Usually in blog posts I blather on about this and that but sometimes images are worth a thousand words. Judit is the artist for our Alma Reville chapter and you can listen to her discuss her collaboration with Nicola Monaghan in the video above, which was created by local filmmaker Will Price. I wanted Judit as an artist for Dawn of the Unread primarily because she has illustrated for LeftLion for free in the past and this is my way of literally paying her back.
Yes, I know. You get less for murderβ¦. Another reason for including Judit is because she has done various illustrations for publishers and magazines and so was perfect for our book-loving project. Dawn of the Unread will be visiting this shop very soon and will report back. A good book always leaves a little to the imagination so that the reader has some investment in the story.
I love her drawing of Kerrie-Ann Hill dancing with her partner at an illegal rave. I love the grin and the jutting elbows and the simplicity of bodily movement. Go check it out for yourself. You can read it here. The writer-artist collaboration is the fundamental building block of a comic. The closer this collaboration is, the better the finished product. At Dawn of the Unread I sit down with the artist and writer and explain the basic aims of the chapter. The writer then pitches a brief synopsis and as long as it achieves our goals every chapter must address either libraries, archives or independent bookshops and is different to previous chapters, they then begin work with a Script Editor.
Although I have very clear ideas of how I would like each chapter to be, you must trust your writers and give them enough space to come up with something in their own voice.
Too rigidly policing artistic boundaries can stifle expression and so I like to think of my role as having one of those really long dog walking leads that means writers can leg it off into the distance and only get choked if they get too close to the road.
