Comics!

Today I went against my better judgement and walked into the Slegte (a bookstore with used books). There I found "Strips tekenen en schrijven", by Duc. It's an old book about comics that I've read many times at the library before they didn't have it any more. They threw it away, lost it, or sold it and I missed it, or whatever.

It might be one of the first books I read when I seriously started to think about drawing comics myself. It's not a theory book like Scott McCloud makes, or a "how to" like all those series about manga. It's more a dissecting of a lot of mostly European/French books into the essentials to show people what it takes to make a great comic in whatever genre, or style that you want. For example: it explains about viewpoints and it´s effects and also about use of colour and techniques used to draw lines. All with lots of examples out of real comics, so drawn by people who are good at what they do so you can see what's really possible.

Anyway I found I was really happy to have found it again: like meeting an old friend after many years. So of course I bought it

I'm also really looking forward to colouring the next two pages for Willy and Evita. The story line is almost finished and I'm aching to start something new. Maybe not with Willy and Evita, or if I do, in a different way. I'm thinking about:

1) a comic with true stories, mixed or not with a little fiction. It would have events of my own life in it, mixed with events of other people's lives that would be changed so it would be more about "events like that" and not exactly about "those events".

2) a comic with words that are part of the image. Though if I do that I'll have to choose if I use Dutch or English... I could also make this idea a series of short comics, a few, or even just one page and make some Dutch and some English.

3) a big story for Willy and Evita (and the boy). I have a few ideas that I could fit together in one big story, but it's not ready, I have no idea bow to begin that or if I can finish it. It's a bit vague...

Also I've been asked why I draw Willy and Evita. Some people assume I do it because I want to publish the stories. But I didn't really think about that when I started drawing.
Others say my stories are mostly for children, but not always and that that would make it hard to find a publisher. It made me wonder if I really want to draw for kids and if I should be more consistent, or if I should just forget about all those people and draw what I want to draw and don't worry about who it's for, or if I should draw for adults and see if I can make a story for them...

The comic with true stories might be a better direction if I really want to draw for adults

Sorry about this rambling. It's late and I felt like sharing and I shared a bit too much maybe...