ghost-sprout wrote:

*Ahaha as I've been stalking the document x'-D (well technically ig sketching designs of the town based off of the images, but also stalking a little hehe sorry :"-))

Ahh yay!! :-D The title is perfect; though (at least, as far as I know) I have yet to discover its significance to the story! (Unless I do know subconsciously?) Can't wait to see the script for chapter one and start working on the comic! :-)

I'm so glad you like the title! (it's based on a really interesting poem, if you like poetry I recommend you check it out. If not, you might not want to check it out, it's pretty long) And don't be sorry! You're on the team, after all, all of the information on there is for us to share! Also, cool, if you'd want to share those sketches, I would love to see them! If not, that's totally fine, you don't have to. I really like the images Awos found, though. So pretty!

But, yeah! We're working on the prologue right now! (I'm not sure if you know this from “stalking” the doc)

BrainyBookworm wrote:

I'm so glad you like the title! (it's based on a really interesting poem, if you like poetry I recommend you check it out. If not, you might not want to check it out, it's pretty long) And don't be sorry! You're on the team, after all, all of the information on there is for us to share! Also, cool, if you'd want to share those sketches, I would love to see them! If not, that's totally fine, you don't have to. I really like the images Awos found, though. So pretty!

But, yeah! We're working on the prologue right now! (I'm not sure if you know this from “stalking” the doc)

I'll definitely check it out! Haha ig I just feel awkward being there lol! :'-) I've been practicing perspective mostly and haven't really thought about the colors yet, but I'll share a draft once I figure them out! (And yeah, same here!) I did see that (the sign > spaceship crashing > mayor > title > present sign)! I'm really excited for chapter 1, lol! :'-D

Here's a draft of the town! I did this in aggie so it's just a rough draft. After looking back at this, there are some things that I would do differently, though;
1. Add more random buildings; there doesn't have to be a sign indicating the purpose of every building, and there should be some buildings that are just variations of brick buildings with windows.
2. Use a more limited palette. I feel like I have the need to make every building a different color, but life doesn't exactly work that way :'-) (I do like the color palette, though!)
3. Add cars, or at least some signs of life. I'd also probably add more trees and plants.
4. And of course I'd add more shading and details to the final illustrations, and make them cleaner :-)

Let me know if you have any other suggestions, or if you disagree with some of these ideas!

Edit: I also would continue the rows of buildings :-)
Another edit: I feel like the colors aren't the best for the town described, though :-((

ghost-sprout wrote:

Here's a draft of the town!

This is magnificent! I love everything about this, from the cute fonts to the little brick details, to the lights in betwixt the buildings! I totally agree with your notes, but, honestly, this is splendid, especially for a rough draft! Generally, I just really agree and think you've done an amazing job. I'm really honored you're on our team.

Here are some ideas, although it's completely up to your discretion if you want to use them or not! I just want to be helpful!

1. Along with cars and plants, if you want, you could also add telephone lines or street-lights.
2. Also, you don't need to worry about drawing too many cars, considering that they live in a small town, I'd imagine they mostly use their feet and or bicycles to get around. That doesn't mean you can't draw any cars! I've just found that, personally, cars are really hard to draw, so don't feel like you need to fill the streets.
3. If you are bored and want to experiment with color palates, try drawing the scene but shifting the colors and lighting, so, rather than it being a sunny day, it's overcast and foggy, or even night. That can be pretty hard, though, so I recommend you find some references or ideas online.

And, yeah, that's about it! Honestly, you can ignore all of what I'm saying. But I think you're doing an amazing job, and I'm genuinely proud of you and of how far we've all come on this.

BrainyBookworm wrote:

Here are some ideas, although it's completely up to your discretion if you want to use them or not! I just want to be helpful!

1. I think that’s a great idea, and I’ll definitely include some of those!
2. I’ll probably just draw one or two parked on the sides of the roads. :-)
3. I agree that it is pretty difficult; I’ll try and experiment more with that in the future!

Thank you so much for the feedback! It’s been an honor to work with you guys, and the whole process has been amazing so far! :-D

Hey people!

Wow, the draft of the town is absolutely magnificent! Amazing work, I think that it's absolutely perfect!! <3

I'm so sorry I missed your message Ghost, but thank you and you're right, we kind of forgot about the mayor a bit. xD If you would like, I really don't mind, maybe you could draw the final design sheets for the three girls, if you don't really feel confortable drawing boys, and also because I think the designs you drew for all three of them were just amazing (way better than mine! xD) and I could do the two boys and the mayor? Or we could split them two ways and you could do Wynn and Reverie and the Mayor (or another boy) and I could do two of the boys and Cecilia, which is absolutely fine aswell? Anyways, I think the idea of us each doing three final designs is a great one! <3

Brainy and Awol, the tital is just … INCREDIBLE, I love it! Amazing work you two, thank you so much!!
And thank you Thymeless for the banner, which is super neat!
I feel so lucky to be working with wonderful people like the four of you.

Thinking about a design for Dolores, I had a couple of ideas :
- maybe he could have chin length black hair with brownish tips?
- I was thinking with replacing a biker jacket with maybe a militry jacket Welcome To The Black Parade style, because then we could add a few frills or lace or stuff like that without it being too much?
Feel free to let me know what you think/if you have any suggestions!

And again, I'm so excited, you are all amazing people and I can't thank you enough for this privilege!! <3

AND again, wow, the concept of the town is just astounding!

ghost-sprout wrote:

Here's a draft of the town! I did this in aggie so it's just a rough draft. After looking back at this, there are some things that I would do differently, though;
1. Add more random buildings; there doesn't have to be a sign indicating the purpose of every building, and there should be some buildings that are just variations of brick buildings with windows.
2. Use a more limited palette. I feel like I have the need to make every building a different color, but life doesn't exactly work that way :'-) (I do like the color palette, though!)
3. Add cars, or at least some signs of life. I'd also probably add more trees and plants.
4. And of course I'd add more shading and details to the final illustrations, and make them cleaner :-)

Let me know if you have any other suggestions, or if you disagree with some of these ideas!

Edit: I also would continue the rows of buildings :-)
Another edit: I feel like the colors aren't the best for the town described, though :-((

Holy cow, this is incredible! Goodness, this looks so warm and cheerful! This is really, really good!

All of your ideas are perfect; as Brainy said we don't really need cars due to it being a rural town, but hey, whatever floats your boat. Take some creative liberties!

As for the colors of the town; we're going for something really, /really/ bleak. It's seemingly always rainy there (but not always, in chapter 1 I'm pretty sure we're going to have a scene of the town in the day-time so just be ready lol), so the colors aren't necessarily dark, but muted, rather.

Brainy, jump in if I'm wrong, but I think the city's palette would look most like this:


Does that help? The darker colors should be for shadows or nighttime, and the lighter colors should be for day. A few of those bluish grays can be used for the sky too– these are really just coloring ideas, you might want to ask Brainy what she was hoping for when it comes to the town's palette as well!

Great work! <3

ghost-sprout wrote:

matisheppie wrote:

–Snip–

–Snip–

In terms of colors and the vibes of the outfits; (I wrote some of these in the image but I'm going to write it here)
Cecilia; studious university type look – navy sweater, white collar thing that sticks out from under sweater, black skirt, long-ish white socks, black fancy studious shoes?
Wynn; sort of a farm girl look but “cooler”? – red plaid jacket wrapped around waist, blue jean shorts, black lace-up boots, space graphic tee (color + design tbd; I don't really have any ideas)
Reverie; mostly green nature-y palette – green army-ish jacket with embroidered leaves and flowers on it? (or maybe a giant hoodie -w-), some type of shirt (idk), really dark green or black 3/4 leggings (if that's what they're called)

Idk if any of you writers had something else in mind, but if so I'd love to hear your ideas! (Also we still need to decide on ethnicity/nationalities)

Edit: my handwriting is a bit messy in this, sorry!

Hey hey! I saw that you guys are getting ready to finalize the character designs. Can't wait to see what they look like!

I just want to let you two artists know that everything you're doing is looking spectacular. I was wondering, however, if there was any way to make Hugh's outfit or look just a bit more.. eye-catching? Don't get me wrong, his design is awesome! I just feel like he looks a bit stereotypical when it comes to the ‘soft boy’ look (Sweater, glasses, etc.). I'm not talking about any major changes– something small would work. He used to live in the city, so perhaps an element of urban clothes could come into play? Whatever you all want.

I'm legitimately not meaning this as hostile or demeaning, I just wanted to make a tiny request ;D

You two are working wonders with your art. Keep up the good work! <33

Hi there Awol!

Thank you so much for all your kind words and support, it really means the world. :3
Of course, I agree with you on the fact that he does look a little bit cliché, and he will be 100 % fine to change, no problem there. ^u^ Maybe we could add something reminiscent of his father's past as a detective?
Don't worry, it's not hostile at all, it's great that we all voice our own ideas and suggestions!
Thanks again!! <3

matisheppie wrote:

Hi there Awol!

Thank you so much for all your kind words and support, it really means the world. :3
Of course, I agree with you on the fact that he does look a little bit cliché, and he will be 100 % fine to change, no problem there. ^u^ Maybe we could add something reminiscent of his father's past as a detective?
Don't worry, it's not hostile at all, it's great that we all voice our own ideas and suggestions!
Thanks again!! <3

Oh my goodness, having something from his father's past that he wears / has on him is such a great idea!

I'll let you both come up with what exactly that may be, but once you do, I'll be sure to add it to his bio saying that it's a sentimental item.

Awesome idea! Can't wait to see what you come up with! <33

AWorldOfSurprises wrote:

matisheppie wrote:

Hi there Awol!

Thank you so much for all your kind words and support, it really means the world. :3
Of course, I agree with you on the fact that he does look a little bit cliché, and he will be 100 % fine to change, no problem there. ^u^ Maybe we could add something reminiscent of his father's past as a detective?
Don't worry, it's not hostile at all, it's great that we all voice our own ideas and suggestions!
Thanks again!! <3

Oh my goodness, having something from his father's past that he wears / has on him is such a great idea!

I'll let you both come up with what exactly that may be, but once you do, I'll be sure to add it to his bio saying that it's a sentimental item.

Awesome idea! Can't wait to see what you come up with! <33

Aww, thank you so much again for all your help and your fantastic work as a writer! <33

matisheppie wrote:

Thinking about a design for Dolores, I had a couple of ideas :

Hey! <3

Thank you so much for everything! I agree, the draft of the town is outstanding, Ghost really did an amazing job! Also, I'm glad you like the title. I also really love the work you've been doing for Dolores and I can't wait to see how the turns out! That said, I did come up with an idea for an alternative idea for this looks. This one isn't even a request, it's just an idea, and, like most of my appearance-based ideas, you're completely free to tune it out and continue on with your other ideas. I just wanted to put it out here, so you would have the maximum amount of ideas and options to pull from!

I know this idea is a bit different from the other ones, so bear with me;

- Perhaps, rather than dressing down, Dolores dresses up. We know he enjoys finery and making a good first impression, so what if, through purchasing certain items of clothing from thrift stores. (And possible shoplifting other items of clothing from department stores), he put together an outfit that he wears practically all the time. A multiple piece suit. And sure, the suit is threadbare and patched, but he thinks it looks good on him. In this version of Dolores' style, he would probably also wear the outfit you described as casual wear, but would wear the suit for attending school and meeting people and such.
-An alternative hair style, that isn't specific to the suit outfit, is drawing his hair more short and spikey. On a narrative level, it differentiates him from his name, as he might want to purposely make himself more masculine to compensate. (A reaction he may learn to grow away from and be comfortable with himself as the book goes on.) On another level, it makes his hair look different from the other characters in the cast with similar hair styles, so that he can have a more interesting silhouette and be easier to distinguish.

But, yeah! That sums up my two ideas! You can incorporate them or you can ignore them, totally your choice! I just wanted to put it out here before I forgot. Keep being amazing!

Hey Brainy! <3

Thank you so much too for your kindness and help. :3
Don't worry at all about the ideas being different, I've had a quick read through them and they sound absolutely fantastic! I love the kind off ‘dress to impress’ vibe (I have a thing for characters who dress up in finery, ha, ha)!

- I think your first idea is great, I can really see Dolores doing that, and I always imagined him as kind of tall and wiry, so a multiple-piece kind of frayed and mismatched suit could really work! Aah, you come up with such great suggestions for characters, and each one adds a new layer of complexity, it's insane!! The shoplifting made me laugh a lot. ^u^
- Again, the second idea of him having shorter and more spiky hair is awesome aswell, and I can absolutely draw that kind of hair style too. Plus, it could open up oportunities for interesting development, and distiguish him from the other characters, who might have a more casual general style!

Thank you so much for your suggestions, I will definetly build on them, and thank you for the being part of the best comic book team anyone could wish for!! :')
Take care. xx

matisheppie wrote:

Hey people!

I'm so sorry I missed your message Ghost, but thank you and you're right, we kind of forgot about the mayor a bit. xD If you would like, I really don't mind, maybe you could draw the final design sheets for the three girls, if you don't really feel confortable drawing boys, and also because I think the designs you drew for all three of them were just amazing (way better than mine! xD) and I could do the two boys and the mayor? Or we could split them two ways and you could do Wynn and Reverie and the Mayor (or another boy) and I could do two of the boys and Cecilia, which is absolutely fine aswell? Anyways, I think the idea of us each doing three final designs is a great one! <3

Ahh it's fine! I could do the girls; I've done some boys, but it takes more motivation for them to look good. x'-D If you're willing to draw both boys and the mayor, go for it! If not, I could draw a boy instead.

AWorldOfSurprises wrote:

ghost-sprout wrote:

Here's a draft of the town!

Holy cow, this is incredible! Goodness, this looks so warm and cheerful! This is really, really good!

As for the colors of the town; we're going for something really, /really/ bleak. It's seemingly always rainy there (but not always, in chapter 1 I'm pretty sure we're going to have a scene of the town in the day-time so just be ready lol), so the colors aren't necessarily dark, but muted, rather.

Brainy, jump in if I'm wrong, but I think the city's palette would look most like this:

- snip -

Thank you so much! I'll keep that in mind, and the palettes really help, thank you!

Hey Ghost! :3 (And sorry for the late response)

That's really great, I'll start on the finals for the boys as soon as possible! Feel free to let me know if anyone has any more amazing ideas, though, or if anyone needs help. ^^
Goold luck with the girls!

Take care. xx

matisheppie wrote:

Hey Ghost! :3 (And sorry for the late response)

That's really great, I'll start on the finals for the boys as soon as possible! Feel free to let me know if anyone has any more amazing ideas, though, or if anyone needs help. ^^
Goold luck with the girls!

Take care. xx

It's fine! :-)

Ok, same here! Thank you, and you too! <3

matisheppie wrote:

Hey Brainy! <3

Thank you so much too for your kindness and help. :3
Don't worry at all about the ideas being different, I've had a quick read through them and they sound absolutely fantastic! I love the kind off ‘dress to impress’ vibe (I have a thing for characters who dress up in finery, ha, ha)!

- I think your first idea is great, I can really see Dolores doing that, and I always imagined him as kind of tall and wiry, so a multiple-piece kind of frayed and mismatched suit could really work! Aah, you come up with such great suggestions for characters, and each one adds a new layer of complexity, it's insane!! The shoplifting made me laugh a lot. ^u^
- Again, the second idea of him having shorter and more spiky hair is awesome aswell, and I can absolutely draw that kind of hair style too. Plus, it could open up oportunities for interesting development, and distiguish him from the other characters, who might have a more casual general style!

Thank you so much for your suggestions, I will definetly build on them, and thank you for the being part of the best comic book team anyone could wish for!! :')
Take care. xx

No problem! And, thank you so much for the feedback, I'm glad you found my ideas helpful! And thank you as well!

Hello again everyone!

Once again, I'm here with another major milestone. We really have been speeding through this comic-making progress faster than light! Yesterday I released the title, A World Illuminated. Today… I offer you our official logo!

Without further ado… here it is!



Brainy found an awesome concept for us to use, and after some quick creating in Adobe Spark, we now have a fancy logo for our comic! Here's our comic alongside the title:



Once again, I thank you all for being so on-board and active. All three of you are a dream to work with, and I'm both honored and ecstatic to be on the same team as you!

Let's keep up the motivation and activity! Wonderful job to all of you <333

Second draft! :'-D I think the vibe of the town matches a bit better, and I incorporated some of your ideas; I'll probably add more windows or shops, but I think I really like this version! Let me know if you have any other ideas!

Edit: ahh I love the official logo! It's perfect!! :-D

so uhhh hey everyone! im the backup now and i can't wait to join you guys ) this totally gives me kind of like a stranger things vibe but more spacey with the retro small town and teens. (i love stranger things lol) if you need me to do anything you can let me know, i can help with pretty much anything you need me to – im a colorist for another story but super excited to be here too, you guy have done so much amazing work so far!