One of my favorite things in the world is to browse graphic novels at used book stores. I casually flip through the titles hoping to find a gem. Which usually something undiscovered or unexpected. More often then not my quests yield the same results; manga, super hero books and/or something bizarre.
In my most recent treasure hunt I came across a title-less graphic novel. The Illustrated cover art was more realistic than cartoony and stretched across the front and back; with no words. The artwork featured people walking in a line against a of hallway-ish background but the focus happened to be on a blonde girl. I wouldn’t find out why until after some internet research.
I crack the spine and read a few pages to find the stories are not about superheroes or furry talking animals. They were panels and panels of real people. Socially awkward, confused about life and their place in it, real people. I totally hit the jackpot.
My favorite graphic novels are about people and relationships in real world settings, like the works of Derek Kirk Kim. Adrian Tomine’s novel hit that spot perfectly and has been added to my list of inspirational artits. The book was filled with empathy, discord, rage, boredom, and whatever. The perfect ingredients to the generation x and y cultures. I just couldn’t put the book down once I started reading it.
Only after I did some research on Mr. Tomine did I discover the title of the book, Summer Blonde, as well as some of his other works. And then I discovered that he did Weezer poster art. Is there really anything more awesome than that? So this mystery artist soared to the top of my list instantly after that. I immediately went to amazon and ordered more of his work.
Anyway back to “Summer Blonde”, apparently my precious newly found treasure was missing the sleeve. Whatever, it was totally awesome and way more fun to discover what it was and where it came from. I love adventures like this!
Throughout the romance of finding a new artist to admire it reminded me that I’ve always wanted to write a graphic novel. One with real world people doing real world things. But for whatever invented reason at the time I just haven’t done it.
So guess what I started this weekend? That’s right, I started writing the script to a graphic novel. I’m already 3 to 4 scenes in and I haven’t been this creatively charged for a personal project in a very long time. Right now the working title is “The Perception of Reality”. It’s based on people, relationships, decisions, and their perceptions which make up each of their own realities. I’ve very excited to write it. I really believe that it’s the project I’ve been wanting to work on for years, but I never knew how to start it. So Adrian if you google yourself and find this post, thank you for being the inspiration for starting this project.
Goals
I’m looking to have a rough draft completed by Christmas and I want to start the artwork over the holiday break with a release sometime in the late spring. Right now I’m super pumped about it but I get like that with new things. Hopefully I’ll be posting about it again real soon and if I don’t, then please ask me how it’s coming as to apply the pressure of actually finishing this project.
And yes my plan as of right now, is to release it on the sdscomics site for all to enjoy.
