I can dream of ways to keep you occupied


7 new Between Gears pages in the last week!

I’m going back and finishing November and December, so check the site often, because I will place pages in their proper order in the archives after they have been up for a week, and then they will be hard to find.

Obviously I have more time to work on BG now that the thesis and Over the Surface are over, but another great breakthrough that has allowed me to update more often is that I am penciling with blue lead now instead of graphite. With non-photo blue pencils, I can ink over them and NOT erase! It’s wonderful. I used to have to ink my pages again after erasing pencils, because the eraser would fade the ink pretty badly, but no more! Pages take a lot less time to make, which means more pages, faster! (^^)b

Last week, I counted all of the pages I need to make for BG and all of the pages that I have made so far. I am at just about 1/3 of the pages done, which is actually a lot better than I thought! I am starting a big project in August, and I would really, REALLY like to finish BG before I start that. I want to have a complete narrative of my senior year from September – June, and I think that the next couple months are the best window I will have to finish it for quite a while.

Baby to be #1, you’ve got to raise the bar


(Materials test for an upcoming anthology story)

I’ve been working on many new projects since finishing Over the Surface chapter 2, mostly illustrations and short comics. When I am between long comics, I often get feelings of aimlessness or dissatisfaction. I want my next project to be a marked improvement on the last one. I do a lot of art exercises and think about what I want to work on for next time.

During the interval this time around, I’ve been looking at tons of art from talented people and feeling down about my own abilities. There are so so SO many things I can’t do yet that other artists have been doing for years. Today, I remembered something that made me feel better: nobody can do or be it all. The artists that I admire are all extremely talented, but I am holding myself to a standard made up of the best parts of each of them–something that just doesn’t exist.

I used to do the same thing with actresses and models I wanted to look like: subconsciously combine the best traits of each of them into this idealized person who, in truth, did not exist, probably could not exist, and was unfair to compare myself to. If I held anyone else to the standard I have made of this eclectically all-talent artist, even the most brilliant artists wouldn’t live up to it.

No one can be everything, and we have to just focus on cultivating our own brand of talent. That’s not to say there isn’t a LOT that I can learn from my favorite artists or that I don’t have a long way to go in my art studies, but I need to cut myself some slack when I start thinking, “Augh, why can’t I ink like this person AND lay out pages like that person AND color like that person AND…”

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Side note: has anyone read the picture book Grasper?? I read it in elementary school and it is definitely one of the ones that stuck with me. It’s about intervals in life when you have an opportunity to grow.

I’d like to make myself believe that planet earth turns slowly

Begun, the thesis final art has. I penciled the first page today, tackling two establishing shots of Ava’s village. I’m happy with the pencils but nervous for the inks.

Have some sketcheray:

You make the whole world wanna dance

Random sketch from last month:

From a derailed attempt to make a new self-portrait for various websites:

And more sketches from Sydney Starts a Riot:

Why do they congregate in groups of four?

I give my thesis prospectus presentation today in class, so last night was a scanning frenzy as I tried to get all of my sketches and thumbnails into my PowerPoint file. I thought I would share what I have so far for my thesis comic here as well:

The early stuff:



The male lead, Victor, went through SO MANY CHANGES. I tried looking for inspiration in actors from the 20s, 30s, and 40s, but I can’t draw those slicked back hairstyles!! Now he looks like pop star Shaggy, but at least I can draw him consistently.



A side character. He’s quite fun to draw.

And more…


This is random, but I like it.

Won’t you pay attention please?

Here’s a preview of the inked version of these pencils I posted last month:

AAAAH. More work to do!!

Without compassion, there can be no end to hate

On vacation, with my family, thinking about all of the things I’m thankful for. Right now, I’m really thankful that I’m not going to school tomorrow morning. :P

Freelance project editing and flatting all weekend, a little Between Gears tomorrow, and a Catwoman commission this weekend! So excited! And I made 2 Christmas gifts this week~ I love the plotting and planning of Christmas, haha. Being sneaky in order to put something nice together for your friends is fun.
I give my thesis prospectus presentation on Monday. The paper ended up being 23 pages, so I’m not sure how many people will read it beforehand! 0___0 Wish me luck! I have a PowerPoint presentation with maybe 20 words and 50 images. It should keep people awake? xD;

You just keep me hanging on

Wish me luck on inking and coloring these pages! For only then can there be Between Gears pages…

Hana ya ki ya kotori no kotoba o anata ni mo oshiete agetai

Sketch duuuuuuuump.

Watercolors from the thesis comic:

Aaaaaand we have achieved male lead!!!!

He has an egg head.

Other sketches from the past couple of months:





Do you want them to go on and on and on?

A couple more pieces up on Deviant Art this week, both illustrations for children’s book class:

Sydney Illustration 2 by ~Tallychyck on deviantART

Sydney Illustration 1 by ~Tallychyck on deviantART

Copyright © Natalie Nourigat
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