The Confederacy of Unprecedented Fellows.

Who would be the fictional arch-enemies to Alan Moore's League of Extraordinary Gentlemen?

David Petersen just posted his fantastic take on the matter.

From his blog:

To face off against the brute of Mr. Hyde, we would have Frankenstein's Monster. For the sea battles, Capt. Nemo would square off against Captain Hook (and perhaps a bit of stolen Neverland Magic). And for the consummate hunter Alan Quartermain, who better than the villainous big game of Shere Khan.For counterparts for Mina Murray & The Invisible Man, Jeremy & I struggled for a bit.

Petersen's page process.

 

Mouse Guard creator, David Petersen posted today on the process he's currently using to create his comics. From writing to layouts and lettering, to inking and coloring. The post is HERE.
Petersen is an auteur, doing it all himself, so his process is specific to his needs.
I really dig this kind of sharing. Specific and detailed notes on his "magic." Artists and writers can be very evasive about their process. Many seem to view the specifics as not interesting. Some do not have a pattern. Some are embarrassed that they embrace certain technologies that they feel are cheating or lessens their artistry in some way. Some simply prefer to hold their cards close to their chest.
Oftentimes, people doing truly original work, simply do not know. To paraphrase and twist McLuhan to my own needs, artists are typically looking in the rear view mirrror. Looking at what came before and building on that. People out in the stratosphere, doing original stuff have usually stumbled there without knowing it. Their specific process may look completely mundane to them.
Artists and writers and musicians should feel no pressure to talk about their process, it's no one else's business. However, it is extremely interesting to me when folks that I admire do open up and talk specifically about their process.
I'm sure I've sung the praises of Mouse Guard here before. Let me do it again. The Mouse Guard comic is amazing. My kids (girls, ages 4 and 6) love it. It's a little violent, but not scary violent. The stories are just a touch twisty, but not too confusing. I strongly recommend it to kids and adults. There is a role playing game which is awesome fun as well.

David Petersen and Jeremy Bastian on world building.

World Building with Bastian & Petersen from David Petersen on Vimeo.

 

Jeremy Bastian & I presented a slideshow and discussion on world building at Detroit Fanfare this year. We showed examples in our work about how we tackle the idea of creating a fictional world for our readers that is believable and cohesive. We had a fair amount of people asking if the presentation would be available online. So Jeremy and I recorded a new version of the presentation for the web. I think if you are a creator working on a fictional world (or aspire to be) or are a fan of fictional worlds and our books, that you will enjoy the video.

Posting this presentation felt a bit static though. At a panel we can interact with the audience and leave plenty of room for Q&A. So next Monday (10-24-2011) at 8pm EST, Jeremy and I will do a live Ustream (link: http://www.ustream.tv/channel/davidpetersen) to answer your questions about creating, writing, & drawing a fictional world. (we plan to record this as well so if you can't make it, you can watch it later)

So enjoy the video below, and catch us this Friday on Ustream for the follow-up!

David Petersen's stampin' it.

David Petersen, creator of Mouse Guard has come up with this clever idea for signing books. In the past Petersen always drew a small mouse next to his signature when autographing books. However, with five books published, he was finding the lines at his booth were growing and his artwork was getting sloppier as he tried to keep up, SO:

"I will hand carve a stamp each year and in lieu of the mouse doodle, I'll stamp your book. This will also mean that I can re-stamp it the following year with the new stamp if you like."

Petersen's stamp is carved into a Speedy-Carve block and due to the nature of block printing, will look somewhat unique for each book he stamps. I think it's a sweet idea and I can see this being copied by other artists.

I've mentioned David Petersen's Mouse Guard a few times on Lioncorn and I can't recommend it enough. Here's the Amazon link to the first book.