Palmyra, the book. Coming soon.

MAKING PALMYRA

The world of Palmyra wasn't created all at once. The first sketches still had no definite style, hesitating for a while between pen and pencil. Some go as far back as 1997. Gradually the design settled on black and white wax crayons on colored drawing paper, intended to be edited on computer at the final stage, which allowed a greater degree of freedom in defining both storyline and page layout.

This first work had a troubled existence, starting with a failed edition and then going on tour, disconnected from any narrative, featuring the original drawings in several art or comic art exhibitions. However, its purpose being to tell a story, at a certain point it got a new storyline and a new page layout. A virtual secretary – brand name Palmyra – took the role of narrator. But changes wouldn't stop there.

Reworked recently with two narrators instead of one, it gained a new rhythm with the dialogue between Palma and Kyki, both belonging to the network of Palmyra virtual secretaries. New questions arose, about privacy in the virtual world and also about our degree of dependence on it. The story and the layout were improved. Some drawings that were excluded at an earlier stage were recovered for the new story, while others, now redundant, were left out. The sketches on colored paper were reproduced in grayscale, as was the original intention.