Don’t forget to pre-order your copy of the first book! :]

OH! And keep voting!
thank you!

I went to college at the University of California, Santa Cruz and received my Bachelors of Arts in Psychology in 2007 with a hunger for knowledge. Post-graduation, I spent two years working in the field with special needs children suffering from various disabilities. It’s been rewarding but one thing always lingered on my mind that one of my teachers said before I left: “When you graduate, pay attention to where you gravitate. That will be your calling, not necessarily what you majored in.” This is what led me to pursue a graduate degree in my true passion–art.

Since graduation I have started my own company called The Noir Project (TNP Press), which is a collective of web-comic artists working together to promote one another with the ultimate goal of making a living off of what we love to do. I’ve taken the group to different conventions including the Alternative Press Expo in San Francisco. This year we will be making our first appearance at the world’s biggest comic convention–San Diego Comic Con International. Since deciding to do art professionally, I’ve set many goals for myself, each building on the other. I started an online comic, created a community for artists like me to work together, promoted my work at conventions and am now in the progress of developing and self publishing my very own graphic novel under my pen name, Joenis Norac.

Despite ultimately pursuing illustration, all of my work has been heavily influenced by my background in psychology. I have an art website called “Unconscious Ink” ([ui]) in which I explore conceptual ideas that my mind wants to express and sometimes those suggested to me by visitors to my site. I’ve been using this as a platform to not only establish a presence for myself as an artist on the web, but to continually challenge and develop my skills. While posting my illustrations on [ui], I was developing my most recent project, “Anhedonia Blue.” The comic moves through the mind of a girl who suffers from a major depressive disorder, the specific symptoms of which are expressed as those of an anhedonic nature– the inability to feel pleasure or even a connection to the people around her. This is the vehicle I use to develop an understanding of various mystical and mythical themes in fantasy writing such as magic and folklore. The concept that I have been working on for over a year applies these ancient ideas with a more modern reflection of the current world view through an understanding of psychology, religion and a loss of strong emotional networks between people. Anhedonia Blue is my proposed concept for my MFA Thesis Project, though it will run beyond the span of my education I’d like to publish at least the first book by the completion of my degree.

Now that I’ve started to get my foot in the industry, I feel accomplished but am not ready to slow down my growth. I’m ready to keep pushing forward. The Academy of Art is the next step in my set of goals. I would like to improve my skills in drawing the human figure as well as in conceptual character art and landscapes. Artistically, in the last year, my work has grown significantly, but I feel that, with a bit of structured guidance, it can improve exponentially more. When I found out that I could work on my graphic novel while working with a university grade professor I knew that this was the program for me. When I complete my MFA I have plans to self publish Anhedonia Blue into a series of books that arch three major defining plot lines. I plan to not only take these books to the conventions I will be attending but to also use it to continue getting work outside of self-publishing and promoting with the ultimate goal to turn my passion into a profession. I believe that working alongside The Academy of Art on this project will allow me to  turn my dream into a reality.

Portfolio

Description List:
1. Architecture & Full Page Comic
2. Two Point Perspective
3. Clothed Human Figure [w/ perspective]
4. Comic Single Panel Example
5. Creative Panel Layout
6. Sketches of figures from life
7. Quick Hand & Head Warm-up
8. Human Figure I
9. Human Figure II
10. Random Illustration Collection 11. Comic Replication Study
12. Character Replication Study
13. Random Illustration II
14. Human Figure and Design I
15. Human Figure and Design II
16. Perspective & Photoshop Techniques

1. Architecture & Full Page Comic

The opening page to Anhedonia Blue, is part of my portfolio submission primarily to display what I am capable of doing architecturally. This drawing was done in pencil from a reference photograph of a bus stop in downtown Seattle. The penciling took me about 5 hours to complete. Once scanned and brought into Photoshop the coloring and texturing took me several more hours. Over all it took me about two days of work. This was my first attempt at doing a full page on the industry standard 11×17 Bristol board and working in full color/texture.

2. Two Point Perspective

Example of 2 Point Perspective with character walking across the plane. I’ve removed the text to allow easier view of the building and different artistic elements of detail that may have been covered in the finalized version. View finalized web published page

3. Clothed Human Figure [w/ perspective]

Third panel of Page 12 of Anhedonia Blue. This perspective is from the view of the unseen creature looking up at the dice and her. Though this is in comic book form the angel is taken from a real life photograph. At this point I’ve changed the way I draw my comic to exclusively drawing on my tablet rather than paper and pencil due to time constraints.

4. Comic Single Panel Example

This is the second panel of the most recent post of Anhedonia Blue. It is the best example of any of my current drawings in terms of what I would like my character designs to ultimately look like. I feel that I’ve finally started to get the proportions of my characters down better. In the past I’ve had a bad habit of elongating torsos and other parts of the body (first piece in the portfolio is a solid example of that). Understanding that cartoons often have elongated features, I let it go for the time being, but they still don’t feel right.

5. Creative Panel Layout

I chose this piece as an example of how I am trying to learn how to come up with creative panel structures rather than the straight forward typical panels set directly next to one another. In this, I try to move the readers eye from the top of the page down, as the creature in this page is falling, not just into the page, but into the main characters life.

6. Sketches of figures from life

A collection of hands and figure sketches that I’ve done over time.

7. Quick Hand & Head Warm-up

This is to show the basic way I go about drawing hands and heads. Though I’ve still not mastered either of these I have been improving by started each drawing session with a small warm up. I First draw a simple general line sketch, which I dim and then delete after i do a boxy more structured version on an above layer. The final version you see is a black layer on a third layer above that. If this wasn’t an exercise I would maybe do the last step another time to have tighter more realistic lines (if needed).

8. Human Figure I

An early pencil sketch of my character Eydis.

9. Human Figure II

I actually drew this around 1997-1998 before I stopped drawing for a few years. I honestly can’t remember where the inspiration or reference for this came from, but I do know that the character in this is Aeris from Final Fantasy VII. I felt this was a strong representation of my abilities at the time.

9. Random Illustration Collection

A collection of random Illustrations that I post every Wednesday and Friday at my art portfolio website under the branded name Unconscious Ink [ui] and have sold as prints at conventions.

10. Comic Replication Study

Before starting my comic I started opening comic books and finding challenging pages that I would ideally like to be able to draw like. I drew this by hand first with blue guided rougher sketches and then overlaying ink to refine the details. I figured this been the way that comics have traditionally been done so it would be the best way to learn how to draw comics. This drawing came out way nicer than I am currently capable of, partly because I have a fear of shading with solid black lines, but it’s a fear I’ve slowly begun to rid myself of as I see the importance of it. [ The characters and actual art are taken from Spawn by Todd Mcfarlane. These are NOT originals, just replications to build my skills.]

11. Character Replication Study

None of these drawing are “originals” in the sense that the poses and characters are not mine. In my constant drive to artistically get better I often take moments of time to stop and draw other peoples work to learn the way that other people do things. I’ve been learning how to better use my tablet so i opened up one of my favorite comic artists websites and found a few interesting poses and drew them. I was happy with the quality of the line art.  Since doing these sets of drawings I’ve been constantly pushing to replicate this style and incorporate it more and more into my comic. [Characters are property of Trudy Cooper of Platinum Grit.]

12. Random Illustration II

Random Spoof drawing of the popular movie Twilight that I did for my readers at Unconscious Ink.

13. Human Figure and Design I

This is a drawing of my character Eydis, along with a collection of design elements I’ve used both in my comic and for my websites.

14. Human Figure and Design II

Another example of a drawing of my character Eydis, along with a collection of design elements I’ve used both in my comic and for my websites.

15. Perspective & Photoshop Techniques

Finally I placed this one in to show one of my more recent attempts of playing with perspective and trying to enhance that angle of view by lightly blurring the figure behind centering your main focus on the creature in the front even though there is a girl undressing in the back completely unaware of this matter.

Thank You for taking the time to look over my art work!

-Denis “Joenis Norac” Caron

Resume

PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE

Channel Island Social Services,  Camarillo, Ca (805) 384-0983
Respite Care Worker
July 2007 – Aug 2008 | Feb  2009 – Present

• In home care with children who have mental disabilities, primarily autism.
• I provide respite to parents who have stressful lives and need to take understandable time from their children to keep up their spirits.
• Task include: feeding, administering medication, bathing

Creative Living Services,  Seattle, Wa (206) 352-0354
In Home Care Giver
Sept 2008 – Jan 2009

• In home care for 4 elderly people inflicted with various disorders; Blind, dementia, M.R.  & Mute
• Task include: feeding, administering medication, bathing, driving to appointments.

Staples,  Seattle, Wa (206) 352-8644
Print & Production Center Associate
August 2008 – Jan 2009

• Producing prints and copies of clients mass produced books, pamphlets, etc
• Banner and sign production
• Graphic modification and touch-ups
• Customer service and task management

TNP Press, 2007 – Current
Co-Founder | Manager

• Web Master – Over seeing design and overall performance of websites as well as general server maintenance and setups for all sites hosted by TNP Press.
• Organizing and attending various conventions (presently only on the west coast)
• Advertising
• Budget Management

Website: TNPPress.com

Rush Haven Design,  2009 – Current
Web Master & Designer

• Website design and implementation
• Knowledge/Skill Sets: CSS, HTML, PHP (basic), JavaScript
• Customer Relations
• Project Manager – delegating work between the RH Team

Website: RushHavenDesign.com

EDUCATION

University of California, Santa Cruz, 2005-2007
Bachelors of Art in Psychology

Moorpark College, 2003-2005
Associates of Art

Pickin’ up our badges, and a few other things

When we first got to San Fransisco, the exhibitors were invited to a pre-show “mixer” which took place at The Last Gasp, an independent publishing company’s headquarters / warehouse… which honestly was the weirdest/surreal experience ever. Ali and I really weren’t sure what to make of it at first but the longer we were there we were able to warm up to it because the place was so odd it was near impossible to NOT love it! Also, once we met up with Philippa Rice (who we hadn’t met prior), things started to get more interesting. Unfortunately, we got there late and the mixer ended too soon for us and we had to head out.

Some of the random shit everywhere @ Last Gasp

Random Picture of Ali and I

We had to wake up at the crack of dawn to get to the Concourse to set up as quickly as we could, which we got late too as well because we had to print out last minute banners with our names on them because Ali insisted we have them. After breakfast and printing, we got there just a little bit before the event opened. Set up was really stressful but luckily the stress was short lived because we had several people helping us get things together.

Our Booth

The Gang: Ali, Me, Ana, Philippa, Adam (Phil’s Boyfriend), Shawn (Ali’s brother {off camera})

Some of Our Merch

Ready for Buisness!

Philippa Rice of My Cardboard Life

Micheal May of Eros Inc

Nathan Olsen & Robert Olsen of Haiku Comics

Just for fun, I found this Obama PLASTERED car funny; it was parked outside of a Kinko’s in San Fransisco!

This is the cover page of the first book “Serendipity,” it is one of three (or four) books, each will have its own over arching theme and set of chapters, so occasionally there will pages like this to let you know where we are. I promise you though, I’m trying to make the pacing of this story fairly fast and interesting. I’m still writing the middle/end of the story, but for the most part I know exactly what is going to happen. The possibility of their being a fourth book will all depend on if i feel the section I’ve been brainstorming is crucial or not AND the popularity of this comic overall. With that, I’d like to ask any and all of you who will be taking this journey with me to vote for my comic every week (if not several times a week) at Top Webcomics to help me spread the word! :] You can do so by clicking the vote button on the sidebar, by clicking the vote button in the menu bar at the top of the site or by just clicking this button below. Occasionally ill have secret images, teasers and previews to this and my other project, [ui] as a vote incentive as well. By simply clicking that button and doing the little prompt you can make a world of difference in helping my baby thrive. I’m very proud of this comic, the story and the artwork so far and I hope it shows.

Anyway, thank you all who have come to see Anhedonia off and I hope you guys enjoy my story.

That’s right! I along with Ali Showkati of SSWestern and Philippa Rice of My Cardboard Life will be representing TNPPress this year at APE [Alternative Press Expo] 2009 on October 17-18th at the San Francisco Concourse Exhibition Center! I’m super thrilled about this event. The next few weeks up till it are going to be busy ones as I prep Unconscious Ink Button packs, Prints, promo cards and possibly a plushy (if I can get everything together in time). I will be there exhibiting Unconscious Ink and Reeder Rabbit, but my primary focus is to promote Anhedonia Blue which i plan to release around that same time. If you can come buy I’ll have a few free items in promotion of it, as well as possible sneak peaks and character designs. :] Hope to see you all there.

Our booths are: 275 & 276a

In case you needed another dose of un-fulfilling teaser, here’s another one! Anyway, if you notice I’ve also written on the bottom of the image that it is copyrighted by Denis Caron, not Joenis Norac. This is because for this project I decided to go with my birth name rather than a random Pen Name that I created. Lately I sort of feel over it… It’s hard to introduce yourself to new people as Joenis sometimes and Denis other times. It didn’t feel fake, but It felt like i was lieing to the people I met. Weird feeling.

When I first started Reeder Rabbit I would always reflect back on there humor when i was writing; though I will have to admit, I was never as funny/random as they are. As i started growing artistically, and found myself bored with trying to be funny (when i obviously wasn’t), I had stumbled across Andrew Bell’s Creatures in my Head. This was something new and different from everything else on the web. It fit my personality more; weird, twisted, and cute? So I started [ui] as a way to grow and explore the weirder side of my art. In fact, the reality of it is Unconscious Ink really is just a art exploration blog more than a “Web-Comic”. I will be the first to admit that in the start my site was just a cheap rip off of Andy’s works, but that was never my intent; I just needed a starting point to start my artistic exploration with. In fact when I started Unconscious Ink, I wasn’t really all that great with Photoshop, Reeder was originally drawn on some crap note pad program that didn’t have layers. Let me tell you this was a true pain in the ass. The shift from that program to Photoshop was a painful one, I didn’t have a clue what I was doing. I still would draw on one lay for the first first strips, eventually moved into layers but had no clue what textures or shading where, then got frustrated with tablets and started hand drawing and scanning everything… which had it own set of pain to learn. This was the point when i started really looking into Andrew’s art more; He doesn’t tablet draw most of his post, he inks. When i finally figured out his techniques I applied them to my growing knowledge of Photoshop and started Reeder Rabbit over till i got bored again. Long story short, every project has been a developmental process towards bigger and better projects.

I’ve got a lot of ideas stirring around in my little mind: A graphic novel (which all the that nonsense i just jabbered about is helping me develop), Some plushies and vinyl toys (which Unconscious Ink essentially at this point a set of blue prints for), and even more junk that may or may not ever even get started. It was interesting to learn after my interviews that I’m not the only artist who has a hundred ideas creeping around in their minds. Chris Yates, creator of the Poop Sign and many really awesome artistic puzzles, confessed the same thing in my interview with him. I’m hoping that in the next year some of these projects will start moving along.

Next milestone: APE [Alternative Press Expo] – Can’t wait for October to come already! :]

For now, i hope you enjoy the update and I’ll see you back at Unconscious Ink [ui] until launch! [UI] will of course continue as scheduled, even when Anhedonia launches i will post new inklings weekly. Post may or may not decrease to once a week at that point though so that I don’t get overloaded with TNP, UI and Anhedonia all at once!

I guess I’ll just lay it out there now. I am afraid that I will not be able to paint the picture from my mind directly to canvas without my current abilities getting in the way.

So what am i doing to get around this? Draw Draw Draw! Recently I got a copy of Poser 7 in hopes that i can use this as a supplementary tool to actually going to any life drawing classes for the time being. I’m hoping to have an update soon on how I am going about using it to help me draw my characters as well as a short tutorial on how to use it in the first place. I find that as an artist I have been learning something new everyday, and would love to show/help anyone else who probably is struggling on the same things I am. Anyway, I’ve only played with Poser for a little bit so far and it’s already proving to be a tremendous help! My next update will more then likely be a Poser post.