What's My Style?
Yeah, so this is what happens when you don't draw properly for years. In fact, the last time I remember drawing properly (as in every waking hour of my day-off), is honestly, probably when I was a teenager... :/
Its been so long, I actually find it really difficult to sit still with my sketchbook and simply draw. Can you believe that?! I get super-anxious and self-criticise and freeze up, or get frustrated and restless and can't focus, or have too many ideas and don't know where to start first! Or no ideas at all. It's been a stifling cycle.
Anyway, it's 2019! The New Year feeling is all about new beginnings, right? Doing all those productive things that make you happy, right? Why aren't I drawing properly yet?! I started to draw out of frustration at the most inopportune moments, to not think about the act of drawing, and justdrawdammit. (The first being a "fish" during office breakfast.)
Then the one above is one drawn during another office lunch, whilst chatting with other work colleagues and whatever banter happening at the time. Still wasn't drawing much though... I was feeling stifled.
Then, a week or so later, an issue came up at work, and I was forced to prepare for looking for a new job. This felt like a cold slap to my face - I was suddenly panicking. I looked at jobs out there, I did a financial plan for myself. Then I thought, "hey, what if were to suddenly be made redundant at my office and I was left to expand solely on my freelance business?" Well, that worked.
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| Scribbled down thoughts on what styles I like (or think I like) |
After a few more days of careful thought, I have decided to focus on the 2 styles I am most natural at, with branches off into other mediums:
STYLE #1:Visceral-style "manga" style
My comic book style and what I draw sub-consciously. I usually go for what I think are:
- cool or cute dramatic characters
- funky/edgy/sci-fi/quirky fashion sense
- unkempt lines and/or hair
- messy/inky/graffiti-ish ink with lots of black/other other blocks of colour (needs developing).
- Includes kawaii/chibi/mecha/monsters/multi-cultural designs that typically pertain to the "manga" genre
My past examples:
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| A page I originally submitted for the cancelled 'Inception Big Under' comic book: https://www.deviantart.com/voxie-chan/art/THE-BIG-UNDER-Page-6-182251589 |
More examples TBC. I need to look back at the comics I've made sporadically throughout my life!
From what I remember growing up, my biggest inspirations have been:
- X-men (both the 90s cartoon & any of the comics by Jim Lee)
- Richard Elson (specifically Sonic the Comic)
- Adam Warren (specifically The Dirty Pair: Fatal but not Serious)
- Kenichi Sonoda (Gunsmith Cats)
- Masamune Shirow (Ghost in the Shell, Intron Depot)
- Katsuhiro Otomo (Akira)
- Rumiko Takahashi (namely, the Urusei Yatsura OVAs!)
- Yoshitoshi ABe (Serial Experiments Lain, Robot)
- Yoshitaka Amano (Final Fantasy)
- CLAMP (Cardcaptor Sakura)
I should also mention Manga Mania, a 90s magazine that introduced manga & anime to people before it went mainstream like today. It was this magazine that introduced me to The Dirty Pair* and the Gunsmith Cats manga.
*Oh I just remembered that I was even inspired to create my own pair of heroines for my own home-made comic, which I called The Lucky Pair, who were ripped offed the Gunsmith Cats, except set in London! I'll have to do a #TBT on it when I find those... ^_^;
STYLE #2: Mish-mash "emblem" style
I haven't done this style in a while, but I have had dreams of going back to it for a long time now.
This style seems to usually consist of:
Apart from comics and character illustration, what could I see my "styles" branching off to? During my art hiatus, there have been a few things that I've noticed ignite a sort of, 'spark' inside me. Stuff I enjoy looking at and relish, like a child. It's taken me a long time to notice it, feel it, establish it, but I think those things are...
My past examples:
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| Sonic Hair (2013) A design based on girl gaming and Sega! https://www.redbubble.com/people/voxie/works/9869058-sonic-hair-2013?asc=u&p=t-shirt |
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| Bus Fun Time (2012) My first (and so far only) design for kids! https://www.redbubble.com/people/voxie/works/9869386-bus-fun-time?p=t-shirt&style=mhoodie&rbs= |
This style seems to usually consist of:
- Slick & thick, solid/clean/vector lines
- A zany clash/crash/cocktail of things
- Looks complicated/random but (somehow, what I want to achieve) is a beautiful mess
- Does carry some of my other "manga" influence, but I think also carries a more universal comic book-style.
EXTENSIONS:
2D Animation
Hopefully by this, I mean just an animated take on style #2. Who knows at this early stage? Not 100% sure how it will turn out (but how could I be!), but I am excited at the idea.
My past examples:
Some cool animators in the field I'm currently interested in (mainly for the simple animations that loop):
- Charlie Brown (is that his real name?!): An illustrator & animator at Google: https://the-dots.com/users/charlie-brown-517963
- Loulou & Tummie: An addictive & busy cartoon style, that to me, looks animated even when still!: http://loulouandtummie.com/
Augmented Reality + Comics
A smaller extension, a side order version of both styles #1 & #2, where I am exploring ideas for my MA (which restarts in October this yearrraaah). I would primarily like to focus on AR (or other digital medium) merging with the traditional paper comic medium. AR from a narrative POV is still pretty fresh and I feel I should explore it further. So far I have played around with thought bubbles.
My past examples:
Other artists currently exploring the medium or similar:
- Stuart Campbell AKA Sutu, who has already published his own AR comic book, called Modern Polaxis. His latest stuff is always amazing: http://www.sutueatsflies.com
- Ram Devineni from the studio Rattapallax, helmed Priya’s Shakti, an AR comic project, followed by street art and exhibitions. Ram has been recognised as a “gender champion” by the United Nations: https://www.priyashakti.com/street_art
- Karrie Fransman, who has created the 'tilt comic app' The First Witch and VR comics using Tilt Brush (which I so want to try this year!): http://www.karriefransman.com/
- Daniel Merlin Goodbrey, who recently wrote a thesis on 'The Impact of Digital Mediation and Hybridisation on the Form of Comics': http://e-merl.com/theory/thesis
I used to make games using Clarisworks back in the 90s, when I was around 14 years old. Later, I used a sort of PowerPoint style program by a company named Serif, I think. And in my first paint program days, I used to draw levels out, and run the cursor around the "platforms", as if the cursor was the game's character... I'm not kidding. This was on my Olivetti PC back when I was a teen. I'd love to design a proper, playable game one day - but I'm not sure at the same time. I love games, but coding seems very frustrating!
My past examples:
(None, thank gosh. LOL)
[MAYBE] Spatial Design
In the future, the next level up (from comics, books, t-shirts & 2D animation) could be public art, retail design or related (experimenting with exhibition space, maybe). It's something I've barely scratched the surface with, having done a handful of murals and a few sets of retail POS.
My past examples:
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| A mural I did for a Bristol sex club (?!) back in 2012 |
My biggest inspirations:
- The Yard Creative, an agency I heard about through Creative Review's awesome podcast. I admire what they've done with retail design all over, just amazing: https://www.theyardcreative.com
- Just about every street artist I come across
- Will update as I remember...!
Phew! That's it for now! More to post as I develop!
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