Wandering Koala in a Tight Spot

Our favorite Silent Wanderer^TM has gotten himself into quite a pickle. But we all know he’ll find a way out of it.

Jungle Cafe

"I love Jungle Cafes. They're part jungle and part cafe!"

Where is that quote from?

Character Design: An Odd Couple

 

For my ongoing eSerial I needed a rich couple that stood out intentionally. So I drew from my love of things Roaring 20s and came up with these two characters. The woman has a Jay Leno chin, but it adds character. They were inked with a Japanese brush pen and Sharpies.

Let me know what you think in the comments!

It's coming!

The next chapter in the Wandering Koala saga is coming soon, and it won't just be a chapter. I'll have more details soon as I'm planning to launch it next week, but until then, enjoy this teaser image from the beginning of the story.

I drew this with a Staedlter pencil in a Strathmore sketchpad and then inked it with a Japanese brush pen and a Zig Writer felt-tipped pen. I'm pretty happy with how it turned out and that I didn't need more than a single line of whiteout. Right now I'm planning for the illustrations in the story to be black and white, so I'm really focused on design and light and dark patterns.

Let me know what you think! And stay tuned for the launch of the most ambitious project I've attempted in the Wandering Koala world.

To Color, or Not to Color -- THAT is the Real Question

In the late 19th Century thru the early 20th Century, printing technology was developing rapidly. In England, printing advanced more quickly than in the US which led to the rise of the Illustrated Children's Book with charming stories and magnificent illustrations. Color soon followed making the children's books even more wondrous. Maybe you've heard of Alice in Wonderland, Winnie the Pooh, Peter Rabbit, the Wind in the Willows, or the Wizard of Oz? All of these "classics" were made possible by printing technology and brilliant craftsman on the illustrator's part of make the most of the day's technology. The usual method was to draw the illustration with a black line, then carve that into a plate and add color shapes on a separate pass. Eventually the technology reached the point where the illustrator could create the entire image in color and then reproduce it.

Of course, this wasn't the beginning of creating an image with a black line and then coloring it in. Early Christian and Muslim illuminated texts from the first few centuries AD used this method. And before that, artists used this method to record their hunts on cave walls. Today the method is popular with cartoons, comics, graphic novels, and digital illustration. The term 'cartoon' actually referred to the outline created by Renaissance artists creating frescos who first sketched the image with a pencil before applying watercolors over it covering up the sketch. But they didn't invent the method, just coined a cool word from it.

I've always enjoyed black line work colored in. I'm not sure why. Maybe it's because that's what I've grown up with. Maybe it's because a black line clearly defines an object. Maybe I just like abstraction. Who knows? But it's something I've never been able to get away from, even during my watering color days when I tried for a more photorealistic approach. There were times I'd take a 'finished' watercolor (as if any work of art is ever finished), and add black lines around the figures with a paintbrush.

The above illustration is a black and white line drawing that I've colored in Corel Painter. The line work is below. I really like the black & white version, but I'm also digging the colored version. You'll notice I added a lot more texture and lighting effects than usual to give it a more painterly feel and modern finish.

Which do you like better? Leave a comment and let me know.

Become a Facebook fan at http://www.facebook.com/pages/Jeff-Thomason/185915104772529

Third times the charm

Covers are a tricky thing for me. I know what I love in a cover, but when it comes to create one, I struggle. This is my third attempt at a cover to The Green Bull. I liked the first one I did, but it was radically different from other covers I'd done, and it didn't seem to get a much reaction. So I tried something else, but I wasn't very satisfied with it. So I tried one more time.

This time I finally got the kind of image I want for a Wandering Koala story. It's moody, it's pulpy, and it is a scene from the story that whets one's appetite for the rest.

The story is now available for all eReaders at Smashwords, and is available at most individual stores and will soon be available at all fine retailers.

The Green Bull redux

Just before Christmas I published a new illustrated novella titled "The Green Bull (a Wandering Koala tale)" and made it exclusive to the Amazon Kindle to take advantage of their lending and free days. I thought it would be a good way to promote my work and get my book in the hands of more readers.

It wasn't.

The 90 days are up and I am now publishing it to all formats. I think this will get the story into more hands.

What's it about? Here's a brief description:
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Kinghorn never expected to see a murdered co-worker's body tied to the blade of a windmill he helped have built. He is even more shocked to learn his best friend is the prime suspect!

The case appears open and shut on the surface—but dark secrets never stay buried. Can Kinghorn deal with the truth behind the man he worships and the cause he's given everything to support? What price will he pay for his loyalty? And what will it cost the city around him? Can even the intervention of the Wandering Koala solve the riddle of the Green Bull?

The Green Bull is a 17,000-word novella with 20 original illustrations and a new essay. 
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The title refers to both the idol the cult worships and the fact that the whole green movement is a pile of -- I think you get the idea.

Preserving the environment? Good idea, I'm all for it.

Going Green ie. turning into an irrational madman who sacrifices everything else for measures that don't actually help preserve the environment (CFL bulbs, windmills, cap and trade, electric cars, Al Gore)? Not a good idea. In fact, a very bad idea. But so many people have drunk the Kool-Aid. And they proudly announce the fact to the world.

Read the book. It's an exciting murder mystery with many good messages: https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/298256

Stylization in Art and Illustration

Currently I'm designing characters and backgrounds for an animated short. While coming up with the look and designs, I asked myself what style I wanted this short be. I thought about other animation and cartoons I enjoyed and considered each one for a direction to go in. Looking over animation how to books I got to thinking about style and stylization.

I tend to enjoy an artist's work during the formative years while he's developing his stye and less once he has an established style (with a few exceptions like Frank Miller and Jack Kirby). I thought about a friend of mine who I love his brilliant pencil sketches, but can't really stand his stylized figures. I realized the reason I like the earlier works is there is less stylization and less reliance on conventions. The thought came to me that stylization is like seasoning: a little bit enhances the flavor of the main course, but too much and all you taste is the seasoning until it burns your tongue.

Looking over my own work that I've posted, I've noticed some of my works are more stylized than others. I really like the heavily stylized work, but others seem to respond much better to the less stylized works. This raises a question of which route should I go? The answer depends on another question: why do I create art, to please myself or to please others? Therein lies the problem, because I want to please both. But you can't please all of the people all of the time. So I do some works for me, and I do some works for others. Is splitting my portfolio a good strategy long term? We'll see.

The drawing above is a digital illustration created in Corel Painter 12 colored like Bat-Manga comics, which I just love. I really want my new series of eDigests to use this style, but I'm not sure if others would respond to it like I do.

Let me know what you think!

The Green Bull (a Wandering Koala tale)

Kinghorn never expected to see a murdered co-worker’s body tied to the blade of a windmill he helped have built. He is even more shocked to learn his best friend is the prime suspect!

The case appears open and shut on the surface—but dark secrets never stay buried. Can Kinghorn deal with the truth behind the man he worships and the cause he?s given everything to support? What price will he pay for his loyalty? And what will it cost the city around him? Can even the intervention of the Wandering Koala solve the riddle of the Green Bull?

The Green Bull is a 17,000-word novella with 20 original illustrations and a new essay.

Read a Free Sample ››

Not according to plan

A few months ago I did a guest post on Matt William's blog about my new project, The Green Bull (a Wandering Koala tale). I was so happy with how The Caveman Conspiracy turned out that I decided to do another story in that style.

But a funny thing happened to me on the way to the forum (google it if you don't get the reference). The story grew from a manageble 8,000 - 10,000 word novella (the ideal size for such a venture) to over 16,000 words, a little long for that style. So I decided to make it a regular illustrated novella so it would meet the size limitations of ePublishing.

But that doesn't mean I've abandoned the format. Oh, no, my friends, I have many stories left to tell that will use either that format or a version of it.

Here's a sneak peak at a few of the illustrations:

And while we're on the subject, there's a new Wandering Koala comic available at no cost for a limited time on Amazon.com, Wandering Koala uncovers The Sixth Figure. Pick it up as a stocking stuffer for yourself!

The shape of the canvas matters

I've been experimenting with a new style created from an amalgamation of things I've learned from past styles. (One of these days I'll settle on one--no, really, I will!) The style was meant for an illustrated novella, so naturally I created it vertically.

But I wasn't very happy with the results. I had moved on to another illustration, but something in the back of my mind said it had a lot of potential and only needed a little tweaking to realize it.

So I tweaked. I changed the format from vertical to horizontal, and wallah! Success. I'm much, MUCH happier with the result. But don't take my word for it.

The Caveman Conspiracy

I feel like I've been working on this forever, although it's only been a few months. I wanted to find the perfect form for telling stories. I noticed some times of scenes and sequences worked better as text, some worked better as images, and some worked better with a combination of both. Traditional prose, novels, short stories, and novellas are perfect for the first type of scenes, and comic books are perfect for the second and third type. But what about stories with all three? Almost every story has them. I also wondered what the images should look like--should they be black and white line art, should they have tones, should they have color?

So I set out to create a form that was flexible enough to handle all three. And I did it with a story I've been kicking around in my head for a while--a murder mystery, scientific conspiracy thriller that makes you question what you think you know. I also tried a new style for the art work. I used a Zig Calligraphy pen to ink the drawings (I love how it traces form) and a free set of textures I found online for anyone to use. It made rendering them so fast and led to my "raw umber" style I've used in a couple of illustrations.

Publishing this also presented an interesting challenge because of the unique layout. So I decided to publish it as a series of images. This meant the file size was too big for one book, so I split it into two and made the first part free. I posted it online for all to read and enjoy and, hopefully, entice to buy part two.

Was I successful? You'll have to tell me. Will I continue writing stories in this format? We'll see.

Go to http://www.wanderingkoala.com/s_caveman.php and check it out! And then go buy a copy of part two.

Words and Pictures make a Story

I love words put together well. I love pictures that effortlessly tell a story. And I especially love the skilled combination of the two. It's something I strive for but don't always achieve.

Currently I'm working on a project that is part illustrated storybook and part graphic novel. It's my latest attempt to create the perfect genre for telling the stories I want to tell. Illustrated novels have too many words and too few pictures that aren't essential to telling the story. Graphic novels are basically just long comic books (come on guys, did you learn nothing from Will Eisner's Contract With God?) and have too many pictures--the reader can't savor each one. I want the pictures to be an essential part of the story that progress the story. I also understand the power of words and telling and don't want to loose that.

So with Caveman Conspiracy I'm writing little more than a radio drama script and using the pictures to progress the action and show the emotion.

Will it work? You'll have to pick up a copy and let me know.

Power Trip (a Wandering Koala tale)

René thinks he’s hit the jackpot!

After six months of no luck following college, he finds the perfect job with excellent benefits at The Power Company doing what he graduated in.

But a newly hired manager has a mysterious agenda. Employees disappear with no warning, and René is caught in a massive explosion that leaves the city of 8 million without power during a record-breaking heat wave. Riots rage and fires burn as the city plunges into chaos, and René finds himself framed for sabotage.

Only the intervention of a silent wanderer can save him and the rest of the city from a deadly power trip.

Now available in Paperback and all eBook formats!

Read the First Five Chapters ››

How Technology has changed the Illustrated Story: Case Study 1 - Pulps vs. Comics

Matt D. Williams, the author of Jak Phoenix, invited me to write a guest post on his site. I look at the early twentieth century and examine how advances in printing destroyed one genre but created a new one. It also changed the way certain types of stories were told.

Read the entire post at http://jakphoenix.com/2011/04/13/how-has-technology-affected-the-illustrated-story-a-guest-post-by-jeff-thomason/.

As you can see, it is only one case study. The topic interests me so much that I plan to make it a whole series of posts. Don't hold your breath, because I have a lot of other things I'm working on first.

This image is a drawing of Wandering Koala^TM, and I think I'll use it for the title pages of all future stories. It's fitting, because I consider Wandering Koala to be a 21st century pulp hero who also appears in comics.