Author: Ajay Peter Manuel

Aspiring writer and comic book artist lost in his imagination and stories.

Expos, Research, Scripts, and a whole lot of Books…

The last two weeks have been a blast. Back-to-back events involving my doctoral research, comic book script, art and animation expos, and a bucket load of books that hit my purchase list have kept me on my toes.

Research during a pandemic

Most of us have had to work from home since COVID-19 introduced itself to the world. It has been the same for me for the most part of the last 5 months. September’s arrival marked the beginning of the final year of my doctoral studies and I’ve spent the last few weeks working intermittently between home and the university.

Science is a collaborative effort and I’m thankful to the support I have received from my colleagues who have assisted in my research especially during a period of time where most research facilities are running at smaller capacity. While this has generally led to a lower results yield, I count myself lucky in that the majority of my research was complete prior to the shutdown.

Nothing beats the joy of getting experimental results that work and support your paper.

Looking ahead, I have also had the chance to engage in some networking for science writing by getting a membership at the National Association of Science Writers, successful registration in a Science Write-a-thon event, submitting a few pitches to scientific journals (fingers crossed, I get to write about my research, the wait has been killing me), and starting a medium account where I also share my posts on The Procrastinating Scientist.

Lightbox

On that note, I made a giant leap in progress when it came to my efforts in pursuing a career in art and animation. Shout out to the Lightbox team for setting up an amazing expo over the course of a hyper-content loaded weekend.

The expo provided a wonderful insider look at the animation, arts, and comic book industry. Networking was also a big plus with sponsors and representatives from Disney, Pixar, etc. More than anything else, the expo provided a friendly and welcoming atmosphere. Be it if you are an amateur or a professional, there were no distinctions and the event altogether served as a wonderful community experience where everyone could learn from everyone.

An awesome source of inspiration, Lightbox left me wanting more. I cannot wait for next year’s expo in an experience that I heartily recommend to anyone who wishes to pursue a career in animation or the film industry.

Script and a whole lot of books

Attending Lightbox expo with a writer’s background (as opposed to an artistic background) gave me unique insights into my own progress with my comic book script. In art, it is very common for the instructor to advise the student to step back from his piece every now and then to gain a larger perspective of his project’s goal.

My experience at Lightbox made me do the same. My recent struggles in transcribing my script into art notwithstanding, I had to take a step back and recognize that there was still much left to do in organizing the plot, not to mention the plot holes that have been creeping out of nowhere in recent days.

It has been a steep learning curve but one that I have appreciated very much. It helped to find common ground in my struggles with many professional artists and writers who attended the expo. With that being said, I have made great progress in demolishing my original draft and elevating it toward greener pastures with every passing day. My goal is to have a fully polished script alongside preliminary concept art ready by the end of the year. Whether I make the deadline is up in the air but I know I’m going to enjoy every bit of it.

This brings us to the end of my two-week adventure. I hope you’ve all had a great weekend and I will see you soon with another post. My newly bought bookshelf speaks to the volumes of reading I will be doing in the coming weeks, so look forward to some book reviews in the near future.

See you all next week!!

The Art of Perseverance

When you arrive at a crossroad in life, you can guarantee that it will come with its fair share of mixed feelings and emotions. The last month has been just that amidst some giant leaps and developments in my personal life, and ergo, my absence from The Pensive Reverie. It has all been about perseverance amidst the changes that I expect moving forward (delightful as they are) in a committed relationship with my partner and one which will invite company in due time.

The experience has had far-reaching implications, often to hilarious effect, in various aspects of my life. From an adventurous sleeping cycle and a total re-organization of daily activities, the last month has kept me thinking if I’m back at the university dorms doing undergraduate studies.

Jokes aside, these recent developments have also led to difficult engagements in other aspects of my life largely revolving around family. Long back, I had written a post titled Constructing an Identity where I had identified myself as a third-culture kid.

Much of this was related to my experiences in traveling around the world to different countries throughout my teenage years, and the struggle that accompanied my efforts in balancing my cultural personality. Most of all,

I found the inability to openly discuss individual differences within my culture as a major obstacle in communication. Social interactions would rather become a form of control, followed by an equally weighted concern for internal, and external judgment.  

During a pandemic, when you are living in the opposite corner of the world from your family, things get a little difficult. So, needless to say, much of August has also involved a consistent dose of perseverance, now spanning several years, in dealing with tumultuous family dynamics.

Communication can be darn difficult especially in situations where you expect it to be easy. A dollop of a multicultural relationship, topped with differing ideals and perspectives, make the ensuing conversations even more difficult. Despite this, I find it necessary to persevere because after all family is family. August has been fruitful in that I was able to find a measure of closure concerning much of these issues.

With that being said, I will return very soon with a new post and updates about my latest efforts in writing my graphic novel, and artistic adventures.

Moving on…

I started writing a journal right around the time of my grandfather’s passing. I believe my decision to do so was in an effort to confront a loved one’s death and a reaction to what was a coming-of-age experience. I’ve kept up with my journal to this day, and it now serves as a treasure trove of memories.

Memories are a powerful emotion. My writing has largely been inspired by the experiences I have had over the course of my life. Along the way, I have gradually collected a library of the same, in my journal, that I’ve come to value dearly.

A few months ago, I posted a review on Will Eisner’s graphic novels. Among the ones I read, The Building left a long-lasting impression. Its premise focused on a building that served as the setting for the drama that brought together the story’s cast of characters. With the passing of time, the building’s subsequent aging and the corresponding circumstances reflect pivotal moments in each character’s life and their attachment to a building that has become synonymous with their life’s travails.

When my grandfather passed away, the decision was made for renovations to be done and for his home to be rented out to another family. I, on the other hand, was adamant that the house and its contents be left as they were, serving as a memorial in remembrance of the wonderful moments my family and I had shared with my grandfather in its quarters. In retrospect, I believe my frustrations were born of my unwillingness to let go but in due time I would do exactly that, leaning instead towards the descriptive passages of my journal to remember the irreplaceable memories of my grandfather and his home where I had spent much of my childhood. That was more than a decade ago.

Now, 29 years old, I found myself doing the same on the occasion of the passing of a close friend and mentor. Here too there was a venue, another building to remember. Gathering my accessories I traveled back in time to revisit it, allowing those memorable moments I had shared with my mentor to wash over the closeted corners of my mind. At times, a part of me wondered if my efforts were futile in nature and  no different than the actions of my younger counterpart, in my inability to let go.

An answer initially felt out of reach but looking back at Eisner’s The Building I was able to string together a response. I realized that my struggle wasn’t about an inability to let go but a work in progress to accept a natural ritual of life we all experience at some point in our lives. It is in many ways similar to writing a story, and one that allows us to cherish the past while continuing our individual journey in the present.

It is a story that offers the bittersweet truth that time will always continue to flow forward. Often, this reality leaves us restless. It drives us to reach out to our memories, snapshots that somehow provide a semblance of permanence and peace, against the inevitable tempest of change.

At the same time, understanding this has also helped me realize how important it is to cherish the present, and to learn to live in the moment. What better can we do in memory of our loved ones than by living those moments that made us together, and sharing them with those who make our present in an eternal tribute.

The Shining, Turning 29, Magical Beans, and everything else!

It has been a productive affair at the working-from-home factory these past two weeks. Let’s get right into it.

The Shining

Upon insistence from a good friend, I finally read my first Stephen King novel in The Shining. Having watched Stanley Kubrick’s adaptation of the novel, I went into it expecting a little of the same and was pleasantly surprised by the major differences I found between the adaptation and the original.

Under the current circumstances of working from home and pandemic regulations, the book certainly left its impact with its vivid imagery of psychological terror during isolation. Simply, I enjoyed the novel despite the periodic lulls in tempo I felt throughout the middle-course of the plot before the rising crescendo to an awesome finale. 

Having spent much of the last two weeks doing a fair bit of brainstorming on my word-processor for my new novel, alongside late night story-boarding sessions for my comic book, I couldn’t help but relate to Jack Torrance’s frustrations on getting his writing done, and “correcting” my artwork.

Turning 29

The last week of June also witnessed a great feast hosted by my partner in celebration of my birthday. 29 years old and catching up to the 30 mark, it was a nice and simple celebration at home.

Looking through some old photos amped-up the nostalgia factor. It felt like only yesterday that I had arrived in Edmonton (10 years ago to boot) ready to start my undergraduate studies at the University of Alberta.

I couldn’t help but feel a measure of pride in thinking how far I had come in my journey. I also felt humbled and thankful to everyone who had helped me get to where I am today. The very same people continue to motivate me, even now, to persevere and work hard toward my dreams and goals.

So, a huge thank you to my loving partner, Leina, my ever-loyal family, my rambunctious and motley crew of dedicated friends, and my mentors and teachers who continue to provide me valuable lessons to this day. You guys are the best support crew anyone can ask for and I count myself lucky to have such a family.

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Magical Beans

They say with age comes patience but despite turning the leaf over another biological year in my life, patience wasn’t a luxury in my latest exploits in figure drawing.I managed to knock some sense into myself eventually but until then I was mostly slamming my head into a wall trying my best to overcome my difficulties with the next set of lessons in figure drawing.

These lessons covered the magical beans to be dissected in analyzing the human figure, and I wished it was as easy as advertised on screen.

Good news is I’ve discovered the up-time in my ability to learn a new skill in figure drawing checks in at a consistent four to five day basis. Bad news? I still suffer the Jack Torrance fever when it comes to being patient about getting to the next stage, and will have “correct” said behavior. I can mostly chalk it up to my eagerness and enthusiasm to get better as fast as possible.

Moving on from these magical beans, my gesture drawing has been seeing better days, as I now embark upon the next set of lessons on observing the basic structural forms of anatomy, starting with an assignment in drawing animals!

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45 second gestures. Still got a ways to go…

Everything else

Progress always helps, and having researched a good bit on the subject matter of my new novel, I have been able to brainstorm a good bit and all that remains is to tie up the initial threads to the plot following the main character. Meanwhile, my comic book seems to be going in reverse as I unravel the plot threads in the process of fleshing out the artwork in large storyboards with my amateurish drawings  (for now, at least). 

With that, the curtain falls upon the happening of these last two weeks. I hope to see you all very soon with another post!

The art of Kim Jung Gi

For this post, I’m going to go short and sweet by being faithful to the old adage that “a picture is worth a thousand words.”

I came across Kim Jung Gi’s artwork back in 2016 during my first visit to Vancouver B.C. Taking cover from the torrential rain that day, my partner and I entertained a long detour through the Vancouver Art Gallery.

We spent almost two hours walking along the various corridors hosting a massive collection of diverse artists and their works. Our final destination would bring us to the section dedicated to artists within the manga/anime genre, and that is where I came across this,

and many more,

Never had I felt so engrossed into the details of an art piece. The details were dynamic and there were radical shifts from one point to another. Yet, despite these fluctuations, there was also an exceeding sense of balance in Kim Jung Gi’s artwork that provided insight into his creative process from the small to the large.

For a guy like me, who loves his astrophysics, this correspondence of the mechanics of the small and large pieces of the work only drew me in further. The gallery had a small TV showing Kim Jung Gi’s approach, and it floored me to see that the man literally drew from memory. Discussing his art work that day,  my partner and I would relate a classic conversation from Dragonball Z as an analogy of Kim Jung Gi’s artistic power levels:

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Me

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My partner

Over the last week, I’ve had a chance to improve a little further in my own journey through figure drawing. 

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From this…

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To this…

It is in these moments that I draw inspiration from artists like Kim Jung Gi. While his art may be daunting to the eyes of an amateur, I cannot deny that in following up with the man’s biography, what has often been casually cataloged as innate talent, is in fact an amalgamation of hard work, dedication, and perseverance.

There is still a long way to go on the road to mastery as I’ve been told repeatedly by my peers and mentors. At the same, I’ve also been equally advised,

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I guess that’s what makes the whole aspect of it so much fun as by being an artist you get to continually expand your horizons to your personal liking. In the artistic realm, Kim Jung Gi has one heck of a mileage owing to his near crazy dedication to art which he developed as a hobby and now a life-long career. I hope to do the same on my own end, and even if I were to never reach his level, I could say I take satisfaction in the all the minute details of the experience for the larger part of what it is: a story of its own.

For those among my readers interested in finding more of Kim Jung Gi’s artwork, his sketchbooks are an awesome portal into his world.

Touching base with Pencil and Paper

When I was young, I spent a good chunk of time at my grandparents. It helped that their house was situated right next to ours, and my grandfather’s collection of weekly kids comics and magazines were an abundant source of entertainment and inspiration for the kid in me.

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My grandfather collected enough of these that we probably had over 500 of these thin magazines stacked up in a corner of the storage room.

Drawing came naturally to me back then, and I took any chance with a blank paper to draw whatever caught my eye. My grandfather fueled my imagination by sharing folk tales of old and just about everything that he knew while my grandmother indulged me with all the treats she could make to keep me energized with a full tummy.

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Being a Christian, my grandfather often shared his unique perspectives on the Bible. As a kid, the stories came off more as an epic fantasy, leading me to draw this rendition of Jesus and Simon Peter, no doubt referenced from an illustrated bible at his home.

As the years passed, my interest in drawing gradually took a backseat to my newfound love for writing. Rather than transpose what I felt was a simplified projection of my imagination onto paper, I felt it better to immerse in my imagination as a whole through writing. I was naive to think that between writing and art, one was lesser than the other.

Now, I have come full circle in realizing that art and writing are just two faces of the same coin. It is particularly sweet that I struck upon this knowledge in the process of completing the script to the graphic novel I have been developing over the last two years, and intend to dedicate in memory of my grandfather.

I have spent the last few weeks touching base with old friends in Pencil and Paper. It has been a difficult reunion to say the least, but we are gradually patching a decade of our on-and-off relationship in a newfound resolve to build a strong foundation for the future.

Frustration has been a loyal companion, but I’ve also used it as a source of motivation.

Firstly, I had to start by identifying the relevant skills I required to transition into the “graphical” aspect of my graphic novel. Phase Infinity, as I now call it, has all the characteristics of a long and arduous journey through diverse art courses intended to boost my amateurish skills while simultaneously churning out the artwork for my graphic novel.

To be honest, I find the final product to be a goal for the distant future. This isn’t necessarily discouraging as it is my first attempt after all. What has been annoying though is the persistent need to be overly critical about my work and for lack of any other word, too stiff and tight about my daily progress.

Figure drawing is my first priority as of this moment, and I have been enjoying it in all its gestures and forms. Consistency is the word for the rest of my year, as I hope to amass daily practice sessions.

Steve Huston has been my hero on this front, and I highly advice his books to my fellow artists among my readers.

Learning the human anatomy from an artistic perspective has also opened the door to some philosophy. Gesture drawing, in particular, has helped me embrace the fluid nature of our environments and our very bodies. For someone who has been enamored with the axiomiatic logistics of science and mathematics over the last decade or so, figure drawing has provided a refreshing, and new perspective of the world and its motions and rhythm.

Being a fan of Bruce and his philosophies, these two messages became screensavers of sort throughout my artistic process.

Being a fan of Bruce, these two messages which aligned with the philosophy of gesture drawing became de facto screensavers in my mind throughout my artistic process.

That is all for today! I will keep you all updated with my struggles in art-realm over the coming weeks by sharing some of my art work in the Art Corner, as well as a review in my next post of one of my favorite artists in Kim Jung Gi.

William Erwin Eisner – A Perspective

Before quarantine became the new norm, there was a store a few minutes from my apartment that I would frequent on a weekly basis called Wee Book Inn.

A used bookstore, Wee Book Inn was my go-to destination whenever I fancied a random late night walk and on many occasions, casual dates with my partner. (The cat is also awesome.)

Apart from their diverse collection of literature, I was drawn to the venue as they also offered a healthy collection of comic books, often in very good condition, for their modest pricing. Needless to say, I’ve been a ravenous customer, and have trounced on any opportunity to land some good titles. In my efforts to explore the graphic novel medium over the last few years, Wee Book Inn has served as a wonderful resource for inspiration.

My most recent purchase of a collection of William Eisner’s graphic novels was the figurative equivalent of hitting jackpot. Prior to the purchase, I had only ever heard the name “Eisner” as part of the “Eisner Award” winning icon that graced the covers of popular and successful comic books. It wasn’t until after my discovery of the graphic novels that I realized Eisner was a prominent graphic novelist himself (I agree, it’s kinda stupid that I didn’t make this connection beforehand).

Will Eisner - Wikipedia

So far, I have finished reading two of his titles: Life on Another Planet and The Building. Eisner’s intricate penmanship on top of his unique presentation of panels and sequential storytelling immediately caught my attention. Much of Eisner’s graphic novels were published in the late 1970s in what have been early examples of the American graphic novel medium. In reading his works, it was easy to recognize the foundational aspects of Eisner’s penmanship in modern day comics and graphic novels. His style was reminiscent of the weekly newspaper cartoon strips I had read during my childhood in India.

It came as no surprise to find out that Eisner was also one of the earliest cartoonists to work in the American comic book industry with his earlier series The Spirit (1940-1952) setting a standard in experimentation of content and form in the graphic medium.

It was also easy to recognize the repetitive but endearing theme that characterizes much of Eisner’s works: humanity. Eisner’s graphic novels focus on the human psyche and its vulnerabilities through characters whose worlds seem to be a mote of dust against the larger order that is life.

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In Life on Another Planet, knowledge of first contact with an alien civilization becomes a reflection of tragic human foibles expressed in the collective and individual responses of governmental organizations, religious pariahs, and all the way down to homeless and impoverished individuals.

Meanwhile, in The Building, Eisner does a reverse sweep in humanizing a building through its relation to the lives of four different characters ranging from an anonymous citizen driven by guilt for the death of a child, a woman trapped in a marriage of convenience, a real-estate developer obsessed with aging, and an amateur musician whose music accompanies the drama of the former trio.

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Under the light of current circumstances in our world, the events of Life of Another Planet  were eerily relatable. The same could be said of The Building though the readers’ relationship to the characters originate from our personal memories toward past experiences and attachments in life (be it another person or an artifact).

Eisner wrote several graphic novels until his death in 2005. Many of his novels  converged in relating the history of New York’s immigrant communities, particularly Jews (elements of which is very notable in The Building). I was also lucky enough to purchase Eisner’s Graphic Storytelling and Visual Narrative where he details his thoughts as a lecturer about the craft and uses of sequential art.

As a student of the graphic novel medium, and as an ardent reader, I would highly suggest Eisner’s works to anyone interested in well-balanced examples of the art of story-telling.

April – Progress Report

I ended my previous update with this caption:

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stating that I would see you all very soon with another post. Keeping faithful to Goku’s relative discipline in keeping time, I’m now back a month down the road with another brief update. The last three weeks have wreaked havoc on my brain, positively speaking.

Having completed the rough draft for my comic book script, I would set it aside a few days before initiating my three-phase plan toward publication. Phase 1, which I have just completed, lived up to my expectations as being the most grueling of the three.

With the assistance of my partner (and my ideal reader in residence), we would painfully plod through the details of the script. Frustration was a persistent ally, and criticism was hard to swallow. But after two weeks of wracking my brain over the plot threads and some dubious plot holes, I was finally able to confirm the most self-consistent version of my script as I completed Phase 1 of my overview of the plot.

Phase 2 now begins where the objective is to formally type up the complete script alongside panel and dialogue descriptions. With an imaginary camera, I intend to spin out all the intricate details before I move on to Phase 3 where pencil will be put to paper to get the drawings done in what I expect will be the most time-consuming process of all.

Now that all the brainstorming is over, and the dust has settled a little bit, I expect to post once again on a weekly basis on The Pensive Reverie. While I continue to work from home to the extent that I could, I’ve been able to find some positive outlets in engaging my career goals.

On that front, I will now also be posting weekly updates on my science blog The Procrastinating Scientist as I begin to build what I hope will be the foundations for a career in science writing.

With that being said, I will see you all next week with a focus post on a graphic novelist and comic book artist whose style and fluidity I wish to emulate in my own work (if at all I can match up to it).

HINT: The initials of his name are W. E. E. and there is a pretty big award named after him in the comic book industry.

Finishing the script – a new journey

After an entire year, I finally finished the rough draft of my comic book script last weekend.

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This post is a little late to the party but my mind desperately needed a break from writing. The last few days have allowed me to recuperate as well as re-evaluate my goals and objectives with regards to the comic book, and to a larger extent, my future.

What I required was a dose of reality, and I got a good share of it reading reference books on making and publishing comics. While I’m very happy to have finished the rough draft, there still remains a lot to be done. Reading and listening to the words of professional writers and comic book artists has also made it very clear how the journey towards becoming a full-fledged writer/artist is not an easy one. There is still a long way to go, and there is even more to learn. I need to really patch up my art skills, and consistently improve my writing as well. It is a difficult career, and success is not guaranteed, but when all is said and done I find that what is required is a little bit of initiative and a whole lot of discipline.

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Vegeta and I are on the same wavelength concerning this. 

I’ve been writing ever since high school. It started off with corny and over the top cheesy romantic teen novels. My first ever novel was titled, Love As It Is, so I think you get the point.

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These novels now serve as comedic enterprises on those days when I’m stressed and don’t feel too good about my writing just so I can remind myself how much I have improved since.

Then came an autobiography in Our Last Summer that allowed me to reflect on the most dynamic stages of my life growing up from a scrawny teenager to a responsible adult. At it’s heart, the book was about family, friendship, and remembering my roots while paving my own path in life.

This soon followed suit with a short, fictionalized novel in A Little Bit of Everything.  Despite being fiction, the story touched base and drew inspiration from what I believe will remain the most important and memorable moments of my life. Writing A Little Bit of Everything helped me define who I am and who I wished to be as an individual. When I completed the book, I realized that what meant the most to me in life was to keep my loved ones happy, and share my happiness with them and others through my stories and writing. Now, having finished the script for my comic book, that emotion has become a resolution for what I’m convinced and determined will be the foundation for my future career. 

While the script is complete, I can’t deny that it will be a few more years until the comic book as a whole comes together. I have just begun dissecting an art course on line drawings and fundamentals. I have purchased a few more on figure drawing, perspective drawing, and animation, in a toolbox that I expect will grow in time. I will soon begin polishing my script and setting out the layouts for the comic while doing a hefty bit of research on topics relevant to the work. I will be juggling these activities in between brainstorming another novel and completing my doctoral studies.

I have my work cut for me but I look forward to this new adventure, one that I intend to share with all my readers, friends, and family. With your love and support, I intend to pull through. That being said, I hope you are all doing well and staying safe amidst the current COVID-19 pandemic!

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I’ll see you all very soon with another post.

Busy working from home!

Hi everyone,

It has been a while since my last post.  Amidst the current coronavirus crisis, I hope everyone is staying safe, and practicing social distancing.

The last month has been a roller coaster ride in my life but it all turned out for the better. In short, I have been busy with my studies (publishing a paper on my thesis research), adapting to the gradual changes amidst the current crisis, and engaging with my family.

As of now, my research has come to a halt as I’m largely studying from home while engaging in my comic book script. Having arrived at the climax of the work, I have about three more chapters to complete before I have the first draft of the script ready. I have also returned to dabbing in my art immersion studies during this period of isolation and and intend to share my progress with you all as I move forward.

In the meantime, I hope everyone continues to remain safe, follow the prescribed hygiene standards, and most importantly engaging yourself in whatever positive activities during this difficult time.

I hope to see you all very soon with a new post.