The Emerging Writers' Festival 2011

Following last year's experience at The Emerging Writers' Festival, I was chomping at the bit to sit behind a table again at this year's and sell my books to people. And this past weekend (05-June-2011) it came around again. The Auditorium was just as packed with thoroughfair as always...




I had the pleasure of sitting next to the talented Brendan Halyday.


Both Brendan and I killed two birds with one stone. While no one was at our table, Brendan caught up on some commission sketches, while I finished inking a page from DIGESTED#5.




The big gun, James Andre, spoke in front of the festival crowd that day about writing. Both Brendan and I wanted to hear him talk (we could see the stage from out table)... so when he took to the microphone, I told Brendan to go and have a listen for a while (while I manned our table), and then come back so I could have a listen too. Well, seven minutes later James finished. I figured he would've be up there for at least 20 minutes (as most of the previous speakers had been)... so I was a little peeved at that.


Adoring fans.


The 'elder' section of the Festival... and Bruce Mutard.


Bruce had bought a tart earlier (the non-street walker variety), and in the afternoon eagerly got it out from behind his booth where it had been sitting amoungst the shrubbery. Well, it was swarming with ants, and while most have the 10 second rule when food falls to the floor - Bruce's is 10 hours. (I agree, if it doesn't have fungus growing on it - it's all good.)


No one wanted any ant-free tarts.... thats ok... more for Bruce!


My Melbourne comics compadres.




Matt, hard at work... working things out on paper. This is the most enjoyable part for me.

MEMORABLE MOMENTS:

• Selling to a (generally) non-juvenile crowd on a Sunday afternoon... for a change.
• A guy (who also had a table at the festival) coming up to Brendan and I saying, "I'm not really into comics, I write stories and actual books... I'm surprised that the festival let you guys in." (as he continued to flick through our books with interest, Brendan and I just glanced at each other with one eyebrow raised.)
• Catching up with my comics buddies.
• Having interesting talks with buyers about the craft and life of writing/drawing.

In conclusion, although I didn't make that many sales this year (half of last years actually), I still maintain that it is one of the better gigs on the calendar. It's cheap to attend, only goes for five hours, and for the 'emerging' author, it's an inexpensive way to get books into the hands of a different crowd. That is - a crowd more inclined to literature and artistic tastes, as opposed to the predominately young 'caped' variety I keep seeing at bigger conventions.

Two thumbs up from me.

-Bobby.N
www.bobbyn.com

Comics Meetup [04.06.11]

Ok, first off... sorry this post is late. It's been a busy, busy week. Last Saturday was our Monthly Melbourne Comics Meetup (which this post is about), and then Sunday was the annual Emerging Writer's Festival where a number of us creators had a table and sold our books (more on that after this post... so stay tuned)... Then it was back to the day-job, and then my 40th Birthday on Wednesday (can you believe it), and then it was time to sleep in today and get the redness out of my eyes... so without further a-do... here's a short photographic wrap-up of this past Saturday's monthly meetup.

It was another AWESOME turnout. There's really no point repeating the same platitudes every month about how great these things are, so I'll just let the photos below do most of the talking.


These were the first pics I snapped as I arrived, and not long after I think we had about 20+ people elbowing each other with comics and drinks.


Colin in his Star Wars Empire-General's hat... having an intense discussion with Greg about something... probably about the hat.


Joe Morris from Non Canonical dropped in with his friend for a drink and a chat. We were expecting Larry (Hulk) Boxshall to swing by also, but he piked it.


Yet another sketch that Colin Wilson did for someone. Matt Emery was the lucky bastard who got this gem.. Jeezis... This isn't a sketch, it's freakin finished art!


It was getting pretty full inside, so a few of us snobs took in some fresh air. No, that's not a beer that Paul is reaching for... it's a girl's drink. He's trying to give up booze. Something about turning 40 I think... which I can relate to now, but the sad part is I've been drinking these pansy drinks for years now.

I had some in-depth discussions about local comics with Trevor Wood, Matt Emery & Brendan Halyday also. Interesting times ahead... so, stay tuned.


James Andre came back from his European/U.S world trip with a whole swag of comics. Mostly from France.


James even picked up a signed copy of Dave Cooper's RIPPLE for me (Second from the bottom left in the above pic) at a French gallery that Dave had just exhibited in. This book is in my top five all-time comics. It's in the vein of R.Crumb, and a great disturbingly original story as well. I adore the thing. It's the third copy I now own... but this one's SIGNED! Thanks James.

-Bobby.N
www.bobbyn.com

The next Melbourne Comics Meet...

On the first Saturday afternoon of every month, a few of us comic book nuts get together at a quiet inner city pub for a casual drink and chat. So, if you're into comics, come on down.



WHERE
Prince Alfred Hotel
191 Grattan St, Carlton,
Melbourne

WHEN
Saturday
4th June 2011
2pm - 6pm


-Bobby.N
www.bobbyn.com

Inking - pt.2

Two posts ago I was stating how important it was to be careful not to over-ink a page... and wouldn't you know it, I freakin did it. What a moron.



I got carried away with the reflection in the puddles of water on the bathroom floor in the 3rd panel, and now it might look like blood to readers. Part of me says, "Relax, it kinda still looks like water... it's not THAT bad... learn from it and just get on with the next page."... but the other part of me is a sissy looking for perfection. (Don't roll your eyes at me Colin!)

I'll tell you one thing I've learnt... its that I'm tempted to just use the computer to fill in areas of black from now on so that I can avoid crap like this in the future.



UPDATE: Following Matt Emery's point in the comments section (below)... I've done the obvious thing (to everyone but me), and just erased the over-use of black via computer and got on with the next page. Yeah, ok... shut yer face.



Oh...! and I fixed the hole that the tentacle was coming out from. It was all warped.

-Bobby.N
www.bobbyn.com

REVIEW: 'Paying for it'

PAYING FOR IT
By: Chester Brown
Publisher: Drawn & Quarterly
Pages: 272

I've been waiting for this book to come out for a while. And geez... the wait was definitely worth it.

Along with fellow Canadian cartoonists, Seth, Joe Matt and Dave Sim... Chester Brown has been at the top of my tree when I think of great comic book authors. His latest book PAYING FOR IT (With an introduction by the legendary, R.Crumb no less) is Chester Brown's manifesto on the subject of 'paying prostitutes for sex' by conveying his experiences of being a 'John' (a paying client).

The book's first chapter is called 'My last girlfriend' (a great setup), and shows us how Brown begins a journey that will finally culminate in the book you're holding. It's quite (as R.Crumb puts it) a cogent argument that he presents in these pages.

Warning: If you're a hopeless romantic, then this book probably won't move you at all.


Chester's first experience with a prostitiute.

There are one or two points in the book that drag just a little (where he's chatting to his friends about a socio-political topic that is close to his heart), and the drawings within these panels look identical to the one that preceded it. The whole page is made up of the same image repeated 8 times (sometimes more). Don't get me wrong, I don't think he needed to edit himself from the points he wanted to convey, but perhaps changing camera-angles (visually) throughout these panels would have made the reading experience easier. It was kind of like reading a paragraph-long sentence in prose that didn't contain any punctuation. A little exhausting, and makes you want to put a bookmark between the pages and come back to it a little later.

Personally, I don't see the point of paying prostitutes for sex in todays online age where you can simply bang chicks from the internet for free (oh I love the fruits of Feminism :)... but I suppose prostitution gives one the pick of the most beautiful girls. Money is really the only factor. As long as you pay, you can ball a Victoria Secret model.

If the voyeur in you gets tickled by subjects that are behind closed doors, and lets face it, who doesn't...? then read PAYING FOR IT. Not because it's simply risque, but because at the heart of this story are powerful questions. Is prostitution really that aweful? What is wrong with an honest and up-front exchange between two consenting adults? What of Brown's very astute observation that, apart from the positive things we all associate romantic love with, it also has (at it's centre) an inherent code of ownership and jealousy?

Chester Brown also doesn't come at you in a didactic manner from the begining, but rather, lets you observe the very human circumstances in a person's life that may lead them to consider paying for sex. Initially, Brown thinks of prostitution as a curious option, but once he tentatively explores it, he finds there is more to it than just the sex act itself. It's the way it all makes sense to Brown's libertarian views. There seem to be no more games. No jealousy. Freud has left the building. A very edifying book.

I don't know what it is about Canadian cartoonists, but they sure know how to hit the nail on the head when it comes to stories about reality. Maybe it's the French/European comics influence? Not quite sure... Anyway, if you like comics about reality, then this is definitely one to grab. It's a gem of a big 272 page book...! beautifully illustrated, funny in moments, and a solidly put together hard cover.

One of the best graphic novels I've read this year.

-Bobby.N
www.bobbyn.com

Inking - pt.1

This is just a quick scan of the first stage of an inked page (Oxygen: pg-7, from the next issue of DIGESTED.05). I finish all the inking on the page to a stage that I could hand it over to a colourist if I wanted to... which I don't... but you get the idea.



While I'm not precious with my inking (I don't ink perfectly like some Yoda-like 'Marvel' artist)... I'm mindful to spend time on the drawing and get to every nook & cranny making sure I've 'chipped' away at the illustration enough so I don't cross a point I can't come back from. (You know the feeling... when you over-do a drawing when you look at the finished page and think, "Geez, why did I do all those extra lines" or "Why did I fill in that area?")



I ink in a way an ice skater might when carving up the ice... Shwick! Shwick! Shwick!

(Next stage of inking is to fill in all the blacks and give the page some final 'weight'...)

-Bobby.N
www.bobbyn.com

An inked page...

Here's another inked page from the next installment of OXYGEN.



-Bobby.N
www.bobbyn.com

The end of an era...

Alternate Worlds Comics & Collectables has been around for about 15 years, and it's only been in the last two that I had discovered this gem of a store.... and now it's closing. I'm sad for the great guys that worked there, namely Larry Boxshall, who genuinely cared about comics.

It's like I'd made a best-friend of that store and it's staff recently... and now, just when podcasts like NonCanonical, and the local comics creating/buying community was rallying around it more than ANY other (and deservedly so...! because the A.W staff had been so good to us)... someone with a calculator has decided to put a bullet in the store's head.

The official word is that the store is only relocating to Bayswater (far out into the burbs) under a new 'online' business model... but the grass-roots personal nature of such a friendly store that 'kept' buyers loyal, is over (I'm willing to bet).


Larry Boxshall and Joey Morris

It's such a shame because Joe & Larry were on the front cover of a recent AGE mag The City Weekly talking about comics (not to mention on a large billboard in the city's centre promoting the article) and you felt the comics culture in Melbourne rise just that little bit more. I wish the best for Larry and the guys after the store's Chapel St closing (hey, Laz, you might actually be able to drop into a monthly meetup now?), and hope it doesn't dampened their love of comics. It's the death of important things like this that sometimes changes things negatively. I sure hope not.

I feel like I've been kicked in the guts, but I try and remember what made A.W great... it was the staff, the comics and the campfire of friendly conversation.


-Bobby.N
www.bobbyn.com

PS: Join other mourning comic'ers on facebook (like me), that are both sad and annoyed at the store's closure. "Alternate Worlds moving to Bayswater is the stupidest thing I've ever heard"

PREVIEW: Oxygen, ch5, pg.3 - (part-2)

Once I've arranged the page's composition (previous post), I then print it out in cyan (blue) colour on my PIXMA inkjet. I then sit down and pencil over the rough composition in detail so that when I'm inking the page, I'm not guessing as much. (You can see the 'duller' PIXMA printer's cyan colour behind my brighter blue pencils that I've sketched over the top.)


And then I ink it, scan it into the computer, and remove the 'blue' chanel.



The final stage is just adding one grey tone.


-Bobby.N
www.bobbyn.com

PREVIEW: Oxygen, ch5, pg.3 - (part-1)

Some of you have been asking for me to show more of my process... so here's some steps that lead to a completed page.



Once the story and scene are fleshed out, I begin thumbnailing (very quickly and loosely) panels onto scrap paper. They're glorified stick-figure doodles. Literally taking only 10 seconds to do as I brainstorm ideas. When I'm satisfied with certain 'shots', I mark them in bold to let me know which ones 'worked' for me (above left). I then produce more fleshed out sketches (until I get the forms and proportions working), and this will end up being the basis of the drawings on the page (above right).

I draw the final compositions on a sheet of blank paper or a sketchbook (rather than on the actual artboard itself) because it frees me up to just let my mind sketch without any pressure or constraints. (ie. I don't have to carefully draw within a panel border and make sure everything will fit at this stage (ie. Word balloon, space for other elements, etc) or be too careful.) That used to really stunt me. Now I just have fun. If the sketch isn't working, I just start again right next to it until I get it right (see above right). And I can just keep fleshing out the sketch with bolder and thicker lines if I wish without worrying that I'm pressing too hard and I won't be able to rub the pencil lines out. It was a weight off my shoulders when I realised this method.



I scan the sketches in and arrange it all on a rough (lo-resolution) image. It's probably the 'graphic designer' in me (which is my day-job by the way), in that arranging a composition on the page comes naturally to me. I shift and scale my skecthes around until they all fit in regard to proportion, camera angles, and captions/word balloons.

When I think it looks right, I'll then print this lo-res page out on my Canon Pixma inkjet (in cyan only) on my final artboard.

Coming up next time... Tight-pencilling.

-Bobby.N
www.bobbyn.com

BOOKLAUNCH: The List (vol-3)!

I wonderful night was had by all last weekend as Paul Bedford brought The List story to it's dramatic conclusion at Melbourne's 'Loop Bar'.


The book's creators: Tom Bonin, Henry Pop, and Paul Bedford.


The regular show of support from 'the gang'... and Trev Wood did a masterful job of M.C'ing the night.



We even had people fly in from other states. That's the kind of book The-List is. All the regulars from our monthly meet-up were there to lend a show of support, bar those that weren't actually IN Melbourne... I'm looking at you Colin and Jason! It was cold and raining outside, but hellishly hot inside the bar... which suited the books character well. I had some nice in-depth chats with people about comics, producing them, and The List itself. A fantastic night.

Congrats and thanks to Paul, Tom and Henry for the effort of bringing this great comic to us all. It's taken five years, but The List (vol-3) is a great conclusion to a disturbing story. It wraps up beautifully. The art by Henry and Tom is superb. This was the best issue yet! A fitting finale. A must have/read.

Buy it here.

-Bobby.N
www.bobbyn.com

PS: Thanks for the handball of photos from Matt Emery, to Paul, to me.

The List (vol-3)

The talented Melbourne writer Paul Bedford is launching the final volume to his epic saga The List. It's been five years in the making, so come down to this launch and buy yourself a part of self-publishing history!



-Bobby.N
www.bobbyn.com

Alternate Worlds

Alternate Worlds Comics & Collectibles here in Melbourne has been the single biggest supporter of my DIGESTED series of any store I know... thanks primarily to Larry Boxshall who works in the store (Who is also a member of the famous NonCanonical weekly podcast).

Larry has been passionately championing local comic talent by recognising that there are customers who'd dearly like independant comic books, if only they could see them on shelves... so Larry's been a gem in organising a central shelf in the store to showcase some premier local talent. Check it out...


Bruce Mutard, Matt Emery, Jason Franks, Brendan Hallyday and I are all showcased on a central shelf amongst all the main titles.


He's even written a nice speel under our works to entice buyers.

My books have been selling like hotcakes in the store, and recently I asked Matt Emery how his books were selling, to which he replied, "They're going gangbusters!"

So thanks Larry... you're a champ!

-Bobby.N
www.bobbyn.com

March meetup

This is the first meetup I've been to this year, so it was good to catch up with my scribbling and writing friends again. The meet was already well under way by the time I arrived at 2.30pm.


We're all a friendly bunch at these monthly meetups.


A new face came along... Illustrator, Leigh Kuilboer (who drew the story 'Desert Leviathan' in Jason Franks' KAGEMONO anthology), was there with his impressive folio. I turned on my voice recorder just as we were finishing a heated disscussion about the recent movie 'I am number 4', and then Leigh and Jason began discussing their work in the latest KAGEMONO. Appologies for the noisy background audio, but it's a rowdy pub.





I also asked James Andre and Jason Franks about their thoughts on how the Big Arse Comics Launch went for them. Paul Bedford and Colin Wilson make a brief appearance.



Speaking of Colin Wilson...


I bought his latest French graphic novel "Qui a Tué le Président?" (Who Killed the President?) at this March meetup after glimpsing it at the previous BIG ARSE launch. Colin was generous enough to do a quick sketch on the inside cover for me...


Jesus Christ, what a sketch!... it a BIG sketch too... it takes up most of the inside cover. Makes my doodles that I do for people look like stick figures. Colin also drew something similar in Jason's copy. Take a look...




I also tried asking Paul Bedford about his book THE LIST, but as usual it quickly degenerated into two chimpanzees fighting over a banana. Paul and I just can't speak civily to each other. Sorry.


-Bobby.N
www.bobbyn.com