This Is HUB #5 In My Series: Trying To Draw A Graphic Novel The Old School Way - And YOU Have Helped Me Achieve My Goal!

I have achieved my goal of illustrating 5 pages of my sci-fi story! That is largely due to you, the invisible "skimmer" of these hub pages. I wanted to have the illustrations completed by August 29th, 2011 and I have completed that task as of August 28th!!! If I hadn't used YOU, dear skimmer of these notes, to pressure myself, I might not have made my deadline!

Just so you know: The five page excerpt from the sci-fi story that I wrote turned into 30 pages of illustrations! Because of the nature of the internet I cannot show you them in their fullness; only edited and cropped. (I plan on using them for something else, so the story line must remain mine, all mine, wink, wink). THANK YOU HUB READERS AND SKIMMERS!

Thanks girlincape for the education into the word "comix", via Wikipedia. I never imagined that I was the sole user of the word, I just went on a tear one day, saying (and spelling) things when talking to friends at a party, like "snaxx", "drinxs", and the ever popular and oft used, "hijinxxs". "Comix" naturally came into play!

I will cautiously supplement my new Wiki education by hitting the library. The caution comes because according to Wikipedia source(s), the "X" in comix, some of them at least, was meant to imply a rating. I think I have a pretty good handle on the sex thing, (uh, no pun intended). But in truth, I have no interest in "X", outside of my own bedroom, which then won't be between anybody but my spouse, me and God. No recordings or porn please. I ain't talking about you, readers. But it's just not my style. I can take a lot, but nah, not that.

Thanks again girlincape for schooling me via: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Underground_comix. I have a LOT to learn, but I love the research so far. (p.s. your pen name reminds me of "girl in the curl", which lead me to write ----> check out www.girlinthecurl.com. Also check out the stuff for guys on http://www.volcom.com/index.asp, just two of some really fun and informative sites on surfing with some well known and not so well known surfing heroes and heroines!)

OK what I tried to do was read all my hubs on this subject and connect them in a way that you might easily follow. So I’ll give you a little selection of drawings from the finished work and show you my mistakes and challenges. (But since the work represents my completed goal, let’s consider them ALL successes!!!)

Here’s an example of me trying to draw the same character consistently. Let’s call this character “Guy”. Below is how I drew him at the VERY first, on a page of portraits that I call “mug shots”, so that I’d have an idea of what to aim at every time he was involved in a scene.

See how vastly different these sketches are? The sketches are shown to you as I conceived them, the first time I drew him, second time, third, etc.

I think that the questions, "which char(acter) is standing there, doing that?" is what a lousy sketch like "Guy 3" answers. I know who he is and what he's doing and there's enough of uh...hmmmm, his "essence", I guess, so that you recognize who he is when you see him.

Look at the entire finished drawing below and you can see that I really drew "Guy 3" before the sketch in the center:

From time to time I would grab a drawing of "Guy" that I had made previously, then try to mimic it so that I would draw him more consistently. The female char with "curly" hair was the most difficult to consistently re-create. I experimented with what my perception of curly hair was, then the kind of heart shape of her head and on and on. I don't really have a "mug shot" of her I like to use for repeated reference and I'm not really sure what I want her to look like. But you know, writing this and looking back she had to have been drawn the most consistently of them all!

Thank you all for your invisible encouragement and inspiration! WE DID IT, WE DID IT!!!!

Some of the music I listened to while writing this hub:

"Well Enough Alone", by Chevelle, off of Vena Sera

"Mysterious Ways", by U2 off of Achtung Baby

"Guilty", by Gravity Kills, off of Gravity Kills

"They All Fall Down", by Grits, off of Grammatical Revolution (Yikes! Writing this reminds me I'm never really certain about my grammar on these hubs!)

"Banquet", by Bloc Party, off of Silent Alarm (by the time I finally heard of this band, alas, they were no more)

"Who Did You Think I Was (Live)", by John Mayer, off of where the light is, john mayer live in los angeles (They wrote it lower case, so I did too)

"Tear You Apart (Radio Edit)", by She Wants Revenge, off of She Wants Revenge

P.S. - I used six different pencils at once when I was drawing my graphic novel - I mean I sharpened them and when one was too dull, instead of taking a break to "mow" it, I grabbed another. None of the pencils have erasers any more. I used Mirado Black Warrior pencils - those babies are all cedar and have (used to) Pink Pearl tops. My Mom gave them to me.

(Like these, http://www.google.com/products/catalog?q=mirado+black+warrior&hl=en&prmd=ivns&resnum=1&bav=on.2,or.r_gc.r_pw.&biw=1024&bih=653&um=1&ie=UTF-8&tbm=shop&cid=12381291899109270179&sa=X&ei=DJVhTrnqBaTV0QGUm6jqDw&ved=0CFgQ8wIwAA)

The wonderful little Pink Pearl erasers were casualties of my thought process, my pickiness and my general inability to make the first sketch on the paper do what I wanted it to. But I'm getting better and I'm HAPPY!