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The Magic Behind The Selkie's Skin, feat. a Special Q&A with the Artist!
Aug 27, 2020
CK (also known as IcarusMask) is the artist behind The Selkie's Skin. He's been uploading comics to Tapas since 2015 and is very excited to share this one finally! Enjoy this very special Q&A below:
1. The Selkie’s Skin is a twist on traditional fairy tales (Cinderella and The Little Mermaid) as well as Scottish mythology (Selkies). How does the story challenge and differentiate itself from these classics?
CK: By being Gay.
2. The main character Marin is a Selkie man who is forced against his will into a female body as a Land-Walker. How does his experience mimic or echo those of trans men?
CK: I want to mention, I don't believe I can speak for the Trans experience or community. But there are aspects of the story Dani wrote that I feel communicates well what Trans-people face every day. The clearest example would be when Marin, the main character, has to leave his home of loving people who see him as he is and venture out into a different social structure that he doesn't quite understand or fit into. To add to that, he's terrified that the same social structure will not recognize him and shun who he really is if he's ever found out. Which, I think a lot of young Trans-people feel when they start to head out into our world alone.
3. How did you want to portray him and his transition?
CK: I pulled a lot of inspiration from the original text, which mentioned bones cracking and organs shifting around.
4. The Selkie’s Skin was originally a novel. Do you think creating a comic based on an existing story made it more challenging or easier to recreate this world?
CK: Easier! Creating comics definitely requires a skill for storytelling, pacing, and design. Having the story and framework of the story, along with some of the design elements thought out ahead of time, made the whole process a lot easier! Huge kudos to the writer, Dani Olivers!
5. What compelled you to take on this project?
CK: Money. More poetically, I have always been interested in branching out into making webcomics more seriously and as a profession. When I heard that Tapas was looking for someone to work on a novel to comic project, I reached out via email. Some back and forth and a few character test sheets later, I was signed on!
CK: I can't say, because that would be a spoiler.
CK: What I enjoyed most about this experience was being able to worry only about art and placement rather than the writing. Seeing as the heavy lifting was already done, all I had to concern myself with was the presentation. Past that, I also really enjoyed working on backgrounds!
CK: The most frustrating part, I would have to say, is my speed. In the beginning, I was very slow, handling all the sketch work, coloring/rendering, and typesetting on my own. However, as time went on, Tapas began to grow, building out more teams for each project, which is when I got assistance from a great artist, Jenisha! This really helped pick up speed to get this story finished!
Thank you for reading this Q&A on our wonderful creator, CK!
Subscribe to The Selkie Skin (comic) today. New episodes available every Tuesday! Check out more of CK's work here!
