Jimmeh Aitch comix doodling

Thursday, November 17, 2016

Halo-Halo Manila Preview 02

Order <Halo-Halo Manila> at http://www.sloworkpublishing.com/shop/

Chapter1: A Martial Law Tale/戒嚴番外篇

“A Martial Law Tale,” the first story in <Halo-Halo Manila>, is, quite surprisingly, a story about martial law (wow!). In detail, it shows how Ferdinand Marcos’ police officers messed with my father- and mother-in-laws. It’s really funny. You’ll see. <哈囉哈囉馬尼拉>的第一篇故事叫「戒嚴番外篇」，講的竟然是菲律賓馬可仕政權時戒嚴~番外~的故事! 說起來就是我太太的家族因為反抗馬可仕而有好幾個人成為政治犯逃亡的逃亡被關的被關的故事的~番外!! 再具體講就是戒嚴前一晚馬可仕的爪牙(警察)進我岳父母家亂搞一~番外~所發生的…趣事。

Some highlights:

(我自以為的)本篇重點：

(1) Because I am incapable of drawing “police officer,” I drew swine/live-pork instead. As a result, in this supposedly non-fictional and realistic graphic novel, you’ll see cartoon animals capable of things only Disney’s animals can do. Amazing~ (1) 因為不會畫”爪牙”，所以把警察畫成豬，自此開啟了「明明是紀實漫畫竟然出現會講話的動物這三小」之門。

(2) The only comics I ever wanted to make were black-and-white. But then I wasn’t digging large areas of pure black and white contrast, and I didn’t want to use screentone sheets. So besides some crosshatching, I tried to create and utilize different patterns to add layers and textures. I had lots of fun (and hand-cramps!) making these patterns. I hope you ‘ll enjoy them, too. (2) 因為我人生沒有色彩所以漫畫也是歐北的，且只想用實體的筆在實體的紙上畫，且不喜歡網點，又不甲意只用大面積的黑和白對比，結果就是必須不斷想辦法用線條和點搞出不同的patterns來表現層次感。還蠻好玩的。有時手會抽筋。

(3) Because “Martial Law” was the first story, I had some trouble choosing a style: Should I go with a cartoony look b/c the story is funny or should I go with a more realistic look? I ended up mixing both, resulting in somewhat of a (first-timer’s) tacky feeling. I hope you don’t mind the tackiness; I myself like it. (3) 因為<哈囉哈囉>是我第一次接受專業出版的挑戰(即不是隨手畫畫送朋友看爽的)而這又是第一篇，有點拿捏不住到底要用什麼畫風，所以有時會出現卡通和寫實混在一起的地方，本來編輯有叫我改…但是如上星期所述我的品味特異、喜歡”拙感”哈味，所以一直假裝沒聽到，把她的話當耳邊風，最後就沒事不用改了哇哈哈。

(4) As mentioned, this is my first professional work (i.e., not just zine or self-publishing fun), so I got to work with an editor and learn from her. One thing I learned a lot about is comics paneling (designing and arranging panels). It’s so hard yet so totally fascinating. In this story I tried to go with a 3-6-9(grids per page) layouts. (4) 分鏡是我學到最多的東西。這篇嘗試的是三(格)六(格)九(格)的分鏡法。說到這裡就想到我前年過世的大阿伯，他過年時會陪囝仔玩”三六仔”，我三歲、六歲，和九歲時都有輸錢嗚。

Images of the week: 3-6-9 layout

本週附圖：秀給你看3-6-9格式各一頁

Thursday, November 10, 2016

Halo-Halo Manila Preview 01

Order <Halo-Halo Manila> at http://www.sloworkpublishing.com/shop/

Rumor has it that my first professional comic book <Halo-Halo Manila> will be published by Slowork Publishing this December. From now on I’m gonna post something about it every week so that by the time the book comes out, you’ll be so sick of me talking about it that you’ll just have to go get a copy. Perfect plan. Yay!

據說我的尪仔冊<哈囉哈囉馬尼拉>正透過出版社社長的雙手在如火如荼地熱印中，預計12月開始預售。那我從這週起每個禮拜來po一篇文+圖打打廣告好了，這樣子搞應該可以搞五六篇然後多毛聖誕老頭兒就會叮叮噹帶著書來了喔耶~

Fun facts about <Halo-Halo Manila>:

這禮拜講全書，下週起一篇一篇介紹：

(1) It’s an 80-page collection of 5 independent stories that I’ve either heard or experienced in Manila, the Philippines. In the local language Tagalog, “halo” means “to mix,” and “halo-halo” specifically refers to an ice cream dessert that has many ingredients mixed in. Get the metaphor? (1) <哈囉哈囉馬尼拉>裡頭收錄五個和馬尼拉有關的真實故事，有些是我聽來的，有些是我的親身體驗。書名的「哈囉哈囉」來自”Halo-Halo”，指的是菲律賓一種混了很多料的冰品。基本上，把它想像成加了一球冰淇淋的挫冰就是了。所以這是本混了很多料的挫冰紀實漫畫，而且和菲版挫冰一樣，料不是人客你能選的，是老闆我先挑好的。

(2) It took 5 years to make. During which period I moved three times, worked two academic jobs, and eventually chose to be a full-time stay-home free-of-salary house-husband/parent. Life is an adventure, and this comix has witnessed that.(2) 這本80頁左右的漫畫我花了五年才完成(因為出版社社名叫「慢工」，畫太快的話會被退件)：開始構思第一篇時是2011年底，我還在馬尼拉的某大學任教，完成時已是2012年底，我變成關島大學的叫獸。2016年中最後一篇畫完時我還在關島，但現在快出書了我又搬回菲律賓，全職在家帶囝仔。人參竟如此漂泊~

(3) As a comix nerd, I love checking out the early works of my favorite artists. The tackiness and crudeness that often show up in the so-called “immature” works are real beauty in my eyes. In <Halo-Halo Manila>, because it’s my first professional work and because it took 5 years to make, you will get to see the “evolution” of my comic style within just 80 pages. Hey, it’s a bargain for serious comics fans. (3) 看漫畫是很主觀的事，有的人重故事，有的人要美形，但什麼是好故事或美形其實也見人見智，就像哈蜜瓜的哈味，有的人喜歡，有的人不喜歡。我看漫畫很愛看”過程”，即使是講究流暢感的流行日漫，在相隔二十年後重讀<灌籃高手>和<第一神拳>的最初幾集時我會莫名受到作者幼蟲時期拙拙的畫工和手感而感動。<哈囉哈囉>最哈的哈味正是在於它花了這麼長的時間：從第一篇到第五篇的技巧和風格完全”不”統一。我個人覺得這樣很好啊(拒不道歉啦啦啦~)，只要一冊，80頁，五年的成長軌跡/演化史全都露出給你看。

(4) Because it took so long to make, all the terrible presidents that I made fun of in the book have fallen out of power (hooray) and been replaced by horrible ones (oops). (4) 因為花了五年才完成，這本書裡被我幹譙的總統們都已經不是總統了…