Sorry for the late update, I just got back from the Emerald City Comic Con – What a wonderful and incredible show. So grateful for all the help that came from some many people and spouses that made this show possible for our family.

It was a fantastic weekend and now it’s time to get back to work. Time to role up my sleeves and get this book done and jump into the next chapter.

I love the energizing feeling cons can bring. It makes really enjoy art and having the ability to mingle with some truly wonderful people . Thank you again for everyone that will be there.

Keep creating and dreaming big.

trav

I was sitting here looking at the title of the comic and realized that I have drawn over 646 pages of one story. I don’t plan to stop either. I am in awe over how this story has evolved and how I have grown as human being because of it. A tale of dishwasher, who now finds himself in a cold dark world carrying a sword that is fighting to control him.

The coloring has been a new motivator for me. I know the transition has been tough for some, but I also know that the story is soooo much better because of it. I don’t know where my future is on the books at the moment. (Don’t worry I am not stopping the story and it does have an ending) I just don’t know if I will be able to speed the timetable up or if I will be stuck at 2 pages a week (front and back) for a long time.

As you can see I am determined and I am not giving up. I really enjoy telling this tale. I love where it is going and I love that I am a part of it. I am also happy that I am able to share it with you. I am supper appreciative of how several of you are supporting it on a monthly basis. You are helping me find more time to keep it going. Thank you so much for what you are doing. You don’t have to I know, but I am so grateful that you do.  If i get this set up right I will be able to update the bean 5 times a week. But that is going to take a little extra support from you as well. So for now, I can only manage one new page to the story and old page of the story colored.  I just have a family to feed:) I would though ask if you enjoy this tale to help share it. We can use all the help we can get.

I also am grateful for my supportive family. They have watched this tale grow and struggle. I am a lucky man to have them as they deal with late nights of me drawing comic pages and creating this wonderful tale.

Thank you again for everything.

Keep creating and keep Creating

trav

So close to 600- wow and then we continue on.

Also there will be color updates this week as well. I love how color makes the Bean’s world so much richer. Also thank you to those new patreon donors. You are making the coloring of the Bean possible. If you want to join in and be part of this great adventure just click the patreon link.

keep creating

trav

Well hello, and what an incredible week it has been as I find my direction and follow the dream. As you can see I have joined Patreon and if you want to help support the coloring of the Bean comic, please do so. Patreon makes it easier for me to color and tell the story through your donations. Just a dollar a color update (which you can cap is all I am asking). It’s pretty cool as it is letting artist and creators tell their stories.

I will still upload for free- for anyone that wants to read this story. Yet it does costs me to produce it and if you want to help take a little of that burden off, please take a look at my patreon project. Supporting me through patreon will also help me bring it back to two or three days a week for updates.

The top pledge and is 30 min mentoring sessions on anything that has to do with kickstarter, artwork, story telling, layout, webcomic design, self-publishing you name it. I am here for you.

Thank you again for all your help, your love and your support.

trav-

Shop Talk: Adding the Little Things….

I am a picky reader, especially when it comes to webcomics. In fact it takes a lot at times to keep my interest. Usually that lack of interest is based on a few things…. Lack of story, lack or strong art and then there is the lack of the little things. Lack of the little things you ask? Yup lack of the little things.  These are really enhancements to a story, that when added are not really noticed at first, but in the end can have a lasting impact on good story telling. This not just applies to comics, it applies to books, poems, and movies. Yes every know and then, one needs a little mind numbing adventure…which I am a fan of, this is all good. It satisfies me for the moment and I realize I don’t have to come back and that is still ok.

Then there are those pieces, which seem simple, but in reality they are far more complex. This is usually due to the attention to detail and this attention to detail makes it fun. So how can one apply this to their own works?

A little planning helps first.

Yup that’s right a little planning. Now you don’t have to go overboard with the planning. Too much world building can kill a story quick. That in itself becomes an excuse on why you can just seem to finish your tale.

My suggestion. Get the basic gist of the story done, than start your first act. I break “Bean” into chapters of 38 pages each. This allows me to build the story and the world at a reasonable pace and not try to have one finished before the other. In fact I focus on the characters of the story in the beginning and the setting. This allows me to focus on what is important, and that is making sure the story stays on track and stays  focused.

Once though I am happy with the script, then I start to take a look at the world and the environment. Many people know that I treat the world as a character in itself. I find this to be very helpful as I go from one location to another. Especially when I am dealing with writing and epic. I realized I would be in one spot for several hundred pages. This allowed me to localize the world and not have to worry about far off places just yet.

That’s a pitfall. Focusing on the area not relevant to your current story location. When doing a webcomic, you need to realize that things tend to move at a slower pace…so there is plenty of time to add to your world.

Yet it also allows me to really build on the current location as well. This is an awesome tradeoff for a webcomic. I can really play with style, customs, and do the proper research in putting my world together.  In fact, in the long run it will enhance your story even more.

So, like I was saying, once the script is done, I go back and take a little look on how I can enhance the world that my characters are dealing with. There is always some interaction with elements, and plant life. Yet here is an opportunity to make it so much more. Too often plants, buildings and animals are looked at as card board elements.  Sort of like an old 20’s movie with cardboard props. The world we live in though, is far different. Animals and plants constantly move in and out of the picture. They embed themselves into our lives and many times we don’t even realize it.

I took that approach with “Bean”. I might show a critter in one panel and yet not in another. This is due to the fact that they are always moving and as my characters don’t always see them, neither does the reader.

Just make sure that you do not over do it. There needs to be some balance and many times there is no need to put things in certain panels, but on establishing shots or layout shots that help create mood, it is very ok.

The main thing is to just take a chance. Stop and look around you before you draw a location or a room. Ask yourself how can make this a little more believable. Does is need weeds, are the bottles or trash around. If I am digging a hole does dirt and rock slide back in. Even better does my dirt have texture are there rocks and pebbles in it. Are my trees rooted to the ground and do they have variety. You gotta ask yourself this and then sketch out ways to sneak those things in there.

If you go back and look at some of the best comics you will see the artist did not just focus on characters, he focused on everything. They hid stuff, they gave their work depth. They found ways to get you to look at a page for a long time especially when they were at a lull moment in their comics.. That is a goal I have, what can I do to help keep looking for clues.

It’s honestly more than just eye candy. It’s a way to pull people into your world without having to explain everything. People become familiar with it and it allows them to pick up on things that normally would not have been there. It also frees you up from having to lay it out.

So I add stuff all the time.

And by adding stuff all the time, you never know what hidden gems might lie within the story. You might be amazed on how much you miss. In fact, I give hints all the time about things that might happen a year or so down the road.

So don’t be afraid to add the little things to your works. Your readers will appreciate it.

trav-

Here are a few webcomics that really get it about putting extra details in their works. Go look, go see what they hide and enjoy getting lost in their incredible worlds as well.

]]> https://www.beanleafpress.com/shop-talk-the-power-of-webcomics-for-indys/ Mon, 28 Oct 2013 07:01:41 +0000 http://www.beanleafpress.com/?p=3867

Shop Talk: The power of Webcomics and why stores, publishing companies, hobbyist and the old indy publishing model doesn’t get it yet.

This last year has been quite an eye opener for me. These last two years have really been a break out for indy/webcomics. Many of these creators have found how to make their stories a good income source and some cases a permanent income source. Being one of them I have found how vital it is for the print and web industries to work together. They need each other.

Creators of outstanding stories need to be paid for their efforts. Yet the distribution for independents is facing some uphill battles. Diamond is no longer friendly to them and most comic stores stock the top 4 or 5 publishers in this order Marvel/DC, Image, Dark horse, Archaia Entertainment (which i love), and then well known independents, minor independents (only about 3 to 5% on the list if that) and then well you get it. Indy’s are not high the list. Plus all the indy distributors are drying up. Does this mean that your books won’t get into a store- not always- but it is the biggest uphill battle you have to face. Plus the return on your work is low… So really what is the motivation for an indy publisher these days. Well it might surprise you.

Several indy creators have found a way to carve out a nitch in the industry. We have found a way to bring in income as well and we all for the most part have the same mind frame on how to make it work. Yet it goes against the grain and very slowly an industry that refuses to change in way of doing business is starting to take notice. Yet, I am not writing this for the industry, I am writing this for the indy’s, with hopes that you to can make your dreams of being a story creator become a reality.

So let’s talk shop.

As an artist, I need to make a living. It is what I do. There are peaks and valleys in my career. I have to constantly promote and many times listen to the negative feedback that seems to stalk artist about our goals being unrealistic. Yet it all boils down to 2 things.

First- Dont tell me how bad you want it, show me.

Second- This is a career not a hobby. For the most part webcomic-hobbyist disappear after a few years. Those that treat it like a job – stick around.

With that being said how do I make my comic into a webcomic that generates income, builds my artistic career, and fulfills the needs of my fans.

1. Give it away for free online. What? Give it a way for free are you nuts? How does one make money when you are giving it away for free online so everyone can read it? Simple…. You are building an audience. Most indy’s don’t have audiences, except their friends and families. Honest fact.  So if no one knows your story exists, how can they buy it when it comes out in print?

The power of giving your story away for free helps you on many fronts. The first is audience growth. You jump from being just a small local story teller to an international story teller. If the work is clean, the story good, and updates consistent people keep coming back. They become attached to your world and many want you to succeed that when you do print books and create digital books they support them.

Next it gives people a reason to remember you, especially in-between issues. The longer the wait in between books the quicker people forget you exist, no matter how good the story is. Regular updates help keep people invested in what you are creating and motivates you to keep producing-

The big companies are starting to offer online- but a lot of them charge. That’s fine. I will still offer my tale for free, because I want more and more people to become familiar with my story and my art.

2. The power of community. For the most part the webcomic community is pretty open. In fact several of the successful creators are always willing to give advice. Jason Brubaker of remind has created and entire site dedicated to making webcomics and comics. The web comic is also very supportive of one another. We plug each others comics, yet this is usually by taste. DONT BE PUSHY- if someone doesn’t plug you it might be because we are also picky. I plug webcomics I read, yet I am a stickler for story and good illustrations.

Be willing to plug others as well, without expecting anything in return. It’s get’s noticed. Those that expect things find out that people avoid them.

We also all are trying to tell our own stories. Each different and unique. This creates a common bond, as we all try to be successful in our story telling. Be respectful of this the web can be rather harsh at times as people push their own agendas.

There is also many creators who have created tutorials or blogs and how to make it work. You just have to find them and read them. I already linked to a great set of resources with Jason.

Stay away from comparing. Everyone is at their own spot in the game and sometimes the biggest killer of a webcomic is the creator itself. You got to focus on your own game not someone else. Let other creators inspire you to improve yourself and then apply what you learn, but keep it your own style and creation.

3. Patience- Your audience will show up. You just have to put the time in to make it happen. Like planting a garden, the fruit of the labor does not happen overnight. It takes time. Audiences start small. Yet there are many ways to plug your work. You need to be consistent with your updates and art. Don’t disappear or be unreliable, that kills the audience quick. Sometimes it can take several years before your audience grows and you start generating income. Stick it out.

4. Print still sells- Print books will never go away. In fact the web and print work very well together. Yet you can just throw in out on a whim – you need to build up your audience. Once your audience has grown, it might be time to print. The cool thing is many indy’s no longer use stores and distributors. We build our own stores and sell from there, we are cutting out distributors and sales are direct. It gives me a chance to offer a store a bigger cut, if they want to carry it, but as the web audience grows, you find that you dont have to be in a small comic shop. Plus there are other ways to get into bigger stores.

Just be careful about jumping the gun. Establish your comic and your audience first. Build up the page count and pull from there and add tidbits here and there.

Yet you still have to print the books. Hence the power of kickstarter. The key to success with kickstarter is the importance of building an audience and having a good looking product. (ok there is more but you have to read about it in my kickstarter topic here).

5. You still have to push your comic- Once you have to comics- you head to cons. Start small. Once again we see the importance of building up an audience. People find you though, especially fans. It is quite cool when people you have never met in a city come up to you and say they have been following you for year and want to support you. Just make sure when you come back the next year you have something new for them. The killer of most small press is they are a one book press… This is solved if you are doing a web comic and can keep producing books.

Is it fool proof…. no. It’s constantly evolving and changing. We need to adapt and honestly it is those creators that can adapt that survive. Patience, and the drive to figure things out. Yet that’s what makes webcomics a possible realistic source of income. You just got to put the effort into your own work.

Is it easy… no. Will you get frustrated… yes. Will you almost quit…possibly. Yet in the end, if you are willing to put the effort in and are willing to show people that you want it bad enough – you will make it happen. Things only look better for webcomics, especially with more and more support options out there to help with getting the word out. You will might be pleasantly surprised.

There is so much more to this. I plan to go into it as well because I want to see others succeed. I believe in the webcomic/kickstarter model. I am product of it working. I think now is the time for more great stories to get out there, just be true to work and your updating schedule. Treat it like a job and in time (no destination given cause we are all different) and it will eventually become one.

Are webcomics good for the industry- you bet they are… in fact they are breathing new life to a broken model already in place. They bring in new readers to comics and help reach audiences that normally would never know that your work exist.

So there is life for the indy’s. You can survive the comic industry and still make a dent as indy. You can still get your story out there and sell your books. You just get creative , go against the grain and not be afraid to offer your comic for free.

Keep creating-

trav

The other day I read an article about how backgrounds are really not needed in webcomics or comics in general. I was rather shocked by the attitudes and perceptions that backgrounds were unimportant in the story telling process and that head shots and just character figures could make a story or comic successful.

Truth be told, Backgrounds are more than just a luxury or eye candy I find a that backgrounds and strong page layouts are crucial to effective story telling. That the elimination of these elements completely from a comic is kind of a cop-out by the artist.  I hope as we chat a little today you will see the need and the purpose of the background and how it can be such a powerful tool in the story process.

Now some strips honestly, and I will be the first to admit it, don’t always need backgrounds in every panel. Each part of layout plays an important part in telling a story, it’s learning how to use each element successfully that can determine a strong storyteller. There is a place for the headshot, the character without anything behind them in a panel or maybe one or two props, that help establish a bit of realism or perspective of the room they are in.  Yet the backgrounds have the power to remind us of where we are at, and reduce the need to sometimes spell everything out in text.

Now I blur the word environment and background. I find them to be virtually the same when I am working on the Bean. I build my backgrounds into my layouts and I am not afraid to bring them into the foreground when needed. I have found that the more I use them in my storytelling – the stronger I see that the story becomes.  Also mind you I am working on a full epic story (530 pages posted), yet I have found these rules also apply to small stories, one shots, and general illustrations.

Treating your background/environment as it’s own character.
Huh? When I first created the Bean, I found that the more I added detail to my world the more it became alive. It literally became it’s own character. It made the world I was creating believable and alive. Pulling the reader into not just the story I created but the world itself. I found this to be extremely helpful in establishing cultures,  personalities, and even story elements.

If the character, I was drawing was a slob, his room or area needed to reflect that. It made the character a little more believable. The trinkets and trash had to have meaning to him and by adding elements that I believe he would have consumed or tossed around it added to his personality and character.  Yet is the character was a collector, than his room needed to feel like an overstuffed museum. His history on the walls and the floor, each item telling their own story.

If my characters were outside and wandering (which they are doing now) I needed to make the world around them alive. Which takes me to my next point…

Backgrounds have the power of establishing emotion…
Really? Yes, really.  Going back to my wondering characters, a good strong background allows the reader to feel the emotions my characters are going through without  one of them having to explain it to the reader. Just the barrenness of the landscape and your group pushing through, can give the reader a true feeling for what the experience is. It allows the characters to become more alive, to look at things and feel more than just paperdoll cutouts on a white canvass. It even allows you to convey the power of a characters personality… childlike characters stop and look and touch – while the more focused characters of the scene might just be pushing on ignoring the world around them.

It can create dread, worry, happiness and most important the feeling that one truly understands the world your characters and people live in.  It also serves a reminder at times for the emotional experience you might be trying to convey in your story… for example… Two characters enter a ruined village and began a conversation… which drifts here and there, by adding environment and background… not even detail you can create subtle reminders that they are still in a ruined village and that they might even possibly be in danger, without having the characters even explain to the audience what is going on. That’s because the audience already sees it. They know it and your backgrounds act as that quiet reminder that something might happen.

Establishing realism through background and layouts
This is really important for the comic creator that wants his world, imaginary or not to feel real.  Even some of the best cartoonist pushed themselves to have a sense of realism in their works. Gary Larsen, Bill Watterson, Jim Davis (when he drew the strip), Bill Keane… etc. They understood the purpose of perspective, layout and the importance of building a believable environment for their characters (just look at the sunday comics).  Most comic book creators understand this as well.  Keen readers pick up on the fact that the artist takes the time to make a room believable. Dressers always in the same spot, lamps that don’t move positions, desk layouts that stay the same… store shelving that helps establish location. It can make a room feel small.  This is also the bane of many illustrators, myself included at times as I try to remember where I left the sword or the dagger. Is the backpack on otter right? etc… But it sets you apart as a creator when you do these things.

Making your backgrounds feel like they actually belong.
This is important. Just throwing a background into a piece or throwing things here and there can actually take away from a strip. Things need to belong, they need to feel like they are part of the environment and not just standard basic illustrations put there to fill space.  William Stout, pointed this out to me many years ago – the need to make things feel like they belong in the backgrounds, and that they were different from each other. Meaning not all trees or bottles look alike. That by adding a little personality to the background, your world stops being mundane and becomes a realistic possibility.

Backgrounds take work and practice.
One of the truest and most honest reasons people do not put backgrounds into their works is because they hate drawing them. They are a challenge, and can be quite frustrating.  In fact they can be a huge source of aggravation, felt it myself many times.

So what do you do? well start researching things out. Actually take a moment and look at your script and plan a little. Work with your writer if you can, find out what belongs in the background and why and then you go out and learn how to add that into your world. One of the hardest things for me was learning how to pull my horizon line up a little more and draw things smaller to give them distance. It was a test of my faith and honestly one of the biggest and most frustrating things to learn in my career. Yet it was worth every bit of aggravation and I am still learning on how to improve my craft. Yet what most people do not realize is how much time, practice and patience actually goes into learning how to actually draw and layout things correctly using perspective.

I have found google images, national geographic and magazines a god send in helping me learn to draw different backgrounds, props and actually placing people to fit in the environments correctly. It has also improved the layout and feel of comic. Which helps the story.

Backgrounds can make the mundane interesting.
Ok lets be honest. There are moments in every strip that seem to just drag. They are important to plot and explaining a crucial thing, but the easy way out is to just draw the characters explaining something and looking off into one direction or the other… Nothing else to look at on the page, and if you have several updates of this due to the complexity of the joke or story… it can actually put off readership a little. The background gives them something else to look at. It allows the camera to pan back, go in another direction or help establish a location in creating a mood.  It also allows you to change up the layout. It gives you more creative control and feeling and it can really help these slower parts flow better, PLUS it sometimes gives characters things to play with when they are just talking.  Watch people talk to one another, most people are fidgety, they are doing something.. they hey… wait for it… interacting with their environment. This is noticed.

Some of the best comics I have ever read where by creators who truly understood the value of the background and environment. These are the stories and books I still read. These are the ones I admire and strive to be like, these are truly the master story tellers.

So before you get ready to dismiss the need for a background, stop and look at the comics and artist you look up to and enjoy. Look at how they value the importance and need of a background. (if they don’t that’s ok) But I will tell you – your credibility will improve as an effective story teller if you can learn to utilize and adapt backgrounds into your works.

Keep creating
Trav

Shop Talk- Scripting the Bean.

Let’s talk about my process, and mainly focus on scripting the bean. There are many ways to script and not everyone will have the luxury of being able to script their own work. Since I write and illustrate everything about “The Bean” I am able have a little more creative freedom when I script and I do not usually follow the industry standard for comic book scripts.

So what do I do?

The first thing I do is build or create a dummy book. Even though “Bean” is shown on the web, my final goal is to create a printed book. I know that book printers work in sets of 8. This is why comics are usually 24 or 32 pages. 24= 3 sets of 8 pages, 32 = 4 sets of pages. By building on this principal, you can build almost any size graphic novel. Bean is built to be a 152 pages of story with extras. So when I am scripting I know that I have to find some closure of the book in 152 pages. You can leave it on a cliff hanger, but the book needs to have some resolution. Books 1, 2 & 3 each have their own story arc, even though they are part of a much bigger and longer tale.

I used to build my dummy books with copy paper and staples. 20 sheets stapled equals a 40 page book (I work on front & back, but more on that in a minute). This method is fine, but you will find that you use the dummy book quite a lot and the staples start to fall out and then you end up fixing the book all the time. This frustrated me after 12 40 page comics like this. I was determined to not let that happen for book 4.

One day at a local office supply store, I found a compilation book for engineers. It is a 76 sheets of graph paper that is bound together, it is also 9 x11 in size so it is bigger than most notebooks. This is what I needed to help me in my scripting. Why graph paper you might ask, well as we talk about my work model further, you will see how important graph paper has become to the process.

I have chosen to draw my comic book landscape or widescreen. I do this because it translates perfectly for the web and looks fantastic in print. Just like a Calvin and Hobbes book. I also like the freedom landscape gives me as I work. The eye moves easier from left to right than from up to down. Plus no scrolling it’s a nice feel. (Only drawback is comic book stores cringe at this because they are set up for traditional style books . So a good portion of my sales come from online, which is better for me)

So back to scripting. When I am ready to start my next chapter I pull out my book and map out two pages. The graphing makes mapping and panel layout so much easier to block. You have instant guidelines. I also like how it works with perspective. Since I draw vertical I can fit two pages to a page. Which means with a compilation book of 76 pages I can map out 152 pages of story. That is 4 chapters of a 172 page book. See it fits perfect for the bean.

Now I gather my notes , scrap papers, sketch books, plug in my music and begin plotting. I work each page individually and at times with it’s opposite, drawing how I would envision them to be. This is a quick sketch as you notice from the pictures. The goal is so I understand. I try to use a pencil, so I can erase and move stuff around. I have used pen, but that gets messy at times. There are times though that I get a little more detailed in the sketch process, especially when I world build or need to see detail. The graph paper also helps me to change camera angles and figure out quick perspective for the pages. I do not write a description of the page I actually draw it. This is what I will use as a guide (key word here: GUIDE) when I start working on my actual page. I can change, add or take away at will.

I also try and limit my panels per page. I have found with this size that 4 or 5 panels should be the limit. Anymore than that and it becomes jumbled. Since Bean is an graphic novel I do not feel that I have to spell it all out either. Many pages are just one or two panels. Visual for me is just as strong as the written word.

It is here that I also lay the text out for the story. I treat this as a guide as well and there have been times that I have completely changed the text as I began to lay the book out in indesign.

I use my script as starting point. The visual aspect combined with only what the characters say create a very clear picture on what my comic is about and how it will end up. Sometimes I am detailed about it and sometimes I am not, because I get in a really powerful groove and need to just get out. I will return and flesh it out later if I must or as I am actually penciling a page. Sometimes I realize that the layout just doesn’t work on a page, since I script/draw in pencil, I can erase the page and re-sketch it out, until it looks right.

The most important thing was to make it easy for me. I need to see it visually and these thumbnails make it possible and the bound together, so i don’t have to worry about loosing pages. It also makes it fun, scripting should not be complicated and by drawing it out like this for artist/writer it allows you to see if something will work visually or not right at that moment.

So that’s it. Maybe next time we will approach more on how I tell the story. Today is a tech day, and that is good too. By seeing how others tackle their goals might give us an idea on how improve or maybe just push through a rough creative block. The most important thing is find what works for and keep going forward.

keep creating
trav-

Also if you have any questions or comments, please share.

The Scavenger (11×14) ink on vellum.

I figured I needed to draw some robots again and may a scavenger looking for a spare part or two. I really enjoyed creating this piece and coming up with it’s design. (Here’s to many more)

Traditional inks on vellum. Plan to work on these a few at a time. Plus give people some original artwork to help support the bean and keep the art flowing. Looking forward to coloring this in a bit.

If you want to buy the original ink of this you can just click here.

Like all my original inkwork it is a first come first serve basis.

keep creating

trav

The warrior princess (11×14)

A new piece- with a video that talks about the process of inking on vellum. A process I have found that I rather enjoy.  More artwork coming soon and I am also going to add a video section to the site since I am working on several new videos – maybe i will put it in shop talk.

Here’s the video

The Journal 17×22

In the last 50 years the art of journals has all but disappeared. Our children will never know our histories or our mistakes. We need to correct that and take a moment in our “busy” lives and write down what was important to us and what did in life. So others might realize that they are not so alone.

Anyways- keep creating

trav

The Dragon Tamer 17×22

No beast is too difficult to tame. Sometimes we just need to get creative on how we choose to tame it. Even the greatest of dragons can be soothed.

Anyways- keep creating

trav