The final cover.

Oh yeah ...!



This was the cover that ended up being used in the final book design! The image is cropped a little bit on the cover, and it's a veerrrry slightly different colour (more yellow in the shadows, I seem to remember), but this is basically the picture ^_^

Oh my god, I drew this about ... three or four months ago now? I cain't remember. I do remember it was a couple of pages [of comic] before I started on the section with Bottom with his animal head, so I wasn't used to drawing the donkey ... as such, this image took about two hours to edit together so that the problems I had with the head were sorted into a more or less convincing ... er, image. Originally, Titania was leaning on him, but now she's ... er, not. Um!

I learned during this comic why, in most illustrations of Donkey-Bottom, he is really rather well-built ... and it's because trying to fit a huge head onto a skinny body really doesn't work. Of course, MY Bottom is quite thin (never thought I'd be able to say that in context, hahaha). So I had a lot of problems!

.............. p194

... finished.

p177

I've .... I've just drawn an amphitheatre. *cough-hack-die*

To those who don't know - which I'm guessing will be about 100% of you - my absolute pet hates in drawing are (in order of lowest to highest Hate): feet-and-toes, chairs, curving scenery/things that involve circles, and stairs. So obviously, a ROUNDISH theatre COMPOSED OF STAIRS is not high on my list of likes. Oh god. Oh god. I haven't pencilled the lines yet, it's still at rough stage. IT COULD ALL GO VERY WRONG.

I had a count-down to the day I had to draw Bottom with his animal head (it was called D-Day, hur hur hurrrr), but THIS one sneaked up on me. I only realised today was Amphitheatre Day when I sat down to draw.

At any rate, all I can hope for is something that resembles an amphitheatre to some degree ... whine, moan, etc.

I have HOWEVER thumbnailed the entirity of the sequentials now. I finshed the buggers off (I hate thumbnailing too) the other week and now feel much better for it.

I'M NEARLY DONE I'VE NEARLY DONE THE WHOLE THING OMG.

The Book is Here!!

The Tempest has been printed! :D I received a copy in the post a few days ago, and it's looking great! It's amazing to actually see and hold a book that's filled with your own illustrations, I'm pretty excited!
It's also good to be able to read it through in its intended format. I'm quite pleased with the pace of the read, although I can't really comment objectively, since I know the story inside out now. Well, next step, release date! The launch event is later this month :)

It's in the trees! It's coming!

I'm out of the woods! I'm out of the woods!! I DON'T HAVE TO DRAW ANY MORE TREES OMG so happy. *headdesk*

Fnurgle.

OOOooooh. Coffee and F-Zero X for breakfast does not a steady hand make. Urrrgh.

... page 138 ....

Off To Print!

Proofing on The Tempest is now finished! Hopefully every last spelling mistake and image-based error has been found and sorted out. It should be a few weeks at the printer, and then I get to see the finished thing :D I can't wait! It's going to be my first complete book!
I'll check back when the finished thing is ready.

Proofing

I guess it's common opinion that once you've finished working on all the pages that's it! You're done, the comic is finished and the printer just needs to print it (or at least that's what I naively thought XD).

But no!

Proofing turns out to be quite an extensive and intense process! So far about 6 or 7 people (including me - many times) have read The Tempest through, making notes and suggestions that will help the final product to be at 110% quality.
In this process, all sorts of things are picked up on, such as inconsistency in images or characters, page order and page numbers, confusion about speech bubbles and who they belong to, page flow, legibility of text etc etc.

So far, more than 20 pages have been tweaked and edited. It's amazing how many mistakes a fine-tooth comb can pick out! However, this process has gone quite smoothly, and is now almost over... the day that the book goes to print is truly growing near, and I'm really looking forward to seeing it printed and bound!

Thanks to Kate, Charlie & Simon for taking time out to have a look over it :)

Lysander is a meanie

To be honest, Lysander is my least favourite character in Midsummer Night's Dream. It always shocks me how awful he becomes when under the influence of the flower (just say no, kids). Like, ACTUALLY horrible. Look how upset he makes Hermia:




Of course, it's not really Lysander's fault. The dear couldn't have done ANYTHING wrong, really. So with feminine lightning-quick recovery, Hermia beats on her best friend instead:




Haha! Hmm. Well, regardless of his nastiness, I'm not keen on Lysander. There was something about him that left a bad taste in my mouth from the beginning, and although my opinions of each of the characters has changed variously as I've worked with them, he's ... still way at the bottom of my scale of Likeness. Mm.

My most favouritist character is Helena. She's genuinely wonderful :D She's so ... kind of ... flappy! I don't know how to describe her. I think her edit for the Manga Shakespeare version has worked really well, too.

The character interactions are very delicate in general, especially during the long scenes in the wood ... I really appreciate these parts. It's been really cool breaking them down and deciding (as fast as possible, hur hur), what to do and how to place the couples and etc.

I am just about to start thumbnails for 130 - 161! It involves more screaming and shouting and Oberon.

FINIIISHED

Wahey! I've finished The Tempest! That's 193 b/w pages and 9 colour pages, plus a cover illustration and various revisions/tweaks.
It feels great to have completed something so large, and I'm really excited to see it go to the printers. I'll be getting a copy of the proofs in a few days, and after all the checking has been done, it'll be a month or two before the actual shop release date. There's already a provisional page for it up on amazon.

I have to say, having completed the project, I now respect/appreciate Shakespeare in a whole new light. Previously, I'd only studied his plays for educational purposes, and never really enjoyed it properly, but the act of constantly referencing the edited version with the full version, and trying to deconstruct the prose and verse into images and solid meaning is a real eye-opener. If you want to do well on a Shakespeare-based exam, I suggest trying to edit down and illustrate a few famous passages! You won't forget those bloody quotes after you've had to create a character to deliver them! And you'll really appreciate the poetry of the language when you're bashing your head on the table thinking 'how can I create an image meaningful enough to replace this bit of what I previously though was just meaningless embellishment!?'.

Anyways XD I digress... I'm finished! And taking a short break from work, which is a pleasurable relief after 12 hour days 7 days a week for months.

Ok go

Amusing screen-shot of the day:



I keep on meaning to post up some character sketches or stuff I drew up for the initial stages of the project. I keep FORGETTING. Argh.

EDIT: What I find really amusing about that screenshot is that I've got a folder open called "scary monsters" in my taskbar XD (It's the David Bowie CD). That was unintentional, and it pleases me. XD

The on-going cover saga ...!

The cover (I think) has been sorted out! Hooray! I made up an entirely new one, and I'm quite pleased with how it ended up at the moment. I won't post it up yet ... maybe later, once it's been properly finalised. There could be alterations to the colours that need doing or some other edits ... I don't know. But anyway! There is something that works better! :D

One of the problems with the first cover was that I began to detest it after a while because I went back to it several times to do edits. I think that's always the way -_-; I still had a strange attachement to it, though ... it was one of the very first things I did for the project. It was the first time I drew out the dastardly donkey-head as well .... oh man. That thing gives me severe problems!

I might post up the production stages for the first cover at some point. Here, on a related note, are the thumbnails I originally sent to the publisher for the second cover designs. I added rough colour to them to help seperate out the elements of the picture ... my thumbnails ARE very rough after all:



The one we finally went with was number three! It was nearly number two ... but when I started to sit down to work it up a bit more, I found it was difficult on an odd level - that is, it felt too much like a re-draw of the first, and I thought it would be easier on myself to make up an entirely new one. Selfish maybe! But ... if it gets the job done ... and I think number three worked quite well. It's the most complex illustration I've ever done, though, I think -_-; Was fun to colour, however! I like colouring ... *^^*

TV/Cover/Etc.

Paul and I did interviews for a TV company today regarding the Manga Shakespeare series! I messed up and I expect I will sound incredibly stupid ....... I really didn't handle it very well. It was very difficult though, to be asked several questions on the spot ("Why did you choose to illustrate this page like this?" etc.) and try and give a coherant answer. Not really one of my strong points! We filmed it all in Paul's bedroom (we both work out of our rooms) because mine was too small to accommodate the lighting. Eeeep.

I think we'll be given a copy ... I guess it might turn up on YouTube at some point, but to be quite frank, I really don't want to see it D8

Currently, I'm re-drawing the cover for MND! I have cover pre-production stuff to stick up, but I think I should wait till I've actually got the new cover out of the way! Back to work ...

Can-can Fairies

Cool! I finished off up to page 66 yesterday! That's Oberon implementing his plan to get Titania to BEND TO HIS WILL MUAHAHAHA.

And actually ... I've been wondering about the characters I've got. Especially after reading around some reviews of the existing M.Shakespeare comics. A few times similar thoughts were bought up by the reviewers ... that is, how the characters have been handled, and how they have ended up. Obviously, due to the cut scripts, some characters have much fewer lines in this range of books. How they are portrayed therefore would be a mixture of the exact words they have to say now, and how they appear originally.

Hippolyta, for instance, in Act1.scene1, originally has a chunk of lines at the beginning (and then no more), although clearly she becomes distressed at the situation regarding Hermia/Egeus and co. ... this is only alluded to in a line from Theseus. As this line is cut in our version, I tried to make her appear a little upset in order to compensate for the cut. I'm trying to do my best to keep both versions of these scripts in mind at the same time.

Interestingly, one reviewer found he/she could tolerate Polonius (Hamlet) much easier with his reduced parts in Manga Shakespeare, whereas in the full texts he was found to be irritating.

Anyway basically, I've been stressing about Oberon since! I'm worried he's coming across as a bit of a villain! MND is interesting as there is really not a main character. Everything revolves around a bunch of characters quite equally. (So deciding what to put on the cover was really hard!). Oberon and Puck as a team are perhaps the equivalents of the morally-dubious-shakespearian-duo ... but then, they are not human in the slightest! (So, why should they carry human values?)

Oberon, to me, comes across as having vague benevolence. After rowing so hard with his queen he goes straight on to vowing to help Helena get her man. Perhaps he felt guilty for clearly being such a retard with misplaced values! Haha. But then there is evidence that his 'help' to folks is actually commonplace ... Theseus, Hippolyta, etc. Same goes for Titania!

He is a dodgy angel.

Clearly, as we meet them, they have briefly forgotten how to care for each other. Though the history between them is quite evident. Their arguments are so petty. CLEARLY they love each other very much! :D

Oberon is willing to try anything to get his way. Same goes for Helena ...

The misplaced values continue with Demetrius and Helena, then. (And Helena appears right away as if SHE'S been drugged up by this flower already! Wuaha! Jesus, she's like the ultimate fan-girl).

I read one review of a performance of Midsummer, and the actor's performance for Demetrius was considered sadistic. He could be played that way certainly, or he could be simply a bloke who just can't take the commitment! Hah!

A couple of reviews of Manga Shakespeare books seem to have avoided the idea that these are adaptations. They are therefore under the control of those involved as to how the characters are to be portrayed, exactly the same way every performance of Romeo & Juliet, Julius Caesar, etc. etc., would be very different.

It's a shame if one's favourite character comes across a little differently (I, for one, will be keeping gigantic tabs on Iago, should Othello be comissioned!!!!) ... but then, isn't a great deal of the interest in repeatedly seeing (or in this case, reading) a Shakespeare performance of this, that or the other, in seeing how it's been tackled ...?

It's a snake!

One thing I really like about comics is the amount of things it requires you to draw! I remember my tutor at college saying that in order to draw comics sucessfuly, you had to be able to draw everything under the sun. He wasn't far wrong.

Over the past few days I've drawn an archer (as cupid), an Elizabethan lady, more stars than are in the night sky, a beach, a sunset over a sea ... (Oberon and Titania talk about a lot of pretty things as they argue).

It's a shame there hasn't been more time to draw the interior artwork ... I've had to change production method[s] to fit in with the deadline. The book is to be produced in approx. five months in total ... inc. colour pages, concept finalisation, cover, any misc. designs and everything else related to it. It's a squeeze. I hope it will be okay.

First Post (a bit late!)

Hey all! :) This is Paul Duffield posting. I'm the artist on The Tempest, a Self Made Hero 'Manga Shakespeare' book. About 5 mins before this post I finished production on page 133, so I'm already quite a way into the project... the idea of a production blog wasn't mentioned until recently, but better late than never!

So far The Tempest has been a great play to work on. The editing of the script seems to have gone really well, and makes a naturally smooth read. I personally think it's a play that suits being cut down, as the sparser script makes Prospero's manipulation of the extra, otherwise-transparent characters, even more evident. Definitely a play whose substance is in metaphor and not raw storyline.

Now's quite a stressful time in the production, with deadlines looming, and a fair bit to go. This blog will probably be a good place to vent a little! Most recently I've been illustrating the surreal sections in which Prospero summons spirits to scare Antonio and crew and to celebrate Ferdinand's love for Miranda. It was fun doing research into the aspects of the three goddesses - Juno, Ceres and Iris - that appear. I've tried to include as much informative imagery as possible, whilst giving them my own personalised look.



I also had quite a bit of fun doing the funny gribbly creatures which bring on the feast for Antonio and co (although Kate thinks they're really scary)...





Will post more as I continue! :D

Indroductions over.

I've almost finished Titania and Oberon's spat. (That sounds odd.) Personally I think Oberon is being a right dick. (But I like him.)

I had fun designing his costume ... it was the first one I kicked off with. I toned it down a bit in the end because he originally looked far too fetishy ... GESTAPO BOY! ... uh ... now he looks far more reserved.

I didn't want any of the fairies/elves to look terrifically nice. Fairies are quite nasty things, in traditional English folklore, anyway. Bloody Victorians made 'em all pansy and pretty. (I think? Somebody told me that anyway.)

If I'd had more time I'd have loved to have done every single fairy up in a kind of feral style. As it is they had to be quite simple.

I also might have based Oberon loosely on Trent Reznor ... but if that's not at all obvious, then that's ... probably a good thing.

And after babbling about Oberon, here's two pages with Titania:



Well, okay. One page.

In the next few pages I have to do, which I will do the roughs for tonight, Titania flounces off. And that's all the characters for the story introduced! (At only page 49, hahaha!).

Next up is more arguing from Helena and Demetrius.
This is a comedy.

THIS! IS! MIDSUMMERNIGHTSDREAM!

Posto Uno

Hooray! Fear my lack of not having time to design a layout and using a pre-made template! Uh ... well, it's probably nicer than one I'd make anyway :D

Okay: production blog of A Midsummer Night's Dream. Where am I now ... I'm just finishing off the first batch of pages, which were 01 - 35. I'm thumbnailing 36 - 66 right now. Current thoughts:

- There are a lot of people running around in this comic.

- Demetrius does not do hisself any favours.

Sometime soon (when I'm scanning some stuff, most likely), I want to post up the most incredible thumbnail I've ever done. It's incredible.