And this is the first page of the following chapter, “Long Distance Childhood”.

This chapter, “Long Distance Childhood”, is about childhood memories, and is set against the Scottish hills I was hiking at the time I drew the chapter. Some readers, found it confusing to have a Scottish landscape in the background. Hopefully the “Happy Hiking” chapter, helped bridge the gap.

There aren’t any rough drawings in this chapter as I was still working “straight ahead” - no rough drawings, no script, just one finished page of art at a time. I would draw it in blue pencil, ink it, then paint, then see what the next page said.

This is my brother and me sitting on our suitcases, complete with labels, ready to take our first plane trip. We were unaccompanied minors heading from London to Africa, 1973.

Our mum moved to the US after Africa. Our first visit was in 1976, the bicentennial year. As we came in to land, I was dazzled - I was about to be in the same country as Kojak, one of my Dad’s favorite TV characters.

I loved hiking in Scotland and was lucky to acquire great gear - it was necessary! This photo is from a hike in July.

A couple folks suggested I color in the clothes….It was fun to try out all my favorite colors…

But I didn’t like how those bright colors fit with the rest of the chapter, so I colored the hills and called it good.

And for winter hiking, here’s the rough drawing for the following page.

Finding the reference material for whatever page I’m working on is a fun trip down memory lane and I learn stuff. It’s over ten years since I had the joy of roaming the Scottish hills so I needed to remind myself of the details - how do you do an “ice-axe arrest”?! (It’s for when you take a tumble down a snowy mountain, the ice-axe helps you dig in and stop you sliding to your death - eek!)

Here’s the finished page.

Brrrr!! It was arctic - and worth it, a winter playground.

After all that talk of planning a book in the last several posts/ newsletters, let’s get back to the book. I drew five chapters while still living in Scotland, this chapter was added later, as the progression of chapters was too much of a leap. By the time I drew this chapter, I realized some planning was wise and started drawing rough pages on paper.

It was suggested to take a video that I might post, to show the inking - it would not make an exciting video - I am S L O W ! Here are some screenshots.

Page 2

Page 3

Climbing up and down those slippery rocks with its unforgiving drop was terrifying! My smile is one of relief 😅

Most of the time I was writing my book, I didn’t know the wisdom of planning a story, but I had begun making short cartoons and posting them on instagram.

Guess what - I found it helpful to think about what I was trying to say before leaping in! I started writing scripts for the cartoons and planning the stories before doing any drawing. It wasn’t the constraint I thought it would be. Drawing had always lead the way and the writing would follow. It was intriguing to try it the other way around, even liberating - and with a lot less re-working!

Here’s part of the script for the cartoon above, and the rest of the cartoon.

I drew this cartoon when I was learning to draw on my iPad with Procreate. The Gila National Forest proved a lovely subject for practicing.

With thanks to Jim and Jackie Blurton, and Abbey Carpenter, birders and hikers extraordinaire.

And I mentioned joining SAW (Sequential Artists Workshop). I took their Graphic Novel Intensive and learnt about planning a book. Over the next couple of years I muddled my way through to the end of the book in rough drawings - 300 pages of them!!

If I was starting from scratch, I would follow SAW’s wise recommendation to learn the principles of storytelling on small projects first, then apply what I’d learnt to a larger project. Like learning to build a shed before embarking on a sprawling monolith.

Well, with no experience, I built a sprawling monolith and how did I miss the fact that the foundation was worthless and I didn’t put in a toilet on the ground floor? And how did I forget that I always dreamed of a turret at the top like my grandfather had?

Heading into SAW’s Graphic Novel Intensive the second time, I hoped to fix the plumbing and do any re-wiring and retro-fitting.

There were several exercises I didn’t grasp at all the first time around. I felt they might help me figure out what this book was about.

And once I understood what I was trying to say - have I conveyed my thoughts as I hoped?

Describe your project in one sentence:

An artist battles demons of doubt and self-loathing - is peace a possibility?

Describe your project in one word:

Freedom!

Show your project in four panels:

The first two exercises were hard but this was impossible! It took much pondering, many attempts, and great feedback from fellow students and teachers at SAW. I’m grateful for all the encouragement to persist - it was invaluable to start seeing what’s at the core of this book.

Next month we’ll look at things I thought would be insufferably dull - like writing a script - and discover how liberating they can be!

The comic above is from when I lived in Idaho, in love with the farming there. The one below is from Scotland and those dreamy gardens.

Last month we looked at different approaches to writing a book - pantser or planner. I started out going by the seat of my pants, but drawing without a plan, I ran into a dead end. The following drawings in this post are rough pages from my graphic memoir.

I’ve usually worked alone, (not a badge of honor). I needed help! Help with my book and with that devil-frog.

My pals in my recovery group for food addiction are vital and the best help against the devil-frog.

Through LDComics I was lucky to find Simone Lia as a mentor for my book. Her work is an inspiration and her leading questions and suggestions are invaluable.

Maybe some education about writing would help too?

At the beginning of covid, several UK comics festivals went online. During each workshop I took down the names of participants and looked them up. I loved Michi Mathias’s work and reached out to her. We’ve been pals since and she introduced me to SAW.

SAW (Sequential Arts Workshop) is a wonderful online comics school. Next month we’ll look at some helpful stuff I learned there about planning a book.

Meantime, this is my treasured frog collection that appears in the drawings above 🐸❤️

Some authors are “planners”, others are “pantsers”. Planners plan their books with outlines etc, pantsers go by the seat of their pants. I stumbled into writing a book and I have been learning how as I go along, pulling up my pants as I lurch forwards.

I started drawing pages and they kept coming. I was drawing to try and make sense of what was going on in my life - contemplating divorce and my dad’s health failing.

Before starting the book, I had drawn one page diary comics for about ten years. I would go out and explore and see what the day had in store and come home with a one page comic. It wasn’t planned, I drew it in rough on the page to see where it would go, the words would follow, then I’d start inking.

Here’s an example:

With my “pantser” approach to writing a book, I drew/ wrote myself into a dead end and couldn’t figure where to go from there. A friend helped me get unstuck and back on track, but I was still working “straight ahead”, one finished page at a time, with no sense of where it was all going - or where my life was going! I hoped the pages would reveal the answers for me, I’d sort out my life, I’d have wisdom to impart, and it would all end with a nice bow! 💝😀

This is a rough page from my book:

Next month we’ll take a look at how this all ended up 10 years later….

When I was married and contemplating divorce, I couldn’t picture leaving my home - I loved the flat so much. When we separated, amazingly I found a flat that I loved even more.

The rent was affordable - maybe because there was no central heating - not recommended in Scotland. Note the electric radiator pulled over among the chairs. I’ve never lived in a home that cold, but it was beautiful - I was in heaven - complete with wool hat and long underwear!

The foremost pot of flowers in the photo above, opened up into this page of narcissus.

I was drawing in the allotments at this time (see last post) and the primroses were erupting.

It was a difficult time. Getting divorced in Scotland, and heading down to the south coast of England to clear my dad’s house and make funeral arrangements. The bright spot was doing everything for my dad, with my brother. And drawing was my life raft.

The desk sat in a bay window, I loved looking out on those buildings and trees.

Drawing was a great solace during those uncertain times of possible divorce. I had become fixated on allotments - plots of land where community members could garden. I was unofficial artist in residence with keys to 3 allotments in Glasgow.

Drawing seedlings, wheelbarrows, and chickens, and whatever else I might discover, helped get me out of my head and into the present moment.

It began to rain while I was out drawing amongst the vegetables and I took shelter in this wondrous structure. It was a turning point that made me feel I’ll be ok, I can make it through this divorce, there’s another way of being out there for me. It may not be as refined, but I’ll find a home again.

These newsletters have been fun to write so far but this one was harder….the first chapter of the book is called “Flat Marriage” and opens in the flat (apartment) where I lived in Scotland. I loved living in Scotland and I loved my home. I was married but divorce was calling. It was a painful time, I was scared to leave. I didn’t know if it was the right choice.

I did know that I loved the flat and drawing helps me calm down enough to help me see straight, so I started drawing the flat. I hadn’t drawn interiors much before moving to Scotland, but the weather in Scotland gave me an appreciation for warm dry places to draw.

The first page is above, to see the whole chapter: https://www.annablomfield.com/graphic-memoir

This is a cartoon drawn in the kitchen, about a year earlier, when I was trying to be a good housewife. The views from the sink were lovely!

This is page 2. Folks have asked what the ropes in the bathroom are for. The two wooden poles up in the ceiling are lowered by the ropes, to put your wet laundry on. When raised back up, it does a fabulous job of drying your clothes - up where all the heat is, in those high ceilings!

Drawing each part of the flat, helped me get clearer about my marriage. Here’s the hallway:

You may notice a dog bed.

I had a Pekingese called Tractor, (named after my love affair with tractors when I lived in Idaho). He’s only mentioned in the book but he’s so adorable, he deserves an appearance.

Next month we’ll explore the rest of the flat and discover how drawing helped during that difficult time. Thanks for reading ☺️

It never occurred to me that I had a negative character who was black and the frog that was me, was white. I simply wanted two characters that could be clearly distinguished. And darkness is often used to portray evil and white is the hero. Eg Darth Vader and Luke Skywalker. Leaning on that tradition was an easy way to emphasize the devil-frog’s nastiness.

It slowly dawned on me that I didn’t want to go along with that stereotype - but how could I differentiate the devil-frog at a glance? He’s bigger and has horns and a tail but without the color, you had to look closely to see which character was which.

I couldn’t figure out how to make them sufficiently different. I was annoyed as I like everything to go easily (!). I had helpful conversations, but was stumped.

Making him a toady green didn’t work because some pages were black and white, and he’d appear black again.

On a call with my mentor, Simone Lia, somehow the idea of a warty toad came up. I have psoriasis, a skin condition, so I felt at liberty to give him scaly skin. It’s not as effective visually as the cross-hatching, but I like to think that now anyone can read the book, relate to the characters, and the only negatives on the page are the devil-frog’s words.

Here are the rough pages for the introduction:

Sometimes when I sit down to work/play, the pages are reluctant to come forth or they need reworking a bunch. If I’m lucky, it’s a fun time of getting out of the way and letting stuff flow. Watching to see what happens.

What might the introduction say? It turned out to be one of those joyous moments when I had to keep the pencil moving fast enough to capture what was coming. I barely made a change on the roughs. I’m not sure if this is laziness or a happy muse that day - I’ll go for the latter!

Here are the final pages:

Does the introduction make you want to read on? I hope so!

Next month we’ll look at why the devil-frog looks different in the rough drawing and on the final page.

As I wondered what might be on the back cover, I was delighted to realize I could include century plants. I love these magnificent spindly wonders and hadn’t found a spot for them inside the book.

Happily a century plant sprung up outside my living room. I had the pleasure of watching it grow each day - by the foot!

Here they are in their natural habitat - complete with an enthusiast!

As I roughed out the drawing I realized I needed the “back of the book” blurb so the drawing could go around it. Then I remembered I was the one who needed to write it!

I’d tried writing those stubborn little paragraphs again and again over the years, but they wouldn’t come out. I thought I had plenty of time to continue avoiding them, then a “beyond my wildest dreams” thrill - someone I’m a huge fan of, proposed publishing the first three or four chapters - yayyy!!! That’s why I needed a front cover, and now, a back cover.

This time the words spilled out…

Here’s the final rough drawing. What do you think - would the back of the book “blurb” entice you to pick up this book? Hope so!

I’ve been working on a graphic memoir, “Did You Check the Bed for Scorpions?”. I love seeing behind the scenes of other artists’ work and would like to share mine. I hope you enjoy taking a look too.

There’ll be about one newsletter a month, easy to subscribe and mercifully just as easy to unsubscribe!

I’ll start with the front cover. Here’s the first version. I liked the drawing well enough, was not fond of the handwriting and hadn’t a clue what to do about it.

I’m lucky to have been working with Simone Lia as a mentor for 5 years now. She helped me see how it didn’t work so well as a cover (the title has to stand out!) and I tried something different.

I thought I was on to something and roared ahead with the finished artwork.

She kindly suggested that the original version had more potential and nudged me towards working with the layout and font.

I started with tracing fonts I found online and Simone kept encouraging me to try again, experiment a little more. Once over the initial resistance, I had fun noodling around on procreate (a drawing app on my iPad) to come up with a font based on my handwriting.

There’s software to create fonts based on your handwriting but somehow fooling around on my iPad was more appealing.

Here’s the final rough. I’m grateful for my mentor’s gentle prodding and the resulting font and layout. My next step is to do the finished drawing.

To find out what the book is about, please subscribe, as next time we’ll look at the back cover and you can read all about it!

And wondering how the title came to be? We’ll explore that too 😀

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