Read From White City to War Online

I am posting the complete mini comic I made for this project. Please scroll down to see the full story, and scroll a little further to see sketchbook and developmental images…

Pick Up A Free Book!

You can now see my full comic, alongside really interesting articles about Bristol in World War One, in The Great Reading Adventure! Copies are available free from Bristol Libraries, find out more here:

http://www.bristol2014.com/great-reading-adventure.html#.VE5gjPl_tU0

I’m also really pleased as one of the illustrations from my story has been used on the cover, and is featured on a banner in the centre of Bristol.

British Library Talkin’

Last week I went and sat on a panel at the British Library, to talk about World War One in comics and graphic novels! I talked about my book Beyond the Wire and the Bristol 2014 project with Pat Mills, Paul Gravett, Sarah Jones and Karim Iskander Flint. I think people were interested in the relationship between the war and local communities, and using comics alongside essays, poetry and stories.

http://www.bl.uk/whatson/exhibitions/comics-unmasked/events/event164701.html

Thanks Andy Oliver, I stole your photo of me selling books!

Another Sneak Preview…

I Haven’t posted much on here recently because I’ve been working away on the final pages of my story, but here is a little sneak preview, hopefully not giving too much away!

Taking Shape

I haven’t posted much on here recently, as I have been working on the final images for my story, and I don’t want to give too much away! Here are the pages starting to take shape, stuck all over my wall so I can refer back to them as I work. They are drawn at A3 size but will be reduced down to a smaller format for print.. It’s getting there! Today: LIONS!

London and some wobbly train drawing..

I went up to London for a few days and saw a really interesting exhibition at the National Portrait Gallery looking at the Great War through Portraits. It was really helpful to see sketches by William Orpen and Henry Tonks, as well as finished paintings and photographs. I tried to get some writing done on the train too, but found myself making some very wobbly drawings indeed! I also made a quick trip to the Army Museum which will provide helpful reference for drawings, alongside research from the Imperial War Museum.

This week I have also been going through my old research journals, from my M.A. I knew they would come in handy again…

Some character development…

I’m still working on ideas for characters, and trying to imagine what their individual stories might be. At this stage it is always nice to just make a huge mess and see what happens, I like to use paints, inks, charcoal, pencil, whatever is to hand basically! It just helps me to get a feel for the overall tone of the narrative (and it’s fun).

Bristol 2014: Initial sketches and ideas…

I’ve started by working in my sketchbook and on loose sheets of paper, coming up with character ideas and thinking of stories for them. I use photographs as reference for clothing and locations sometimes, but I like to invent characters faces. I hope that as the project progresses, you will see the detail in the images and narrative develop alongside, these are just some very rough initial sketches. Please click on an image to view a larger version.

I’m very grateful to Clive Burlton and Eugene Byrne for the help and information they have provided so far, and to Andrew Kelly for inviting me to take part in the project.