When I started learning comic art, I realized there’s no single book that covers everything. Comics are a mix of storytelling, illustration, design, pacing, and acting. I figured the best way to grow as an artist would be to study each part in depth separately and then combine them. Over the years, I’ve collected a small library of books that I return to. Some helped me with anatomy, others taught me how to make a panel flow, and a few gave me those “aha!” moments that changed how I think...

Welcome to Worldbuilding Wednesday ! I am creating a dark fantasy comic book called Dark Time , and this is the first post in a new blog series where I discuss the inspirations, history, and ideas that affect the story and world-building of my comic. Before we dive in, here’s a quick look at what Dark Time  is about: One day. One body. One chance to stop the end of everything. Ari is a fugitive soul, hunted across centuries by relentless demons. Her only escape: slip into the lives of the...

If you’re getting into digital comics and feeling overwhelmed by the mountain of gear people swear you need, I've got you. This is everything I use to draw my comic digitally , from the drawing tablet to the software to the little extras. I pulled together a visual cut-out of my setup below so you can see the whole kit at a glance and I’ve linked everything in this post in case you’re building your setup. Some of these links are affiliate links, which means I may receive a small commission if...

This past summer, my husband and I decided to uproot our lives and move from Texas to Southwest Washington with our two dogs. This was far from easy. Over the past few months, we've been engaged with intense preparations: packing up our possessions, selling our house, securing an apartment, placing everything in storage, searching for a new home, buying a property... and ultimately, moving again! We had been living in a one-bedroom apartment while we settled here. I struggled with not having...

Experimental comic panel for Dark Time Comic. Experimenting with color, technique, level of detail and SFX lettering. Hi friends, It's been a minute since I've shared an update on my dark fantasy comic, Dark Time . I haven’t been posting as much to the blog or social media because I have been in the most tedious phase of this project—the roughs, which are the foundation. They are not pretty, and they took me a while to figure it out! So, I shut off distractions such as social media because I...

Along with my free writing and comic book templates , I am now introducing limited edition prints in my Ko-fi shop! The prints are signed and numbered! To start, I have two different prints available. One with a run of 20 and the other with a run of 50. Because they are limited edition, they will never be printed again! Original art created by Sarah Nelson (me). Personally hand-signed by me and numbered. This is a limited edition print run of 50 or 20, meaning that once these are gone,...

The last few years before 2023 were quite rough for me. I know others can relate, especially those in creative pursuits. I have been slowly doing self-work to heal by being more positive and believing in myself. One thing that has helped me gain confidence is saying/writing daily affirmations and journaling. It's one little thing I can do to help ground myself. So, I am sharing some of my daily affirmations. I printed these out so I can carry them with me. Follow me on my journey to creating...

I use mind maps a lot to brainstorm and clarify my ideas for my comic book story, Dark Time , a dark fantasy time travel epic. One, in particular, helped me work through my comic story's central theme and define what I wanted my audience to take away from my story. So, I decided to create a free theme development template to assist others. The mind map template will help you develop and brainstorm a story or book theme, motifs, symbols, and other overarching story details such as character,...

Hello! I've been heads down a lot recently, focusing on panel layouts and design for the first issue of Dark Time. I also took a break and did a little bit of traveling to see the mountains in Colorado, which was immensely inspirational! On Pikes Peak in Colorado Also, because I am in love with old film and antique film equipment, I had to pay a nickel to view this Mutoscope in Colorado Springs. I find this kind of stuff cool, so I wanted to share it. The problem is that it appears...

Update #1: Finalized structure & Issue 1! I am happy to report that I have decided to release the story in comic issues. I estimate that there will be about 6 issues that I will compile into a graphic novel later on. In total, there will be 3 graphic novels to finish out the entire story. Dark Time Issue 1 script cover I have also finalized the story for issue 1! 🎉 This means I have the script down and I am going forward with illustrating the panels! Update #2: Refining characters &...

FREE Comic Thumbnail Template (Printable / Digital) For your use, I have a thumbnail template I created below that you can either download a

Free book outline template that interactively lets you plot and structure your story digitally in Figma, a free software application.

I've been a hermit lately - I've been focused on writing! I am in the building stage of my roadmap to finish this thing! So, what does that entail? I have been working on the structure and re-working the story to fall nicely into a 3 book series. For the sake of crowdfunding, I am planning on distributing the story into issues first, then eventually I can do a separate Kickstarter for an anthology for book 1. I believe this approach makes the most sense as this is my first Kickstarter but...

Some of my recent character explorations for Dark Time graphic novel. Character design for Dark Time graphic novel / comic book | Sarah Nelson | wolf-vs-wolf.com Character design for Dark Time graphic novel / comic book | Sarah Nelson | wolf-vs-wolf.com Character design for Dark Time graphic novel / comic book | Sarah Nelson | wolf-vs-wolf.com Follow me on my journey to creating my dark fantasy comic book / graphic novel, Dark Time. 🖤 Instagram 🥀 Youtube ✨ Blog — Sign up for Kickstarter...

My name is Sarah and I am pursuing my dream of illustrating and writing comic books. I want to share my progress with you as I work on creating my first comic book, 'Dark Time' a dark fantasy time travel epic. I will be periodically updating this blog with news and updates on the project as well as some of the journey, tools, and learnings along the way. If you want to support the project or get exclusive information on the tools and processes I am using as well as art prints and more,...