Chris Ware

Chris Ware thinks of his comics as speaking a language, rather than a genre of illustration[1]. He has a very specific, technical style which is so different to my sketchy, loose way of drawing. This project was a challenge for me which I tried my best to overcome.

I titled this illustration, 'The Life of Bella', as it's a story about my dog and all the mischief she's caused. I based the room on my house at home, and used the different squares to show different times of her life, and this template is based on Chris Ware's strip 'Big Tex'. Ware was very influenced by an illustrator called Frank King when he produced imagery such as this, showing a time lapsed scene in different sections[2].

I used very muted colours for the majority of the image, trying to focus the scenes on Bella and the things she's interacting with. I did this by making the main focuses brighter, primary colours, as Ware seems to do a lot in his works. This was the first image I tried to do for this project and I think I learned my sketchy style didn't really fit in with his colouring and layout, so in my other three images I tried to be more technical with my drawing and create a more polished, straight laced outcome.

This was my second attempt at creating a Chris Ware-esque image. I wanted to show time passing, with only subtle differences to the scene. I used the same shading technique as last time, trying to keep it simple and almost a cell-shaded appearance. He says colour is very important to him, as it is used to connect themes and people, and also tries to use it as naturalistic as possible[3]. This is why I chose a lot of greens and browns for the background, as they are very natural colours and don't distract from the bright pink of the character's jumper.

Chris Ware deals with a lot of emotional subjects in his works, which he feels is like him having a very personal experience with his reader[3]. With some of his comic pages, he leaves them without colour[4] and gives them a lot of different avenues to go down, so the reader can follow lots of different story arcs and read the comic in their own way. I tried to replicate this with my 'I Need to Escape' comic, which tells the story of a woman wanting to run away from her problems and dealing with personal issues, and fantasizing about the different ways she could run away. He says his work is somewhat autobiographical, taking experiences of his own and making images out of them. This is my version of an autobiographical piece, as I have felt this way before with my anxiety disorder. 

This is my last Chris Ware style image. I tried to create something that was incredibly straight edged and technical, and included a building as well as the passing of time. I was inspired by his book, Building Stories[5].

I feel like I really focused on his drawing style in this image, rather than putting my own stamp onto it. It really made me understand a lot more the attention to detail he has, and the way he creates mood with the lighting and colours. I respect his way of working more having studied his style and although my style is completely different, I feel I've learned some tricks to take into my future illustrations.

References -
[1] Edbookfest (2013) 

Chris Ware Interviewed at the Edinburgh International Book Festival. Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4CVyVvR1YEM (Accessed 15th October 2015).

[2] OLIVEROS, Chris (2000). Drawn & Quarterly (Volume 3).  Drawn and Quarterly. Montreal, Canada.
[3] FearNoArtChicago (2012) Graphic Novelist, Chris Ware. Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W4MOYCvgEmw (Accessed 15th October 2015).
[4] WARE, Chris (2003). Quimby the Mouse (Acme Novelty Library). Fantagraphics Books.Seattle, US.
[5] WARE, Chris (2012). Building Stories. Box Pck Edition. Pantheon Books. New York, US.