The Four Panel Story

I find the idea of the detailed and labeled portrait very satisfying to introducing characters (see the one of Bill Smag in my previous post)
... and I could literally doodle portraits all day long. (This is usually the way i "warm up" if I haven't drawn for awhile because it is so fun)
One thing I realized though, is that it's challenging to really cram all the depth and context of a character in to just one drawing.
So, I started experimenting with a short four-panel story. The layout helps provide a little more information that hopefully helps round out the person a bit more for you.
This series of drawings about Lloyd was one of my first attempts.
I like the structure of the four panel story as it forces you to be succinct. (I should also mention that I am a big huge fan of Lynda Barry and some of my favorite comics of hers follow this style.)
Oh yeah, by the way...i had to scan these drawings in one on top of the other but I would rather see them left to right if they were in a book.

Ok Friends,
Hi, it's me, Devon.
This is my first of what I hope to be many, many more blog posts.
Baby Rowan is starting to sleep at more regular (and slightly longer) intervals throughout the day and I think I am ready to return to the graphic novel that I have been working on since 2008. It is coming together in little bits and pieces, sketches, ideas, jot-notes, scribbles and doodles. I can see it forming a more cohesive whole as I get more and more stories articulated and inked in.

But I am getting ahead of myself.

Let me first introduce you to my concept and then I will publish some more examples.
So, I used to work in a nursing home....a fascinating environment that i had never witnessed before I started working there as a recreation facilitator. Yup, I was that girl who called bingo, took residents on outings in a big wheelchair bus and even spoon-fed pureed hotdog at lunchtime.
Out of sheer emotional necessity, especially after some dearly loved residents that I was working with passed away, I started drawing some portraits and short 2-4 panel stories in honour of these wonderful characters.
I needed to remember them.
After a few drawings I figured that I was on to something bigger. I needed to categorize and round out the context for these tidbits. I am in the process of that now.
I feel like this blog might help coax my process along, I figure any encouragement will help. So Bill (that guy right there) has the honour of breaking the seal and getting the ball rolling. If you knew him you would know this is how he would like it.

Devon's been making these thank you cards for our recent Ontario baby shower, where we got a ton of cool stuff, including many handmade things. The images come from a book called "Questions Children Ask" by Edith and Ernest Bonhivert (1956), and they look like ink and marker illustrations. Click on the photo for a larger view!

Hello Dolly!

I (curtis) recently finished embroiding (?) a doll (action figure?) for my impending baby. Here he is:

Originally I was thinking that i'd sew up some clothes for him, but everyone seems to prefer him in his birthday suit. I'll have to wait for my kid to name him, so in the meantime i've just been addressing him as "Hey you!"...and he always replies with that same mischievous grin.

Stylus Cover!

Sorry for my delinquency fans, I was in Costa Rica teaching for 2 months; hence the tan if you see me in the streets of Wpg. What I should have posted in April was the cover of the April/May issue of Stylus magazine, which featured an illustration by Devon! It looked like this:

They also used a detail of it on their website, which looked like this:

It's an ink drawing with watercolour detail in a springtime palette (in my opinion). I love it - don't you?

Curtis

Devon's Heart

Devon (metaphorically) gave me her heart this valentine's day, in needle-felted form. Romantic, right? I thought so too.



Our pre-med buddy was quick to point out though that it isn't anatomically correct...which doesn't diminish the "heartfelt" sentiment at all.
...
Get it?

HEART...FELT?

Tomorrow!

Do you like Tomorrow as much as we do? Great, 'cuz we just added the new Tomorrow design t-shirts to the Etsy store. I didn't mean to look so serious in this photo.