Well.
Today is your lucky day.
Ahem.
A long, long time ago, at a job far far away...
I was bored at work.
I could only dust the picture frames and vacuum the carpet so many times. I also did not own a computer. If there was no one in the store for a stretch of time, what was I supposed to do?
One day I thought about writing a story, and ended up sketching this cute picture of a skeleton girl checking out her ass in a mirror, and a little light came on in my head. Ten minutes here, an hour there... and eventually, I had 23 pages and a complete story. I made a comic book.
And I haven't done anything like it since.
That was five years ago.
Five.
So. Today, I am sharing this with you, in order to hopefully inspire myself to MAKE SOMETHING AWESOME again.
XOXO,
Leauxra
P.S. I am a little nervous putting a bunch of full sized images out on the interwebz. Please, play nice. If you want to use any of these images for... well, anything, please talk to me. I will probably say yes. KTHANKS!
P.P.S. These were all drawn on paper that was about 6" by 8", using pens I got at Walgreens up the road. I didn't have a ruler, so I used the edge of a business card for straight edges and kind of eyeballed the width, which explains much of the crookedness of the images. Just FYI in case that sort of thing bothers you.
End.
33 comments:
Wow Leauxra. This is REALLY good. The illustrations are amazing, and the story is great satire. I loved everything about it! I read it quickly the first time and then went back and read it again more slowly. It was even better the second time. WRITE MORE COMICS! (So that I can read them)
!!! Thanks Stephanie! This is my attempt to inspire myself to draw more. I will do another comic. I will.
If you do not publish/print this and send me an autographed copy for my birthday I will succumb to the claws of moroseness (is too a word, shut up) and fling myself into a chupacabra's arms, either to be ripped to shreds or enter into an unholy alliance that I won't be able to blog about because the chup will eat my fingers.
But it's up to you. No pressure.
Sweetie, this shit is amazing. Why in the hell have you been hiding this? I am in complete awe.
Holy smokes that's fantastic!!!!!!
This is incredible, and really funny, and sort of sad. You should definitely do more. Love it!
LeeAnn: HAH. I would hate to be the cause of that! A fingerless blogger is a sad, sad thing. How about this... I will clean up the images and make it available on a print-on-demand site in the next month. Is that acceptable?
Angie: Not hiding, just not doing. This was five years ago. I have some kind of mental block about making new art right now. I am trying. I'll get there. And thanks for that!
MakingSpace: :) :) Thank you very much. This is just what I needed sharing this. It is encouraging that y'all like it.
erica: I thought it was a bit sad, too. My brain has been buzzing with another story. If I start it, I will put up pages as they are completed.
JRose: Thank you much, and welcome!
Why doesn't my sister do more comics? She should! I brag about you all the time...
It's all about to change, Annonny. I will be training for the zombie race, learning the ukulele, learning a new crochet stitch, and working on a new comic. I have high hopes.
HOLY CRAP! You are incredibly talented! That is awesome. You REALLY need to start doing more of this. Let that talent shine into the dark recesses of the internet.
You also really need to self publish that! With the self publishing tools available on the web these days, I think you'd be able to whip a comic book together in less than an hour.
Tom G.: Thank you so much for saying that. I really, really do need to make more arts. I have some kind of mental block since... oh, about the time I moved into a cubicle.
Maybe I should make a comic about corporate america. Hmmm...
Leauxra, I feel like some crazy stalker person...but I seriously can't stop coming back and reading this again. It is so. freaking. amazing. If you self-publish it, I will buy it.
Write graphic novels. I'll buy everything that you write.
I wish that I were famous so that I could tell everyone about you.
These drawings are amazing and the story is hilariously realistic in an absurd sort of way. You MUST do this with your life. I'm stalking your stalker, BTW...
Unreal. Way to step up your game, lady.
Seriously, that first picture . . . the vertebrae is so detailed and realistic. And I adore the story. Great job!!
Stephanie: HECK YEAH. You can TOTALLY stalk me. As long as you don't want to... you now, make a skin suit out of me or something (I will NOT put the lotion in the basket).
It makes me ridiculously, furiously happy that you like it so much. I am looking in to options on some kind of print on demand... I should be able to re scan these cleaner and draw a cover in the next few weeks.
Shell Flower: Stalking stalkers is totally acceptable here. Welcome aboard. I've been trying to figure out how to do this with my life for the last... oh... 33 years (I am 35). I have isolated the problem. I am not nearly prolific enough to live on it. Working on changing that.
Misty: I feel a little weird taking too many compliments considering this was mostly done in 2005... however, it has had the affect I wanted, which was to get me to draw more. I have a one page comic in the works.
Glad you like it. I feel like I need to add lots of content to the world, because the internet does not have enough content. :)
MOOOOORE! MORE MOOOOOOORE! <3 u Babes.
Seriously, I'm NEVER letting anything happen to that sketch you gave me a while back, once I find the PERFECT frame, up it goes in the place of honor.
Gorgeous ink.
Do more. Please!
That was absolutely wonderful.
I've added you to my blog roll, so I don't miss what goes on in your brain again.
Pearl
p.s. I realize this was a one-off, but it really works. :-)
Love: Working on more. Trying to get back in to it. Should have SOMETHING in a few days. No guarantees that it will be good, though.
Pearl: I am honored to be on your blogroll. You're one of my blog-heroes, so I am totally excited about this.
And I am trying to make more comics. I have the beginnings of an idea once I get back into drawing regularly again. We'll see how this goes. It was my original impetus for starting a blog, and then I never drew anything.
Whoa...this is really awesome! You're really talented.
Do a zombie one. =)
Thoughtsy: Ooo. A zombie comic. I haven't actually thought about that before. Hmmm... the gears are turning. Let me see what I can do.
Wow. Wowee wow wow.
I am in awe. Seriously. I join the chorus of stalkers who would buy your graphic novels. Just don't forget us when you're famous, mmm 'k?
blissflower1969: Forget who? I kid!
Thank you! I am designing a cover and will scan these nicer and make them available really really soon.
Wowza. ClayBaboons linked to this, and I'm so glad she did because it is awesome. Seriously. Holy satire.
Gia: WOW. Thank you for stopping by and inflating my already huge ego!!! Glad you enjoyed this... it is quickly becoming my most popular blog ever, so I think that means I need to draw more.
Also, ClayBaboons is completely awesome, so I can tell you have good taste. :)
Loved this! The drawings are lovely and the satire is sharp. You are so talented. Keep it up.
Completely unrelated question that is starting to make me feel like I'm spamming all of my favourite blogs, but whatever: Is it ok if I pin your work on pinterest, or would you prefer that people don’t? I’m concerned about the crazy pinterest TOS: 100% of copyright issues (and expenses) on pinners, 0% on the site. And I'm pretty much certain that you're going to be rich someday, so I don't want you suing my ass.
Let me know if you want me to take your images down. (Although I'm almost positive that you're happy being pinned. And I mean no double-entendre by that.)
cameo: Thank you! I am working on a new one.
Stephanie: Pinterest doesn't want to steal people's copyrights, they really just had a standard agreement. They emailed me a while back talking about the changes. I LOVE pinterest, so link away. :)
"Happy being pinned..." At least buy me dinner first! HAH.
I loved the hell out of this. Really. Well done!
crap. I meant to ask this as I was reading, but, in light of the other post, describing the "how to". . . HOW LONG did this take you??
christ. . . okay, it's not my fault I'm absent minded. I also wanted to say I enjoyed the absurdity and dark humor of the body image message.
Jim: Hey, I ain't complaining about multiple comments. I get a huge amount of pleasure from seeing lots and lots of comments. It makes me feel popular.
This comic took several months to construct, but I did it entirely while I was working in a photography gallery. I had to stop drawing and "talk to customers" when they came in, but during the summer months, I would have a couple hours every day to work on it. Each page took 4-12 hours depending on the complexity. I didn't have a ruler, just the edges of business cards, and it all started with the picture where she's looking at herself in the mirror.
I am trying to figure out how to do another comic like this, but I haven't quite made the time commitment. One of these days though...
P.S. Welcome to the blog!
One of the things I loved about drawing (when I was still doing it in school). . . was how people would look over my shoulder and ooh and ahhh. made me feel good.
Considering yourself oohed and ahhed. I love watching people sketch. . . it's really fascinating. I'd love to see the results of a Draw Something game on the iphone that you participated in! ;)
I LOVED it! The story was brilliant and the illustrations are amazing!
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