Happy Homebody Halloween

You can be as creepy as you want to be. Who's sheet masking with me?

Connie on Ko-fi

[Single-panel illustration of a girl with a bun, wearing a sheet mask and gripping a paring knife and apple, looking creepy as all hell. Text reads "Happy Homebody Halloween."]

Elephant Gives A Hug

Elephants mean well. 

Hope everyone gets all the hugs they need. Thanks for reading. 

[3-panel comic of a girl with a braid, remarking that she "needs a hug." In panel 1, elephant looks on. In panel 2, elephant calmly shuffles closer, back first. Panel 3, elephant backs right into her with a "PLOP!" and asks, "How's that?" as her eyes bulge under the weight of an elephant hug.]

Emotional Block (Tinyview #23)

This is comic #23 from my weekly series on the Tinyview comics app. 

#24 is live on the app today: https://social.tinyview.com/5SnhNVR7Gkb 

Read new episodes every Wednesday. It helps me out if you follow and like on the app.

Thanks for all your support. 

[4-panel comic of a girl with a bun, experiencing "emotional block." In panel 1, she assumes "the drawing position," seated with cup of tea and a sketchbook open to blank pages. Frustrated in panel 2, text reads, "Ugh. Can't feel. Can't draw. I'm blocked." Panel 3 shows signage that reads "road closed," "do not enter," and "detour." "No feelings beyond this point!" Panel 4 shows girl at her desk, sketchbook closed, discouraged. Text reads: "Sometimes I don't have creative block as much as I have emotional block."]

Not A Better Person

Grieving is a hard process to go through and the experience is different for everyone. I'm learning that it doesn't make me a better person, but I should probably forgive myself for that. Still going through it. 

Thanks for reading.

[4-panel comic of a girl with a braid, experiencing unexpected symptoms of grief. First, that "patience is thin." In panel 2, "compassion is low" and she twitches in irritation. In panel 3, "willpower is GONE" and she is inhaling cookies and snacks like a crazed muppet. Panel 4 zooms out and girl is shown talking to a neutral elephant, back to her, but head turned. Speech bubble reads: "I'm disappointed to learn that I'm not a better, kinder person in grief." The elephant responds, "I forgive you...but maybe let's practice some social distancing for a bit."]

Central Park Double Rainbow

Double rainbows really ARE amazing to see. 

I was running in the park yesterday when I looked up and saw it, just as I was passing the fountain. It only lasted a few more minutes before it faded into the clouds. I didn't have my phone on me, so I had to try to draw it. 

Blessings abound. Thanks for reading. 

[4-panel full-color wordless comic of a girl with a braid jogging in Central Park, as it's starting to rain. Next panel in sequence, she is shown hunched with a scowl as the rain falls. Another beat and she looks upward again with surprise. Final panel splash, she has come to a halt in front of the Bethesda Fountain, at sundown,  sky lit up in golden hues and the arc of a double rainbow brushed across the last sunlight coming through the clouds.]

--

Update: This is a new version of the comic! I learned from my friend, cartoonist and author Brian Fies, that I got the rainbows backwards on my first try. (I drew them as identical rainbows.) The colors of the outer rainbow are a mirror of the inner rainbow because sunlight makes one more reflection inside the drop of rain, which is also why the outer rainbow is lighter, since light loses intensity with every reflection. Grateful to Brian for the correction! Here is the updated drawing:

October in New York

Sorry I haven't been posting new comics. Someone important to me died and it has left a hole in my heart. Taking time to grieve and remember. 

Thanks for reading. 

Additional note: A friend of mine just commented, saying that cardinals have some symbolism, which I didn't know when I drew this. I had just seen one and put it in the comic. I just googled cardinal symbolism and found this: "They say the vibrant red bird is an uplifting, happy sign that those we have lost will live forever, so long as we keep their memory alive in our hearts. As cardinals sing their pleasant song, people may recall cherished memories of better times. The beautiful birds are a reminder that  loved ones will never truly be forgotten."

[4-panel diary comic of a girl with a bun leaning against a tree, grieving the loss of a friend. "I lost a dear friend...and it hurts a lot." Panel 2 is a rough sketch of a Central Park path under a crescent moon with a cityscape in the background, drawn from memory. Text reads: "Time is so short." Panel 2 shows a cardinal bird sitting on a branch. Text reads: "Let me love and cherish every moment." Panel 4 zooms back in to the girl leaning against a tree: "It's all that matters."]

Long Live Artists

Trying to be kinder and gentler to myself, as a cartoonist who wants to keep making comics.

This is episode 20 of my weekly webcomic series about the creative process! 

Check out → tinyview.com/connie for new comics every Wednesday on the Tinyview app.

Thanks for following / liking / sharing on Tinyview — all of it helps keep the lights on and food on the table.