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Behind the Scenes
Origins
Created in the summer of 2020, during the COVID lockdown, My 8-Year-Old Self is based loosely on my childhood experiences and the comics I drew at the time. My initial idea was to create a character who felt awkward and out of place, which is why he wears a spacesuit. (Plus, he thinks it makes him look cool!) So, to insulate himself from the stress of everyday life, he created his own comic book characters who also populate his fantasy world.
The Series
My 8-Year-Old Self began as a series of drawings I regularly posted on social media. I initially approached these as an Art series: planning, experimenting, and creating, similar to how my Advanced Drawing students work.
The first 50 drawings were completed traditionally with a ballpoint pen on bristol board paper.
Working Process - Traditional Drawing
For the first 50ish drawings, I drew with a Bic ballpoint pen on cold-press Bristol board. After roughing out ideas in my sketchbook, I would begin each drawing in pencil. Next, I would draw over the lines with the pen before shading. I was able to achieve a wide range of shaded values depending on how I angled the pen tip and the amount of pressure I used.
Going Digital
As the series advanced, I experimented with working digitally, playing with color, and even simple animation. Ultimately, I decided my method of cross-hatch shading was my preferred style and was able to find digital tools that allowed me to match the look of a ballpoint pen drawing closely. Since then, I have been drawing and painting exclusively on my iPad with an app called Procreate.
