The art of Illustrated Stories
It has always been intimidating to me to draw against words. I’ve drawn a lot over the last year: making t-shirt designs, digital art, paintings, and short animations. But I have never fully illustrated a complete book/comic with confidence. I’ve gotten pretty close. I made a comic after my friend and I thought we were being followed by an ominous man in a peacoat. I’ve even wrote small comics about life in a 9-5 and small thoughts about my day to day. But writing something BIG is always something that seemed scary to me. I think it’s because I wasn’t sure if I could or not. To tell stories is to create a new world where a reader who picks up and drowns themselves in your words can almost see a part of you in them. It’s a very personal type of craft, at least in my opinion. Even the children’s books that we have all grown to love like ‘Where the Wild Things Are’ or ‘The Little Prince’, poke at adults with a sense of playfulness that we not only see in ourselves but also in the writer. I think that’s why recently I’ve gotten more into writing. My mother was a writer, and I always thought the idea of pouring your soul out in words was only something that someone who has a lot to say or a lot of stories to tell could do. Honestly, maybe even someone who was just really good at writing in school. I was okay at writing, but I preferred math-related subjects. Writing felt intimidating because of that. The essays I’d show my teachers never seemed to be that fantastic compared to my peers. Even if I followed the formula they wanted. MLA format, introduction, three main paragraphs expressing your points, the conflict resolution paragraph, and finally the conclusion. Formulas come easy to me due to my math background, but they weren’t helpful in creativity. So I moved to visual art and animation for that. Never quite mixing writing with art until my sabbatical last year. Where storytelling became a big thing, when I would create YouTube videos online and try to tell some sort of cohesive narrative. I became sort of hooked on the idea of making a good story. But my life never seemed like the best place to create that story. But art, I can create any world I’d like with a bit of practice. So I came up with an idea. But before I get into that idea, let’s start from the beginning. Where my love for writing grew.
Graphic Novels
My love for graphic novels started after I left college. I was a fresh graduate in the world of computer science. Software engineering was my first full-time job and although parts of it sparked my creativity, it soon became monotonous and dull. I picked up a book called ‘Octopus Pie’ by Meredith Gran. It was about a group of friends and their experiences post-college. It was the first time I felt like getting older didn’t mean I was leaving creativity behind. How could I be if people are writing stories for those my age? Seeing art from someone older involving characters that were around my point in life felt inviting. I began to wonder if maybe I could create art for those around my age range that felt welcoming too.
MackAttackArt
Thus, MackAttacksArt was born! I actually got the name partially during a checkup. My doctor walked in and said “Mack Attack!” I got a laugh out of it, and it had a nice ring to it. I also do art, so I combined it with the phrase. I wanted to make my art fun and accessible to adults like me. Especially colorful, playful, and more cartoony art. MackAttacksArt was just a side hobby for a while, and I didn’t get any sales at first. My grandma would occasionally buy a shirt or two, which kept me motivated. But it wasn’t until my sabbatical in 2023 that I really stepped up my game. I went to markets, galleries, and created an Etsy shop to spread my work. It was tough learning all the ins and outs of the trade, and I didn’t make much of a profit, but I felt really happy and fulfilled with my day to day for the first time in a long time. One of the coolest things I did to spread the word of my business was to write a hopeful quote or sentence and draw a picture with it (see images above). I would spread this all around the city of Houston. Then, when I would go to markets, I’d have people come up to me and talk about how they saw my art around town. I’d get emails about how it helped others. Art, in accompanied with writing, was powerful. But how? It told a story.
The Idea and the Goal
This year has led me to think about the next steps for MackAttacksArt. It’s still in its beginning phase, and I’m debating what I can do to make it something more unique and special to me. I now also have a full-time job alongside this business, so I feel like I have a bit more leeway when it comes to experimenting with new ideas. The idea is to add more story. As I’ve moved from Houston to Michigan, the way I spread MackAttacksArt has changed. Leaving stickers around town or pieces of art in the suburbs hasn’t been as effective. I put a sticker on a bench I’d pass by all the time, hoping someone would get a kick out of it and want to place it on their laptop or notebook. But three days later, it was still there. I wondered what was different. I started blaming Michigan itself for not being as exciting as Houston, but that wasn’t the case. In Houston, I was putting down written notes accompanied by art. It told a story that related to others. A little sticker doesn’t do that much unless you like the character, concept, or animal it’s based on. My shop itself is mostly stickers now, haha. But I want to change that. With art that tells a story. Maybe even literally. Let’s add some comic book-style speech bubbles to my pieces or a message people can relate to. Let’s create a little book or comic series and post it on the blog page. Anything that gets this drive to create a story out there. Then, I want to write an illustrate a full graphic novel. That’s the goal and the mission.
I think my fear of writing came from insecurity. But after writing notes that helped people, creating stories through film on my Youtube Channel, and constantly being inspired by the graphic novels I pick up in the library, it’s time for me to write more of my own stories. I think this idea for MackAttacksArt will help me push through my fears when in comes to writing. I think it’ll prepare me to write my own graphic novel in the future. This business has kept me close to art in a technologically advancing world. I want to see if it can help me expand my art into a new way to convey more to those who follow my journey too. I’ll definitely write things that suck or might not connect with a lot of people. But no matter what, I’ll get some practice and learn to improve. I’m excited to see how learning to improve my writing will also affect the growth of my art. I think only time will tell.
What do you think about story in artwork? Leave your opinions in the comments below! Thanks for reading!!!
