As I’ve grown older, raised children, and seen the social and political climate proceed towards increasing aggressive confrontation, my creative intentions have changed with it – or rather, against it. I’ve grown less interested in pushing audience boundaries with representations of violence and sex, and more interested in writing stories and making art that challenges […]
Sequential art, like jazz, is a language which expresses ideas and stir emotions. To communicate, comic books use shapes, symbols, signs and pictures – as well as the letters of the alphabet. Comic book syntax is a systematic, orderly arrangement of panels, composition, typography, illustration, design and economy of prose. Grids, used to form structural […]
Nearly 35 years ago I was reading a book on Sufism. The title of that book escapes me, but a line from it still resonates deeply: “Get used to being alone.” It’s a message that’s opposite from what the world tells us: have lots of friends, be social and cultivate deep, meaningful relationships. Yet, the […]
Artists fear rejection and doubt they’re abilities on almost a daily basis. We tend to compare ourselves to other artists and think, “I’ll never be as good as they are,” or “My art sucks. I can’t actually show this to anyone; what if people don’t get it?” Fear is ever present. It’s an endless source of unsolicited, unfavourable opinions […]
For a long time, if you told someone that you self-published your own book they looked at you like you had the plague. One or two friends may accept the copy you gifted them, but neither of them would ever read it. If you were unable to find an agent who could sell your manuscript […]
Maurice Sendak and his book Where The Wild Things Are hold a special place in my heart. It was the first children’s book by a writer and illustrator that spoke to me on a creatively spiritual level. It wasn’t the protagonist Max who won me over; it was the idea that with enough will and imagination I […]
I am not a fan of formula writing. I don’t like neat little bows tied at the end of stories, or stories where I can guess every reveal before the actual reveal. Neither do I enjoy stories that change course without warrant because the writer can’t keep their focus, or because the writer lacks a clear […]
I feel that in many forms of media, the features that make characters interesting, unique and multi-dimensional are being lost to anxieties about diversity and inclusion checklists. When it comes to the stories, people and cultures represented onscreen and in print, I am absolutely in favour of diversity. Diversity means difference. It suggests a robust variety of images […]
Lewis was an atheist whose friendship with J. R. R. Tolkien influenced him to embrace Christianity. Every so often one reads internet reports of the urge to make C. S. Lewis more “marketable” and less “hurtful” by expunging any Christian reference from his work or banning The Chronicles of Narnia from bookshelves. I enjoy The Chronicles of Narnia, […]
Rudyard Kipling is a beloved author and poet and at once, to some, a controversial figure. The author of the Jungle Book, and short stories like The Man Who Would Be King, Kipling’s work conjures up tales of exotic lands, mythic beasts and Britain’s colonial empire, specifically, perhaps, the footprint it pressed upon India. Today, a growing number […]