New beginning

Now that things are starting to settle down in the household with Zoey (our 3 month old), I am starting to think of some ways that I can start up my drawing habit again. I have a few projects that I would like to get up and running again, the most pressing being the third installment of my four issue subscription series.

The break has been a good time to reflect of new directions and thoughts on my comic work.
There are two new developments I am looking forward to getting started on,


My composition writing book

I made a decision to keep a separate book for writing, which includes both my notes and comics. I used to have a Mead composition book that I picked up in Canada on my first trip in 2001! The thing I like about these books (other than their pop culture significance) is the they have a hard card cover and the binding is sewn which make them durable. I also like anything that you know will remain consistent. If I start using these books for writing I can line them up evenly on a shelf for example.



Portable comic drawing pad
My usual method for drawing comics is in my spiral bound A5 sketchbook. I do this because if I limited myself to only drawing comics at a drawing board or on 'proper' paper, the comics would be few and far between. I like my comic set up to be portable. Perhaps if I had a house with a good studio this may change, but I do not like limiting the art to happen only in one place.
However drawing in my sketchbook can be limiting too. The pages can get dog eared and dirty and when it comes to scanning I never want to rip out the pages, even though I should if I wish to get the best possible scans (the rings in the book lift the page of the scanner slightly).

Then I read Lucy Knisely's instructions for making a portable comics drawing pad (here) which made me realise I may have stumbled across the solution. Lucy was kind enough to encourage others to try making their own books.
So far I have only cut my paper to size and printed panel guides in light blue on the page. I still need to get access to a hole punch and find/make a little folder.

Comments

  1. I'm a disciple of the composition book as well, sir. Cheap and durable!

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  2. Thats good to hear Matt. I often wonder why you don't hear more about them, perhaps they're more common in the US. I was never able to find them in Canada after that first one. I had to track down this latest one online, luckily an aus online bookstore sells them, it was $9 though. Still cheaper and bigger than a moleskine!

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  3. $9.00?! WHAT?! You can get a 200 page Mead composition book at any supermarket around here for, like, $1.29. If you go for a generic brand, they're $0.99. If you ever take a vacation to the USA, bring $20 and you can practically stock up for life.

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  4. Yeah, I thought so. Next time I'll order a bunch from the US. I got this one as it was an Aus retailer and thought it would be quicker shipping

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  5. I tried a similar ring-binding idea a while back but it was too wiggly for my taste. Maybe punching more holes would solve that. I ended up making my note/sketchbook with a disc-bound system, and have been very happy with it. I've meant to post about it for some time. The rings are definitely cheaper, though. What I really like about either system besides scanning is being able to rearrange pages to keep projects together, and to eventually archive things from my One Notebook in separate notebooks (sketches, journal, etc.).

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