Charcoal, Sitting
24th August 2008
This is the first picture of Charcoal I've shown publicly in, what? Three years? ...and you can't even see her face!
This is the first picture of Charcoal I've shown publicly in, what? Three years? ...and you can't even see her face!
Finally a Sunny Day!
13th July 2008
As you may already know, I'm working on a comic book story about my original character 'Charcoal'. I've been putting a lot of effort into the project, and one day it will make the light of day! I'm hoping to hit the first milestone later this year, when I begin working on the first draft.
The majority of the events that take place in the story are situated in a city named Lancaster, which -in a massive coincidence- is also where I live. I'll admit that it's very handy for first hand reference when drawing locations; yet Lancaster is a particularly interesting little city in it's own right. The city's history goes back centuries and the streets are full of quirky little alleyways and cobbled roads. It suits the story well and I even play off a few historical aspects of the region. So I guess you could say that Lancaster is an integral part of the comic.
The opening scene of the prologue takes place here:
It's know as the Crook O' Lune and it's just a few miles outside of Lancaster. I've been wanting to take photographs and draw some sketches of the scenery for ages now; But despite my best efforts, it has decided to rain everyday that I have planned to go. Until today that is. In fact, today marks the first day in two months that it has actually remained dry on my day off!
The Crook O' Lune has been depicted in artwork and literature in the past. The most notable being a painting by JMW Turner, as well as being described by the poets Thomas Gray and William Wordsworth.
The majority of the events that take place in the story are situated in a city named Lancaster, which -in a massive coincidence- is also where I live. I'll admit that it's very handy for first hand reference when drawing locations; yet Lancaster is a particularly interesting little city in it's own right. The city's history goes back centuries and the streets are full of quirky little alleyways and cobbled roads. It suits the story well and I even play off a few historical aspects of the region. So I guess you could say that Lancaster is an integral part of the comic.
The opening scene of the prologue takes place here:
It's know as the Crook O' Lune and it's just a few miles outside of Lancaster. I've been wanting to take photographs and draw some sketches of the scenery for ages now; But despite my best efforts, it has decided to rain everyday that I have planned to go. Until today that is. In fact, today marks the first day in two months that it has actually remained dry on my day off!
The Crook O' Lune has been depicted in artwork and literature in the past. The most notable being a painting by JMW Turner, as well as being described by the poets Thomas Gray and William Wordsworth.
Charcoal: Where are they now?
1st September 2007
I tend to be very secretive about my personal projects. I get easily embarrassed about the work that I do. So as I take my first steps into breaking the silence around some of my projects, I apologise if my writing reads a little forced. It's not something that comes very natural to me.
Over the past year the project that has garnered most of my attention will probably be Charcoal, albeit I don't exactly have anything solid to show for it. I just have lots of writing, scribbled-out scenes, sketches of locations, diagrams and house floor-plans.
If you're new to my web site, Charcoal is one of older comic characters. She's a tall girl that normally dresses in black, or rather a very dark grey. There are various pictures around, she's not hard to miss.
Charcoal has had a fairly strong story-line for several years now, not that anybody could notice. That's what I've been concentrating on. I've been putting events into chronological order, adding narrative, filling in plot holes and making everything flow as seamlessly as possible. There are some that would argue that I'm actually going about things properly for the first time. Scripts and planning? What a crazy idea, that'll never work! I must admit, it's a nice feeling having all the pieces fall into place.
The story as a whole is split into books and chapters spanning two epochs, although only figuratively at this point. As much as I'd like to go into specifics on the plot-line, it wouldn't exactly be wise to do so at this point. Would it?
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