Good morning Reader 💛

I hope you've been well this week. This is going to be a shorter edition of the newsletter this time; the reason being that I've been working very hard and I don't have a lot of energy!

But I'm going to tell you all about this, as I participated in a comic marathon and tried (and failed) to launch my own event! :)

Illustration progress!

Last week I was able to show you the finished ink of my latest illustration, but now I have more to show! We now have much more proper colors and shadows :)

I’m entering the very last stage of this illustration, where I adjust the values and set up the light and mood. You can see, for example, that I make lines further away lighter – it’s one of my favorite tricks!

Since this is a real street and building, I want to do something cool with it once it’s done, like exhibiting the illustration there or giving it to the locals who would recognize the view :D

And I really want to have it done as soon as possible this week, as I’ll have another illustration on the way very soon!

It’s too early to tell you the broader context around it (I will, I promise! I just want to have more for you to see :) ) but here is an early sketch ✍️

The rush to make a comic in 8 hours 💀🔥

Oh boy, I wasn’t expecting to do this this week.

On Tuesday I went to a monthly comic book reading club I love to go to, and that’s where I learned that at the same place, on Sunday, a comic book marathon was going to be held!

If you don’t know – those events boil down to making a comic in a very limited amount of time, following a theme, alone or as a team :)
I actually did a 25-hour version held online a few years ago (“25h de la BD” for the Frenchies who might have heard of it!), so I thought a simple 8-hour version would be a relaxed challenge; and boy was I wrong!

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We were all sitting in a room with a lot of tables and snacks. My friends and I arrived a bit late, right after the reveal of the theme: Experiment.

I was on my own for this one, so I pulled out my notes and got to work ideating concepts for this challenge:

To stay in my usual theme, I wanted to have a story set on a roof:
a kid doing weather experiments, a character waking up a fallen object from the sky… But in the end, I landed on something more weird: the story of someone visiting a “Soul Doctor” living on a rooftop; and the doctor actually diving into their soul.

Now sadly, I can’t show you the comic right now, only snippets of it, as I sadly ran out of time during the marathon.

Here is what happened:​
After drafting the story concept on my laptop, I started sketching on my tablet; but I quickly realized that I was very low on battery, and I had no plugs around me! It was more than an hour into the challenge, and I scrambled around to charge it.

I then had to come back to my sketchbook to put down the storyboard I had in mind. That’s where I overestimated my abilities to work fast: I planned 12 pages instead of the 8 that were required, and made them with backgrounds and multiple panels per page.

I aimed way too high, but I sadly realized that too late!

I spent the rest of the afternoon racing to finish what I had in mind: doing as much as possible on the laptop, refining the designs while it was charging, and cutting corners where I needed to. What I thought was the sketch became my final draft!

The challenge ended as I was exporting the images and adding the text; and sadly, I haven’t completed it yet: I was in such a rush for the rest of the weekend that I couldn’t get it in a finished state.

But now I just need to dust off some corners and I’ll have something ready for you to read next week :)

Even though I didn’t finish, it was incredibly fun and a fantastic exercise in pushing my creative boundaries! While it definitely tested my limits, I wanted to do something like this for a while.

That said, I’ll definitely be more careful not to overestimate myself and plan for a more realistic workload next time!

(and make sure I have a plug nearby)

My event is postponed ✌️ And why I might need to slow down

Ironically, while I participated in this event, I sadly wasn’t able to launch mine just yet!

I shared with you some previews of this art collab I planned for some time: a website to let anyone draw a little room in a minimalist adventure game.

As I said back then, the project is complete, but I didn’t manage to bring it online! I ran into a lot of issues, and worked very hard into bringing this idea to the public; but I couldn’t make it for this week. How frustrating!

I worked so hard and spent time that I would rather have spent drawing, I have to admit.

The past few weeks have been very hectic between my job, personal illustrations, and everything else going on in my life – I only tell you a fraction of it!

All and all, I’m starting to realize I need to cool down a bit. I don’t think I’ve been cautious with the amount of things I’m adding to my plate, especially recently.

It’s easy to get caught up in the excitement of new projects and ideas, but I’m learning that balancing everything is key to staying happy and healthy in the long run. Especially with the upcoming conventions, I need to be careful not to stretch myself too thin!

Just something I’ll keep that in mind going forward 🌸

Thank you for reading and following my journey this week! It means a lot to share these updates with you.

Enjoy your week, and remember to find moments of calm amidst the rush!

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Take care,
- Nighten

This email is part of my art Newsletter. Invite a friend to join the club: https://club.nighten.fr​

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