Idea Development

Originally, I wanted to produce four 20-page graphic novels as my Final Major Project, with the majority of pages being dedicated to the story and the rest being concept art from the production of these novels. I also wanted the production to be in black-and-white using mostly traditional media to illustrate the novels.

However, through the use of tutorials I was able to learn that this would be too much to produce for the final deadline, and was encouraged to cut down the series from four novels to three. Ultimately this led me to further cut down from three to just one full-length graphic novel. I believe the choice to focus on the planning and production of a single novel was the correct approach to the FMP, as it allowed me to become more invested in the composition and narrative of the first chapter in the series in a way that would not have been afforded to me had I pursued the completion of all four novels.

As my project was significantly changed, I expanded the single graphic novel to a 24-page book, but retained the idea of producing it traditionally in black-and-white, as I prefer to illustrate by hand than digitally. While this could be seen as less professional, I believe it gives a personal touch to the visuals of the novel and this helped to deepen my own investment in the story. Through these changes, the story concepts and themes of the narrative remained largely unchanged from the mythological and science-fiction inspiration.

The decision to produce one graphics novel instead of four also offered me the opportunity to produce the other novels after the module has ended - enabling me to replicate the effective production methods and success I found in creating the first novel with the rest of the series. I believe this will give me a strong starting project as I become an independent illustrator and begin work on my own projects and interests in my own time. This is important because I am passionate about this story and want it to be told through my writing and illustration.

As the research and ideas for these graphic novels continue to develop, I aim to have produced a finished novel to present at the Degree Show. This will bring the production of the project for this module to an end and I will then be able to reflect on my expectations for the novels compared to the finished thing. This will help me to improve upon my work and keep striving to create better versions of this story with more refined illustrations that represent the visuals of the story that are accurate to my vision. I have learned many things over the development process, and will learn many more as the first graphic novel is eventually completed and the FMP module is brought to a close.