From Sketch to Finished: The Cover for The Legend of Jamie Roberts, Volume 2

Today, I want to show a piece of art from a sketch to the finished piece. This time, it’s the cover art for The Legend of Jamie Roberts, volume 2. (It’s still on Crowdfundr, by the way! Get a pre-order of the book while you can.)

Here’s the initial sketch that I drew in 2015…

the legend of jamie roberts sketch. This shows Jamie in a cape, standing in snow and surrounded by black trees. In the background, a dragon looms and walks.

Here’s a redraw of the same sketch, drawn in 2020…

the legend of jamie roberts sketch. This shows Jamie in a cape, standing in grass and surrounded by black trees. In the background, a dragon looms and walks.

Here is final art I made for the cover art of Volume 2…

the legend of jamie roberts cover art for volume 2. This shows Jamie Roberts, standing on grass and surrounded by brown trees. In the background, a red and gold dragon looms and walks.

I can’t help it, I love this art.

In fact, I love it so much that I want to see how you color this. Here is a link to download the line art. If you color this, tag me on Instagram @kelcidcomics or Ko-fi @kelcidcrawford.

And don’t forget that The Legend of Jamie Roberts, Volume 2 is still on Crowdfundr! Pre-order your copy and help us reach our goals.

That’s all for now. Thank you for scrolling!

You. Are. Awesome.

What I’m Reading At the Moment

Yes, this is pre-haircut me. I can barely tolerate the floppy hair in this video.

Today’s vlog is all about the books I’m reading at this point in time. However, I have added one new book since I recorded this episode: “In My Own Way” by Alan Watts. I’m almost done with that book, so I’ll be making a Review Day Tuesday of it soon!

So what are you reading right now? I’d love to hear from you in the comments.

Thanks for watching.

You. Are. Awesome.

Review Day Tuesday: In Real Life

It’s another Review Day Tuesday video blog. Wheee!

In today’s review, I talk about In Real Life by Cory Doctorow & Jen Wang, and its take on economics and its effects on gamers.

If you’re interested in reading more things by Cory Doctorow, check out his Boing Boing page, and if you want to read more work by Jen Wang, read Koko Be Good and check out her website.

Let me know in the comments if you liked the review or, even better, what your thoughts were on the book!

Thank you for watching.

You. Are. Awesome.

Cairo: A Review

Cairo_-_Vertigo_tpb

I first read this graphic novel back in high school. It was actually one of the first books I read that made me go, “That’s it! I wanna’ make comics!” But then I moved out of town and I’ve been searching for another copy of this book for YEARS.

Lo and behold, I found a copy at a shop here in Phoenix and I snatched it, and I have loved it over and over again ever since.

If you’ve never heard of this book, I can’t say I’m surprised. It’s a Vertigo title that came out around 2007, and the top selling titles at that period were WatchmenNaruto, and Batman: The Killing Joke.

At least Cairo was voted among the top graphic novels for teens by both the American Library Association AND the School Library Journal (according to Wikipedia).

The story is written by G. Willow Wilson – yes, the same lady who is now writing the new Ms. Marvel comic series. She also won a 2013 World Fantasy Award for her book Alif the Unseen. So you know just based on these accolades that Cairo will be good.

The story is illustrated by M.K. Perker., who in 2001 became the first Turkish artist accepted into the Society of Illustrators based in New York. Plus he’s done a million things in his native Turkey. He’s a great artist.

Ok, enough fun facts for right now – let’s dip into the story.

Cairo follows three different plot lines that eventually merge into one in the middle of the story, and it takes place in modern-day Cairo, Egypt (but it’s safe to assume it happens before the Arab Spring uprisings, as there are mentions of government censorship).

The first plot follows Ashraf, a drug trafficker who hawks off a hookah only to find out his boss, Nar, REALLY wants that hookah back. The second plot line follows Shaheed, a Lebanese-American kid who bough Ashraf’s hookah, and discovers that it is the house of a Jinn named Shams. Shams enlists Shaheed to help him find a box that Nar stole from him. The third plot line follows a reporter friend of Ashraf’s, Ali, and an American girl named Kate, who are both held hostage by Nar’s henchmen until Ashraf gets Nar the hookah.

Stir in some supernatural elements, including the fact that Sham’s box contains the word EAST in a sacred language, a river that runs under a river, and devils and jinns with memorable names like, “Evil-Under-His-Armpit.” And then you have yourself a fun, thrilling, and sometimes disturbing book about the intersection of choice and fate.

Everything that happens in the book braids itself beautifully into a great story. Without getting too much into what happens, it’s paced very well and had me engrossed in its pages.

So I can’t talk too much about the story without revealing spoilers, so I’m going to talk about the art for a bit.

It’s fantastic to look at (the cross-hatching style is done very well in this book), and it does unique things with page layouts and panels. Look at this page, for example, when Shams is guiding Shaheed in how to obtain this magic sword.

Cairo_Graphic_novel_page

That kind of experimentation is great to see.

There are a few other instances of panels being used in unorthodox ways, and some pages are guided just by the flow of the speech balloons. In fact, this graphic novel would be a great candidate for study under Will Eisner’s and Scott McCloud’s comics principles.

But if you’re reading purely for enjoyment, read this book. It’s a great adventure thriller and it delivers well.

If you’re reading to study the art of comics or even how to write them, read this book. The techniques are a great introduction to more complex ideas than what’s typically seen in comics. (Chris Ware, I’m looking at you).

I hope you found this review helpful. I’m aware that the book has been out for a while (it deserves to be revisited), but in the future I’ll be reviewing more recent comics. I hope you’ll stick around!