The project
For my project I wanted to write and start drawing a comic about the adventures of an outlaw and his interactions with the corrupt law and other criminals.
English
docs.google.com/document/d/1ULcaVTwPOQOQKNOu8xgYdzSTtMFXih22ElOybSBwnUI/edit?usp=sharingFor english I studied a lot of western dialogue as well as storytelling. I found a website which had a large list of western slangs and phrases which I used to make my dialogue seem more natural. I was inspired by graphic novels like the watchmen which told a dark gritty story and made heavy statements about society. I also looked at the comedic and exaggerated Team Fortress 2 comics which told a semi serious story in a very comic manor.
I planned to create one issue of a comic series which told the story of one of the many adventures that my main character "Richard Ramirez" would go on. I divided the story into two parts, the first of which would consist of mostly dialogue where Richard would find out information about a train with government money on it being moved across the country. The second part is a action sequence where Richard sneaks aboard the train presumably full of mercenaries, and then discovers that the mercenaries were using a passenger train as a hostage to steal the money for themselves. The plan is soon put to an end by Ramirez who makes his way to the front of the train and fights off the mercenary who killed the driver and then stops the train before it crashes into another at the next town. Soon the sheriff of the town and his deputies come to investigate while Richard who snuck around into the town has failed the robbery of a lifetime but saved innocent lives in the process.
Comic Script:
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1ULcaVTwPOQOQKNOu8xgYdzSTtMFXih22ElOybSBwnUI/edit?usp=sharing
I planned to create one issue of a comic series which told the story of one of the many adventures that my main character "Richard Ramirez" would go on. I divided the story into two parts, the first of which would consist of mostly dialogue where Richard would find out information about a train with government money on it being moved across the country. The second part is a action sequence where Richard sneaks aboard the train presumably full of mercenaries, and then discovers that the mercenaries were using a passenger train as a hostage to steal the money for themselves. The plan is soon put to an end by Ramirez who makes his way to the front of the train and fights off the mercenary who killed the driver and then stops the train before it crashes into another at the next town. Soon the sheriff of the town and his deputies come to investigate while Richard who snuck around into the town has failed the robbery of a lifetime but saved innocent lives in the process.
Comic Script:
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1ULcaVTwPOQOQKNOu8xgYdzSTtMFXih22ElOybSBwnUI/edit?usp=sharing
Art
For my art project I drew the first scene setting page of the comic, as well as a digital portrait of my main character. I wanted to created some sort of contrast between the characters and the background so I decided to have my background look painted and line-less while my characters were simpler and had black outlines around them. For my characters design I was inspired by the Team Fortress 2 comics art style which had long faces and somewhat exaggerated expressions.
This is a portrait of my main character, Richard Ramirez. I needed to design the look to reflect his gloomy but expressive character and decided on this. I chose to give him large eyebrows and deep eye socks to convey emotion as well as give him the depressed look that I wanted.
This is the opening scene setting page for my comic, which starts at a small road-stop along an unknown trail. To contrast the simpler cartoony style of my character, I wanted to stylize my background to have a more detailed painted look.
Contextualization
For english I had the idea to create a mercenary group, hired by the government, that is corrupt and represents both corrupt police and governments today. I took the concept of the corrupt law and moved it to another time period to tell a story I wished to tell. For my art I decided to contrast my background and my characters to take both out of the universe they belong to and combine them together to create a comic that would highlight the characters with brighter colors and simpler styles while the painted and more complex background would set a mood for the scenes.
Annotated bibliography
Atwater, G. M. “WESTERN SLANG & PHRASES.” OLD WEST Writer's Guide - Slang, Phrases and More, 2008, freepages.rootsweb.com/~poindexterfamily/genealogy/OldWestSlang.html.
This source contains a collection of A-Z western words and phrases that would've been used around 1880s. I used this source to help write dialogue and set the scene of a western time period.
Coffey, James R. “The Most Deadly Gunslingers of the Old West.” Think Research Expose, thedailyjournalist.com/the-historian/the-most- deadly-gunslingers-of-the-old-west/.
This source lists a few of the most famous and deadly gunslingers in the west. It tells both their stories and whether they were criminal or lawman. I used this source to help find backstories and inspiration for the main character of my story
“Facial Proportions And Sculpting A Face.” Beginner's School, www.beginnersschool.com/2015/08/21/facial-proportions-and-sculpting-a-face/.
Lykes, Cathryn. “Gesture Drawing: Instant Totality of Expression.” Nitram Charcoal, 16 Mar. 2015, nitramcharcoal.com/gesture-drawing-instant-totality-expression/.
This source explains the importance of gesture drawing and its ability to capture life and movement, as well as its ability to portray form in a minimalistic style with no definition.
Moore, Alan, and Dave Gibbons. Watchmen. New York: Warner Books, 1987. Print.
Watchmen is a story about several different retired superheroes and the build up of the cold war. Its gritty storytelling and phenomenal characters come together to create one of the best works of literature ever. The novel was one of my main inspirations because of its refusal to stray away from heavy topics.
Project, Borgen. “Top 10 Most Important Current Global Issues.” The Borgen Project, Borgen Project Https://Borgenproject.org/Wp-Content/Uploads/The_Borgen_Project_Logo_small.Jpg, 23 Apr. 2019, borgenproject.org/top-10-current-global-issues/.
This article lists 10 important global issues such as pollution, hunger, and the topic that I chose to focus on, government/police corruption.
Quintero, Reinaldo. “Head Shapes by *Reiq: Body Art Study #2 in 2019: Character Design Tutorial, Character Design Animation, Character Design References.” Pinterest, 31 May 2019, www.pinterest.com/pin/301600506278454301/.
Team Fortress 2: Comics, www.teamfortress.com/comics.php.
“USA Desert Arizona Sand Crag Nature PhotoCliff, Rock Wallpaper Image Download on the Desktop PC, Tablet.” Image USA Arizona Cliff Nature Desert Sand, www.1zoom.me/en/wallpaper/508125/z15450.5/.
“Watchmen Character Analysis.” Peace, Love, and Comics, 15 Mar. 2017, peaceloveandcomics.com/2017/03/15/watchmen-character-analysis/.
This source contains a collection of A-Z western words and phrases that would've been used around 1880s. I used this source to help write dialogue and set the scene of a western time period.
Coffey, James R. “The Most Deadly Gunslingers of the Old West.” Think Research Expose, thedailyjournalist.com/the-historian/the-most- deadly-gunslingers-of-the-old-west/.
This source lists a few of the most famous and deadly gunslingers in the west. It tells both their stories and whether they were criminal or lawman. I used this source to help find backstories and inspiration for the main character of my story
“Facial Proportions And Sculpting A Face.” Beginner's School, www.beginnersschool.com/2015/08/21/facial-proportions-and-sculpting-a-face/.
Lykes, Cathryn. “Gesture Drawing: Instant Totality of Expression.” Nitram Charcoal, 16 Mar. 2015, nitramcharcoal.com/gesture-drawing-instant-totality-expression/.
This source explains the importance of gesture drawing and its ability to capture life and movement, as well as its ability to portray form in a minimalistic style with no definition.
Moore, Alan, and Dave Gibbons. Watchmen. New York: Warner Books, 1987. Print.
Watchmen is a story about several different retired superheroes and the build up of the cold war. Its gritty storytelling and phenomenal characters come together to create one of the best works of literature ever. The novel was one of my main inspirations because of its refusal to stray away from heavy topics.
Project, Borgen. “Top 10 Most Important Current Global Issues.” The Borgen Project, Borgen Project Https://Borgenproject.org/Wp-Content/Uploads/The_Borgen_Project_Logo_small.Jpg, 23 Apr. 2019, borgenproject.org/top-10-current-global-issues/.
This article lists 10 important global issues such as pollution, hunger, and the topic that I chose to focus on, government/police corruption.
Quintero, Reinaldo. “Head Shapes by *Reiq: Body Art Study #2 in 2019: Character Design Tutorial, Character Design Animation, Character Design References.” Pinterest, 31 May 2019, www.pinterest.com/pin/301600506278454301/.
Team Fortress 2: Comics, www.teamfortress.com/comics.php.
“USA Desert Arizona Sand Crag Nature PhotoCliff, Rock Wallpaper Image Download on the Desktop PC, Tablet.” Image USA Arizona Cliff Nature Desert Sand, www.1zoom.me/en/wallpaper/508125/z15450.5/.
“Watchmen Character Analysis.” Peace, Love, and Comics, 15 Mar. 2017, peaceloveandcomics.com/2017/03/15/watchmen-character-analysis/.