Process has been steady on Moving with Sunshine. Firstly, I have decided to rename the comic to ‘Sunshine’, as I think “The Girl Who Moved With Sunshine” is a bit wordy. I do like how the old title has a fairytale feel to it, but I think the shorter ‘Sunshine’ will end up working much better.
In the weekend I went on a wander up Mount Cook to search for inspiration. I saw Wellington from angles I’d never seen before. It’s amazing how so close to town we have all of these amazing parks, hills, and forests. Walking through them feels like being in another world (I took photos, but they weren’t that great, so you just get words). I could write a whole blog about how great it is up there, but that’s possibly for another time, or for some love letter to Wellington.
I came home and dug out my old nib pens. Here’s a small segment of my practice.
This pretty much decided that Sunshine needed to be more analogue and less digital than I was originally anticipating. I haven’t been happy with any of the colours I’ve been working with so far, so now I’m re-thinking things, with emphasis leaning towards linework and away from colouring.
This was done with india ink and nib pens with a yellow marker to add a bit of colour. This is closer, but the harsh white of the paper isn’t working for me. I’ve since bought some creamy watercolour paper which should do nicely.
I’ve been working on thumbnailing out the pages, too. I’ve had two drafts so far and will be launching into full-size pages tomorrow.
I know I’ve JUST finished saying the comic won’t be in full colour, but this illustration is a bit separate from all that. This was a sketch that decided it wanted to be a finished illustration. It’s going to work as a good character reference, as I feel like they both finally look like themselves.
I had a quick read over my last blog post, which was about how things were feeling hard. Things still feel hard, but as I’ve had a lot more drawing time this week, they’re starting to already smooth out. This habit shall now be stuck with me until this comic is over, which is only 12 or so pages away. It’s a mountain, but I’m sure I can do it. Then I just have to think of the best way to share it. (suggestions are welcome)