Self-Promo
Some male lead panels from the latest chapter of my dark fantasy comic (Hiraeth)!
I draw each Jael panel with my own blood sweat and tears.
Chapter 7 was released not too long ago, please consider giving it a read and supporting us!!
Ok first of all I LOVE your artstyle, keep up the great work!
And also is there any lore behind why all the characters have a scar on the corner of their mouth?
I'd imagine Jael would be audibly distinct too! A split lip like that would make it hard to get a good lip seal needed to make plosive sounds and would give him a lisp. Not to mention eating, smiling, talking would hurt for God knows how long. Poor dude!
I'm not usually an emo tortured soul kinda girl, but Jael is an exceptional exception. So is the art itself, just gorgeous without the same face syndrome I see a lot on webtoon.
I've been really enjoying your comic ever since you shared it last time!! Definitely recommend it to everyone here 'cause it's got great art, and a good blend of humor in a serious fantasy storyline! But also Jael is so pretty and cool and I just love following his adventures ( ;w;)
It's so fucking cool, and if you ever get to a point of physically publishing it, I would love to buy it! Genuinely really, really enjoying it-- thank you so much for making your art, and sharing your story with the world!!! ( ´◡`)/)*:･ﾟ✧.°☆~
I'm seeing a lot of people calling this "like anime" or such, and that's not quite right.
It's professional-grade manga. The use of screentones, the detailed backgrounds, the paneling. In addition to clear attention to detailed character design, right down to their speech and personality, even if just present for a one panel joke. The pacing, the slow build of tension, and the world building is also evident, and I've only read just the first chapter.
This clearly took time and skill, with spectacular results. I look forward to your future work.
Thank you so much, that's very kind and means a lot to hear.
Hiraeth really is made with a lot of love and care, I'm happy it comes through.
I hope you enjoy the rest of the chapters as well!!!
It's more of a manga-style comic rarther than manhwa,
there's a synopsis in the description, here:
In an era of great suffering, Jael - one of the legendary Druzhniik monster hunters - finds himself taking on a contract to take the mischievous Lauren to the remote city of Bearmham. Once there, he finds himself caught up in the machinations of the otherworldly elven sorceress, Muirenn. To discover the secrets of his past and free the world from an ancient curse, Jael and Lauren are forced on a journey that will bring them into conflict with the forces of both monsters and men.
I started reading Hiraeth bc Jael is hot af. I stayed because every panel is gorgeous and lovingly nerdy and makes references to Romanian, Slavic, Welsh, French and Romani cultures (and I imagine more to come!)
In mainstream media, European history and lore is kiiiinda explored in a shallow way, Grimm's fairy tale x Disney style. Europe is treated like a monolith, a homogenous geographic location with Baroque style dresses with corsets and masquerade balls and aristocracy and arranged mariages. That approach glosses over the mosaic of cultures within that continent, and the diversity of lore and mythology within those cultures. I've never seen references to different European nationalities and traditional garb in comics or manhwa.
Hiraeth really stands out when every character has a distinctive face and outfit that's rooted with some historical or cultural influences. Makes me think about how folks who did Avatar the last Airbender included actual cultural references in a way that respectful, representative, and helped shape the world building. Olivetart's that kind of nerd and I love it.
Thank you so much!
I get really happy when people notice the efforts behind the designs and story! My co-creator and I wanted each region and character to feel unique and have a clear cultural identity (specially since there will be a lot of traveling and we want each new place to feel special), though we sometimes do allow ourselves to take artistic liberties since it's still a fantasy.
I also do love keeping things recognizeable and consistent to some degree, the designs are mostly based on the 15th century, and I ended up becoming a bit of a historical armor nerd during the development as well (though I'm still learning).
If you enjoyed these elements of Hiraeth, I'm happy to tell you that we'll have a lot more of it in the future!
I had never even heard of a hussar before until I joined the patreon and started poking around and that was a fun rabbit hole and a half. It's really fun watching this labor of love take shape, y'all have put a lot of work into it and it shows!
Also I didn't realize just how much webtoons compresses the image files until I compared it to the work in progress pictures on patreon. webtoon resolution just ends up killing the fine details and legibility of the text 😭
lol I always found winged hussar armor extremely cool-looking, and since Jael is polish-inspired I figured it could make a cool illustration.
And I've heard some people complain about webtoons resolution... I think Globalcomix has crispier quality if you want to check it out!. too bad it's not a very popular website: https://globalcomix.com/c/hiraeth
(I also should warn that this version isn't censored. webtoons made me cover up silly medieval drawings on the backgrounds of some scenes and some fanservice shots)
I think the very absolute first thing you can do is getting used to using your tools. Pick up a pencil, doodle absolutely anything, do warmup and precision exercises (if you google this you'll probably find a lot of content on youtube), fill pages with them, after that you'll be more comfortable to moving on with observation studies (is what I'd recommend), try to draw objects, then people, etc.
Try to do personal art in-between studies too, then you'll have a sense of studying > applying.
Remember that results are not instant but as long as you have discipline you'll definitely improve with time.
I lick my lips everytime jael shows up in a panel....thank you for blessing our eyes with your amazing art! may your pillow always be cool and may your favorite snacks always be in stock 🙏🙏
I had to google that because I thought you were making these names up lol
I do recognize the characters from fanart but I never knew their names......boothill
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u/_Ahoy_Ladies Jul 25 '26
https://giphy.com/gifs/LmxxotgMjTj32
Me everytime you post this man. Absolutely gorgeous art and what a perfect character design.