sketches

Misfit Mansion - Development and Concepts #3

With about a week and a day left until Mayhem at Misfit Mansion is out, here is the final part of the MM development series! I hope this has been an interesting read for fans of the book.

Pitching & Final Changes

Once the story outline, sample pages and character designs were completed, it was time to pitch the book to publishers! When Home for Horrors was picked up, there were a few changes I was asked to make. The first was to start the story from Iris’s point of view, and to cut the part with the three-headed dog. I was also asked to make the characters look slightly older. Here’s a first pass at some redraws.

Some of the designs here are still a little different from the finals, like Agnes’s hair clips and Kel’s shirt pattern. I ended up going back and redrawing the cast again a few months later. I think I must have changed Kel and Dahlia’s outfits again when working on the final pages!

Creating the Book

I’ve written a little about how I make pages in another post, but here’s a closer look! I always start with a typed script and “thumbnails”, which are very rough drawings of the page layouts. These are submitted to the publisher first, so they can offer any edits before I move on to the actual drawn pages. I also like coloring the characters in with a solid color so that it’s easier to see who is who!

Example of a script page.

Thumbnailed pages.

Thumbnailed pages.

One requested edit was to change the direction Iris is facing on page 14 within the fifth panel to match the direction she’s moving in the fourth. That also meant flipping her in some of page 15’s panels as well. After edits are applied, I move on to the line art!

The final part is to drop in flat colors, and then add shading and highlights. This step usually takes me the longest. Once it’s complete, I resubmit everything back to the publisher, and make any further edits until both sides are happy.

Cover Design

This step happens about half way into drawing pages. I always design 6 small ideas to show my publisher, who then decide which idea they’d like to go with. Here are the covers I pitched!

The publisher went with #3! We also ended up having to change the title from “Home for Horrors” to “Misfit Mansion” as requested by the marketing team. Sometimes this happens!

After the pages were done and the cover was finalized, Misfit Mansion would go on to be in bookstores about a year later, in 2023! In total, it took about 6 years from the earliest concepts to the final book. I’ve come to love this book a lot, and I’m grateful for all the love it's received! I truly hope readers will enjoy the sequel when it releases next week.

To end, here’s a bunch of art I made throughout the years of working on MM! Thanks everyone for supporting my work!

Misfit Mansion - Development and Concepts #1

Less than a month before Mayhem at Misfit Mansion is out! To celebrate, I’d like to share the creation process behind the first book, and how it developed over time. Misfit Mansion went through quite a few different versions over the years before being pitched as its current self, so this will be a multi-part series!

“Lily of the Dead Valley”

Back when I was working on Oddity Woods as a webcomic, I was brainstorming ideas for potential book pitches. The main two were A. a story based on “Journey to Stars,” which became Star Knights, and B. a story about a monster hunter that wound up in a world of monsters, titled “Lily of the Dead Valley.” I ended up moving forward with Star Knights instead, since I ran into a few roadblocks with the second idea, but I’d come back around to it while working on SK.

The monster world was called Dead Valley, and had a wide array of monster inhabitants. The monster hunter was a hooded girl named Ava that somehow fell into Dead Valley, and had to team up with “Lily” (Iris’s original name) to return home, learning that monsters were actually good in the process. These are sketches from around 2018.

The earliest version of Iris was a vampire.

Less vampire and more monster. She was friends with a werewolf girl.

Hoodie with a pattern— I didn’t want to draw this in every panel, so the pattern got scrapped!

Ava’s face was hidden by a hood for most of the story.

Early Iris with a devil tail. I think the guy on the top right was her brother?

I wasn’t sure what this monster world should look like, so to make it a little easier on myself, I ultimately decided to change the setting to the real world. The story then became about a human summer camp at odds with a monster one.

A moth girl named Juniper, she was a little snooty, and didn’t like Lily.

A ghost and kelpie camper! I liked the kelpie, so I reused them later.

Ava is accidentally signed up for the wrong summer camp— one for monsters instead of monster hunters. Hiding her identity, she eventually befriends Lily, and ultimately comes to learn that hunting monsters is wrong. This idea didn’t go anywhere as I never went to summer camp as a kid, and so I had no idea how to write a summer camp story… I decided to channel the experiences I did have as a kid in order to figure out what Misfit Mansion would actually be about— found family and belonging.

“Home for Horrors”

In 2019, the story became about a foster home hidden in the woods. When conceptualizing the house, I originally wrote the caretaker as a woman, but I wanted to write a father/daughter bond between Iris and the caretaker, so they became Halloway instead. “Lily” was changed to Iris, as it matched her color scheme more. Instead of a random monster, I wanted her species to have an effect on the story, so she became a dreamon, or a “dream imp” back then.

Very quick concept sketches to figure out the new characters, including a female Halloway.

This version was a lot closer to the final Misfit Mansion, but there were still many differences plot-wise! I’ll save it for part two, but I did want to briefly mention another story I was working on at the time.

“Doll House”

This was a very small and undeveloped idea I was writing in 2018, but I couldn’t figure out the story, so it ultimately got scrapped. It followed a mage who was trapped in a haunted house of living dolls, and had to help himself and a trapped soul escape, which lived in a small cage he carried. This idea doesn’t have much to do with Misfit Mansion, but I liked the designs and ended up recycling them to create Mathias and Dahlia. This version of Dahlia also had a giant stuffed bear butler, which I still kind of like.

Beta versions of Dahlia and Mathias. They didn’t have names at this point.

Beta Dahlia and her bear butler. She was more antagonistic in this story.

Random side character, I liked the beanie and gave it to Kel later.

Next part, more story notes and pitch pages!

Oddity Woods - Concept Art #1

Today I’m posting a little bit of concept art from book 1 of Oddity Woods! These were from around 2014-2016, when I was working on OW as a webcomic. I wanted each chapter to be an individual mystery, like a mini Agatha Christie story. When writing the Labyrinth Inn chapter, I knew I wanted to do a “whodunnit” type story, though I had some other ideas at the beginning.

The first one wasn’t about an inn, but a town where the people were cursed to become wendigos when the clock struck midnight.

Marietta and Wyatt would figure out how to free the town of their curse and find the first Grave Key. I ended up scrapping this idea because I didn’t find the story very interesting, and moved more into a murder mystery direction instead.

Early concept art of Silvia/Velia. The inn chapter went through a lot of different versions, but it was always about a character getting revenge for their murder. Funny enough, I think Velia was once originally a part of the werewolf family too, along with different workers like maids, until her character was finalized as an outsider.

Early Owen had a skeleton cat and the two would have been reoccurring characters. Sorry bud. Ultimately I didn't like having so many extras working at the inn when I could have more unique guests be a part of the mystery instead, so the extra werewolves got cut!

Designing the side characters for this chapter was a lot of fun, though it took some time to figure them out. I kept drawing them over and over until a design felt right. I think I liked designing Leo and Capella the most. I also wanted them all to have distinguishable silhouettes.

Everyone was finalized in 2017! The original script had a lot more going on, but needed to be condensed last minute (partially because it was too long and partially because I was hitting burn out while working on it as a webcomic). My mindset was to create something similar to a point & click mystery game, which I realized didn't quite translate perfectly into a comic. I still like it overall though! I'd love to try and write another campy murder mystery again someday.

This will be part one to a series of OW concept art posts. There’s a lot of stuff I can’t really talk about until the series is finished, but I’ll share what I can in the meantime!

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!

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.”