This one goes out to the Comrade @SovietTiger. It's not easy to fully explain what inspires a piece of art or a narrative story. As it is, telling a story is all about expressing something, or finding an outlet for something that makes you feel a certain way. So, for all you creators, comics or not: What inspires you?
I replied to the Comrade's comment about this from a blog I posted on my birthday, and in a sense, I think that EVERYTHING can be inspiring. Something superficial, something deep and dark. I suppose what I'm trying to go with is, not specifically what inspires a full series or a character design. Which is also valid. I mean, things you probably take for granted. Things that, minimal as they can be, they have a massive impact on you, and you want to let out how it made you feel.
I'll start with a special moment from CNC Baby 2. There's a scene in the middle of the comic where Daniela Olivares (my leading lady) goes to McD's to get some food and bumps into Rassia Hernandez, her old childhood friend. Now, the fact that Rassia and Dani know each other at all came from @SovietTiger's proposal to do something with Dani. Obviously, that got me hyped up, because I'm a big fan of Rassia. And the fact that they were both Mexican made things even better because it meant that they can interact in both creators' stories. They have a past in common and they both have suffered through their share of grief. And to be fair, this was all his writing! He came up with that whole interaction himself!
So, when it came time to begin capturing for the comic, I decided to add this scene to their reencounter:
As you see, Rassía is lifting Dani off the ground the second she embraces her. The joy from seeing her childhood friend is palpable here. And you know what inspired it? My friend Blake.
He had moved to Mexico City for about four-five years at that time, and I had not seen him for a long time, physically at least. But every time he saw me, he would hug me just like this. He was a big guy and I'm not necessarily the tallest or the heaviest (debatable now, but we move). He could carry me up with his hugs so easily that it became annoying at one point. But that was the way he expressed how happy he was to see me. This screenshot was taken barely three months before he passed, and when the issue came out, it felt like an homage to him. I met him when I was 20 and he quickly became one of my best friends. He was obsessed with filming as much as I was with music at the time, and he would go on to direct several short films, and would helm a big budget project that sadly got canned. But I will always remember our impromptu jam sessions at his house, filming local shows and random videos, acting like idiots and just being goofballs. But those hugs alone... That's when you know someone really cares about you.
So, while @SovietTiger handled the writing for their whole interaction, I handled the visuals at McD's. And there you go. Just a fragment of what inspires me on certain scenes. Make sure to share your sources of inspiration below.