A Q&A with Oneshi Press, and others! Let’s talk Tracy Queen Vol. 2!
(above artwork by myself of Tracy Queen! @shaydensdoodle)
On March 18th I had the pleasure of talking to some talented creatives over at Oneshi Press, a small business that write, illustrate, and distribute small comics and graphic novels. Their work is full of sox positivity (censored for those nasty algorithms!) and feminist messages. It’s got all kinds of titles from Children of Gaia, to the more current being kickstarted Tracy Queen series under its belt. The independent press also promote a lot of smaller artists and writers, even work by myself! The co-founders Jayel Draco and Lynsey G are a dynamic duo of writing, illustrating and generally promoting strong ideals that really do promote all-round progressiveness. My work has been featured in Oneshi press’ releases multiple times, once in their Oneshi Press Quarterly Anthology #5 and for promotional material in articles and cover illustrations for a chapter in their new volume of Tracy Queen!
In a livestream with JayelDraco, LynseyLags and PeteTheHeat I was fortunate enough to ask some questions on their process, and their new up and coming comic which is a mashup of sexual empowerment, sci-fi and a talking racoon sidekick... And here is how it went! (All answers aren’t quotes! I took notes and summarised the answers for ease of reading)
Q:Do you think about the composition of the whole page when sketching the comic, or do you focus on each individual frame?
Jayel responded that his way of working tends to focus more on what frames need to be within the page and then negotiate how the images work within these frames.
Q: How much focus do you put on world building and setting, compared to the characters... or do you find them too integrated with one another to see them as separate aspects of Tracy Queen?
“It starts off with the little things.” He continues saying how it’ll be for example a fictional store in the background of one frame which goes on to be repeated through a series. his work in Mr. Guy and PACK also show many of the same small details between them. He says about how it’s these subtle things that build the world.
Q: How important is colour to your character designs and comics?
In Tracy queen he mentions how there are two distinct colour palettes of Tracy. One of which is softer purples and textures which is very much the protagonist in her own comfortable environment, which contrasts with the greens and yellows of her battle armour she uses to fight the forces of evil! As a consumer of Jayel’s work I have noticed this use of earth tones which really is unique, and makes his illustrations stand out. When asked about this he just replied with “I just test colours out, and then just make what feels right and intellectualise it afterward.” which is something I needed to hear. So often we are taught to overthink and overly intellectualise our visual choices.. but sometimes we need to just go for it!
Q: When Lynsey writes Tracy queen.. does she provide you with a script format or a book format?
Lynsey immediately replied with saying its done in a script format, but there’s “no set rules to it”, Pete as an author also gave some insight into this adding how its important to give the artist some bases to work off of. “Go into it as if you’re going to micro-manage the artist.. then take a step back. It’s important that you don’t over direct.” It’s clear that its a fine line working as an author alongside an illustrator in terms of allowing for room for creativity equally on both sides, this is something I feel Lynsey and Jayel have balanced perfectly. Both of their personal voices shine brightly through this new upcoming comic and I really can’t wait to see it get funded and put out into the world!
As conversation naturally flowed here are a few more things I picked up on! Jayel spoke about how Tracy is sexy, theres no doubt about it , but he’s proud of how he can show her being gross and slob like at times and not be afraid of it. It’s Tracy’s SELF-EMPOWERMENT and CONFIDENCE that makes her sexy. And I feel like this message of self empowerment is something I really hope to also take forward in my own work as an illustrator. This message of self-empowerment is something we NEED in this political climate in the western world right now, and we need to do this from the ground up starting with small aspects of visual culture eventually leading to it being promoted on a larger scale in pop-culture.
As whacky and weird as this sex positive sci-fi about a Love Warrior and a talking racoon sidekick is. It’s beautiful. If you get the chance PLEASE go check out their current kickstarter campaign and if you can’t do that then at least help them by spreading the word! Let’s get this comic funded, and let’s help promote these small indie creatives as much as we can.
Oneshi press | Tracy Queen Kickstarter | My Socials
Lynsey G is an award winning author, publisher, journalist and all around badass creative. Her works are always very forward thinking, sox positive and full of eye opening content surrounding the P*rn industry, sox workers and the role of women in writing and the sox industry. A co-founder of Oneshi Press.
Jayel Draco is a visual artist who’s career spans from visual effects, graphic design, web design, photography all the way to illustration and narrative design. His work is reminiscent of Golden Age comics, without being too directly referential and always shows an empathic view of the world and our experiences on planet earth. A co-founder of Oneshi Press.
Peter Lampasona wrote War & Horses from Children of Gaia series. He also provides fight choreography &consultation for several Oneshi Press projects. Find out more here: http://www.oneshipress.com/team-credits/
