Building a Team

Jake Parker

How do you build a team of editors, agents, and contacts to help you publish your work? And how can you tell if you would prefer to lead a team or be a part of something bigger? This week, Jake Parker, Lee White, and Will Terry discuss the ways you can pitch your ideas to your peers and organize into a professional creative team.

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Jake Parker

I did this illustration last night. After sleeping on it, I saw a few things I should've done differently before turning it in. Here's my revised piece:

Jake Parker

Here's my sketches and thumbs. Total time on this illustration is about 4 hours.

Joe Hanson Tannous

@Jake-Parker love it! Just got done listening to this episode, a great one to end the year on.

davidhohn

@Jake-Parker I'd be interested in reading why you made the changes you did. What were you going for in the original drawing and how the changes reinforced that intention.

This is the kind of thing that felt "magical" to me as a student.
I'd watch instructors do a demo and they would make a change to the image, often accompanied by the phrase: "There . . . thats much better!" but the thought process that went into that change was often left opaque.

kylebeaudette

Myazaki moments and little stories are so foreign to western audiences. I showed my class a bunch of Ghibli movies this year (rain days with no recess) and we've talked about how the stories are about the regular daily life of wonderous characters, and how immersive and relatable that is. The kids got it immediately.

JoshSchouwstra

I've heard Kazu and others on panels talk about what all went on behind the making of the Flight anthologies and the forum that was used sounded a lot like what is here at SVS. It made me happy to notice that this constructive forum was available.

Also thanks Jake, and all the others who made the Flight anthologies! They were a big part of what got me interested in graphic novels

Pamela Fraley

@davidhohn yes. I was wondering the same thing. I was actually scrolling up and down on my phone trying to find the differences. And after spotting one, the next question was, why is this one better?

Jonathan Malski

I love the image and I'm glad Jake showed some of the behind-the-scenes of his initial process; it's amazing how much can change, even in the end stages (I'm looking at Rabbit #1's mouth in the large thumbnail). I also find it incredible how Jake is able to create such a variety of characters with such simple shapes! I typically draw my characters with more realistic proportions and I'm always afraid I won't be able to redraw them accurately enough; guess I just have to take the plunge and test if that theory is true, huh?

@Pamela-Fraley
I did a similar thing trying to compare the two, opening up each image in a new tab and essentially playing "spot the difference." The main changes I notice are the background color, an added belt to Rabbit #1, and some tweaked shading on Rabbit #3. While I can't speak for Jake, my assumption for the reasoning behind these choices are: more easy to notice the outlines/dark colors and shapes (such as the gloves and boots), added variety to the outfit, and more smoother/realistic shadows, respectively.