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piper

@piper@sunny.garden

Underground cartoonist, author, musician, radio DJ, and undisputed queen of goblins. That's what my website says, at least.

I put photos of my dog, food I made, and things I'm tinkering around with on here. Sometimes I post drawings, too.

This profile is from a federated server and may be incomplete. For a complete list of posts, browse on the original instance.

loren , to random
@loren@flipping.rocks avatar

look who wanted to help out with my cicada photography

piper ,
@piper@sunny.garden avatar

@loren so helpful! best assistant 10/10

piper , to random
@piper@sunny.garden avatar

blasting through scripting a Lord Dunsany adaptation this morning; hoping to have page layouts settled and measured before the evening falls

yes, i am on a gothic post-punk kick as of late, how can you tell

process thread incoming, so come follow along with the bouncing ball

piper OP ,
@piper@sunny.garden avatar

i am not inclined to talk shit about verbosity--one, i love Lord Dunsany's work precisely because of its more lavender-tinged tendencies, and two, i have had more than one outlet reject my work due to my own tendency toward poetic, purple prose--but there is very much an art to distilling and condensing entire paragraphs of Lord Dunsany's absolutely gorgeous prose into images

especially with a six-page limit, and only one page to fill the entirety of a fox hunt with.

how i plan to do so will probably be more clear to you, the viewer, once i rule out the full page layout (although those of us with sequential art experience can probably pick up what i'm doing from the script here alone)

but to put it simply, communicating the passage of time and intensity of speed often can be shorthanded with the density and layout of panels, and that's what i intend to do here to hopefully do the story justice.

either way, you owe it to yourself to read the original piece, which can be found in the compilation "Tales Of Wonder" on Project Gutenberg here: https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/13821. i've put my version of the script here in the alt text, but for those of you with screen readers Project Gutenberg also has it in what should be screen-reader friendly plain text, so you can enjoy it as well.

(yes, that highlighted section on the right is the entirety of the condensed section in my script on the left. yes, the highlight extends past the limits of the screen)

### PAGE 2 __Base layout--rows of three, four, five, and six panel grid interspersed with text blocks__ _Caption for the first row of panels_ We settled down into a steady gallop--left the clay lands where the bracken grows and came to a valley at the edge of the chalk-- _Three panels of galloping hooves, fox paws, dirt kicking up, and the like._ We saw the fox go up the other side like a shadow that crosses the evening--gliding into a wood that stood on the top-- _Four more panels, this time of the fox's eyes, leaves falling, flowers being trampled underfoot, the hunter's eye._ --we saw a flash of primroses in the wood and we were out the other side, hounds hunting perfectly, the fox still going absolutely straight-- _Five more panels, of a valley, hedges, a stream, a wooded clearing, a flurry of leaves--all showing evidence of chase, of motion_ --our faces now were to another valley--a bright blue stream went singing and a rambling village smoked--the sunlight on the opposite slopes danced like a fairy--and all along the top old woods were frowning, but they dreamed of Spring -- _Six more panels, all showing extreme closeups of the fox, the horses, the men under duress--both panel spacing and art should show an increased feeling of motion, of time dilating with exertion_ --what a run!--but I felt a strange certainty within me that this fox was going on straight up-wind till he died--or until night came and we could hunt no longer --
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    • piper OP ,
    @piper@sunny.garden avatar

    another adaptation challenge: Dunsany's work often contains very little direct dialogue--i.e. direct lines from characters speaking, as opposed to lines such as "and they spoke vaguely of sundry and things".

    sometimes you have to improvise a bit

    _Art description for the butler/house: "I rang a bell marvellously encrusted with rust, and after a long while the door opened a little way revealing a hall with much old armour in it and the shabbiest butler that I have ever known."_ > MOTH: Excuse me, sir--but who is the master of the house here? > BUTLER: Sir Richard Arlen, good sir. _third panel: the perspective flipped, from MOTH's perspective, peering into the house._ > MOTH: Thank you, my good man. May I speak with him? > BUTLER: What regarding? > MOTH: I wish to inquire about lodging, sir. Our horses can go no further this night. My men and I, we require rest, and our horses a stable. _Fourth row, first panel--OTS MS from behind MOTH of the butler's face holding the door, looking shocked._ > BUTLER: Oh. _Fourth row, second panel; same shot, but the butler has regained his composure_ > BUTLER: O, no. No one ever comes here, sir. _Fourth row, third panel. CS. Exasperation on MOTH's face._ > MOTH: I am here. I have come. Do you have a bed, good- > BUTLER: No, no...I don't think it would be possible, sir. > Now good day. _Fourth row, fourth panel--ECU of a boot, lodged into a doorframe._ This annoyed me-- --and I once more asked to see Sir Richard, and insisted until he came.
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    • piper OP ,
    @piper@sunny.garden avatar

    and sometimes you have to take an axe to detail upon detail upon detail, telling the story with pictures and panels and tempo and timing instead

    this page may seem like a good deal more annotated and dutifully laid out than the previous, but it's worth noting that to the side there is the one paragraph i am condensing into one page and roughly fifteen-sixteen panels

    if anything i'm using the slightly more detailed page/panel layouts to help me plot out what to chop

    (also worth noting that the sad sappy sucker who has to make sense of this hatchery later is me--if one were to be writing this for an artist that was anyone other than themselves, i'd recommend putting a shitton more detail into the image/panel descriptions than i am here. i am betting on tomorrow-me at least mostly being able to remember what current-day-me was on about, and recall the imagery i'm thinking of as current-day me half-asses what would be detailed panel art descriptions were i sending this to anyone else to pencil.)

    > ARLEN: You...are tired, Mr. Linton? I was reminded that I owed something to a host upon whom I had forced myself--and the champagne was most excellent-- Row 3-4 panels 1-6: various shots of the tables' empty chairs being spoken to , as the wind slowly coalesces into forms of human beings in the drunken haze. --and with the help of a second glass I made the effort to begin a conversation with a Miss Helen Errold for whom the place upon one side of me was laid--sometimes I turned and spoke to Miss Rosalind Smith-- Row 3 goes here, in between lines of text. Still I was not talking enough; my host was looking at me. I made another effort, after all I had something to talk about, a twenty-mile point is not often seen in a lifetime, especially south of the Thames--and so I began to describe the run-- Row 4 goes here I was pleased to be able to make the party go off well by means of my conversation, and besides that the lady to whom I was speaking was extremely pretty--I do not mean in a flesh and blood kind of way but there were little shadowy lines about the chair beside me that hinted at an unusually graceful figure when Miss Rosalind Smith was alive--

    ### PAGE 5 __Layout: Four rows; one large panel at the top, then three rows of panels, with four, six, and then a bunch of small panels as Linton gets progressively more wasted and more mad.__ _Panel 1/row 1: A swirling mass of wind comes through the doorway, as the seats begin to rustle and are "filled"._ ARLEN: Let me introduce Mr. Linton, ARLEN: Lady Mary Errinjer -- ." ARLEN: Ah! Miss Helen Errold... ARLEN: Miss Rosalind Smith... > ARLEN: Ah, late again, Cicely, > ARLEN: "Always late, Cicely." The door slammed back again, and again, and again, and each time I bowed politely, the sad voice of my host introducing me to phantoms. Even had I been invited I should have humoured his madness, but it was the very least that an uninvited guest could do. _Row 2, panel 1:_ "Will you sit next to Rosalind at the other end," "She always takes the head of the table, I wronged her most of all." _Row 2, panel 2: a MS of the butler, pouring wine to an empty chair._ I looked at the butler closely, but never did I see by any expression of his face or by anything that he did any suggestion that he waited upon less than fourteen people in the complete possession of all their faculties. _Row 2, panel 3: a medium shot of Linton, looking right fucking horrified._ At first I found little to say, but Sir Richard spoke, from the far end of the table:
    ALT
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    • piper OP ,
    @piper@sunny.garden avatar

    and, one proofread later, we're done. off to the editor for approval, and then off to ruler and pencil we go.

    piper OP ,
    @piper@sunny.garden avatar

    it begins!--slowly, with measurements and panel layout and rough lettering

    A block of lettering on graph paper, and the bristol board layout which it will inevitably be glued onto. The lettering says: In front of a spacious fireplace of the old kind, when the logs were well alight, and men with pipes and glasses were gathered before it in great easeful chairs, and the wild weather outside and the comfort that was within all called for the weird or uncanny--

    piper OP ,
    @piper@sunny.garden avatar

    all of Page 1's lettering pencilled, done by hand because this is me we're talking about

    A page of hand-lettered text. It says: In front of a spacious fireplace of the old kind, when the logs were well alight, and men with pipes and glasses were gathered before it in great easeful chairs, and the wild weather outside and the comfort that was within all called for the weird or uncanny, then out spoke the ex-master of foxhounds and told this tale. And I, I once had an odd experience too. t was when I had the Bromley and Sydenham, the year I gave them up--as a matter of fact it was the last day of the season. It was early April and we had drawn blank all day, and at the last draw of all, --the very last of the season, --we found a fox.
    ALT
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    • piper OP ,
    @piper@sunny.garden avatar

    more morning layout and lettering and smoke

    The artist letters some captions with a Zebra Brush Pen.

    piper OP ,
    @piper@sunny.garden avatar

    lettering inked and roughly affixed--ran out of paste, so until i get more to permanently affix the lettering to the board, masking tape will stand in as a temporary adhesive.

    in the meantime, it's on to pencils.

    A comic panel of an old man holding a cigar, surrounded by captions wrapped in ribbons and leaves. The text, adapted from Lord Dunsany's "Thirteen At Table", reads: In front of a spacious fireplace of the old kind, when the logs were well alight, and men with pipes and glasses were gathered before it in great easeful chairs, and the wild weather outside and the comfort that was within, and the season of the year--for it was Christmas--and the hour of the night, all called for the weird or uncanny, then out spoke the ex-master of foxhounds and told this tale. It was when I had the Bromley and Sydenham, the year I gave them up--as a matter of fact it was the last day of the season. It was early April and we had drawn blank all day, and at the last draw of all, --the very last of the season,
    ALT
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    • piper OP ,
    @piper@sunny.garden avatar

    pencils roughed in. on to lettering and all that for page 2 next

    @jectoons

    Page 1 of an adaptation of Lord Dunsany's "Thirteen At Table" by yours truly, Piper Bly. The layout is as follows: CAPTION: In front of a spacious fireplace of the old kind, when the logs were well alight, and men with pipes and glasses were gathered before it in great easeful chairs, and the wild weather outside and the comfort that was within, and the season of the year--for it was Christmas--and the hour of the night, all called for the weird or uncanny, then out spoke the ex-master of foxhounds and told this tale. (A comic panel of an old man holding a cigar, surrounded by captions wrapped in ribbons and leaves. ). "and I, I once had an odd experience, too" "It was when I had the Bromley and Sydenham, the year I gave them up--as a matter of fact it was the last day of the season. It was early April and we had drawn blank all day," (A panel showing a cadre of hunters pointing at a running fox in the foreground.) and at the last draw of all, we found a fox. "We settled down into a steady gallop--left the clay lands where the bracken grows, and came to a valley at the edge of the chalk..." TITLE TEXT: Thirteen At Table. Adapted from the Lord Dunsany tale by Piper Bly
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    • piper OP ,
    @piper@sunny.garden avatar

    on to page 2. i think people have the perception that lettering is one of my favorite parts of the process, since i insist upon doing so by hand

    i think those people are slightly misled

    A large selection of hand-lettering for a page of comic art, along with a script.

    piper OP ,
    @piper@sunny.garden avatar

    couldn't find my preferred gluestick at the local joint so until i get a jetpens order placed it's time for Ol' Reliable, a.k.a. Grandmother Stover's craft glue.

    strongly prefer it as an archival alternative to the more traditional rubber cement, although between either option and a simple non-yellowing gluestick i'd pick the stick ten times out of ten

    The artist applies a thin layer to the work surface...
    ...places the cut-out text blurb on the surface atop the glue...
    and presses down and smooths it out to affix the text to the artwork.

    piper OP ,
    @piper@sunny.garden avatar

    beginning on layering inks on the borders/text bubbles on page one

    A detailed caption with an unfurling banner providing an introduction to the story, being inked by the artist. A good deal more detail has been placed into the border, and the artist is beginning tp lay down swatches of black ink. The text, adapted from Lord Dunsany's "Thirteen At Table", reads: In front of a spacious fireplace of the old kind, when the logs were well alight, and men with pipes and glasses were gathered before it in great easeful chairs, and the wild weather outside and the comfort that was within, and the hour of the night, all called for the weird or uncanny, then out spoke the ex-master of foxhounds and told this tale.
    A detailed caption with an unfurling banner providing an introduction to the story. A good deal of black ink has been added to the background, making the scroll stand out from the background. The text, adapted from Lord Dunsany's "Thirteen At Table", reads: In front of a spacious fireplace of the old kind, when the logs were well alight, and men with pipes and glasses were gathered before it in great easeful chairs, and the wild weather outside and the comfort that was within, and the hour of the night, all called for the weird or uncanny, then out spoke the ex-master of foxhounds and told this tale.

    A detailed caption with an unfurling banner providing an introduction to the story, being inked by the artist. A very basic layer of outlines has been placed down. The text, adapted from Lord Dunsany's "Thirteen At Table", reads: In front of a spacious fireplace of the old kind, when the logs were well alight, and men with pipes and glasses were gathered before it in great easeful chairs, and the wild weather outside and the comfort that was within, and the hour of the night, all called for the weird or uncanny, then out spoke the ex-master of foxhounds and told this tale.
    ALT
  • Reply
    • piper OP ,
    @piper@sunny.garden avatar

    morning lettering, both mundane and fun

    The artist holds her pipe, surveying a blackletter capital and bookletters spelling "Thirteen".

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