So Where do Ideas Come From?

A common complaint from Cartoonists and the like is that fans and others invariably bug them with questions like "So where do you get your ideas?". Now, this seems like a reasonable question... until you've heard it a thousand times, I guess, and also, there really isn't a 10 second answer. For a creative individual, ideas are everywhere, show up at the wierdest times, and have their roots in the most mundane of tasks.

Now, unlike other Cartoonists who have come up with trite answers to the question, I am going to take a few moments to give those of you wondering an inkling of where some ideas may come from, and some of the thought processes involved in developing them.



So, let us begin:
Once upon a time I was walking through my neighborhood. I like doing this, except that at times it can be very noisy, and I do NOT like noise. Next to lawn mowers, the most annoying sound to me is that of dogs barking... especially big nasty dogs that act like they want to rip your arms off and chew on them.

Now, dog lovers don't get mad... I love animals, but this is how my brain works, okay?

So after having to cross the street for the umpteenth time because of this giant nasty dog that lives behind a little fence and acts like he wants to tear me limb from limb, AND after his barking was so loud I couldn't even hear my iPod, I started to think. (Take notes, here, kiddies.)

I won't tell you what my first thoughts were, because I'm normally not violent, but after several close calls with dog doo that ignorant dog owners left on the sidewalk, I thought: Do we really need dogs anymore?

Seriously. Once upon a time we domesticated dogs so that we could have a tough ally against the darkness, and the wild animals that roamed there. We gave dogs shelter and food, and they helped us to feel safe at night, and kept the beasties away. Over the years the relationship developed, and the dog changede his job description slightly to be body gaurd, night watchman, and hunting pal. These jobs continued until recently, to be replaced by high tech security systems, police and security, and well, hunting isn't the neccesity it once was. So as hunting becomes less and less about feeding people, and more of a dying sport, the jobs we need dogs for are fading away.

Like good job hunters, dogs keep adapting to fit our society. They have become pets, and even part of our families. Some people even dress them up, treat them like children, and include them in family portraits. We train them for shows, give them fancy haircuts, and basically rob many of the smaller dogs of whatever dignity they once had. However, no matter how much you dress them, and bathe them, and spend on their haircuts, they are still animals. They mess the yard, they bring fleas and ticks into the house, and sometimes get nasty. So who needs them?

Remember, please, that this is a blog about ideas, not dogs. All of these thoughts above raced through my mind as I walked around my neighborhood, in a space of about ten minutes. So... dogs: who needs them?

I sure don't. I love animals, but I hate when I have to smell dog doo at the playground where I play with my kids. I hate finding it in my yard, and I get ill when I enter people's houses who don't clean up enough to get rid of that doggy smell.

So... enough of that. The point is, story ideas started to develop. Imagine a society without dogs, or even pets. Where would YOU go from there?

I imagined a future society where animal lovers are trying to free pets from their slavery, but confused about what to do with them then. Domestic animals can't just be let loose in the woods. Meanwhile, other animal lovers are fighting against the first bunch, for the rights to keep their pets. Now, imagine some guy who really likes some girl, except she's a fanatic in one of the above groups, most likely the first one. So he finds himself at radical meetings, even though he really doesn't care about the issues, but then suddenly finds himself over his head... maybe in an animal rescue attempt, with the police or others involved.

Hey, it could happen.

Where else could this idea go?

The Planet of the Apes movies had Astronauts bring home a disease that wiped out the dogs and cats, making apes move to pets, and then to slaves, which started all that trouble that eventually created a society of apes.

Clifford Simak went the other way with his great novel City. He envisaged a society where people disappeared, and the dogs created a new society where they uplifted other animals and taught them how to get along peacefully.

There are other examples, but I think I've talked long enough. The point is, you get a thought, and it evolves into something else, and again. Then you start putting the thoughts into the context of a story, creating ideas that lead from a beginning to a climax. From there you rough out your main characters, creating a hero that goes through some life change, whether from internal or external sources. Show how that hero changes for the better, to rise above his problems, and bring the story to a successful conclusion.



So you see, there is no easy answer. Either your brain works this way, or it doesn't. For a creative person, the conscious and unconcious minds are always thinking, always looking at everything, and I mean everything, from different points of views, and finding the interesting angles. A good story usually has months of thinking go into it before the typing even begins.

It's a lot of work, but very rewarding.

Until you get asked "Where did you get that idea?". :0)

Cheers, JOHN :0)

PS To you dog lovers: Instead of writing me hate mail, go clean up after your dog, okay? Thanks.

Press Release: Two Henges, a Hill, and One Long Barrow

For Immediate Release:
June 15, 2007

Two Henges, a Hill, and One Long Barrow



HappyGlyphs Comics is very happy to announce the release of our newest, and most unusual for us, book. "The book is unusual", explains John Steventon, "because it is not a comic book or cartoon collection; however, it's not that far a stretch. Two Henges, a Hill, and One Long Barrow is a travel book that deals with ancient sites in Great Britain. Our first graphic novel, 3 Knights in India is a kind of travel book, and of course our company logo contains a large stone with a petroglyph on it. I think Standing Stones are cool, and I often include them in my cartoons."

Two Henges, a Hill, and One Long Barrow is a look at West Kennet Long Barrow, the Avebury complex, and especially Stonehenge through the eyes of Cartoonist and Illustrator John Steventon.

Four dozen high resolution, color photographs (most of them full page) give the reader a visual tour of these wondrous places, with the author’s learned commentary adding facts, asking questions, and giving a unique insight into their design, purpose, and meaning today.



John Steventon has visited the UK many times over the last dozen years, and spent a lot of time at many of its historic places. With this book he encourages you to learn more about these fascinating places, and to one day see them for yourself.

Although this is our first non-cartoon book, Two Henges, a Hill, and One Long Barrow does include several illustrations by the Author.

The book is 64 pages, and full color. It is immediately available through our Lulu.com bookstore, at the following link:

http://stores.lulu.com/knightndayemail

While you are there, please take a look at our diverse, and growing, list of books. We also offer free downloads of some material, and free previews of each book.

“Take Me Away From All This!!”
A Knight and Day Comic Strip Collection

3 Knights in India
A Knight and Day Graphic Novel

Two Henges, a Hill, and One Long Barrow
Photographs and Essays

And if you like history, I can heartily recommend Brian Hughes' book, The History of the Wyre (From Harold the Elk to Cardinal Allen). It's fun, informative, and filled with illustrations from my favorite cartoonist!

Vector Illustrations: a Reinvention

Sometimes you have to reinvent yourself, whether for personal growth, or just to get out of a rut, or whatever the reason. It's healthy, and for an artist, sometimes essential. If you do the same thing every day, you will eventually get into a rut. However, if you try something new once in a while, you might just learn something, and grow in the process.

I like Cartooning. I love it, in fact, and plan to continue being a Cartoonist. However, when a client asked me to create a cover and interior illustrations for their glossy magazine, I knew that I had to come up with something different.

Way back when I took some art and design classes, I got a decent background on creating vector illustrations. I like (good) vector illustrations, and have always wanted to create some. Of course, with near constant deadlines, there is very little time to stretch creatively. I knew this was my big chance to try something new. In the process, I hoped to learn something that I could bring back to my Cartooning, as well.



Vector Illustrations are entirely created on the computer, but as with any good art project, I began with some sketches. Sketches, as in plural: That's important. I really should show you all of my sketches, but trust me, they were bad. In fact, I started this project with an earlier sketch, and had to toss it all away, and begin again.

Lesson 1: the biggest mistake that beginners of computer illustration make is that they sit down at the computer and start working without any direction. An experienced artist could possibly sketch at the computer, but I still prefer paper and pencil. Always make several sketches, if not for yourself,then for your clients. Your initial sketch is usually not as good as your 4th or 5th, so do at least four sketches. I like this sketch because it has weight: you can feel how heavy the hammer is.



Now, I use Adobe Illustrator to create my vector illustrations. I am not going to teach you how to use that program here, but I will recommend taking a class as opposed to reading books on the subject. A good teacher can arm you with a variety of time savers and shortcuts that you may otherwise not pick up on your own.

So, to begin. First thing I do is scan in my sketch, and create a second layer to work on above it. I then choose my color pallete, and lay out flat colors in the basic shapes of the sketch. Working in layers is important, and can save you a lot of aggravation later! I am not a pro yet at vector illos, but I quickly learned that you can have thousands of shapes in one illustration, and keeping each unit of your drawing on a different layer will save you a lot of time.

After I am happy with the colors, and layout of the drawing, I then do the next important thing: I choose a light source. I cannot stress how important light is in almost any illustration. I mark this in some fashion, and then start laying in shadows to indicate to the viewer the light source.




Much later, you can see my progress in the image above. I continued adding shapes to create more detail in the image, to indicate the folds and hang of cloth, to emphasize the weight, etc. I deepened the shadows, added secondary shadows, and played with the color pallete a bit to indicate the bright sun of an Indian beach. I also added the chain to create more interest, and to tell the viewer more about this scene: as a stand alone image, you need to add props to indicate 'place'.



Finally, I decided to extend the background. I was happy with the look of the character: He looks tired, the hammer looks heavy, and you can see that he's been working hard. Still, I wanted to further isolate him... make him look smaller, and create more sympathy for him in the viewer's mind.

This illustration is for an article on ship breaking on the coast of India, which is a tough job. I wanted to give the viewer more of a feeling for this work, and more background in this illustration. I created the rusting propeller separately, and then moved it into this illustration. The nice thing about Vector Illustrations is that you can scale objects without losing resolution. I played with the illustration until I was perfectly happy with it, and then added more of the beach, and chain, and some rocks and other stuff, to finish the illustration.

I then went over the entire thing, looking for mistakes, and making sure that all the shadows indicated the same lightsource. That's something you have to look for if you bring two images together like this.

So there. Not bad for a first attempt, eh?

You'll be able to see more of this type of work at my homepage, and at my Freelance Portfolio page.

Cheers, JOHN :0)

What's on my iPod today? Kansas, Dust in the Wind.