Robert K. Jeffrey
"I love creating these worlds that people can get lost in, just like I did as a kid growing up whenever I picked up a book." @robertk.jeffrey www.robertkjeffrey.com Bio A freelance writer with over 13 years of experience, Robert was chosen along with 5 other writers (out of more than a thousand applicants,) to take part in the 2017 DC Comics Writers Workshop. He’s the creator/ writer of the Glyph Comics Award nominated/ winning comic book series Route 3, Editor In Chief of BlackSci-Fi.com, has contributed to such anthologies like Dark Universe: Bright Empire, and is co-writer of the Glyph Comics Award nominated Radio Free Amerika. His client work includes work done for the Centers for Disease Control and Nitto Tires, and he currently co-hosts the New Wakanda podcast.
Where are you from?
I’m originally from the southside of Chicago. Where did you grow up? We moved around a bit when I was growing up. So I’ve actually lived in California (Los Angeles, Pasadena), Chicago, and now Atlanta. I’ve been in Georgia the longest and love it down here. How did your experiences affect your stories/ writing? As a kid who loved things like Star Trek, Batman, X-Men, Spiderman, Back To The Future, Hook, etc I began to notice a pattern. Though folks who looked like me were found in a lot of these fantastical stories, we were often not at the forefront. I had a problem with that and continue to even now. I was surrounded by no shortage of black people who took charge in their own stories on a day by day basis. Sure, they weren’t going out and leaping from rooftops to fight crime, or trekking the stars, seeking new life and new civilizations. The point was, they were handling their ‘ish, and weren’t being relegated to sidekick/ support status, or the comic relief. I told myself that wasn’t going to be the case in the stories that I wrote, that featured people who looked like me. Though I pride myself on being able to write just about anything and anyone, when it comes to focusing on characters of color I like to make them the power players in these larger than life stories that I like to tell. Its worked out so far, so I’ll keep doing it. ? You have been working with DC with their writing program. How has been that experience? The 2017 DC Writers Workshop was a great experience. Having a chance to learn from an industry legend like Scott Snyder was an experience that I’ll never forget, and the information I took from the workshop has become crucial in helping my growth as a writer. I also learned A LOT from my fellow workshop participants, and I’ve seen development in my scripts since doing the workshop. What type of stories do you like to make comics about? Where to begin? Lol. I write whatever gets me hyped as a creator. I’m kind of selfish in that when I start brainstorming an idea for a script that I focus on things that will keep me entertained and connected to. I try to do that when seeking out client work. So, my interests in terms of stories that I like to make comics about vary across the board. Route 3 is a coming of age super heroic, espionage thriller. Mine to Avenge: The Book of Layla is a cyber punk/ action horror series. RET: CON is an Afrofuturist time traveling adventure. To say my interests in what I like to create run a wide a gamut is an understatement. The same goes for any client work. I pride myself on being a varied hired gun when it comes to writing for prospective employers. You can’t limit yourself as a writer. You just can’t. You miss out on countless opportunities like that, and since my goal is to eventually do this full time, I keep myself open to a variety of different things to write about.
Whats your process? Elaborate on how you work through your projects. How do you break up your time for your projects at different stages?
I usually begin with brainstorming, then moving to outlining. I find that unless I have a specific set of steps to follow in building my story, my mind wanders. Brainstorming can begin with a simple kernel of an idea, which I then build into something more. I try to follow the tried and true model of establishing your “Set Up, Conflict, & Resolution” for the story. It simplifies things in the long run, in terms of giving me a template of sorts to follow. Now, not to say that this template might be switched around for the sake of storytelling, but to have a basic story skeleton of sorts to follow is crucial for me to follow. After that I’ll begin writing a first draft, just to get the thoughts down on paper. Storytelling is key here, as I’m partly putting together a script that the artist is going to enjoy drawing, just as much as whoever might buy the book will enjoy reading. I try not to over direct when it comes to panel descriptions but provide just enough direction where both I as the writer and the artist know how the page is going to flow. I find that writing dialogue is a favorite part of the process of mine as it helps me to feel out the various characters in a scene. So, after writing the dialogue, panel descriptions, location captions, thought captions, etc. it all come together to move the story forward. The first draft is usually followed by a second and third draft where I’m fine tuning everything within the script. After that, it’s off to my editor, comes back to me for another pass, then it goes to the art team. What do you recommend to aspiring writers that you wish you had known much earlier? What would you tell yourself 20 years ago? Life is a fickle beast, and it will complicate things every chance that it gets. When that happens, just keep pushing forward. Also, stay out of your head. Don’t worry about what everyone else is doing. Just don’t. And have more confidence in yourself. Keep learning as much as you can about writing, stay open to constructive criticism, don’t treat people horribly, and just do your best to be the best person you can be. Also, stay out of your head, and have more confidence in yourself. Did I say that already? ? What do you love best about writing comics? I love creating these worlds that people can get lost in, just like I did as a kid growing up whenever I picked up a book. To provide an escape, or an alternative to all the BS that surrounds us 24/7, that’s a blessing. What do you wish was different about the comics industry? I wish that the industry would realize that EVERY-FRIGGIN-ONE loves these books. Find ways to tap into that, and just build, and build, and build. And some publishers, more so than others have realized that. Continue to reflect the world that exists NOW, and your readership that exists NOW. Which books do you recommend writers should have in their reference library? Favorite instructional material? Jim Zub’s Tutorials for creating comics: http://www.jimzub.com/ Alan Moore’s Writing For Comics: Alan Moore Powers Scriptbook by Brian Michael Bendis & Michael Avon Oeming Writing for Comics & Graphic Novels with Peter David: Peter David Making Comics: Scott McCloud Understanding Comics: Scott McCloud The DC Comics Guide to Writing Comics: Dennis O’Neill Words For Pictures: Brian Michael Bendis
Top 5 favorite writers.
1. Dwayne McDuffie 2. Geoffrey Thorne 3. Octavia Butler 4. Greg Rucka 5. Brandon Thomas Favorite comic characters. 1. Static 2. Rocket 3. Synch 4. Invincible 5. Tara Chace 6. Storm 7. Spiderman 8. Woke AF’ Cyclops Top 5 favorite comics and graphic novels. 1. Static Shock: Rebirth of the Cool 2. New Frontier 3. Icon: A Heroes Welcome 3. Queen and Country: The Definitive Editions, Vol. 1-4 4. The Many Adventures of Miranda Mercury 5. Prodigal: Egg of First Light 6. Watchmen 7. Batman: The Long Halloween 8. Gotham Central: In The Line of Duty 9. Invincible: Ultimate Collection, Vol. 1 10. Noble Vol 1.: God Shots What type of work are you interested in doing? Now? In the future? I’m always interested in doing more comics work. I’m open to writing anything. I’m having a great time working for publishers like 133 Art and Evoluzione Publishing. I’d love to work for publishers like Lion Forge, Valiant, Boom! Studios, Dark Horse, IDW, etc. I’ve got a bucket list of licensed characters that I’d like to pitch for including characters/ franchises like Rocket (Milestone Media), Overwatch, Star Trek, The Orville, and heck even my favorite cult classic, Sliders. In addition to the comics work, I’m trying my hand at writing for table top gaming with New Agenda Publishing, and I’d really like to learn more about, and eventually jump into video game writing. Lastly, I’m going to get back into writing prose fiction by the end of this year, and am currently looking into getting my certification for technical writing. How can others find and purchase your work? Website: www.robertkjeffrey.com FB: robertk.jeffrey Twitter: @SYNCHRKJ Instagram: robertk.jeffrey
0 Comments
This week’s tutorial goes over how use color to enhance your comic art.
Adding color to your comics adds vibrancy and extra dimension but first you must choreograph your palette. Make sure to choose colors that serve the mood of the scene.
Choreograph you color scheme.
Temperature
According to color theory certain colors create indications of temperature, emotion and movement in space. Warm colors push forward in space. Warm colors which includes reds, oranges & yellows are indicative of intensity or anger and moves forward in space.
Cool Colors recede back into space.
Cool colors which includes blues, most greens & various grays often indicate calmness & tranquility and receding back into space. Comic Coloring Rules of Thumb
Keep these principles in mind to make the best decisions in coloring your comics.
Decide on areas of focus. The focus area will be the most saturated and have the most intense color. Color details need to enhance the line art. The line art should inform how you color. Work from dark to light. Indicate the shady areas and shadows. Shading gives your art more depth. Reinforce the light source. The brush must serve the line work. Does the texture of your brush help or hinder the artwork? Model your figures and objects using values. Simple modeling works best to not muddy the line work. Enhancing the narrative. These basic principles are helpful when setting up spatial planes, indicating mood or emotion, when framing and establishing focal points.
Always consider the context of the scene.
Color application is useful for adding emotional impact and extra dimension to line art. Apply these principles consciously to enhance aspects of the visual narrative. Thank you for checking out this week’s tutorial. I hope you’ve found it useful. Please add any comments below. I love to read and follow up on my fellow artists. Additionally, Prime Vice Studios is available to help people on their comic creation journeys. Hire us for professional assistance at any level of your creative process. From conception to creation we are experts at helping others develop their vision. Download the cheat sheet below for your own reference. Check out the additional resources below for links to the references & materials used. Peace, Loso Special thanks to our official sponsor Plasq for providing the invaluable app Comic Draw! follow on us social media! @Prime_Vice #primevice @AnanyaVahal @Plasq @ComicDrawApp #comicdraw #startyourcomictoday @ComicConnect Additional Resources
Rolo Ledesma
“You got to handle every line and page likes it's your best." @rolo_world www.curvesandbullets.com Bio Creator of the comic book series Curves and Bullets. Will Eisner & Russ Manning Award nominee. Comic book & storyboard artist. Owner of Rolo Wear. Son of world class Dominican painter Clara Ledesma. Where are you from? Born and raised in New York City Where did you grow up? Manhattan and Queens, New York also some time in Montreal, Quebec. How did your experiences affect your art? In my early years living in Queens then in Manhattan the graffiti and Hip Hop music molded my vision then the combination of all forms of animation and comic books from American to European helped shaped my style, creativity and coloring also watching mom doing her paintings. Your mother is Clara Ledesma. A very accomplished and phenomenal artist from the Dominican Republic. How has she and her work influenced you as an artist? As far as mom's art, its her discipline to complete what she started and her work ethic. She never failed a deadline. It's why her name was never tarnished here (In the United States), in Dominican Republic or Canada, etc. Her strong vibrant coloring influenced me too. I love using it in my art.
Learn more about Clara Ledesma:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clara_Ledesma What type of stories do you like to make comics about? I mostly do action-adventure comics and children's books. Children books are fun- I get to draw in a whole other style that is much gentler and soft but still brings aspects of the way I do my comics such as angles, expressions, etc. Whats your process? Elaborate on how you work through your projects. How do you break up your time for your projects at different stages? I mostly draw my projects at night after I'm done drawing storyboards at ad agencies during the day, the peace and stillness of the evening helps. I put on my headphones put on my music and away I go! Most people don’t have the determination to do something and stick to it from start to finish. If you actually sit down and write your story, if you draw it out in panels, you put yourself several steps ahead. Set goals for yourself. Give yourself a few weeks or a few months to go over an idea, to do sketches of it in your sketchbook, to talk to friends about it. Once those weeks or months are over, you’ve got to move on to the actual writing and drawing it doesn't matter how scared you are time put the first line on the paper. Worst practices. What to avoid? Biggest waste of time? Biggest Novice mistakes? Common mistakes seen at pro level from artists. I a lot of times procrastinate, its normal we can't just turn on the switch and draw, etc ...but at that moment you need start looking at things that inspire you art, comics, music, film..and you will see how the flow will come back. Sometimes it shows in the art if you are not feeling the characters or the storyline (it happens to everyone from pros to newcomers), its ok but you got to handle every line and page likes its your best work, step back for a few and go back to it if that feeling occurs. Thats how I do it if it happens to me . We all have different methods- feel whats comfortable to you. Who should/ shouldn’t pursue a career in comics? To pursue a career in comics is not easy that's the first thing. If you have determination, the heart and end goal also working lotsa hours and from day or evening late hours to create something everlasting then jump right in its a beautiful thing creating comics. If you can't stick to deadlines and go through changes in the process that happen such as the changing of layouts or characters, the costumes, panel works, and story, etc and can't take critiques then comic books might not be a field for you. To newcomers, if you have that spark to create and love for illustrating start with a plan look at your inspirations. We all have inspirations, see the process and study layouts in you favorites books and study their style too imitation is ok to a certain extent then you need to create your own style- it will come as time moves on. What do you recommend to aspiring artists that you wish you had known much earlier? What would you advise yourself 20 years ago? Something I wish I had learned earlier is anatomy, it's super important , thats a must no matter what style you draw in (comic or manga style). I tried out to Marvel many moons ago and the submissions editor at that time Mr. Lewendowski told me, “ Your talent is raw but your muscle structure needs help.” He recommended Gray's Anatomy, a great book to use and Will Eisner's Comics and Sequential Art book ..two amazing books that helped me so much. What do you love best about making comics? What I love about making comics is to create new worlds, seeing the images in your head then putting them on paper and seeing the pages come alive basically and having a team of like minded people that write and also color your stories is very key in that process. Well me being independent so many years I love being a creator-owned illustrator and self publishing comic book creator. I can always have freedom to do and create anything I desire. I was nominated a few years ago for the honorable Wil Eisner /Russ Manning newcomer in the comic book industry award, that alone in itself was amazing for me. It was doing my art with a small indie comic book publisher here in NYC ..working with Seen, the graffiti legend among others that helped shaped the book with Brian Ferrara writing and Phetus, another graff legend that made that book possible. Its funny how that book I drew it in the classic Looney Tunes / Ralph Bashki style was nominated compared to my other traditional comic style. What do you wish was different about the comics industry? Many of the big houses are amazing but you are some what limited once you are hired.
Which books do you recommend artists should have in their reference library?
Books I recommend. I always have em on my self ... Draw Out the Story: Ten Secrets to Creating Your Own Comics Freehand Figure Drawing for Illustrators: Mastering the Art of Drawing from Memory Comics and Sequential Art: Principles and Practices from the Legendary Cartoonist
Favorite artists.
My favorite artists are mostly the legends I grew up with, met and became friends with (Something I never even thought would happen) like Jim Steranko and Jose Luis Garcia Lopez. I wish I would of met John Buscema. I love and admire the works of Alex Ross, Brian Bolland and Nick Manabat. Top 5 favorite comic characters. Why? Judge Dredd, the gritty and amazing art and storylines. Batman The Dark Knight, what is else there to say ..lol 75 years strong. Spider Woman, the original version Marie Severin created, an amazing character. Cable, hard nosed mutant and awesome character with multi-levels. Deathblow by Jim Lee kinda obscure but i loved the storyline and art technique and Cybernary Nick Manabat's finest beautiful dark and gritty work and sadly his only work due to his passing Top 5 favorite comics and graphic novels? Judge Dredd meets Batman vol. 1 DC vs Marvel Crossovers graphic novel Tintin Objectif Lune Asterix Vs The Galles Milo Manara's Gullivera: Oversized Deluxe What type of work are you interested in doing? I'm pretty happy with what I'm doing now...storyboarding and comic books. How can others find your work? You can find me at: www.curvesandbullets.com www.instagram.com/rolo_world @rolo_world www.facebook.com/rololedesmanyc www.instagram.com/curvesandbullets @curvesandbullets
Where are your from? ATL born and raised. Where did you grow up? Born in East Point and later grew up in Union City, Ga How did your experiences affect your art? I grew up tagging along, or being dragged along with my pops, also an artist, to work sites to paint murals, create logo designs, T-shirts, you name it. All of that helped me understand the business side of art and my father helped push me to study anatomy and design. His love for comics and sci-fi also influenced me greatly. What type of stories do you like to make comics about? Generally, sci-fi, fantasy. I need both or one of those elements to keep my interest. Whats your process? Elaborate on how you work through your projects. How do you break up your time for your projects at different stages? With my current story, COUNTER AGENTS, it’s a bit weird. It started as just a sandbox type of project. I planned to do it just to get back into drawing and to figure out the whole system of producing a comic. So, it is in a strange order I guess. First of all, I have the general direction of the story in mind. Then, I visualize it and sketch it out. Once I get the details down, I drop lines and then I render the backgrounds. After that, I color the characters and add shadows and effects. Finally, I work out the script. Lol which is usually first. What do you recommend to aspiring artists that you wish you had known much earlier? What would you tell yourself 20 years ago? Don’t be ashamed or afraid of cheating. Especially, if you’re a one person studio. Design your backgrounds for multipurpose use. Every major studio cheats lol. Don’t kill yourselves with perfectionism. What do you love best about making comics? Creating new worlds What do you wish was different about the comics industry? I wish the US industry would let the characters grow old and die. I wish the characters didn’t have so much plot armor and were more mortal. Pass the torch. Which books do you recommend artists should have in their reference library? Favorite instructional material? Any anatomy book with people with imperfect bodies. Perspective books also. I don’t have any specific books myself as I feel u can learn from just observation. Life drawing is the best. I mean Picasso paid prostitutes. No books lol. And nothing beats learning from your peers. Top 5 favorite artists. My pops is always at the top - Alvin Stewart Yusuke Murata - illustrator of One Punch Man Taguchi Masayuki - illustrator of Black Joke I’m really digging Sanford Greene right now Also Shawna Mills But the list may change by the end of the week lol Favorite comic characters. By far, Thanos of Marvel lore. After that Majeh from the King of Hell manga series. Top 5 favorite comics & graphic novels. Right now - One Piece My Hero Academia The World War Hulk and Planet Hulk series And Fable What type of work are you interested in doing? Now? In the future? Primarily, comics. Maybe some motion comics in the future and of course a bit of animation. But really more of a director/producer role for animation lol. How can others find or purchase your work? Website, social media link, etc. My website is ndgoink.com where u will also find my webcomic COUNTER AGENTS.. @Ndgo on Instagram You can find me on FB, Twitter, Instagram, and at NDGOink if not just by my name. a snippet from my next project: ISSHO NI Voyage ATL is a publication that showcases artists and businesses in the Atlanta area. They did an interview with us where we discussed what we do and why.
Learn more of our story: http://voyageatl.com/interview/meet-ananya-vahal-carlos-loso-perez-prime-vice-studios-llc-kennesaw-ga/ ☮️ Loso
Saint Love City Funk: Boogie Down Blues is the first issue in this Prime Vice Comics series. Check out the trailer for a sneak preview.
It is now available to purchase ($2.99) on Comixology. Saint Love City Funk: Boogie Down Blues #1 Boogie Down Blues Teenage musician Santos La Cruz just got dumped by Porcelina Snow. He tries to play the blues on his guitar which falls apart on him. This takes him on a journey of unexpected encounters that change him forever. A fun filled fantasy full of music and misadventures.
Something about Santos La Cruz makes the crowd go wild. Check out why in this comic short.
|
Archives
November 2023
Categories
All
|