After having visited the Southwest and west coast of the United States of America (Tucson, Arizona and the Bay Area, California) for the duration of a month, I started working on my comic, detailing what I saw and experienced on this trip.
Bright Light, Desert City was anyhting but a smooth process. Having started a series of loosely connected drawings (something of a familiar approach, for me), I felt I needed to change tracks.
I was in need of working on something bigger. Sure, I’ve worked on series of drawings, short comics, stories. I’ve written (guest)blogs. But I searched for something overarching, something I could get my teeth into. I wanted to write, draw and document – a long form story. I had stretched myself thin in the previous years, creatively speaking. The media and subject matter I dabbled in were all very interesting and all had its own merits, but I was tired.
I needed to concentrate on one story. One story only. It had to be worthwile to me, personally.
This trip, in hindsight, presented an opportunity. I could use the things I saw, the conversations I had, as a framework to create a story – observations on daily life in the (South)west of the U.S.A, including social and political issues. I had wanted to do this for a long time, but I didn’t have the time or headspace to actually start.
When I got home, I wrote down all the conversations I had, the things I saw and things I had noted about the places I visited. During the trip I had already kept a detailed itinerary, something I started way back when going on solo trips. It’s startling how much you forget after having traveled abroad, expecially with a full schedule.
Now I had a foundation to build on.
With time, while drawing, researching and writing, I placed my journey in a larger context. Since the trip took place in 2022, I wanted to keep things current. What I experienced while staying there still mattered to me, but I also felt the need to break the fourth wall. In my comic story, I found a way to tie the past to the present, by addresseing the current political ramifications of decisions taken just a few years earlier. Since U.S.A influence inevitably ripples its way around the world, I include my musings on domestic affairs in the Netherlands.
U.S.A culture has played an important role in my life, for better or worse. I connect my family history and my artistic practice, giving context, outlining my reason for creating this comic.
So far, it’s going well. I’m happy commiting to a process I feel connected to. There’s so much more to come, story-wise. But I’ll do it at my own pace, I want to maintain a certain quality standard.
In a certain way, by having left for Arizona, I have arrived home. This is my story.