Scott McCloud, Reinventing comics

I'm currently reading Scott McCloud's Reinventing Comics, the sort of sequel to Understanding comics. I've only just started it so don't have much to say about the book itself at the moment. I wanted to read it because while Understanding Comics was incredibly thorough and analytical when it came to about every aspect of comics it was written in the early 90s. This means a lot of new developments in comics are obviously not included as well as predating the digital revolution that completely changed the way a lot of comics are made compared to the 90's. Also Scott McCloud often mentions possibilities in comics that are yet to be explored in Understanding Comics but with the recent comic renaissance of the moment are being actualised.
Having said all that Reinventing Comics was only written in 2000 so isn't particularly recent and was published just before what I've talked about came to light. In fact the comic world of the late 90s was going through its most dire period ever, less were being made, those that were were in general unoriginal and not very good and no one seemed to be buying comics anymore. I expect McCloud will have insights about this dire time in the book but I hope he is perceptive enough to foresee what is to come and talk about that too. Either way if it's anyway near as good and useful as Understanding Comics then it will be worth the read.

McCloud, S. (2000) Reinventing Comics. New York: Harper Collins.

Style, models and compromise

Looking at my work, the pieces I most like, the reference library I've made myself and what I'm looking for when I search for a new photo to work from I've come to some conclusions about what I like to draw; style wise. My ideal type of model to draw is ones with an androgynous grungey aesthetic, usually thin with definition lots of layers of various materials and awesome semi short but still stylish and interesting hair, almost look more like feminine men than women (men who look like this also work though. The issue is of course even in fashion magazines and blogs people with this style are hard to come by, there aren't that many professional models who I can find who even are androgynous. The best thing example I can find is Erika Linder a Swedish androgynous model who is rebound for doing both male and female modelling. Due to this a lot of my work is of a compromised sort of grunge/alternative style images from magazines and blogs, or of women in suits because it keeps the stylish androgyny theme going a little more.

The issue with this however is when it comes to taking my own photos. Even compromised already it's tough to find people with a suitable style in Huddersfield (especially with cheekbones as well, another important factor). I've found a few models who actually fit the aesthetic I want very well but mainly I just have to work with what's available. This is helping me figure out how to use certain poses and my style of drawing to make my models more inline with the style of models I would ideally want. It's not ideal but I'm figuring out how to make it work.

This was a piece I drew a while ago. A big part of my project is work as part of a series and this piece was a way of putting my pretty much standard style into the context of definite ordered series. There's not much interest or meaning to each drawing individually (though they're still good and have their use) but when put in a series there becomes a natural progression and the work supports each other an enforces the overall point of the work.

Camera workshop

So I went to a photography workshop to actually learn how to use a camera. Here I learnt how to properly focus the camera for a studio, basic tips for framing and lighting and such and when and how to change the settings for aperture and shutter speed. There was a lot of other things but they mainly related to taking actual photos (not just to draw from) and of smaller still life things, like small sculpture work and such. I definitely know a lot more than I did before and can hopefully get some decent pictures... At least good enough to work from.

Photographing models when you aren't skilled at photography

 Saying I'm not skilled at photography would be an understatement, barely good enough is more accurate. I've been trying to get used to the more professional standard DSLRs that the uni has and for a while I was doing pretty well. I did 2 photo shoots with  my models and while I now realise I did make some relatively obvious and simple mistakes (not framing the model properly, having the photos be in the wrong format) none of these were awful they just gave me a bit of extra work to make them serviceable. I had had some trouble with the camera going out of focus but with some lens adjustment and some simple setting changes I could always get the image sharp enough to draw from (probably not to be a usable photograph in it's own right though).

When it came to my third model however the camera just would not focus, at all. The worst thing was some of the images looked okay on the camera at least only to be a blurry mess when I uploaded the photos. I've since realised how to properly focus a camera and make sure it stays focused but that doesn't change that I've wasted a session with a model (one unwilling to come in again). Some of the photos are actually usable because although I'm awful at photography I can make up for it with my drawings, however I can't really use the photos to make large scale work that I'm thinking of because too much of the detail has simply been lost.
I can always take more photos of other models but I'm ideally going for a specific style that is hard to find in Huddersfield, even the current models are a pretty big compromise. I'm going to start being less uptight about the models I work from though otherwise I simply won't have enough material to work from to create what I want to achieve.
Since taking these photos I have been to a photography workshop and now know where I went wrong and how to take far far clearer and visually appealing photos.

Books of Research

I've talked about things I've searched earlier in my blog but due to not having or taking note of the books I've took information from I never actually mentioned the original books I got the information that backs my research from. I recently realised it would be best if I took not of these books so have tried to track them down.

Dolphin, G. (2004). Everything in Vogue. Manchester: Cornerhouse Publications 

Packer, W. (1980). The Art og Vogue Covers 1909-1940. Twickenham, Hamlyn Publishing

These are the only two I can re-find at the moment, there were at least a couple more. Both books and the others, hopefully soon to be referenced were centred around art in fashion magazine (primarily Vogue) which helped me distinguish between the use of photograph and illustration within the magazine. Showing whether or not the kind of pictures I draw up are suitable for a magazine and not pale imitations or husks of what fashion illustration has seemed to  become

As a continuation of my style project I really need to start taking photos of my own. There are many problems with this as there is a particular style I want that is really quite hard to just come across, especially in Huddersfield, but I'll work with what I can get and am developing strategies to better achieve the aesthetic I want. An aspect that through my work I have discovered is almost as important as the style and aesthetic of the model is the pose of the figure. To practice arranging a pose and such I borrowed a camera and practised taking photos of my friends, the sort I'd take when I have actual models I would draw.
     
I had quite a bit of trouble with doing this, more than I thought. I looked through previous drawings and tried to get people in similar clothes but struggled to get anything I really like, especially at first. I did learn a lot though and improve over the day. I think my main problem was improvising the poses, I really need to make some template poses to give me a basis to work on. Another trouble I had was working around the type of clothing they were wearing. This hopefully wont be such an issue when I take my actual photos to work from as my models then will hopefully be wearing clothing more similar to the style I want and am used to drawing.