An Unintentional Series

Aside from numerous last minute edits for Mutt Mag, the past months have been spent writing my next graphic novel No Place. It's a slow and circuitous process where I will fall deep into writing, return to what I wrote the next day, and feel the need to restart. There have been so many false starts and strange alleys. Luckily, those digressions have taught me a lot about the story I am trying to tell. I’ve thought a lot about how we tell stories — what a story is or can be vs. what we expect a story to be. I’ve been preoccupied by words.

I’ve missed drawing. I feel most at home when I am writing a story visually; finding moments between characters in a sketchbook, learning their mannerisms, developing a setting, and falling into motifs. For better and worse, I’m aware that a story would be different if I was afforded the luxury to just go full steam ahead and start drawing the thing.

No Place is finally in a somewhat knowable form and I'm excited that, for now, the writing is mostly behind me. The pitch document is pretty much assembled and I am now focussing on art samples.

It's been a while since I've had to shake off this much rust while sitting at the drafting table. A whole week passed before I felt I was thinking visually. I'm really at my best when drawing is habit. The great thing about working on an ongoing strip alongside these longer projects is I usually pick up the pencil at least a few times a week. For the first time in a long while, I had some miserable days in my sketchbook. Que sera!

Anyways, for whatever reason I found myself fixated on this particular image. The first illustration above, is my first attempt (the second, the second, etc.). I knew there was something not working for me while I inked the first. I leaned too far into texture to try and cover that up. The composition is too static and the ink is far too busy. I spent an hour trying to make it work in Clip Studio but the whole time I knew I should just start again.

So I did and I am mostly pleased with the results. It didn’t quite have the right feel though.

I drew it again and I think I managed to marry what I like about both drawings. I'm not sure why I fixated on this specific drawing — it would have been more helpful to move on! I'm in a headspace where I am especially aware of my visual crutches and I am trying to draw actively; be mindfull of the decisions I am making as opposed to just being automatic. Spontaneity has always been important to me while inking, but I do feel that it has become a crutch. This feeling of suddenly hitting a wall and feeling for a a hidden door used to happen more often. It’s nice to know it still can.