Draw for me!

The first page

Following the premature arrival of our child, I’m looking for some guest artists to take over illustration for the rest of Mischa’s Story. Here’s the deal: I’d like for you to draw one page (4 strips, or around 8 to 12 panels); when the story is completed it will be assembled into a print volume, and I’ll send everyone who contributed a copy. Plus, you’ll earn my undying gratitude.

If you’re interested in taking part, send an email to pyrrho12@yahoo.ca including your name, a link to some art samples or a webcomic that you currently do, and an estimate for how quickly you think you’ll be able to get a page done. I’ll assign you a page and provide links to the script, character sketches, and background material.

The Script

The plot outline for Mischa’s Story is complete. Some parts of the story are tightly scripted, with panel directions and full dialog. Other parts are loosely scripted, with just general descriptions of the action and things to be said. Depending on your personal taste, you may prefer to draw a page that has been completely set out or you may want the freedom to interpret the action as you see fit.

In the case of a scene with no dialog written yet, there are two possibilities- what I’d do is lay out the page first, and then write the dialog second. “Voles of the Dusk” was created using this Marvel-type method. You can do the scene without dialog and I’ll add the dialog myself on this end. Alternatively, you can write the dialog yourself. I’m very open to editing this work and I want each artist who joins in the collaboration to leave their personal mark on their pages.

This story is meant to be fun. It’s a space opera adventure with pirates, giant robots, ray guns and pop stars. The narrative style is influenced by Hegre’s ligne claire technique, even though the art is not. I’ve been trying to avoid the tropes of anime and manga- not that there’s anything wrong with anime and manga, it’s just that I’m doing something different. I’ve tried to keep the narrative as tight as possible.

Most of the main characters in this story are women. My reasons for doing so are given on this page; basically, I don’t like the way female characters are often used in comics, so I’m seeing if I can do better.

Technical Notes

In order for the print version to work, each page should be done in either black and white or greyscale. They should measure 6.75″ x 10″ at 300dpi; that’s 2025×3000 pixels for those of you who don’t like real-world measurements. The action on each page is divided into four strips. I actually don’t care whether or not they are really strips so long as the page can be sliced into pieces and used for four updates. I have a Gimp template that you can have if you plan to do the art digitally.

The font used for most things is Mighty Zeo 2.0 by Blambot. The font used for information boxes is Bitstream Vera Sans Bold, which is the same font used in the GearHead game.

I think that’s about it. If you have any questions, feel free to ask.

Page Assignments