Telling Tales is a collection of the comics I did while attending the Comics and Graphic Novels program at Camosun College in Victoria, BC., It includes three eight-page and several one-page stories, as well as a four page story I made in Ken Steacy’s continuing education course at the same college. Here are some of the stories:
The cover for Telling Tales, with all of the major characters from the stories. Even comics characters have to have some relaxation time!
(click on any of the pictures below to embiggen)
Mak: my first comic story, made during the aforementioned evening course. It is drawn in pen and ink with india ink washes. This is how I wake up every morning…
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- MAK page 1 – in which the hypnotic quality of love is discovered.
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- MAK page 2 – in which the power of the purr is revealed.
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- MAK page 3 – in which accidental betrayal occurs and chaos ensues.
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- MAK page 4 – in which the dream is achieved
Horse Sense: a loosely semi-demi-hemi-autobiographical tale about having a first riding lesson. Yes, there was a Mary — she didn’t look like the one in this story but she did teach me to ride. And yes, there was a Big Ben, and he was really a retired race horse. I loved him with all the passion of a horse-crazy ten-year-old. This story is dedicated to him and to Mary, and to my Mom for letting me take lessons.
Drawn in pen and ink and coloured with my then-rudimentary Photoshop skills.
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- Horse Sense, page 1 Birthday dreams
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- Horse Sense, page 2 Anticipation
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- Horse Sense, page 3 Things are not as imagined!
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- Horse Sense, page 4 The perils of overconfidence
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- Horse Sense, page 5 A crisis of self-confidence
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- Horse Sense, page 6 A new view of the world
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- Horse Sense, page 7 Welcome aboard
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- Horse Sense, page 8 Resilience and a new plan
Tam Lin: my favourite, ancient, Scottish ballad. Back in the days before TV, people used to keep themselves entertained by singing really long narrative songs. It was also a way of teaching history or current events. If you’d like to hear a lovely version of this song, look it up on YouTube, as sung by Sandy Denny of Fairport Convention.
Drawn in pen and ink, balloons and lettering added in InDesign.
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- Tam Lin, Page 1
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- Tam Lin, Page 2
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- Tam Lin, Page 3
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- Tam Lin, Page 4
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- Tam Lin, Page 5
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- Tam Lin, Page 6
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- Tam Lin, Page 7
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- Tam Lin, Page 8
Cougar Annie: the story of a legendary pioneer of Vancouver Island. For this project, I chose to tell about the period of her life when she moved to the island as a homesteader. If you would like to read more about her life, an excellent book (and my primary reference) is Cougar Annie’s Garden, by Margaret Horsfield.
Drawn in pen and ink, hand lettered, coloured with watercolour.
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- Cougar Annie, Page 1
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- Cougar Annie, Page 2
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- Cougar Annie, Page 3
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- Cougar Annie, Page 4
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- Cougar Annie, Page 5
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- Cougar Annie, Page 6
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- Cougar Annie, Page 7
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- Cougar Annie, Page 8
Karen Gillmore Art 
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Hi I loved your books! Amazing job. I especially like the one about Cougar Annie. I am finishing off my research for an animation and stumbles across this!!!
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Thank you! Are you doing an animation about Cougar Annie?
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