Starving Artists on Arktoons? Hopefully not!

 

Chapter 9 of Part IV of Paper Doll Veronika concludes on Arkhaven! 

The latest episode is here.

The series is here.

You can also read it on my own website. (I recommend my site for PC and Arkhaven for mobile.)

Support the comic and get special bonuses here!

Get the book of Part I here!

Paper Doll Veronika update

 

Paper Doll Veronika has updated; Chapter 11 of Part IV, "Sandy Savage", is complete!

The update starts here.

The chapter begins here.

The part begins here.

The story begins here.

Thus begins the climax of Part IV.

It updates on Fridays/Saturdays on my site, Sundays on Arkhaven, Mondays on Substack, and Saturdays on Deviantart. (Substack and Deviantart are at much earlier points in the comic). I recommend using bookmarking or the "Save your place" gadget on my site, even once you catch up, because the site starts at the beginning and updates are several pages.

Veronika Bosch, who's never left her father's estate, has to go on a journey when envious animals kick her out. Half collage, half puppetry, a fairy tale adventure made with hand-drawn paper dolls.

Support the comic and get special bonuses here!

Get the book of Part I here!

A New Sletter

 

I have made a new Substack, as a general go-to newsletter consolidating updates on all my art projects. Because I've been stubborn, sticking with Blogspot and Deviantart, thinking, "Well if people want to look at my stuff they can come and find it.” After all, why not go where people are and let them know? It’s all about giving them something they’ll probably enjoy.

So if you've enjoyed my work over the years and would like to stay informed easily, consider subscribing. I'll also be doing some retrospectives and talk about others' works.

But I'll still stubbornly be here, too.

Ars Longa

Bonus art for Chapter 9 of Part IV of Paper Doll Veronika (although this scene is actually from Chapter 10), which is now being posted on Arkhaven! 

The latest episode is here.

The series is here.

This picture draws heavy inspiration from Yoshitaka Amano's style and Their Story: the story you don't know by Haenuli Shin, and the background is strewn with my unfinished sketches.

You can also read the comic on my own website. (I recommend my site for PC and Arkhaven for mobile.)

Support the comic and get special bonuses here!

Get the book of Part I here!

Paper Doll Veronika update

 

Paper Doll Veronika has updated; Chapter 11 of Part IV, "Sandy Savage", has begun!

The chapter begins here.

The part begins here.

The story begins here.

Sibyl lost her shoe somewhere in the chaos, because I actually lost her shoe and couldn't find it. Often I'd make another one, but it fit this moment in the story.

It updates on Fridays/Saturdays on my site, Sundays on Arkhaven, Mondays on Substack, and Saturdays on Deviantart. (Substack and Deviantart are at much earlier points in the comic). I recommend using bookmarking or the "Save your place" gadget on my site, even once you catch up, because the site starts at the beginning and updates are several pages.

Veronika Bosch, who's never left her father's estate, has to go on a journey when envious animals kick her out. Half collage, half puppetry, a fairy tale adventure made with hand-drawn paper dolls.

Support the comic and get special bonuses here!

Get the book of Part I here!

Fred has no feelings about Arktoons

 

Chapter 8 of Part IV of Paper Doll Veronika concludes on Arkhaven! 

The latest episode is here.

The series is here.

You can also read it on my own website. (I recommend my site for PC and Arkhaven for mobile.)

Support the comic and get special bonuses here!

Get the book of Part I here!

Paper Doll Veronika update!

 

Paper Doll Veronika has updated; Chapter 10 of Part IV, "Under the false floor", is complete! 

The update starts here.

The chapter begins here.

The part begins here.

The story begins here.

As you can see, this update contains a reprise of the last verse of the song Ludovic sang in "Lullaby in the Depths" in Part II, with a difference. This update also took hours and hours just spent on weaving, haha.

It updates on Fridays/Saturdays on my site, Sundays on Arkhaven, Mondays on Substack, and Saturdays on Deviantart. (Substack and Deviantart are at much earlier points in the comic). I recommend using bookmarking or the "Save your place" gadget on my site, even once you catch up, because the site starts at the beginning and updates are several pages.

Veronika Bosch, who's never left her father's estate, has to go on a journey when envious animals kick her out. Half collage, half puppetry, a fairy tale adventure made with hand-drawn paper dolls.

Support the comic and get special bonuses here!

Get the book of Part I here!

Fred has no feelings on Arktoons

 

Chapter 8 of Part IV of Paper Doll Veronika continues on Arkhaven! 

The latest episode is here.

The series is here.

You can also read it on my own website. (I recommend my site for PC and Arkhaven for mobile.)

Support the comic and get special bonuses here!

Get the book of Part I here!

Paper Doll Veronika update

 

Paper Doll Veronika has updated; Chapter 10 of Part IV, "Under the false floor", continues!

The update starts here.

The chapter begins here.

The part begins here.

The story begins here.

It updates on Fridays/Saturdays on my site, Sundays on Arktoons, Mondays on Substack, and Saturdays on Deviantart. (Substack and Deviantart are at much earlier points in the comic). I recommend using bookmarking or the "Save your place" gadget on my site, even once you catch up, because the site starts at the beginning and updates are several pages.

Veronika Bosch, who's never left her father's estate, has to go on a journey when envious animals kick her out. Half collage, half puppetry, a fairy tale adventure made with hand-drawn paper dolls.

Support the comic and get special bonuses here!

Get the book of Part I here!

Plain Girl Summer

A couple weeks ago, a quantifiable genius, who, among other accomplishments, mathematically disproved the theory of evolution by natural selection and codified the most useful tool for understanding male behavior, one Vox Day, declared that I had "swiftly and comprehensively defeated" him in the following discussion:

Clockworkpaperdoll: I don’t think I understand the minds of men (tho I do better since I learned SSH), but as plain woman, I think I understand the minds of pretty women even less. Yet I endeavor to write fiction about both. Oh well! I am yet confident that by consciously eschewing Feminism, my portrayal of the sexes will be better than that in much current Western fiction.

VD: Why not write about plain women? Don’t they deserve attention too? The danger inherent about being a plain woman writing about pretty women is that it’s going to be Mary Sue wish-fulfillment.

Clockworkpaperdoll: Because I’m writing comics, so my readers have to look at them.

A salient point indeed. It’s not often that I am so swiftly and comprehensively defeated. In any visual art form, the people have to be pretty, because people like to look at pretty people. That’s just reality.

That's quite the victory! Especially since he seemed to be laying a clever trap with that "don't they deserve attention too?" bit. And he framed this gracious concession with a post that called me "a talented woman" and featured Paper Doll Veronika alongside a classic French novel, Sans Beauty by Zenaide Fleuriot, second in a series that his publishing company has newly translated, putting me in very good company indeed!

The funny thing is that all this praise was in the context of my self-declared position as plain, and so it would be considered insulting by many.

Calling any woman not pretty is pretty much forbidden in our society. There is an unwritten law against even acknowledging that any woman exists who is not pretty. But it's manifestly true. Another reason I was so chuffed with Mr. Day's post is that he allowed me to state that I was not pretty without arguing that point. The impulse most people have to contradict any woman who says she's not pretty is so reliable that none could be blamed for the assumption that any woman who does say this is really fishing for compliments. But Mr. Day is not most people, and that's great as far as I'm concerned. I've always found it infuriating when I acknowledge I'm not pretty and people emphatically insist that I mustn't think that.

Lest you argue

 

And that's a key point. At the heart of it, it's not that we're not allowed to believe in the existence of plain women. It's that's women are not supposed to be allowed to believe themselves plain. Even the Feminists don't say, "We eschew beauty as part of the oppressive structure of patriarchy. We're not beautiful and that's okay." No, they say, "We're redefining beauty. And thus we are beautiful."

Again, this always infuriated me. At the stage of life where I was most unconsciously feministic, I protested, "Why do we insist every woman has to believe she's beautiful? Does every man have to believe he's handsome? No!" I was here making a false equivalence, because in matters of attraction, women's appearance is more significant to men than men's is to women. And that's just a fact of nature. A more accurate analogy would have been, "Does every man have to believe he's strong?" 

That leads to a greater point however. Maybe not every man should believe that he's strong, but every man should strive to be strong. And there are different forms of strength. A grand step in my journey away from feministic thinking was acceptance that though not every woman is beautiful, every woman should strive to be as beautiful as she can be, or at least pleasant in appearance. Because while only objectively, physically pretty women are beautiful in isolation, every woman can be beautiful in context. A plain little girl is beautiful in a puff-sleeved dress, picking wildflowers. A plain fat woman is beautiful in a dress and apron, setting a homemade pie on a Thanksgiving table for her family. A plain wrinkled old woman is beautiful in a blouse and sweater dress, in a rocking chair reading a bedtime story to her toddler grandsons. A plain nun is beautiful in full habit singing Matins in choir in a traditionally-appointed chapel. The beauty of a beautiful whole will crystallize upon the woman within it. Of course if the women in these contexts are also beautiful in isolation, the whole is even more beautiful.

What is truly ugly is willful distortion. A little girl is ugly dressed in Celine Dion's kids clothing line, playing with an L.O.L. Surprise doll. A fat woman is ugly in leggings and a crop top, riding a scooter at Walmart. A wrinkled old woman is ugly in a minidress, drinking on a cruise ship. A nun is ugly in a pants suit and a perm, lecturing people. And things get really twisted when women who are beautiful in isolation place themselves in and/or create contexts of ugliness. Then we get a unique aspect of corruption.

As a final note, there was someone in the comments on Day's post who thought my reason given for making Veronika pretty was the only reason I had, and that it showed a lack of faith in my readers. That's not it at all. It's not a matter of marketing, that only pretty gets views, but of wanting the experience of reading the comic to be highly pleasant and enjoyable in multiple ways. There are reasons within the story for Veronika to be pretty, as well. But I admit, I am an artist first, writer second, so beauty in lots of forms is high priority.

Above it all

 

Bonus art for Chapter 8 of Part IV of Paper Doll Veronika, which is now being posted on Arktoons! 

The latest episode is here.

The series is here.

Caran d'Ache Neocolors, dry on the land and wet on the water. I was eager to do a map-like picture of the island, inspired by shots from the Puffin Rock cartoon. You can see it unobscured by a seagull wing if you join my Subscribestar supporters, as I post works-in-progress for patrons regularly.

You can also read it on my own website. (I recommend my site for PC and Arktoons for mobile.)

Get the book of Part I here!

Paper Doll Veronika update

 

Paper Doll Veronika has updated; Chapter 10 of Part IV, "Under the false floor", continues!

The update starts here.

The chapter begins here.

The part begins here.

The story begins here.

It updates on Fridays/Saturdays on my site, Sundays on Arktoons, Mondays on Substack, and Saturdays on Deviantart. (Substack and Deviantart are at much earlier points in the comic). I recommend using bookmarking or the "Save your place" gadget on my site, even once you catch up, because the site starts at the beginning and updates are several pages.

Veronika Bosch, who's never left her father's estate, has to go on a journey when envious animals kick her out. Half collage, half puppetry, a fairy tale adventure made with hand-drawn paper dolls.

Support the comic and get special bonuses here!

Get the book of Part I here!

Community thriving concludes on Arktoons

 

Not really! But the chapter is done. And this makes 200 episodes on Arktoons!

The latest episode is here.

The series is here.

You can also read it on my own website. (I recommend my site for PC and Arktoons for mobile.)

Support the comic and get special bonuses here!

Get the book of Part I here!

Paper Doll Veronika update

 

Paper Doll Veronika has updated; Chapter 10 of Part IV, "Under the false floor", has begun!

The chapter begins here.

The part begins here.

The story begins here.

It updates on Fridays/Saturdays on my site, Sundays on Arktoons, Mondays on Substack, and Saturdays on Deviantart. (Substack and Deviantart are at much earlier points in the comic). I recommend using bookmarking or the "Save your place" gadget on my site, even once you catch up, because the site starts at the beginning and updates are several pages.

Veronika Bosch, who's never left her father's estate, has to go on a journey when envious animals kick her out. Half collage, half puppetry, a fairy tale adventure made with hand-drawn paper dolls.

Support the comic and get special bonuses here!

Get the book of Part I here!

Continuing to thrive on Arktoons

Chapter 7 of Part IV of Paper Doll Veronika continues on Arktoons! 

The latest episode is here.

The series is here.

You can also read it on my own website. (I recommend my site for PC and Arktoons for mobile.)

Support the comic and get special bonuses here!

Get the book of Part I here!

Paper Doll Veronika update

 

Birds holding guns will never not be funny to me.

Paper Doll Veronika has updated; Chapter 9 of Part IV, "Starving Artists", is complete! 

The update starts here.

The chapter begins here.

The part begins here.

The story begins here.

It updates on Fridays/Saturdays on my site, Sundays on Arktoons, Mondays on Substack, and Saturdays on Deviantart. (Substack and Deviantart are at much earlier points in the comic). I recommend using bookmarking or the "Save your place" gadget on my site, even once you catch up, because the site starts at the beginning and updates are several pages.

Veronika Bosch, who's never left her father's estate, has to go on a journey when envious animals kick her out. Half collage, half puppetry, a fairy tale adventure made with hand-drawn paper dolls.

 

Support the comic and get special bonuses here!

Get the book of Part I here!

It is a thriving community on Arktoons!

 

It really is. And Chapter 7 of Part IV of Paper Doll Veronika continues thereon!

The latest episode is here.

The series is here.

I'm amazed and humbled how these chapters are falling on these dates. Today's gospel is the one about those "who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly are ravenous wolves." And something else.

And the part--which hasn't been posted yet--which I was working on on July 1, the Feast of the Precious Blood, is very appropriate especially with what happened this year's Feast of the Precious Blood, and then I check my timeline for the story. Within Paper Doll Veronika, (and this can be inferred from the comic via the "Ides of March" chapter) the present day is July 1. Feast of the Precious Blood.

You can also read it on my own website. (I recommend my site for PC and Arktoons for mobile.) 

Support the comic and get special bonuses here!

Get the book of Part I here!

Paper Doll Veronika update

 

And we're back! With... quite a downer. But stick with it, we're going somewhere special. Chapter 9 of Part IV, "Starving Artists", has begun!

The chapter begins here.

The part begins here.

The story begins here.

It updates on Fridays/Saturdays on my site, Sundays on Arktoons, Mondays on Substack, and Saturdays on Deviantart. (Substack and Deviantart are at much earlier points in the comic). I recommend using bookmarking or the "Save your place" gadget on my site, even once you catch up, because the site starts at the beginning and updates are several pages.

Veronika Bosch, who's never left her father's estate, has to go on a journey when envious animals kick her out. Half collage, half puppetry, a fairy tale adventure made with hand-drawn paper dolls.

Support the comic and get special bonuses here!

Get the book of Part I here!

"A thriving community" on Arktoons

It went up late because I'm still figuring out the Early-Access-for-Subscribers feature, but Chapter 7 of Part IV of Paper Doll Veronika continues on Arktoons! 

The latest episode is here.

The series is here.

You can also read it on my own website. (I recommend my site for PC and Arktoons for mobile.)

Support the comic and get special bonuses here!

Get the book of Part I here!

Priests of the Blood

Here are some photos of St. John's Abbey, Collegeville, Minnesota. All but one were taken by me. 

My father in what used to be the chapel.

 

Inside the current chapel.

 

A horrifying statue that is supposedly St. John.

 

And an ordination photo (the one not taken by me). I don't know when it's from; my father found it left as a bookmark in a book of the library when he was there getting his undergraduate degree. But you can see it was in that same old chapel.

After Vatican II, St. John's was the epicenter of the liturgical revolution in America. And later it was revealed to be a center of homosexual predation. It still is.

I wonder with sorrow what became of these priests.

But at the same time as we sorrow, let us hope. It's the Feast of the Precious Blood, and there are more ordinations.

A red bouquet for the Precious Blood.

Gatehouse morn

 

Bonus art for Chapter 7 of Part IV of Paper Doll Veronika, which is now being posted on Arktoons! 

The latest episode is here.

The series is here.

As Phlox Field was a companion piece to Daisy Field, this is a companion to Red Glass Candle. Both of black ink lines on colored paper cut to be light and shadow; that a night vigil, this a dawn.

You can also read it on my own website. (I recommend my site for PC and Arktoons for mobile.)

Support the comic and get special bonuses here!

Get the book of Part I here!

A two-week break

 

There will be a two-week break from updates to make dolls, scenery, and objects for the remaining chapters of Part IV – Island. Believe it or not, the climax is approaching– Island is the shortest part of Book One but it is crucial. In the meantime, I will post several bonuses for the Doll Club members, who support the comic through Subscribestar, Substack, or Paypal. Thank you for reading!

Paper Doll Veronika update

 

Paper Doll Veronika has updated; Chapter 8 of Part IV, "Fred has no feelings", is complete! 

The update starts here.

The chapter begins here.

The part begins here.

The story begins here.

It updates on Fridays/Saturdays on my site, Sundays on Arktoons, Mondays on Substack, and Saturdays on Deviantart. (Deviantart is currently on hiatus, a boycott for June). I recommend using bookmarking or the "Save your place" gadget on my site, even once you catch up, because the site starts at the beginning and updates are several pages.

Veronika Bosch, who's never left her father's estate, has to go on a journey when envious animals kick her out. Half collage, half puppetry, a fairy tale adventure made with hand-drawn paper dolls.

Support the comic and get special bonuses here!

Get the book of Part I here!

Gatehouse Rock ends

 

Chapter 6 of Part IV of Paper Doll Veronika concludes on Arktoons! 

The latest episode is here.

The series is here.

You can also read it on my own website. (I recommend my site for PC and Arktoons for mobile.)

Support the comic and get special bonuses here!

Get the book of Part I here!

Gatehouse Rock, rock on!

 

Chapter 6 of Part IV of Paper Doll Veronika continues on Arktoons! 

The latest episode is here.

The series is here.

You can also read it on my own website. (I recommend my site for PC and Arktoons for mobile.)

Support the comic and get special bonuses here!

Get the book of Part I here!

Paper Doll Veronika update

 

Paper Doll Veronika has updated; Chapter 8 of Part IV, "Fred has no feelings", has begun!  

The chapter begins here.

The part begins here.

The story begins here.

It updates on Fridays/Saturdays on my site, Sundays on Arktoons, Mondays on Substack, and Saturdays on Deviantart--Deviantart is currently on hiatus as I boycott the site for the duration of its June sodomy-promotion. 

Veronika Bosch, who's never left her father's estate, has to go on a journey when envious animals kick her out. Half collage, half puppetry, a fairy tale adventure made with hand-drawn paper dolls.

Support the comic and get special bonuses here!

Get the book of Part I here!

Gatehouse Rocks on on Arktoons

 

Chapter 6 of Part IV of Paper Doll Veronika continues on Arktoons! 

The latest episode is here.

The series is here.

You can also read it on my own website. (I recommend my site for PC and Arktoons for mobile.)

Support the comic and get special bonuses here!

Get the book of Part I here!

Paper Doll Veronika update

 

Paper Doll Veronika has updated; Chapter 7 of Part IV, "A thriving community", is complete! 

The update starts here.

The chapter begins here.

The part begins here.

The story begins here.

This update contains a list of names that includes supporters who wished to have a little cameo!

It updates on Fridays/Saturdays on my site, Sundays on Arktoons, Mondays on Substack, and Saturdays on Deviantart--Deviantart is currently on hiatus as I boycott the site for its June sodomy-promotion.

I recommend using bookmarking or the "Save your place" gadget on my site, even once you catch up, because the site starts at the beginning and updates are several pages.

Veronika Bosch, who's never left her father's estate, has to go on a journey when envious animals kick her out. Half collage, half puppetry, a fairy tale adventure made with hand-drawn paper dolls.

Support the comic and get special bonuses here!

Get the book of Part I here!

Phlox Field

Bonus art for Chapter 6 of Part IV of Paper Doll Veronika, which is now being posted on Arktoons! 

The latest episode is here.

The series is here.

This is a companion piece to Daisy Field, the bonus art for Chapter 15 of Part I - Forest. Both are forest meadows of punched-paper flowers atop gouache and ink. Daisy has a sunlit background and shady foreground, while Phlox has shady background and sunny foreground. And in Daisy, Sybil's in the shade, a fence between her and the flowers, and now in Phlox she's in the midst of them, reflecting her place in the story.

You can also read it on my own website. (I recommend my site for PC and Arktoons for mobile.)

Support the comic and get special bonuses here!

Get the book of Part I here!

The eensy weensy spider

 

I usually avoid sharing panels which are the punchline or climax of a given update, but this one is just too fun.

Paper Doll Veronika has updated; Chapter 7 of Part IV, "A thriving community", continues!

The update starts here.

The chapter begins here.

The part begins here.

The story begins here.

It updates on Fridays/Saturdays on my site, Sundays on Arktoons, Mondays on Substack, and Saturdays on Deviantart. (Substack and Deviantart are at much earlier points in the comic). I recommend using bookmarking or the "Save your place" gadget on my site, even once you catch up, because the site starts at the beginning and updates are several pages.

Veronika Bosch, who's never left her father's estate, has to go on a journey when envious animals kick her out. Half collage, half puppetry, a fairy tale adventure made with hand-drawn paper dolls.

Support the comic and get special bonuses here!

Get the book of Part I here!

Bovodar and his Folk

 

AI image prompted by Jack Mikkelson

Jack Mikkelson, author of Bovodar and the Bears, a fantasy adventure novel of which I draw the comic adaptation, has launched a new Substack all about the world of this story! 

It has all kinds of extras, scenes, background, maps, where he got ideas, and more to come! He also speaks very highly of myself and my work, for which I can only thank him.

This is especially of the moment because we have completed the first volume of the comic, three issues, 75 pages, and we plan to get it printed. As we're seeking how best to do that, I encourage you to dive into Bovodar's world! It's an epic land of mystical talking animals with a uniquely American spirit.

Since there are those who will object, I must state, yes I know Jack is using A.I. trained on my art to make pictures for this, and he has my full permission. As long as folks are open and honest about use of A.I., I do not condemn it. As a collage artist, it would be awfully hypocritical of me to do so on the basis of it using bits and pieces of other art. And on the basis of it not being made by a conscious mind, yes that does mean it's not art, but that doesn't mean all of it is necessarily worthless and shouldn't exist. Much of it is objectively more beautiful than a lot of art made by human minds, some of which shouldn't exist. So there's no point preaching at me, but if you wish, you are absolutely free and fully informed so as to avoid it. I myself generally prefer not to read fiction written with A.I.; I'm not condemning you either.

And everyone including A.I.-avoiders should definitely check out the novel!

And the comic!