Bande Dessinée · Character Design · Sequential Illustration · Colour Artwork
Samara – De Minuit à Minuit — 10-Page Bande Dessinée for Create Your Voice
A ten-page colour graphic novel / bande dessinée about artistic voice, memory, cultural transmission and the confidence to speak through one’s own creative identity.
Project: Create Your Voice · Format: Printed 10-page bande dessinée · 2026
Role: Character Design · Page Illustration · Sequential Storytelling · Final Line Art · Colour Artwork
The Story
A story about finding a voice — and passing it on
Samara follows a young Maya girl from Guatemala whose artistic voice grows out of memory, family transmission and a deep connection to her cultural identity.
The story begins beside a fire, where Samara receives a pendant that once belonged to her grandmother. The necklace becomes a visual thread through the entire bande dessinée: a connection between generations, inherited memory and the courage to speak in one’s own voice.
Samara’s Journey
From a cardboard guitar to a public voice
As a child, Samara dreams of music but meets an immediate barrier. She arrives at a modest music school carrying a handmade cardboard guitar and is turned away because she does not own a real instrument.
The moment establishes one of the central ideas of the story: talent, imagination and artistic legitimacy do not always arrive with institutional approval or material advantage.
Her path changes when she begins singing publicly in Guatemala City and is noticed by Vivi, a flamboyant and perceptive mentor who recognises the force of her voice. Rather than asking her to become smoother or more conventional, he encourages her to remain truthful to herself.
01 · Sequential Storytelling
Building a complete story in ten pages
A short bande dessinée has very little room for hesitation. Characters have to read quickly, locations need to establish themselves within a few panels, and each page must move both the plot and the emotional arc forward.
I approached Samara as a compact but fully developed piece of sequential illustration rather than a series of separate images. Page rhythm, panel transitions, character acting and colour all had to work together.
02 · Character Design
A cast designed to carry the story quickly
Because the story moves across countries, ages and emotional registers within only ten pages, every recurring figure needed a clear silhouette, recognisable personality and enough acting range to carry narrative weight immediately.
Samara had to remain recognisable through several ages and states of confidence: the attentive child by the fire, the hesitant young singer, the artist stepping into public visibility and finally the figure of transmission at the close of the story.
The supporting cast includes Vivi, Oréo, Doña Margo, Brigitte, Kaito and a wider group of musicians, family members, passers-by and audiences. Together they allow the BD to move between intimacy, humour, cultural encounter and public performance.
03 · Page Design
Composition, panel rhythm and colour
I created the complete visual side of the bande dessinée: character development, page composition, finished drawing and final colour. That included intimate dialogue scenes, public performances, crowd sequences, travel passages and larger atmospheric panels.
04 · Colour
Colour as part of the narrative
Colour does more than finish the drawings. It helps move the reader through different places, moods and stages of Samara’s journey.
The opening firelight is warm and intimate; city scenes become more saturated; stage sequences open into stronger light; the ocean passages become deeper and quieter; and the final performance at Lake Atitlán brings those emotional threads together again.
Across Borders
Guatemala, Paris, Tokyo, the Atlantic and Mexico
The story expands beyond Guatemala as Samara’s artistic awareness grows. In Paris she encounters a world-music festival and musician Mo Nachau. In Tokyo, an exhibition with painter Kaito turns into a reflection on difference, visibility and freedom.
During an Atlantic crossing she meets environmental activist Brigitte, linking creative expression with ecological responsibility. In Mexico, activist singer Celia Braken introduces another dimension: women’s rights and public resistance.
These are large themes for ten pages. The characters and settings therefore had to communicate quickly, giving each encounter enough visual identity to matter without stopping the story.
The Circle Closes
Returning to Lake Atitlán
The narrative returns to Guatemala for its final movement. Samara performs beside Lake Atitlán before a large gathering and passes the pendant on to a younger girl.
The gesture completes the circle begun beside the fire on the first page. Samara’s journey is not simply about becoming a singer. It is about understanding that an artistic voice can carry memory, conviction and responsibility — and that it can be passed on.
Project Scope
Illustration, characters, colour and sequential storytelling
- Character design & visual development
- Full ten-page BD illustration
- Page composition & panel staging
- Sequential storytelling & character acting
- Final line artwork & full colour
- Artwork prepared for printed publication
Credits
Samara – De Minuit à Minuit
- Context: Bande dessinée created for Create Your Voice
- Format: Printed ten-page bande dessinée
- Illustration, colour & character design: Ian David Marsden
- Scenario: Pierreline Carrère Goyheneix
- Copyright: 2026 Club Quetzal – Les Amis de Rigoberta Menchú | Pierreline Carrère Goyheneix | Ian David Marsden
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