Posted by Paula Richey on August 16, 2012 at 3:39am
Hi, I'm Paula :)After spending most of my life flipping between writing and art - getting a B. A. in English, shoehorning in art classes, publishing a few articles and stories, entering a few art fairs, somehow turning into the go-to person for resume updates, and selling a few Tshirts and other fun stuff with my designs via Zazzle.com - I am now quite settled on being both.Comics are a terrific media for that ;) I've always wished I could be a fan of comics and read and collect them the way I do books, but when I was young, my mom didn't approve and my older brother said comics were his domain. So instead, I stuck to the Sunday paper strips, the yardsale bargain books, the Saturday morning cartoons. Gradually my interests grew from mysteries and fantasy novels to encompass science fiction, classics, fairy tales, myths and legends, until I discovered that what really hooked me into a story was the archetype. Most cultures have a Cinderella fairy tale, a legend of dragon-like creatures, a Great Flood. I felt as though there was a common thread that bound all humanity together, as if there were things that are undeniably true and real, even if millennia had worn them down to threads of their former selves. Retellings were now fascinating - putting flesh back on the bones of these old tales and making them live and breathe and walk again.As an adult, I could appreciate that comics were full of these archetypes - heroes, monsters, epic battles and all, but I couldn't really seem to get into them. I'd gotten spoiled by standalone stories and completed series in books - there didn't seem to be a place to pick up comics and have a beginning, which is my favorite part. Beginnings in stories are like the gooey middle of a cinnamon roll. If it's missing, no matter how good the rest of it is, it just won't satisfy. That's why I buy a cinnamon roll... mmmm.... I mean, story.The lack of beginnings, the soap-operatic storylines, and the more egregious tropes such as "Reed Richards is Useless" (note: the TV Tropes website is addictive, read at your own risk!) had my enthusiasm for comics flagging before I even found out about reboots (let's take the beginnings and make them not matter!) and "Girlfriend in the Refrigerator" and the, er, anatomical issues of female superheroes. I love the characters, the idea of them and what drives them, but the execution is really hard to get into, especially as a woman, especially as a mom, especially as a writer.So I hang out on the fringes, and if I hear of a short-run, fully-contained storyline, I check it out.Fairly recently, my frustration with comics, my love of writing, and my love of art seem to have intersected powerfully with my growth in my faith. After growing up a casual Christian, having my life go well until somehow I found myself on the brink of divorce, and coming together at last with my husband to put our marriage in God's hands before it could get worse, we have both become more serious and more sincere than ever about our commitment to Christ. Because of that, I am more secure, and my creativity is higher than ever. (Who knew? Somehow I had the idea that committing to Christ would make my life more boring and sterile. The opposite happened. I know, Jesus said "abundant life," but I didn't believe it.)I have found myself noticing little things that are wrong in the portrayal of Christians and Christ, both in the mainstream culture and in the church culture. Tiny things, really, but that taken together, lead to widespread misconceptions such as mine about a boring, sterile, uncreative Christian walk. I didn't know any better before, but now that I do, I want to create something that combats these ideas and sets the record a bit straighter.So I've been daydreaming a lot, working out a storyline, fleshing out characters, and suddenly I have a comic coming together. I won't say much about it at this stage, because it's still mostly in my head. If I explain it all here I'll never finish drawing it. Right now I'm doing rough sketches of Volume 1 and putting them in a binder, just to get a feel for the layout and work out any story problems and flow issues. Next, I'll finalize my character designs - I have roughs, I even have models - a nephew and my son's friend's big sister have graciously agreed to let me use pics - and then I'll do final penciling and ink. I'm not great with color, but I'll worry about that when I get there.
I appreciate your insight into the world of comics and I look forward to a project by you. I too dislike the way Christianity is portrayed in the media. I just watched a new program the other day and the evil character started quoting scripture and telling another killer how he was going to heaven for his deeds. I know not all Christians are perfect but they are never portrayed is any positive light in media.
my project is self contained! hurray! i've been in concept art stages for years! hoo... er... well anyway, eventually i'll have a non-hokey self contained story for you to enjoy, (i hope) in which the only reason the women won't be normally covered up is because it's hot where they live. conversely to most comics however, they'll be wearing the majority of the clothing, men get loincloths.
..and again in contrast to most comics, those women are in costumes designed to be aesthetically pleasing, not arousing.
I always love stories of Christ rebuilding marriages and saving lives, and making inviduals to be more delightfully individualistic as they commit to him.
Welcome to CCAS, Paula! look foward to seeing your work.
So long as the anatomy and the posing is realistic, and there's a good solid story behind them, it shouldn't matter how many clothes they're wearing! :) I'm personally leaning toward "costuming" like jeans, hoodies, combat boots, or body armor, flak jackets, military-inspired protective gear, that sort of thing :)
I would much rather have a covered-up, practical in-the-trenches-gear-wearing hero than a lingerie-clad double-jointed doll with a broken back and basketballs stuffed into her bra.
Looks like you are off to a great start! And welcome to CCAS :D
And I share your disgust with the figures in comics. (ironic thing is my mom is advocate of those portrayals. She always telling me my women wear too many clothes.)
Comments
Paula,
I appreciate your insight into the world of comics and I look forward to a project by you. I too dislike the way Christianity is portrayed in the media. I just watched a new program the other day and the evil character started quoting scripture and telling another killer how he was going to heaven for his deeds. I know not all Christians are perfect but they are never portrayed is any positive light in media.
my project is self contained! hurray! i've been in concept art stages for years! hoo... er... well anyway, eventually i'll have a non-hokey self contained story for you to enjoy, (i hope) in which the only reason the women won't be normally covered up is because it's hot where they live. conversely to most comics however, they'll be wearing the majority of the clothing, men get loincloths.
..and again in contrast to most comics, those women are in costumes designed to be aesthetically pleasing, not arousing.
(go marriage!)
I always love stories of Christ rebuilding marriages and saving lives, and making inviduals to be more delightfully individualistic as they commit to him.
Welcome to CCAS, Paula! look foward to seeing your work.
I would much rather have a covered-up, practical in-the-trenches-gear-wearing hero than a lingerie-clad double-jointed doll with a broken back and basketballs stuffed into her bra.
Looks like you are off to a great start! And welcome to CCAS :D
And I share your disgust with the figures in comics. (ironic thing is my mom is advocate of those portrayals. She always telling me my women wear too many clothes.)