Day 30: I go home from this journey...

Day 30 by I-Ming

"I go home from this journey,
changed in so many ways.
I'd tell you about the trip,
but then you were there too."


it was fun. but i'll have to tell you.
the process of how i came to develop
the graphic novel.

of how i was on a holiday with my family
last July that inspired me to produce this art.

________________________________________________

first, i went to Thailand.

i found this cool sketchbook at Bangkok:

The Death Book

it was fuckin cheap. i bought 2.
inspired by the cover, i found my theme,
and began to draft ideas for my 30dayartist run:



then i travel to England.
the weather inspired me:

Early design of Eron and 4

Early design of 4

Early design of Michelle

then i was in Brussel.
this is the first thing i saw when i arrived
Brussel:
then, 2 days later,
i found a comic store called Brusel.



this is the greatest comic bookstore that i've ever been
in my entire life. all the books were not wrapped.
they were free for browsing, yet, they were
all in mint condition. it shows how much everyone
appreciates the condition of these literate artforms.
strange indie-rock music ambience.
very silent browsing.
the combination made me feel like i was
in a library, but with music.
a very cafe-del-mar of indie rock music.

a comic art gallery upstairs.

strange weird titles i've never heard of.
friggin good arty-art. if you know euro art,
you'll know what i'm talkin about.
think Moebius, Ulf K, etc.

i was so mesmerize being there.

graphic novels,

filled with literature ideas of life.

mostly euro stuff.

luckily for me, they were all in french,
or else i would have spend a fortune there.

____________________________________

i started generating thumbnail pages:

most of it are only 10% used.
but they work as an idea trigger tool.

the first draft.

i started scripting the plots:

they were 20% used. they stand as a guideline.
usually, on the day of producing the pages,
the story breaths it self.

i tried linking plots, and develop other characters.
this was my greatest struggle. i didn't want him
to have anything to do with anybody.

once i arrived back home, on the 1st of August,
i quickly begin to work.
i do really-really small panels of the flow
of the story. like a storyboard.

this help me to see overall the smoothness of
the entire story:


mostly these small thumbnails are 80% used.


here are the tools i used:

i bought the good black Windsor & Newton ink
from England. i can't find it here in Malaysia.

i do my drawings on a photocopy-script of Adaptation by Charlie Kaufman.
i'm inspired by most of his works.

the working area when everyone else are not using it for
consuming food:



and now, for those who hasn't catch up to the story,
i've compiled all into one pdf:
(recommend you to right-click, then save to yr desktop)

(right click here)

and this is the trailer:



this has been really-really fun.
will continue finishing the graphic novel.

till then.

-chinyew

here are my older mini comics, free for download:

(right click here)

(right click here)