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Great news! The artwork for the graphic novel is done (bar little tweaks here and there) and it looks terrific! We don’t have a specific pub date for this yet—sometime in 2010—but we do at least have a title. This is called THE EXILE (An OUTLANDER graphic novel).
I took some of the artwork with me to DragonCon last weekend (I did the Decatur Book Festival and DragonCon more or less simultaneously, which made for an interesting time all round), and was very pleased that everyone who saw it raved about it.
In celebration, here are two more sample pages, to show off Hoang’s mastery of color and light (and anatomy). One small note: Please don’t nab these pictures and go posting them all over the net. I don’t own the copyright; that belongs to the artist, Hoang Nguyen, and these are posted here by his kind permission and that of the Ballantine editor. If you’d like to share these with your friends—and I’m all for it [g]—please just send them a link to this page.
re:Shakir said…
i agree, i liked the first claire so much better. her face was so much softer and more what "my" claire looked like when i read the books.
I wasn't looking at his eyes. *g*
Seriously, congratulations, Diana. I look forward to Echo this month and to the graphic novel in '10.
I love the look of Jamie. Does anyone else think Claire, in the bottom panel, looks like Celine Dion? I agree with Jen who pictures Claire with rounder and softer facial features and a slimmer face shape. I would add a less sharp nose and chin and slightly larger, fuller mouth. But that's just adding my $.02 to Jen's.
I really have no idea how difficult it might be to do convincing body hair in this type of artwork. [g] Personally, I'd rather have none than have it look ape-like or gross, but I'll inquire–there are relatively few bare-chested scenes, after all.
As for Claire…look, guys, there are more than a hundred pages with pictures of her. The page I posted here shows her drowning, hauled up like a wet rat, and bedraggled. Take my word for it, she looks _different_ from one scene to another, just like most folks would if compared drowning vs. combed and styled for their wedding or neatly dressed for an official "sweetheart" portrait. Dinna fash.
This is a small thing, but Jamie's hands were beautifully drawn! Blunt fingers and all…gorgeous.
I forgot to add…I love the look captured on Jamie's face as he is looking at his mother's pearls; so much emotion is displayed in his eyes. Amazing.
Dear Diana~
You are being so very gracious to tolerate and/or accept our comments on these sample drawings. My hat's off to you…..
Just wanted to add one more: the way Hoang portrays Jamie's damaged back is beautiful, if heart wrenching. I really have to hand it to him. Tell him thank you.
Midge
Thanks for taking the chest hair request into consideration. I agree, if it doesn't translate in that media, then he best left as is and I really have no complaint about that! You just did such a wonderful job of describing Jamie's body that I am hoping we can see it in *almost* all of it's glory.
Is it just me or does Claire look too 'waif-like'? I mean very young and untouched by the world. Which Claire really isn't. Shouldn't she be looking, I dunno, like she's vexed at being there with BJR and she's just done some naughty things in his 'office'? Does that make sense?
Here's an anime that a Japanese friend of mine did of me from a photo(I was NOT in a suit or carrying a weapon)– http://www.jpgbox.com/jpg/5858_500x375.jpg
I think Claire should have a kind of snarky look about her as well.
I try not to think about it too much, but I think that this is my most anticipated 'book' ever. I cannot wait!!!
Dear Diana,
I'm really interested to learn about the process involved in producing a graphic novel – or at least how you have experienced it. How did Hoang came to learn all the detail about the characters (because there's a lot of it!)? Did he read the first book or did you write up profiles or have a basic story in place including details? For example, Joss Whedon had a script which was then illustrated for the 'Serenity' graphic novels – the difference there is that his characters already existed on the screen so there was no question of what they should look like. I'd love to hear about your experiences…
Cheers.
Dear Claire–
Hoang read the novel, and made a couple of preliminary sketches, on which I gave him feedback. Then we kind of started in. [g] I wrote the script in pieces, much as I do novels, but somewhat more linearly, and he began doing pencil pages from the beginning, giving these to me and the editor for feedback before doing them in color.
These are amazing. This is the first I've heard of it (computer was down awhile). Can't wait. Jonesing for Echo like everyone else. Thanks Diana for sharing.
Carol L.
Lucky4750@aol.com
The water scene is simply beautiful. Hoang may be the Monet of the GN world [g].
Jamie! What can I say but 'hubba hubba!'
BJR looks even meaner than I expected. Scary. Now have to seriously revise my ideas about Frank's appearance.
And Murtagh. Wow. I thought he was a wee crabbit weasel of a man, but he's almost more gorgeous than Jamie [g].
Thanks so much for sharing these Diana. The finished work should be amazing.
What beautiful artwork! I love the colors and that there is so much movement on the pages. My eyes keep finding more to see everytime I look. I'm anxious for more.
I disagree with the addition of body hair. Jamie is a 22/23, fair, red haired man. He would not have much body hair. You can almost see his oxter in one scene. That's enough. LOL!
Diana,
My heaven's we are in for quite a treat. I'm so impressed with Hoang's work, and how he has captured the essence of these characters that we love so much – even the shape and constitution of Jamie's ears and hands and legs. (And is that a hint of a three cornered scare we see on Jamie's throat?) Just seeing Jack Randall, all dressed in crisp white, made me shudder…literally. I'm sure we all see little nuances that differ from what we've seen in our mind's eye, and I'm sure there will be some minor corrections and editing, but overall – wow! Cannot wait to see these characters come to full-color life. I'm more excited about the release of The Exile than I would be about a full-length motion picture. Congrats to both you and Mr Hoang and thanks again.
Wow – the graphics look fantastic! I can't wait to get my hands on this next year!
The artwork does look very Asian…forgive me but there is something very pokemon about it. I'm not saying the man is not a good artist, but I'm disappointed in especially Clare's face…..big face but tiny features….looks weird. I guess I wanted them to look less cartooney. And yeah, where are those blue eyes??? hope a lot more tweeking is yet to come : (
These images are just SO beautiful, and they don't seem to conflict with my internal imaginings of people's appearances. I can't wait to see the whole shebang! Do you have an idea when this will be released?
Wonder what the comments will be like if they ever make a movie. We will definitely be going over the actor cast for Jamie with a fine tooth comb. This guy seems to match the description of the young Jamie in the book as close as any I have seen. I think he would be a good candidate for the movie if that ever happens. He doesn't look it but he is twenty-four.
http://www.blisstree.com/files/45/2008/05/chase-crawford-nc.jpg