Witchflowers sprang to life in October 2021 during the Inktober art challenge. Cartoonist Nathan Olsen pushed himself to create an entire comic strip from each day’s art prompt and, quite by accident, birthed the charming world of Witchflowers in the process!
A useful (if sometimes aggravating) aspect of Inktober is that it pushes artists (and cartoonists) to venture out of their comfort zone to keep up with the daily deadline. There is no time for second guessing. And no time for revisions. Nathan had no choice but to think fast and commit to whatever crazy idea the day’s prompt inspired — and hope for the best that it all worked out!
To Nathan’s surprise, the comic he posted for the very first day of Inktober 2021 generated an instant buzz on Instagram. Although he didn’t realize it at the time, the witch-themed comic that he posted that day would mark the spontaneous inception of Witchflowers!
Read The Comics That Started It All
Don’t miss out on the magic that sparked it all! Scroll down to journey back to where it all began, and join Iris, Sunflower, and Hettie in the enchanting and hilarious Witchflowers comics that have won hearts worldwide.
With no idea he was creating a new series, Nathan made another comic featuring the same witch character the very next day. And another the day after that. His notifications buzzed with likes and his follower count began to swell. Nathan realized he was having a blast making comics for this crafty old witch — so he thought, why not keep going?
At the core of Witchflowers is the touching relationship between Iris Bloom and her young niece, Sunflower Daffodil. Sunflower absolutely idolizes her aunt and dreams of one day becoming a witch just like her. Always generous, Iris imparts her magical knowledge and wisdom to her eager young apprentice.
The comic Nathan Olsen penned for day three of Inktober 2021 suggested a sequel for day four. But that would mean introducing continuity — a story! Even though the idea of pushing himself to develop an on-going narrative was appealing, Nathan wasn’t keen on ramping up the difficulty level of Inktober any more than necessary. Not only would he have to brainstorm a unique concept for the day based on the word prompt, but Nathan would also need to cleverly weave it into the events that unfolded in the previous day’s comic. Could he pull it off?
The characters didn’t have names. Or backstories. Nathan had absolutely no plan. He knew about as much about what was going to happen in the next comic as the readers did.
Nathan really didn’t have much time to think about it. The clock was ticking. he rolled the dice and went for it, thinking he’d wrap-up the little tea time caper in a day or two.
Nathan worried he might botched up the whole narrative. What if he hit a creative block and ran out of ideas? Nathan tried strategizing, plotting out the entire story in advance to guarantee it had a satisfying conclusion. But when the day arrived to implement those pre-conceived ideas, a fresh, more fitting concept would pop into his head — one that resonated more authentically with the characters and their universe. And just like that, all his meticulous planning would go flying out the window!
Each day breathed more life into the world and characters Nathan Olsen had created. By the end of October 2021, he had completed 16 comic strips — that’s a new comic every other day for an entire month! Not bad! While Nathan wasn’t able to wrap-up the story he’d begun, the readers’ continued support and excitement for this new series have bolstered his determination to bring it to a worthy conclusion.
More to come!
If these comics have tickled your fancy, then you’re in for a treat! Inspired by the original #inktober comics, Nathan Olsen is currently hard at work on a Witchflowers graphic novel that will feature over 100 new pages of art and story! Brace yourself to plunge further into the bedlam of Iris Bloom’s chaotic tea party! Get a bird’s-eye view of Sunflower Daffodil’s flying lessons! And prepare to laugh as Hettie the bird humorously attempts to disentangle herself from the entire magical mess!
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