Tag: Illustrator

Melon and Lime Comics – The Dishes.

This week’s comic is based on one of Liam’s habits when he comes around to my house. As he eats inhumanly fast, he will always finish his food before me and whilst I’m still eating, he will get up and take his plate to the sink and wash it. Yes, it is nice that he washes up after himself, but no! He should be the guest when he comes to my home, and I should be the one washing the plates! And I would do if he allowed me time to actually finish my own food on my own plate.

dishes

I didn’t really enjoy creating this week’s comic, mostly because I have so much other work that needs to be completed for other projects, and I felt we were pushing for ideas. As we are creating comics on a weekly basis, I do feel that sometimes we will struggle for ideas, ones that we have not already done or ones that other comic artists haven’t already done themselves (that we know of).

I am glad that we came to this concept, as it is a reoccurring quirk in our relationship, and we do feel that others might be able to relate as well. But I do feel I could and should have done better in some of the frames.

As I am currently stressed with the other projects I have going on at the moment, when creating this comic, I had the mindset that I just needed to get the piece done and out of the way, so that I could get back and focus on my other work. So, because of this, I feel I didn’t put my best into it, I felt I very much had the ‘it’ll do’ mindset, and I am disappointed in myself that I didn’t do more and go back in to refine it.

I feel this could potentially be a reoccurring problem when working on multiple projects at once, but in the future, I will try to get rid of the ‘it’ll do’ mindset and put the right amount of effort into our comics. If I’m not happy with a piece in the future, I may hold off on posting it for a week, so that I can refine it further, bettering the quality and standard of it. However, if I do choose to do this, I do not want to fall into the trap of continuously doing it, or worrying too much about every piece, whether it is good enough to post etc so this will be something I have to think about if the issues of this week reoccur.

If you do by any chance enjoy this comic and would like to see more, please feel free to have a look at our Instagram @MelonandLimeComics, we appreciate any likes or follows that we get! I have also made a couple of blog posts about some of the newer comics, so if you would like to know more about the thought processes behind them, and how they have come to life, feel free to check those out too. Thank you!

I Opened up my Own Store!

Using Depop, I have created an account so that I can have a platform that I can sell my work from. If you want to know why I chose this platform you can click here to read my opinions on different selling sites.

As of yet, I have not made a sale through the app, but I have made a sale by working solely through PayPal and messaging the buyer. I was only confident enough to do this because I knew the person, but even then I felt I was being very awkward, as I’m not very business savvy and I am new to this world. But this may improve over time.

So working this way, I still charged the same amount for the product and p&p but in this case, Depop did not take their 10% cut of the payment, but I believe PayPal does still have a charge of 20p per transaction.

Anyways back to the exciting part, this buyer had wanted 2 of my zines, a multicoloured one and a black and white one, and when I had mentioned that I was also selling some riso prints, she had also wanted a wave print. From this buyer, I have made a total of £14.50 (p&p excluded) so I am so happy with this experience.

As I had stated in my previous post, one of the reasons I had chosen to use Depop was because I would be able to have control over the whole process, packaging the products myself and adding little personal touches where I could. So as shown below, are three photos, one of the contents of the order, then the other two are of the envelope. Although I would say the content is pretty standard as to what you would expect when purchasing prints etc, I wanted to personalise the envelope, adding in little drawings of flowers, which would relate back to the zine. I had also added a little ‘thank you’ on the back so that she would see it when opening. These are small personalisations, however, when I had received a personalised envelope from an artist, I felt that they had actually put love into their packaging, an indication that they actually cared about their clients and appreciation in a way.

48175122_361586474645178_1609465979731968000_n

I have now sent off the order, hoping that she gets it soon, and hoping that she is happy with her purchase. I also hope that more people will purchase my work, although I was a bit anxious with this one sale, I hope that the more I get, the more my confidence will grow with the process.

This being said, if you would like to have a look at the products I have for sale, you can click here for my Depop account, or you could send me a message on Instagram @Melon.R if you have PayPal and don’t wish to work through Depop.

Melon and Lime Comics – Holiday Traditions

As it is December now and the holiday season is upon us, this week myself and Liam decided to create a festive comic.

In this comic, Liam is asking what my favourite part of Christmas is, whether it’s the presents, which no, although I do like giving them, I wouldn’t mind not receiving them. Then he asks me if it’s the food, which I believe is amazing so could potentially be my close second favourite part, however still, the answer is no. My favourite tradition of the holidays, is having a movie marathon of The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings trilogies, which we start on Christmas Eve eve, and as I believe it is a 20-hour marathon, it does take us to midday of Christmas Eve.

This was initially a tradition I had started with my brother, before the Hobbit movies even existed, so that we would stay up all night on Christmas Eve eve, making it easier for us to sleep on Christmas Eve, as the excitement would usually keep us up, so the lack of sleep from the marathon would usually knock us out instead.

When I had started seeing Liam, I introduced this tradition to him, and now for what will be the third year in a row, we will be keeping it alive. Hopefully actually surviving this year’s, and not accidentally falling asleep during The Two Towers at 2am. This year  I will ensure that there will be a lot of coffee involved and that we shall succeed!

In a sense, we wanted to create this piece so that our audience could get to know us better. Although we create comics that can be quite relatable, for other people or couples, we also want to shine a light on the quirks that are unique to us, that makes our relationship special. We hope that this will make our audience feel more connected, to know us as actual people with true quirks and habits, as opposed to just seeing characters that are seen as ‘relatable’.

There are a few things I like about this comic, such as the representation of the movie, with the fellowship of the ring on their journey, something that maybe only fans would be able to recognise, but I also love the frame with the Christmas tree and presents, as I just enjoy the little details and patterns, and it does make me feel festive, but in our own set style of the comics.

From last weeks comic, I did try to add more elements to the frames, trying to think more about backgrounds, mid ground and foreground, and I do actually prefer the frames which do have more in them. I feel my job for future comics, will be to not go overboard with the backgrounds or elements involved. Although I do enjoy the interest that it gives the specific frame, I do want to keep the comics as readable as possible, not giving any room for any confusion, so that the message can be communicated well throughout.

Just a little update..

I currently have only 5 weeks left of the first semester, before I have to hand in all of my projects for the development module. So, as I have been updating my blog, but not so much in terms of my progression, I thought I’d briefly talk about the work I’ve done so far, what I still need to do, and discuss the goals that I want to achieve, which will be more long-term based.

The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe

  • Research is complete – both directly from the book and my artist research.
  • I have created a mind map and chose the imagery I’d like to create.
  • Drawn up on of the quotes, the Wardrobe.
  • Experimented with digital techniques.
  • Experimented with different printing methods – screen printing, and adding foils, etching, Linocut, laser cut plate.
  • I’ve chosen that I want to create the rest of my illustrations with the laser cut plate technique as I feel I had gotten the cleanest results.

Still to do:

  • Create the other illustration with the printing method.
  • Possibly edit the outcomes digitally.
  • Mount them.
  • Evaluate the final products and project as a whole.

 

Inktober

  • I have completed the challenge, creating 31 illustrated characters for each day of October.
  • I have fixed or edited the designs digitally. Compiling them all into a zine format.
  • I’ve experimented with different forms of printing – through the colleges normal printer, reprographics and creating some on the zine.
  • With the finished products, I have begun to sell them online.

Still to do:

  • Write up some of the days – I have written them up on this blog, however, I feel I need to write them more formally and with much more information, for my actual project.
  • Write up the experimentation with printing methods. Opinions of the different outcomes of the zines.
  • Evaluate the final products and project as a whole.

 

House of Illustration – Howls Moving Castle

  • Read the book, highlighting areas and quotes that I could possibly illustrate.
  • Created sketches from the quotes.
  • Narrowed down my selection and had drawn thumbnails.
  • Narrowed down my selection yet again, so that I was left with 3 potential illustrations and 1 potential cover.
  • Started sketching the thumbnails digitally.

Still to do:

  • Write up artist research.
  • Refine the digital sketches with traditional line work.
  • Scan in the line work.
  • Colour digitally and potentially add a textured overlay.
  • Write up all of the progression, thoughts and opinions throughout.
  • Mount/submit the final designs.
  • Evaluate the final product and the project as a whole.

 

Penguin Illustration Awards

  • Read the children’s book – Wonder by R.J.Paolo
  • Read the adults fiction book – Norwegian Wood by Haruki Murakami.
  • Have thought about the imagery I could potentially illustrate for both of the books.
  • Have thought about the styles I could potentially use.

Still to do:

  • Actually start the project, not next week but the one after.
  • Write up research – from the books and potential artists/styles I will be using.
  • Form a mind map/mood board of potential imagery I could create.
  • Create 3 thumbnail sketches for each book.
  • Refine my choices and refine the designs digitally.
  • Choose which concept I think is best, possibly refine it more if needed.
  • Write up progression, thoughts and opinions throughout the project.
  • Mount and submit the final design.
  • Evaluate the final product and the project as a whole.

 

Long-Term Targets

  • Get better at time management. Thinking more practically, how long will it take me to work on a project, then follow my timetables as efficiently as I can.
  • Draw more full-length bodies. Over the year I feel I have gotten better at drawing faces, however, I do still struggle with the anatomy of the body, so I do wish to practise more in the future.
  • Boosting effort levels, getting rid of that ‘it’ll do’ attitude. I believe this can be done by just taking a break from my work then going back to it again with a fresh mindset, ready to make further improvements, as opposed to just being sick of the piece and wanting to just get it out of the way. I don’t think this can be done overnight, hence why it is in my long-term goals, as I feel in a way I will have to train my mind to do this more often, especially during future projects, in college and out.

Norweigan Wood – Review

For the Penguin Student Design Awards, I have been reading two books, one for the children fiction category and one for the adult’s fiction. The one I am about to review (or attempt to) is called Norweigan Wood by Haruki Murakami, and it is the adult fiction book.

Just a bit of pre-warning, I don’t know how to review books properly, as I don’t know how to give my opinion and explain what the story is about without giving away too much information or potential spoilers. Technically, I don’t know why I keep writing these reviews, but hey ho, here we go! POTENTIAL SPOILERS WARNING AHEAD!

Norweigan Wood is a story about a character named Toru Watanabe, who looks back on his younger/student days in Tokyo in the late 1960s. I believe the story is based on romance, but as opposed to a typical ‘boy meets girl’ scenario, the story does go more into depth with the complexities of relationships and life itself, discussing emotions and struggles between the characters etc. The story does contain some very sexual moments, but this was not my take away from the book as I feel it was more about the main characters daily life, his struggles, his connections between characters and things like that, as opposed to it just being an erotic novel, it had more of a storyline which by the end, I did feel quite invested in.

My initial thought about this book, as it is fictional, I had thought it was going to have more fictional themes, like fantasy or sci-fi, or anything along those lines, so whilst reading through the book, I could feel myself making assumptions of the direction I thought it could take. At one point, I did think that the girl he was interested in was going to turn out be a robot, but this was not the case and I do kind of feel bad for thinking so. Instead, the book was based on reality, set in the real world with characters you would think were real at some point, a world without robots, at least not ones that were mentioned? or any fantasy creatures, or ghosts or aliens or anything or the sort.

At the end of the story, there was a section which had explained that although the author Haruki Murakami has made more fantasy inspired books in his time, parts of this story were autobiographical in a way, as the author would be taking inspiration from his own days as a student. But although this story had some fans of his previous work questioning the more realistic themes of this one, he had explained that it was a challenge for himself, as real life is so complex but does have a simplicity to it, it has so many emotions and integrating parts to it, so I would imagine that it would be hard to make all of those elements seem simple, like ‘yes this book is based on the realities of life’ to the reader. So, in comparison to writing one of his other books, Murakami had found Norweigan Wood was the most challenging.

As I had mentioned, I did end up becoming quite emotionally invested in this book, with the characters day to day life, the emotions, experiences, thought process etc, so when I had finished, like with Howls Moving Castle, you can read my review of that here, I felt lost, it couldn’t end like that! I wanted to know more, what else happened to the character after the story finished, I did feel frustrated that I couldn’t follow him on his journey through life anymore.

I would recommend this book to a friend. If they don’t like the idea of the sexual themes and moments within the story, I would just tell them that I felt the actual story was worth the read. I feel the author has done an amazing job at capturing the reality and complexities of life, and he was able to explain them in such a way that was easy, readable and understandable. In a way that sucks you in and makes you feel emotionally invested to the characters journey.

Melon and Lime Comics – Pizza Conspiracies

In this week’s comic, me and Liam were having a conversation about the price and sizes of pizza, in which he had told me that the price of a 10″ pizza was the equivalent to half of a 14″. At this moment, I had not read him properly, (this was a conversation over text) and thought that he was saying that a 10″ and 14″ pizza had the same area, so because he was so adamant when I was telling him he was wrong, I did the math and was getting frustrated, until I reread his message where he had said HALF of a 14″ pizza was the equivalent of a 10″.

So, already frustrated with the conversation, especially having to do math for no reason, I wanted the conversation to just end and swap to something new. But Liam had other points to still discuss, as he felt (and I agreed with, but the laws of math were not on our side) that surely a 10″ pizza should be half of a 20″ pizza. Which started him explaining his conspiracies that the pizza companies are against us, a couple of days later, this being the subject of our new comic.

In this piece, I have shown our conversation in the present time, showing Liam’s enthusiasm and my lack of interest to the subject. In the second frame, I have then shown the both of us as elderly characters, the kitten Wednesday is still in my lap 60 years later, but is older. In my mind, he will outlive the both of us and this is not up for debate! And 60 years from now, I still see Liam bringing this subject back up in conversation, and myself still being sick of the subject, but in this time, he is even more adamant that the pizza companies are against us, as he has more elderly man rage (‘get off my lawn’ whilst waving his walking stick at children type of energy).

I was happy to work on this piece, as I feel I have tried to play around with backgrounds and scenery more. In the background of the second frame, I have drawn a fireplace with photos and ornaments scattered across the mantlepiece, for this, I had taken inspiration from my Grandmas home, which was similar to this setup, but I have exaggerated some of the elements. I had also added in rocking chairs, which myself and Liam have already agreed that we are purchasing as soon as we live together, we really are already old at heart, and behind them, I have also added in a zimmer frame for myself, then a walking stick hanging on the arm of Liam’s chair.

Although I was very happy with the background, it did seem to become slightly problematic when it had come to adding in the text. To overcome this problem, I had selected all of the layers for the background, then copied the selection as merged, then pasted them back into place. Now with the one layer, I had dimmed down the opacity, enough so that it was still visible, but still allowed the text to stand out. To help a little more, in a separate layer underneath the text, I used a watercolour brush in photoshop, (as it would give a softer approach, as to a quite harsh highlight of the text) then I started to build up a white base to make more contrast between the background and text.

 

If you like this comic and would like to see more, please have a look at our Instagram @MelonandLimeComics. We appreciate any and every like or follow we get. Thank you!

Design Philosophies

Thumbnails/Rough Sketching

  • I will always start my projects with quick initial sketches. I feel it is a good way to get initial ideas out on the page quick, then look back and start to develop the ideas from the starting point.

 

Research and Referencing

  • I mostly use Pinterest for inspiration, whether it is from illustrations, a colour palette, images of scenery or people.
  • If I need to find a specific pose/face to draw a person and you can’t/are too shy to ask someone to pose for you, Pinterest has a good source of imagery, I have seen a lot of dynamic poses for particular characters, but I mostly use it for reference images of people, you can check out my board by clicking here.

 

Including myself in my work

  • Enjoying what I do – if I am not enjoying the work I create, if I don’t feel enthusiastic about it, I do try to change elements so that I do like it, but if I have lost hope in a piece then I do not believe it is a good representation of myself.
  • If I do not feel at least 80% positive about a piece, with college work excluded, I do not show the work anywhere else. It may not necessarily be bad, but if I have no confidence to sell it then I believe I will constantly overthink the design and it will get worse and worse in my mind as I pick it apart more and more.
  • I would have said 100% but I don’t feel anyone is ever 100% confident about their work, there is always something they see that they think they could have improved on or changed, that no one else may be able to see.

 

Thinking outside of the box

  • Being able to work with a brief and/or client, giving them alternative options for the designs, possibly one that is more direct to the brief, one that is more biased to my own likes, and one that would be in between the two.
  • I always try to think outside of the box so that I am creating unique concepts, that can still link back to the brief, that would separate me from other illustrators/designers.

 

Problem-solving

  • Knowing my own weaknesses and figuring out ways to work around them, when I don’t have time to improve them on the spot.
  • Taking the time to learn from my weaknesses to create better work in future, potentially having fewer problems to solve.

 

Challenging myself

  • Whether it is with new techniques, mediums or programs I have not used before, or specific imagery that I am not used to drawing a lot, for instance, backgrounds or character work.

 

Final Checks

High standards

  • During college times, I feel I do hold my work to a higher standard than when I am working on personal projects at home, however, this is something that I am looking to change, so that I hold up all of my work to that high standard.
  • In the past I have had an ‘it’ll do’ mindset towards my personal work, especially when it has taken so long to create. Instead of taking a break and coming back to it later as to work on it further, I usually just say “its fine”, but I’m determined for this to end this year. When I am feeling the “it’ll do” moments now, I am going to take a break from the specific piece and just come back to it later; this will hopefully give me a fresh mindset and more energy when I come back to the piece.

 

Is the piece a good representation of myself?

  • Relating back to a previous point, if I am not confident behind a piece I don’t want it to be a representation of myself. Following the high standards point, if I have an “it’ll do” mindset to a piece then I should not be posting it as I know I can make improvements once I’ve taken a break and come back to it with fresh eyes. If I send out a ‘meh’ piece just for the sake of it, then ‘meh’ will be the response in return.

 

Does it communicate a specific message and does it communicate it effectively?

  • If I create a piece with a purpose to communicate a specific message then I have to be sure that it can be read and that the point will not be overlooked.

Vistaprint Review

In May/June of this year, for my end of year exhibition, through Vistaprint, I had created a portfolio book and a set of business cards.

Although I have had a change of heart with the design/pattern of the original business cards and the cover of the portfolio book, I do not believe that was the fault of Vistaprint, as I actually loved the quality of my products, and the time in which it took to deliver the items was quite efficient. Vistaprint are specific on their website about their delivery times and for me, the estimated delivery dates were spot on.

It was from my experience with this company, (and the enticing black Friday sales) that I had wanted to use the site again, as to order new business cards. I had also checked out a company called ‘Moo’, as suggested by one of my tutors, but when comparing prices, at that current time, Vistaprint was cheaper for the quantity of product I was getting. I believe with Moo, I could get 50 for the price of £15, whereas on Vistaprint I could get 100 for the same price, this including the extra price for the design on both sides. 

If anything, when designing the product on the layout of the website, I wish you could zoom in to see for yourself if the quality of your image is good or not, rather than the site just saying ‘this image is good quality’. I believe if I was able to do this, I would have been able to see that the original business cards I had created in May/June, were a bit blurry in the text, and I may have been able to make changes at that time, as opposed to ordering them then noticing the problem after it was too late. However, I probably still would have fallen out of love with the overall design, so it’s all good.

Review of the product.

My business cards have arrived, 3 business days after ordering them; I had ordered them on Friday night, the 23rd, and the delivery date was estimated to be for the 30th, but they have come today on Wednesday the 28th, so I have had good experiences with their deliveries, both with this order and my previous. I believe the delivery times do change depending on the item you’re expecting, for instance with my last order, I had ordered both my cards and book at the same time, but the cards had arrived well before my book, but I do feel they are good with their estimated times, if not better as shown by my early delivery today.

I was so nervous to receive these cards after my previous experience, but when opening the box, the quality is SOOOO much better than my last business cards! This just proves to me that it was just a problem on my side, with the quality of the image within my last set of business cards, as opposed to the problem coming from the companies end.

Now looking over the card, if I can nitpick at anything, I would say that the black and grey tones have come out a bit warmer than I had intended, but its not a huge problem in my eyes, it would have been more annoying if it had only happened in a specific area, or only on one side, however as it is the same throughout and on both sides, there is more cohesion to it so it is less noticeable.

Personal opinions (Not concerning the company)

I am absolutely IN LOVE with the results of these prints! I feel in comparison to my previous business cards, it is much more simple, minimal and professional, but still shows my work and what a potential client can expect from me. I feel with my old business cards, they were a bit too overpowering and did not really show my work within the design. Although yes, I did create the pattern, I do not feel it was visible enough for someone to say ‘ooh yes, I like this person’s work’, so I do like these new cards, as it is almost like a product in itself.

In the past, I have collected other artists business cards, as it is still a piece of their artwork, so I feel in a similar way, if someone were to take my business card, they could potentially want to keep it, as it is a piece of my artwork in itself, even if it is smaller than my average print.

I feel I will be much more confident to give people my business cards now, as I am more happy with the design and quality of the imagery, whereas I was a bit more embarrassed to give away my cards previously, as I was less proud of the design and the text did have a slight blur, so I did not feel as if it were the best representation of myself.

 

Online Stores

In this blog post, as I have recently been in the search for places online where I could potentially open my own shop and sell any product I make over the year, I thought others could potentially benefit from what I have learnt and my opinions on certain cites. I plan to keep these descriptions fairly brief, but knowing myself, I may babble, so we shall see!

If you are following along with this blog for your own research into online stores, I would recommend that you do your own research as well, as this information is just from what I have heard or found, and have formed my own opinions on, so they might not be exactly accurate as I have not worked with any forms of an online store before. For me, this will just be a learning process, hopefully learning, developing and expanding my business as I go. 

Redbubble

This is a site in which I know one of my friends has used in the past (I’m not exactly sure if he still uses it though), it is a company which allows you to create your own products through their facilities. I believe you submit your design, then choose the products that you would want it printed on, then through redbubble’s marketplace, they are able to sell your work. The company does everything for you, from printing the product to shipping it out to the customer.  For its services, I believe they do take a small cut from each of the purchases you make.

I believe I would have considered this as an option, however, I feel it does lose some of the personal factors by the company doing everything for you. One time, I had ordered a couple of Zines from an artist named Nil, or @Badwitches on Instagram, and I did love the pieces I had ordered, but I looooved the personal touches she had added within her packaging. The way she had written the address in pink, and had written ‘Thank you’ on the back, and inside there was a lot of loose heart confetti (which was a bit messy, but such a cute addition), I have even kept the envelope because of how cute I thought these additions were.

It is things like this that I feel I want to do when sending out my own work in my own packaging, adding in little details that could feel more personal for the buyer. I feel that by solely working through the company, it would feel cold in a sense, as I would not be connecting with my buyer in any way, other than them owning a piece of my work, but something that I have not personally put time into creating (yes I would have put time into creating the design, but I would not have spent the time working with the product itself.)

Etsy

From multiple artists I follow on social media, who had sold their work on Etsy, they have ended up moving and using other platforms to sell their work, in places such as Big Cartel, or with their own personalised online stores. I believe this was due to the percentage cut in which Etsy was taking from them. Although yes, I do understand that the company want to be paid a certain percentage, as they are allowing you to sell your through their site, however, I feel for smaller businesses, this cut would have a bigger dint to them as opposed to a company that is getting a lot of regular business.

As I myself will be starting up a small business, with quite a small following, I don’t think this is necessarily the best option for myself.

Big Cartel

This site can potentially cost, but it offers a tier like system, offering more for more money or less for none. If you did not want to spend money on this site, you would only be able to sell 5 products, with one image per item. However I believe through this site, you would still be able to have full control of production, posting and packing etc, making the item as personal as you desired for your buyer.

If I were making more consistent money from my art, enough to pay a monthly fee, I would find that this would be a potential option. However, as I am just starting, and do not know how my work will sell on an online platform, this is not something I would want to spend too much money on right now until I have more information/knowledge of running a business.

Depop

This is typically an app which people sell clothing and accessories through, however over the years, I have seen that someone who I had known from my previous course had started selling her own artwork on it. After a little look, I had found that it almost works like Instagram, as you are able to add tags to the items that you are selling, making it easier for people with similar interests to find your work. You are also able to like items, which allows a person to come back to the post later on, possibly if they weren’t so sure, or if they didn’t have money at the time, etc. But the likes from an item may also boost your post so that it is higher in the search results, I do not know this for sure, but this is the way that Instagram has recently been working.

I do believe that the company takes a cut from your payment when someone purchases your item, but I believe it is small, so I could potentially counteract the cut by pushing up the price a little more. I feel my products are already a lower price within the market, so I believe by pushing it up by 30p or something, it would not make too much of a difference to the buyer.

Another reason why I like this option, again, is that I feel I can connect more with my audience/buyers. I can make the packaging more personal, adding little touches here and there, but the customers are also able to give their feedback as well, reviewing the products or delivery time etc.  Although I do think this common on all of the platforms I have mentioned, I feel people may check the reviews of sellers on depop more, as I feel the customer wants to know that they can trust the person they are buying from, so from the reviews, they can see what they can potentially expect from them, whether the quality was good or not, or whether the delivery had taken a long time or short. I believe as with other websites, the more good reviews you get, the more people will trust and want to buy from you too (only if they want too though, obviously).

Own Online Website

I have not done a lot of research into this field as of yet, as I feel there would be a lot of ways you could potentially go about doing it. You could essentially form your own site, which I assume you would have to pay a monthly fee for, then you would have to have a place that could take transactions, allowing your customer to pay and for you to get that money smoothly, but I’m not sure of the ways in which you could do this? I have recently seen advertisements for a site called Shopify, but I believe you have to pay a monthly fee for that too. I would definitely need to do much more research if I were to chose this option.

However, by selling your work through your own site, it would mean that you have full control over your business, the production, packaging, shipping, etc. It could potentially help in all of your business efficiently being in one place, for instance, as well as a shop, the site could have your portfolio of work, a creative cv, links to any of your other social platforms, and information about you.

 

Final thoughts.

Currently, I have chosen to create a shop through Depop, as it does seem the best option for me at this point in my career, as I am just a small business starting up. But hopefully, as I grow and expand my knowledge of business, one day, if I do gain a bigger following and do have a good regular income from my business, I do hope to run my own website, selling my products on my own, as opposed to working on a third parties platform, potentially paying them some of my profit. I believe by having my own website, my whole business will be accessible within one place, as it will contain my store for potential customers, my links to other social platforms, such as Instagram, or even my blog, both of which I am quite active on, and for any potential clients, I will include my portfolio of work, possibly categorised for easier access, a creative cv, general information about myself, and an enquiry page in which they can email me directly from the site.

 

Please, if you have any thoughts or your own experiences with these websites or apps, feel free to comment them. As I am only starting up myself and have not had a lot of experience selling my own work before, (no experience at all with any of the sites mentioned so far), I would love to hear from others who have and I will happily accept any advice I can get, thank you!

Melon and Lime Comics – Biggest Fan

This comic is based on a recent event, in which I had gone to see Liam in a play called ‘Education, Education, Education’. He had performed so well in this play, making everyone laugh, there were even moments when myself and his sister couldn’t stop laughing, sometimes at inappropriate moments, which we had apologised afterwards, but I was so proud of him and said so in detail after the play, in which he replied with a simple ‘Thank you’.

It has been a concept of ours for a while to create a comic about our talents, but we could never think of a way in which best to design it so that it was not too cringy or too braggy about ourselves.

So, with this comic, I had shown my experience with his show, then compared it to when Liam had come to my exhibition, which I believe was a similar experience but roles were reversed, him being proud of me, and my response of a modest ‘thank you’.

 

I did have worries if this comic would fit within our work, as it is not as humorous as our previous comics have been. However, Liam had reassured me that our comics our about relatability, and shows that as a couple we do support one another, we are essentially each other’s biggest fans, which I agree that other couples would be able to relate to.

When designing this comic, I did have struggles with anatomy. Although our characters are more cartoony and not exactly anatomically correct, I did struggle with certain poses, especially in the 3rd and 6th frame, trying to express the emotion of excitement and modesty/shyness of the characters. I believe I did get the characters to a place that I’m ok with, but anatomy and poses will definitely be something that I will have to work on whilst producing these comics, as I do want my characters to be able to communicate a specific emotion from their poses, as well as their expressions.

If you enjoy this comic and would like to see more, please have a look at our Instagram @MelonandLimeComics, we appreciate any likes or follows that we get! I have also made a couple of blog posts about some of the newer comics, so if you would like to know more about the thought processes behind them, and how they have come to life, feel free to check those out too. Thank you!