Tuesday, November 19, 2024

Permission To Be Happy

Short comic titled "Permission to be happy." Page 1: Illustration of a girl with a backpack, staring in awe at an exhibit of comic book pages displayed in a museum glass case. Text reads, "When I first got into comics and cartooning as an adult, I never thought it was something I could be good enough to do myself." Original artwork by Connie Sun, cartoonconnie, 2024.
Page 2: Illustration of a girl with a backpack, alone, staring out into vast, unfamiliar terrain, potentially treacherous to cross. Text reads, "I had very low confidence and self-esteem and didn't know how or where to start." Original artwork by Connie Sun, cartoonconnie, 2024.


Page 3: Illustration of a forlorn-looking girl, hunched over from the weight of her backpack, with a single rain cloud, over just her head. She's talking to her friend, a young woman named Bridget, with bright energy and clothes, who says to the girl, "You're an artist, Connie! Let yourself be happy! You deserve to be happy!" The girl thinks to herself, "That's an option?" Original artwork by Connie Sun, cartoonconnie, 2024.
Page 4: Illustration of a girl with a bun in front of an art easel au plein air, painting a vast landscape. Text reads, "It took one person, who believed in me before I did, to convince me to start letting myself be happy, in the face of everything...I'm still grateful to work at this everyday. Thanks, Bridge." Original artwork by Connie Sun, cartoonconnie, 2024.

Drawing comics is how I learned to let myself be happy. My friend Bridget McElroy was the one who told me what I needed to hear to take the first step toward cartooning. Everyday, I think about the gift of what she said to me and it still keeps me going. Thank you always, B.

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After some time offline, I've started sharing updates again, on my blog and Ko-fi page. I'll be back on Instagram selectively. You can also sign up to hear from me directly on my portfolio site. 

1 comment:

TeresaA said...

Such simple but profound advice.