Author Archives: Sarah

Journal – On Time on Webtoon

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Here’s what I’ve been working on lately. Remember my little horror comic?

I’ve cleaned it up and added tones and published a couple of pages on webtoons. I still have more pages left to do. I’m repressing the performance anxiety, so I’m fine!

https://www.webtoons.com/en/challenge/on-time/im-late-again/viewer?title_no=276285&episode_no=1

This is why I haven’t been writing a lot lately. I’ve been learning how to use digital software, how to color stuff, clean up lines, add details… resize and save correctly… pretty much everything. Still haven’t really broached color yet. Still nervous about color. Doing this in black and white is good for me though, as a value study. Maybe I’ll try color next time. Or the time after that. Or never. Heh.

So much to learn. One magical day, I will have learned it ALL, and then I’ll be done. Wait, that would actually be horrible. NEVERMIND! I’ll never learn it all. That’s the fun in life.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

questions

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(Fiction)

 

 

 

There’s a light in your eyes that I’ve never seen before. I can’t read it.
Then I’ll read your lips. Kiss me.
Ah.
They’re cold.
Is it over?
What did you find out about yourself?
I don’t think I’ll ever understand.
I miss you already, and you haven’t even walked out the door.
It’s only a matter of time.
I am so lonely. I’m lonelier with you by my side, than I think I would be alone.
You left the house warm. But you returned different.
What did you find out about yourself?
Do you know what I lost for you?
Do you know what I would lose again?
I would clutch you close, if there was a shred of connection left between us. Even a filament is enough to start a bridge. But the space between you and me is already too vast. No rope, no tree roots, not even a spiderweb.
I see you across the expanse and think, what made our bridge fall?
Why won’t you talk about it?
What did you find out about me?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Anime/Manga style drawing

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Anime/manga style art is the way it is for many reasons. Here are the things I like and want to emulate:

  • Cartoon styles can be exaggerated, meaning they can be more lively and expressive than realistic styles, which can look static by comparison.
  • It’s simple, attractive, and easy to draw, which helps when you’re going to draw an entire book of manga on a deadline.
  • The pacing and plot lines. They’re beautifully flowing, interconnected  hill climbs, with periodic bursts and falls. They line up perfectly with my EKG. Long-running TV shows also do this well: They’ll have a mini arc within the time between a commercial break, a larger arc in the 30-minute episode, and an even larger arc encompassing the whole season. This makes me happy in a very deep way.  I got distracted didn’t I. What was I talking about? Anime art?

What I don’t like:

  • I’m not good with faces, and I have trouble telling characters apart sometimes if the artist doesn’t do a great job with character design, because all of their faces are the same.
  • It has a standardized visual language to communicate standard emotions or character types. This is cute and very effective, but leaves little room for complex emotions or characters. The best manga writers use these only rarely.

Learning to draw digitally, I was getting pretty frustrated (as my sharpest regular readers no doubt picked up on, haha). I thought, dammit, I CAN DRAW. And I figured I’d do an anime style as a morale booster. It wasn’t as easy as I expected, but it was certainly easier than everything I was attempting. Morale was boosted. I realized I was trying to develop my own style while also trying to learn new software. No wonder I was frustrated.

 

animehug.png

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Journal – Grace

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When I run out of poetry I just start posting my crazed ramblings.

My personal rule is, if I want to post it, it’s probably well written, and worth posting. If I don’t want to post it, it’s probably true, and worth posting. If it leaves no impression in my mind, it’s probably trash.

So. Here we go again!!

 

 

 

 

Grace
Give me grace
I had it briefly
I had it for six months, twelve months, not enough months
I want it for a lifetime
I thirst for it
Grace
Sweet on the lips and the soul
Cool water
Fresh and cleansing.
I don’t want to forget that happiness

I know how to be happy
It’s an art
A difficult practice and an art
It can be done.
We are fools
We can be worse
We can be better.

My art is improving
I’m starting to see things I like here and there
I’ll never be like my idols
But I can be someone I could enjoy reading.
I need a break
From my own neurosis
It can be done
I’ve done it before
I can do it again.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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