Tag: comic strip

Inktober 18: Saddle

Inktober 18: Saddle

I can’t remember the last time I tried to draw a horse, but I am pleased with his “is everything okay back there?” expression. Of course, he might well be the cause of the trouble.

This is based on the painting La Belle Dame Sans Merci by Frank Dicksee, from about 1901. It, in turn, is based on a poem by the same name by John Keats, in which a fairy beguiles a knight and leads him to his doom. So maybe don’t feel too bad for the predicament of our leading lady.

Inktober 17: Demon

Inktober 17: Demon

One of my favorite books is Howl’s Moving Castle by Diana Wynne Jones, so I thought I would draw Sophie getting the better of Calcifer the fire demon.

“Oh, curses!” Calcifer spat. “Why did you let her in here, Michael?” Sulkily he bent his blue face forward until all that could be seen of him was a ring of curly green flames dancing on the logs.

“Thank you,” Sophie said, and slapped the heavy pan onto the green ring to make sure Calcifer did not suddenly rise up again.

“I hope your bacon burns,” Calcifer said, muffled under the pan.

Inktober 13: Rise

Inktober 13: Rise

Mouse never ate calamari ever again.

I read “The Call of Cthulhu” by H. P. Lovecraft in order to draw this, at the request of my husband, who is a Lovecraft fan. At one point Cthulhu’s head is described as “cuttlefish-like,” and although I think cuttlefish are pretty cute, I can see how this would be terrifying under the circumstances. They do have the strangest and most alien eyes. And…tentacles.

Last year I based a comic for one of the prompts (“Uh-Oh”) on “The Statement of Randolph Carter,” so possibly this will become an annual tradition. In which case, I should probably start reading Lovecraft’s work at a better rate than one story a year.

Inktober 11: Wander

Inktober 11: Wander

Alas, brain fog.

When I saw the prompt list, I knew exactly what to draw for “wander.” I wish I could say that any part of this comic is exaggerated, but it is pretty much a documentary. For further proof of the reliability of my brain, the sketch for this comic is accidentally mislabeled as “wonder.” Which, to be fair, also works.

Like last year’s “Forget” comic, this one is inspired by my experiences with “brain fog,” one of the many symptoms of POTS (a blood circulation disorder). It’s one of the symptoms that, while frustrating and occasionally embarrassing, is easiest for me to laugh at. Look for a future comic in which I forget how to use a microwave.