Jesse Jordan is the first one to admit his visual art skills are lacking — on par with that of an average two year old, he insists.

This could have presented a problem for the aspiring writer who dreams of one day releasing a graphic novel, but instead, it just forced him to think outside the box.

The solution?

“Why not use pictures instead of drawings?” he stated. “I can still tell a fantastic story, and with the right people involved, (the story) will come out looking like a movie. Well, a movie that you read. Which is just called a book.”

With the help of a photography team, Jordan is proud to announce the graphic novel Ash is coming to life. If that's not exciting enough, once complete, Ash will be the first “graphic novel presented using still photography digitally edited afterwards” ever made.

The majority of the photography is complete, as is the general outline of the story. While he does have a storyboard drawn up, Jordan said it's been challenging to keep the story and the photos corresponding exactly as planned.

“It's such a backwards project in the sense that I couldn't really cast around my script,” he said. “I had to (build) my characters around the models who were willing to audition.”

Provided he's able to stick to the original plot, all should turn out fine, he said.

While it's his first stab at writing a graphic novel, or a novel of any sort, Jordan said it's nice to be living out his dream.

“It's what I really want to do with life,” he said. “This project with Ash is something I've been working on for a long time. This is actually what I originally pictured I'd be doing when I got into writing.”

For as long as he can remember, he's been a fan of fiction. The Hobbit was the first book he recalled reading, years ago. Since then, he's been fascinated by creating existences.

“The concept of these fictional universes filled with all these people I created, who are interacting and existing as if they are real at my whim — it's hard to explain,” he said.

The story of Ash is one filled with characters co-existing. It is the story of a detective who was run down while following up on a lead. While he was lucky to survive, he did end up with clairvoyance, mild telekinetic powers, and a limited psychic ability.

With his newfound powers, he makes some grim realizations. The story is pivoted on him using his abilities to work toward him reearning the badge he lost along the way.

While he's well on his way to completing Ash, Jordan said he is now banking on the support of graphic novel fans and the community to help cover the costs. As much as he'd like to do it all himself, he said it simply isn't possible. Instead, he's started a page on indiegogo.com, where donors can be rewarded with copies of the finished product and more for making contributions.

When asked why others should want to help out, Jordan's answer was simple.

“It's a pretty neat project,” he said. “It will be a first of its kind.”

To make a contribution or to learn more about Ash, visit www.indiegogo.com/ashphotographicnovel?c=home.

Posted by Arron Pickard