Tuesday, August 20, 2013

Obscenicons

Iconography Part 2 - Visual Vocabulary of Graphic Novels, Comic Books and Comic Strips



Obscenicons (thank you Ben Zimmer) are cartoon cursing.

Rudolph Dirks created The Katzenjammer Kids in 1897 for the American Humorist. It seem as though Dirks may have created this cute cursing substitute.

These examples are from Barnacle Press,  a great site with early comic strips.

Take a look at last panel of this December 14, 1902  Katzenjammer Kids strip. The anchor is a nice touch. Swears like a sailor?


Here's an August 8, 1909 strip. In panel 9 we we see an asterisk. In panel 11 we see something closer to what we know today as traditional obscenicons.  Yes, they numbered panels during the infancy of comics to help people know what order they were to be read.


Here's a more inventive example from September 3, 1911 with a devil figure firing a cannon. He must really have a potty mouth.


Obscenicons today have degenerated to shifted keys on the keyboard @, #, $, %, &, !, ? and * . However, in the past they have included anchors, stars, swirls, tornadoes, squiggles, bursts, crescent moon, Saturn, cent sign, music notes, lightning bolts, division symbol, skull and crossbones, skull only, flowers, knife, candle, pitchfork, gun, bone, cloud, explosion and swastika.

to be continued…

read next - I'm Going to Wash Your Mouth Out With Soap
previous - The Cunning Linguist

Keep reading and follow me. If you have found this helpful, please let me know and share with other creators. Are the explanations clear and complete? Feel free to ask me questions.

Remember… Just Create!

If you are interested in further expanding your knowledge, then I recommend these books.

You can support this blog when you purchase a book by clicking the link below, I get a piece of the action and helps me to continue doing this blog. Support an artist today.

copyright 2013 H. Simpson

Monday, August 19, 2013

Winner

Here's one of the winners with his prize from my first contest.



Thanks again to everyone who entered. Look forward to another contest with more prizes.

Let us see what you create with it +Andy Hunt.

Wednesday, August 14, 2013

Cracked is not so crazy



Even though the main point is humor. There is a lot of truth here. Cracked talks about comic book sound effects.

to be continued...

read next - Obscenicons
previous - The Cunning Linguist

Keep reading and follow me. If you have found this helpful, please let me know and share with other creators. Are the explanations clear and complete? Feel free to ask me questions.

Remember… Just Create!

If you are interested in further expanding your knowledge, then I recommend these books.

You can support this blog when you purchase a book by clicking the link below, I get a piece of the action and helps me to continue doing this blog. Support an artist today.

copyright 2013 H. Simpson

Tuesday, August 13, 2013

The Cunning Linguist

Iconography Part 1 - Visual Vocabulary of Graphic Novels, Comic Books and Comic Strips

Here we are at symbols. Up until now, a valiant attempt has been made to discuss visual vocabulary in a way that has no relation to style or to western and eastern cultures. You could draw realistically, abstractly or very cartoony and most of what has been discussed would apply.

Now here's where we separate the big foot artists from the representational. Hold on to your chapeau, as this might make your brain hurt. We need to get some definitions in order.

Symbol – an image which gets its meaning only through the association of a systematic form from a rule or convention.

Iconic – an image gets its meaning through resemblance to what it means.

Glyph - an image that gets it's meaning from a stereotypical or common association. It's an artistic shortcut that can sometimes be a caricature or just the result of laziness.

No graphics to illustrate these right now, as I don't want to poison you. You shouldn't  get a fixed image in your head yet.

to be continued…

Remember… Just Create!






to be continued…

read next - Cracked is not so crazy
previous -  Can You Feel it?

Keep reading and follow me. If you have found this helpful, please let me know and share with other creators. Are the explanations clear and complete? Feel free to ask me questions.

Copyright 2016 H. Simpson

If you are interested in further expanding your knowledge, then I recommend these books.

When you purchase a book by clicking the link below, I get a piece of the action and helps me to continue doing this blog. Support an artist today.

Monday, August 12, 2013

Can You Feel it?

Expressions Part 3 - Visual Vocabulary of Graphic Novels, Comic Books and Comic Strips

Norman Rockwell

Drawing your characters so they express feelings and emotions should not be hard. You are carrying a face with you everyday. Keep a mirror by your drawing table, so you can act out the emotion and see what it looks  like. Now that you've seen it, think back to a time when your felt the emotion. Feel the emotion as you draw it. This will give the character some truth. As you draw your face may unconsciously create that expression. If it does, then you've in the zone!

Study the faces of other people was you go about your day. Create a mental file of the different feelings and moods you see them express.

Practice drawing your face in a mirror as you do different emotions. Feel the effect your eyes, eyebrows, mouth and facial muscles as you go from on extreme to another. Don't be shy! Really consort your face.

Look at how the attitude of the head changes. It may lean forward, drop, tilt or recoil.

Be here next time as we discuss Symbols.

to be continued...

read next - The Cunning Linguist
previous - Blurred Lines

Keep reading and follow me. If you have found this helpful, please let me know and share with other creators. Are the explanations clear and complete? Feel free to ask me questions.

Remember… Just Create!

If you are interested in further expanding your knowledge, then I recommend these books.

You can support this blog when you purchase a book by clicking the link below, I get a piece of the action and helps me to continue doing this blog. Support an artist today.

copyright 2013 H. Simpson


Saturday, August 3, 2013

Support Strongman Kickstarter by Jon Bogdanove



Superman artist Jon Bogdanove's first indie project follows Bron Bellman - a 1920s circus athlete who doubles as a pulp hero. Together with a team of lovable sideshow freaks, Bron travels the world, righting wrongs, & defending the downtrodden! +Jon Bogdanove

Thursday, August 1, 2013

Blurred Lines

Expressions Part 2 - Visual Vocabulary of Graphic Novels, Comic Books and Comic Strips

Don't let this happen to your drawings.

You want your drawings to show different expressions. For these examples, I'm using a head only. The head only makes for blurry communication and leaves interpretation up for grabs. Without a body and context the viewer's reaction to what the expression is saying limits the true communication.

Using the face from yesterday and just moving the eyebrows around, you will find that doing that changes the expression. Sometimes it doesn't take much. There's a time to be subtle and their's a time to exaggerate. 


I've adapted an expression chart for our purposes here.

That concludes today's discussion.

Now to the conclusion of  the contest. I would like to thank everyone who took the time to enter. You are all awesome!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  Be on the lookout for the next contest.

Now let's find out who are our

And the winners of the Jot Pro are
+Peter Chiu

and

+Andy Hunt

Enjoy your new stylus!

to be continued…

read next - Can You Feel it?
previous - Express Yourself!

Keep reading and follow me. If you have found this helpful, please let me know and share with other creators. Are the explanations clear and complete? Feel free to ask me questions.

Remember… Just create!

Copyright 2016 H. Simpson

If you are interested in further expanding your knowledge, then I recommend these books.

When you purchase a book by clicking the link below, I get a piece of the action and helps me to continue doing this blog. Support an artist today.