The Silent Struggle - Inspired by Christophe Chabouté.

For this piece, I sketched and inked everything directly in Photoshop.

Inspired by Christophe Chabouté. A brief introduction to Mr. Chabouté—he is a French graphic novelist known for his deep, black-and-white storytelling. I admire him for his unique style of conveying narratives through his artwork. One thing I particularly notice in his novels is the way he expresses emotions through the eyes of his characters. He also often uses a minimum of three panels to deliver his stories.

I love his work because I can connect with and understand his novels, even though they contain no dialogue bubbles. His storytelling is powerful—you can feel the emotions in his art. I especially appreciate his beautiful rendering in black and white ink; his work is truly artistic.

For my design, I used Photoshop along with a drawing tablet. This was my first time using a tablet, which I bought from Amazon—it was affordable and very helpful for drawing characters. However, it requires a lot of practice to get comfortable with making smooth strokes.

Drawing inspiration from Christophe Chabouté’s style, I imitated his black-and-white aesthetic while adding a single color pigment to enhance the effect. In the first panel, a man is drawing a smiley face on his finger. The second panel focuses on his eyes, which appear empty and frail. In the third panel, he holds up his finger with the drawn smile while struggling to smile himself. The story conveys how someone tries to stay happy and positive despite silently struggling.

I chose this design because I deeply connect with my chosen graphic novel artist. His drawings are profound, and he has an incredible ability to bring emotions to life through his visual storytelling. Similarly, the smile on the finger in my piece symbolizes an attempt to mask inner emptiness with humor and artistic expression. The man in my artwork works in an office setting, trying to appear happy while feeling empty inside.

For this piece, I sketched and inked everything directly in Photoshop.

What would I change about my design?

I want to improve the third panel by emphasizing the finger with the drawn smile. I feel that enhancing its emotional impact would make the story even more powerful. I also want to explore different color palettes to see how they affect the overall mood of the piece.