Character Art: Adrian MacIssac

 

Hi everyone! I got some new artwork today revealing the main character, Adrian MacIssac.

I tried a combination of hatching and screentone rendering. Its still a work in progress but at least I can show you what the characters look like. All through the month of Feburary I will be  revealing more artwork with the characters in the story and what possibly the comic art would look like. However since this is still in pre-production, character design changes can still be made.

Website Sneak Peek

Oh my! Two posts in one day. But yeah I wanted to give you guys a small peek at my comic publishing studio: Bondage Bunny Studios. A website dedicated to my comics of an adult nature, with my Do Unto You book as its flagship title.

Pretty sweet eh? 

 So I am hoping to have this website live in the spring in time for the Fan Expo Vancouver. So the website will have the official artwork, cover, Indiegogo campaign, etc.. related to my comics.

Some Quick Plugs

Hey everyone
I'll be making an update to my writing later tonight but in the meantime I want to give a couple of shout out to some art projects that need some attention:


I have been attending the Cloudscape Comics meetings. Cloudscape is a collective of Comic Artists/Writers/Creators in Vancouver who meet weekly and collaborate on comic anthologies as well as help out individual creator projects. Its been pretty welcoming so far and I've been able to catch the eye of a writer/editor who has offered to help me edit my script! :D

So the two projects I have up here are from a couple members from Cloudscape: Ed Appleby and C. Moses Cirulis who are needing some help with their publishing projects through IndieGoGo. So just making a quick plug for their comics, feel free to take a look, contribute or at least pass the word along. :)

And lastly, I have a mini-project going along called Cartoon Cult. Its a new blog I will be starting up in the summer talking about alternative animated films. If you are interested in following, you can take a look here: http://cartooncult.blogspot.com/

Thanks everyone and I will talking more through the weekend!

Hubby is reading through the plotline

...And I seem to be doing well. I think.

At least this time I will just have revisions rather than re-write. Fixing a few mistakes rather than the plot, none the less I hope to get to the first draft soon.

Eeek.

EDIT: A little painful but we went through it. Some cliches here and there that need to be addressed and need to figure out characters. Will be re-revision again this weekend.

Writing Day 10: The Rising Action

So ten days into the writing, and I am still within the treatment phase of the script. I have the beginning down, and I (finally) have the ending I like but the middle is still well, stuck and I am having a hard time writing it.

I am hoping that I will at get the treatment done by Wednesday and then I can get finally get to writing the first draft of the script. All is not lost though as I have been doing some character designs so I hope to show you guys some artwork.

Its getting there! I haven't given up yet! ...Writing is very hard to get motivated to work.

Viscera Film Festival

The Viscera Film Festival is a celebration dedicated to women creating films in the Horror industry, I got a change to see it last night. Some were good, although most of the selection were rather flawed (some were terrible) but there are two films that I really enjoyed:

Funnily enough, they're animated films :D

Blood Bunny from molly madfis on Vimeo.



Nursery Crimes Trailer from L. Whyte on Vimeo.

Note to Self

Judging from the stats, the image post seem to be well recieved (and it should be considering its for a graphic novel) So I'll be making a note to myself to include more design/illustrations as the project goes on.

Off to work for me, goodnight everyone!

New Artwork for 2012

Some new "Do Unto You" artwork for 2012. I had been looking at a lot of old movie posters and I had decided to try and make a creepy image of one of the characters, not to mention playing around with grayscales and gradients.

I have to admit, I was rather impressed with myself. Here's to my art improving towards the graphic novel.

Possible Con Appearance

I just sent in an application for the Fan Expo Vancouver and hoping to get a table in the Artist Alley for April 21-22.

What does that mean for this project?
1) I have a deadline for the script. Something tangible to show at the convention.
2) Get a portfolio together to present about this project.
3) Meet new people and search for artists to help contribute (Inking, Lettering, etc..)

It worked the last time when I attended the Calgary Comic Expo so I am hoping that this will be a big motivator to get this novel moving.

BreakTime: Inspiration

While taking a break from my writing and animation. Here are some films that help inspired my storyline and recommend for you to check out:

"Maribito: The Stranger From Afar"

Directed by: Takashi Shimizu.

This was my earliest inspiration for my story when I was really into Asian horror films and this one stuck out to me. I've seen quite a few films that are very liberal with the arterial spray but this film was much quieter more subdued type of horror- as in a lot of the fear is in the uncertainy- there wasn't a lot of information given about the characters (especially for the girl "F") so a lot of scary things you end up creating in your head. It doesn't mean that this film doesn't have any of its own scares. It does have a lot of creepy things although this is along the lines of psychological horror where the main character is spiraling to madness.

Even though my plot has changed quite a bit over the years, I quite love this film and hope my story would be half as creepy as Marebito.


"Suspiria"
Directed by Dario Argento

I've only recently got into the European horror films- Italian in particular here. Dario Argento has been a big inspiration to the current incarnation of my plotline. Suspiria, is one of his few supernatural works deals with the main character who attends a prestigious ballet school, only to find out it is run by a coven of witches.

I would definitely recommend this movie (especially if you liked Black Swan), Argento has an eye for the art direction of his films which often has striking imagery and colours that invoke a psychedelic/dreamlike vibe to Suspiria. His works though heralded as horror masterpieces, his films are at heart, a mystery/detective story (with lots of blood and gore to boot!)


"Carrie"
Directed by Brian de Palma

Inspiration or not, this film should be mandatory viewing for horror fans. This film has been giving me some inspiration for writing - where the main character, Carrie is being bullied from everyone in her life from her classmates to her bible-thumping fanatical freak of a mother (which btw, kudos to Piper Laurie for a great job in acting as a hateful bitch.)


So yeah that's the three main inspirations for my novel and it should give you a bit of an idea of what kind of theme/mood I am trying to invoke with it. If you have any film suggestions I should look at, please feel free to comment!

Writing Day 3: Motivation

Hello everyone,
Just got to writing some of the treatment today. I have the beginning and ending down pretty much pat, now I just got to get to the middle part of the story (which can be the hardest part to write) but I am hoping once I get around to writing the treatment- the script will come in much easier. (I had been stuck in the Beatsheet mode for so long, it feels good to get an actual rhythm for the plot.)

However this did bring up the point of motivation and how this story was in development hell for so long: I came up with this idea in 2007/2008- after experiencing a gruesome nightmare- which inspired the plot for this comic however there were a lot of life events (moving out, getting a job, marriage, school etc..) that had me place the comic aside for short term goals.

I end up working on the story on and off for the last 4-5 years with many changes to the plot (however they are very good changes) although when I sat down to try and actually write the script- I would hit a wall. And if I am not working on it- my motivation to do so wanes.

So what to do in order to keep motivation and keep to a deadline? There are a few ways to do it:

1) Expectation from Audience
If you have nobody interested in your work, then you have no motivation for you to complete it. So if you have a bunch of people who are interested in the project you are doing, then at least you have an audience to make the work for. Best way to do that is to make friends with those in the community (comics, horror, film, etc..) that have the same interest you do and would be willing to support your hard work.

2) Potential Gain
This is often used as a big motivator- make this product and make money/fame. However depending on the product/person, monetary gain may not be enough of a motivator to get work done. Not to mention if you have large competition- desire for gain fails because they know they have a very small chance of getting it.

3) Potential Loss
Unlike the potential for gain, potential loss is a much more hard hitting motivator: You do this or you loose money/opportunity/etc.. If you don't get any potential gain, no loss is made. However if you put your stakes high, your motivation is higher because you don't want to lose whatever you put into the project.

In my opinion number 3 has been the highest motivator for me, followed by 1 and then maybe 2. I know by making this comic, I will not be a rich/famous. I want to be able to make a good story and share it with my audience. If I make money or get a little fame? Great! If not, at least I have something accomplished.

Now I would like to ask, what motivates you to create your project? And if not, what has been holding you back?

Writing: Day 1

So like I said from the previous post, I am writing my first draft for my graphic novel. I have found a couple of articles and books regarding writing and comics that has been helpful for me (and can be helpful for you as well)

Write a Screenplay in 3 Weeks By Dov S-S Simens
I found this through twitter a couple of weeks ago and I am currently using this as a template for the first draft of my comic- although this article seems to be more for film. I do believe that this can work for comics as well. Just replace "shot" with "panel" and you're good to go. Currently I am at the summary stage and is working towards the treatment part.

25 Things Writers Should Stop Doing (Right Fucking Now)
Found this a couple of days ago through a friend of mine who is working towards a career as a screenwriter. Despite what kind of writer you are (or heck even any creative project), this article is a great thing to read and help you figure out what has been holding you back. I know I have been guilty of these things.

I've also got a couple of books to recommend:

The Insider's Guide To Creating Comics And Graphic Novels by Andy Schmidt
This is a great book I picked up in an art store. It gives information about how comics are written, illustrated, published, etc. breaking down every part of sequential artwork and how it can be used in storytelling. I will be keeping this book around for reference in the future once the ball gets rolling.

The Writers Journey: Mythic Structure for Writers by Christopher Vogler
I found out about this during my Animation course. This book talks about how the most successful stories can be broken down into mythological structure and the journey the main character takes in the story. Its biggest draw for me is that it has a great section on characters and how characters can take on different roles through the story (hero, villian, herald, etc..) This book is not the rule but merely a guideline and something to help you think about the purpose of the characters and what they bring to the plot.

If anyone has any recommendations/articles regarding writing for comics/horror/etc.. I would greatly appreciate them. Otherwise, back to work!

Back to the Drawing Board...

Hello everyone,

For the three of you that read my blog, I created this blog to document myself, attempting make and publish a graphic novel. However due to school, life, employment, etc.. I've kept on putting my project aside for shorter term goals.

Now my New Year Resolution is to actually take the time aside to write this bloody thing and get on with making it. I was nearly close to trashing the entire thing in frustration that I will never finish it- however reading and getting to know the horror community- I have the feeling that I will be able to get support for this novel, I just have to actually apply the time and hard work like I've done with my animation projects.

So for those who are new, my name is Shannon LeClerc, I am a trained animator and a lover of horror movies. This blog to document the process of myself writing, illustrating and eventually publishing my first Graphic novel. This will be a very large project and I would hope you guys can help support this thing I've been wanting to do for so long.

All information pertaining to the novel (plot, characters, etc..) can be found on the right hand side of this blog which I will be updating periodically as the project goes forward. And I will be posting up character designs, backgrounds and layouts to give a better image on what is to come.

So 2012...bring it on!