Réveillon

Yesterday's work felt good, and it felt right, and soon enough it was over. Plans for different kinds of celebration were held, and the day went as any other. However, I like to believe yesterday was a special day.

It feels like the year ended, and in some ways it has, a little late, like everything here in Brazil that waits Carnaval is over for the year to really start. I feel like Carnaval is finally over. I lighted a candle during dinner as we should do in the last day of the year, and I wished for the best. I spent a year working in Casanova, helping create and shape a world, and now this year is coming to an end. A new year approaches and a very different journey is about to begin.

Happy new year.

Beautiful day

"Today is a beautiful day to finish a story", I thought as I walked to the bakery in the morning to buy some bread. Yesterday, as I went to bed, I knew today I would have only one page left to finish my last issue of Casanova, and so today was to be a special day.

Today is suit day.

The sun, the birds singing and the breeze coming from the open window of the studio only make this day a more pleasant, more peaceful and more special one.

As I turn this page, one story ends. It's time to start another.

Doesn't say much, I know. But...

That's all I can say... for now.

Another day, another page

Casanova 13 is out in the open, and I'm basically all that stands between the reader and Casanova 14, since I'm still drawing our double-sized last issue. When all is said and done, I hope people forget the issues that came out late and focus on the quality of the work, which should be the only concern.

I wonder if peole will notice the change of styles midway through the last issue, but I rather think the story will keep the reader busy enough that nobody will even pay attention to the art.

I'm on page 22, by the way, so it shouldn't be long now.

Panel 2, page 19

Panel 2

On Ruby B. and Seychelle. Ruby gesticulates, concerned. Seychelle checks the data on a floating computer.

Ruby B: Are you sure it's him? Have we found him?

Seychelle: Just give me one moment.


. . .

New style

For the past four months, I can't find the brush I use to buy anywhere in the city. It's sold out. I've been treating my brush real nice and it's lasting a lot of time, but there's just so much I can take. The time has come for DESPERATE measures!

I'm changing my style, and from now on I'll only draw like this:

Inking with a brush

Bá caught me inking one of the most recent pages in video. We were talking to a young brazilian cartoonist who was here at the studio, and he's the one dong most of the talking at the beginning of the video, then there's the silence I fall into every time I ink, and then there are the small talk Bá and I exchange when we're drawing, which can be very confusing to the outsiders in its half finished sentences and inside references.

But the inking is nice, I guess, and maybe we could do these video things more often. Maybe when I'm not drawing the last issue with a lot of surprises, we could show me inking a more interesting portion of a page.

Page 16 today.

Matt has some preview art of Casanova 14 on his Flickr. Check it out if your into the whole teaser thing.


I just finished a page. If issue 14 of Casanova was a regular issue, with 16 pages, I would have finished it today. It's not, so I barely passed halfway point. Bá is loving the pages, so I guess this is a good sign. Matt seems to like it too, but he says little praise. He saves the praise for little Henry, who I'm yet to meet. I wonder if he will visit San Diego for the first time in July, or if Kelly Sue will skip this year, or if Matt will stay at home during the summer.

Today was a beautiful day, and I spent most of it working in the shade, in the studio. I also got my Sugarshock/MySpace poster framed after all these months, and I already hung it on my wall.

Putting art in general on the wall makes you want to do more art.

And so I did.

Drinking it strong.

I'm currently listening to a 14 track album while I draw the 14th Casanova issue. I'm making an effort to keep listening to this album repeatedly as long as this issue lasts, it only seems fitting that I do that since Matt sent me this album, which is actually a "mix-tape".

I refill my coffee mug and notice that there's actually an extra song in the mix. I'd call it a bonus track since I grew so found of the "14 issues and 14 songs" connection.

The bonus track is called "Casanova".

I drink my coffee, which is very good.

Improving

A doctor has to always be studying, updating his technique, his knowledge. He's gotta be at the top of is game. On that same basis, an artist has to look to other techniques that might enrich hi work somehow.

I'm taking watercolor classes. Not that I see myself making painted albums like the Europeans do (those crazy bastards), nor even do I want to change my "I LOVE BLACK AND WHITE" style. I just always loved watercolors and I think it's the technique I'd like to use if I were to do something hand painted.

After lots of exercises and getting to know the colors a little bit, I decided to dare making a real drawing.



I didn't really like the results, but it showed me all the things I still get to improve and that it's not as simple as it looks. But I'm not in a hurry. One thing I learned already, watercolor is for those who can wait till it's time to do it right.

Yes, she does.

Becky went on a trip for two weeks. Not, however, without spilling something about the future. If you wonder what the future holds, Becky knows.

Figure drawing - Ugo

I love figure drawing. Keeps me relaxed and widen my horizons creatively. There's something into drawing one minute poses that I don't get drawing comics.

I did this last night. The guy was an actor and a puppeteer, a mimic, and even holding still, it felt like he was moving.

In two weeks, there will be a pregnant women posing. That should be interesting.

Music and Comics.

Gerard came to Brazil with My Chemical Romance as part of their tour. When he was in town, we hung out a whole day talking about music, comics and what the future awaits for us. And that's a bright future, I might say.

Our encounter did wonders for both of us and we learned a lot with one another. He took me to one of his shows and it was really thrilling when he dedicated Teenagers to me in front of five thousand people. They have all treated me really nice and I had to do something in return. And I did what I know best.

Talking about style back in the day.

I've done these series of drawings to use on a class about inking and style. They were all done based on a photograph, so none of them show what my style really is, but they show 4 different ways to draw the same scene.



Your style is the way you chose to show things or to say things. It's all you've chosen to put in and all you left out.



If you're looking at a photograph, you see all that's there to see, all that was captured by the lenses and when you want to draw that, you have to chose what is important for the drawing and what is useless information. All those things you find important, all the details that make it into the picture, they are defined by your style.



When you're not looking at a picture to draw something, you'll have to make all the decisions of what goes in and what stays out in your mind. For something like that to really work, you must know very well the subject you're gonna draw. And that's when live drawing comes very handy. The more live drawing sketches you make, the more studies you do, more "visual vocabulary" you get to enable you to draw anything you want in your own style.



There's no right or wrong, better or worse. I can't say a clean sharp style like Mignola's is better than a very scratchy dirty "detailed" art like McFarlane's, a cartoony style like Jeff Smith's or the very photo-realistic cinematic style of Bryan Hitch. You all know I'm teasing you and all I could say would be a matter of personal taste, but what really matters in the end is that all the choices you make work in favor of the story. Your art should help you tell the story and not distract the eyes of the reader.

There are endless bits of information in every single panel you make and it's up to you to chose what will help you tell your story and what's useless lines in a piece of paper.

Wonder Twins, ACTIVATE!

Our story at the February edition of the My Space Dark Horse Presents anthology was conceived as an outlet to discover the fun behind the process of making comics.

As we were starting out and were trying to find some job at the american market, we have tried to get something going with Marvel and DC just like many other artists. We grew up reading super heroes and we thought the natural step as we became artists would be to draw them. In order to do that, we made what people call "submission pages", those sequences without a script or a story in which the artist would show what he can do with the characters he wants to draw. We made Batman pages, X-Men pages, Green Arrow pages, Authority pages, Planetary pages and so on. As much as we enjoyed those characters, the "working without a story" bit didn't quite work for us. We didn't feel like we were telling any story and the artwork was very uninspired because of that. We were discovering at the same time that we worked best with our own stories mostly because the story was the starting point, and not the art or the attempt at a job. If we wanted to do our best work, we needed to tell a story through pictures, and not just draw pretty pictures. That's where the idea behind Wonder Twins came from, and once we came up with a story interesting enough for us to tell using the super hero genre, it was easy. Bá sat and drew the story really fast, and we loved every page, and the story expanded from the original idea because we were having fun and we really believed that story also told the reader about the authors and not just about the characters, which I believe is what we get to know as the author's style. If we were to draw a story, we needed to make it our own, and have it be seen through our eyes, and through our style. Once we did this with this story, it was easy, and it was great.

And then Scott told us we needed an extra page.

He speaks!

As most of you may already have noticed, Fábio does most of the talking – writing – around here. Not that he's the bright one or he's the one who knows how to speak in english, but the fact is that he's been trying harder to enchant the american public with our ideas than I have.

I think I've been too busy drawing comics – monthly comics for that matter – that I didn't feel the need to write so often. Also, for being so busy drawing, I didn't have lots to say other than what I was putting on paper, which was, on most cases, a secret until it went to press. So as much as I wanted to talk about what I was working on, I felt I could not.

But now that last year is gone and most of The Umbrella Academy has been published already, I can talk a little about some of my ideas and my worries and what I care about when it comes to comicbooks.

I think it's fair to start with Umbrella, since it has called so much attention and it took so much of my time last year (and, yes, it will take some of my time this year also). I gave up super-hero comics for a while now because I thought it was all too worn off and it was just a part of the big machine of selling comics, toys, T-shirts and making movies and it was not about the stories anymore. So from the first script of Umbrella when the kids are fighting the Eiffel Tower and "flying towards camera" and stuff like that, I had cold feet and feared to have had made the wrong choice about taking on The Umbrella Academy. When I got to issue #3 I was very worried, because it's almost all action. The parts I enjoyed the most were when Vanya appeared, because they were the pages with more emotion and depth.




But you know what? Since I was one of the skeptics of this series (maybe the most skeptical of all), I'm now also one of its biggest admirers, because I have to give it to Gerard that he told a great story, created some instant-liking characters and gave this worn-off genre a very fresh tale.

I'm kinda sad to confess this, but i've made the best pages of my life for The Umbrella Academy. It's just sad because I'm a storyteller and I like – and I WANT – to tell stories of my own and I wish I was drawing my own stories right now, or at least more of that and not only stories someone else has written, even if it's a good story. The fact that I liked the Umbrella story helped me a big deal when coming up with the pages, because as the story was taking shape in front of me, first on the layouts and then on the actual pages, I instantly knew I was doing something good, worth reading, something that was not like all other super-hero comics on the stands. And that's the main reason I want to work on new comics, just to make something different from everything else.



But you know, we have lots of new stuff cooking and in 2008 I'll be able to fulfill my need to tell stories, as well as drawing and working with other authors. Too bad we can't talk about any of these things right now. But that's the fun of it, right?



Changing the subject a little, or entirely, I'd like to say why I don't really write as much here as, let's say, on our blog in portuguese we keep for our readers in Brazil. Yes, as you may know, we are from Brazil and we've been making comics in Brazil a little longer than in the U.S. We have almost 10 books published and lots of independent work, some awards and some recognition, but the market in Brazil is much different from the american one, much smaller, so I feel the need to speak to the audience at large and tell them why comics are so great, why we must be taken seriously and what is possible with comicbooks. It's a never ending struggle to pass it along to the newcomers, readers and the majority who doesn't even read comics thinking it's silly things just for kids.



Four years ago, we have created this blog (in english) in order to do the same thing with our american readers (or anyone in the world who could read in english actually), because no one knew us then. But we have been working so much, specially on monthly series, that this audience can see our work on a regular basis and get acquaintanced with it a lot easier than our brazilian audience, who gets a new book year year or so. Books that are kinda hard to find, also, as in the U.S. the public already know where to get his favorite comic every month.

So I really whish i could have a mix of the two markets, produce as much as I do for the U.S., with big print runs, and still be able to write in portuguese, the most beautiful language in the world. Well, that's what I have to aim for and keep reaching, right?

All my friends say I work too much, I don't have time to go out. They ask me if I wanna change the world. Well, I do. And I believe it can be done with comicbooks and that's what I'm gonna keep doing: telling stories that can change the world of someone who's lucky enough to read it.

The end of the world as we know it?

Travels and work.

We have been traveling, doing some research. We're also drawing and writing a lot. There are lots of possibilities for our next projects, and research is necessary for most of them. Some research can be done without leaving your chair, as all of us start writing from our own experiences, from what we know. Later, we might include opinions from people we know that might be similar to ours, or the complete opposite, or that should fall somewhere inbetween. Then, we might want to tell a story that needs more than just the familiar, the near by information, the visible at eye sight. That's when we need to go outside ourselves and discover more, learn more so we can tell more than we already told.



I'm still drawing Casanova, and I expect to keep working on it at leat until the end of March, so that should keep me busy for these two months, and somewhat away from the internet. I'll try to post more sketches, as I see Becky doing on her blog, and as we have done much more here in ours. We're doing more sketches now, as is customary when you're trying to come up with new stories, and we should have a lot to show because of that.

On my next post, I'll tell the story behind the story we did for the MySpace DHP February issue, online now.

Luxuria

If you were waiting for the soft cover trade, the wait is over.

Pencil.

Sometimes, my pencils are very loose. Most of the time, actually. I don't think I could work as the "only penciller" kind of artist, as I leave a lot of the art for the inking part.

Together, we're great.

According to this site, we're pretty great, and people should go after the stuff we have done.

Well, they should. Agreed.

Now, because we're in the comic business, some images will follow.



It's hard to jump from one project to the next, and loose drawings like this one will serve the purpose of just drawing for the fun of it, no expectations, no goals. Reclaim the artist you are, that artist who gives himself to the projects he works on, and after you're once more your own, go jump again on another project and tell more stories.



I love coffee, and so does Bá. For us, it's a big thinking and talking fuel, and we just can't do without. Maybe we could, but we sure don't want to.



Today, Dave sent the colored pages from the Umbrella Academy final issue. They look beautiful. His work over Bá's art made us reevaluate our entire work and how we approach it in terms of color. Before, we only wanted to color our pages ourselves. Now, even the stuff we do color will be, in our minds, compared to what Dave did, in that strange inner voice that keeps asking you "What would Dave do?" when you're thinking on ways to color a certain page or drawing.



I received a new script from Matt this week, and it's just the best script I ever read. It's, by far, the best script he's ever written. Now it's up to me to be the best pages I've ever done.

Under a tree.

Sitting under two trees that cast a welcome shadow in a sunny day, I remember that much more than a job, to draw is a pleasure, and a very personal one, one you share only with the paper, with the brush, a movement that takes you anywhere without you ever leaving.

January started as an eclipse, when the sun and the moon meet only to part again from each other. Bá was here yesterday on his last day before he took off to a desert beach, and I returned from a beach to now resume working. We sat together, we ate and we talked, making plans a month ahead. January is solely on each one's shoulder, and we only talk about what we'll do when we're together again. We have a lot of plans, we want to tell a lot of stories. This year can be better than the last, which was already very good, and we have to make it a better year if we want it to happen. We are in the making business, nothing suddenly appears, except for birds and bees, and nothing gets done by itself, except maybe the duration of a day (and not even that, to some, as we can have days to end days, and days to end weeks).

Let's make comics, even if under the shadow of a tree.

LAST DAY OF THE YEAR AT THE UMBRELLA ACADEMY

It's been a hell of a year.
I've never made so many comics in my life. I'm actually exhausted and I really need some rest. But it was totally worth it.
Worked on Christmas and I'm gonna work tomorrow and the day after, but it's all worth it.

Comics are great.

I believe we've done something special with The Umbrella Academy. I feel really proud of it. And that kept me working all these times.

Last night I was finishing it, alone in the studio, late at night, and I felt like registering it. Fábio wears suits on his last days on each project. Well, I'm not the fancy one.



It's no great movie, but it's just to say that I've done it. I went all the way, and I'd do it again anytime. So let's do it again next year.

Oh yeah, I couldn't help putting the song as the soundtrack. It's actually one I like.

Happy New Year to all of you.

new journeys.

My bags are packed and I'm ready to go.
The new year awaits.



For good things to happen, we have to make it happen. Here's wishing next year brings a lot of good things for us, and for everybody. When midnight comes, on the 31st, I'll be watching fireworks with my feet buried in the sand of a beautiful beach, the sea gently breaking against my ankles, and I'll throw flowers and say thank you, and I'll make wishes and enjoy another good year.

Hopefully, I won't be alone, and we will all have new stories to tell.

Online interview about Umbrella Academy

A Couple of months ago I gave this interview to Fanboy Confidencial about Umbrella Academy and comics in general and it's finally online.

It's a good way to close this year with something that has been so much talked about.
Click here to listen to it.
Enjoy.

lost Picasso.

In the middle of the night, today, two paintings were stolen from one of the most important museums in São Paulo. One of the pieces was a Picasso.

Gone.

Now, everything changes.

Before the year ends, the apocalypse begins.

Or so it goes on the new issue of the Umbrella Academy. As I write this, Bá is working on the the final issue, on it's final pages. Issue six promises to be one of the best from the series, and the artwork is just mind blowing. Wait for it and you'll see.

While you wait, issue four is out, on comicbook stores everywhere. Go get your copy and let us know what you think.

More umbrella next week.

Roaring city.

David Lloyd is in São Paulo this week for the release of his new book about the city. As part of a series, each book by a different artist and portraying a different brazilian city, his was one of the most difficult for the publisher to put together, since São Paulo is such a huge city and demanded a lot more time and research than the other cities.

Four years ago, when the publisher started talking about the book with the mayor's office (in order to get financial and logistic aid), Will Eisner was in talks to do the book. He liked São Paulo quite a lot, and had visited many times

As I flip through David's book, I wonder what kind of book Will would have made. I close my eyes and I almost can see it. While David Lloyd began with the airplane he arrived, I think will would have begun with the rain that fell all that month during the research period, and the people that had to go to work anyway, running on the wet river-like sidewalks, or waiting for the bus at the crowded bus stop. São Paulo doesn't steam like Eisner's New York, and it isn't foggy like Lloyd's London (it's really Brighton, but London is cooler). It is just her own monster, roaring to her visitors, inviting them all to see the wonders, and dare them to survive.

Washington Post.

This past Sunday edition of the Washington Post published their A List for Titles that earned the top grades from their reviewers, which, in their comics section, included Luxuria: Casanova, Vol 1, by Matt Fraction and Gabriel Bá.

Works at the end of the year tend to pile up around here, and December is usually one of our most busy months of the year. It's nice to see little things like this while you're working. Makes it feel that, while we're very isolated when working, the work we do in getting seen, and read, and remembered.

Back to work.

But also, before I go, here and here you'll find reviews of the most recent Casanova issue.

Now back to work.

Casanova 11 in the stands today.

I just received my copies. Just read it in my hands. I'm so used to the strong blue by now that I think it will be impossible to go back to a lighter color on the next albums.

Anyway, this is probably my favorite issue, artwise. From my issues, of course, 'cause Bá rocks in another dimention entirely.

I even liked my bit on the backmatter. I think I'm getting good at this "where does my ideas come from" thing.

Black tie.

I mentioned in the backmatter of Casanova 10 how it felt right that I was doing the secret cinema people at the same time Bá was also drawing another group of well dressed black tie individuals, right?

I guess it's pretty obvious now what I was talking about.



Now, the storylines from Umbrella and Casanova are moving very far apart, and we're drawing completely different things.

Bá, his cars and his cities 1.

the Casanova 14 cover.

This will be my final issue drawing Casanova. Acconding to the cover, all characters will move to Cuba, join the revolution and shoot crows.

Or become crows.

And their passports will have Casanova Quinn stamped on them on the way in.

Quiet, little girl.

How much color!

Until last year, 90% of our work was in black and white, which we love, but now we're producing more and more in color. If mayve Dave Stewart wasn't doing these glorious colors, it would be easy to continue just doing black and white.

The third Umbrella will be out in two weeks.