Surrounded by subconsciousnesses

Here’s a little Over the Surface 2 preview for you. I am toning page 17 now, and I should be done well ahead of my Wednesday deadline.

Backing up obsessively! :P

I took my love down to Violet Hill


My primary thesis adviser likes my second draft a lot better than she liked my second draft. PHEW!!! This is a very good thing.

Back to toning pages 13-24~

What if I say I will never surrender?


3 pages yesterday! If this thesis is a war, I won yesterday’s battle >:D

That puts me at 19/24 pages for chapter 2 (though 6 still need to be toned), and 35/40 overall. I still need to make the chapter 2 cover as well. The deadline is Wednesday, May 5. 6 days.

The written portion of the thesis is not going so hot. It needs major revisions, and my primary thesis adviser wants to edit one more draft before I turn in my final on Wednesday. 0__o So, writing tonight and all day tomorrow.

And I am not afraid to try it on my own

I’m calling it a night; I have an early train tomorrow to Portland! Woohoo, Stumptown Comics Fest weekend!!!! Before I turn it off, here’s a preview from Over the Surface 2:

(I have 15/24 pages done on this chapter, 31/40 total, and 11 days remaining)

I realize I must have gone a million miles away

I will be at the Stumptown Comics Fest this weekend in Portland at table 114 with Emi Lenox and Angie Wang! Come on by! I will have the same things I had at ECCC (4 new minicomics, 2 prints, buttons, con sketches) PLUS a print of my Monsters and Dames illustration!

I haven’t posted in a while, but you haven’t missed anything. It’s just thesis, thesis, THESIS at my house, punctuated only by a couple of commissions. I gave a first draft of my essay to my primary and secondary advisers at the beginning of the week, and I am drawing page 13 of the comic today (29 out of 40 total). I have to turn in all of the finished art and the final version of the paper on May 5…14 days from now. Dear God back to work.

I will try to make Over the Surface chapter 2 available as a minicomic in my Etsy store in late May.

I’ll be there as soon as I can

Here’s another preview from Over the Surface 2:
(7 out of 24 pages done!!! Drew 6 of them in 5 days!! WHOOO!)

I don’t want to give away so much in these previews that it ruins the comic, but enough that you don’t have to go without new art for the next month.

My mom is coming to my thesis defense next month. :) D’aww.
EDIT: from the second page I drew today:


It is a day for drawing my horrified characters, I guess :P

There’s so many ways to act


Drawing page 5 of Over the Surface 2 today! I have this great energy going–I want to read what happens next but can’t until I’ve drawn it. I’m getting caught up in the tension of something I wrote, haha.

Overall, I have drawn 20 out of 40 pages for my thesis! Yow, halfway!

This is the world that we live in

Here’s a preview of Over the Surface chapter 2, page 3!


Oh man, I have had such a hard time with the planes. Even if I had experience with drawing machines, brush pens are not ideal for straight or controlled lines. Lets just say that those planes in panel 1 did not start out as black silhouettes. :P

Still, I am really excited because I see a big improvement in my ability to draw cities and landscapes. When I think about how challenging panel 2 would have been for me a year or two ago, it’s a good feeling. You’ve gotta dive into subjects you’re bad at…it may be painful for a while, but it’s the fastest way to learn.

I had a dream that I was falling down

I’m back from a long weekend in San Francisco!

Emi drove us down to San Francisco on Thursday for Wondercon and other adventures. We toured the city, went to a roller derby match, and got a tour of Pixar from Josh Cooley while we were there! It was pretty dang awesome. Bucket lists were shortened.

Now I’m back at school and, as you have heard for the last several weeks, back to work on the thesis. I was relieved to get confirmation last week that the paper length for creative theses is generally 20-30 pages (vs. 40-50 for academic theses), and to receive a sheet of paper with guidelines for the written portion of creative theses that was not available online (I do not know why; it was very, very helpful).
Today, I am trying to type out everything that I can, knowing what I know at this point. Basically, I am making my roughest rough draft. Once I have all of my own knowledge down on paper, I can see what is missing and what I should spend the next 2 weeks researching and filling in.

Unrelated: did anyone see Fringe last week?! EPIC!! And the 80s intro made me laugh out loud!!!

And Windy has stormy eyes

Working away on my thesis! Chapter 2 thumbnails are done:

Chapter 2 is one and a half times as long as chapter 1, so I am very nervous about meeting my deadline (and leaving time for the PAPER part of the thesis). I have to turn in my thesis May 5, and present May 12, so the next 5 weeks will be all about drawing these pages and writing a very important paper.

Copyright © Natalie Nourigat
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