#makingmona

THANK YOU everyone for your support while I've been womanifesting the new book--especially my 26 Patreon patrons who have been supporting me the past 10 months! 🙏✨As a special treat I just posted the FIRST CHAPTER on my Patreon page so anyone can read it TODAY before I shut down the campaign!!! GO GO GO!👈🚨Between the financial support I received through the SOUP grant @newcityartsinitiative and individuals through @patreon my housing costs were covered during this production, which has made an incredible difference to my mental health & quality of life that I hope is reflected in the work. 💫After Will & Whit I was convinced I couldn't make another graphic novel in a sustainable untraumatic way, but now I've broken this cycle and my heart has been healed. It's amazing what can happen when we admit we need help. I just hope Mona can help others with their journey as she (and you all) have helped me with mine.❤️ . . . #makingmona #artnerangels #campaignsuccess #lauraleegulledge #patrons #patreon #patreonartist #patreonartist #workingclassartist #supported #sustainablecreativity #healthyartist #breakingcycles #gratefulheart https://www.instagram.com/p/ByIRSATl6Kl/?igshid=1wsnjwchn70bd

My final loose end to tie up before leaving town was finishing the cover design for the new book baby!✍️✨🖤Here's a sneak peek of the design process and the final book title we settled on: THE DARK MATTER OF MONA STARR. 🌟I will share the finished design down the road but for now all I will say that I think it turned out GORGEOUS and I'm thrilled to close the door on Mona for a while as I take a well deserved break.😎 . . . #thedarkmatterofmonastarr #abramsbooks #makingmona #lauraleegulledge #yalit #graphicnovel #bookbaby #bookcoverdesign #designprocess #wip #comingmay2020 https://www.instagram.com/p/BzeHuzdFFAN/?igshid=1kaw2o2h7ymsp

YAY I've turned in my finished book pages to @abramsbooks !! 🎉 SURE I will still have copyediting to do and I need to design a cover and oh yeah figure out what the final title of this graphic novel is gonna be...but BASICALLY it's done. And for that I am so very grateful & relieved! 😆🙏💛 Also I can't believe I made it through this whole production process without ANY wrist pain this time around! ✍️⚡️There really is so much more to gush about and people to thank but for now I simply let out a big sigh of relief and say thank you to Mona for taking me on a journey I will never forget. 🌠 . . . #makingmona #whatsthematterwithmonastarr #lauraleegulledge #abramsbooks#graphicnovel #yalit #yagraphicnovels #comics #femalelead #bookbaby #drawingmarathon #bookdeadline #relief #gratitude #exhale #physicaltherapyworks #moregushinglater https://www.instagram.com/p/ByGwm0tloB8/?igshid=1pp5xva545mds

How about FINALLY a sample finished page from Mona?! 😆😬I love this moment showing Mona learning how to manage her emotions with her little parrotfish-inspired bubble when feeling overwhelmed by a group of extroverts. (AKA inspired by theatre kids) ✨⚪️ Project status: I'm finishing adding the yellow and turning in the book THIS WEEK to @abramsbooks for copyediting notes which is SO EXCITING! So my 10 month drawing book marathon is soon coming to a close. SOON!!!!!! ⚡️ . . . #wip #makingmona #graphicnovel #yalit #whatsthematterwithmonastarr #lauraleegulledge #comics #behindthescenes #drawingmarathon #bookbaby #bubble #inmybubble #socialanxiety #introvertproblems #copingstrategies https://www.instagram.com/p/Bx-wNb1FprD/?igshid=xhmjyhk3ee4s

So the final step I'm doing before turning this book in is adding in bits of spot yellow on a third of the pages.💫 This final step has been really hard for me to wrap my head around, so I have avoided talking about it. Partly because working digitally hurts my brain...probably partly because this is the last step so it all feels so final...but also because this yellow color represents the spirit, the mystery I don't fully understand. ✨I feel silly & unworthy to dare try depicting these invisible forces I see in my head, but somehow every morning in the studio I trick myself into trusting the visions. And desperately hoping it all makes sense when it's done. 🤞 . . . #wip #comics #graphicnovel #makingcomics #makingmona #whatsthematterwithmonastarr #lauraleegulledge #digital #photoshopelements #notadigitalartist #creativeprocess #behindthescenes #maketheinvisiblevisible #hopingthisworks #leapoffaith https://www.instagram.com/p/Bx0c04VFo47/?igshid=le7af3pylrr

OMG this book is looking legit! 😆Here's a peek at my new font and how it's all coming together digitally with the speech bubbles in this moment when Mona is getting to know her new Artner crush Hailey. 💓🗯PS--If you want to see more behind-the-scenes content from Mona it's your LAST CHANCE to find it on my Patreon as I will be shutting the campaign down in 2 weeks. So if you wanna pay $1 you can check out all the content before it disappears! 🌠 . . . #makingmona #whatsthematterwithmonastarr #lauraleegulledge #comics #makingcomics #graphicnovel #lettering #speechbubbles #drawing #wip #workinprogress #artnercrush #artnerlove #patreon #patreonartist #patreonauthor #glassesflying https://www.instagram.com/p/Bxk86U6FV5-/?igshid=1x7t63smm1q8c

Studio shot! 📸 I've been getting the text and speech bubbles and laid out on top of the book artwork right. I'm thankful that past tense me edited the book down to so FEW words and for my very kind Dad for doing a TON of prep work allowing me to get though these pages pretty fast!! Because I am NOT a digital artist so this step of the process makes my brain hurt. 🧠🤕 . . . #wip #behindthescenes #artstudio #makingmona #whatsthematterwithmonastarr #lauraleegulledge #graphicnovel #makingcomics #bookbaby #drawingmarathon #speechbubbles #lettering #postproduction #notadigitaldesigner #letsgetthisoverwith #imeanletsdothis https://www.instagram.com/p/BxN5rx2l0my/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=c3lhf31d2tc7

This week while my Dad is awesomely processing the scanned book pages I've been doing other post-production tasks like designing a new font....and retyping ALL the text for all the speech bubbles to reflect the million edits I've done on the way!! 😳 Here is an example of how I worked out one particular page, which pretty much captures what my "writing process" looks like. 📝It can be challenging to boil all the words down to as few as possible but when it clicks into place it's very satisfying... . . . #wip #behindthescenes #makingmona #whatsthematterwithmonastarr #lauraleegulledge #writing #editing #creativeprocess #script #graphicnovel #writingprocess #messywriter #orderfromchaos https://www.instagram.com/p/BxA7L_bF7Ci/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=1rm38fxvq79cs