May 7, 2016
May 2016
I have been illustrating Blue Morning a poetry comic this winter/spring. I wrote the poem in 2015 inspired by political events in the UK and a writing exercise from NaPoWriMo 2015 Day 10 that I first tried in April that year; an abecedarian.
In January I planned the panels and pages using sticky notes on my studio wall, these were easy to shuffle around until I was happy with the layout. After laying out the pages in Illustrator I drew each panel. It took a while as I was pretty busy, but it was relaxing to draw a couple of boxes if I had and hour or so spare. I drew it blue as it helped me visualize how it would finally look when it would be Riso printed.
To get the tones right I ordered a test sheet from my printers. They printed them on different papers and with different Riso settings which was really useful. Then it was a case of adjusting all the tones according to the test sheet. I then had to change all the files to black which took ages, (especially the hyacinths!) and tidy everything up.
I decided I wanted it printed in Riso blue with one two colour page. As I wanted dark blue cover I decided I would hand screen print it with the title in white as Riso would not have shown up. I am also going to hand sew them. I and debuting the book at Comica Comiket Spring 2016
The book is aimed at adults, suitable for all ages, though possibly most enjoyed by those who also would have preferred that Blue Morning to have had a different hue!
