Sketchbook Peek

Take a peek into my sketchbook. Some of these sketches have nothing to do with anything. Some of them are old. Most of them are new. Enjoy.

Experiment: Comics

In honor of finally taking another comics studio this new quarter, here are scans of a large-scale comic I did last spring that I just received back from my teacher. The assignment was to create a page that would look right in a  Kramers Ergot book (here is the Amazon.com link to Kramers Ergot 7). This piece is 23"x29", if I remember correctly. A pain and a half to create, but so satisfying.

Large file.

Several close-up images:

Fueling the Experiments (Part II)

Another one of my influences, this time an American Comic: Elfquest by Wendy and Richard Pini. I discovered Elfquest at a week-long summer church camp years ago. I only knew one girl in my cabin, who was from the same church as me, so I was nervous. When I walked in, it seemed all the other girls knew each other, and they were reading Elfquest. They happily introduced me to the series, and it was a wonderful fun week. And I am still reading Elfquest.

I love that this series brings up a rather original concept of elves. They are short, proportionally the size of children. The main tribe lives in the forest, as traditional, but there are other tribes who live in the desert, in the snowy mountains, and it is implied that all elves originally came from space. The comic deals with nature, which I am all for, and I love the characters' designs and personalities. There's not much about this comic I don't like. Elfquest hasn't really influenced me yet, but  as I delve deeper into the comic world, it surely will.

Elfquest is actually available to read for free online at the official website.

Experiment: Grammar Gestapo (Part II)

Last week, I showed you the Grammar Gestapo herself, the protagonist of my comic of the same name. (I mentioned she was more of an antihero, although after reading this page, I am less convinced that "antihero" is the proper description of her. Since the whole comic is about language and grammar, I will need to look into this further.) Today I'll discuss her sidekick, the Comma Chameleon. Yes, that is the reference. He is a boy of 6-10, who has aspirations to be a novelist when he grows up. I'm not settled on his identity yet, but he is either the Grammar Gestapo's nephew or the younger brother of one of her students. Regardless, the Grammar Gestapo (out of costume) tutors him after school, and he became the Comma Chameleon on his own, possibly despite GG's protests.

I don't know what weapon he'll use yet, either. I want something to represent the chameleon tongue, but yoyos seem overdone. The other thought I had was one of those long sticky-hand toys, but I'm not sure how effect as a weapon it would be. Does it need to be? I suppose it could be a mere annoyance. More research is necessary.

He also represents the beginning of my attempts to incorporate more Western-style comic... um, style, into my work, rather than stay so slavishly devoted to the Eastern-style anime... style. I find him quite cute.

Experiment: Grammar Gestapo

Here's some sketches I've been working on for a future comic. It's called Grammar Gestapo, name for the main character. She is an English teacher who gets sick of all the poor use of the English language going on in the world and adopts a superhero identity to try and solve it. She ends up more of an antihero, though. She wields a tall red correction pen as her weapon. She uses it as a staff to fight with and, once she defeats her opponent, draws corrections on their faces.

And here she is out of costume.

She likes to wear eccentric hats, apparently. It may or may not have been an excuse to draw stupid hats.

The Opening Theory

Hi, I'm Kimberly L Carey! You may remember me from such films as the University of Cincinnati and Facebook. But really, I do go to UC. I'm in the Design, Architecture, Art, and Planning (DAAP) program, specifically Fine Arts, and I'm a 2D concentration. I do pen and ink comics, printmaking, some photography, and some digital work. I'm 21 years old and I'm a fourth-year student with one more to go. It'll be here before I know it! Scary!

This blog is called "An Experiment" because that's how I've been approaching new things, as experiments. If I get confused or frustrated, I just insist, "No no, don't worry. Treat this as an experiment. It's just an experiment." That usually helps. Also, I just mistyped "experiment" five times just now, including that last one.

Here's what I've been up to recently. Click them to see them full-sized.

Oil painting of an evening sunset
2010

Relief print
2010

A self-criticism, pen and ink comic
2010

Digital photography
2008

Pen and ink self-portrait and biography
2009

Next two:
Illustrations from a story, colored in Photoshop
2009

 2010