when they are done) and just messing with water colors to see what works. We'll see what happens.

Write Fuzzy Research (Not Fuzzy Publishing)

Now THAT is Awesome. Who wouldn't want to read a book with a whale and a little boy holding hands/fins?

This is really important. This is just an image from one of the pages on Write Fuzzy's Website.

And so is this.

I'm kinda scared of this.

So let me explain. Write Fuzzy is independent publishing company that focuses in children's books (poetry and picture books) that they choose through a process that is sorta like, "Wow. This is awesome. Who wrote this? Whoa, I'll never forget it. Let's publish it for them." :D With much smiles and giggles.

This was suggested for me to check out by friend of mine, which I thank her dearly for. But this doesn't seem to be the way for me. I don't think they have a slot opening for submissions for children's books anytime soon (there is for poetry from what I understand). So it still looks like it's Lulu for me.

  Also it seems most of the children's books are written by this Derrick Brown and illustrated by some else...meh.

In Other Fabulous News...

Finished with inking that second page. Which isn't really the second page because I'm not doing these in chronological order at the moment....Perhaps later.

BUT. Here it is.

I think it looks pretty snazzy.

As I was looking at it though, I thought to my self, "Hmmmm...I should add some building in the background over the treeline."

And if that isn't a great idea, I don't know what is. But we'll see if that actually ever happens.

In other fabulous news (heh, my title) I was flipping through the book Marley has lent me and it brings to attention my need for a color pallet. Hurrah. I have one page that actually has color. But will those colors work for other pages is the question? I will find out in a month. Need to have 12 pages complete No matter what. :/

Looks super cheery right? I love it. For serious. My brother doesn't like the dragon's colors though....hmmmmmmm. I'll probably ignore him.

But as I was saying, the book Marley lent me brings to attention the importance of a color pallets and the importance of how I want to color the piece. I probably will finish this with simple shading, but I have to keep value in mind as well (contrasting colors, lights dark, the works). It also has some neat tips on character design.

Now I need to get moving.

Sooooo Behind It isn't Even Funny. Ha.

So. I have been lost on the road of life. It....is not a pretty road to be on, but it is twisty and turny with many forks in which people tend to end up in ditches if they follow. But it is probably....OK for me to come out now. Stop slacking. Stop being lame in general. GET INKING DONE. I have to have twelve pages (AT LEAST) done by May. I got a month. ONE MONTH. GOTTA GET-A-MOVING.

Frustration.

One word to describe my current and continuous state of mind. I feel....the need for rant. But since I have already provided a little tiny one (that is all about my faults and failures with little detail) I will instead provide a list.

• 3 Sketches this week
• Finish Inking 2 (at home)
• Photograph/Scan works in progress
• Look through Book given to me by Marley (lovely girl there)
• Go to that Fuzzy Publishing website (you know, I think it is actually called something else, but for the life of me I can't remember) and do some research on the type of publishing they provide. (It's not self publishing)
• Get Colors on One more Page. 
• Meet up with In Shik Lee (Perhaps she'll be nice and firm and tell me to move my butt)
• Finish Research for Rain Warrior Design (and upload)
• Research squirrels.

Weekly Review 4

How much time did you spend on your project?
So far I've done only about 6 hours (hands on) and when I regain access to the internet this weekend I will be able to upload all my journal entries that I have planned, which should take a few more hours. Plus, the week is not over yet.

What did you do for hands-on?
Completed the first page (inking) and started coloring it. Started sketching the second page, will complete inking today, and coloring tonight.

What Research did you do?
Again, lack of internet access has handicapped me. Though I was given a publishing company to check out by a fellow WISE student who looking to publish her poetry there. It is worth a look. Yet to finish blog on Barry Deustch.

Did you meet with your mentor? What did you talk about?
Mrs. Spence has been unable to meet Tuesday or Wednesday this week. I am meeting with her today.

Were you in class this week?
No, I missed class. But we were given those sheets to do a journal entry on. Have them, read them, and again Internet access maims me.

What do you think your fulfillment of WISE requirements was?
I think it was extremely weak. I did mostly hands on, and being unable to put up journals makes my thoughts muddled and makes me unsure of what I want to do. It made me realize, the blogging helps me THINK. It's great. And it motivates me. I never want to go without blogging again.
  
What are your plans for next week?   
Going to up the ante(sp?).  I need to spew these pieces faster. I have 37 pages to do. I think....yeah. Need to start using the weekends. Dammit. 

The Drawings Are coming Along

So to show people I actually indeed am doing things, HERE are some pretty  pictures.

Sketch of a Page (I forget which one)

Inked Page

The Coloring for this last one is pretty much done (need to do some shading) but I think I will leave it incomplete until all the inking is done so that I can make sure the color schemes are compatible on each page. :) The Dragon was fun.

He Ran Away

Barry Deustch...Ran away. But that doesn't mean I didn't get some useful information!

Basically I went to his presentation (which was fabulously amusing) and then he was like "I see there are cartoonist in the audience, so feel free to come speak to me." And I was so going to go over, but then a friend asked me a question about AP Art. When I was done...he had his backpack on and sped out of the class room and I was like:







Yeah....Well anyway, I discovered that Mr. Deutsch and I had a lot in common. Such a procrastination. Best thing EVER.

Not really, but it's nice to know that I'm not alone.

His methods of completing pages using his Wacom Tablet (See Here) was cool but nothing I hadn't seen before. I really enjoyed his humore though! :)  Anywho, he apparently also has issues with completing work. I'm not sure if this is a trait of artists or just lazy people...probably the later. Which is bad. ah well.
Now back to doing work for this project.

Weekly Review 3

How much time did you spend on your project?
I have spent about 5 hours on various researches and blogging and more than 3 hours working hands on. More than 8 hours! Whoa.


What did you do for hands-on?

I have started to do the sketches for each page which will be then traced and then inked. They'll be awesome

What Research did you do?
I researched a variety of different Self Publishing companies, comparing them. Lulu.com and Dog Ear Publishing seem promising


Did you meet with your mentor? What did you talk about?
I did meet with Mrs. Spence. We talked about the speed in which I am working, figuring out deadlines and such. She suggested getting in contact with the Family Reading Partnership and gave advice on various visual aspects of my plan.


Were you in class this week?
Sure was. Late as always. MLK book given, got the community contacts sheet. Homework too.


What do you think your fulfillment of WISE requirements was?
I think I was a lot better this week about actually doing my work timely.  I made a goal sheet on Tuesday and I have accomplished most of the goals.
I have decided the size I am working with, I have begun to design the pages with more detail, chosen medium,  going to talk to Barry Deustch on Friday, have yet to contact Ann Mazer, had my Mentor Meeting, and I have done research. Awesome. 
 

What are your plans for next week?   
To continue researching further into publishing options, to continue to design the pages and get started  on inking some so I can work at home for the digital coloring.  Once  I have that, who knows how many hours I'll have. Set up interview or meet with Ann Mazer.

Book Printing Research

So, I've been looking at alternatives to Lulu.com.

Don't get me wrong, I think Lulu is really cool, but 60 dollars for a book? My book? A little frustrating.

It's not even that it is the publishing costs. For self publishing, there are no costs. It is the printing that cost 60 dollars. My book is going to be on high quality paper, hard cover (jacket?), in color, and in a large format. I don't really have a choice with some of these...but I didn't realize that the books were so expensive!

So I looked at some other publishing websites.

http://dogearpublishing.net/default.aspx Dog Ear Publishing seems to be a good alternative. At lulu, I sort of have to get Hardcover if I want full color and stuff. But here, the website professes to have paper back full color, which seems to be a bit more affordable. They don't have an easy calculator like Lulu, so the price is a little fuzzy...but I'd like to think it could be cheaper.

http://diggypod.com/index.html Diggy Pod Printing also seems promising. They have a calculator as well, but they don't seem to provide as many services as Lulu or the Dog Ear Publishing. I used the calculator, and being as cheap as possible, I am able to get my book to cost about $14. Awesome right? Well...wrong! In order for me to get any copy, I have to order a minimum of 24. HELL. NO. That's like over $300. Hahahah...ha.

And the largest book format they have is 8.5 x 11. Yeah...not so much.

But back to Dog Ear, the more promising one: it has a section in which it compares to other self publishing sites. http://dogearpublishing.net/whydogearcomparison_lulu.aspx The one for Lulu is informative and helpful. It says for designers, who only want to print a few copies, it is ideal.

This sounds like a promising recommendation. I have no delusions that anyone will actually buy my book. I had originally intended to possibly do about 10 copies that I could give to friends, but for $60 a book, that is not going to happen.

I admit I am cheap, but whatever.

Anyway, the writer of this comparison goes on to compare profits and such (and since I am not actually selling the book this has no relevance to me).

So, It seems to me like Lulu is still the best option as far as Self Publishing goes. Dog Ear Publishing seems to not be free publishing and more geared towards profit for the author than a single nice copy of a work.

Still have yet to compare to big Publishing Companies. Hmm... I don't even know the names of any. Next Research section decided.

Lulu Research

Lulu...is cool.

For those who do not know, Lulu.com is a self Publishing website. It lets the author choose all the stuff. Yeeeeeep.

I really thought I would be lost.

At first I had NO idea what to do. I'm doing a children's book. Does that make it a different category? Does that put it under a photo book? GAAAAAAAaah.

And then...I watched a tutorial video. It made me smile. It was so eaaaaaaasy. I still wasn't sure what category a children's book would be under but....you know....Whatever. I decided to mess around. And you know what?

This...is one cool website.

I know, I know. Already said. I just needed to emphasize.

I was all worried about the cover design. Turns out they got an app for that. FOR REAL.

It's sooooo colorful.

Anyway, I went through the process of starting a project and got all the way up to the place I am supposed to upload my files. Of course I don't have any at this time so...eh.

So here are the facts:

•  Free publishing (you pay only when a print is ordered) On copy of my book will cost about $60 for 40 pages. YIKES
• I set the price and if anyone else buys it...I get 80% profit. What I set the price to...I dunno. Would anyone buy the book? Probably not. I'll just make the one copy.
• Cover Designs are easy. 
• Have to use InDesign or Adobe Acrobat to set up pages.
• After the Book is completed and officially published it can be shipped in 5-15 business days. 

This is cool. Though there may be something different about how soon I can get it after I finish it.

This little research made me think about something.

I don't have a title for my story. I need to get on that.

Next up: Compare to Publishing Companies.

Mentor Meeting 3/8/11

Had a meeting with Mrs. Spence today. It went super fabulous. We looked at my story board, while I explained the story to her. She had some suggestions about the view and angle of certain panels/pages. I'm still conflicted about using text in the story. She suggested that I use quotes. The one she had going through her head being from Alice In Wonderland. "Why, sometimes I’ve believed as many as six impossible things before breakfast.”

Luckily...my story wont be half as scary as Alice in Wonderland. 

Actually wouldn't mind if I didn't intend this for children.

Just brilliant. :)

She likes that I will be combining digital and traditional media for the pieces. I will be inking the drawings on 8x12 pieces of watercolor paper and then scanning them to digitally color them. Experimentation is encouraged.


Mrs. Spence also suggested that I try and contact the Family Reading Partnership about getting some interviews. Apparently I can just drop her name...AND THEY WILL DO MY BIDDING. Well...I'm not sure about that, but they would be willing to help out. 


Also, she encourages me to check out Lulu.com soon so that I can get an idea of a deadline. Probably a good idea. Should do that tonight.

Clarrification

It has been brought to my attention that people may find it odd that I am working on my project during my art class. Due to this confusion, I feel the need to clarify some aspects for some people.

This year I am talking an AP Art course. This requires that you complete 24 works by the end of the year to be submitted for evaluation. Twelve of these pieces will be in the Breadth Section. A section where the artist is supposed to show their ability and diversity with works. Either with media or with the subject the works consist of. The other twelve pieces are part of the Concentration section. The concentration is where the artist takes an idea and creates a series of works that follow this idea. For this, I am it as an overlap. The theme I am using is the story for my book. The story about the over-imaginative little girl who has adventures when she walks home from school.

Twelve pages from my illustrated book will be part of my AP Portfolio. You must understand, my story is not 12 pages long. Nor is it merely 15. My story is, as of now, over 30 pages long. And I still feel their are gaps in my story board I may fill in later. So I am not double dipping. I will be working the same amount on each page and I will choose my favorite and most well composed for my portfolio. But this is an art project, and I am doing more for WISE than I am for my AP Art, which is extremely important to me.

I hope that clarifys some things.

Goals For this Week

• Decide on Size of  of pages. May just work on 12x8 1/2 water color paper (cut by self). 
• Design pages more in depth
• Decided on inking by hand and coloring digitally. Methods with digital?
• Talk to Barry Deustch (may be screwed up due to snow day)
• Talk to Anne Mazer 
• Research costs of publishing vs. self publishing
• Mentor Meeting Tuesday with Mrs. Spence
• Do....more research.

Weekly Review 2

How much time did you spend on your project?
I spent the minimum 8 hours. Mostly through the use of my Art class as work time, and writing my three blogs. 

What did you do for hands-on?
Redesigned the main character of my story. Almost done with the story board. Started on sketches of pages.

What Research did you do?
I looked at works of other successful children's book writers (Leo Lionni). Shared some videos that were animated versions of the books. 

Did you meet with your mentor? What did you talk about?
Mrs. Spence was sick most of the week. Will talk to her 6th period today (Friday). She has it free so well do the meeting then. 

Were you in class this week?
 Yes, we watched the documentary by previous WISE students. Barnsong. And we got packets to look over for next Monday. Related works by previous WISE students.


What do you think your fulfillment of WISE requirements was?
 I could have done more. I need to go look at more children's books. And I only did my journal entries in the past few days. Beginning of the week was slow.

What are your plans for next week?    
 Have other character designs completed. Share the story with some friends and get input. Talk to Barry Deutsch (Graphic Novelist) who is coming to the high school next week.  Decide what medium I am going to use for final pages: Digital or mixed media? Size?

Leo Lionni Research

For you Gwen.

So, Leo Lionni has been recommended to me, by my lovely sister. :)

And to tell the truth, I thought I had no idea who he was. But now that I have seen his books....I REMEMBER!!!

Though I don't remember the stories, his style is burned in my mind. Here, have a video!

I feel as though I am Frederick....HE is poet and he knows it. :D Though....I'm not a poet.

And this one is very good too...:)

Inspirational works are very important...:D

I'm being productive. I swear.

Sooooooooooooo.

I really need to get a move on. I finally redesigned my character.

The girl was like this first:

First Design (This is a girl. Just FYI)

I actually liked the design...but it wasn't going to work with how I wanted my story to go. :/

So here is a redesign (IN COLOR!!) that I like more. She has freckles. :D

It works a lot better. I'm not sure about the colors (I had lots of issues) it seems too bluuuuuuuue. Ah well. still I got it down. I upload designs of the father and squirrel this weekend. And perhaps of the knights in the story. I am not looking forward to drawing armor. I better get references.

Does anyone have name suggestions?

Barry Deutsch

Next week I've been informed that there is a graphic novelist (Barry Deutsch) that is coming to the Ithaca school district. I was originally informed by Mrs. Gergley. I thought I would have to go to Fall Creek Elementary to meet up with him. Turns out he's also coming to the high school, which is awesome. I can more easily talk to him this way. That is one thing to look forward to next week!

I finished the character (re)design for my story, I'll upload that later today, after I edit it on the computer.

Other wise...I need to get a start on the sketches for each page. I need to think logically from now on. Yessssssssssssss. Planning...

MOTIVATIONAL POSTER!!!

I feel better already. :)

Barnsong Review

In WISE today we watched a documentary called Barnsong that was made by a WISE student...who documented another WISE students project: building a barn.

Over all the entire thing seemed very well done. If I were to watch this without knowing the background, I wouldn't automatically feel like it was a film made by a student. The editing and music that the student put together with it works well and makes it seem legit.

It's fairly entertaining seeing the student (Austen?) building a barn and the issues he had with building the barn. He gets help from his friends, his neighbors and his family. It shows that he really had to reach out to get his project done.

It's unfortunate neither student could complete their goal. The barn was never completed due to some family issues, thus stunting the project of the one doing the documentary. It's sad but it makes us realize that even if our project is blocked by some other obstacles, there are other ways to "finish" it.

Though I hope that doesn't happen to me.