Wellspring by Rachel Alatalo – SEE SAW Comics, Webcomics from the Sequential Artists Workshop

â€œWhy am I like this?â€ Rachel looks at themself in the mirror. They have thick eyebrows, bangs, and wavy hair past their shoulders, rendered in soft blues. They are touching their cheeks with their hands as tears and makeup stream down their face. They look pained, brows furrowed, eyes wide, frowning.

â€œI wander the hallways of my mind.â€ Rachel is walking through a threshold into a hallway with blue and white checkered tiles and a rounded ceiling. There are potted plants and artworks decorating the space. Tears are still streaming down their face.

â€œSearching for the source of my tears.â€ A dark, damp spot on the ceiling is dripping large amounts of water, splashing on the floor. Rachel looks up with surprise to see it. They ascend an ornate staircase, wearing an evening gown.

Rachel peers through a creaking door to see an overflowing bathtub. They approach it. They dive into an ocean through the tub, swimming down to coral and anemones and eels on the sea floor.

â€œAs if pain caused by memories works differently than pain caused by family, or hormones, or alcohol, or the news.â€ Rachel looks over a dark chasm in the ocean floor and dives down, reaching their hand through it to get to something unseen, brows furrowed. There is litter scattered in the underwater landscape: an alcohol bottle, a cracked phone, a pill bottle, along with shells and human bones.

Rachelâ€™s hand reaches through a small hole and brushes something bright; they smile. â€œBut it hasnâ€™t worked out yet.â€ They tug to get their hand out and struggle, now frowning and panicked. â€œMaybe I need to let it goâ€ They grab onto something like a clump of hair, let it go, and retract their hand through the hole. They pop open the bathtub drain stopper. â€œAnd deal with whatâ€™s right in front of me.â€ They look off in the distance, hair slicked back from the water, a calm expression on their face. Their hands touch their hair on the back of their head.

Published On: May 8, 2024

“Story of an Autumn Chicken by Jen Grisard Ludwig” A forest covered in autumn leaves, with the silhouette of an anthropomorphic chicken in the background.

"SAW & A.G. Moore Present: Instructions for Becoming! Comics as Spells, Recipes, & Equations, Fri June 14th 7pm Eastern on Zoom"

A cheery bear says, "Office, sweet office!" A pig cheers, "Yay!" They have arrived in front of a house carved out of a tree-topped hill.

“Couplet" A naked woman sits crouched on the ground, leaning forward so she is almost lying down. "We started as one"

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"Friday Night Comics presents Georgia Webber: A Rant about Rectangles Friday May 31st 7pm on Zoom" Four Georgias are seen talking passionately or thinking deeply about rectangles

"Free online workshop: Icons Patterns and Textures with Fionn McCabe, Sequential Artists Workshop, Friday May 24 7pm EST"

"After Camp" A traced drawing of Adam as a boy standing with his Grandpa, whose hand rests on Adam's shoulder. Adam says, "Hi again, Grandpa."

"SAW Presents: Exploring Your Comfort Zone Using Comics with Dana Jeri Maier, Friday May 17 7pm ET 4pm PT" A map of a land mass divided in two by a dotted line and surrounded by water and sea monsters.

A hilly landscape with a black sky. Someone from off panel says, "Nelly?"

"SAW presents a virtual comics workshop: Your Celebrity Crush Is In Love With You, with Heather Loase, free and open to all, Friday May 10th, 7pm EST" The title of the workshop is in white block letters over a large red heart, surrounded by small red hearts decorating the graphic. Below the heart, one person is chasing another. The chasee says, "No Barry Keoghan, I will NOT be your date to the Oscars!" Barry Keoghan, holding a bouquet of roses, replies, "I beg ye' to reconsider darlin'"

Two people enter a house that is partially flooded and in disarray. They look shocked.

"Disabled activists fought for an elevator down to light rail but it was shuttered due to misuse. Foot traffic brings the challenges of humanity. For building owners, isolation saves money."

“The Way Above by Adrean Clark My librarian aunt has a cabin in the Blue Ridge Mountains. As a kid, I climbed the loft high above my hearing family. A row of National Geographic’s formed a tunnel behind her bookshelves. My mind traveled the world without worrying about my Deafness." 3 panels who altogether depict a cityscape view of St. Paul, Minnesota.

Rachel looks at themself in the mirror. They have thick eyebrows, bangs, and wavy hair past their shoulders, rendered in soft blues. They are touching their cheeks with their hands as tears and makeup stream down their face. They look pained, brows furrowed, eyes wide, frowning.

Promo graphic reading “Drawing Sense Memory with Solomon Brager @jbbrager Free Virtual Workshop Friday 5/3 @7pm ET / 4pm PT” A human nose highlighted in pink is sniffing a yellow daffodil; they are composed of half-tone textures.

“When I was in the 5th grade my best friend and I used to name the pigeons in the schoolyard.” A brightly colored screenshot of a Google Maps street view image of a city street, with a cartoon pigeon imposed on it to be part of the scene.

"SAW Presents: Sketchbook Church with Walker Mettling Fri April 26 7pm EDT Sketchbook Games | Beginners Welcome Free Friday Night Comics Workshop"

A human figure is crouched down on the ground, back against a tree trunk. They are backed away from a pond, from which a huge splash of water rises with a “PLIIP!” The figure is frowning, looking a bit taken aback.

$Christa places her hands over her chest in mourning and cries quietly, tears streaming down her face, eyes closed and head tilted slightly. Two other versions of this image are refracted in the background along with a slight iridescent effect.$

An extreme close up of a human eye. The pupil and iris are completely reflecting a scene of frogs in the mud.

A view from below of wintry trees encircling a ball of light, perhaps the moon on a cloudy night. The title is contained in this orb, lettered in a curveless style in all caps. There are lots of crow-like bird silhouettes perched in the branches of the tree, and it is raining. The scene is rendered in layers of purple, blue, and brown watercolors/gouache, lined with a black brush pen.

Two vultures are perched atop a branch running horizontally across the image, above the bolded text, "A Note From the Creator"

Kim sits at her desk, facing away from the reader, working on a painting by the light of a desk lamp. A board is standing upright in front of her, with a photo taped to it; paints and a cup of water sit on the desk to her right. “December 26.”

Kim’s hand holds a little flower; in front of her is a sheet of paper covered with other little flowers of different types. Next to it is a pair of small shears. “December 21. Collected flowers for Mom’s gift. Cleaned, worked, readied, cooked.”

Kim is crouching over the large pile of mulch, which is giving off steam. “December 14. Land remediation talk after work. Mulch pile is smoking :)”

Promo image: “SAW Presents: Aimless Comics with Anand Shenoy / 04/05 @ 7pm EST | Beginners Welcome / Free Friday Night Comics Workshop” In the center of the image is an illustration of a man with warm, medium skin sitting on a train, framed by the window. The figure’s elbow is resting on the edge of the window, knuckles pressed below his ear in a relaxed position. He is wearing a bright pink and yellow baseball cap, a purple t-shirt, and a green vest; the train seat is pink and the background is blue. The rest of the image is pink, with curved, dotted lines like in a map drawn in yellow and purple.

4 thoughts on “Wellspring by Rachel Alatalo”

Ellen Beier
05/16/2024, 1:13 pm
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Wow Rachel, so beautifully done.
Maria Fitzgerald
05/21/2024, 6:10 am
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This is amazing! So much movement, great backgrounds, and full of meaning.
david alatalo
06/22/2024, 11:33 am
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well maybe I’m biased but I thought it was awesome. Don’t worry about everyone getting it . not going to happen. Listen there are legit people think earth is flat, can never be convinced. Progress not perfection. Risk reward ratio meaning balance between time and effort and final result. God knows you saw plenty of my home projects that sometimes good enough is good enough cuz it got the job done. Other stuff, yah alot of time and effort and end result will last for decades. Your good enough far surpasses most peoples almost perfection.
Jason Gael
07/08/2024, 3:13 am
- Reply
the ending is perfect, pull the plug! feeling fresh and clean and the rest flows down the draiin~ cool way to tell the story! I wonder how many people even think to search for the source of their tears? hmmm…

4 thoughts on “Wellspring by Rachel Alatalo”

Ellen Beier

Maria Fitzgerald

david alatalo

Jason Gael

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