Fetch

“Kill your darlings” is often attributed to Vladimir Nabokov, but I don’t know if he really said it. How do you know if your darlings need killing, anyway? If you don’t get some enjoyment or thrill out of your work, why do it? It doesn’t seem like useful advice, like “Fake it until you make it” or “God helps those who help themselves.”

You may notice a difference in the artwork with this story compared to previous Fetch strips. In the past I drew strips with ink on paper, scanned them, and colored them in Photoshop. Now pages are drawn entirely in a digital environment using a Cintiq and an iPad, Photoshop and Procreate. I chose this approach for a few reasons: increased productivity, more potential to experiment more, and to save my back from strain. It took some time this summer to get used to drawing this way, but I am liking it more and more. Stylus and pencil tools have their own odd limitations, but they also have a lot of advantages and I am discovering new techniques all the time.

Fetch’s buddy in these early pages was loosely inspired by this critter in Hieronymus Bosch:

I love that little guy.