Hello and welcome!
Yes, I’m finally starting my newsletter. Not just talking about it.
I’ve been thinking about starting a blog or something similar for many years now. And now there is actually something to write about as I document and share my drawing and illustration journey with you. Feel free to hang out with me for a moment every other month.
What have I been up to?
Well, the past two months since my graduation have been something of a journey of self-discovery. I came to an important realization: I used to think that I need to be good at “everything” illustration-related (little perfectionist here, thehe). But that’s not the case, and more precisely, it’s not possible. During my illustration studies, I was encouraged to experiment and learn about different kinds of illustration fields and techniques. This was an enrichment as well as a challenge, because it made me feel somewhat disoriented. Now I realize that my studies were an overview, but not a deep-dive. Now it’s up to me to choose the direction and refine my skills in relation to that particular direction.
As a consequence, I'm in the process of figuring out which medium and style to focus on. I have rediscovered my passion for black ink. I can see myself using a mix of traditional inking techniques in combination with a digital coloring process for more complex illustrations with backgrounds and maybe watercolor brush pens for simple spot illustrations. In case you’re wondering: This whole development doesn’t particularly affect my current comic project as it already has a defined technique and style. I make it a point to stay consistent within the same project (at least I try to).
Oh, and I’ve started figure drawing again (you know: drawing nude people from life). And I did some urban sketching. But enough about that.
Comic-Salon Erlangen 2024
Last week my partner and I went to the Comic-Salon in Erlangen, Germany, which is the largest and most relevant comic event in the German-speaking area according to their website www.comic-salon.de. To be honest, it was quite overwhelming, but also very interesting. There were a lot of publishers, artists, exhibitions, panels, workshops and of course comics present. Among other things, I attended a panel on how to pitch a comic project to publishers and a panel on the current state and challenges of small comic publishers in Germany and Switzerland (Edition Moderne was part of it). There was also an exhibition showing the results of a study on the working conditions of comic creators (link below). It’s definitely worth checking out!
Study Comic Gewerkschaft (in German)
A few photos of the beautiful park, which was also the centre of the event:
Let’s talk about my comic project BELONGING
So far, progress hasn’t been fast but certainly steady. I’m working on the pencil drawings of page 8 at the moment. My vacation in Erlangen and the fact that I was sick for a few days slowed down my progress a bit, but no worries. I will keep at it. AND: I have a feeling that I'm developing a lot through this project. Especially my perspective skills have improved a lot. Rather than rushing through the whole thing, I’m trying to learn as much as possible during the process. I edit myself when I am in the right mindset and keep going consistently.
If everything goes according to plan, I'll be inking all pages in summer. Perfect timing, I'd say: having the blinds down (as I always do during the day in summer) helps both to keep the heat out and to use my light table to ink comic pages.
Let’s see how it goes.
In the meantime, here are some sneak peeks and process photos:
Until next time.
Take care,
Ilona