Ethan M. Aldridge

Hang out for a long drawing session. A recent studio live VOD is up now! www.youtube.com/live/y1K3_O8...

I do! I use a vintage inkwell I picked up at a flea market years ago. I use FW Acrylic artist ink, and have lately been playing around with Platinum Carbon ink a bit

Hang out for a long drawing session. A recent studio live VOD is up now! www.youtube.com/live/y1K3_O8...

Some Blind Alley illustrations.

From "A Story about Fire", a very traditional animated film : hand-drawn ink-wash on Xuan paper, cutouts, stop-motion...
Directed by Wenyu Li at Shanghai Animation Studio.
Coming this year in Chinese theaters.
>> www.catsuka.com/news/2026-03...

I wish for this graphic novel Kickstarter to make its goal!

Yeah I'm going to be taking some of what he rights about into my next school visits

It's such a good book!

Book cover: The Grammar of Fantasy by Gianni Rodari, illustrated by Matthew Forsythe, translated from Italian by Jack Zipes. Cover illustration is a colorful, textural depiction of a child in white cloak walking past a giant’s foot; snakes, fish, a rabbit, and dragons lurk nearby. Eerie but friendly at the same time.

Chapter header from The Grammar of Fantasy: 38. The Child Who Reads Comics Illustration of a child hidden behind a large comic book with simplified shapes, eyes, and a mouth for panels.

Excerpt from The Grammar of Fantasy: books, new inventions are often added to the basic sounds, and these, too, must be deciphered. The entire course of the story must be reconstructed in the imagination, combining the signals provided by the captions, dialogue, and onomatopoeia with those given by the drawings and color, so that the many loose threads of the plot can be mentally tied together into a single, continuous thread. And it is the reader who makes sense of everything: the personality of the characters, who are not described, but shown in action; the relationships between them, which result from the plot and its developments; even the action itself, which is revealed to the reader only through jumps and fragments. For a child of six or seven years, comic books seem to me sufficiently demanding work, rich with logical and imaginative operations, regardless of the value and content of the comic book, which is not at issue here. When reading a comic, the imagination of the child does not passively assist; rather, it is urged to take a position, to analyze and synthesize, to classify and decide. There is no room here for absentminded daydreams, not while the mind is engaged in such complex attention and the imagination is called upon to fulfill its most noble functions. To venture to say that up to a certain point, the child's principal interest in comic books is not determined by their content, but is tied directly to the form and substance of the comics themselves, as a means of expression. The child wants to master the technique of the comic strip. That's it. She reads comic books in 238

Continued excerpt from The Grammar of Fantasy. order to learn how to read comic books, to understand their rules and conventions. She enjoys the efforts of her own imagination, more than the adventures of the characters. She plays with her own mind, not with the story. It may well be high-handed to separate things so clearly in this way. But the effort of distinguishing between them is worth it if the distinction helps us not to underestimate the child, and the underlying seriousness and moral engagement that she brings to everything she does. Everything else about comics has already been said, for better or for worse, and I won't bother you by repeating it.

did not expect this chapter! I especially love:

“When reading a comic, the imagination of the child does not passively assist; rather, it is urged to take a position, to analyze and synthesize, to classify and decide.”

(and also the eternal nature of “comics ? for kids ????” discourse lmao)

Panels from my webcomic. Teddy runs from a darkened room, but is blocked by a skeletal wraith with ink flowing from its bones

Nowhere to run. There are new pages of Sable: A Ghost Story, up now for Patrons!

To be clear, queer stories will be told regardless of what bad-faith politicians do. We always find a way. But kids need to know they're part of a community too, and laws like these are intended to cut them off.

Politicians crying that they're just "protecting the children" while doing the exact opposite is nothing new, but if this becomes law it could effectively end the careers of some of you favorite queer creators (including mine!)

Why comics creators must fight the proposed censorship of H.R. 7661 H.R. 7661 could restrict federal funding for schools over LGBTQIA+ and sex education content. Here's what's at stake and how to fight back.

Why comics creators must fight the proposed censorship of H.R. 7661

He's a fanboy at heart

Teddy, an anthropomorphic stoat, lost and sinking in a sea of ink

Try not to drown. There are new pages of Sable: A Ghost Story up now for Patrons. Patreon.com/ethanaldridge

Thank you!!!

Thank you! They're really fun to draw

YouTube video by Ethan M. Aldridge The Making Of SABLE: Chapter Three

Anyway, if you'd like to see how I do drawings like this, check out my recent process video! youtu.be/95ge4k4eNHY?...

A grumpy little rodent!

He's just a small creature trying his best in a scary world!

Another drawing of Teddy, his eyes wide and sparkling with wonder.

An inked, in-progress panel from Sable: A Ghost Story, showing Teddy with his typical surly expression

Lovely to see SABLE mentioned in this webcomic roundup video!

Ooo amazing! This is so nice to see, thank you for the heads up!

This is the exact same edition I'm reading!

Thank you!!!

protect this sweet baby boy at all cost

Someone has to, he's certainly not going to do it himself

See the new pages and lots of behind the scenes work here: patreon.com/ethanaldridge

You can start reading the story for free here: sablecomic.com

Thats the only way to deal with a pesky ghost