#this year I want to rely on sketches less because my drawings lose a lot when they're too polished

[suchscary]

explosive amounts of slay

[moumantaimf]

Intermission, Page 4/4

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With this... I want to finally celebrate the first anniversary of this comic! While technically the first page was done on September 19th and some of the characters had been created long before, it was a sketch the one that kickstarted the whole comic idea and that one was made on September 17th, 2022.

Last year I was working but I had lost most of my love for art due to multiple reasons. I decided to start this comic because "If I don't do it now i will never do it". And it ended becoming a sort of miracle cure: Working on this brought me back all the love I had for arting. And while properly getting back into the groove was extremely hard (couple with a lot of RL reasons), this comic helped me to regain my sanity and the appreciation for everything.

I decided to pour here everything I had learned so far. Writing. Trying to make a story that didnt rely on crude jokes, edgy stories just for the sake of being edgy, and trying to keep it SFW to an extent.

Chapter 1 didn't have much writing on it beforehand (just a vague note); I was trying to just "draw, don't stop". I was also afraid of losing interest (like has happened with most of my stuff before) so I wasn't sure how far I was going to reach with this (and that's why I didn't try to make a page like this for the comic at first). But I carried on. And started properly writing the story I wanted. I look at it now and its insane for me to think that I have an actual proper story, a lot of characters and relationships that feel natural.

This story is what I think is my magnum opus and I'm putting all I know, learned and have into it. However, saying I've done this alone would be super false. I tried to put in the credits the peeps who have helped me in one way or another, and I want to sincerely thank not only them, but also you, the reader, for your interest and for reading this, and also to everyone who shares this and so. I hope to continue making a story you like.

See you during November or December when chapter 8 comes!

- Vic

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Panel 1: D is in a graveyard. He says "…And that's what's been going on. I even got a space sister, one that actually acts way less spoiled than your daughter in spite of having much more".

Panel 2: D smells a handful of flowers with their eyes closed.

Panel 3: D drops the flowers next to the gravestone of 'Emma Reh' with an epitaph in German: 'Der Tod, so bitter er auch sein mag, ist nicht das Ende, sondern nur eine weitere Stufe, von der aus wir zu einem besseren Leben übergehen'. D says "You know what, old hag? I forgive you for all the bullshit. To be honest, I'm sorry you never found happiness in your life; unlike what you taught me, I learned that life actually can be beautiful and worth living. I don't really love you, but I genuinely hope you found some peace at the end, and that you're having fun with all your boys down there. Now it's my time… to leave with my new family, or pack, as we call ourselves. And you… You sleep well or whatever. Auf Wiedersehen wir sehen uns in der holle".

Panel 4: The band is walking through a street, but both Sher and Rowi are hugging D. Rowi says "Hey D, you're still very stressed. Wanna get some Döner Kebab with us?". D replies "S…sure! Thank you guys. You're the best thing that has happened to me in my life".

Panel 5: Roi, standing on a ceiling, wearing a visor, says "We love you too, D. You can be sure of that". There's a small narration square saying "End of recap. Thank you for reading this intermission. The story will resume in Chapter 8".

[checanty]

What artists do you like/ draw inspiration from? And how did you develop your own style? At what point in learning art did you feel comfortable with your style?

Yes. let me talk about style.

uuuuh style. I think I might have a take on that which slightly diverges from the common view of simply being patient and letting it happen. Nobody ostracize me please.So when I started drawing in earnest, which was back in school, it was comics. My friends were into manga, so I was into manga, so that was kind of what I drew. I did read more French comics, though, most notably Sillage (Buchet/Morvan), but also Yiu and others I only know the German titles of. A mangaka I discovered in my teens and liked a lot was Hiroki Endo who did EDEN. Lots of SciFi things. So when I started to do original comics more for myself than to fit in that started to bleed through more and more. That style also comes to light if you see me sketching people without reference! I don’t draw that way anymore for finished work, but I can’t seem to wholly get rid of it, ha. Anyways, when I started studying illustration I had several people tell me that me having drawn comics for such a long time could have ‘ruined’ me and I might have trouble to try out something knew. Look, this is not a case of people trying to keep me from drawing comics because they thought of them as lesser (maybe they did, but I don't think though. I think it was more about being an autodidact with an already recognizable style.) That was a case of ‘We think you already found your style and it will be hard for you to learn something new’.  And I wanted to learn new things! Making it in comics is super hard. And comics are so much work! I didn’t know who I was as an illustrator yet and I wanted to find out. And people telling me they didn’t think I could do a thing made me throw myself into it even harder! The first two semesters of art school I started into every assignment with no pre-concept of what I was going to do and tried out everything, no questions asked. I wanted to be a blank page and make something new.Well, when I started art school I thought the only reasonable job options would lie in the concept art field, or at least I’d have to learn to do polished digital paintings. But I ended up with a drawing teacher (He’s on Tumblr actually and he’s very, very good. I’ve learned a ton. @jensmariaweber) preaching the power of drawing and discovered so much more new art on the internet and rediscovered some of the books I used to marvel about as a child (illustrated magical creature books. Froud. Alan Lee. Tony DiTerlizzi) and people like @rovinacai just made the transition from digital painting to drawings and found success, so I felt like it would be okay if I focused on what I was actually good at, which was drawing, instead of trying to learn this thing I wasn’t really all that into. So I was doing all this different stuff for art school. And I worked on personal work at the side, which was influenced by my interests in fantasy art. And they were all in different media and had little similarities in style.At some point somebody on DeviantArt mentioned that while the artworks all looked different, my gallery had a constant atmosphere that held everything together. Which was a moment of clarity for me! I learned about the difference between ‘style’ and ‘voice’ later on. Oh and at the beginning of art school my drawing teacher also told us about how you don’t have a style when you start drawing, but then you develop one based on habits and the ways you learn to solve problems comfortably (I’ve read another artist say something in a similar vein about how style ist really just the accumulation of mistakes you make and are okay with.) and the next step is basically when you become so good that you can create anything and it looks like you did it because you have gained full understanding of everything and have transcended into a higher consciousness. I’m kidding. But it’s something like: You can’t do art. You can fool people into thinking you can do art. YOU BECOME ART. I’m kidding again. I should have asked for a handy quote.Anyways. So. I continued to learn, not worrying about style for a time, but I was already (this is ridiculous. 1,5 years are nothing.) in my third semester and half through my studies and suddenly worrying about the future! All the info I learned from art directors and helpful blogs on the internet told me I needed at least one consistent style I could sell to clients, so they would know what I was all about! And that most art students were all over place because they were still learning. But I wanted to do this as my job and my portfolio at the time *was* all over the place. Cue identity crisis! What to dooo? I had no go to medium, no style, no nothing, just some atmosphere and a little skill.I had to develop a marketable style until I finished art school. Not as in ‘people pleasing’, but I had to develop something I could present to potential clients. A way for me to work in that I felt secure enough in to know it would get me through jobs. Think of it less as style and more as a commodity. I stumbled upon the concept of a dream portfolio (a collection of artworks by other people you wish you had made yourself.) on the Tumblr of @jmfenner91 and looked through my inspiration folder until I had narrowed it down to about 11 images. What I did next was to analyze them and take notes on what I liked about them. (Surprise! It was mostly lighting, mood, shapes and all kinds of contrast.) Then I made sure to keep those things in mind when doing my own work. In the meantime I found that working in pencil and doing colour digitally worked quite well for me, so I started to solve me assignments that way and also sneaking in more and more of my interests and visual preferences, so they could serve as actual portfolio pieces. Then I added the painterly aspect with the acrylics to have a greater range of textures and solidified that way of working with my seven ravens project. So this is how I got my ‘style’. I’m starting to get bored with it, so I’m doing more different work and continue to try out ways to develop it further and learn more on the side, but I have these one or two styles I can rely on to get me occasional work and to solve problems well. At the core of it I tried to figure out what I liked, what I was good at and then stuck to that for long enough for me to be able to reliably reproduce it. Of course I didn’t build it on nothing, but I also didn’t just wait for it to fall into my lap. (But Jana, are you not confusing style and MEDIUM? Because those are different things. Yes and no??? Maybe I am. But sticking to a limited amount of media helped. I think sticking to a hand full of unifying elements in my picture making helped more, though. And medium is important. My linework is an essential part of my ‘style’ and some media force me to lose them and it definitely impacts the style, even if the voice remains. So I think medium is something that to a certain part can dictate your ‘style’ and is part of the whole.)

[weedlovingweed]

i feel like i have a lot of expectations for myself this year but like.. i want to break those down into smaller goals i can actually comprehend and try to meet..

- im going to get on a schedule of drawing 6/7 days of the week (probably excluding sundays)... including just sketching or doing life drawings or messing arnd.. and idk maybe ill start with just 5 days and then add in that 6th later?? i just need to draw more djkfhjkdf working fucked up my art motivation

- at least once a month i need to get out of the house and really go somewhere.. even if its just to go to dc or walk arnd shops in *** **** ******** i think its very important.. also concerts dont count!!

- i need to do less like.. mindless posting on here.. i think i got a looot better last yr bcs i stopped relying so much on tumblr to like.. waste time on?? but i still need to cut down.. specifically because i need to focus more on actually posting art and stuff both here and other sites (aka instagram -_-). so i think basically my goal there is to like.. set up a daily schedule where i dont use tumblr except like during meals and after a certain time (probably starting out earlier and getting later as im able to draw longer each day ...) and also ideally post art at least every other day

- i wanna go to at LEAST one completely new place either alone or w/ friends.. or to see friends!

- i’m gonna stay on track and lose the other 20-25 lbs i need to lose >:) ideally by like the end of summer but if its just by the end of the year ill be stoked.. new year same way though.. just eat good and try and exercise and walk even tho its so cold ):

- this very month, january 2018, i gotta get my FUCKEN permit so i can learn to drive this year ): even if i dont get my license until like december. i just gotta get on that itz been way too long

- i need to focus more on keeping my room clean and like. having a space that looks good? i guess? cuz if i have a clean area with stuff that inspires me all arnd im gonna want to do stuff

- idk i think most importantly i just need to stay on track but also not get caught up in the feeling of getting something done so much that i either burnout or feel like ive succeeded and dont need to do any more -_- esp now that everyone in my family is being all weird abt me not wanting another real job i gotta double down on art and really get shit going this year!!! i need to like connect really wanting to do it with actually gettign it done -_-

[thingsireflecaut]

Post Six, Part One

For the first page, I played around with the idea of what my protagonist might look like and what their room would look like. I though setting up a portion of their room would be a great way to introduce the character and the story as this is their special place where they keep their collected items. I started off with a sketch of a part of my own childhood bedroom, as this is where I drew inspiration for the story. I knew I wanted to exaggerate this image and my belongings of the time though; I had more books than in the drawing, but not all of them were on the floor in my room, instead I had a collection of my favourites and the next to be read on my drawers, and the rest in the garage/ I put the pile of books on the floor because I thought it would add nice symmetry to the illustration; I liked the idea of the protagonist in the middle of the world of their things welcoming the reader, and being excited to share with the reader the things that were special to them. this is also why I drew the protagonist with their arms out wide as if in such excitement that they have to spread their arms out to express all the glory of their world.

My first sketch was me trying to just get the idea out of my head and have a starting point; once I was done I knew that I had relied too heavily on Quentin Blakes technique for the kid. I decided on the blob character, let’s call them Cass, because this is something I have doodled for years. I thought it would be a nice idea for Cass to be someone I was already familiar with; I’ve drawn them for years and have always enjoyed their flexibility to be whatever I needed or wanted them to be. This was always a release for me, something that never had to be perfect, and that is what I want the kid to stand for; they are fluid, they make their own rules.

I played with the idea of them having hair but it felt unnatural and a little creepy. I also played with different expressions.

I also made sure that I was exploring different routes and going out of my comfort zone, I wanted to play more with the idea of “They are all me & I am all them”, so I decided to take that literally; what if the protagonist was actually made out of one of their favourite things?

So, I started with the outline of Cass and then drew them so they were made out of books, as you can see in the top left-hand corner of the first image. I did like this effect but it felt a little forced and on the nose, I also wanted to make sure that the reader could still identify in some way with Cass, and didn’t want to make them too far from human form.

Instead, I created a mini Cass as a secret easter egg on their shelf in the first image.

In the next image, I explored another protagonist. I wanted a relatable girl character; I think selfishly because this is what could have helped me a little as a kid. I am definitely lucky to grow up in a world where my light skin color was portrayed as the more ‘beautiful’ in media, but all of the cool girls that I wanted to be like had straight blonde hair, and I was ashamed to have curly hair – obviously this is very shallow and such a small thing to be upset about, but all the same with my narrow world view, I was. So I wanted to create a cool girl that readers might want to be that had curly hair, and I love this character, but I liked Cass better; they portray an empty canvas, and aren’t something a kid would get upset about not looking like.

For the second page, I explored ideas of what each item on the list might look like. I started with the idea for the first sentence with Cass holding a huge $2 coin, as a visual representation of the epicness and importance of something as small as a $2 coin to a child. I rubbed this out as it felt that it didn’t fit the book; it was a little too comic book-y and out of place as it wasn’t fully in my style, but also wasn’t fully in comic book style. I then decided it could be interesting to have the comic book element but do it my way, so I created a vintage comic book to include in the book as a representation of the $2 element. I also liked the idea of a simple drawing with a big jar full of coins and a hand reaching in.

I wasn’t sure what I wanted the “In the middle of a tree” illustration to look like so I played around with a few ideas. The first idea was the one I had imagined when writing the story; Cass wrestling something from a squirrel’s mouth in the top of a tree. I thought this had an element of silliness that I was keen to include, but after drawing the scene, I thought it would be worthwhile to explore other routes as well. I remembered how much I loved the unreal reality that Sendak created in Where The Wild Things Are, and wanted to make something magical, so came up with the idea of Cass being privy to a secret door in the middle of trees where they could explore a whole new world, and come back with gifts. So I drew a doorway leading to this other dimension in a huge old tree.

I also imagined that another way I could portray this is in the middle on a cut down tree trunk; I thought this could be a good way to keep the drawing small so that I could have multiple drawings on the page as the verse I wrote lists multiple things I so could almost have a montage of Cass’s expeditions. I liked the drawing but felt that having a cut down tree was too much of a cynical metaphor; although it could be a metaphor for finding beauty out of destruction, the truth is that the tree is still cut down; it felt like an ending, instead of the beginning of the endless world that the doorway creates.

I thought I could include my idea from the first page “They are all me, and I am all them” and the object expressing that that’s on Cass’s drawers of a mini Cass, and illustrate Cass finding this version of themself as what they find on the bench. I mulled over the idea of them finding a good stick, or someone’s lost pocket watch, but I found the mini Cass linking to the first page to have the most meaning, and I liked the slight awkwardness and comfortable uncertainty that the drawing had between Cass and mini Cass.

For “This one was drenched” I took a toy car of mine and placed it in the rain. I was nervous that it was unclear that the car was tiny, so I added the curbside with grass to hopefully make sure that the viewer gages the proportions.

For “This one is French”, I tried to think of different classic French things that weren’t cliché or a negative / one dimensional stereotype. One of my favorite books ever is the children’s book Le Petit Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, and an iconic illustration from the book is the boa constructor that swallowed an elephant; the meaning behind it is that there is always more than meets the eye, and the beauty of the world is in the eye of those with an imagination. This has stayed with me since I first read it, and wanted to reference it.

I looked around my house for inspiration for this page and realized that one pile of my already read books was sitting quietly on my dresser collecting dust. Sometimes I lend one out to someone, but generally they don’t move, so this is what I drew for that stanza.

I was experimenting with different points of view for Cass to be looking at them from, but then as I looked at the page as a whole, I realized that it looked really fun as a little montage; it had movement to it and came alive a little bit.

It made sense to follow the abstract cartoonish style of Cass and draw their friends in that style as well. It also gave me freedom to create different, unique characters that didn’t have to look like anything in particular.

I also made sure to investigate different routes. So I drew a less abstract and more detailed version, but it didn’t have the same energy, and didn’t feel as cohesive.

I thought the jewels for “These are my jewels, I collect them on my walks” could be colorful autumn leaves, so drew a mockup and colored it with watercolor pencil.

The floral pages are some of my favorite planning pages, I especially like the one for “flowers are my favourites...”. The concept was easy to imagine because I could envision it when I was writing the story. I definitely took inspiration from Quentin Blakes style of watercolor and the style of the flowers, but I don’t think it was too derivative because my protagonist is quite different from his style, and the flowers were done without reference.

I wanted to make sure that I explored a few different routes and ideas with this, so I tried ideas that I didn’t necessarily think would work; some did, for example the top right drawing, and some didn’t, for example the bottom left drawing of the ink bottle and spotted flower.

The images for “This one I made, it hangs on my wall...” felt relatively obvious to me; I knew what I wanted, and it was relatively easy to execute. I wanted it to be understated that Cass could move objects with their mind; I didn’t want it to be a big scene, or dramatic, I wanted it to seem cool and underplayed, because that felt more realistic; as a child, you feel like maybe you can do these supernatural things, so you try alone in your room. You don’t expect a huge freak accident to happen, you kind of expect just a slight shudder that you notice. This is what I wanted to convey in the drawing; a sense of normality that the readers could relate to, but the undertone of magic about to happen.

“Sometimes I lose my things, in fact I do a lot... It’s usually those silly Grimbles. This is a Grimble hotspot.” I found this stanza hard to imagine, and in turn hard to illustrate. It felt like there had to be a lot of information conveyed in the image; the creature itself, the action of stealing something, and the room. I wanted the room to have a sleepy kind of atmosphere and I think I did that well through the use of color.

I was very lost on how to illustrate the Grimble; I wanted it to be strange but not intimidating, and not scary for the reader. I explored different ideas of what it might look like at the bottom of the page. 

I wanted this bed to be the most comfy bed in the world; I loved the idea of someone remembering this book years after reading it and having a nostalgic love for the warmth and coziness of bed because of it.

This meant that I had to make the bed look fluffy and soft, and make Cass look relaxed. I made sure to round out the edges of the drawing for a soft feel, and to have Cass tucked in nicely, with a big fluffy pillow.

I didn’t want it to be extravagant because that seemed unattainable to a lot of children; I wanted it to be the bed that everybody has; underrated but warm, small but soft, fluffy and cozy.