Everything I draw ends up wearing a bow-tie

Anonymous asked: I saw on the dappertellyboke thing that you confirmed that panel with Julienne giving Hero a chunk of chocolate out of herself is a reference to the pelican myth, but isn't that do with Christianity? Does TPoH draw on religion?

ah, unfortunately I hadn’t thought people would make that link; the (untrue) belief that pelicans fed their chicks on their own blood by injuring themselves with their beaks is a very ancient myth and was in common circulation in Europe during medieval times, which eventually ended up with people linking it to the sacrifice of Jesus Christ as the religion became more dominant; consequently the imagery has been used by Christians but the myth, as far as I am aware, actually predates that association by a long way and is a common motif in many arcane scriptures, alchemy amongst them. TPoH draws on a lot of esoteric practices and has hidden ‘extras’ throughout, particularly to do with alchemy and tarot, but religious subtext isn’t my jam- I’m not against religions, but I’m very neutral on the subject and not massively interested or educated in them, so incorporating one in my story was never an aim (I’m not exactly qualified to do so…)

If you interpret it that way that’s cool, but that’s your own affair; it wasn’t put in on purpose! The story is just a wild creature that came out of nowhere, so there are no intentional parallels to any religions.

Anonymous asked: Hi mod! I'm an art student myself and recently I've had my confidence and faith in my work completely shattered. I was just wondering if you've ever experienced something similar and if you have how you came back from it, because right now I don't even want to look at my stuff let alone actually make anything.

I have. It is hard, it hurts, and it takes a long time to recover. You don’t think it should but it does, and it always does, and you may think that’s because the big shattered hurt feeling is so big and fills you up entirely, but rather it’s like the big wonderful thing that did fill you up is gone and that is so much worse because it suddenly occurs to you that you are small and fragile, but the truth of it is that the thing which has been taken from you is so big and wonderful that without it you feel vulnerable- and I say is, not was, because it is still there, and that is what you must remember. You will slowly find it again, in little pieces all over the floor or in the middle of a conversation, and it will be unexpected and gradual and unstable as you put it back together. Sometimes little bits will break off it again and it will feel like the whole jigsaw-puzzle will fall apart again- and it might, but you can start again, and indeed if you have the patience to live on then you will find that it does start again despite everything, because the big wonderful thing that has been so broken and flown away wants to fill up the space inside you, because nowhere and nothing else is exactly the shape and size and wonderful that you are- it loves you. So, be patient with yourself, not angry; you are frightened and hurt and that is how it will be for as long as it has to be, because it matters; if it did not matter it would not hurt so much, but you are able to recover. We are always able to recover if we are given the time and love we need, and there are people and pieces of art and music that will help with the love, but it will take time, and for that time you must be very brave and tolerant and not too cross with yourself, or you risk scaring away the big wonderful thing that wants so badly to come back to you. I wish you good luck, and maybe this will be the first thing that will push a little piece of that broken, big and wonderful thing that you are into coming back to you, because it will; you must believe that it will.

doodleniks asked: if i'm interested in starting to teach myself animation, where would be a good place to start? just picking up a pencil, paper, and a lightbox, and working from there, or some other avenue? i know you went to school for animation, and i want to too, but as a measly high schooler im hoping i can teach myself some stuff before i go. thanks, and sorry if this question is somehow bothersome!

oh gosh well I started trying animation long before I went to a school for it so YES just try anything you can! flip books are fun and easy to make, lightboxes are good to start but try not to rely on them- you get a better idea of how the drawings will move by flipping the paper so find a method of holding the paper together (use a hole punch and make a peg bar or even just staple them together at the bottom to start), and there’s always stop motion that you can start trying with moving about anything at all and a camera! plasticine is good but you can get the idea of movement and learn about animating by using coins, clothes, literally anything you have- my first gig in animation was work experience in a stop motion studio (the place that does Bob the Builder) and it gave me a good footing in how far to move things and the importance of holding still once in a while. Hope you don’t mind me publishing it but I think it’s relevant to anyone wanting to have a dabble at animation- don’t think you can’t start now!

Anonymous asked: if we voted for TPoH in the previous comicmix rounds doesn't that count now? :o

I don’t think so, but it makes sense when you consider how each comic comes up against a different one each round- and yes please read the list of comics in this category before you vote! There are great comics in this list and indeed there have been super fab ones all the way through this competition so be sure to have a click around. I’ve certainly found some new material to read, and if you’re still on the TPoH train feel free to give it a hand, but honestly just vote for who you love; you can vote for more than one comic and it’s all good publicity for everyone!

Anonymous asked: Are you going to this year's comic con in London?

not this May, sadly- it’s too expensive for me to afford right now, and the front half of this year is absolute chaos I don’t know what even happened to make my life this busy D: however I am going to try to make it to the Manchester con, and who knows I might be able to make it to the October London comic con instead? fingers crossed anywho

Anonymous asked: how have you gotten so much people to love your OCs so much? i don't mean that to be rude, i'm just curious because when I follow artists usually i'm not interested in the stories they produce, I only appreciate their art, but yours i'm SO invested in by the stories AND the designs! do you have any tips on how to do that?

Gosh, well, honestly I’m glad you feel that way but I’m not sure about “getting” people to love your characters- all I know is that I love them very much myself! I’ve never tried to make anyone else like them. I love them, listen to them, and try to never make them do anything they wouldn’t just because it would be interesting or something petty like that; all characters have their own personalities and voices, I think you just have to learn to hear those voices and respect them. Basically I think if you respect a character people will respect them as well, and love kind of goes with that automatically because you love people you respect?

Probably. Yeah. I’m still learning, sorry, not the greatest answer.

Anonymous asked: Mod, do you play any instruments? If so, which? (I'm really appreciating Melody's dialogue, by the way -- the musical notation puns are so clever!)

I am very out of practice (but I’m going to pick them up again to strengthen my arms when I’m ready), but I play piano and drums! Both not very well… and to the other anon that asked if I made a lot of Melody out of percussion instruments on purpose, yes! You see a lot of musically influenced characters out there, but I’ve seen comparatively few that incorporate percussion, so I wanted to get some representation for us people-that-hit-things in there :’D

I’ve also dabbled in other things but the only other instrument I would be willing to say I can actually play is the kazoo, so.

Anonymous asked: Mod, do you have any tips for learning to draw left handed? I have an unidentified problem on my right arm that makes a muscle swell and hurt a lot, I've been terrified of it escalating and making me unable to draw for a few years now since drawing is my passion and stuff

well first of all I would do everything you can to identify the problem with your right arm- I know that can be tough, trust me, I had no idea for the longest time what was wrong with me- but until you know what’s causing it there’s no way to be sure you won’t create the same problem in your left arm, and then what do you got? no arms that’s what!

as for learning to draw left handed there is no secret, it’s just practice, practice and more practice. You will draw horribly badly! It will be frustrating and wobbly and even if you are better at the end of the day you have to start from scratch in the morning! It is also brilliant for giving you amazing headaches, but, if you persevere, it can start to become easier.

Try to make a simple program to follow (e.g. 5 minutes of circles and basic shapes, 1 minute writing numbers, 2 minutes writing the alphabet), as a warm up for every drawing session and evolve on to drawing ‘actual’ stuff when you have more control; you will be surprised at the progress you can make in a month- and keep resting inbetween! I am a terrible person to take that advice from I know but it’s very very important!

Anonymous asked: in the process of becoming such an amazing artist, did you ever feel like no one really liked what you did? sorry for such a depressing question i just need some conformation that i might maybe be able to be good someday

I’d debate the being an amazing artist (I have a long long way to go! but thank you very much for the kindness), but to answer your question; absolutely! I have felt that people outright hated my work on various occasions, and not just any people- my teachers! I was very lucky for most of my education, with tough but fair tutors, but at one very critical stage of my education I had a bad run and it was very poisonous for me and my art; my work was called “indulgent” and “commercial” and I was frequently told that I was over ambitious and “trying too hard”. I still have bad reactions to those first two words even now- although I’ve come to learn that sometimes they can be meant positively, I don’t think I’ll get past the negative association with those terms

the worst was probably the ‘trying too hard’ insult- because why is that an insult? trying to do the best you can? that’s a bad thing? apparently it can be seen as that, and by people who are supposed to be extracting the best from you, no less! it took me a long time to get my head around, largely because I had convinced myself that they were right, because teachers always know best (and before then they usually had, so I trusted them by default)

months after graduating by the skin of my teeth I had a short conversation with my mother (former psychiatrist) after a startling revelation that I had been depressed- she agreed. I had no idea at the time, and in hindsight it’s staggering that I didn’t, but that’s what I was, and that will be a part of me forever, and that, as they say, is that

recovering from depression was a struggle, but it was during that stage that I started to notice the work that I had made in that time which I still liked was the stuff which I had made for myself- the stuff I just wanted to draw and drew for the hell of it, and it didn’t just make me happy either! it seemed to be that specific stuff that most other people enjoyed too!

it can be hard to find a balance between accepting critique and holding true to your own vision, but it is possible, and while I’m still learning and hope I will continue to for the rest of my life I know that the best stories I have written have been the ones that I have wanted to read myself; the same with drawings, the same with everything

learning to love yourself and your work is a lifelong task and it’s all too easy to fall off the train even if you’ve found the railroad, but keep at it, and don’t forget to listen to your gut! instincts are an under-rated asset and they haven’t failed me yet- if anything, the times that I have failed have been when I’ve ignored that little voice or the unexplainable twinge that was telling me to do something else

so yeah, TL:DR I absolutely have felt like that, but I have come to terms with the fact that it isn’t as important as being happy with the work myself

Anonymous asked: who would win in a fight between Mesi and Arthur?

someone hasn’t found C.L.I.P. yet well tbh Mesi is stronger, but Arthur is faster, and they’re both very agile so they’re pretty evenly matched- mind you Arthur is a pacifist by nature so it takes a lot for him to fight anyone, whereas Mesi will just straight up whoop an ass