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Gillian Renk

Joined Dec 2015 Iowa

  • 1.3k

Gillian Renk is a 27-year-old art-making human. She enjoys painting illustrations, sequential art, and copious fanart. She also enjoys explaining art-related things to people (though she does not profess to be an expert at such a thing).

  • Art by Hyperionwitch
  • Art by Hyperionwitch
  • 74
  • 6
Gillian Renk
Gillian Renk creator Jun 16, 2018
I’m going to create a series of a few illustrations to show how the story wraps up, and I’m going to write a bit of an epilogue to explain some loose ends. If anyone has any questions, I’m happy to answer those too. I don’t realistically know how many people would be, like, heartbroken if they didn’t see an ending to the story, but I feel bad stopping here, both for myself and for any readers who do care. I know it’s not the whole comic I promised, but I hope you understand why I’m doing this, and I hope it’s a good compromise.

I’m gonna try to make the illustrations nice to make up for...the whole situation, I guess, so I’m not sure when I’ll have them done, but rest assured I’ll finish them. I want to send off this project somehow--it’s the largest one I’ve ever done, at over 500 pages of comic, and I’ve learned a lot from doing it. I owe it and you readers that much. Whether you’ve been here from the beginning or just started reading recently, I’m so grateful that you’ve read and (hopefully!) enjoyed Aether. Thanks, as always, for sticking with me.
Hououin
Hououin Jun 16, 2018
I'm sorry to hear about your burn out toward this series! Even if I'm a bit sad that we'll not get to see the finals pages, I totally understand why you are doing this! The author's well-being comes first. And I'm sure the illustrations will be lovely, and we will know the ending so even if it's not by the usual way, it doesn't really matter. As long as you really want to do it! You really shouldn't force yourself to do something you don't want to, especially if it's a project like this. So, thanks for still revealing the ending <3 This comic is a REALLY great one, and even if I think you already know it, it's still nice to hear it from somebody. So yeah. Thanks for all your hard work, it was great reading it, and I'm sure I will read it again later! Take care :)
dasbilligealien
dasbilligealien Jun 17, 2018
Aaaahh.. Thats unfortunate. But I get were you are comming from. I think I never finished one of my comics ever.
Still sad.
But what ever you think is best for you. Maybe one day you finish it. These things can hount you i tell ya :D
bubonicherald
bubonicherald Jun 17, 2018
Thank you for sharing your story and characters with us!
Alicy Imbara Sunberg
Alicy Imbara Sunberg Jun 18, 2018
First of all, thanks for coming out about that, and thanks for sharing it with us, it's very considerate and courageous of you. I want to say I support you on your choice, but I'm kind of heartbroken about it as well, sorry for dumping that on you... I don't want you to feel guilty about it, bu t it is somehow disheartening to read that you're burning out on this story, when we can feel it's the last run before the end, and I have to admit, I fell HARD for it. Some comics, I follow on this site kind of as a lazy kind of thing but I was always reading yours eagerly... I get where you are coming from, boy do I get it, and I think what is so disheartening to me is that I'm afraid that will happen to me as well... Aether was such a badass comic to be honest... Frankly, I'd prefer you'd go on hiatus, for, I don't knnow, 2 or 3 years, or even more, I don't mind really, chances are I'll still be here, and then come back to it when you feel like it. But I also know how it goes. Once you've touched somethng once for a long time, coming back to it is posibly the hardest thing ever. So Honey, really I understan. If you've lost the breath for this, it's totally fine. It happens to everyone. like. iterally everyone. I follow so many comics and so many already have lost their breath on their story, and don't publish anymore... So Thank you still! It has been amazing seeing the evolution of your art over the years, and seeing the characters evolve as well. I'm eager to see what you're gonna do next!! keep us updated, yeah?
katkrazy623
katkrazy623 Sep 02, 2019
Thank you for sharing this beautiful story with us! I'm sorry to hear that you've been burning out, and I just want to let you know that I've really enjoyed Aether :). Hope to see your work in the future!
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Gillian Renk
Gillian Renk creator Jun 16, 2018
Alright. This is sort of a long time coming, but I gotta be straight with you guys because you’ve stuck with me for the longest time with Aether.

I’m so burnt out on Aether. I’ve been doing it for 4 and a half years now and while I’m extremely proud of what we’ve done, I’m just not in the same place I was when I started. When I started the comic I didn’t have anything else going on--I had no job, I was floundering to find myself artistically, and I was fresh and excited to work on an original story. But stuff has changed! Between new art interests, new jobs, some health issues, and just…life happening, I just don’t have the same passion I did when I started. I find myself wishing I had more free time to pursue my other interests in addition to doing other kinds of art, instead of having to pick one or the other (or neither). I feel guilty when I do other kinds of work, and that’s...well, it’s sort of miserable! I still love the story, but trying to get myself to draw pages feels like wading through molasses. And I know Will’s having trouble with scripts too.

I absolutely wanted to finish the comic--we’re in the final chapter, and there are probably 60-70 pages left to go. But that’s 30 weeks of comics for me--30 weeks of dragging my feet and making pages that aren’t up to my standards because my heart isn’t in it. Maybe that sounds silly or selfish, but I simply don’t want to make sub-par work just to finish the story, and that’s on top of being burnt out. Hell, we’re having a hard time even thinking of the right way to show the ending.

BUT, I also really don’t want to leave it hanging here. This is, possibly, the worst place to stop the story, and these characters do still mean something to me, even if I’m exhausted with the comic itself. And I know (because I know myself very well) that if I stop now with the intent to come back later, I never will. So here’s what I’m going to do, and I hope everyone is okay with it.

(CONTINUED IN NEXT POST)
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Gillian Renk
Gillian Renk creator May 29, 2018
We should be returning to Aether pages next Tuesday, June 5th! Shoulder is doing much better, and I'm excited to get back to work. :D
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Gillian Renk
Gillian Renk creator May 08, 2018
Welp! I did not want to have to do this, but here we are. So, I hurt my shoulder somehow! So far, it's not serious or anything (please don't worry!), but drawing really makes it flare up. Up until now, I've been pushing through to get pages and workf done, but it's looking like if I don't take a break from drawing, it isn't going to get better.

So, in the interest of recovering, I'm gonna take a break from Aether to rest up. I'm hoping it'll only be a week or two! I can't promise a specific date, but I CAN promise it's not an indefinite hiatus or anything. See you guys soon, hopefully with a shoulder that works right!
fallsnight97
fallsnight97 May 08, 2018
Take a month if you have to!!! You're health and well being comes first!!!!! I don't mind the wait!!!
Gillian Renk
Gillian Renk creator May 10, 2018
Thank you for the kind words! <3
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Gillian Renk
Gillian Renk creator Apr 22, 2018
Man, I hate making these updates, haha. I got a new workspace setup and it's wonderful (and the new tablet is working very well!), but I haven't quite gotten my scanner sorted out, so I have no way to digitize my comic pages! Between that and a busy weekend, there will be no page today. Thanks for your patience, and see you Wednesday!
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Gillian Renk
Gillian Renk creator Apr 11, 2018
Hey guys! No page today, having some difficulties with a new tablet, should be back on track on Sunday. <3
eireann1922
eireann1922 Apr 11, 2018
Thank you so much for updating us and sorry to hear you are having some troubles with your new tablet. Hopefully, it will be sorted out by Sunday. :)
Gillian Renk
Gillian Renk creator Apr 22, 2018
Late, but thanks for the well-wishes!
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Sinned EL
Sinned EL Dec 30, 2017
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Gillian Renk
Gillian Renk creator Dec 26, 2017
Hey folks! It's been a season of delays, so let's just close out the year that way. No page today, but we'll be back on Saturday! Hope you're all having a good holiday season!
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Gillian Renk
Gillian Renk creator Nov 20, 2017
Aw man. Don't you love good timing? Good timing that means one more week without comic pages? Argh! Here's the story.

So, as mentioned before, the husbando (who does script writing for the comic, if that hasn't been made clear before) is sick and so scripts, and by extension comic pages, have been delayed. Unfortunately, he is still sick! Worse than before, I think. Additionally, this week is Thanksgiving week in the US! We have three holiday celebrations this week, so on top of illness, we have extra complications in the way.

Even if the boy recovered instantly and we were able to nail down pages right this second, there's enough to do to prep for this week's shenanigans that there's sorta no way to have pages done. Which sucks! But that's life. Buffer pages got away from us with life stuff so something was bound to become a stumbling block.

Anyway, that's a whole lot of hoopla to just say that we'll be back with page NEXT Tuesday. Good stuff is coming! I'm really excited about the upcoming plot. Thanks for your patience as always, hopefully I can stop saying this soon!

In the meantime, here is an awkward family gift exchange.
Hououin
Hououin Nov 20, 2017
Sorry to hear that your husband is still ill! I really hope he will recover soon, and don't push yourselves too much, we can wait :)
Gillian Renk
Gillian Renk creator Nov 20, 2017
Thank you! I hope so too--as does he, I'm sure. :)
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Gillian Renk
Gillian Renk creator Nov 18, 2017
Hey guys! No page today, we're getting scripts together for the meeting scene and it's a tad complicated. Plus the husbando is sick, so progress is slow going. We should be back up and running Tuesday, though! Thanks for your patience. <3
curlytothefry
curlytothefry Nov 19, 2017
Cool Cool
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1 Series
  • Aether: Earth and Sun

    Aether: Earth and Sun

    Jun 16, 2018