In the Studio blog Hiatus

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Howdy there!

You've reached my blog about writing a graphic novel about growing up with a brother with autism. Unfortunately I'm on a temporary hiatus from posting to the blog while I work really hard to finish the last part of the book. I'll be checking back in in a couple of months, and until then you can keep in touch with what I'm up to on my social medias:

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/girlrexdoor
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/georgerexcomics
Tumblr: http://girlrexdoor.tumblr.com
Etsy: https://www.etsy.com/au/shop/GeorgeRexComics

If you are yet to read any of my blog posts, please feel free to scroll through the back catalogue; there are lots to pick from! Here are some of my favourites:

George Rex Comics Doco

Curiosity Care

For the Love of Editing

Sick Day

I'm All Thumbs

Just Quit Your Day Job

A Day in the Studio

And you can always start at the beginning: 

Rex's very first blog post.

Thanks so much for stopping by! Catch you around the interspace soon. 
Gxx

My blog is brought to you by the help of my Patreon Pals. If you want to become a George Rex Patreon Pal, then just jump to my Patreon page here. 

Online presents

Hello wonderful pals!

For the past couple of months or so I've been stressing myself out with trying to keep up to date with social medias, online groups, blog posts, emails and admin in general. Then foolishly on top of that I decided to run my first Kickstarter. 

Don't get me wrong: Kickstarter was great, I'm super glad I did it (although I couldn't have done it without a lot help from my proofreading/professional writing hero Owen Heitmann)! My heart cockles were warmed by the response from family and friends and strangers who wanted to back the project. I was overwhelmed with the amount of support that the project generated. But that's the thing, I was overwhelmed. 

 

With all the time I had to spend on the computer with up-keep of the Kickstarter and then also just my general online presence stuff over all the other groups I help to organise, I was running pretty thin and I really just wanted to be writing and drawing my own work. The work that I'd quit my day job for. 

All the social media stuff had become a bigger part of my freelancing job than the actual creation of art. And creating art was what I wanted to spend my unpaid time doing. I wanted to spend every free second (i.e. every second I wasn't doing a job for someone else) on my book or experimenting with stories and ideas. But then of course once I was on the social media sites, I would get sucked in to looking at everyone else's beautiful pictures, making me feel worse for not creating and about my abilities to create. There has been many a time that I've gotten sucked into the continuing scroll. I'm sure you know the feeling of spending too much time looking at other people's work and worrying about not doing enough work yourself. But instead of getting off the internet and doing work, you keep scrolling. 

I've often been surprised when people compliment me on my online presence because I don't really see myself as a tech savvy person. I link most things to my Instagram (my platform of choice because it's mostly images) so I don't have to really use Tumblr (while I don't mind it, I don't really get it) and only have to do extra updates on Facebook when I have events and things. I have no idea how to Twitter, and I do not care to learn.

Then in the past few weeks I realised how much pressure I'd been putting on myself to keep my online presence going even though I've been working pretty much every day with teaching and workshops and mentorships and new jobs and grant application deadlines and prep for interstate travel. 

The most pressure I'd been putting on myself was around my blog posts. I constantly worry that they aren't long enough or aren't interesting enough. Sometimes I'd have lots of ideas for blog posts and sometimes none at all. I wanted to spend more time on them but there are only so many hours in the day and what I need (and I mean this as in an urgent, super strong, gut feeling) is to work on the book. And I guess sleeping and eating and maybe seeing my friends occasionally should get a look in. 

Then these thoughts popped into my head, "If I'm not posting, I'm not creating work - and if I'm not creating work, do I deserve to be a freelancer? I'm very lucky to be in the position to quit my day job to work on what I love. I should not be squandering my time. I need to work harder. And show people what I'm working on." These thoughts are super hard and complicated and I think I might unpack them a little bit later, when I'm ready, in another blog post. 

So guys, I'm making a call. I'm going to focus on making this book happen. I want to get it to the stage that I can send it out to agents or publishers by the end of the year and to do that I need to take a break from online. 

Have no fear, citizen! I'll still be around. I'm going to try to keep writing blog posts but I'm not going to necessarily do them once a week. I'll be posting a little less on the socials and I'll be taking on fewer commissions. 

Right now, all I'm going to do is make myself a cuppa, sit down with a sketchbook and let my brain relax and create. 

Thank you to everyone for all your continuing support, I appreciate every kind word. You can of course still contact me via email, I might just take a little time to reply. 

Gxx

My blog is brought to you by the help of my Patreon Pals. If you want to become a George Rex Patreon Pal, then just jump to my Patreon page here. 

A Dog's Life

Hello fellow humans!

I'm busy working away at my book and haven't had time to make a new exciting post for you guys, so I thought I'd share my most recent 24-hour challenge comic for you to read. It's the first piece of fiction I've done in a while, so I hope it's okay. Although I love fiction, I don't think my writing is as strong when I create it. 

This the B&W version of the comic; you can get yourself your very own colour copy of the comic from my Etsy store here. Or if you're an Adelaide local, you can grab a copy at Greenlight Comics.

Anywho, I hope you enjoy... A Dog's Life. 

Thanks for reading my comics guys. I hope you liked it!

Catch you next week! 

xx

My blog is brought to you by the help of my Patreon Pals. If you want to become a George Rex Patreon Pal, then just jump to my Patreon page here. 

Oh Brother, it's a book update!

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Howdy pals,

So I've been thinking for a while that I should start giving you guys more updates on the progress of the book. I'm sorry it's mostly words, time at the moment is sparse and I have to really get down and focused on this book. So please forgive the lack of photos/pictures/visual reading aids. Anyway, here goes update numero uno:

Since I finished part two, I've had my edit session with my comics pals (which you can read all about here) and collected, taken note of and thought about all the feedback, and then put it aside for now. I've decided I wanted to focus on getting the script done for part three (the final part) so I can start thumbnailing and then penciling the draft comic pages. 

At the moment I've outlined all the stories that I think I should cover in this part. I'm now going through and fleshing out the stories that I haven't written in full yet and editing the already-written stories so they fit better into the book as it stands now (it evolves with every scene I write). 

The stories for part three come from interviews with my parents and events that I remember happening to me growing up. The theme for this chapter will be Fears (the theme for part one was Communication and part two was Obsessions).

I've been chipping away, trying to get one story or section finished every day, but I've been really struggling to keep motivated. This section (although still heavily talking about stories of my childhood) has a lot more emphasis on the emotions and feelings behind growing up with Rob and the fears that I hold around what happens when my parents die and I become Rob's guardian. 

I originally wanted to have the script all done by June so I could start thumbs and pencils in July, finishing everything up in August. However, it is now July and and I am yet to get this script finished. Admittedly, the written word is not my forte and I find the problem-solving of panel layouts and the inking of pencils the best bit about comic making. But to get there I have to get this script done. 

Although I knew this part of the book would be hardest to write, I didn't realise just how hard or just how it would make me feel going back over some of the more emotionally draining stories about growing up with Rob. 

And I thought I knew my feelings about what the future holds for me and Rob, but in writing the script I have found that they are not as clear cut as I thought, which makes writing a little harder and takes a little longer than I would like. 

I know it doesn't really matter how long it takes me to get this part written but I I feel like I really need to get this book done soon: I need to get this book out of me. I'm a little bit sick of writing stories about myself (I'm definitely sick of drawing myself). So I'm really looking forward to finishing this project and getting into writing some fiction again. 

So I'm going to give myself a soft deadline of August to have the script done by and now I've told you guys I'll check back in a month with an update. Fingers crossed I'll be deep into thumbnailing. 

Catch you soon!

G xx

 

My blog is brought to you by the help of my Patreon Pals. If you want to become a George Rex Patreon Pal, then just jump to my Patreon page here. 

Good Reads // May & June

Oh my oh my! I can't believe it's been two months since the last Good Reads post. It's been a busy couple of months but I have been trying to make a concerted effort to keep reading through my reading pile, which always manages to get bigger when I'm not looking (or when I go to my local comics store). Anyway, here are my top picks from the past couple of months:

1. The Art of Charlie Chan Hock Chye by Sonny Liew

Presented by Sonny Liew, The Art of Charlie Chan Hock Chye is a biography of a fictional Singaporean comic book artist and is amongst other things a staggeringly impressive read. It's written as though it was a factual collection of art by comic book artist Charlie Chan (in fact, for half the book I thought it was a completely factual biography, which goes to show what I know).

For those who love: to be intrigued, confused and amazed.

2. Agatha: The Real Life of Agatha Christie by Anne Martinetti, Guillaume Lebeau, and Alexandre Franc.

If you know anything about me, you know I'm a sucker for a biography and Agatha was no exception. This beautifully drawn bande dessinée-style comic enlightens the reader about the life of Agatha Christie, the writer. All of Christie's well-known characters, including both Hercule Poirot and Miss Marple, appear and talk to Christie about what's going on in her life and her work, and act as a sort of narration to the story. I really enjoyed the way it was written and drawn and now want to learn more about Christie's life (I've started by reading a book about the poisons she used in her stories called A is for Arsenic).  If you like Christie's books, I think you would really like this comic. 

For those who love: The Queen of Crime, Biographies and European-style comics.

3. Water by Mandy Ord

Mandy Ord is one of my favourite Australian autobio comics creators. Whenever I read her comics, she always manages to make me want to use more brush and ink in my comics. This mini-comic, Water, is no exception. I loved the personal stories about hiking in Australian bush and felt like I was there with Mandy, desperate for water. I also found myself, due to her luscious inking style, stroking the pages as the ink gave the illusion of being more 3-D than it was.  

For those who love: Autobiography, hiking and good ol' H2O.

4. Hostage by Guy Delisle

In 1997, Doctors Without Borders administrator Christophe Andre was kidnapped and kept in solitary confinement for three months. In his first graphic novel biography, Guy Delisle tells Andre's story, which for most of the book is spent in a small room with one person, not knowing when he is going to get out or when he will eat and when or if he will ever see his family again. It's not an easy topic to read about but Andre's high spirits and personality remain strong throughout his ordeal, making it an interesting if tough read.

For those who love: Biographies, suspense and Guy Lelisle

5. How to Survive in the North by Luke Healy

Luke Healy masterfully weaves fiction and true story together to create How To Survive in the North (HTSITN). Like every Nobrow book, HTSITN is beautifully printed with very well chosen colours (eye popping pinks, green, and yellows). It has great pacing and tense relationships and I love Healy's simple style and clean lines. I just really enjoyed reading this book and I think you might too.

For those who love: Adventure, interesting characters and beautiful printing.

And that's what I've been reading for these past few months. But the bedside pile never ends, so I must away to start on the next couple of months of reading!

Gx

My blog is brought to you by the help of my Patreon Pals. If you want to become a George Rex Patreon Pal, then just jump to my Patreon page here. 

The 24-Hour Comic Challenge

A couple of weekends ago I took on the 24-hour comic challenge. This is an annual challenge where, basically, you have to write and draw a 24-page comic in 24 hours (a page an hour). It's the third time I've taken and completed the challenge (although last year I did finish 24 pages in the allotted time, but the story I wrote ended up being longer than that, so I penciled all 32 pages during the challenge and inked the remaining 8 the next day once my hands had had a little rest). You can read all of last year's 24-hour challenge comic about my Harry Potter fandom online here or if you prefer a physical copy you can grab one from my Etsy store here. 

Over the three years I've undertaken the challenge, I've refined my 24 hour technique, including making sure I have my paper all ready to go (I use 200 gsm card cut into single sheets of A5. I've found this size means you don't feel like you need to add too much detail and the single sheets are good because you can easily look back at what you have already drawn without constantly flipping through a sketchbook).

Having delved into the the 24-hour comics experience a few times now, I've noticed a few patterns in my emotions when affected by the lack of sleep and constant comic creation. So I give you my 7 stages of the 24-hour comic challenge:

HOUR ONE:

HOUR FIVE:

HOUR TEN:

HOUR THIRTEEN: 

HOUR EIGHTEEN:

HOUR TWENTY:

HOUR TWENTY-THREE:

I was so impressed with everyone who I took the challenge with this year (and in previous years too, of course). The comics all looked great and we all finished the challenge (and some people even managed to get shading and colour in their comics, somehow). I can't wait to see everyone's comics in print. 

And if you are thinking about taking the challenge you totally should give it a go! It's hard, no doubt, but it's super rewarding and you have a 24-page comic at the end of it. I recommend you do it with at least one other friend but the more the merrier. I'm sure I would've given up had I not had a lovely group of people encouraging me to keep going. 

That's if for this week, chat to you soon!

Gx

My blog is brought to you by the help of my Patreon Pals. If you want to become a George Rex Patreon Pal, then just jump to my Patreon page here. 

Curiosity Care

Hello wonderful pals!

We all get stuck sometimes. It's a pretty common ailment of making something. Putting your heart and soul into a project, whatever it is, can be super rewarding and satisfying but also super tiring and scary. It can take all my brain power just to write a few words, because getting started is, at least to me, the hardest bit.

I've been stuck more than once while writing Oh Brother but luckily I've also been able to get unstuck too. Sometimes with help from other people and sometimes by just waiting around for my brain to let me back in on the project. And the bigger the project, the more chances you have to get stuck!

Of course once you're on a roll, then it feels good. You're working hard everyday, making great headway, nothing can stop you and then, BAM. You're stuck again. On a plot point or style choice or something stupid that doesn't even mean anything but you just can't get it out of your head.

I'm currently writing part three of my book, and the written script part of the process (before I start digging into the drawings) is the hardest for me. For a few months now I've been in this limbo space, flipping between productivity and slump. Seeing how I was feeling, a good friend of mine recommended and gifted me a book. This book was: 

I have been enjoying reading Elizabeth Gilbert's views on creativity and I would also recommend this book for any creative thinking person (or any person tbh). I was particularly grabbed by her writings about curiosity. Gilbert writes that curiosity is accessible to everyone, contrasting it to passion (which feels more specific, unattainable and somewhere over there). Curiosity, however, says Gilbert, only asks one question: "Is there anything you're interested in?" 

And Gilbert's thoughts about curiosity were able to capture some of the feelings that have been floating around my brain and helped me to bring them to the forefront and crystallise them.

So I've been thinking that curiosity care is something that we all need to start doing. Let our curiosity take us to places we didn't know that we were interested in. Give it the time to stare in wide-eyed wonder, gasp at new knowledge and walk down a different path. It may feel like you're taking the long road to get back to your project, and you probably are, but it's going to be a pretty great trip and if you don't take it maybe you won't get back to your project at all. 

Being curious can come in many different shapes and forms. You don't have to be learning about something new to be curious about the world. And a lot of my curiosity comes from stopping and thinking about something I already know pretty well and trying to think about it in a different way. 

A lot of the time I just want to get my brain out of all the To Do lists I've written and just thinking about anything else. So here are a few things I use to help me get my brain cogs off lists and relax enough to let the world in. 

1. Tea

Yes, yes, we all know that I, someone who categorises and labels her dried leafy mixes into individual specially bought plastic containers, really likes tea. But I think sometimes I forget some of the reasons why I really like tea. I love the waiting for the kettle to boil, picking out the right tea for the moment, picking out the right cup for your feels, breathing in the steam of the hot water, smelling your tea choice and sitting with it. Not doing anything but sitting with your tea. 

Picking the right tea for the moment can be hard but I think it's important. I get easily stuck on whichever tea I normally choose to drink in the morning, with my lunch or just before bed. So one thing I like to do when I'm in a slump is to try different teas at the 'wrong' time of day. Here are some of the teas I have made and their magical properties. 

2. A different point of view

I have found that sitting in chairs all day can be pretty tiring, particularly if you are staring at a screen all day too. So if I don't have time to leave the studio, I like to eat my lunch on the ground by my desk. I enjoy seeing the world from a view I spent a lot of my childhood, well, viewing. Also lying on the ground and looking up to the ceiling and just letting your mind wander can be really great. I find it really hard to let my mind wander on anything other than making lists of things I need to get done, but I do manage it sometimes.  

3. Walking

Walking has been one of the biggest things in the past 12 months that I've discovered really helps me to think through tough spots in stories or mental blocks. A lot of my a-ha moments are when I'm walking or swimming laps. This is because if I do it long enough I get over that natural brain reaction of making lists in my head and move onto other things that must have been lurking in there but have been hidden by all those To Do lists. 

I personally like to look up at the skyline and the clouds when walking. The sky is endlessly fascinating to me. I will never be able to capture in my illustration a cloud the way I see it in real life, and that is so intriguing and mysterious to me, like a 40s noir film. 

4. Reading

Something that I've been trying get myself back into is reading more. I know I read a bit but not as much as I would like or think I should. I often think that if I'm reading I could be drawing instead. But you see it's actually okay to consume things too, you don't just have to create! Crazy, I know, but it's something that I'm trying to come to terms with. And if I don't consume other media it won't be able to inform my own work and help me to grow as an artist. So when I'm feeling like my brain is sludge and writing just one more email will make me cry or everything I've been drawing lately has been coming out just not quite that minimum level I'm used to, I'm trying to get myself to read a book or a comic. And then I'm working on not feeling guilty about it.

5. Drawing

The last thing I do when I'm in a bit of a rut is draw stuff I know I can draw. Stuff I like. Usually for me this means drawing my bag and all of its contents. But it can extend to drawing ladies in styles of clothes I would like to trial wearing. Or skulls. I quite like drawing skulls. This gives me the feeling that I've actually drawn something that day and it usually doesn't look terrible. 

Even though I think taking a break or letting your curiosity take over for a while is good and necessary, my personal little motto, that I say to myself at least once a day, is:

The only thing that will make you feel better about the work is doing the work.

The only times I have felt like I'm on top of my project, that I'm making actually physical, tangible headway, is when I've done something. And it doesn't even have to be a big bit of something. In fact, I'm a big fan of the chip away every day. But it's when I do something that I feel the best. 

ANYWAY. This post is waaaaay too long so I will stop (plus this post has been in my drafts for months and I've already had to write and re-write it a few times. It's time for me to cut it off and focus on some new blog posts).

Have a stellar dream tonight. One that you remember really clearly the next day. One that you can still talk about in years to come. 

My blog is brought to you by the help of my Patreon Pals. If you want to become a George Rex Patreon Pal, then just jump to my Patreon page here. 

For The Love Of Editing

Hello pals!  

As long promised, I have here a post about the editing process I've been using to work through story problems in my graphic novel. It's pretty much the same process I was introduced to at the Comic Art Workshop residency in 2015, which I completely fell in love with and have adapted into my own writing practice. 

I never thought I would actually look forward to and enjoy receiving feedback on any of my creative practices (I studied classical percussion at Uni and was terrible at getting feedback on my musical performances; I took everything personally and couldn't separate myself from the performance), but this method of editing has really helped me to embrace areas in my story that could be improved and not feel like I'm a failure of a human because my story needs some help from my friends.

Never underestimate the power of outside eyes! For example. I'd not noticed that I had never mentioned whether my brother or I were the older sibling, because it was something that I knew so well I'd completely forgotten that any reader who wasn't a good friend or a family member wouldn't know. This meant that people going into the story would make assumptions about which of us was older (it's me, just so you know). The upshot of this was that the reader, not knowing this information, would assume that I was whichever sibling they were (if they were older I was the older sibling too and if they were younger I was obviously the younger sibling). It was great that the readers would identify so heavily with me that they placed themselves in my position but I really needed them to know that I was the older sibling because it's important to how I tell my stories. 

So this is sort of a step-by-step guide about how to use the editing process I do (with a few personal interjects from my cartoon self).  

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I hope that made sense and was hopefully some use to you and your creating!

Have a wonderful day, whichever day it might be.

Gx

My blog is brought to you by the help of my Patreon Pals. If you want to become a George Rex Patreon Pal, then just jump to my Patreon page here. 

 

George Rex Comics mini-documentary

Hello friends!

So I know I promised you a post about my manuscript editing process this week, but I'm still working on it and I'd like it to be the best it can be. So in the meantime I would really like to share with you a pretty rad little documentary. Some film students recently asked me to be the subject of a mini-doco and this is the result. I think the guys that made it (see credits at the end for a full list of those wonderful people) did a great job at reining in my tendency to blather when I talk about comics (I just get so darned excited). 

Anyway, I'll let you just enjoy and watch. 

That's all for this week, guys. I hope you liked the vid (I was really chuffed to be a part of it). 

Next week, I promise a post about editing. I'm really excited to share that process with you because I want to make Oh Brother the best book I can, and I think the process of nutting out the problems in my book with other humans really helps me get towards that great book.

Have a sweet rest of the week. May your skies be mildly cloudy so you have interesting things to look at above you.

Gxx

My blog is brought to you by the help of my Patreon Pals. If you want to become a George Rex Patreon Pal, then just jump to my Patreon page here. 

Sick Day

Hello lovely humans, 

I'm sorry I missed last week's post. I've been trying to keep on top of a few things (the book, a zine fair, commissions, life, the To Read pile), as well as battling with a head cold. I usually try to push through, but with a few big events coming up I wanted to be as well as possible - so I took to the couch, sat in front of a pile of oranges and worked my way through a few comics I've been wanting to read for a while. 

That said, I got bored pretty quick and my sick brain triggered memories of being sick at home and how Rob would deal with getting a cold. 

I'm a terrible daughter! 

Anyway, I best get back to the drawing board. Next week I'll talk about the editing process I go through with my comics colleagues once I've finished the draft pencils of a section. 

Until we meet again, I hope your head remains clear and you remember that famous quote perfectly just in time for that quiz night. 

Gxx

My blog is brought to you by the help of my Patreon Pals. If you want to become a George Rex Patreon Pal, then just jump to my Patreon page here.