The pilot page of this comic series was created as a short storytelling exercise for an illustration course. “Origins” explores the friendship of two nine year old children from a seaside city, who spend loads of their free time wandering around the vast meadows, forests and water banks surrounding the lively urban port. Their adventures are a metaphor of a large, unknown world, full of wonders, opening up as they slowly come of age. The society of adults surrounding them is warm, caring and supporting, one that each and every one of us would want, one with an embrace wide enough to let the kids roam and find their edge. A heartwarming childrens’ story, for all ages, and especially for the child inside each of us.
The character design and art style of the story draws inspiration from classic ligne claire comic strips and graphic novels. The protagonists are based on archetypes of a girl-boy duo, with the former being slightly bossy sometimes, but street-smart and kind of heart, and the latter being adventurous, mature and and a bit shy at times.
The workflow followed these three approximate stages, starting with a rough sketch of the storyboard, using different points of view to add detail to the storytelling. The sketch was followed by some refined linework, with some more rendered layers of shading and hatching to add depth and emotion to the panels.
