Musings on Gemmy

So, I'm back on the book trail again. Having taken some time to work on other projects, take a book binding class and do a lot of reading, I've recharged my creative juices and ready to explore the world of Arbea once again with fresh eyes.

To get back into things I realised I'd not actually given enough thought to what Gemmy looks like as a whole person. Lots of head shots and his face was clear as a bell. But, who is this boy who shrugs off having fruit thrown at his head as just a nuisance?

Physicality plays a lot into who a person is. How you stand, how you smile, the way you walk all tell a story about you. And what story does Gemmy tell? Taking the time to analyse and visualise who he is physically has given me a bit more depth into how a guy like him would react and interact with his world.

Partially planned, partially revealed while drawing, here is Gemmy in his school uniform. What sort of person do you see standing before you? What story does his posture, his smile, his dress tell you?


Buy 'Black Star' on Amazon in the UK and US
Check out Themo on Twitter and Facebook

Ears looking at you

I spent an afternoon drawing ears, trying to find the most appropriate lines to make a convincing simplified ear. And then my brain wondered how would the cartilage in an elf's ear work? Here's my best guess.

Buy 'Black Star' on Amazon in the UK and US to support Book Aid International.
Check out Themo on Twitter and Facebook

Journal entry

I have lots of new drawings to share I just haven't been very diligent about posting. So, to kick off the deluge of posts a pictorial journal entry from my sketch book.

Some days a picture really is worth a thousand words. A stressful day in the office led to two very descriptive drawings of exactly how I felt about a colleague and how I felt about the day in general!

More comics

I'm currently working on another side project to produce customised children's books. It's consuming a lot of free time, but I'm still gather feedback and editing of the Mighty Orange-Peel at the same time.

In the mean time, here are two more of my University comic that I failed to post last time. These are actually two of my favourites (one being quite personal and the other being quite topical at the time at Yale).

Enjoy!

A budding cartoonist

My favourite comic strip of all time is Calvin & Hobbes by Bill Watterson - the collections of which I've read and reread many times since I was young. After taking an animation class I abandoned my dreams of being an animator (I didn't have the patience to draw the same thing over and over again) I decided that I wanted to be a cartoonist just like Bill Watterson. I made several false starts at representing the Mighty Orange-Peel in graphic novel form. Then I realised that I didn't really have the inclination for telling stories through pictures. I had too many words in my head. And, eventually, I came to the acceptance that I'm an illustrator. I enjoy pouring detail into one image that tells a story and then creating pictures with words.

However, at University, I made a brief foray into the world of comics again. I decided I had a voice/a unique perspective/a cynicism that my peers would appreciate. 'Back of the Queue' was born.

It was conceived as a comic that described how every Yalie felt. We'd all been top of the class, cocks of the walks in in respective home towns. Suddenly we were thrust into an environment where no matter what amazing thing you'd done, someone else had done it better. So, while we found camaraderie, we were suddenly thrust to the bottom of the heap in our struggles to find our 'specialness' that had once defined us.

It started out snappy and topical enough, but, eventually as sleepless nights and stress took over a sinister humour began to leak onto the pages. What resulted was a representation of my id (Angry Harry) torturing a caricature of myself. I think they worried other people. But even today they still appeal to the darker side of my sense of humour.

I made a few attempts at political statements in 'Queue' (which are not shown here because they're awful) to try and divert my attention, but ultimately, the comic ended. I finished with a dramatic flourish which can only be described as an artist's tantrum, and 'Back of the Queue' closed by running into a brick wall of my own self absorbtion.

A new book for Ollie

A friend of mine is about to have her second baby, a little girl. Her son, Ollie is now five years old and is bracing himself to have a little sister. So, as a small present I've created a small book for Ollie introducing him to the wonders of having a younger sibling.


I've done the book in pen and ink mostly because I wanted to finish it as soon as possible (my friend looks about ready to pop) so Ollie could read it before he's shocked by a new crying screaming thing in the house.


I prefer to draw from life, but as it was a surprise I worked from photos. And, because I know them it wasn't too hard to fill in some of the 'real life' information that I have in my head.

To create the drawings I did many many sketches of the family to create suitable cartoon likenesses.

The key to a good caricature isn't being the best drawer or recording every detail. It's about finding the 'defining' lines of a person's face. When you see someone you see their 'main' features, not every single wrinkle and crack. So, when sketching I'm working to find the lines that make the person look like themselves. This is why it's better to sketch from real life. But, when you know them you know what features are their most prominent. Amy (above) for instance is all eyes and teeth like a movie star!

Here are some of the sketches.

I draw the image in bits and pieces. Picking out the best bits, define the caricature and then draw and redrawn until I can create the person's look from memory. However, when I go to do the final drawing I keep the photographs hand to make reference to them if I need. Because I was trying to produce this quickly and edit in photoshop I actually created the image below in separate pieces and put them together digitally from the skectches above. Introducing the Fox family with the new (to be expected) baby.

Drawings from Amsterdam

I went on a short holiday to Amsterdam to get away and write and draw. I spent a lot of time going over the first 5 chapters and checking character consistency and also produced some lovely ink drawings of the characters and finally did a nice redesign of Gemmy's mom, Nareth. I hate this drawing of Sem. She looks like some evil fairy.