“From the darkness, the light shall shine” – This is something that I’ve come to believe as a great fuel for my creativity. Many characters in my stories came from something I was working out and I’ve been lucky that I’ve been able to find an avenue that was creative to express these emotions. I’ve spoken about publically how I began writing as a child to create something I could control since my childhood was filled with things I couldn’t control. I’ve also publically spoken about having a ‘rough childhood’, but the depths of this has never been shared in the public eye. My childhood as led me dealing with many anxiety issues that I luckily have control of now amongst other health-related issues.
I’m not blogging this to speak about my childhood traumas, but to speak about the other side of the darkness, that creative side I firmly believe saved me from a worse mental fate. Dreary Darlings are a recent creation of a more recent depressive state I went through. I began doodling in my silence not sure of what would really come of it other than idle entertainment and to shoo away those saddened thoughts and doubts. One by one I saw characters coming out in my drawings, my sketches began to show a pattern. First Peter Plague Doctor came out, then his cloaked bloated little body began to appear again and again. Eugenia, Nan, and others came out. It wasn’t until I looked back over my sketches that I realized I had filled page after page with these eyeless little alien-like creatures.
It’s hard for an artist to find their ‘style’. Through this came to life a style I’d not done before. I had done quick sketches in the past, shared with friends and others, rough sketches and polling for opinions, and these ‘darlings’ have that feel. I don’t know if this style of work is going to continue or just a stepping stone along the way, but it’s a very comfortable style for me. I think fast and it’s obvious in my work with the multiple lines and the rough curves.
I hope you all can see something in them the way I did after they appeared and spoke to me.
