In the Spring of 2023, I finally achieved a long-standing ambition of mine: to create and publish a complete graphic novel. This first experiment centers around a character who has, until now, only existed in prints and sketchbooks. However, I had always intended to create stories for this character, and to flesh out his world through narrative.
The Lightkeeper is a wordless graphic novel, which follows an unnamed character (The Lightkeeper, himself) as he journeys through an unfamiliar wilderness, seemingly in search of something, or perhaps running from something.
The story is experienced in single-panel spreads, somewhat in the vein of Lynd Ward or Stanley Donwood, so that the reader experiences the narrative at their own pace, and that each image acts as it's own singular moment.
The 104 page book, comprising 46 illustrations, is self-published and is sold in-person by me at various market events, and is also available on my web store.
Here are some sequential excerpts from the book.
You can read a full preview of the entire book at this link.
I'm proud to finally have a completed long-form narrative to share! But this is just the beginning. I have so many stories so share, worlds to explore, and characters to meet. The adventures of The Lightkeeper, and many others, have hardly begun.
Art created on Procreate for the iPad
Assembled and designed in Adobe InDesign
Spring, 2023
Assembled and designed in Adobe InDesign
Spring, 2023