Stardust Adventures

While looking through my old sketchbooks for inspiration, I noticed that I had been drawing and writing in the same "universe" of my design since middle school. I decided that this was something I would be happy with working with for an extended period of time. I am enjoying learning how to produce my own comic, and bring my characters to life.

Katie and Kanak

Illustration 18"x11"

This was my first piece done correlating to the Stardust Adventures. It depicts the first encounter Katie (the one in the closet) has with Kanak (the alien). The door on the artwork is moveable, revealing Katie hiding inside the closet.

Katie's Character Sheet

Illustration/ Character Design 9"x11"

This sheet was made at the beginning of the year when I was still figuring out how I wanted to edit my characters. Celeste is the name Katie's biological mother gave her, and Larkinson was her biological father's last name. This sheet includes sketches as well as some backstory on Katie/Celeste's character.

Down the Rabbit Hole

Illustration 9"x12"

This was a fun exploratory piece for me. I learned about poses and movement during this piece. The inspiration was drawn from the artwork often shown in comic books between chapters.

Serilda's Scars

Comic Design 9"x12"

This piece was my first comic page. I fell in love with drawing pages after this piece and decided to base the rest of my sustained investigation around telling my story not just through art pieces, but also comic pages. This page reads top to bottom, left to right.

Adiah's Nightmare

Illustration 9"x12"

This was my very first digital piece. In the fall, I gained access to more artistic resources and began learning how to use them. This picture shows the character Adiah having a nightmare in which her skin is peeling off and revealing pink skin underneath. This alludes to her biological father's identity.

Comic Page 1

Comic Design 1341x2048px

This is my very first digital comic. It follows the beginning of Adiah's story. The program I was using was not very comic-friendly but I learned a lot about composition and how to navigate drawing programs.

Comic Page 2

Comic Design 6"x9.5"

This was my second comic page. I improved a bit in the artwork, but my lettering still did not look professional. I switched drawing programs, and began to learn how to use procreate during this piece.

Family Tree

Illustration 2732x2048px

This was my last project of semester 1. It depicts the family tree of the two main characters Celeste/Katie and Adiah.

Page One

6" x 9.5"

This is the first part of Katie's story. I took a pause on Adiah's part of the story so I could develop it more. This shows

Page Two

6"x 9.5"

This page shows Katie as she is being driven home after a game by her coach. The first panels show her striking out multiple times. Her coach says that Katie is lucky because the game wasn't that important, and to just do better next time.

Page Three

6"x 9.5"

This art piece shows Katie as she is being driven home by her coach. They discuss how technology has been acting strange that day and Katie reflects on her self image issues.

Page Four

6"x 9.5"

This art piece shows Katie as her self-worth issues get the better of her and she breaks a picture in her house.

Page 5

6"x 9.5"

This page shows Katie flopping on to her bed, exhausted after school and her softball game. When trying to get on her phone, it displays an error message. I worked on improving my background drawing and lighting skills during this piece.

Page 6

6"x 9.5"

This page shows Katie feeling something rumbling and shaking the house. When she opens the blinds to investigate, there is a spaceship outside her window. The house and the spaceship were difficult to draw, but I learned more about how to draw angular subjects.

After this art piece, I decided to format my comics to long canvases so I could upload them on webtoon for anyone to read.

Episode 0

For my next art piece, I created cover art for the beginning of each of the webtoon episodes, and put all of my previous pages onto a canvas. I published this on webtoon under the title "Stardust". The size of this canvas is 800x7680px

Episode 1

Episode 1 shows Kate noticing a rumbling outside her house, and when she opens the blinds, she sees a spaceship outside. This is the same comic page as page 6, but I experimented with webtoon panel designs. This canvas is 800x8000px

Episode 2

This episode shows Katie hiding from the ship, and checking her phone when service comes back. The messages that flood her phone are too-late warnings of an alien invasion. This canvas is 800x11800px

Episode 2 redraw

For this project, I re-drew episode 2 in a different format. Throughout this sustained investigation, I have been trying to find an art style that I like and a comic format that works for me. The long canvas is good for webtoon, but the traditional comic style is quicker to draw. It is also easier to print out and display. This piece is 6"x9.5"

In the Club

This piece is about Kanak, Katie, and Serilda when they are in the club. I gave them light accesories to look like they were put on after the picture was taken. Kind of like drawing on a polaroid. The horns on Kanak symbolize her devious motives, Katie's crown symbolizes that she is a part of the Galavina's royal family, and Serilda's wings symbolize her tragic history.