I don’t have much time to write these days. But it’s been a month since my previous newsletter, and I wanted to say hello. Europe is being ravaged by long-lasting storms this week, and most of us are curled up on our sofas with blankets and takeaway, waiting for the last day of rain (👀). I’m in a couch away from home, because we picked exactly the right time to go on holiday to one of the rainiest cities in Portugal. But there are things to look forward to, so keep reading!

Lunar New Year Exhibition at Mori Homemade Cafe

If you happen to be in London this and next month, and enjoy matcha and cake, Mori Homemade cafe is hosting an exhibition about the Lunar New Year of the Fire Horse from February 17th to March 17th. There will be thirty paintings on display, all by different artists, created for the event. They are printed using Risograph, a method that overlays colours on top of each other to create different combinations. The final result is not fully predictable because colours are not all printed at the same time, but here’s what mine might look like, more or less:

I wanted to paint something close to my heart, and was thinking about how much I’m looking forward to taking our little one to see fireworks. East Asian culture is a big part of my life in London, from friends to favourite foods and places where I hang out; I hope this silly drawing brings out how much I admire it.

About the exhibition itself, other people drew actual horses, which I kind of dodged with the hat situation, because I’m hopeless! If you’re interested in seeing everybody else’s work and perhaps acquire one of 20 limited edition copies of this (or just feel like exploring a new, delicious cafe), here’s a link to the shop in Google Maps: https://maps.app.goo.gl/jKpETL7KBYQtYqN89

The Last Day of Rain (eh)

Last year, I promised you’d see a comic book come to life! It’s coming along quite slowly, but at least this month I managed to prepare the file with all the pages and the script on top for reference, so now all (😅) I have to do is draw:

I did find a couple of minutes to thumbnail the first page… It’s absolutely horrid, as the first thumbnails of all my books are, but it puts things in motion, maybe? I’ll show you, but don’t make anything of it and don’t try to decipher it. It would be a futile effort. 😬

Since I’m not doing any comic book events in 2026, I’ll have a bit more time to work on this, so hopefully it will be finished by the end of the year, even if it’s over 100 pages! When it’s closer to completion, I’ll put together a campaign on Kickstarter or find another way to bring this final volume to those of you who are interested in getting ahold of it.

What Comes After?

A friend once asked me this question about finishing The Last Day of Rain. Back then, I couldn’t reply because I thought it would never end, but now that it’s (kind of) close, I have been thinking about it.

Because I learned everything myself, this was always meant as sort of a graduation project, to use as an excuse to learn how to create worlds, characters and stories. It’s not perfect at all, but I did learn a lot and certainly won’t stop after this!

I have more stories to tell, for which I will probably use shorter formats. That way, I can focus on perfecting the script and the art and also finish in less time. Honestly, my brain is twitching with so many ideas that I don’t have time to realise. This will possibly also lead to collaboration with other writers and artists (fingers crossed).

I also want to explore different media, like single-narrative illustration, animation, maybe children’s books, which I got a lot into lately for obvious reasons. Regardless of format, I want to focus on art about human connection, which is why I started this whole thing in the first place and kind of forgot a bit along the way.

But that’s all in the future, so we’ll see. For now, there’s life, and a 100-page script. 😛

What are YOU looking forward to once the rain is gone?

Wishing you all an excellent 2026 ahead!

Thank you for reading! The four chapters of The Last Day of Rain are available in my online store at shop.claudiamatosa.com, as well as a few other books and art prints.

You can also find me more or less active on Instagram and Bluesky.

I hope you all had an excellent New Year’s Eve! If you dozed off at nine in the evening eating leftover Christmas chocolates under a blanket, that sounds excellent.

It’s been a while since I last wrote a newsletter, and I’ve been debating if I should write a year-in-review recap or leave it be. The internet is full of success stories of people who quit their jobs and made a living within a year, or at least had prospects of doing so. That’s not my case at all, and I feel embarrassed. But still, not everything was bad: many good things happened, and they are worthy of acknowledgement. I tend to overlook any success I happen to chance upon, so maybe writing about them will be good.

In December 2023, I left my job to try and make a living creating comic books. My fellow creators will laugh at this, albeit sadly, because they would know what ensued even if I didn’t tell them. The answer is simple: at that objective, in particular, I failed miserably. Most of us do, except for the most resilient (which I’m not). But in the process, I learned that there are art careers that I can try out and that I can use what I learn to continue creating comics. And I will spend 2025 pursuing these careers, even if that means getting a full-time job coding again while I wait for things to work out.

After saying this, I’m not completely sure if failure is the right word. I did fail at making enough money to cover my living expenses, but I learned a lot:

• Ran a successful Kickstarter campaign in early 2024, consisting of two books. The first one has been delivered, and I’m working on the second, which will be fulfilled in the first months of 2025. It was delayed quite a bit, and that’s another reason for me feeling like I failed, but the fact that my backers understand the reasons and are still waiting keeps me going.

• Learned how to sell my work at conventions in an empathetic way, and have been connecting with my audience much better since then. I’m looking forward to continuing in 2025 and seeing where things go.

• Redid my website and put a freelancing portfolio together, which was a massive effort. After a number of rejections that no human being should have to withstand, I learned that what I did was too generic and that I needed to make it better. I had to spend some time studying.

• As I couldn’t afford university, I built my own curriculum with mentored online courses in the second part of 2024. I learned a lot about art for animation, film and games and how to create a portfolio. I am now in between a few career choices and have to decide, which will be difficult, but I’m a tiny bit hopeful.

• Had the chance to give a small talk about my work to my former teacher’s current students, which was a lovely experience. Thank you so very much, Sarah, for giving me the opportunity.

• The Last Day of Rain is in a physical shop, in Harrogate: Destination Venus! They are also in the same building as a branch of Everyman Cinema, which is my favourite cinema, so I’m very happy.

• Redid my online shop, and I think it looks a little better now, and it’s easier to use. A massive factor of disappointment here is that I didn’t manage to make a single sale to a stranger online, even though I put some ads up on a few platforms. My guess is that what I sell isn’t interesting for the internet, and I need to learn how to make work that rises above an online world full of bots and AI. I have to admit I’m not sure if I’m quite up for this challenge and I’m not sure if I want it, but we’ll see.

• Finally found the courage to gather reviews from customers and friends, which you can also find in the shop.

• Put up an Amazon author profile, which you can follow should you want to hear about any new books I release.

• Received a lot of compliments on my work, both at events and online. I’m not good at taking a compliment, and I always put myself down, so perhaps this is a sign to do that less.

• Towards the end of the year, I overcame depression and started feeling a little more like myself again. And this, for me, was the biggest achievement of all.

In retrospect, I learned a lot about what to do and not to do in business. That didn’t leave me enough time to create as much work as I would have liked to, so I need to find a balance in 2025. The year is already shaping up and keeping me busy, and I’m looking forward to sharing what’s in store with you in future emails.

I keep saying I’m doing many things very quickly because I don’t want to spend ten years trying to “make it”. But I’m certain I’ll still spend more than ten years trying, and it can last forever if I don’t define what “to make it” means.

This year, I’ll aim to be more gentle with myself and celebrate achievements more than failures.

But now, it's time to log off and get to work. There will be a lot of it!

Wishing you an excellent 2025, with good tidings and the strength to tackle all the challenges life sends towards you. We can do this! 💪

– Claudia

Should you be interested in ordering my books or some wall art, you can do so here: https://claudiamatosa.com/shop

And for more frequent updates, you can also find me on the following socials:

• Instagram (the one I update regularly)

• Bluesky

• Mastodon

• Threads

• LinkedIn

Last month, I stumbled upon a flowchart that went something like this (forgive me the clumsy handwriting):

I don’t know who created the original one, but the oldest instance that I found was on this Reddit post.

Less than two years ago, I tried something new. I self-published a comic book. I didn’t know what I was doing, and a few volumes later, I’m still unsure if I do. But I learned along the way that, just like characters in stories, what I found wasn’t exactly what I was looking for. It was better.

I thought I just wanted to create a graphic novel. And in my innocence, I thought I’d do it in a few months or so. However, I didn’t have knowledge about publishing at all, and certainly, my writing and drawing skills weren’t enough to sustain a long project. But for some reason, I carried on.

And while learning all of these, I connected with people. Many in similar journeys to mine, others art lovers, others supporters of the indie comic book community. I reconnected with existing friends in ways that weren’t possible before. Because by doing one of the most difficult and more exhausting things in my life, I changed, and they changed too, since they were also pursuing their own tiring endeavours. We learned to treasure the moments when we are together. Because if someone busy is giving you their time, it means that they really want to, and that you are worth it for them.

Of course, I’m still learning how to create and publish comic books, brick by brick. With every page finished, there’s a new lesson. I’m still not good enough. I’ll probably never be. There’s so much to it!

Now that I learned to do a lot by myself, maybe it’s time to start reaching out and working with others. And I’m scared that it won’t work out. That if I hire an editor, they’ll find my story too silly and give up. That if I hire someone to help me colour my art they’ll find it too complex. That if I reach out to a publisher with the full story they’ll think it’s not worth a penny.

But I’ll carry on doing it scared. Doing it terrified, and tired. Perhaps one day it won’t be as scary. Perhaps it will feel natural.

But by then, it may be time to find something else and do it scared all over again.

Thank you for reading!

Should you be interested in checking out my work, you can do so here: https://claudiamatosa.com/shop

And for more frequent updates, you can also find me on the following socials:

• Instagram (the one I update regularly)

• Ex-Twitter

• LinkedIn

• Bluesky

• Mastodon

• Threads

How do you become an artist, a storyteller, a comics creator? The answer is different for everyone. I don’t know mine. But I feel that it lives somewhere in the pages of books. Since that first illustration on my feed years ago, made with a scanner and a tiny drawing pad, I’ve been reading a book about art, storytelling, and even marketing every month.

My work isn’t great, and I struggle with doubt every single day. But for every book read, either a novel or a technical manual, I feel less alone. I see that, regardless of what we’re pursuing, most of us are on the same boat: reaching out for connection, through our work and through our lives.

It’s World Book Day, and I want to honour all the people who took the time to put their knowledge into pictures and words, thus making the world a little bit easier for the rest of us.

Notes

The cover of this post, "Room to Grow" by Pascal Campion, is a beautiful, heartfelt picture book, and I highly recommend it!)

The painting is an original by Vanessa Lawrence. The sunfish on the side is a sticker by Manon Wright.

Share Comics, Stories & Things

I went climbing with my partner and a friend a few weeks back for the first time in years. It was fun to re-learn everything and liberating to overcome the fear of going up to the top. I had the sensation that my body could climb some of the more difficult paths, but my mind wasn’t quite there yet, so I stuck to starting-level challenges!

With climbing, especially bouldering, where you do it without a rope, it’s very easy to look at someone else struggling and point them the way. We’re seeing it from down here! It seems so easy! Just. Put. That. Foot. Down.

But things change when you’re the one up there.

This looks, to me, a lot like the process of creating comics. It’s both the reason why readers love them and the reason why there are so few creators who finish their series. In the optic of the reader, the drawings look so simple. “I could do that if I wanted to,” you think. I know you do. I thought so myself. That’s why I got into this, only to realise there’s much more to it. Oh boy, was I in for a ride!

I recently decided to evolve my art style, so I have watched a couple of tutorials on painting and animation. These teachers explain their techniques well, and their way of doing things looks clear. But when I put my pen on the screen, things are more complex than they were in the video.

For example, I tried to apply a new painting technique in the comic above, and it didn’t come out as good-looking as I expected. This said, it was my first time using it, so I need to stick with it for a while to see where it goes!

After all, even though my brain knows how to do it theoretically, the rest of me hasn’t caught up. How to move the pen, which brushes to use, what’s the best size for the line art… all that will take time and patience.

Just like climbing. Or playing music. Or anything else that you have been doing recently.

Instead of giving up because you think you’re bad at it, could you try giving yourself time to catch up? It’s worth it. I promise.

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Next Fairs & Conventions

Convention season is just around the corner, and I’m so thrilled to bring my comics to all these cities!

• 21 October: Winchester Comics Fair

• 27-29 October: MCM Comic Con London

• 11-12 November: Thought Bubble (Harrogate)

• 2 December: Tags Fest (Edinburgh)

• 13 - 14 January: MegaCon Live London

See you soon!

And thank you for reading! As usual, while the following newsletter is in the making, you can find me on the regular socials:

• Instagram

• GlobalComix

• Mastodon

• Bluesky

• Ex-Twitter

And also, my online shop for books (and e-books!) and prints:

🏪 https://claudiamatosa.com/shop

Subscribe now

The sun came out this week here in London, and these are happy times for all. If you’re not in the UK, you’re probably wondering why I am mentioning this because you’ve been hiding from the heat since May and fantasising about holidays in the Arctic Circle. But thankfully, we still have cold summer rains over here. And at least for a few years, we can have entire conversations about the weather that end up nowhere at all. 🌦️

Changes!

This newsletter will have a different format from the usual ones, which I hope to continue because it’s easier to manage. Instead of sending you a giant email every month, I’ll forward you smaller bits and pieces occasionally. A maximum of once per week because I don’t want to flood your inbox, but probably less than that. I hope this newsletter will become more entertaining and story-focused!

Should you only want to hear about specific subjects, you can adjust your preferences in the link at the end of this email. In a gist, here’s what you’ll be getting:

• Occasional small stories or comics, delivered straight to your inbox.

• Sketches and work in progress.

• Sci-fi and dystopian book reviews, leaning towards comics and indie publishing.

• Life as a comic book creator, including subjects that I learn about.

• Updates when I release new books.

• Perhaps podcast-style or video posts… but that remains to be seen. 😆

As we go along, I will use polls to ask if you’re interested in the new format and what you’d like to read next. And feel free to pop me an email at hello@claudiamatosa.com should you have any suggestions or comments.

Let’s go see that pixel, then!

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Around the World in 80 Pixels

As you may know, if you’ve been following, I have struggled with anxiety over the last few months. While going through therapy, I ended up on a soul-searching journey where I revisited my university assignments… Back from fifteen years ago, when I was still discovering what to do with life.

And that’s how I stumbled upon this little trailer I created in Cinema 4D. It’s about a pixel that falls out of a computer screen and journeys to find his true self. Care to watch it? Pump up your speakers and hit that play button, then!

Storyboarding, modelling and animating my stories was the most fun and engaging part of my university experience. When I look back at it, I wonder if it was fear that stopped me from pursuing animation in the first place or if I didn’t know that it was an option.

I ended up in web design, then coding, and now, more than a decade later, I discovered that I loved making comics, which is quite close to storyboarding and animation in many ways. It makes me think that I’m on the right track, or at least that there’s something fundamental in all of this that gives me a strong sense of purpose. Perhaps an ikigai of sorts?

A few months of failed marketing endeavours lowered my mood quite a bit, so revisiting why I’m doing this brought some excitement back. And so, I decided to re-learn 3D and animation on the side. It will help me keep things fresh, and maybe I can breathe some extra life into my comics!

We’ll see. You’ll be the first to know if something comes out of this. 💩

And since I mentioned a Japanese concept, here’s another: I recently learned about the word joukei, which translates to “spectacle, sight, scene”. Mamoru Oshii, the director of Ghost in the Shell in Anime & Film Directing, explains it as something that can be created by joining scenery and characters to create a scene that sparks a feeling in the viewer while revealing something about the world. I’ll write more about the course in a future post, but in the meantime, I’ll try my best to discover how to create joukei!

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Bonus: Violin Drawing

Since we’re speaking about changes, here’s a picture of a panel from my comic in the WIP Change anthology, which has been fully funded; so, if you backed us, thank you so much! We are working hard to finish our comics, so you’ll have the good stuff in your hands come November.

Making comics is complex, and rewards often come in a roundabout way, but overall, I’m happy that I chose this as my ikigai. Or rather, it chose me.

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Poll time!

If you picked “other” and are feeling like expanding on the idea, I’d love to hear your thoughts in the comments below. 💡

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See you soon!

And thank you for reading! As usual, while the following newsletter is in the making, you can find me on the regular socials:

• Instagram

• GlobalComix

• Mastodon

• Bluesky

• Ex-Twitter

And also, my online shop for books (and e-books!) and prints:

🏪 https://claudiamatosa.com/shop

Anyway. Last month, I ran a poll on my Instagram stories after a random sketch that I made on the plane:

I asked people if they wanted to see a comic with these folks. One thing led to the other, and after a few more polls and a lot of fun, my audience helped me decide who the characters would be. Here’s the final result:

The story is already in my plans and will hopefully materialise into a post-apocalyptic comedy soon, either as a comic book or a webcomic (still deciding!). Either way, it will come to Kickstarter end of the year or early next year!

Stay tuned! Or not. 🥹

Thank you for reading! For more frequent updates, you can also find me on the following socials:

• Instagram (the one I update regularly)

• Mastodon

• Threads

• Ex-Twitter (what the hell is going on with that?!)

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I realised I prefer indie fairs or smaller events, where I can hang out with people and sell simultaneously. Plymouth Comic and Zine Fair and South London Comic & Zine Fair were my favourites!

So I reshuffled my agenda a little, and here’s this year’s confirmed line-up so far (hopefully there will be others, so keep an eye on this space!):

• August 6: London The Big Market, Lewisham

• November 11–12: Harrogate Thought Bubble

• December 2: Edinburgh Tags Fest

The next one will be The Big Market in Lewisham, and there will be all sorts of things for sale, as well as music and drinks, so come along if you're in the area! I’m sure that will be something for everyone.

Disclaimer: I won't guarantee you'll find me sober at my table if there’s beer around, sorry. 💩

Thank you for reading! For more frequent updates, you can also find me on the following socials:

• Instagram (the one I update regularly)

• Mastodon

• Threads

• Ex-Twitter (what the hell is going on with that?!)

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Charities donated to so far:

• The Climate Coalition (London Film & Comic Con)

• Rainforest Trust UK (South London Comic & Zine Fair)

Let me know if you’d like to suggest any charity you’re passionate about!

Instead of spending years becoming perfect, I decided to spend my time working on a story of my own. Doing this gives me breathing room to learn and explore without commercial pressure, so I can discover what stories I’m passionate about. At this point, I only need to prove something to myself. That I can finish a graphic novel from beginning to end. It’s been quite the adventure so far, and it’s not done yet. 😅 A big thank you to Emily for coming this far with me, revising the script and drawings together every few weeks.

And maybe in the process, I’ll become skilled enough to land a publishing contract. Maybe yes. Maybe not. Probably not. But what I know for sure is that I will learn a lot along the way. I’m already finding many areas of improvement, both in my artwork and how I approach people and things, and that’s a success!

Part of the self-publishing experience has included attending fairs and conventions. Here’s me, barely awake, showcasing my stuff at LFCC a couple of weeks back, sporting a cheeky Hello Kitty pin from the lovely apshiq:

Events are a big part of being an indie comics creator. Since they’re new to me, I’ve been exploring which ones suit me better and also wrote a small post on the subject.

People see art making and writing as something glamorous but in reality… Working on a graphic novel essentially means sitting on the computer day after day, reading, writing, sketching, drawing, reviewing, redrawing, designing, tweaking, and interacting with social media. It’s knowing that I’ll be at this for the next year and not being sure if anyone will find the novel interesting or if it has an audience.

But I’ve been learning in the process. And it makes me happy.

Those advertising “Artificial Intelligence” as the solution to everything now know nothing about the creation process. You may subscribe to dozens of AI tools, but that doesn’t mean you have THIS. Watching as your brain creates the result of everything you fed it over the years. Being fully involved in something, even if that something doesn’t give you external rewards. Because it’s enough for YOU.

Thank you for reading! For more frequent updates, you can also find me on the following socials:

• Instagram (the one I update regularly)

• Mastodon

• Threads

• Ex-Twitter (what the hell is going on with that?!)

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After hitting my limits, I realised that I needed to change how I approach life if I wanted to keep working for a living and making comics simultaneously. That led me to think seriously about what I want to focus on.

And, at least until the end of the year, that means finishing The Last Day of Rain, attending the fairs that I have booked, and studying to improve my skills.

With some personal pain, I also had to let go of some activities, even those I enjoy doing, so I have time for myself, my family, and my friends from now on. I’ve had an unhealthy amount of messages to reply to on WhatsApp for months; it’s no good!

As part of letting go, I handed over the Creating Comics workshop at WIP Comics to the talented cartoonists Navy Bird and Mike Armstrong, who are already doing a fantastic job. And I have paused the free online version of the comic, so I can focus on finishing all the remaining four chapters in book form and selling them.

All the while, I’m also trying very hard not to start any of the new ideas that keep popping into my head. One-track mind! Focus, Claudia. Focus.

Because directing your energy towards one thing does work. This year, my comics sales paid for my Clip Studio Paint subscription, the app I use to create my comics and illustrations. It’s not much, but it’s significant to me because it means that one day I may be able to carry out my hobby without emptying my savings accounts.

So if you ordered my work in the past or helped me share it in any capacity: thank you. ❤️

Thank you for reading! For more frequent updates, you can also find me on the following socials:

• Instagram (the one I update regularly)

• Mastodon

• Threads

• Ex-Twitter (what the hell is going on with that?!)

Subscribe now