Rehab Exit Interview: Sarah Howell

1. Briefly describe your experience at comic artist rehab:

Tough but good. It would of been even harder if I hadn’t decided to serialise a story I had already sketched out, but as it was is was hard making myself sit down and do the work, particularly the first 4 installments. After that for some reason it was easier. The first half I keep on getting caught out by the fourth day, but later it was becoming more of a habit and I’d be a bit more forward thinking about other commitments that might interfere.

2. What, if anything, did you learn from the program?

Just sit down and do the work. I know this theoretically and I do it in other areas of my life, but actually pushing through with Comics Rehab has given me an example of actually achieving that persistance with my comics that I can refer to and say “see it works”.

3. Which one of your own comics are you most pleased with and why?

The fifth one (Day Nineteen), not because the art work is any better or worse but because this was the first appearance of the bunny character and the story shifts at this point, picks up pace.

4. Which one of your own comics are you least pleased with and why?

The third one (Day Eleven) was the most rushed, but it still worked ok, so it was a lesson to not be so anal.

5. Do you hope to keep up drawing comics after rehab? If so, how often.

I drew comic journal entries on average once week before Comics Rehab, but Comics Rehab has definitely made me think about doing work that is more polished than my journal work and it has also got me thinking about webcomics. I’m going to go back to the notes I made in the lead up to Comics Rehab and see if there are any ideas that I chickened out on that would work as another series for my own blog.

6. Any suggestions for future rounds?

This round was a big learning curve I think for everyone involved, the mid-round slump was devastating to witness, but made everyone’s return to form even more triumphant. The fact that all of us recovered from our stumble is credit to how Comic Artist Rehab works and the thought Amber has put into it. It will be interesting to see what effect the face-to-face drawing session mid-round in february has on the process.

That was a very roundabout way of saying it works and i don’t think it needs any messing with.

Thank you Ross, John, Miss Helen, Amber and everyone who left comments! Thank you Comic Artist Rehab.

Round Three: Day Twentyseven

Today I’m back in Tassie. Different scanner makes this post not as crisp as I would like, but that’s how it goes.

I hope you folk have enjoyed this slowly evolving tale and thank for your kind comments!

Round Three: Day Twentythree

And on Sunday it will all be over 😦

Round Three: Day Nineteen

I have been looking forward to doing these panels, it was a little rushed, but overall I’m happy. Looking forward John’s comic tomorrow!

Round Three: Day Fifteen

Sorry folk, I’ve been crook today and haven’t done any drawing. I’m feeling on the mend now, but I just want to sleep, so I’m posting my original scrappy comic panels that I have been using as the basis for my posts so far. I’ll post the polished versions tomorrow when all going well I feel better and then you can compare and contrast.

You missed out on your chance to be a Cheeky Bastard John. Hope the Wedding went well 🙂

Round Three: Day Eleven

Pesky Boy.

Round Three: Day Seven

In the original scrappy version of this story there was a panel of tap dancing after the character finds the hat and wand, but for today’s installment I wanted to end with on her looking at the wand, so the tap dancing had to go. If I print a zine of this I promise to include the tap dancing.

Round Three: Day Three

I was going to do this as a nib drawing, but then I realised how poorly that would read on a computer screen, so instead it is ink wash and a Ball Pental R50. I’d be interested to know if folk think this size works or if it is too big.

Artist Introduction: Sarah Howell

My name is Sarah Howell and I avoid making comics everyday. I’ll surf the net, I’ll do my taxes, I’ll clean the bathroom, all to avoid making comics. Most insidious of all is my habit of designing and producing opportunities for other people to be creative.

I started off making the occasional mostly silent comic 1998 – 2000, they looked pretty but didn’t make a lot of sense. I didn’t make any comics for a few years after that and in the last three years I’ve drawn my journal entries as comics on and off, recently collecting a selection of these from 2007 into a zine.

I’m entering Rehab to commit to making work that has a bit more polish than my journal entry fare, though I may still keep the art fairly simple. I will be happy at the end if the posts have an overall narrative that keeps the attention of the reader.

Kicking this rehab off with the Alcoholics Anonymous prayer which came to me in a Christmas cracker.

“God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to distinguish the one from the other” – Reinhold Neibuhr (1892 – 1971) American Theologian

Good luck to my fellow rehabers and thank you to those who have been before.