so as you might have noticed, i've been taking a break from the oil painting to tell a story in a different medium: a graphic novel. it's very stark, black & white style, & making a huge difference to how i see light & shadow & shapes. it'll be interesting to see how it shapes my paintings when i get back into that (and i will: i love colour too!)
I'm pretty pleased with how it looks, although i'll need help from my husband & other comic book buddies with the words & the speech bubbles later! I'm managing to get a page a day done, about the same rate as the professionals! problem is getting a day to do it! i have a day job & 2 school aged children, so everything is done in bits & pieces between housework, school pick up time & dinner etc. and i'm sooo frustrated!
I've been thinking about the whole "women in the comic book industry" question that seems to be up for discussion so much lately, & i think it's possibly the time factor. it's probably a true of all creative industries, but comics are a hugely labour intensive medium, and for most women (especially post childbirth ones!) there simply isn't time! interestingly, fathers - even new fathers- still seem to have time.
so the conclusion i draw is that it's not the industry's fault: in fact some publishers seem to be almost craving to see our work! it's society's fault! My advice is to do a Fiona Staples (i have a huge girl-crush on her!) & get in young. establish yourself & you'll probably find your career will continue to flourish with the partner & kids in tow. for the rest of us, teach the kids to cook & clean, learn to say no sometimes & just keep plugging on slowly. the world doesn't hate us, they just keep forgetting us: we have to get a little louder!