Self portrait versus self image
I draw myself a lot, specially when I’m sketching on my notebook. It’s easy and I can think about other things while scribbling. I was thinking about all these drawings when I came up with this idea of the self portrait and the self image. I think I’m mostly drawing the latter, and it takes a little more skill or attention to do the former. Also, I think there is a more emotional component to the drawings I sketch, both in terms of the emotion I want to convey with the drawing, which can have little or nothing to do with how I look in real life, and in terms of what I am feeling, which makes this a interior, subjective portrait instead of one that really emphasizes my features.
When I draw the people, I notice the reverse. At first, I’m looking at the person for physical traits and how to translate then in lines and brush strokes. Their inner world is, at this point, still a mystery to me, another room separated by the door of how this person looks. When I draw myself, I start from inside this room, so I’m already telling a story of how I' want to convey a feeling, an emotion, a personality that spills out of my eyes, my nose, my mouth, my (big) ears and my hair.
I draw myself how I wish people would see me, and how I hope people would note right away that I have lived many adventures, and have come now in front of them with stories to tell.
I draw myself wishing I had really lived all this adventures I want my drawn doppelganger to transmit with his smile and the depth of his intense, charming gaze.
Changing the subject a bit
Bá and I have watched eight edited episodes of the third season of Umbrella Academy. There’s so much new stuff to talk about on this season, but we have learned in the slow-making world of Comics that we have to be patient.
One thing I have noticed, not only on the Umbrella show, is how tv and film adaptations can inject a lot more humor in the characters, and a wide variety of characters work on the screen because humor is a big part of their charismas.
I have enjoyed the first two episodes of Hawkeye because of the humor, which most Marvel adaptations have leaned on more than the comics. Thor Ragnarok is the best Thor movie for me. Guardians of the Galaxy conquers you because of how successfully funny it is.
Maybe that’s why a part of me has a soft spot for Michael Keaton’s Batman.
Don’t try this at home, kids
Even if the humor is such a big part of the success and appeal of these movies and tv series, I’m not saying it works just the same in comics. On the contrary, funny comics are hard to do. Probably because the authors are not completely in charge of the rhythm of the reading – which varies from reader to reader and it’s one of the most appealing aspects of the comics reading experience –, it’s hard to hit the right note or get the punchline just right all the time. Funny comics require that the creators should be in much more synch than usual – and even the creator who writes and draws also has to have an equally balanced grip on writing and the artistic skills –, but when everything comes together and a comic manages to be funny, the readers love it.
I’ll always remember laughing while reading Bone. I laughed reading Groo when I was a teenager, and some alternative Brazilian comics were also really funny in the 80’s and early 90’s. When I read Last Man, by Bastien Vivés, Balak and Michaël Sanlaville, I read out loud so hard that my belly ached.
Still, I’m not a funny guy. Sometimes funny, sure, but not a funny writer. I’m always trying to expand the moments, the emotions of the characters, and I would probably miss the beat of all my punchlines.
a new script
I received a new script in the mail. I’m excited to get to it.
It’s very visual, which I like.
And it’s funny.
Be safe. Be kind. Be curious
Pa-ZOW!
Fábio Moon
Moon Base, São Paulo
November 29th, 2021