Hello and welcome the very first ‘Comic Easel’ (aka ComicPress 4.0) upload of Bata Neart! (God I hope this actually works correctly)
This week, we begin an examination of Ashling’s home town. As indicated in the last feew weeks, Ashling isn’t from Ballinafil, but actually from another commuter town some distance away.
In the original Bata Neart, I draw up something out of my imagination for this…but it really didn’t turn out the way I hoped. And so, for the redraw I decided to borrow from real-life via a tool that wasn’t available to me back then. This is thanks to Google Streetview.
As I have chosen Wicklow Town as the model for Ballinafil, looked about the immediate area and found a town that fitted the bill as Ashling’s home. Ironically enough, it’s called ‘Ashford’ 😀
In settting up her ‘talking home’ sequence, I needed two scenes. A dropping off place from the bus, and finally a housing estate for her house to be.
Ashford – ‘The Woodpecker’ pub
The drop off was the easier of the two. I found a corner pub called the Woodpecker, which fitted what I needed. Pubs often get used a reference points in Irish villages, and tend to be used as un-official bus stops too. Using Streetview as a guide, I drew this place in panel one.
Panels 2 and 3 required a fairly major decision. I had to choose where Ashling’s house would be. This is a choice that will affect how I will draw her home for the 70+ Chapters of Bata Neart that I will draw over the next couple of decades, so I had to choose well.
Finally, not far from The Woodpecker I found a corner of a housing estate that seemed to fit. I wanted to choose a place that was both interesting to draw, gave me flexibly in terms of space (space will be critical for later action scenes in the series), and also looked like a typical Irish housing area.
I think my choice satisfied those criteria. (At least I hope so).
Phew, and so there you have it. I hope you enjoy this page, it’s by far the most researched piece of drawing I’ve ever done 😀
😯 Wow, seventy plus chapters. We’ll be here a while, then. I approve. Keep up the good work. 😀
Yea 🙂 Crazy as it sounds, I recon I have enough plot to fill 70 of these things. And that’s just ‘Ashling’s Story’, which is part of a larger Bata Neart Universe I’m dreaming up!
It’ll take a while to tell the whole story, but I hope I can keep things interesting while I try!