A Pixel from the Past
Why you must pause and revisit your roots from time to time
Hi friends!
The sun came out this week here in London, and these are happy times for all. If you’re not in the UK, you’re probably wondering why I am mentioning this because you’ve been hiding from the heat since May and fantasising about holidays in the Arctic Circle. But thankfully, we still have cold summer rains over here. And at least for a few years, we can have entire conversations about the weather that end up nowhere at all. 🌦️
Changes!
This newsletter will have a different format from the usual ones, which I hope to continue because it’s easier to manage. Instead of sending you a giant email every month, I’ll forward you smaller bits and pieces occasionally. A maximum of once per week because I don’t want to flood your inbox, but probably less than that. I hope this newsletter will become more entertaining and story-focused!
Should you only want to hear about specific subjects, you can adjust your preferences in the link at the end of this email. In a gist, here’s what you’ll be getting:
Occasional small stories or comics, delivered straight to your inbox.
Sketches and work in progress.
Sci-fi and dystopian book reviews, leaning towards comics and indie publishing.
Life as a comic book creator, including subjects that I learn about.
Updates when I release new books.
Perhaps podcast-style or video posts… but that remains to be seen. 😆
As we go along, I will use polls to ask if you’re interested in the new format and what you’d like to read next. And feel free to pop me an email at hello@claudiamatosa.com should you have any suggestions or comments.
Let’s go see that pixel, then!
Around the World in 80 Pixels
As you may know, if you’ve been following, I have struggled with anxiety over the last few months. While going through therapy, I ended up on a soul-searching journey where I revisited my university assignments… Back from fifteen years ago, when I was still discovering what to do with life.
And that’s how I stumbled upon this little trailer I created in Cinema 4D. It’s about a pixel that falls out of a computer screen and journeys to find his true self. Care to watch it? Pump up your speakers and hit that play button, then!
Storyboarding, modelling and animating my stories was the most fun and engaging part of my university experience. When I look back at it, I wonder if it was fear that stopped me from pursuing animation in the first place or if I didn’t know that it was an option.
I ended up in web design, then coding, and now, more than a decade later, I discovered that I loved making comics, which is quite close to storyboarding and animation in many ways. It makes me think that I’m on the right track, or at least that there’s something fundamental in all of this that gives me a strong sense of purpose. Perhaps an ikigai of sorts?
A few months of failed marketing endeavours lowered my mood quite a bit, so revisiting why I’m doing this brought some excitement back. And so, I decided to re-learn 3D and animation on the side. It will help me keep things fresh, and maybe I can breathe some extra life into my comics!
We’ll see. You’ll be the first to know if something comes out of this. 💩
And since I mentioned a Japanese concept, here’s another: I recently learned about the word joukei, which translates to “spectacle, sight, scene”. Mamoru Oshii, the director of Ghost in the Shell in Anime & Film Directing, explains it as something that can be created by joining scenery and characters to create a scene that sparks a feeling in the viewer while revealing something about the world. I’ll write more about the course in a future post, but in the meantime, I’ll try my best to discover how to create joukei!
Bonus: Violin Drawing
Since we’re speaking about changes, here’s a picture of a panel from my comic in the WIP Change anthology, which has been fully funded; so, if you backed us, thank you so much! We are working hard to finish our comics, so you’ll have the good stuff in your hands come November.
Making comics is complex, and rewards often come in a roundabout way, but overall, I’m happy that I chose this as my ikigai. Or rather, it chose me.
Poll time!
If you picked “other” and are feeling like expanding on the idea, I’d love to hear your thoughts in the comments below. 💡
See you soon!
And thank you for reading! As usual, while the following newsletter is in the making, you can find me on the regular socials:
And also, my online shop for books (and e-books!) and prints: