I wrote the story, created the illustrations by hand using watercolour and coloured pencils, then digitised the images and laid out the book with Adobe InDesign.
For this project, I wanted to create a world that felt personal to me, with a soft, strange and slightly mysterious atmosphere. Working by hand was important to me, because it keeps something alive in the images: the textures, the small imperfections and the colours blending together.
The layout then allowed me to give the story its rhythm, to think about the placement of the images, and about the way the reader discovers each scene. It is a complete project in which I was able to bring together writing, illustration and book design.
The memories of the sea tells the story of a harbour island that was once bright, colourful and peaceful. One day, a strange black rain falls on the island and changes the lives of its inhabitants.
However, this is only the tale surrounding the island and its people. The real story is about Kurt, a walrus-man, and Salmon, his adopted daughter, a human girl he found at sea when she was still a baby.
Through their everyday life, we follow the adventures, doubts, happiness and difficulties Kurt faces as a father, with the help of his best friend Olive, an eel-woman.
This story is not only about an underwater adventure. It is also about a family brought together by fate, an unexpected parental love, and bonds that grow despite differences.
We also discover a love story between two adults who once shared happy moments, but chose to follow different paths while keeping a deep affection for one another.
Through a blue-toned universe, carried by the colours, light and atmosphere of each scene, the comic also follows the perspective of a little red-haired girl who dreams of discovering the world.
At its heart, The memories of the sea tells us that love can appear even in the strangest, most fragile, or most unbelievable situations.
The first version of the storyboard
The second version of the storyboard