Sketches, Beach Drawings and a Last Tree
Lots of exclusive content in this one, including a sneak peak at the next chapter and a painting that no one has laid eyes upon yet.
Hey all, and welcome to a new issue!
I hope you've had a great month and that you've had the chance to spend quality time with your loved ones, relax, and enjoy good food. Ultimately, these are the things that truly make life worthwhile.
And thank you for all the kind messages! I'm happy to hear that you've been enjoying the content. Writing to you has been an absolute pleasure.
It's hard to believe that I've been doing these brain dumps for five months now, but I'm still here. It's almost like therapy for me. Going through the events of the past weeks and putting them into words helps me see how much I've accomplished. Sometimes, I feel like I haven't done anything, but when I write the newsletter, I realise that's not true.
So this issue has a special section on burnout. It’s all the way towards the end because I know people prefer happy news, so feel free to go there only if you’ve got the stomach to face a mildly-depressed author.
As for the rest, you’ve got the usual update on The Last Day of Rain (spoiler: sketches!), me being reviewed in a podcast and a colourful new drawing you’ll see before everyone else. There’s no review this month, and instead, I’m recommending a beautiful picture book that will possibly inspire you to make amends with your neighbours.
By the way, if you have accessed the newsletter through Instagram or Twitter and have been keeping up with it, I would greatly appreciate it if you subscribed using the button provided below. This way, you won't miss any future issues, and it helps me keep track of my readership.
Let’s go!
The Last Day of Rain: Monthly Update
The comic is coming along more slowly than I thought of course, but there are already some loose sketches! Here’s my favourite page so far, where Carol runs along Rotherhithe Street with a cheeky cat on her arm, all under the scorching sun at a mere fifty degrees.
Stay tuned for more - we’ll see what the next month brings!
New drawing: A Happy Day
I made a painting to take to Brighton Comic Con & Gaming Festival earlier next month, and it’s available as a print in my online shop today. You’re the first to see it!
I think it needs some fine-tuning here and there, but I’m happy with the overall mood. I may just leave it as it is. You can’t perfect things forever.
I was reviewed!
I finally mustered the courage to ask for some reviews of my work, and The Awesome Comics podcast was blazing fast about it! The Last Day of Rain and The Sea Wall of Plymouth feature on their podcast, along with a selection of lovely indie comics.
Here’s an excerpt of the good stuff:
“Claudia’s put a QR code in the book with a pair of headphones symbol, and you can scan it to listen as you read the comic. I thought that was a nice little touch. Her artwork has an absolutely solid foundation in both form and colour. It’s really nice. It has a warm hand-drawn illustrative quality that you maybe find in a Nobrow or an Avery Hill book. Not synonymous with manga or an American superhero comic. I’ve seen great work throughout the comic. […] The lettering design on the books is absolutely top-notch.”
And their suggestion for me:
“I think if she invested a little more time in capturing facial expressions and body language, it would really serve it well in communicating the emotional ways she’s looking to convey within her stories. They are human stories dealing with the environment, and you’re also living through these characters, so when they get upset or happy, that’s transferred to the reader.”
This is definitely an area of improvement, and I’ll be working on improving the expressivity of my characters!
Book recommendation: The Last Tree, by Emily Haworth-Booth
This month I won’t bring you a review but a recommendation instead. I recently picked up The Last Tree, an illustrated picture book by Emily Haworth-Booth. It’s a lovely book which can be leafed through in less than an hour, and it’s kid-friendly, so it makes a great birthday gift to your climate-aware child or adult.
I don’t want to give too much of it, as anything I can write about will be a spoiler! I can say that the premise of this book leans highly on neighbourly relationships and features a group of people who almost lose it all because they stop talking to each other.
It came at a time when I really needed it. When I reached the end of the story, I was soaked in tears. Of the good type!
Next Fair: SLCZF
I have a new fair announcement, and I am REALLY excited about this one. Just their poster makes me excited! It’s so sunny! If you’re in London, I hope to see you at SLCZF on the 17th of July!
Notes on burnout
As promised, we’re reaching the end of the newsletter, so on to depressing matters. A few weeks ago, I received a message from a friend who read something like this:
“Remember to save some time for yourself and for creating. I'm following you on Substack and am really worried to see you at the edge of burnout multiple times.”
And she’s right. It’s probably time to reconsider my approach. I've been so focused on promoting my work that I've lost sight of the joy that comes with creating it. And despite my efforts, I haven't made a single online sale, and I find myself stuck in a cycle of self-doubt. There’s always something to improve, and when I improve it, I’m still not seeing the results that I was hoping for. It makes me feel like giving up. I’m overwhelmed and exhausted as I juggle a part-time job and comics creation. The first gives me money to live, while the other drains my savings.
But then, when I stop worrying about the internet and I sit down to create or to learn from other creators, I feel an infinite amount of happiness! And it makes me think that I really just want to make things, and if the world doesn’t enjoy what I’m doing, let the world be. I know this is a rose-tinted view of life, but it’s helping me cope.
If you’re an author experiencing similar thoughts, this article from Russel Noherty made me feel better:
It speaks about how difficult it is to be a creator in a hyper-capitalist world, where you have to constantly strike a balance between marketing your work and actually doing your work.
So next month, I hope I’ll be able to come here and tell you I created a lot and that I managed to take a few weekends to soak in the sun because I stopped worrying about selling. Sometimes you need that. Taking a break, hopefully, will help me think of what to do next.
Next up
Thank you for reading! In the next issue, I’m hoping to trim things down a bit, so you’ll see:
An update on The Last Day of Rain
Project tracker - what I’m working on next (hint: sequels?)
Another book review
See you soon!