Monday 5 December 2016

More Inks

More work in progress showing another page of new artwork. The page layout process seems to be the longest part of the planning process - this can take quite a while getting it sorted. Once I am satisfied that the layout works, the actual pencilling and inking part proceeds relatively smoothly.

Copyright 2016 Zak Waipara

Saturday 3 December 2016

Wider world of Otea

Artwork showing the wider world of Otea with denizens from the sea. These were originally prepared for Chromacon 2015 (NZ Indie Arts Festival), the image on the left is from the Chromacon Anthology, and the smaller image on the right is a postcard I designed for the show. Chromacon will be held again on April 8-9, 2017 at the Aotea Centre, Auckland.

Copyright Zak Waipara

Saturday 23 January 2016

Create Readers Review

I was really honoured and pleased to read a great review of Otea: Rock of Ages 1 recently, in the National Library's Services to Schools Create Readers blog.

The librarian (or teacher?) who wrote the review chose a photograph to go along with it of Panekire Bluff, above Lake Waikaremoana, which I could completely envisage within the fictional world of Otea. It confirms for me what an amazing landscape for stories we have in Aotearoa.


Copyright Zak Waipara

The review is particularly interesting, because it focuses on how teachers might use the comic to support learning about writing and illustrating in the graphic novel form. For instance, at the end of the issue I have included a few pages of notes - some explanations of my creative decisions in the story, character sketches, and draft page layouts. I simply enjoy reading about the working process of other writers and artists, and was thinking about what I would like to see myself! But this review reminds me that these notes can be useful for teaching and learning too...

Check out the review here:
http://schools.natlib.govt.nz/blogs/create-readers/15-11/tea-rock-ages-zak-waipara