Almost Two Weeks Later...

It is absolutely amazing, to me, 

that time, the older I get and the slower that I move, 

seems to be passing a whole lot faster than it did, 

when I was a teenager.

My last post here, was almost two weeks ago and yet, it seems like only yesterday...

Blogging, as a pastime, seems to be losing ground lately and even venerable Blogs, like Lew Stringer's "Blimey!",

are being put on the back burner, by their writers.

I ran across another Blog, this morning, that surprised me with it's short life.

The premise, of an obviously British comic book fan, was the commissioning of artwork, that depicted older and newer, 

British comic book characters, in a single scene.

An interesting idea but it ran out of steam, in less than four years and in two of those years, there was only ONE posting!

Blimey!  To coin a phrase but that writer almost makes my meagre efforts seem prolific.

Moving on.

Anyone, who has taken the time to look through my postings, will know how much I admire the cartooning of 

Paul Grist 

and this one, will comment on one of the things, that he used to do really well... back in the days, when he was a drawing to meet a deadline and tell a story.

One of the tricky things about drawing cartooning, as I well know, is learning the language and iconography of the craft

AND

knowing how and where to apply graphic indicators, like motion lines, speed lines, sweat drops or impact stars!

What I had missed, until fairly recently, was that most of the cartoonists that I admire, whether that is Jack Kirby or Paul Grist, actually use such special effects, sparingly!

For example, in this scene from Jack Staff, Paul Grist has the character of The Spider, hit Jack Staff, across the back of the head, in a violent motion and there isn't one motion line used!

I "thought" that there were motion lines... heck, even in looking at the third panel, I could almost swear that they are there 

BUT THEY ARE NOT.

It has all been shown with relative positions and body language.

The only Special Effect used, are the STARS behind Jack Staff's head, denoting that an impact (the broken off part of the staff, in the hands of The Spider) has occurred!

In a similar vein, in the third panel, on the page below, the use of Sound Effects, "Beep, Beep", add life and perceived movement, to a static scene 

AND

once again, without the use of any motion lines!

I have often speculated, on the similarity between prestidigitation and cartooning because they both require the adept practitioner to make their audience believe they are seeing something that they are not.

Studying the art and craft of cartooning has been my passion for years and years but it is only in the last five years, where I feel as though I am finally understanding things.

Every time I return to 

Scott McCloud's,

Understanding Comics or Making Comics,

I am struck by the realization, that despite reading them, many times, some change in my own perception, allows me to finally grasp what he laid out, in detail, all those years ago.