Kneesvember Recap

I thought it would be fun to share with you all of the behind-the-scenes material that I wrote before and during Kneesvember 2023 since there was a lot of it, and some from years ago! 

This first image at the top was some colour-testing I did in late October using a range of Prismacolor coloured pencils. I was pretty convinced beforehand that violet would be at least one of the two or three colours I would use, because I love the depth of values it provides. But when I saw cobalt turquoise and carmine red next to one another, I sort of fell in love! The "FALSE KNEES" in the corner is some pen-testing for the text and framing of panels.

More colour testing with coloured pencils, 2023

I quite like the look I have here, it's a little looser of a style than what I ended up using–partly because there is no pressure when doing sketches, partly because there is no underdrawing nor any composition to consider here. I find it difficult to stay loose on final versions of things–something to work on!

Even more colour-testing! But these are from May of 2020 using mechanical pencil.

I first came up with the idea for this story when a clothing brand contacted me in March or April 2020 asking to illustrate an image for a hooded sweater and to write a mini-comic. There was to be a common theme between the products and they would be sold together as a package. At first I wanted to use a crow, but then thought that owls have a broader appeal, and that barn owls are found all over the world, so they would make a popular sweater design wherever.

I worked on it a lot. Like, too much. It was early pandemic days, and this is what I buried myself into. I drew the sweater part in like a day and then spent weeks arranging plot and tying themes to the company's stated "core values" and history. This owl was going to be lonely, isolated and sad, but would persevere through hard work and determination, and ultimately become an industry leader! To reiterate, this was a clothing company who probably thought that it would be cute to include a ten-page side art to accompany their main product, which I had little interest in.

Around mid-June, I had a video chat meeting with the company heads to lay out my ideas and I remember thinking, very vividly, looking down at my stacks of notes, work desk filled with sketches, that I had gone too far. I was sitting there, stammering, describing the emotional state of this fictional owl to a group of men I had never met who just wanted to sell some sweaters.

A week later, on my birthday, I sent them a message apologetically removing myself from the project. I hid the sketches and storyboards away in the bottom of a drawer and tried to forget about the whole thing. For a while, coming across any hint of that project was a source of great embarrassment for me. I've had plenty of failed projects in my career, but I had never put so much energy, time, or myself into any of them as much as this one.

One evening this past summer, Mélodie and I were discussing potential Falsetober (or Kneesvember) ideas, the barn owl story came up, and I guess I spoke about it with great enthusiasm because Mélodie was really into it, which is all the convincing I ever need. 

Storyboard (out of chronological order), 2020

The core story remained the same from 2020 to 2023, but many details were added later (the original story didn't have a Myrtle), and some themes were cut because they were too sad (I wrote it when I was sad and stressed about the world).

More storyboard, 2020

I believe in the original version, the owl didn't speak at all. Fun!

Planning out the days on cards

Prior to starting the story, I cut out as many cards as there are days in the month and plan out where key elements of the story need to happen. I've done this practice since Hop!, writing out as many 'days' as I can ahead of time so I can organize the story but still have the option to move things around. I never fill out every card before I start. For example, this year I had about half to two thirds done with plenty of blanks left to fill out ideas that needed more space or for ideas that I haven't had yet. On day 4, I hadn't planned on showing the hummingbird originally, but I'm so glad I did as it's one of my favourites from the whole month. The baltimore oriole art friend the owl makes near the end was also made up quite late in the story.

Sketchbook page, 2023

Initially I wanted to call the stick and leaf owl 'Trish' but Mélodie vetoed it hard. She was also the one who came up with the name 'Myrtle'! For unknown reasons, I first imagined Myrtle to be bigger than the owl. The mess in the middle is me counting (incorrectly) how many pages the book will have.

Lines, 2023

I like drawing lines! Straight lines, wavy lines, it's all good.

Sketches, composition planning, 2023

This is what an average sketch looks like for me. I have dozens of pages like this for this story. Lots of simple math in the margins to figure out panel sizing, notes to myself emphasized with asterisks, and so so many arrows.

Unused dialogue, 2023

This project isn't quite finished yet, as I still have some file formatting and cover design to complete before delivering the manuscript to my printer and then approving of test prints. It feels good to have dug this owl out from the forgotten bottom of a drawer and the repressed back of my mind to give it a new life and to be able to share it with all of you! I'm proud of how it turned out, and in hindsight, I'm relieved it didn't get involved with any brands.

A pile of shavings

Finally, I just wanted to give a shout-out to coloured pencils, haha. In Canada, we call them pencil crayons, which is odd. Anyway, I love drawing, so using this medium–although not the same as regular graphite pencils–was usually a wonderful experience. I might not reach for them for my next big project as they come with their own unique idiosyncrasies (eg. smudging, difficult to scan), but I will keep them closer to my art board than I did before starting this story, and I encourage any artists out there to do so as well.

- Joshua