The Journey Drafts
9/03/2010
The Journey Drafts
There’s a sick comic by James Callahan in the September Thrasher that's in shops now. Even his sketches and drafts looked cool by themselves, so we thought we’d show them here. The whole thing started when James had a Canvas last year. He contacted us to say thanks, and mentioned that he’d be up for doing something else if we ever wanted. Well, we wanted, and this is what we came up with. James describes each step below. Click images to enlarge.
“After kicking around some ideas together over email, mag-staff guy Adam Creagan sent this storyboard/doodle of what the spread might look like, including descriptions of each stage, and the magazine dimensions I had to work within. This was the map to start the project from.”
“These are pencils sketches. This is the stage where the most problem-solving occurs. An image with this much going on requires planning so that it doesn’t turn into a pile of indecipherable garbage. I usually draw an image larger than it will be printed in order to give myself room for detail. In this case, the originals are nearly twice the size of what appeared in print.”
“Now, the art gets put into ink. Most of the visual information should be figured out before this point, and from here it’s just going through the motions. For me, this is the funnest part of the process. It’s a chance to really solidify a style to represent the drawing and your work. It’s also the stage where all the small flourishes and details get to be inserted.”
“Scanning and coloring comes next. With an original this big, multiple scans are pieced together. Coloring on the computer is less fun than doing it by hand, but easier to change if needed. It can be outright boring to color on the computer, actually. This is where it gets hard for me not to say 'To hell with it' and go skating. Instead, I put on my favorite records and zone out for three days.”
“The end product. The text-box descriptions help push the story along and make sense of the madness. The Thrasher guys placed these on top of the final artwork in the application InDesign. This gives you room to nudge the boxes a bit here or there, instead of locking them into the artwork.”
There’s a sick comic by James Callahan in the September Thrasher that's in shops now. Even his sketches and drafts looked cool by themselves, so we thought we’d show them here. The whole thing started when James had a Canvas last year. He contacted us to say thanks, and mentioned that he’d be up for doing something else if we ever wanted. Well, we wanted, and this is what we came up with. James describes each step below. Click images to enlarge.
“After kicking around some ideas together over email, mag-staff guy Adam Creagan sent this storyboard/doodle of what the spread might look like, including descriptions of each stage, and the magazine dimensions I had to work within. This was the map to start the project from.”
“These are pencils sketches. This is the stage where the most problem-solving occurs. An image with this much going on requires planning so that it doesn’t turn into a pile of indecipherable garbage. I usually draw an image larger than it will be printed in order to give myself room for detail. In this case, the originals are nearly twice the size of what appeared in print.”
“Now, the art gets put into ink. Most of the visual information should be figured out before this point, and from here it’s just going through the motions. For me, this is the funnest part of the process. It’s a chance to really solidify a style to represent the drawing and your work. It’s also the stage where all the small flourishes and details get to be inserted.”
“Scanning and coloring comes next. With an original this big, multiple scans are pieced together. Coloring on the computer is less fun than doing it by hand, but easier to change if needed. It can be outright boring to color on the computer, actually. This is where it gets hard for me not to say 'To hell with it' and go skating. Instead, I put on my favorite records and zone out for three days.”
“The end product. The text-box descriptions help push the story along and make sense of the madness. The Thrasher guys placed these on top of the final artwork in the application InDesign. This gives you room to nudge the boxes a bit here or there, instead of locking them into the artwork.”
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1/21/2010
January 1989
Cover: Jay Adams – Grind Photo: Hudson Inside This Mag: Thrash-A-Thon in San Luis Obispo and what skateboarding is all about in 1989Also In This Issue: An overview of contests, demos and other skate-intrusions in '88, pool skating in Cambridge and some snowboarding actionMusic Articles: The Sugar Cubes, Igor's record collection, Suicidal Tendencies and Eek-A-Mouse -
1/15/2010
Winter 1988
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1/15/2010
December 1988
Cover: Lance Mountain – Sad PlantPhoto: Ogden Inside This Mag Capitol Burnout in Sacramento with Lance Mountain, Micke Alba, Eric Dressen, Jason Jesse, Mark Gonzales, Steve Caballero and Ben Schroeder and skating in Germany Also In This Issue: Spotlight on skating in Boise, IDMusic Articles: Social Distortion and Guns 'n' Roses -
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November 1988
Cover: Bod Boyle – Back Lip Photo: Kanights Inside This Mag: Jaks team in Santa Barbara and the World Cup '88 in MunsterAlso In This Issue: Metro D.C. skate report, the "Gotcha Grind" in Seattle and the O'Boy/Thrasherland/TNT Skate Shop series finaleMusic Articles: The Hard-Ons and Social Distortion -
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October 1988
Cover: Dave Hackett – Frontside Grind Photo: Katz Inside This Mag: The Tracker Bluegrass Aggression Session at Freedom Hall in Louisville, KY, skating in Albuquerque and a photospread of skating at a New Zealand canalAlso In This Issue: Pool sharks and gnarly skate injuriesMusic Articles: The Accused and happening bands from the East Coast featuring Living Colour, Soul Asylum, H.R. from Bad Brains, White Zombie, Gwar, Danzig and more
