Week 1 - 2, About Chris Ware

Chris Ware 

Chris Ware was born in 1967 and in where he was born in Omaha was where he was first impaired by reading Peanuts paperbacks in his grandmother's basement. 

Figure 1 - 'Hee Hee Hee!' - Peanut comics

His work has always been for 'cinematic looks' focusing on typography, iconography and page composition. Comics host other disciplines including writing, drawing, painting, typography, music, theatre and architecture. All of these techniques are apparent through Chris Ware's work. He considers himself not as a self taught artist but a self talk cartoonist. He draws from childhood experiences and by doing this had worked out a recognisable style that was personal to him. 

While attending the University of Texas in Austin, he got his start in published comics. He drew comics regularly for 'The Daily Texcan' which is where he began developing characters such as Quimby Mouse and early versions of Jimmy Corrigon. 

Building a language

Figure 2 - Cover - Ware, C. (2012) Building Stories.

Chris Ware was inspired by Topffer's visual language he created in his art work. He feulled picture stories by combinations of signs working together in sequence creating comics.

Figure 3 - Artwork of Topffer

Another inspiration for Ware was George Herriman. He has borrowed dozens of Herriman's techniques of composition. These comic strips inspired some of Wre's work and the relationship between characters for Sparky the cat and Quimby the Mouse.

Figure 4 - 'Krazy Kat' George Herriman. Page 10. 

Jimmy corrigan 

In 2000 Pantheon Books collected 'Jimmy Corrigan, The Smartest Kid on Earth' re-bradning it as a graphic novel. It sold 50,000+ copies worldwide. Ware wanted to create his characters based on his experiences from childhood and this is strongly depicted in the character Jimmy Corrigan. Ware said he was just like Jimmy 'lonely'. All of Ware's characters began like Jimmy and he starts creating his characters from caricaturing himself which then ends up as a new character.

Figure 5 - COPYRIGHT (2015) Jimmy Corrigan - the smartest kid on earth (2000)

Writing Jimmy Corrigan had a lot of scarily realistic aspects of Ware's life in it. Jimmy was meeting his lost father and the book talks about how he has had no father throughout his childhood. But during the creation, Ware's real long lost father contacted him which played out similar to what Ware had already written. After Ware's meeting with his father he ended the book with the death of Jimmy's father. A few months later he had discovered that his father had also died. The 4-5 hours it takes to read the book is the most time Ware had spent with his father. This shows the detail that goes into the books and how they are all about Chris Ware and have a very personal meaning to him. 

The book 'Building Stories' holds the same physical quantity as the urn holding his father's ashes. 

Gasoline Alley

One piece of work that really stood out for Ware was Gasoline Alley. 

Figure 6 - 'Gasoline Alley' - Frank King. The Chicago Tribute, 1930. page 13

'Gasoline Alley changed a lot of my thinking about comics. It made me realise that the mood of a comic strip did not have to come from the drawing or the words. You go the mood from not looking at the strip to reading the words, but from the act of ready it. The emotion came from the way the story itself is structured. - Chris Ware.

From looking at Chris Ware's work and looking deeper into 'Building a Language', I have a better understanding about his approaches and thought processes, helping me to connect better with his work. I enjoy his colours, and themes throughout, and the juxtaposition between the cartoon style and bright colours with the darkness and intent within his storylines. I enjoyed learning about Jimmy Corrigan and how he was a reflection of Chris Ware's life story and the event that took place during the creation of book in relation to his father. Elements of his work I will carry forward into my own.

Image References

- Figure 1 - PEANUTS (2014) 'Hee Hee Hee!', Twitter, 11 April

- Figure 2 - "Building Storied By Chris Ware | Penguinrandomhouse.Com". Penguinrandomhouse.com. N.P, 2106. Web. 13 Oct. 2016. 

- Figure 3 - Wikiwand. Available at: http://wikiwand.com/fr/Rodolphe_Töpffer (Accessed: 9 December 2016)

- Figure 4 - 'Krazy Kat' George Herriman, page 10.

- Figure 5 - COPYRIGHT (2015) Jimmy Corrigan - the smartest kid on earth (2000)

- Figure 6 - 'Gasoline Alley' - Frank King. The Chicago Tribute, 1930. page 13

Bibliograph

- Artist bio - Chris Ware (2007) Available at : http://fantagraphics.com/flog/artist-bio-chris-ware/ (Accessed: 30th September 2016)

- "Building Storied By Chris Ware | Penguinrandomhouse.Com". Penguinrandomhouse.com. N.P, 2106. Web. 13 Oct. 2016. (Accessed: 30th September 2016)

- COPYRIGHT (2015) Jimmy Corrigan - the smartest kid on earth (2000) 1. Available at http://gogocomic.net/jimmy-corrigan---the-smartest-kid-on-earth-2000/jimmy-corrigan---the-smartest-kid-on-earth-2000-chapter-1.html (Accessed: 30th September 2016)

-  PEANUTS (2014) 'Hee Hee Hee!'. Twitter, 11 April. Availiable at: https://twitter.com/Snoopy/status/454716919338115072/photo/1 (Accessed: 30th September 2016)

- Raeburn, D. (2004) University of Gloucestershire Available at: https://contentstore.cla.co.uk/secure/link?id=024eada1-9880-e611-80c6-005056af4099 (Accessed: 30th September 2016). - sourced from PDF. 

- Wikiwand. Available at: http://wikiwand.com/fr/Rodolphe_Töpffer (Accessed: 30th September 2016)