10 Years + Original Oddity Woods Prologue

Today officially marks the 10th anniversary of posting Oddity Woods online! While the first book has only been out for half a year, the series technically started ten years ago. Which is insane! I can’t believe it’s been that long!

I wanted to take the chance to sincerely thank everyone who has picked up a copy, and also those who have been following OW since its webcomic days. I’m always so shocked and honored people have stuck around for this long. I hope the continuation is worth the wait!

Speaking of, I’m currently hard at work on book 2, which is entirely new content. I didn’t think I’d ever have the opportunity to finish this series, and it’s so surreal to be able to have the chance to finally do just that. From the bottom of my heart, thank you so much for supporting my work!

Today I’m posting what was the original prologue from the webcomic. This ended up being cut in order to better focus on the main story, but I do still like this little mystery! Maybe in some alternate universe of Oddity Woods, these events still take place.

Getting Stuck on "Art Style"

I've gotten a few emails from young artists asking me how I developed my art style, what they can do to improve their own art styles, and their frustrations with their own work. I really do sympathize with young artists who get wrapped up in art style woes, since the same thing happened to me (and probably everyone who's ever picked up a pencil!). I used to get really frustrated when my art wasn't perfect. I'd compare my work to others, thinking I should be at a certain level at a certain age ("because that one 18-year-old's work is so amazing, why can't that be me?!"), and most of all, always trying to find that "perfect art style."

So now that I'm a 30-something-year-old professional comic artist that hasn't thought about art style in a while, I thought I'd share my own "art style journey," what I was thinking at every stage, and hopefully stress that a perfect art style should never be the goal of art, as it's impossible to achieve perfection! It also isn't a race. Art style is just a reflection of how you currently draw-- as you draw more and improve and become influenced by new things, that style inevitably changes over time. How you draw at 15 will be vastly different than how you draw at 25, or 35, or 80.

For me, when I was a kid, I mostly drew Pokemon, Sonic, and random anime. Here's some stuff I drew on our now long dead dial-up computer, when I was around 14-16.

This was back in the golden age of DeviantArt, where early 2000s anime styles were king. But by 17-18, I felt my art was starting to look too similar. I wanted to branch out more, so I tried taking influence from western art as well (this is also when I first started conceptualizing ideas that would become Oddity Woods!).

There was still an anime influence, but it also had that 2012 Tumblr style seep in. Also Marietta and Wyatt were adults! And were completely different characters! When OW became more of a mystery/puzzle game-inspired work, I wanted the art to reflect those things. I ended up studying the background characters in the Professor Layton games (old Nintendo DS games I played as a kid), because I really liked the weird shapes they had. I tried incorporating more shapes into my work.

I was really trying to push motion more, while also taking influence from early 2000's western cartoons, which were more angular and had very distinct silhouettes for every character.

Eventually the chibi-er art style came around, influenced by the rounder-looking western cartoons that were popular at the time like Steven Universe.

This was the point where I felt I had the final designs nailed down, but I remember still being so nit-picky and frustrated about my work. I thought "Okay, I want to make Oddity Woods a comic, but I don't want to start until I'm at THIS level," or "Once I'm THIS good, I'll do it!" The thing is... there was no way I was going to start that comic with that mindset. If it wasn't for my college art class pushing me to finally do it, OW probably wouldn't have been made.

I started making pages of the webcomic in 2015 (I was around 21). The art style wasn't perfect (at least not like the perfect image in my head), and there were a lot of mistakes. But throughout the three years I posted pages, the style continued to change in subtle ways. These pages range from 2015-2018.

Making comics has the really cool effect of forcing you to keep drawing no matter what, flaws and all, and doesn't care about where your art style is at, because it WILL change, like... twenty pages later! As I got progressively burnt out on Oddity Woods due to other circumstances around this time, I swapped tracks to work on Star Knights, which was based on a one-shot comic I made in 2017. Here's some of those old pages...

... versus the later pages of the 2022 graphic novel, 200+ pages in.

Even Misfit Mansion changed slightly from the original sample pages (pages used to pitch to publishers and are not final versions), versus the pages in the actual book.

Some people may look at all these examples and not really see a huge difference (and maybe that's something to recognize-- we see our mistakes much more easily than others!). But as the artist, the one who was once so bogged down by "achieving the best art style before I start making work!!!", the differences to me are HUGE. My work would not have evolved at all if I was still just focused on art style. Having done hundreds of comic pages, I'm now only focused on drawing fast, and I don't care as much about mistakes.

I still think the art style differences between old OW pages and the updated book pages are pretty noticeable! I wish I could have redrawn all of OW book 1, but again, that would be wasting time I can use to make more comics!!! And I'll probably go back in another ten years and think "I could draw that better now."

Anyway, all of this is to say, just keep drawing and have fun. I personally stopped caring about art style after getting into comics. The more I draw the characters, the easier it all becomes. It's a practice that becomes second nature as you continue doing it.

QA #13- Emailed Questions (OW & MM2)

Oddity Woods

Q: Are the people present at the dinner party like Arthur, Anita, Capella, Leo, and Milly from Earth or are they humanoid creatures? If they are actual humans, how did they arrive in the Oddity Woods?

A: Book 2 will explain a little more about how the woods works, and the origins of the people living there. For now, we know they aren’t quite alive like Marietta and Wyatt, but they also aren’t quite the same as the ghosts we see either.

Q: When did Wyatt become a Taker? If he knew what the tickets did, why would he take one?

A: Hmmm I suppose the better question might be “how did he know what they did in the first place?” The Conductor is pretty tricky and doesn’t outright say what the tickets really do when he offers them. It might be safe to assume Wyatt didn’t know what they did before he took the Conductor’s offer. We’ll see!

Q: In the original comic, there was another detective character named Hastings who isn’t in the book. Why was he cut out?

A: When the series changed to a graphic novel series, I needed to cut quite a few things in order to make the story more streamlined and a bit shorter. That means some characters got cut, and their plots were given to other characters instead! In this case, Hastings’s story was rewritten and given to Gloria.

Q: Was the Car Attendant originally a detective/police officer in Perdita? Will Leo and Capella try to capture Wyatt? And is Arthur still out there, looking for Lawrence and Harris?

A: I can’t give spoilers, but I think we will see a lot of these characters again! ;)

Misfit Mansion 2

Q: Is Mathias going to be a major character in the story? I thought that he was an awesome character who showed a lot of evolution and went through a lot of growth when I got to the end of the book.

A: He is! Book 2 explores his character arc quite a bit after denouncing his aunt. While Mathias is able to find a place with the horrors, unfortunately not everyone within the human town is friendly towards him. I think he still carries a lot of guilt, and even though he’s changed his viewpoints and opened himself to befriending the horrors, some people aren’t willing to do the same for him. That and some other dreamon-related issues cause quite a bit of conflict…

Q: What’s the relationship between Larkspur and the rest of the group? I know that he and Iris are kind of like siblings, but with Agnes, Kel, Dahlia, and the other kids in Mr. Halloway’s Home for Horrors, how do they approach each other?

A: Larkspur is pretty reclusive when he returns to the house, and he doesn’t interact much with the others. I think Kel, Agnes and the others try to talk to him whenever they see him (to no avail), but it’s Iris who’s made it her goal to befriend him. No matter what.

Q: When Iris and Mathias look at the old footage from Halloway and Anemone's TV show and see Larkspur, who is a dark silhouette without any facial features (other than the glowing eyes), did Larkspur really look like that or was that for artistic vagueness, and he was his regular self? Same question for Iris’s flashback when she first met Mathias.

A: I wanted Larkspur to be mysterious, and also match the dark form Iris saw in her dream, so I decided to make him look like a little shadow guy. Technically I don’t think Larkspur or Iris were actually shadowy blobs when they were younger, so I guess it’s an artistic choice!

Q: Are there a lot of new characters in the story?

A: There are a few new characters, including a new horror called a Pied Piper Parrot! We’ll see what kind of powers she has in the book!

Q: Do you know about when the second book will be published?

A: Mayhem at Misfit Mansion is scheduled to be out this August! : )


Q&A #12 - Art-Related Questions

Q: Do you have any tips on creating graphic novels/comics? Any ways to have a faster production process?

Thumbnails from Star Knights! “Thumbnails” are rough sketches of a pages.

A: For graphic novels, speed is definitely important! I work fully digitally, usually in batches of pages at a time. So after I have thumbnails of every page, I’ll take a chunk and do the line art, then when I get burnt out of that, I'll swap and do color flats and shading. Clip Studio Paint has a lot of great shortcuts, and I recommend it to anyone wanting to do comics (especially for flatting quickly). Also vector line art layers in CSP are super convenient!

Using apps like Sketchup to create 3D models of buildings.

I also reuse drawings when I can, mostly for backgrounds. I’ve copy pasted buildings before to save time. I’ve also used sites/apps like Sketchup to make models of buildings that I can trace over (this was especially helpful for Misfit Mansion).

Simplifying colors can also save time, like coloring a crowd scene/ group of background characters a solid color instead of coloring every single one…also I try not to get too bothered by something not looking great. Most people read so quickly they aren’t going to notice stuff I might be hung up on as the artist.

Q: How did you come up with your art style? I’m having trouble figuring out what my art should look like.

A: I think getting stuck on perfecting your art style is very common for younger artists, and was definitely something I struggled with as well. I think when you’re starting out, the most important thing isn’t to figure out what the drawing should look like, but to first learn how to draw everything. The more you draw, the more your style will fall into place. After all, an “art style” is just a reflection of how you see the world! While it’s great to find influence from other styles you like, strive less to copy exact that thing, and work more on improving your drawing skills first. Draw from life— rooms, buildings, cars, people! But also, have fun with it! My own art style has changed many times over the years, and will continue to change in the future. Here are some drawings I did in middle school, when I was mostly influenced by Pokemon and anime/manga.


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Misfit Mansion Sketches - Hair Styles

The official hair lore for Misfit Mansion that no one asked for but I made anyway! Something I really liked about the upcoming sequel was getting to design everyone to look slightly different/older. Whenever I reread the first book, I'm always shocked at how tiny they all were!

Fan Art Feature #1

Here’s a first batch of some wonderful art sent to me! Thank you to everyone who shared their work!

Please note I’ll be slowly posting fanart in batches, so if you don’t see yours here, I’m doing my best to post them all eventually!

Q&A #10- Misfit Mansion Random Questions

Q: In Misfit Mansion I saw that Kel gains a fish tail when he goes to sleep in his pool of water, so how does that work?

A: When Kelpies get wet/ go into water, their legs turn into fish tails!

Q: How long have Agnes, Kel, and Dahlia been at the house?

A: I think Agnes was fairly young when she was found, so she was probably around 7? I’ve always thought Agnes was the first of the three main characters to arrive, while Kel arrived a little later, after Iris. That’s why Agnes took on an older sister role with them. Dahlia’s been there a bit longer than all three of them.

Q: At the time of the first book, how many horrors are living in the house?

A: Maybe a little under 100. More move in before the second book!

Q: Is there a third book planned, or is it just gonna be the two?

A: There’s only two planned. I do have an idea for a third one, but that’s up to the publisher!

Q: What would the Misfit Mansion cast’s favorite Pokemon be?

A:

Q&A #9- Star Knights Silly Questions

Q: So does Tad croak when he’s scared, or does he use it to fend off bigger enemies? (that’s a real frog fact!) Can Tad control his croaks? Or is it an allegory for something else?

A: If you've seen videos of frogs yelling after being picked up, Tad croaks like that when scared haha. I don't think he's quite intimidating enough to scare enemies with it... but I do think Star Knights tend to have some animal characteristics that carry over from their animal forms!

Q: What do the stars in the Star Knights universe taste like?

A: Candy corn, but don’t eat them!

Q&A #8- Oddity Woods Characters

Q: I'm pretty curious, so I'll ask- will we ever see what Wyatt's eyes look like, under his goggles? Or is it just a character design choice? Because despite Milly having glasses that don't show her eyes at first, we eventually see her eyes, so I was wondering.

A: Stylistically Milly had the anime glasses glare thing going until her big reveal because it was more "mysterious." Wyatt keeps his eyes and most of himself hidden because of reasons regarding the end of book 1. But we will probably see his eyes eventually…

Q: Out of the cast, who is the best and worst singer?

A: Hmm, I haven't thought about it much, but I think the Storyteller would be decent at singing? And maybe Leo, despite them not talking much. I think Lawrence is also musically gifted but is too lazy to do much with it. I think Officer Doubts would be very bad at it.

Q: Who is Milly, and what’s the deal with her and her robot?

A: We don't know much about Milly yet, like what IS her deal??? She has a weird grudge against Wyatt, and seems to have been on a mission to get the Grave Keys before Marietta arrived. Milly's best friend is Ion! He's kind of a crybaby. We will see more of them in book 2!

Q: Does the Car Attendant have a name? Will he show up again?

A: He is just known as the Car Attendant, in a similar vein to the Conductor and Storyteller. If you want a little hint, his past self as a living person is actually shown within book 1 somewhere. He was actually going to be a little more involved in the story back during the webcomic, but I had to change some things up for the sake of fitting everything into 3 books, so some of his plot was cut. But he will return before all is over.

Q: How does the Conductor talk without opening his mouth?

A: He is a mystery.

Q: Will any of the first book’s minor characters from the inn return in the second?

A: I almost don’t want to spoil it, but I’m pretty sure I already said it years ago during the webcomic days, so— Lawrence is a major character in the series! Some of the other side characters from the inn might return too. Stay tuned.

Q&A #7 - Misfit Mansion Dreamon Lore

Q: What was Larkspur up to between the year of him leaving the house and returning at the end of Misfit Mansion?

A: I think he just kind of roamed around on his own contemplating life. Did he want to come back after what happened? Ultimately, he decided to give it another shot (and surviving in the wild sucked). I think deep down Larkspur wants to be a part of the family but is still angry about the past. Misfit Mansion 2 will explore these feelings more.

Q: Could a dreamon’s color palette change from the blue shades to something else if their dreamer thought of them as a different color?

A: I’ve thought about this before, and I kind of like the idea that dreamons are always some shade of blue regardless if their dreamer tries to imagine them differently. Some can be darker or lighter shades, including their hair.

Q: Why didn’t Iris become a monster during the first years of her life, when Mathias thought all horrors were monsters? Wouldn’t that turn her into one automatically? Or was it the fact that Mathias was unaware of her existence that made her have her appearance?

A: I think if Iris didn’t immediately leave she probably would have changed. I think for dreamons to turn into monsters, their dreamers have to specifically have those feelings towards them, not just for horrors in general, if that makes sense? Also I don’t really know how fearful of horrors Mathias actually was, or if a lot of it was just regurgitating stuff Anemone said, since he’d never really met one before.

Q: You mentioned that Iris and Mathias are the same height, but Larkspur and Mr. Halloway definitely aren’t (monster-Larkspur is definitely not the exact same height as Mr. Halloway), and Iris and Mathias seem to be the same age physically but Larkspur and Halloway aren’t, so what is the correlation in height and age of dreamons and their dreamers?

A: I think this depends on how the dreamer initially imagines them! The ages get a little weird, because Iris is 11 in the first book like Mathias, but she technically has only existed for 3-ish years. Larkspur was a child when he first came into existence, and even though he’s been around for 20+ years, he’s still a teenager. Probably something to do with him being locked away during this time, it’s a little weird. BUT I can say that Larkspur and Iris’s origins are talked about more in Misfit Mansion 2, and also why their situations are a little different.

Q: What did Larkspur eat in the basement? If Halloway was feeding him, how did he get the food down there without breaking the seal?

A: He was fueled by anger and bugs (this is just a joke, since it isn’t something I really thought about, but I’m sure he got food!).

Q&A #6 - Dahlia Facts

Q: Where did Dahlia get that giant needle?

A: It's a mystery... but she probably just kept requesting one until Halloway somehow found a big enough needle. She makes all her art with it! I like to think she sticks it in her back when she's not using it.

Q: What kind of doll is Dahlia? Is she a wind up doll, stress doll, rag doll, or dancing doll?

A: She's like a Raggedy Ann doll, so a rag doll! I think she can probably swap her limbs if she wanted, and change out her yarn hair for other styles/colors.

Q: Does Dahlia play Poppy Playtime?

A: I guess if any of the characters would be willing to play/beat it, it would have to be Dahlia.

Q&A #5 - Star Knights

Q: Do you think we'll ever see Tad and co., again, or is their story finished?

A: Their story is finished for now, which is a little sad, but I like to tell fans of Star Knights that they can continue the story with their own characters! I still like drawing Tad and Stello.

Q: After the events of Star Knights did the animals make peace with each other after fighting on the moon? Are salamanders and frogs no longer hated? Did Astrid and Cygnus forgive each other?

A: Much like in real life, there will always be those who are still set in their old judgmental ways, but I like to think most of the animals changed their minds and learned to be better/ are working to make the world better. I’m also sure Astrid forgave Cygnus.

Q: Out of curiosity, how big are Tad and Stello in and out of their Star Knight forms? If they were stand next to Marietta or Iris, would they be about the same height or would they be the size of actual amphibians?

A: They are baby sized!!! The Star Knights universe is kinda weird, since they're technically space aliens, so their heights aren't 100% true to human heights. But I think if Tad stood next to Marietta he'd be this tall.

Q&A #4 - Oddity Woods

Q: Is there any way to read the original webcomic version?

A: There’s not, the webcomic was taken down after Oddity Woods was picked up as a book series. I do have an art book with concept art from those days, which you can find in PDF form here!

Q: How much of the original webcomic does the graphic novel cover? Do they differ significantly?

A: The book is probably like 80% the same as the webcomic, but I did change the prologue and a few details throughout in order to streamline the story a bit better. This first book ends where the webcomic left off, so book 2 will be completely new content.

Q: When I was reading Oddity Woods I noticed it doesn't take place in modern times. So I was just wondering, what time does Oddity Woods take place in?

A: In terms of technology, it’s (loosely) set around the 1950’s! When I need refs of something like a phone or building or whatever, I’ll google it + 1950 and go from there. I feel older time periods are a little more mysterious than like… current day smart phone world. That being said, the tech Wyatt and Milly have is meant to be very advanced within that world!

Q: So we know Mary has a favorite book series- Inspector Mysteria! But what about Wyatt? Does he have a favorite book series too?

A: I’m not sure Wyatt has a favorite series, but I’m sure he has a lot of books about paranormal things! I think if they ever did a book exchange they’d end up spoiling it for each other.

Q&A #3 - Misfit Mansion Side Characters

Q: What are the names of the vampire and the headless kid?

A: Victor and Willow! They didn't have many scenes in MM, but I think they're good friends.

Q: A small favor if you don't mind, I'd really been wondering who some of the unnamed Misfit Mansion characters were! (Snake girl, the fairy with the pink hair, the big dragon, the headless girl, the little vampire, and the 2 ghost kids!)

A: The Medusa character is Morgana, the fairy is Truffle, and the ghost girl is Charlotte. Not sure right now what the others are named, but I'll think more about it. Tysm!

Q: Can Morgana turn others into stone, and if she can, can she reverse it?

A: I think so, to both of these!

Q&A #2 - Misfit Mansion Character Ages & Heigths

Q: How old were the characters in Misfit Mansion?

A: Iris & Mathias - 11, Agnes- 12, Kel - 10, Dahlia - 12, Larkspur - 15.

Dreamon ages are a little weird. Iris has only existed for maybe 5 years and Larkspur has been around over 20 years, but these are their physical ages!

Q: Do the horror kids age out of the house? Could they be adopted by members of their own kind?

A: I don't think the residents there have to leave once they reach a certain age (some of the horrors in the house are actually pretty old/are adults!), but they can if they want. I see it as like a "come and go as you need, stay if you want" kind of situation!

Q: How old is everyone in Misfit Mansion 2?

A: The sequel takes place 2 years after the first book, so Iris is now 13, Agnes is 14, etc.!

Q: How tall are the characters?

A: Iris is probably 4'9, or just an average height of an 11-year-old. I haven't thought too much about the others, but Iris and Mathias are always the same height.

Q&A #1 - Iris Facts

Q: Is it possible for Iris to change her appearance based on how she perceives herself?

A: Good question! I think there's a lot to explore about how dreamons work... and it’s definitely going to be a plot point for MM2!

Q: Does Iris have a favorite food? Also, do dreamons usually have large appetites?

A: I think Iris likes to try a bunch of different foods, but she's definitely a fan of any type of snack food. Dreamon appetites are pretty similar to humans! Though Iris has eaten paper in the past…

Q: When Iris dances, does her tail accidentally hit others around her? Can she use her tail as a spring to jump higher?

A: Probably, to both of these! Though I doubt she can jump too much higher.

Q: Why are the only two dreamons we know of (Iris and Larkspur) named after flowers? Why is the only other flower-named character Anemone?

A: Halloway named both Larkspur and Iris, so that’s why they are both flowers. I don’t remember why I gave Anemone that name LOL. Fun fact— I also didn’t realize Dahlia was a flower name, I just chose that one because it sounded like “doll.”


Happy 2026!

Happy New Year! I’m reviving my blog with the intent to actually use it (sometimes).

Things I plan to post here:

Q&A’s! The last few years I’ve received a lot of questions about my books (which I usually answer through fan mail or on my Tumblr account), so I thought cross posting these on a main blog might make things easier to find, and help with duplicate questions.

Random art! Doodles and stuff I post on my instagram/tumblr, but don’t have a place in my portfolio.

Fan art! I want to highlight people’s fan art sent to me!

Book updates! News regarding my books/upcoming releases.

More soon!