hello!
I worked really hard on this comic!
I have had in my mind for so long that I wanted to make comics. I have made a few, here and there. (click the “here” and “there” to view!)
I have done a little of everything here and there. I often try something and am either:
a.) shocked that it went so well the first time and become paralyzed by the idea I might do it worse the second time
or
b.) fail and thus am similarly afraid of trying again.
I think this is a very common experience. Maybe you feel this way too.
I tried making a comic for the first time in long enough to not remember how I felt about it last time. As I was saying, I often think of making comics. I even have a list in my phone of ideas for comics I could make.
Purr (2024)
Yesterday, I was going through my list and I thought of this idea that wasn't even on there. I could picture it - and I made a mock up and then got to work. By “mock up”, I am not quite sure what else to call it, but that sounds cooler than draft. I wanted to say story board but that feels even less like the right thing.
Above are some of my preliminary ideas. I had the initial idea from saying I think she would purr if she could the other day. With these sketches, I was trying to feel out how I wanted to present it and who the other characters besides (or instead of) the dog would be. I tried a few characters and a few different set ups.
I thought maybe it could be one panel (as shown on the top left) but I eventually decided on splitting them up for clarity.
I sketched it with a light blue pencil (a mechanical pencil called Pilot color eno 0.7) and then did the black lines using two different gel pens. The thicker lines are my favorite TUL .5mm gel pen, and the thin lines are a pentel slicci .25mm gel pen.
Regarding the lines
I love to make these "static" lines - they give off TV static to me. They are very meditative and remind of morse code.
As on these two Shel Silverstein inspired pieces, I used the static lines in the backgrounds.
I love result but also how I feel when I am making these lines. It's nice and unusual to focus so intently. It's interesting for me to bring my sight down to something so tiny and really look at it. It's not like reading, it's like seeing. It's like my eyes become a microscope.
I love the focus and I enjoy every single line I make. It's like I think I could spend the rest of my life making these tiny lines and I would feel fulfilled.
The lines are extremely tedious and while I am faster at them than when I first began doing them, they take so long. Hours, usually, depending on the space I am wanting to fill.
My intention with them in Purr (2024) is to indicate the fuzziness that separates picturing something in your head (a thought) with seeing it in real life (the reality).
After the final sketches, I laid the sketchbook on the scanner. Unfortunately, it was too big to get it in one go, so I scanned it in two parts. After that, I was able to crop each panel down to its respective square. And, voila!
I am so happy with how it turned out. I love that the scan shows all of my blue marks.
I love to play around with my photos and scans of my drawings digitally, but I can’t imagine feeling the same amount of peace and serenity from creating something like this solely digitally.
I feel like I put my blood, sweat, and tears into creating this, something about how it could (and often does!) all go wrong with the pen and there is no undo. I think it makes me take more care and be more present and pay more attention. My time and my actions become so important, so valuable, and the consequences of not considering that are real and immediate. A lesson..
The intricacy of the tiny lines don't transfer as well to the screen but I hope that you see them - really see them - and take a moment to think about them.
Maybe even make some yourself. All you need is a pen and a surface.
Thank you so much for seeing my art and thank you so much for reading.
I'll be making my lines.
Until next time,
Han