KOCHI: She is wide-eyed, has big curly hair, loves Christmas and Onam, is obsessed with stationery, breaks into a song at random hours of the day, is a self-confessed papadam hogger and weirdly loves beans. Meet Stephy, the eponymous comic character created by 24-year-old UK-based illustrator Stephy Ann Tomy. A native of Kannur, brought up in Oman, Stephy remembers taking to drawing as a three-year-old kid. In her website, she reveals her passion for drawing.
However, after passing out of school Stephy decided to take up architecture which, in fact, made her more determined to become an artist. A deep inclination to create something of her own that went beyond mere design prompted Stephy to enrol in a master’s programme for illustration in the UK.
Despite her life-long tryst with art, Stephy’s foray into comics, which now comprises her primary and most successful body of work, did not happen until just over a year. “I was gifted an iPad in 2019, that made me get into comics. I followed quite a few comic book artists on Instagram to study perspective and character design.
Although experimenting with comics was an immediate outcome of the iPad, developing the character of Stephy was a gradual process. I had nothing fixed in mind, the characters evolved gradually through practice. Sketching everyday for the Inktober challenge helped me,” says Stephy who is currently working as a creative designer for a startup working on mental health.
Evidently so, comic Stephy has undergone many transformations since she first appeared on her creator’s Instagram feed during the Christmas of 2019. She now has abnormally large eyes, small hands and feet, even tinier nose and is surrounded in warm hues of mauve, red, green and yellow. “I felt like drawing big eyes as it is easy to convey expressions. Also I thought it added to the cuteness factor which would appeal to my audience,” adds Stephy.
Modelled after her real self, the comic strips are short single-frame renderings of her everyday adventures with friends. Directed at young millennials and gen Zers navigating adulthood, careers, love, relationships and identity, Stephy’s comics offer a funny, relatable, light-hearted and often quirky worldview. “I want my work to be easy-going and bring a smile on people’s faces. I don’t think I will venture into serious topics because that is not the content I want to offer.
My strips are short and fit in one frame because I find them more convenient and doable. Although, my mind is always thinking of what episode to sketch next, I have not planned for an extended series or book thus far but will probably work towards it in the future,” says Stephy.
Having arrived at her own distinct style in an increasingly competitive world of short online comics and with her post on ‘People at Onasadhyas’ going viral last Oman, Stephy is hoping to create more relatable content going forward and increasing her reach. “I would like to take up more projects and commissions that would allow me to draw in the same style. My long-term plan is to ideally make this my bread and butter.”Follow comic Stephy’s goofy side on Instagram @stephyanntomy