François Vigneault's Blog, page 6

En Dédicace — Librairie Z

Samedi! Je sera en dédicace chez Librairie Z à Montréal, c’est mon premier événement public depuis 2 ans ! Mes livres Orcs in Space, TITAN, et 13e Avenue seront tous dispo pour des dédicaces, et j’ai hate de vous voir en personne!

13 November 2021 13:00 – 15:00
Librairie Z Bookstore
3420 Rue Ontario E, Montreal, QC H1W 1P9
Événement Facebook

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Saturday! I will be doing a signing at Libraire Z in Montréal, which will be my first public event in two years! We’ll have Orcs in Space, TITAN, and 13e Avenue available for you to get signed… Christmas presents anyone? Looking forward to seeing folks in person again!

13 November 2021 13:00 – 15:00
Librairie Z Bookstore
3420 Rue Ontario E, Montreal, QC H1W 1P9
RSVP on Facebook

The post En Dédicace — Librairie Z first appeared on Tour de François.

#Orcsonas from Christine Larsen, Jonathan Hill, Nicole Goux, and More! (Updated!)

As part of the release of Orcs in Space Volume One I asked a few friends to post their own #orcsona and got some fantastic responses! Just wanted to collect these here in one place and to encourage you to check out the work of this ultra-talented and diverse group of creators! And if you ever are inspired to draw your own #orcsona please send it my way!

Julien Paré-Sorel is the creator of the all-ages comic series Adventurosaur, now available in English and French.

Christine Larsen is the creator of the upcoming fantasy graphic novel ORCS! coming out in November.

Jonathan Hill is the creator of the award-winning post-apocalyptic graphic novel Odessa.

Nicole Goux is the artist behind the graphic novel Everyone is Tulip and many other titles.

Daniel Brian Mobley is the creator of the ongoing indie comic series Oktopus.

Vincent Kukua is a freelance illustrator and character designer.

Rick Kitagawa is an artist, toymaker, and all-around creative.

The post #Orcsonas from Christine Larsen, Jonathan Hill, Nicole Goux, and More! (Updated!) first appeared on Tour de François.

#Orcsonas from Christine Larsen, Jonathan Hill, Nicole Goux, and More!

As part of the release of Orcs in Space Volume One I asked a few friends to post their own #orcsona and got some fantastic responses! Just wanted to collect these here in one place and to encourage you to check out the work of this ultra-talented and diverse group of creators! And if you ever are inspired to draw your own #orcsona please send it my way!

Christine Larsen is the creator of the upcoming fantasy graphic novel ORCS! coming out in November.

Jonathan Hill is the creator of the award-winning post-apocalyptic graphic novel Odessa.

Nicole Goux is the artist behind the graphic novel Everyone is Tulip and many other titles.

Daniel Brian Mobley is the creator of the ongoing indie comic series Oktopus.

Vincent Kukua is a freelance illustrator and character designer.

Rick Kitagawa is an artist, toymaker, and all-around creative.

The post #Orcsonas from Christine Larsen, Jonathan Hill, Nicole Goux, and More! first appeared on Tour de François.

November Moon

This November I am going to be participating in National Novel Writing Month for the first time, working on my upcoming graphic novel Blue Moon.

I have been working on Blue Moon off an on during this last year, but it has been a major challenge to carve out time for it between drawing Orcs in Space and fielding freelance gigs and volunteer positions. The other day I realized that NaNoWriMo was coming up very quickly, and I made a snap decision to dedicate the majority of my working time this November to Blue Moon and really getting the project off the ground. I can tell that it’s already helping out my creative process, I’ve spent the last few days gathering my notes and starting to work things out, and I have to say I’m really excited.

(A color test for Blue Moon… The color won’t be a significant part of the writing/layout process this November, but it is definitely going to be an important narrative element in the final book)

So what do I want to accomplish this month? My goal is that by the end of November I am going to have the full 160-page book roughed out and scripted. Unlike some writer-artists, I find that it doesn’t work for me to write a script separately, the words and images and pacing are all mixed up for me and I need to tackle them all together.

(One of my rough pages from the beginning of the book)

Anyone who has seen my roughs on projects like TITAN, 13e Avenue, or Orcs in Space knows that they are very loose. I rough things out very quickly as a rule, my “thumbnails” and “pencils” are all one single stage, and they tend to be very loose gestural sketches, with very little detail… Mostly just blocking out the characters and dialogue, seeing what fits on a given page or in a particular chapter. So at the end of this month I will hopefully have 160 pages of very rough illustrations complete with dialogue, and I will be well-positioned to complete the final artwork in 2022.

This stage of writing and laying out my pages is probably the hardest part of the creative process for me. Honestly, like many people, I feel a lot of anxiety when I am looking at a blank page (or worse, a whole “stack” of blank pages!), I just get stuck worrying about all the details and doubting if I can pull the whole thing off. Many of my writing projects will gestate in my mind and on the pages of various notebooks for quite a few years before I have a breakthrough and begin working on them in earnest… That was the case with TITAN and it’s the same story with Blue Moon, both came from concepts I had maybe 20 years ago!

Special thanks as always to the Canada Council for the Arts, which has supported the creation of Blue Moon with a grant that is helping me carve out time to work on this passion project.

I think my hands are going to be full trying to tackle this, but I might try to post a few times throughout the month to update folks on my progress (an easy way to keep myself accountable), share some little snippets of the roughs (no spoilers), and perhaps talk a little about my hybrid writing/layout process. You can follow along here and on my Instagram throughout the month, and thanks in advance for your support as I work on this!

The post November Moon first appeared on Tour de François.

TITAN Reader Reviews Part III: One Year Later

Photo by bookstagram_emily

With the one-year anniversary of the English-language release of TITAN right around the corner, I thought I would post another roundup of some of my favorite reader reviews of the book. I already posted some other review excerpts in two different posts (Part One and Part Two) on the blog in case you wanna check ’em out. As always, below you will find a mix of positive and negative blurbs, mostly pulled from Goodreads, Amazon, and Netgalley. 

If you have read TITAN I strongly encourage you to rate and/or review the book on whatever platform you prefer, including on the websites of booksellers like Powells Books, Indigo, Barnes & Noble, etc… It can really help new people discover the book who otherwise wouldn’t ever hear about me or TITAN!

As always a huge thank you to everyone who has read and reviewed TITAN over the course of the last year, regardless of if they loved it or hated it (or somewhere in between)… I read ALL my notices and reviews and I really appreciate the time people take to review the book and I don’t mind criticism at all, I really appreciate the chance to learn what people thing, negative or positive.

“One of my favorite stories ever. This is one of those books you shove in your friends faces screaming IT IS A MASTERPIECE!”

—Yanchos

“The result in part derives from the ways capitalism undermines and exploits everyone’s needs, and complicates an either/or view of the system. Faults abound on each side; these are humans, not pawns in some literary-ideological chess game. There’s rebellion by the Titans, but not all the rebels are saints. It’s complicated, and that’s what I like about it.”

—Dave Schaafsma

“The result is a conspiratorial crucible that will lead to a war, and an unusual love between two people from radically different and incompatible worlds. A science fiction metaphor about racism, labor relations, human rights, thirst for power, populism, and the labor impact of technological progress, drawn in a very interesting graphic style.”

—Artur Coelho (translated from Portuguese)

“I thought this was surprisingly good.”

—Daniel Mossop

“I thought João felt a little cliché and simple but, Phoebe’s backstory and character arc were both well-developed. I enjoyed the artwork throughout and I liked the contrast of shades of pink, black and white. The story was fast-paced and packed a punch in such a quick amount of time. The 20th century music choices included within the story were fantastic too. I also think the ending was really rushed and the other side characters were one-dimensional.”

—Emily

“Part romance, part Sci-Fi action story, part politics and completely a commentary on our own social and political history. A real page-turner.”

—John Woakes

“Even with the almost cartoonish style this is most certainly not a kids comic – this is grown up SF. There’s raw violence here, and even graphic sex. Also the story is an examination of kapitalism and colonialism, transplanted into space. Even if that is a well known story in itself, I was surprised by some of the twists and turns here and the places the story dared to go. The book had enough complexity too to delve back in soon for a second and a third read. For those enjoying science fiction and wanting to read a graphic novel that has nothing in common with super hero comics, this is a great read and highly recommended.”

—Johan Haneveld

“Utterly gripping. I felt as if, in the few hours it took to read, I had experienced years!”

—MariNaomi

“Picked this book up on a whim, so glad I did! A fantastic little self contained sci-fi epic that explores the all too familiar themes of exploitation, greed and the haunting effects of the “us vs them” narrative. It grapples with the idea that what makes us human, the good and the bad of it, stays with us and bears on us regardless of where we are or how much we achieve technologically. There’s nothing particularly ground breaking about the book, but within 200 pages it paints some vivid and haunting pictures and grabs you by the neck. Give it a read!

—Akhil

“There are times when white text is printed on a light(ish) pink background. I hate to say how frustrating this was for me. My eyes simply aren’t good enough to handle that without lighting that’s much brighter than I prefer to read with. Aside from this one issue, I did love the artwork and that minimalistic color palette overall. It drew me in to the story and felt perfect for this off-world setting.

—Monika

“I found the message of the book confusing… It seems to want to be about a slave uprising, yet mostly portrays the revolutionaries as terrorists or duped masses. There are what can be perceived as good and bad people on both sides of a nasty conflict that involves discrimination, oppression, and classism. I just never really engaged with all the moral murkiness.”

—Rod Brown

“This graphic novel was a lot slower than I was expecting it to be. And the random chapter with the sex scene in it felt very forced and way out of the plotline.”

—Heather P.

“Hits all the marks if you’re looking for a scifi story that critiques capitalism and colonialism, even if it’s a bit heavy handed and cliche’d at times. It was fun to read and made me care about the characters and their social circles, but it felt like there was a LOT going on in the short space of pages given. Bonus: The art was so lovely!! Would totally read more graphic novels by this artist again!”

—Tamara

“A wonderfully illustrated graphic novel that proves how relevant science fiction can be to the world we live in now.”

—Erin Cataldi

“MNGR Silva is how we see the situation unfold on Titan, and we follow him throughout the graphic novel. I personally found his personality quite annoying. He came across as if he knew everything and would single-handedly solve every problem that was occurring on Titan. The colour palette is white, black and various shades of pink. This, while a nice change from what I am used to reading, got very confusing at times. My eyes were not drawn to anywhere particular on the page, and nothing stood out to grab my attention.”

—Danielle

“TITAN’s engaging plot is compelled by masterfully sublime characterization; after labor and management literally become bedfellows a workers dispute erupts in violence and the characters are faced with no easy resolution… Within the consistent formal constraint of a 6-panel page grid the cartoonist effectively employs a full suite of tools: an artist’s fully-realized command of figurative portrayal, bold and stylized brush work, a designer’s sense of page layout, a striking and thoughtfully deployed color palette, active backgrounds filled with vehicles and tubes and pipes and consoles shimmering with lines and angles that evoke futuristic Kirby-esque environments. Thoroughly entertaining and insightful TITAN offers thoughtful suggestions about the future challenges – and limitations – of labor and human potential.”

—T Bak

“This book has themes that resonate with our current times.”

—Ellen Scheid

The post TITAN Reader Reviews Part III: One Year Later first appeared on Tour de François.

Covers Album

I was recently invited to pick out three of my favorite comic covers and discuss them for Broken Frontier’s “Covers Album” feature. One thing I really enjoyed was that they asked not just for “three faves” but for one cover each in the categories of Inspirational, Aesthetic, and Pure Nostalgia, which is a great way of approaching it! I’ve included my “Inspirational” choice below, to see the rest of my picks read the whole post over at Broken Frontier!

Inspirational: Love & Rockets #31 (1989) by Jaime Hernandez (Fantagraphics Book)

I was just out of high school when my friend (and brilliant cartoonist) Jonas Madden-Connor thrust an issue of Love & Rockets into my hands and said “You’re gonna love this.” Obviously, he was right. Jaime Hernandez looms large in my personal pantheon of comic book artists, in fact you could probably safely say he’s right at the top. The combination of Jaime’s multi-ethnic, Southern California punk rock subject matter and his super-clean, fifties-style drawing aesthetic was a match made in heaven for me. I ended up writing my thesis on Jaime’s work and I pored over every panel, page, and cover of the Locas saga.

I could easily pick any of a dozen iconic Love & Rockets covers for this (check out this earlier Covers Album post to read Ricky Miller’s appreciation of what is in my mind the ne plus ultra of Jaime covers and comic book covers, period, L&R #24), but I often find myself coming back to this quiet portrait of Hopey and Maggie on the road. This simple image does so many of the things I’m attempting to do with my own art (but so much better than I can do myself, naturally!). There is a fantastic tension in this image that’s reminiscent of great portraiture in painting and photography, I’m simultaneously pulled in by this image and have the impression that I am trespassing, an unwelcome interloper in a self-contained world. The image combines a sort of pure simplicity of line and form (the black spotting in Hopey’s hair and Maggie’s clothes is perfection) with a ton of subtle details (the fold of skin on Hopey’s elbow, the casually held cigarette, the trash cluttering the backseat of the car) that make the scene feel completely lived-in and authentic. It’s a window into a fictional world that I can’t help but want to find out more about.

That is the kind of feeling I’d really like to achieve in my own work, and though I happily don’t hold myself up to the high bar Jaime is setting here, there is still a ton for me to learn in his work. In fact, I did a study of this particular image nearly ten years ago that ran on the late, great Covered blog, and for any artist who is trying to learn the tricks of the trade I’d highly recommend this sort of exercise.

The post Covers Album first appeared on Tour de François.

Orcs in Space Volume One Out Now!

It’s real!

Orcs in Space Volume One is out now! Available wherever you buy books, from your local comic book shop to you favorite indie bookstore, or even online from many, many channels.

Find at your Local Comic Book Shop (JUN211669)Bookshop (benefitting me or your fave indie bookstore)IndieBoundAmazonBarnes & NobleIndigo

Once you have read the book, please consider putting up a rating and review up online, be it on Goodreads, Amazon, or wherever you can post… Reader reviews and word of mouth can make a huge difference in spreading the word on a title and can really help make the book become a success!

I’m hard at work putting the final touches on OIS Volume Two right now, and that collection will be out in February of 2022!

The post Orcs in Space Volume One Out Now! first appeared on Tour de François.

#orcsonas

In celebration of the release of Orcs in Space Volume One this week, I drew an #orcsona for all of the (many!) members of the Orcs in Space team*, which was a lot of fun. I did these pretty quick, so they aren’t close likenesses of me or my collaborators, but I still like ’em and they were fun to do. If my secret plans come to fruition these characters will be re-appearing in Volume 3!

The extended crew!

*Oh and if you are so inclined to draw your own self-portrait as an orc, post it to Instagram with the hashtags #orcsona and #orcsinspace and I will share it, I would love to see what people might come up with!

Abed Gheith, writerRashad Gheith, writerJustin Roiland, writerMichael Tanner, writerFrançois Vigneault, artist & lettererDJ Chavis, coloristDave Pender, color flattingAmanda Meadows, editorJazzlyn Stone, marketing

The post #orcsonas first appeared on Tour de François.

Orcs in Space #5 and #6 in Stores Soon!

Following a short one-month break in October (when the first collection of Orcs in Space will be hitting bookstores everywhere!), the gang is back together for a brand new story arc in November! Orcs in Space #5 will be out on November 10, with the orcs breaking into a factory planet to search for D.O.N.A.’s origins.

Preorder Orcs in Space #5 at your local comic book shop (SEP211657)!

Then issue #6 will be hitting comic book shops on December 15, with all the “Chills! Thrills! And GRIDDLES!” you can handle!

The guys head to Starstop Zitti and encounter mountains of Wally Waffles merch, two-headed restauranteurs, and the most badass gang of cuties (or is it the cutest gang of badasses?) the Fuzzballs.

Preorder Orcs in Space #6 at your local comic book shop (OCT211605)!

Now is the time to order your copies of the new issues and add Orcs in Space to your pull list… Your local comic book shop and I will both be happy!

ORCS IN SPACE #5
PREVIEWS Code: SEP211657
In Stores: 11/10/2021

ORCS IN SPACE #6
PREVIEWS Code: OCT211605
In Stores: 12/15/2021

The post Orcs in Space #5 and #6 in Stores Soon! first appeared on Tour de François.

Five-Finger Pop!

Illustration and book design for Five-Finger Pop!, a series of sheet music by Brock Chart.

The post Five-Finger Pop! first appeared on Tour de François.