Dripping Sun

Don’t let the tails fool you, this is a human story.

Eva is a young engineer who moves to a large industrialist metropolis, but has such difficulty adapting to the hostile work culture that she starts manifesting unnatural events around her: She suffers from nosebleeds, sees heat mirages, and loses her own shadow under the bright sun! In addition, everyone is coughing up a strange black substance, but no one seems to notice it…

Inspiration

I wrote Dripping Sun to reflect on my own complicated feelings about work, cities, and the culture around me. As an interpreter, I have worked on several industrial sites that have given me a greater awareness of insidious practices and ways of thinking that I am still processing. And just like Eva, I have felt alienated and adrift in the cities I’ve lived in, but have turned to my family history to ground myself and help shape my identity.

The first iteration of the story was written in Mark Sable’s class, Creative Script. It went through many small changes, but I always intended the city to be the main antagonist in Eva’s story. 

I have moved several times in my life, and every new location has come with culture changes. Inevitably, I end up comparing the new place with the previous one. Being an outsider has its advantages, too. It has allowed me to observe outside the bubble, so to speak, and has led me to confront my own beliefs and biases. At times, the passive hostility of the city felt demoralizing and alienating, as if the land itself rejected me. In those moments, I felt vulnerable and lonely.

Why geckos?

In the first iterations of the story, Eva was a young woman, but something didn’t feel right. I wasn’t excited about drawing her, and I was having trouble developing the story. It wasn’t until we did an assignment exploring our visual influences that it clicked for me: I’d always had a special affinity for drawing animals, and many of my favorite childhood books featured animal protagonists. As soon as I drew Eva as a gecko, the story fell into place. Sometimes, it’s easier to feel compassion and relate to a small critter, without the trappings of the human form. Animal characters allowed me to focus on the emotional aspects of the story, and helped me find a comfortable balance for magical realism.

Research was one of my favorite steps in developing Eva’s story. I read academic articles on genres such as magical realism, weird fiction and urban fantasy. I also read authoritative books and scientific articles on geckos, and watched videos of gecko keepers on Youtube. Learning about particular gecko species (common house geckos and mourning geckos) allowed me to shape the dynamics between characters and expand Eva’s backstory. Ultimately, all research was informative and deepened my understanding of my own characters and the approach I’d have to storytelling.

Process

During the summer semester of 2024, I developed the fundamentals of my story, including the story outline, three act structure and main characters.
In the fall I progressed to a detailed outline and began sketching out pages in place of a script.
For my first 3 pages, I planned out the basic structure of my panels and drew sketches by hand, however, due to time constraints I switched to drawing digital sketches on Procreate after page 3. After this, I drew final pencils and text bubbles on Procreate, and added color on Procreate and Photoshop. Coloring is adapted to risograph printing and is done in five spot colors based on risograph inks

The handwritten font I used was created by my sister, Claudia Fonseca, using the app Fontself on the iPad.
Print layouts were set in InDesign.

Gecko Research

After completing my thesis book, I illustrated a 20 page zine about geckos, featuring my favorite gecko facts, and the two species that informed my story, the common house gecko (hemidactylus frenatus) and the mourning gecko (lepidodactylus lugubris). Printed by myself in the SVA RisoLab, using Hunter Green and Raspberry, on Neenah Astroparche paper.

The zine is available for purchase at several locations. Contact me for more details!

What’s Next?

I am currently seeking representation through an agent to publish Dripping Sun! Eventually, I hope that readers trying to find their way in an imperfect world can relate to Eva’s experiences and reflect on their own place in the communities they belong to.

In the meantime, I will also work on editorial illustration projects, and continue to self-publish shorter comics and explore comics poetry through risograph printing. 

I am passionate about sharing my knowledge and skills with my community, and so, will continue teaching workshops focused on self-publishing and graphic narrative in my studio, Tori Press.

About Me

I am an artist, translator and riso printmaker who loves crafting stories with words and images. I relate to small critters and shapeshifters, and enjoy the balance of being contemplative but playful. I gravitate towards writing stories of curious characters that learn, reflect and venture into mysterious lands. In addition to writing and drawing, I run a riso press called Tori Press in the north of Mexico, where I print graphic narrative and independent publications for local and international artists, and teach graphic narrative workshops.

Thematically influenced by folklore, mythology, history and world literature, my visual work is quickly recognizable by its bright colors, animal characters, and atmospheric illustrations which serve as a reminder of the wonders of the natural world.

Contact Me WebsiteInstagram