For as long as I can remember I’ve been drawing. Heavily influenced by Calvin & Hobbes, SnarfQuest, Dennis the Menace, Archie and MAD comics, I dreamt of one day people enjoying comics by me the way my family, friends and I enjoyed Calvin & Hobbes.
Where I’m from, however, back then opportunities like that never felt possible. I had no idea how to reproduce my drawings to print, nor did I know how to even begin to pursue that career.
Unintentional Origins
I started using a brand name sometime back in 2004 I believe, when I took the bold step to do full-time freelancing after working for others for a few years.
It wasn’t my first attempt; There was “Digital Potato”, which at the time was meant to be shocking, memorable, witty, yet nonchalant. It’s still remembered by some professional colleagues to this day, as a sort of moniker for the “what were you thinking?” phase. So it worked, in my opinion.
Somehow I knew “Digital Potato” wasn’t long-term.
I really wanted to capture the essence of creativity in a brand name. Something that symbolises the naivety of going against all odds, yet doesn’t take itself too seriously? It must be somewhat playful and relatable, yet not too childish at the same time.
In those days I was heavily influenced by Pixar and the likes of Blur Studio and other VFX studios, who were relatively unknown, back then. So the name must sound like a creative, modern and universal brand.
“Lucision”, a combination of “lucid” and “vision” I concocted, as another attempt to sound international. I tried it for some time, but that wasn’t it.
The Name
The real lightbulb moment with the eventual new name I landed on was when my late grandfather, who was a cultivated, suave man, always combed hair, was shaven, properly speaking, and shirt always tucked in, actually remembered my business title a year or more after I initially told him.
I didn’t think much of it when he asked what I called my business venture at the time. I remember initially expecting him to dismiss it as some childish attempt, similar to Digital Potato. But he didn’t. To my surprise, he was proud to refer to it as unique and interesting.
So I thought that if someone in his old age can remember something unpopular and unrelated to his line of work, then it must mean something.
Webcomics Unleashed
I stumbled with life for a few years, in more ways than one, to say the least. Never really had a guiding light of sorts since my father, my best friend, had passed away from cancer when I was just 16. So I was experiencing life by trial and error basically.
It wasn’t until sometime in late 2008 that I decided to register the .com for the name with the intent to start building the brand seriously, mainly for work. Soon after my life got turned upside down and pursuing that dream felt near impossible so I let go of the domain about a year later.
Then as luck or fate would have it, depending on your perspective, I found back my passion for creating comics a few years later. Not sure why I was so oblivious to it, but I didn’t think it was possible to publish my own comics.
When it dawned on me that I could publish my comics online in the form of webcomics, since I had just taught myself how to develop basic dynamic websites, after a failed online venture partnership, I hastily began to work on my webcomic.
The name stuck with me and it felt appropriate though I didn’t consciously intend for it to be my comics venture brand, and to my surprise, it was still available, so I registered it again in 2011
Twists and Turns
Unfortunately, life didn’t improve, so I struggled for a bit and I didn’t go all in. Things changed drastically over the next few years and I struggled mentally for some time. At one point, creating webcomics was my escape, but then it became a burden since I wasn’t making any money from it, nor was I financially stable.
So I unconsciously stopped sometime in early 2014.
Creating comics was my passion, so I kept the name registered, though it was inactive. I pursued different failed ventures to become stable enough to create comics full-time.
There was always an intention to resume it, but days turned to months and months turned to years and I tho I had several ideas and concepts literally drawn up I never published anything.
Rediscovered Purpose
Fast forward to almost a decade later, following that extended hiatus, if you can call it that, I rediscovered my purpose. I tried many ways to reach stability to pursue this dream, and I did somewhat; just not in the way I expected.
I’ve been through so many experiences, relationships, phases, failures (so many), seasons and expectations—I resolved, in my renewed pursuit, to document and share the journey, so that the younger me somewhere out there, might be encountering parallel experiences or situations. I want them to understand that, despite the challenges, there’s a light at the end of the tunnel. There is hope.
I intend to showcase the process as much as possible, with documentation, techniques, ideas, ideologies, concepts and results, both good and bad. I aim to provide resources that can assist others, especially those who, like me at some point, may not have realised it was possible to pursue similar dreams regardless of their current circumstances.
So, as I embark on this journey of sharing, I hope my story serves as a beacon of encouragement for anyone navigating through their own trials and tribulations, proving that despite the unexpected twists and turns, there’s always a path to realizing your dreams and finding fulfilment in the most unexpected ways.