I thought I would start this video out with a “for anyone who…” accompanied by a shot that scrolls down as a nod to how it feels reading this comic on Webtoon, its place of origin.
…doing so made me feel clever.
ANYWAY LOOK GUYS I MADE PICTURES MOVE.
And breathing life into the world I’ve been illustrating for two years gave me more than one moment’s pause as I realized with a chuckle that some things just don’t make sense. I’m perfectly happy with entertaining a bit of magic in this series (our favorite little ghost does wear shoes, after all), so not everything needs an explanation, but I thought it would be fun to share some of the silly questions that popped up during this project and the answers that clicked into place as I thought them over.
Question #1: How would a ghost wearing sneakers move within the world around him?
This one was a fascinating question to me because it is something that has not once mattered in the comic. In the comic, I can just draw him wearing shoes and get away with it, but in animation, I really had to stop and think to figure out how he moves.
Like, Yu’s a ghost, so he would float, right? This gave me the option to make it so he could gently bob and up down above his sneakers. But I also kind of liked the idea of Yu being anchored to his shoes, which is the idea I ended up going with.
So this is how our little ghost boy moves.
For now, at least.
Will I change how he moves as this project continues to grow and develop? Maybe. I really don’t know.
It will be a surprise for the whole lot of us, I guess.
Question #2: Where does Yu sleep?
This question came up because my baby brother was watching me draw the exterior of Yu’s house and asked me what the inside of the house looked like. I explained that inside is an open space and listed off the basic items that take up residence within… and then the seven-year-old and I both stopped and looked at each other wondering the same thing: If Yu’s house doesn’t have a bedroom or a bed, where does Yu sleep?
The answer appeared in my brain in the same moment we asked the question, but instead of sharing my epiphany right now, allow me to first share some background info on why I designed Yu’s house the way that I did back in 2021.
I’m in love with Thoreau’s Walden and how the cabin he built himself only contained exactly what he needed. Since I was reading Walden at the time, I built Yu’s house based on Thoreau’s cabin (sans pond). It’s just the one room with the few things he needs. Instead of the three wooden chairs, though, I gave him oversized beanbags because they’re softer.
And that’s my answer: Yu’s a simple little guy who’s content with what he has, so he’s happy to sleep on one of the beanbags (he prefers the one that’s closest to the treasure chest on the mantle, which is why that’s the one I always draw him in). I think that answer fits him perfectly, tbh.
Question #3: Yu’s house has a fireplace… but why isn’t there a chimney in the exterior shot?
Ah, yes, another question that occurred as I was drawing that first establishing shot. After writing for however many years I’ve been doing it at this point, I’ve learned that having a solid design for the buildings my stories take place within is one of my biggest weak points as a writer. My story-brain just creates the interior without considering how the interior and exterior must make logical sense together. To put it another way, when writing, my brain’s fine thinking everything’s a TARDIS.
Which doesn’t bother me in writing-mode… but in drawing-mode it sure proves challenging.
Look, I tried. I tried drawing a chimney, I really did. I thought it would be a simple add-on: just plop a chimney right onto the rooftop and be done with it in a matter of minutes.
But I ended up drawing and redrawing the cursed thing so many times–I just couldn’t get it to look right.
So, after spending way more time on it than I should have, I axed it, comforting myself with the thought that in a world where a little ghost can wear shoes, maybe not every fireplace needs a visible chimney.
…it’s fine as long as we don’t think about it too much.
P.S. Thanks for waiting what felt like forever so I could put comic work aside to practice animation. I’m so happy to have developed (and to continue to develop) a new skill, and I appreciate you tremendously. Have a great day.
Note: the original Author Commentary for the letter used in this animation can be found here, and the animation itself can be found here
Olivia Forero 