I missed posting on Friday because I got a big rush job so today I am going to share Tom Neely’s amazing sketchbooks. Tom has even provided commentary for every one of his photos which makes it like more like a great guided tour. I have been a fan of Tom’s ever since I read a copy of his first graphic novel almost a year ago The Blot. It’s really interesting to see his sketchbook now and see him draw in other styles than the style he used for his book. If you want to learn more about Tom, just check out his site here and blog here where you can get a copy of The Blot. And now for Tom–

left- I find myself sketching more when I’m traveling and especially when I’m at a museum. These pages are from a trip to NYC in ‘06 and I went to the Met and Guggenheim. I especially love to visit the old masters and Early Christian art section of the Met. These pages were drawn after Giovani di Paolo, The horse head is from William Blake and the old ladie’s wrinkly face is from a painting by La Tour.
right- A sketch after a Goerge Grosz drawing.

left- Some sketches from early renaissance art I saw at the Met.
right- some weird crying angels and Jesus’s nipple from a painting by Carlo Crivelli (I think). On the opposite page is a quick sketch of some weird dude I saw on the street who I think was trying to pick me up.

left- This was drawn at a bar with some friends. We were talking about Carl Barks, but one of my friends thought we were talking about Karl Marx… and that lead to this.
right- This sketch from over a year ago ended up evolving into one of my comic strip poems called “dedication” (which is posted on my blog.)

left- I take lots of long walks around my neighborhood when I’m working out ideas for my comics and paintings. Unfortunately I saw the sad demise of this bird while on one of those walks. It became a part of one of my comic strip poems (also posted on my blog).
right- While writing “The Blot” I filled three moleskins with the rough pencilled layouts for the pages. This work also serves as the “rough draft” for the entire story. I then spend a lot of time editing parts before doing the final pencils on large sheets of watercolor paper.

left- More “rough draft” pages for “The Blot”
right- More “rough draft” pages for “The Blot”

left- I‘ve been doing a weekly “comic strip poems” on my blog. Here are some of the sketches and ideas for these.
right- A sketch of Skip James from film footage of him performing.

left- I’m writing a new book right now. I’ve been trying to sketch what the main character looks like. I’m trying a slightly different art style with the new book, so it won’t be as “cartoony” as the art in The Blot. But I haven’t nailed down exactly how the main character will look. Maybe something like this.
right and left below- A sketch of a woman and a house from a book of depression era photography. I’m thinking she might be the model for what will become the female character in the graphic novel I’m writing now.

© Julia Rothman 2007