Posted in: Comics | Tagged: Comics, entertainment

Carving Something New In The Art And Comic World: 1629

Published Sun, 08 Nov 2015 09:00:58 -0600

Chris Lauto writes,

When I embarked on this idea five years ago many people told me I was crazy, a masochist, or just plain stupid. The typical conversation that always seems to engross an artist or entrepreneur every time they embark on something new. (Aside from the masochist part, I think that's just me.) I would argue, however, that doubt is always a part of any project's beginning. Sometimes I begin to wonder if, when an artist tells of their fight against the faithless, are they being honest or are they just playing the victim card? I have found that so many of us experience these questions of our sanity for two reasons. One our project actually sucks and it truly is a stupid idea or two because in these conversations there is a tremendous amount of truth. How can we tell the difference? I have found simply by allowing our ideas and projects to be judged and criticized by many we can understand what is good and what sucks. Yes it is true that many people's opinions will count for garbage, but with our own faith and a clear mind we can see if people would be truly interested in our project. So when we are called crazy, should we listen? I would say that, we as artists, are almost always crazy to some extent but that is where we derive the vision and creativity that others lack. Our craziness is only perceived as such because our vision does not match up to their personal understanding of the world. That is why we create while they watch.

The graphic novel, 1629 is my crazy and masochistic project. Yes people really did tell me I was crazy and yes I believed them but every time someone called me crazy it was coupled with, "I think this is the coolest thing ever." So I began to realize that what people were calling crazy was not the idea, but rather the pain educing amount of labor and time that would need to go into completing this project. Upon realizing this, I had a choice: do or do not, I can't try. If I try, the labor and effort would subdue me in days. I needed a push and two years ago I found that push. After three years of writing and planning I began my MFA at Queens College. I decided to make the first issue of 1629 my thesis and goal, which this past week I accomplished. I showed my work, designs, character development, and actual pages in the gallery on campus but the biggest step forward, for me, was the decision to take this project further. I decided to gather a group of specialized individuals in history, comics, and business to start a Kickstarter campaign so that all of you can read and share in the excitement that is 1629.

So what is so special about this graphic novel? Why is making a graphic novel a dumb idea or even masochistic? There have been hundreds if not thousands of comics and graphic novels made, and no one seems to think the people who made those graphic novels are crazy. That's because they didn't carve the whole book out of linoleum first. As an illustrator drawing, inking, and painting are my passion and craft. However I decided that if I were going to embark on a project genre that already has too many people working in it, I would need to try something different. Hence my other love, printmaking, stepped forward. I wanted to tell a story during a historical period, using historical places, and cultural biases to enhance and drive my tale. Linoleum, as a style, lends itself to the days of the Gutenberg press and the beginning of print medium. Understanding this and with the excitement of working in an era of swords, guns, superstition, and chaos I chose the 17^th century as my playground. I mean who doesn't like the era of the three musketeers? Using the medium of Linoleum I am now able to create, not only a great comic, but also an exquisite work of art. To my knowledge, besides the work of Lynd Ward, an entire graphic novel out of printed lino cuts has never been done. This means 1629 will be the first graphic novel of it's kind. Yes, this process does extend the time to make each page, two and a half days (depending on the page's complexity) to be exact but that's not the point. We all know anything good is difficult and anything worthwhile is something that is cared for and grown. 1629 is just that, a precious work of fine art and a killer graphic novel.

My hope is that this project will begin to open new doors into creative and fun ways to create graphic novels. Perhaps even opening a new wave of artists to express their thoughts and creativity in the graphic novel medium. The Kickstarter campaign is just the beginning. We want to push 1629's first book and future books onto shelves and hands across the world but we need your help. We need your support and faith to make this project a success. So to show you that we are faithful in you and this project, when any Bleeding Cool reader backs 1629 this weekend I will create a full page illustration print of epic proportions just for Bleeding cool supporters of 1629 to thank all of you. Now I'm not talking a bland page of thank for all your help…NO I am talking an action packed page of PURE GRATITUDE! Furthermore if we hit our goal due to your support I'll make it a two-page spread. You have nothing to loose, only to gain all you have to do is put in CODE: BLEED1629 in the messages section when you back the 1629 at any level and you receive the extra print.

Ideas and dreams are something we all have as artists and creators. Yet so many of us fall short of accomplishing those dreams, and usually for very legitimate reasons. We cannot, however, let a lack of determination be one of those reasons. Sometimes once that goal is reached we then need others to believe in our dreams or quite simply to enjoy the product of our hard work. I know 1629 is a great project and I ask you to let me share it with you.