Black Diamonds and Blue Scars

It is the end of my Masters course and my exhibition is on until the 22nd of July. I came to this course with a clear creative and personal objective for my project; to produce a graphic novel about my childhood, growing up in a mining community, a social documentary using memory to convey a political message.

I incorporated sequential art as a basis to form a narrative within my work dealing with memory and history. I have used a combination of social history and personal experience with the aim to connect with a wider audience through art. I had hoped to complete the whole book but after early tutorials I was persuaded to focus on one chapter and to produce it to a high quality. 

Here is my exhibition at Camberwell, the main part of my work is the book I produced (on the table), and the images of the wall contain some pages from the book blown up in scale. 

The book is the memoir of a mining family from the Midlands who are plunged into a grimy underworld set within the industrial conflicts of the 1980s miners' strikes. It focusses on relationships between squabbling siblings within the household whilst the threat of pit closure under Thatcher's reign looms eerily.

The most prominent creative issue I have is that I often employ different visual styles. This is further reflected in the fact that my work often is of a political theme and is construed as having a serious side whilst often, I aim to capture the energy of life and humour in everyday situations to capture what it is to be human. Within my project I have used these two distinct differing of visuals to create a division between the world in which we inhabit and a second world which resides underground that the miners are found in. 

Here is a close up of a work in progress. This piece was made using scraperboards, it is a fine layer of clay covered in ink, using a tool you scrape away at the ink and create a reverse drawing.

I also experimented with lino printing and etching, I felt that these techniques held a physical connection with coal mining, chipping away at the surface of lino was akin to removing coal. In a subsequent interview with my retired coal miner father he told me about a time during the strikes the 'ladies from Greenham Common' came to join the pickets and would call Thatcher 'lower than lino' because in their eyes you couldn't get lower than lino. 

The underground world is a darker harsher environment which creates tension in the reader and is often dangerous. In contrast the over ground habitat is seen as more happy go lucky with a strong link to humour found in family situations.

Above are more examples of the scraperboards, after cutting the boards I would arrange and resize them in photoshop. Below is one of several etchings produced to support the book.

Above is an example of how the boards were arranged with dialogue in photoshop. 

This book is the first chapter of four, the whole piece has been written and storyboarded during my Masters and I will continue to finish it now that my course has ended. If you interested in owning the first chapter, it is available to buy here from my online shop.

Scott McCloud in conversation with Paul Gravett at The British Library 6/3/15

This is my lofi-indesign blogpost! It's basically photos of a handwritten journal entry! 

Confessional Comics by Jewish Women.

On Tuesday 11th of November I went on a special guided tour of  the Graphic Details, Confessional Comics by Jewish Women exhibition with Francesca Cassavetti and Dr Maggie Gray at Space Station 65 in Kennington. It was so special because five of the artists, Miriam Katin, Dianne Noomin, Corinne Pearlman, Ariel Schrag and Ilana Zeffren, were there and talked about their pieces in the exhibition! Also Sarah Lightman who co-curated the exhibition, as well as having artwork in it, hosted the event and interviewed the artists.

 Sarah Glidden                                                                                Aline Kominsky-Crumb

Dianne Noomin

Miriam Libicki                                                                                Miss Lasko-Gross

Here I am with Miriam Katin                                                        Miriam Katin

Underground Wimmen's Comix

Corinne Pearlman

Here's Francesca and myself with Dianne Noomin!

Trina Robbins                                                                                Ariel Schrag

It's a really great exhibition and definitely worth seeing, it's on till 13th of December so get down there!

Two days later I went to a Comics Masterclass that was run by Ariel Scrag at JW3, this was such an inspirational week for me and my own comics making. It was great to have an in depth look and discussion about autobiographical comics and really pertinent to my work on my Masters course. 

Ariel discussing how emotions can be drawn and how they are read differently around the world. 

Junko Mizuno Foyles talk and exhibition.

Junko Mizuno is a psychedelic manga artist who I have loved and been inspired by for years. I was so excited to hear that she was going to be in conversation with Jason Atomic at the new Foyles shop on Charing Cross Road and I had to be there.

Jason Atomic on the left and Junko Mizuno on the right.

Junko blends sweet and cuteness with the grotesque and creepy to create dark re-tellings of fairy tales, her style is called Gothic Kawaii (kawaii means cute in Japan). Mizuno produces comics, paintings, prints, posters and toys, so creatively busy!

Junko spoke about how she has always loved drawing food and girls, both are re-occurring images in her work. Junko was born in Japan and influenced by 1970s Japanese cute culture, she told us that when she was very little she wanted to be a comics artist and loved Hello Kitty and Sanrio characters. Junko believed that she could stop attending school if she became a professional comics artist and sent her first comics to a publisher when she was just 10. 

Junko believed she wasn't talented at comics so became an illustrator. She explored artists like Beardsley and made images not stories. From these images she then made comics again and said that at some point the character begins to take on it's own personality. Mizuno states that her art is not creepy and it is not dark its just imagery that comes out of her mind. She said that we all have skulls, they are natural and beautiful.

Junko began to explain her tecnique, "I start with daydreaming or I drink a little. I like walking around, it makes my brain work well, then I sketch and doodle. When I get an image I write the text that is just for me. Then I can storyboard. Sometimes I will ink my drawing and sometimes I will colour digitally."

Junko was more successful in the west and decided to move to San Francisco where she currently resides. She creates a lot of screen prints for band posters in her psychedelic style. Junko said that she is lucky that all the bands that want to work with her are really great bands.

Junko spoke about how she is not religious but does like religious art, particularly Buddhism and Indian Gods, she visited Italian churches to see the over decorated alters.

Junko drawing live on stage.

Junko was asked why her male characters are drawn so small. She replied that she likes drawing the women the most, little girls will usually draw girls and Junko said she hasn't changed out of this habit. Mizuno went on to say that "... in Japan, girls are supposed to be demure and cute" she was feisty and frustrated. "Women are big and strong [in my comics] and the men are always small, this is my personal dreamworld."

I got to meet Junko afterward the talk!

A few days later I went to the exhibition that is on in Atomica Gallery in Covent Garden, I even took along Francesca Cassavetti for a fun day out!