To boil down a classic like “The Odyssey” or “The Iliad” into a graphic novel, illustrator Gareth Hinds pours over multiple translations of the book, makes a series of rough sketches and then figures out how to tell the mammoth stories in words anyone can understand.
Hinds, who lives in Hyattsville, spoke to about 40 College Park residents and visitors at City Hall on May 22 about his artistic process and to give a demonstration of his drawing.
“I’ve been drawing ever since I could hold a crayon, a marker, a pen,” Hinds said. “When I was about 4 or 5 years old my drawing became more sophisticated.”
Hinds, who has published a dozen books based on literary masterpieces like “Macbeth,” “Romeo and Juliet,” and “Beowulf,” was promoting his latest graphic novel, an adaptation of “The Aeneid,” which will be published in March 2027 by Candlewick Press.
“The Aeneid,” written in the first century BCE by the Roman poet Virgil, tells the story of Aeneas, a survivor of the Trojan war, who travels to Italy and becomes an ancestor of the Roman people.
“It helps kids, younger kids access the material,” Hinds said. “And then they become fans, and then they, you know, they consume more and more sophisticated versions of those stories.”
Hinds’ first foray into graphic novels was an illustrated version of the Brothers Grimm fairy tale, “Bearskin,” for his senior project at the Parsons School of Design in the early 1990s.
During his presentation, Hinds displayed images showing his creative process, including a script with text and dialogue, complete with the written version of sound effects, like “pow” and “sswack.”
He said the sketches are the most important part of the process because they show how the story will flow and enable him to make revisions.
Hinds said he uses Adobe InDesign to draw freehand, even though he acknowledged the program was not designed for drawing.
As he reads various translations of each classic text, Hinds chooses his favorite versions to rewrite in his own words.
Hinds described the importance of pacing himself for his projects and understanding how to meet his deadlines. He said falling one week behind typically is not a problem but longer disruptions force him to rework his schedule.
“Three weeks is starting to be a problem,” Hinds said. “And so then I can make a calculation and figure out how many extra pages a week I have to draw, and you know, maybe cancel a couple plans in the weekend in order to hit that final deadline.”
Hinds closed his presentation with a Q&A and gave advice to aspiring artists in the audience.
Audience members said they enjoyed the presentation.
Pete Daniels, who lives next door to Hinds, said he came out to support him.
“It’s been really cool living next door and talking to him about his process,” Daniels said. “I know he’s been burning the midnight oil on this forthcoming project.”
Lara Payne, a Brentwood resident, was in line with her daughter to get a signed copy of Hinds’ version of “The Odyssey.”
“His drawings are very dynamic,” Payne, a lecturer in the University of Maryland’s English Department, said. “I also think that in general, his artwork helps people understand the stories he’s illustrated.”