1 Page Every Day

R - 25 - They/Them

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I have been drawing since before I could remember. It’s just what I am. But I’m scared of posting my unpolished work. To help with that I decided to just post 1 page every day from my sketchbooks in as close to chronological order as possible. They are very disorganized in my home. Most posts will be queued. I’ll tag by year.

I look like this.

Most of these links will not work yet.

skarchive (sketchbook pages)

not skarchive (everything else)

redraws

self portraits

2008 / 2009 / 2010 / 2011 / 2012 / 2013 / 2014 / 2015 / 2016 / 2017 / 2018 / 2019 / 2020 / 2021 / 2022 / 2023

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The last page of the sketchbook, the cardboard end cover. This must have been done when I first got it. Those eyes with the connected nose are probably inspired by Alan Garner’s the Owl Service. I had an audiobook of it because of my dad. He really loved that story. He almost named me after Allison. I must have inherited his obsession because I never quite got over the story. Blodeuwedd in particular I still feel so close to. I too wanted to be flowers but I came out owls. I’m trying to become that pattern from the story where I get to be both. Though I am probably entrenching myself in the cycle by doing so. My dad also wrote a song about The Owl Service when he was close to the age I am now. I memorized it back then and never forgot. He and my mum were in a band together back in the 80s. The track includes my mum laughing after missing a chord. I really treasure that song. If I have children (unlikely) I’ll play/sing it for them.

Happy Halloween to anyone on my hemisphere of the world.

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“Dear [friend], how u be doin!? Plz come back 2 skool”

This is the tone I used to email (and write!!) with. Oh shame eternal. The message is to my childhood friend the rat (not mouse, they had pet rats and loved them very much). They were out of school pretty frequently with what I now recognize were severe mental health issues. They used to say their self-harm scars were rat scratches. I think at one time they went to one of those fucked-up boarding schools, part of the troubled teen industry. We ended on strange terms but I hope they are safe and well now. They certainly didn’t deserve all they went through.

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One again see-through fabric! Cute little halter top moment. And sandals, since she gets so warm. The way flame licks and curls reminded me of curly hair.

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Those circles around the ankles/wrists are I think bracelets. I used to really love bracelets… I had metal ones that jingled when I wore them all on my wrists. I must’ve decided against drawing so many for this character, but the love is still there. Like wind chimes…

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Not much to say on this one. I think I was imagining how that dress would feel wet. The weight of water in every movement, there even when you are not in the water.

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Oh yes. Those are definitely bells. I can hear this one walking in my head. I think those little triangle fabric pieces are meant to evoke the clothes of medieval jesters? This blog is definitely doing what I’d hoped. I can look so charitably on these designs and I’m also waking up long-lost memories. I went to this craft camp, we did all kinds of things (like crating a plaster mask of our own faces). I made a hair tie completely covered in miniature bells and wore it everywhere. I recall one of my classmates telling me he could hear me jingling while I ran the mile. I still really like jingly earrings and such and I wear them as much as I can.

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These pages make me so embarrassed I can’t even express it. Red-hot searing shame. Which could be a little bit of an overreaction? This comic is about my self-insert elf character being magically sealed away by bad guys then summoned across space and time years later by the thoughts of my elementary school crush. The boy in this is so undeniably him. We were in the same grade and I had a weird rivalry with him (which in retrospect may have been one-sided). We both liked to play Math Blaster and he was nicer to me than a lot of the other kids in our year. One time he shared a lunchable with me. I was awful at interacting with people (ESPECIALLy people I had a crush on) so I never was able to be so cool and indifferent in front of him. This comic is a bit of wish fulfillment on that front. I’m hesitant to post this on the chance that it reaches him some day. It’s silly logically. I’m fully grown and have a partner of 5 years so there are like zero stakes here. I’m gritting my teeth and posting this anyway because I’m trying to be vulnerable and not so ashamed of myself.

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Ohhhhhh the embarrassing redraw sequel. I’ve definitely fleshed out the lore more. I think those hats on the Moon Hunters were supposed to evoke mushroom caps. And are those claw hands in the first panel there? Maybe I was onto something. Though this is just completely soaked in embarrassing preteen crush flavor there are some interesting pieces.

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Did I start feet up on this one? Most unusual. I think those are little detached dress sleeve cuffs at the wrist and ankles. This might be air themed, I can imagine those skirt panels blowing like leaves in the wind.

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Water fairy no doubt. There’s my beloved sheer fabric once again! I know in my heart those little teardrop shapes are blue glass beads. The bubble sleeves are a cool touch. May revisit this one some day.

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The other side of the cut-out sheet. I think she must be Earth since she’s holding a flower. I like her layered skirt!

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Itty bitty baby elf fairy woke up for this one. Maybe because she heard her siblings getting cut out of the paper beneath her. I think I taped them to my wall? I can’t really remember anymore.

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Itty bitty baby elf fairy, she says “helloooooo” in the tiniest voice you can imagine.

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The return of the cat girl! With that haircut I am certain we’re in 2009. I got my hair cut into a bob for the first time ever and fell fully in love with having short hair. Looks like I’m adding a little more complexity into the design with that choker. And I’ve figured out that people have collarbones. Good improvement overall. You can see another attempt at the mouse girl in the back there.

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A doll! Half cut out and left in purgatory. Sticking to my elemental theme. I think I used to have a sheer scarf… it was teal-y blue? I felt that sheer fabric was inherently magical (I was right) so many of my magical characters used/wore it in some capacity. Oh! I made my own canopy above my bed with push pins and a swath of sheer fabric. It’s strange how such a small detail pulls out all these feelings and memories. It used to flutter in the wind…

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I was into Monty Python, I think this must have been related. Interestingly, I didn’t try spam until I was 18 or 19. It looks like I stopped partway through and decided to do something completely different, which I presume I drew in the bottom right corner of this page. Unfortunately that drawing has been lost to time & a pair of safety scissors.

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Winky face, ol’ reliable