SKF #1: An introduction to Scaffoldworld and its sidebar
In this series of posts, I describe what’s going on as I create my Scaffoldworld comic.
Scaffoldworld originated quite a number of years ago. Originally it was going to be about people living on platforms supported by quite ordinary scaffolding, such as might be found at any construction site, but the scaffold quickly changed to something larger, more like a series of great trees, supporting an actual landscape with soil and all.
About seven years ago, I started drawing it. I did a four-page prologue in Esperanto, and started sketching out a story, but drew myself into a corner. At this point I realized that I had no idea how to design a story. I backed off and started reading screenwriting books, many of which dealt with story design.
Then something else happened and I set Scaffoldworld aside for a few years. That thing is ending, and now I, and Scaffoldworld, are back.
SSS #1: The single-sourcing sidebar
This section contains posts I make as I explore the possibilities of single sourcing, especially as it applies to making comics.
Single-sourcing, in general, refers to the idea of making your “content” (text, pictures, etc) only once, then marking it and dividing it up in such a way that it can be easily (and possibly automatically) rearranged to suit different output formats.
For example, a comic may be read printed on paper. But it can also be read on a screen, and on a wide variety of screen sizes and shapes.
It’s easy to create a single image from a page of comics, and simply export that as an image or in a PDF file. But large images can be difficult or awkward to read on smaller screens. And, single images do not incorporate some of the additional features that book readers can display, such as animation, video, audio, or narration.
Even on paper, comics have to deal with different pagers sizes and arrangements. Large newspaper comics published on the weekend had an arrangement where panels could be rearranged to suit different paper formats.
Single sourcing would allow a comics creator to design a comic, and when outputting it, have features automatically added as desired to the output formats which can support them. The comic might become a high-resolution single image for a poster, a lower-resolution image for a book, an image with limited animation for a website, an epub containing both large and small images and narration for use on a tablet and phone, an audiobook containing only narration, and so on.
The setup and creation of such a publishing system, especially on a low to nonexistent budget, is what I am going to explore in this series of posts.
The second day of TCAF
The second and last day of TCAF was on Sunday. I went downtown on the bus and arrived, forgetting that the library opened at 11:00 on Sundays and I would have to wait. Many events were in venues nearby, outside the library, though; at 11:30 I went to a nearby restaurant, Ristorante Fortuna, to take in Jeff Smith demonstrating his drawing and inking skills. Jeff Smith is the creator of Bone and Rasl.
What struck me about his demonstration was the simplicity of his tools. Paper. Blue pencil. Sharpener. Ink. Brush. Apart from the paper, there was nothing you can’t carry in a small case. Of course, later on, things get scanned and coloured and assembled into books in the computer.
Other people draw directly into the computer. Autodesk had a demonstration of their Sketchbook Pro software, running on systems that had Wacom Cintiq monitors attached. These are the (expensive) monitors that are also drawing tablets; you fire up your software and draw right there on the screen. It’s a lot more immediate than drawing on a tablet at the side and seeing the pointer move on a regular screen in front of you. But there’s still a gap between the point of the stylus and where the drawing is occurring in the software. I think I could get used to it though.
For me now though, it’s draw, ink, scan, and colour. Old school.
Later on, I took in a panel discussion about crowdfunding. I’d originally thought of crowdfunding as a way to solicit donations, but since crowdfunders tend to provide perks for various levels of funding, the panelists were regarding it as a kind of pre-order system. It’s clear that I’d have to do a LOT more planning before attempting it.
Then I attended a panel dicussion about “the future of comics”. This developed into quite an interesting discussion about different distribution arrangements and how the rise of self-publishing and the internet has basically knocked the props out from the old traditional distribution modfel. There was little mention of ebooks though. Perhaps that is something that Hasn’t Quite Happened yet in the comics world.
I didn’t buy much at the show. I got a print for $5 in a style I liked. I found that many of the comics were in drawing styles I wasn’t particularly fond of, seeming to me ‘primitive’ and even grotesque. Much of the works there were rather dark, and I tend to look for light, colourful work. I’ve enough darkness already, thanks.
I missed a lot, some of it unavoidable (please try not to schedule three things I want to see at the same time next time, okay?) Many of the presenters were people of roughly my age, who’d been trying to do this as a living since they left high school. It really makes me wonder what my life would have been like if I’d taken that other road after high school. But it’s never too soon to start…
Michael Cho’s presentation at TCAF
At TCAF, I went to an excellent presentation by Michael Cho: “The Realities of Being a Comics Professional”, in which he discussed arouse aspects of the working life of a illustrator.
Michael spoke of what it’s like to start out; social connection and memory as you meet and work with people and pass on to different jobs; portfolio sites; advertising; and, most importantly: the necessity of following your artistic heart. You don’t want to discover after years of toil that you’ve been following others’ visions instead of honing your own vision.
I wish i’d heard his talk when I was 17 and deciding whether to go to OCAD after high school; I think I might have made a few decisions differently…
But it applies to everyone, really, no matter their age. We are always starting out anew in every moment.
At TCAF
Well, here I am at the Toronto Comic Arts Festival. It’s big, it’s crowded, it’s overflowing my brain. I’ve basically cruised around the displays and vendors’ booths, but haven’t come to any conclusions yet. Most of the presentations I want to see are a little later on or on Sunday. There’s a life-drawing event at 5:30 (at least, I think that’s what it is…) I got some glimpses of others’ sletchbooks and portfolios, showing evidence of how they actually made their drawings, and that was very interesting.
I think I need to download my brain into my sketchbook.
Toronto Comic Arts Festival, here I come!
Saturday 5 May and Sunday 6 May, the Toronto Comic Arts Festival takes place at and around the Reference Library near Yonge and Bloor in Toronto. I’m taking the early bus in and staying all day… 
DIS #3: Legs!
A few days ago, I was doodling. I started with the usual swirls and shapes, and then drew an unexpectedly-good head sketch (which I have been trying to reproduce ever since), and then I started drawing spheres with legs.
Scan of sketchbook showing heads and legs
The legs were working out pretty well compared to before, because I was using Joumana Medlej’s book as a reference:
Scan of drawing of leg musculature
And as I do more sketching, it’s gradually getting easier.
More on looking for ebook training
I’m continuing my search for information relating to training for ebook development. So far, I have not found an actual course in the Toronto area specifically for ebook development. However, I have found that ebook-creation skills–especially those required for ePub 3–overlap strongly with the skills required for web programming. This makes sense; ebooks are essentially collections of web pages, bundled together in a defined format with their linked images and fonts and a few other things to provide navigation.
I came up with a diagram showing different skill sets required for technical writing, web development, and ebook development:
Overlapping skill sets
Unless I can find a college program specifically for ebook development, I’ll be applying to programs for web development, since I can use the skills at top centre for both ebooks development and web development.
This does not mean, of course, that I won’t be looking to learn such things on my own. There are all sorts of resources on the web. But part of classroom instruction is meeting people and making contacts. I am now convinced that such social contacts are as important as raw book learning when you are taking courses.
Transferring to a new hosting provider
I’m in the middle of transferring my domain names and site to a new hosting provider. The sunspace.org domain name was released from the old registrar this morning; now I can get to WordPress on the new provider and start setting things up. I have a lot of old non-WordPress content that I made in Dreamweaver, Netscape, Notepad, etc (some of it goes back to 1998!), which I may transfer into WordPress, but until that time, it will be temporarily unavailable.
IBM Developerworks on EPUB 3…
In my search for epub info, I found a great page from IBM DeveloperWorks: Create rich-layout publications in EPUB 3 with HTML5, CSS3, and MathML. Lots of details, links, downloadable examples, all sorts of things. I’m getting excited about this.