WIP who's eating my donut

[Chantal Goetheer]

Hi, I've been doing some world building for my Who's eating my donut story. I've made this story for a church event concerning sustainability when I just started SVS in August and I want to make a better job of it and want to expand it's universe. It's a donut shape world made out of candy where people can't stop eating and then this kid discovers the donut they live on is crumbling away, because they eat more of it then it can grow back. So here are some candy vegetation, a character outline and one of the first scenes.

And some castles Im considering for the king of the donut to live in. Which ones seems best for a power tripping king?

Am I on to something engaging here? I need to shut the voice in my ! head to give it up and leave the drawing to the skilled people daily. But the idea there is something here keeps me going. It is a struggle though.

What do you think of the middle character? How can I make him more universal appealing? And are the characters too stereotype?

Any feedback is more than welcome!

[Mia Clarke]

@Chantal-Goetheer First off - I love this story, I really think you’re on to a good idea here. The metaphor of eating the world to how we’re overusing our resources on Earth is really, really clever.

Your pointy ice cream castle is very good, and your vegetation is great. Also, I think your line work has really improved over the short time you’ve been at svs, which makes your drawings look way more polished than before.

Where I think you can still improve is in your characters, both in their anatomy and design, but perhaps mainly by being more mindful about what harmful stereotypes you might perpetuate with them. If you draw fat characters, this is great for inclusion, but only if you don’t also equip them with every negative stereotype connected with being fat (such as being lazy, stupid, gluttonous, slow etc etc), while having a thin character be the savior (and especially if the salvation means your fat characters turn slim at the end).

Consider making your fat character witty, clever and brave, and please don’t use fatness as a shorthand for deterioration (see Wall-e for a terrible example of how fat phobia drives a plot through several lazy gags at the expense of fat people).

On a drawing technical note, I notice your characters are all a bit lopsided (especially apparent in your middle character), which to me feels like an issue with how you construct them. Try drawing big shapes first, and don’t add detail until your big shapes are posed in a way you like. This will help you with dynamics, as well as balance.

Keep at this project, I think it has great potential!

[Chantal Goetheer]

@Mia-Clarke thanks!! You're absolutely right, so I'm still wondering how to go about the characters. The guy would be the hero together with the girl. Words that describe him are generous, without worry, fond of laughing, caring. Lots to think about of how not to fall in this trap of fat and thin.

[Mia Clarke]

@Chantal-Goetheer Sounds like you’re on the ball! ️