About "Carciphona"


 

Carciphona is a long-form fantasy story set in a world where demon-magic is forbidden. It follows a young sorceress, Veloce, and her journey to find someone dear to her, in a world whose peace and serenity are breaking apart at the seams.

This comic/story is a product of pure self-indulgence; although I make my living off of art, the manner in which I do so is self-absorbed in nature, where I do things that interest me/that make me happy and hope they have the same impact to my viewers. The characters were created for fun way back in 2003 or 2004, and through wanting a world for them to exist in, I built this story world, leading up to the idea that it would be fun to draw it as a comic just for myself to see, never intending it for the printing press. To this day, I build the story based on my own love and interest alone and hope that, though its existence is flawed, the story can be a pure reflection of things that are important to me.


Update schedule: 2 pages every Sunday
Genre: Fantasy, Action, Adventure

About me


My name is Shilin, and I am the sole creator of Carciphona and Amongst Us. I am self taught in art with a B. Mus degree in performance (piano), and I work full time as an artist making a living mostly from books and other works related to Carciphona, punctuated occasionally by work for very few companies.

Frequently Asked Questions


Q Wasn't the title of this manga "Blackbird" before?

Yes! it was originally titled Blackbird and has been called that for 6 years. But I've decided to change its name during the printing of the first book to avoid any possible legal problems, since sometime between the creation of my manga and the printing of the manga, another manga of the same title was published and licensed by Viz here in North America.


Q How many volumes will Carciphona be?

At least 15 books, but I have no idea how many more after that until I get there.


Q Is Shilin your real name / How old are you / where do you study / etc?

Yes my name is Shilin :D please refer to my website, shilin.net, for more details.


Q How long have you been drawing?

I've been doodling since before grade 1 for fun. I started drawing anime fanart with pencils and stuff on paper grade 4 or 5, and started drawing digitally after I got a tablet at christmas of 2001 or 2002!


Q How long does it take to complete each book/how long until the next book is finished?

I aim for 1-2 years at most per book, depending on how much I struggle with the writing, and how long the book ends up being in terms of story, which affects how long it takes for me to draw all the pages. Sometimes writing comes to me easily, and other times I may write for half a year and still can't arrive at the story I am content with ):


Q What does Carciphona mean? Where does the word come from?

Carciphona is the name in the story for those whose souls have been tainted by an unusual demon spirit infection at birth and doomed to live short and painful lives. I made up the word by combining two latin word roots, carcino- and -phon, which have to do with the nature of the illness itself. Carcino- is the word root for cancer, whose incurable and deadly nature and prognosis for the sufferer are similar to those of the carciphonas. -Phon is the word root for sound, which relates to the way Carciphonas are generally identified--through the unusual sound of their souls that can be perceived by Hearers of an adequate caliber.


Q What do you use to draw your manga pages?

I currently Photoshop CC and Wacom Cintiq 21UX. The screentones I use are downloaded online or shared by friends or obtained through Deleter Comicworks, a very old program made by a company that produces professional traditional screentone sheets. Screentones offers an excellent screentone source for webcomics, and Clip Studio Paint/MangaStudio (same program) comes with a screentone bank for your disposal.


Q Have you studied art?

No, I am self-taught.


Q How do you draw your manga pages?

I have made an annotated timelapse of my page drawing process in this youtube video in 2019. As of November 2020, I no longer do any part of the process on paper and now draw everything digitally.