Behind The Comics III - Martha Verschaffel

Today we take a look behind the comics Martha Verschaffel made for š! #10 'Sea Stories'

Martha Verschaffel graduated as an illustrator and master of fine arts at St-Lucas institute in Ghent, Belgium. She is self-publishing her own zines and her short comics appear in several international magazines. Her story 'Braids' will be in the next š! and now she tells a bit about her creation process:

 

I have a small atelier of my own, but I work as well at my kitchen table or on the floor. 

My stories are (almost) always based on my nightmares. I write them down when I wake up, and collect them in this box. For my stories and drawings I use them as a starting point, or I combine different dreams together. The one I used for the kuš comic is about a woman I met in a thorny rose bush, who could take her face off.

I don’t often make sketches, because I like not knowing the ending of my stories. I just start drawing, as if I’m making up a story with images instead of words.

These cheap plastic pencils are my favourite.

Because I keep working on the same drawing, without sketching before, I use my eraser as much as my pencils. Also because I like the effect of the eraser on my drawings.

Another way is to cut and paste my pages back together. They often have different sizes, or look really dirty because of the glue stains. 

I like to interpret a story or action only by drawing hands. Sometimes it’s all you need to understand what they’re doing or saying.

Good night, sweet dreams.

Sweet dreams Martha! Hopefully not too sweet, so you get a lot of inspiration.
To read the complete comics by Martha Verschaffel, you need to wait for š! #10 which will come out in the beginning of March and is available for pre-order here.