Wuthering Heights Preview

Some Heathcliff, with the cast for height comparison.

























Edgar and Isabella Linton. In the moment of drawing, Edgar looks more like a guy I work with, and Isabella looks more like a Barbie doll. Oh well.

























I didn't get much opp to draw Hindly and Hareton, but they look pretty similar to this in the final pages.


Ok, this was a tough assignment...14 page excerpt, preferably a self-contained portion. Thinking...thinking...whirr...whirr... I ended up doing a 2 page spread summarizing chapters 1-9 and then focused the next 11 pages on chapters 10-17, then added the ghost bit for the 14th page.

I started off from notes, then a tiny hand-written script, then 5"x8" thumbnails (pages 1-2 to the left), then 11"x17" pages.

Was a fierce debate whether to add some color, gray shadows, or keep it stark B&W. Excellent arguments were made all around. I added gray shadows but left it to the publisher to decide whether to go with them or the B&W.

I can't wait to see it in print! Though June 2012 is a long way off.

Special Announcement: WUTHERING HEIGHTS

I am now ready—and quite pleased—to announce that I will have a graphic excerpt of Emily Brontë's WUTHERING HEIGHTS in Seven Stories Press' anthology THE GRAPHIC CANON.

Fish-philes will remember I pitched this to Marvel—without success—for their classics line. Though disappointed, that pitch lead to both the Iron Man and Northstar stories published in 2010 (for those who don't remember, read the post by clicking the tag).

Enter Seven Stories, Googling around for the novel, and saw my post announcing my disappointment. One thing leads to another, and I have signed a contract to produce a short excerpt of the story in graphic novel form.

Yay!

And that's an understatement. It's one of my favorite books. I can't wait to get going on it.

Now that my kitchen project is completed (Phase I, anyhow), I can get myself into the proper headspace to work on it. First, I will finish up another Arché-Lady shortie to get back "in shape" drawing. It's been a few weeks putting inks on the page, and I am rusty. No wonder why some artists who don't draw for months or years at a time get frustrated!

Anyhow, yay!

Strike one!

My office softball league (which I am not part of) has an unlimited at-bat. So you see some awful players swinging for upwards of 20 minutes. It's painful for all.

To continue the baseball metaphor in pitching projects to publishers, I've always felt comfortable with three strikes, and then I'm out til my next at bat. That way I don't inflect pain on the few professional contacts I have, as well as myself.

After Comic Con, I was inspired to think about pitches again, and was happy to find some editors who allowed me a turn at bat. Strike one (discussed here)! Strike two (will not be discussed)! Am still at bat on a third idea, swinging, fouling, etc.

Proposal one was to create a true-to-novel adaptation of one of my favorite novels, Wuthering Heights. The initial reaction was positive, but ultimately was a no-go.

I was REALLY bummed. It would have been so much fun for me to draw the cruel romance, cute guys in period clothing, and ghosts! Oh well.

But here's a page of sketching I had done in my excitement while waiting to go to failure. Stables-boy Heathcliff is so dark, mean, and hot. I should think about self publishing an adaptation.