Admission: 10$
Date: February 19, 2020 (Wed)
Time: 7PM
Location: The Center for Fiction | 15 Lafayette Ave, Brooklyn, NY 11217A couple weeks ago, I was invited by Professor Woolley to attend a panel containing about graphic novels that reveals more about culture, sexuality, and race – more about a more realistic term of hero, than a mythical superhero.
It was led by Joseph Illidge, an editor for DC comics and Warner Bros., interviewing comic writers and artists, such as Robin Ha, Khary Randolph. and Vita Ayala.
- Robin Ha
- Khary Randolph
- Vita Ayala
The interview mainly entailed about how these artists grew up drawing what everyone else was drawing in the art community. During their younger years, it was mostly about heterosexual or white culture and then one day, they realized, Why aren’t there any stories about my ethnicity, culture, or sexuality?
They spoke about how they grew as artists, some of their perspective and personal stories about why they decided to write more topical statements, such as sexism, racism or homophobia.
At the end of the interview, the artists were doing a signing for their comics and Professor Woolley nudged all the City Tech students to network and get to know the artists that were interviewed.
I’m not someone who really enjoys the action genre, so Robin Ha’s work really resonated in me. She was a Korean-American artist, so I understood her culture and the troubles she went through, and although our backgrounds were completely different, I somehow understood what sort of things she had experienced. So, I bought her book (which I also got for 10$ off because I was a part of the meeting), and lined up to meet her.
Once I got to her, I told spoke to her more on a personal level, about how I really understood where she was standing. I also managed to talk to Khary Randolph and Robin Ha about how they just push their work out on social media and they ended up giving me tips!
The day after is also an interview I am moderating with another classmate for Robin Ha, which is another networking group that I will blog about!
Category: Uncategorized
Admission: free
Date: February 6, 2020
Time: 6:00 – 9:30PM
Location: NYC College of Technology, P122
Professor Sara Woolley had meticulously prepared networking events with a variety of artists for her class, Advanced Strategies of Illustration (COMD 3633). For our second week of class, she had set up an interview secession with Steven Harris.
Steven has won many awards, such as winning the Glyph Award four times, Glyph Award for Best Female Character twice and the VLA (Virginia Library Association) Graphic Novel Diversity Award. He has also worked and credited on many DC Comics, such as Aztek: The Ultimate Man, a character which he co-created along with Grant Morrison and Mark Millar, Batman: Officer Down, Captain America: Sentinel of Liberty, and more. He has also participated in gallery shows in New York, Philadelphia, Georgia, Chicago, California, and Japan.
See Steven Harris’ works:
Portfolio: nstevenworks.com/
Instagram: twitter.com/NStevenHarris
Twitter: instagram.com/nstevenharris
During the class, the students have worked together to create a list of questions in preparation for their own path. These are their notes:
Creator Owned – rights are kept by the creator
- Line/Imprint –
Work for Hire – rights are owned by the company
Royalties – continuing income from every edition
- Storyboard – art director, ad agency
- Storyboard for production art doesn’t get royalty fees
Network – internship, conventions
- Conventions – never bring your originals (bring binder/portfolio); possibility of damages
As an artist:
1. Be focused
2. Be disciplined (time-keeping)
Artist Representatives
Freelancer – an entrepreneur, responsible for themselves:
- Negotiations – ask for money upfront (minimum – 33% or 50% at least)
- Don’t take a job without a contract
- In perpetuity – ‘law talk’ for forever
- Ask advisors for assistance for contracts
Graphic Artist Guild:
Pricing Ethical Guidelines – Industry-standard how to price your work (i.e. animation, storyboards, etc.); ask friends for input
Working in the Comic Industry:
Types of Jobs:
- Pencil/Drawer
- Inker
- Color
- Letter
- Editor
- Writer
Comic Process (varies from artist to artist)
- Read te script
- Look for reference
- Thumbnails (strategize placement, composition)
- Develop Sketch
