We’re all about Sanity

On Sanity: One Day In Two Lives (2016): A 36 page graphic novel. A touching story about Una and her mum, pages written and drawn in collaboration as part of a project on mental-health, funded by Arts Council England.

The story centres around the day me and Mum sat in the kitchen of my grandparents house, waiting for an ambulance to take my mother to hospital after she was ‘sectioned’ under the Mental Health Act. The text is based on an oral history – my mother’s words – the drawing is based on our collaboration, drawn by Una, but imagined by both of us. (My mum has included a painting she made with her short essay, in the appendix). She continues to paint and enjoy her life. She keeps taking the tablets. I keep caring.

How the book was made

The book was part of a project around mental ill-health and caring with zine workshops and public talks, in collaboration with Arts and Minds (Leeds) and East Street Arts (Leeds), funded by Arts Council England. Participants contributed to a collective zine titled We All Start At The Beginning. There is a blog post here about the zine. I designed the book and the cover, bought an ISBN and sent the book for printing to the expert comics printer Rich at Comics Printing UK.

Read an article on downthetubes.net about the project and the book.

Copies of On Sanity: One Day In Two Lives were donated to all libraries in the Leeds area or you can buy one from my Etsy shop.

Drawing method

The first half of the book was drawn a few years before the second half. I started in pencil, ink pen and Indian ink wash, then added or changed things digitally, using photoshop. The second half of the book is drawn by hand on an iPad.