'Who Loves Totty?' - Version 2.0

Hello there!

Exactly a year ago today I started work on my first Totty comic. It was a dull Monday evening and I was feeling bored, so I grabbed my iphone and a big lamp and shot some photos of myself posing awkwardly in my living room. Then I spent a couple of days trying to figure out some new software so I could somehow place myself in a comic book world. 

After a week or so, the strip was complete and I promptly shelved it - I didn't think anyone would be interested in me and my obsession with vintage comics. Two weeks later, I plucked up the courage and uploaded the panels to TikTok and Instagram. The positive response was overwhelming and the kind comments encouraged me to continue. I started work on another comic and I haven't stopped since :)

Looking back at this first strip now makes me cringe! It's so basic and full of terrible creative decisions... For example, I thought it would be a good idea to digitally touch up my makeup and correct my eyelines by drawing over my eyes. Creepy!

I had no fixed colour palette and I literally couldn't draw a straight line. Worst of all, I'm not wearing my white gloves so my weird naked thumbs are fully exposed! I was so embarassed by all this that I removed the first few comics from my socials several months ago.

I thought it would be fun to remake this first comic from scratch to see how much I've learned in the last twelve months. I present the new version here as individual panels with added captions, along with a compiled page of both the old and new strips for comparison.

Hopefully, the new comic shows some signs of improvement - it's hard for me to tell. I think my poses are certainly more confident and my overall posture has improved, (I've been working out a lot more this last year!) The lighting is much better and the colours are more consistent. Of course, the corny old joke hasn't changed :) What do you think? Which version do you prefer?

I think there's always room for improvement, and thanks to your continuing support, I'm able to dedicate more time to my comics and hopefully sharpen up my skills. Thank you so much for allowing me to create a whole year of Totty. It's been a blast and there's a lot more new stuff on the way!✍️

Totty x