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Getting to Know You

Tell us a bit about yourself: who are you, where are you from, and what should readers know about you?

I’m an adult, I use she/her pronouns, and I live in the US. I absolutely love cats, even though I’m allergic to them.

What do you do when you’re not working or creating art?

Sleeping, lol. But when I actually get a moment between chapters and work, I enjoy other creative activities like sewing, sculpting, and pottery. I also go play free bingo every now and then.

When did you know you wanted to make comics?

I’ve always loved being a storyteller, even as a kid. My very first comic was when I was a cringey middle schooler. I drew a fanfic comic for The Legend of Zelda, but I never finished it.

What part about making comics is hardest for you?

Starting the next chapter. The first draft is the hardest because I see the story unfold in my head like a movie, so it never comes out exactly how I envision it. I’m constantly thinking about pacing, dialogue, camera angles, and characterization during this stage. Half of the time I spend on each chapter goes into that initial draft.

Is creating comics your full-time job?

I wish. Right now, I’m working a different full-time job to pay the bills and then coming home to work on the comic. I try to spend at least a couple of hours a day on it, but sometimes I can’t even get in front of the computer and just have to go to bed.

What’s a piece of advice you’d give someone thinking about becoming a creator?

Just do it. Whatever concerns, fears, or setbacks you have, they can’t be overcome if you don’t start. Every day only requires one step. Also, whatever drawing program you use, look up tutorials on YouTube or TikTok from other comic artists. Sometimes a hidden tool will save you hours of work.

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Quick Fire

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About Other Half

Other Half has a unique art style. What is your process, from sketch to finished panel?

I have a lot of branching storylines, so I need to write down what I want to focus on for each chapter. I have a whiteboard where I outline the next two chapters or so, and then I begin drafting in Clip Studio Paint. This step is mainly about dialogue and composition. I can never script out dialogue ahead of time, because it reads as so cringey and bad to me without visuals that I usually scrap what I wrote and make it up as I go anyway.

Next comes the secondary sketch. This is where I flesh out each character and decide what appears in each panel. After that, I do the lineart. I need to have the secondary sketch first because even during the lineart process, I’m still fixing anatomy, pacing, and continuity issues.

Then I do the base colors using a brush tool. Some artists are able to just fill flats using a lasso tool, but I created this comic with the intention of making it look like a watercolor painting, so the tiny variations that come with coloring in every piece are important to me. I also shade and color the background with watercolor brushes in CSP. I make sure to include a texture asset to make it look like watercolor paper, and I use the Colorize tool to get even more color variation in the comic.

The last details, like highlights and effects, usually go very quickly. But it still takes me at least an hour to do the final touches on all the panels.

That was a very quick overview. It takes me about 6 hours to do the draft, 3 hours for the secondary sketch, 3 hours for the lineart, 4 hours to color and shade, and 1 hour for finishing details. That doesn’t include any writer’s block or time spent researching how to draw something from a specific angle.

Does Other Half have a fixed schedule, and how long does it take to finish one episode?

I post to Webtoon on the first of each month. Because of my full-time job, that’s about as much as I can manage right now. I did have a buffer before the busy season at work, but I burned through it very quickly. It takes me about a full month of squeezing in time after work to complete one episode.

How did you come up with the world-building and characters, and what was your inspiration?

Various fantasy media inspired me, like DnD, Skyrim, The Legend of Zelda, The Lord of the Rings, and more. The first two characters I designed were Abby and Tristaine, but I was actually in the middle of a DnD session with some friends when I designed some of the other household workers, like Finneon the chef, Ailee, Hara, and Kharrig.

The main thing I wanted was for the world to feel lived in. I never wanted it to feel exactly like our world, but I also didn’t want it to be a copy of another fantasy world. Little by little, I try to add details that make it seem more otherworldly. But sometimes it happens by accident. For instance, the see-through apples that appear in various chapters only became see-through because I accidentally toggled off the color layer and thought, “Hey, that doesn’t look bad.”

Do you write the story as you go, or do you already have the ending planned?

A mix of both. I don’t have a final ending planned, but I do have certain story beats I want to reach and certain scenes I’m building toward. Some side stories, though, were definitely products of spontaneity.

Do you have a favorite character or scene?

Skele-dad and Lainey are my absolute favorites to write for. They’re both chaotic in their own way, and I love all of their scenes.

As for drawing, my favorite scenes were Abby walking down the aisle in Chapter 3 and the dream sequence in Chapter 13. I love playing with panel layouts and using the vertical-scroll comic format to experiment with design.

What do you want your readers to feel when reading Other Half?

I believe in readers being able to analyze and read into subtext, and I want them to feel a sense of mystery while reading. I love seeing the theories people come up with in the comments. Some of them even hit the nail on the head for what I had planned. But most of all, I just want them to feel the joy of reading.

Does Other Half have a happy ending, or would you rather not say?

It’s less that I’d rather not say and more that I couldn’t say. I have many endings that could happen: some tragic, some bittersweet, and some absolutely gushy and happy. But I don’t want to lock myself into one ending just yet, especially since the characters will probably grow into something I won’t anticipate.

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Beyond Other Half

Do you have a passion project you still wish to complete, or a dream for where you want your creative journey to go?

Absolutely. A project I’ve gone back to over and over again, but never officially started, is a little comic called The Invisible Gate. The name will probably change. It’s a passion project I started developing about a decade ago, but it became something so big and important to me that I got paralyzed by perfectionism. It’s an epic three-act saga that I hope to complete in the future, filled with action, adventure, romance, drama, intrigue, and more. I’d love to start it before I finish Other Half, but with my current job that probably won’t happen.

Anything else you want to tell the readers?

I hope you really enjoy Other Half. It’s my first long-form comic. But if you’re interested in my other work, I also created a short story on Webtoon called Wasted Water. There are two copies of it because it was submitted to two different contests, and I can’t bring myself to delete one because of the wonderful comments. It’s a post-apocalyptic action story that I challenged myself to create using absolutely no words.

Also, if you’re interested in supporting me, I do have a Patreon: @Squabasaurus. This is one of the best ways you can support me directly, and if you join as a paid member, you get the next chapter a week before it goes live on Webtoon. Just make sure you turn on notifications so you don’t miss it.