page a day: reverse storyboarding

Screen composition of a few films on TV today: The Fellowship of the Ring, The Joy Luck Club, Notting Hill, Captain America.

Surprisingly (or not, for those of us who love Asian cinema) The Joy Luck Club turned out the most visually interesting. There are a lot of frames centered round negative space: the empty chair where a deceased parent used to sit; the courtyard gap between a woman and her estranged family; the wall between two windows, through which we glimpse a face.

The pauses also suggest time: the momentary distance separating a man and woman hints at what is about to happen between them.

In my experience Asian cinema (animated or live-action) focuses just as much on the pause as the action; I'd like to look into that further, which is an academic way of saying I want to watch more Asian film.

page a day: let there be light

Mail-order catalogues: the perpetual answer to the question 'What am I going to draw today?'

Visconti ink, Cretacolor aquarelle pencils.

page a day: storytelling

P. Craig Russell shows you how to tell a story.

Comic book pages taken from Michael Moorcock's Elric: Stormbringer.

page a day: dance

Um, it's still Wednesday if I haven't gone to bed.

Here is a fanart of my biggest weakness: comics!

It just occurred to me that Wonder Woman and Captain America would make the perfect couple. Make it happen, Marvel/DC!

page a day: coffee

I love every way of brewing coffee: single filter, Mr Coffee, capsule, espresso drip--but siphon coffee turns me into a little kid at the Exploratorium, watching science turn a morning essential into an alchemical ceremony. And delicious coffee, of course.

Pentel brush pen, fountain pen with Noodler's ink.

Update on the book project: I spent today drawing things. Spanish combs, flip-flops, wooden slippers, headbands. I love it!

page a day: fairy tales

page a day: origami

Pink fighter jets and origami.

continuing alterations

More 'work' on the altered book...

I say 'work' because this isn't really a project or even a work-in-progress, it's an art journal. As such I've become much less invested in the outcome of the various pages than I am in my actual projects; I'm more interested in putting down the feeling I have at the moment I decide to make an entry, in whatever media I can use right away.

Sometimes I spend ages layering a page spread with gesso and various bits, while at other times I just want to set marks down as fast as possible. Results range from empty and scratchy:

...to layouts that I'm much happier with:

Mixed media, last spread all Sharpies. They go very well with the paper of this book, although I think they might bleed and soak in over time. Ah well, at least the scan will stay nice.

Altered States

In a stunning reversal of previous practice, I've actually been doing a lot of work lately without posting.

Stay tuned for:

• more of the Sketchbook Project (which has already been sent off to Brooklyn)
• pen scratchings and painting updates
• more Jonsi Project scans
• text-only updates on the Big Book Project which I should be done with in April but isn't scheduled to come out until around September. Oh my God, a real published book all to myself!

In the meantime, I am still doing the altered book art journal, which you may remember from these posts: (first spreads; single pages). Here are some better scans, as well as new(ish) pages: