Saturday, 27 June 2015
Thursday, 25 June 2015
Wednesday, 24 June 2015
Wednesday, 17 June 2015
Monday, 15 June 2015
The old Studio 16 mandate...
Welcome.
Studio16 is an artistic collective, conceived as a way to bring together people working in the different mediums needed to create and publish comics and graphic novels.
Each member has been added because of their talents in either the field of writing, illustrating, colouring, editing, lettering, or art direction (or any combination of the above for the renaissance men/women among us).
So here’s the skinny: getting noticed/signed/published/exhibited is hard work. Making any of our respective industries sit-up and take note does not, as well you all know, happen simply because you’ve got the next big thing in your head or hands. It takes effort, luck and, I believe, team work.
I began writing seriously nine years ago. Lacking the necessary experience and understanding of my craft I laboured in the dark, alone, for the best part of a decade. It was only through a fluke contact that I finally got the chance to get anything published and all of a sudden I found myself working on a script for a graphic novel (a rewrite of The Count of Monte Cristo) and I became hooked.
I ardently believe that TV and film bosses are looking more and more to the medium for inspiration for new shows/movies, as a finished GN is a ready made storyboard for either and for that reason I believe now is the best time ever to air your ideas in comic form.
Well and truly bitten by the bug, I began, about six months ago, to explore the possibility of getting some original work out there. There are some quality publishing houses out there that are looking for new writing talent, but the majority are searching for artists or a ready-made creative unit, capable of producing an in-house work of publishable quality that they can simply produce and market. It is through these houses, most notably Image Comics (www.imagecomics.com) that I think the most direct route to success runs.
I have always dreamed of collaborating with my friends on a creative project. Nothing excites me more than the possibility of mutual success. Previously I had veered away from writing with anyone else, but I had neglected the possibility of a team of specialists, all focused on their own ‘department’ within a collective, but working together towards the same goal.
What I want to achieve with Studio16 is simply this: the creation of platform through which we can share ideas and, if logistically feasible, put-together a publishable piece or, at the very least, use each other’s experience to get better at what we do individually.
It’s easy for a writer to write around his day job. You don’t need tools or space. You just need to make time for it. I understand, though, that the case is very different for artists. I don’t want to assume that just because you can draw to the standard required (and all of you artists can) that you would A) Want to be part of this group or B) Have enough time to contribute fully, but I have added you out of my respect for your abilities and hope you would like to be involved with the creative process in some capacity.
I want to make something cool; something arresting; something we can be proud of. And I’d like very much to do it with you guys.
On to the Facebook group: please feel free to add any pictures, concepts, script/prose samples you would like to put forward for consideration or that you would like the other members to pass comment on.
Post anything you like on the wall, except endless videos of baby sloths falling asleep or off things.
I look forward to hearing your thoughts.
Rob
Studio16 is an artistic collective, conceived as a way to bring together people working in the different mediums needed to create and publish comics and graphic novels.
Each member has been added because of their talents in either the field of writing, illustrating, colouring, editing, lettering, or art direction (or any combination of the above for the renaissance men/women among us).
So here’s the skinny: getting noticed/signed/published/exhibited is hard work. Making any of our respective industries sit-up and take note does not, as well you all know, happen simply because you’ve got the next big thing in your head or hands. It takes effort, luck and, I believe, team work.
I began writing seriously nine years ago. Lacking the necessary experience and understanding of my craft I laboured in the dark, alone, for the best part of a decade. It was only through a fluke contact that I finally got the chance to get anything published and all of a sudden I found myself working on a script for a graphic novel (a rewrite of The Count of Monte Cristo) and I became hooked.
I ardently believe that TV and film bosses are looking more and more to the medium for inspiration for new shows/movies, as a finished GN is a ready made storyboard for either and for that reason I believe now is the best time ever to air your ideas in comic form.
Well and truly bitten by the bug, I began, about six months ago, to explore the possibility of getting some original work out there. There are some quality publishing houses out there that are looking for new writing talent, but the majority are searching for artists or a ready-made creative unit, capable of producing an in-house work of publishable quality that they can simply produce and market. It is through these houses, most notably Image Comics (www.imagecomics.com) that I think the most direct route to success runs.
I have always dreamed of collaborating with my friends on a creative project. Nothing excites me more than the possibility of mutual success. Previously I had veered away from writing with anyone else, but I had neglected the possibility of a team of specialists, all focused on their own ‘department’ within a collective, but working together towards the same goal.
What I want to achieve with Studio16 is simply this: the creation of platform through which we can share ideas and, if logistically feasible, put-together a publishable piece or, at the very least, use each other’s experience to get better at what we do individually.
It’s easy for a writer to write around his day job. You don’t need tools or space. You just need to make time for it. I understand, though, that the case is very different for artists. I don’t want to assume that just because you can draw to the standard required (and all of you artists can) that you would A) Want to be part of this group or B) Have enough time to contribute fully, but I have added you out of my respect for your abilities and hope you would like to be involved with the creative process in some capacity.
I want to make something cool; something arresting; something we can be proud of. And I’d like very much to do it with you guys.
On to the Facebook group: please feel free to add any pictures, concepts, script/prose samples you would like to put forward for consideration or that you would like the other members to pass comment on.
Post anything you like on the wall, except endless videos of baby sloths falling asleep or off things.
I look forward to hearing your thoughts.
Rob
Thursday, 11 June 2015
Wednesday, 10 June 2015
The day it rained on the Île de la Cité.
It was the day on which it rained on the Île de la Cité and nowhere else in the city. It was the strangest thing I had ever seen, but on that day, at that time, it seemed like the most natural thing in the world.
I was standing on the bank of the Seine, looking out across the grey snake in the direction of Chatelet, when the clouds burst. Sheet rain instantly partitioned the island from reality. Like a still from an old film noir, the Island seemed to freeze. I could hear the fizz of life from the opposite bank, but everything around me was muted. The other people seemed unaware of our separation from the world of the living and went about their daily lives in slow motion. Meanwhile, I stared across the river and observed the commotion caused by the sudden rainfall. The traffic had stopped and people - tourists and locals alike - had poured from their vehicles to point their cameras in our direction. The gawking faces were the last thing I saw through the rain before the sky tore itself in two and everything went black.
I was standing on the bank of the Seine, looking out across the grey snake in the direction of Chatelet, when the clouds burst. Sheet rain instantly partitioned the island from reality. Like a still from an old film noir, the Island seemed to freeze. I could hear the fizz of life from the opposite bank, but everything around me was muted. The other people seemed unaware of our separation from the world of the living and went about their daily lives in slow motion. Meanwhile, I stared across the river and observed the commotion caused by the sudden rainfall. The traffic had stopped and people - tourists and locals alike - had poured from their vehicles to point their cameras in our direction. The gawking faces were the last thing I saw through the rain before the sky tore itself in two and everything went black.
Tuesday, 9 June 2015
Everything should be beautiful.
There is no reason why everything, even the smallest, most inconsequential thing, should not be beautiful.
I have heard arguments against this opinion that state beauty is appreciable in the difference between the good and the bad. I call this negative relativisim. It sanctions a universal lowering of 'the bar' in order to artificially inflate the volume of the upper echelon. Excellence need not be more excellent than the next most excellent thing by miles. Difference is still appreciable on an infinitesimal, or purely interpretative level.
I have heard arguments against this opinion that state beauty is appreciable in the difference between the good and the bad. I call this negative relativisim. It sanctions a universal lowering of 'the bar' in order to artificially inflate the volume of the upper echelon. Excellence need not be more excellent than the next most excellent thing by miles. Difference is still appreciable on an infinitesimal, or purely interpretative level.
Thursday, 4 June 2015
I wear these words on my wrist every day.
He knew that there was passion there, but there was no shadow of it in her eyes or on her mouth; there was a faint spray of champagne on her breath. She clung nearer desperately and once more he kissed her and was chilled by the innocence of her kiss, by the glance that at the moment of contact looked beyond him out into the darkness of the night, the darkness of the world.
- F. Scott Fitzgerald, Tender is the Night
Wednesday, 3 June 2015
Tuesday, 2 June 2015
An exultation and riposte to the proposed deficiencies of the literary technique that will henceforth be referred to as Omissionism.
Omissionism places a great deal of responsibility in the hands of the reader. It is, in fact, the duty of the consumer to construct their own story from the fragmented reactions to undocumented events that are presented to them. Its primary purpose is to inspire rather than inform. The ambiguity of the unexplained happenings around which the prose is based is intended to challenge rather than coddle the reader and to encourage frequent revision of the text in order to settle upon a pattern of events that hangs together at the conclusion of the piece.
In truth, when creating a purely Omissionist piece, the author should have a story in mind – a story that at no point is candidly revealed. Rather than presenting incongruous reactions to events that are independent from one another, the creator of the piece must know exactly what has been left unsaid. However, the execution of Omissionism should not result in a guessing game. It is a purely academic exercise to which there are no right or wrong answers. The reader’s aim is not to figure out the author’s tale to the letter, rather to construct their own series of congruous events. It should be noted that upon first reading an Omissionist piece, the reader may well be led, or indeed lead themselves, down several erroneous paths. Upon completion of chapter one, the reader is presented with an almost limitless set of scenarios that will fit around the event that is supposed to have followed or preceded the chapter. After reading chapter two, however, the reader may find that their chosen path sits uncomfortably with the reactions that followed. In this case, revision is needed to adjust the image forming in the mind of the reader in order to create a vision that fits with both chapters.
As the text wears on and the chapters roll by, this practice becomes harder and harder. Indeed it would be common for a reader to reach the final chapter, only to realise that their world no longer works. To be felled at the last hurdle may dishearten some, but it is essential for the successful completion of the exercise that a thorough reworking of the reader’s interpretation takes place.
At its core, Omissionism is concerned with the individual interpretation of ideas. It takes the old mantra of writers the world over – to show, not tell the reader what is going on – to the nth degree. It is an intellectual concept focused on the fostering of imagination, the beauty of details and the power of the human mind to assimilate, adjust and assemble the piecemeal offerings into an individual and personally motivated product.
Monday, 1 June 2015
Nudds: A definition.
Nudds
Nuddsed, Verb (used without object)
Nuddsing Noun, Adjective
Nuddsed, Verb (used without object)
Nuddsing Noun, Adjective
1. To escape a self-inflicted moment of social awkwardness caused by extreme brazenness and/or inebriation, using verbal trickery or surrealist wit to diffuse or confuse.
2. To perform a feat requiring verbal or mental dexterity while under the influence of alcohol.
3. To get away with drunken mischief by concealing the original faux pas with further layers of drunken mischief.
4. The verbal equivalent of a Hail Mary Pass in football.
5. To dress and/or act in a Spivvish manner, while maintaining an air of universal affability so as to avoid reprimand.
So named after the oft-inebriated and serially mischievous author R. Jay Nudds.
“When you’ve dug yourself into a hole, try Nuddsing your way out of it.”
“I don’t know how you got away with that. You totally Nuddsed her.”
"It's a boom or bust situation. It's time to go Nudds."
"He's been Nuddsing around all night and it's done him no harm."
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