graphic short story

It’s Printing Time!

| rozihath

Good evening ladies and gents!

So, I have big, happy shiny news that glistens in the sunlight (though not like one of those weird Twilight ‘vampire’ things..). It also scares me somewhat, but I’m just going to ignore that for now:

My comic, The Red Road has evolved over the past few months. It emerged as from a single idea, from there is became lines and paint on numerous pieces of paper, and then to the long process of editing and piecing together on a screen. And finally, as of this week, over to the local printers who are finishing the process by making 100 beautiful copies. Printed onto an off-white eco-friendly paper, with perfect binding (i.e. stapling), The Red Road will be in my warm and loving arms by Thursday!

Ooo

Preview2

Preview3

Like anything created and then thrown out to the world, it is a anxious time.. Although this time it’s worse – financing the printing has been an odd feeling, one of which started very happily and then as time has gone on in the past week I’ve started wondering what on earth I’ve done. Y’know, the usual happy thoughts! Thankfully, after only a couple of meltdowns I’m ready to go and just waiting.. I’m usually pretty good at being patient, but now I have a dent in my finances I just want to see what happens!!

Anyway! Down to the important business.

I have rejuvenated my Etsy shop which you can go have a look at here >> https://www.etsy.com/uk/shop/rozihathaway

It is looking a little empty at the moment, but I’m working on it! From Thursday The Red Road will be available for purchase from here for the grand, epic total of £6. Each copy is numbered out of 100, and will be posted out in it’s own little cellophane envelope and board-backed packaging to ensure that it arrives in perfect condition. The comic is A5 in size, and as previously mentioned printed onto recycled eco-friendly paper at a weight of 140gsm. To read more about the story itself please look at my previous post here!

Anyone who parts with their hard earned cash to purchase something that I made is a hero in my eyes, so thank you to anyone who is interested in my work. It’s a never-fading compliment to have a story I nurtured and put so much into sitting in someone’s home, making people smile. This story is close to my heart for many reasons, but working with these characters for all this time I really can’t wait to see and hear what people think. So, before I get too soppy, head on over to my Facebook page and enjoy the daily countdown starting from tonight.. See what happens tomorrow and I hope you’re all as excited as I am! For now – laters! x

Season’s Greetings

| rozihath

Good evening folks!

Well, well, well. It’s that time of year again. The university deadlines are down from a long list to just one more presentation, and I’ve been gradually wrapping the stockpile of gifts I’d been hiding in my wardrobe for months. Having a Christmas with no immediate project work to attend to means I’ll be happily filling myself with mulled wine and turkey for about three weeks, before it all starts up again of course. Time flies when you’re having fun! Or stressed.

So, I have been a busy bee working on several things at once, but last week saw the completion of my graphic short story that I submitted for the V&A’s Illustration Awards 2015 in the student submission category. Although, I won’t lie, the V&A was just a formality and university requirement for this brief. I couldn’t wait to write and draw my own story with so much time allocated! The story itself is hard to summarise, though my best attempt would be this; Influenced by the text ‘To Walk The Red Road’, a Native American poem by an unknown author, I developed a story based on a young woman and her spirit animals – Bear, Coyote and Lark. The story is about a physically and mentally arduous journey, ascending up the Rocky Mountains; exploring themes of violence and sexual abuse, alongside companionship, bravery and areas of Native American beliefs. Here is an obligatory snapshot:

The Red Road cover
The Red Road cover
Oooh.. shiny.
“What’s going on there?” – I hear you cry!

 

This project was my baby from start to finish, I absolutely loved it. Never before have I had the chance to really cultivate my own story for such a length of time, and with all the practise I made myself do over the summer with Lost and Found, and then the Christmas Tale, I finally had a chance within university to put it all to good use. I started with the poem, and then came up with some ideas that I wanted to include in the story, and then slowly but surely put the story together. From there I wrote it out into a graphic novel script, and after some sketchbook work and a mock-up book with my thumb-nailing I went straight to paper. The story is a total of 24-pages, not including the covers and somehow I managed to write and create the whole thing in 8 weeks. Nifty, eh? There are some logistical kinks that need working out, and I need some willing un-biased readers to give me their opinion on the content, but all going well after editing I’m looking into getting this story printed to sell. How exciting! It’s a new kind of nervous for me – I’m used to having my drawings thrown in peoples faces for judgement.. But writing? Well, apart from waffling on here and there, crafting stories is only something I’ve been practising in the last year or so. Let’s hope people like it!

Aside from this project I’d been working on a few other things but nothing I really felt as passionate for as this. Most of my university assessments are well under way and I’ll be looking forward to some nice, positive (hopefully) feedback from tutors over the winter break. Going into term two of second year, I believe the evil ‘D’ work is going to start being thrown around.. Dissertation. Eurgh. But on the positive, hopefully there will be lots more projects I can sink my teeth into and really make into something I love. Anyway, I will be around and updating things a bit more over the holidays so keep an eye out for more updates! Over and out x