[TCN Artist Interview] Rae Allen On TetherGeist And Her Artwork

Join us for the newest installment of TCN Artist Interview as we interview Rae Allen, known for their incredible attention to detail and passion for bringing characters and worlds to life through their artwork. Rae will share insights into their creative process and journey, from comics to game development.

Before we dive into your current projects, can you tell us about the moment you knew you wanted to be a comic artist? Was there a specific work or experience that sparked your passion for visual storytelling?

As a kid I had always struggled reading novels, so I often picked up graphic novels available in my english classes during reading time. I was in 8th grade when I first picked up Jeff Smith’s Bone, and while that didn’t immediately spark my passion to become a comic book artist, I do think it influenced my decision a lot. 

What really set me onto being a comic artist was when I was in high school, and saw a single-page comic called Lumenate by Jake Wyatt. It was the first time I realized that comics didn’t have to be about action–they could also be vibey and arthousey. Ever since then it’s been my main passion. It’s been over ten years now.

How has the support from the Kickstarter community impacted the development of TetherGeist? Did it lead to any changes or additions you weren’t initially planning?

Before launching our Kickstarter, our team at O. and Co. Games had already developed a strong community on Discord for TetherGeist. They’ve helped us a ton by playtesting our game and sending us feedback. They also helped us come up with reward tiers for our Kickstarter by responding to surveys we sent out. 

As for the Kickstarter itself, we’ve been delighted by the support we’ve seen. There’s some overlap with our Discord, but also a lot of new people who had never heard of TetherGeist before. 

Thanks to our backers, we recently reached our funding goal! Which was the minimum we had set for ourselves to get the game out there. Hopefully we can unlock some stretch goals which will allow us to port TetherGeist to other consoles, and translate to other languages, and expand gameplay. The more support we get from Kickstarter, the better our game will be! Kickstarter is a really big factor in our plans for success.

What was your role in the development of TetherGeist?

I am one of the two artists and narrative designers working on TetherGeist. The other artist is my husband, Noah. He and I work together in a very seamless collaborative way on TetherGeist, passing assets between each other until they’re finished. It’s a really enjoyable process! Definitely very different from how I work in comics. 

Are there any elements from your comic work that you’ve integrated into TetherGeist —like visual style, storytelling techniques, or character development?

All of the above! I love comics because of their power as a visual storytelling medium. And it turns out that many principles I’ve learned as a comic artist/writer translate directly to games. Things like detailed worldbuilding, subtle facial expressions, pacing, etc. 

But it is also a very different medium from comics, and has different strengths. My husband and I pay a lot of attention to how gameplay and story interrelate to each other, focusing on how we can make the story more impactful for the player through gameplay. This involves directing things like timing, haptics, music cues, camera shakes, player interaction, etc. Instead of trying to capitalize on the power of the gutter as you would in a comic, telling an effective story in a video game is more dependent on fine-tuning player experience. 

What has been the most rewarding part of seeing TetherGeist come to life?

For me personally, I think the most rewarding thing is seeing people enjoy playing the game. We exhibited at PAX West in August this year, and we had hundreds of people play our game, and almost every person was delighted by it. They complimented us on how pretty the game was, and how difficult but satisfying the gameplay is, and how surprisingly clever some of the levels were. 

As a creator of TetherGeist I will never be able to have that raw unbiased experience with the game. So seeing it through other people’s eyes is very enlightening, and it’s encouraging to know that people are enjoying it. It makes me feel like I’m contributing something good to the world. 

Was there a particular moment in development when everything clicked, and you felt, ‘This is really coming together’?

I definitely think our whole team experienced that moment as we were preparing for PAX. We already had a playtestable demo on Steam for some time, but it wasn’t a polished representation of TetherGeist. We had to prepare a short sampling of multiple levels of the game for people to play at PAX, and getting that together to a level of such high polish was a big accomplishment for us. For me it felt like the first time I could truly see the full scope of our game and its potential. Exhibiting at PAX only solidified that more. And it also brought us together as a team. 

Was there a specific visual style or theme you were aiming for with the game, and how did that vision evolve throughout development?

We were inspired by Celeste, which is a pretty chunky pixel art game, so we also went with pixel art. Noah and I love Hyper Light Drifter and how smooth its pixel style is, so that game has heavily influenced the style of TetherGeist. We also drew from Gris, and an old-school Disney artist named Eyvind Earle. In addition to pixel art, we chose to incorporate some traditional illustrations for character close-ups and in-game comic cinematics. Noah drew all of those, and was inspired by the animated short “No Lullaby” by Rudo Co.

Every artist has a unique journey with their art style. How did you develop yours, and were there any inspirations along the way?

One of my college professors once told me that style is a reflection of an artist’s taste. I’ve found that to be very true. I learned to draw by observing and doing master copies of artists like Arthur Rackham and Alphonse Mucha. I devoured animation like Studio Ghibli, classic Disney, and Adventure Time. Later I was inspired by modern illustrators like Jake Parker and Jake Wyatt. Once I got into comics, I fell in love with Becky Cloonan and Mike Mignola. I could go on all day, but suffice it to say that my style is definitely informed by many artists that came before me.

What are some of your favorite things to draw? Are there any specific works of yours that standout as a favorite?

I relish drawing sequential images. A lot of artists I follow online have such a knack for drawing singular figures on a blank background, with striking character designs and sophisticated detail. I tried doing that for many years, but never found a flow. I’ve learned that my work shines brightest when it’s in a comic. My characters are more expressive, my environments are more immersive, and my gestures have more motion when they’re part of a comic. One of my projects I’m the most proud of is my self-published graphic novella, The Manderfield Devil. 

As a comic artist, are there any writers you’ve always wanted to collaborate with to bring a story to life? What kind of project would you envision working on with them?

It’s always been a dream of mine to work with Mike Mignola. I don’t think I can point to a greater master of modern comics. I was very inspired by Hellboy when I created The Manderfield Devil, and I would love to work on a similar project with Mignola someday.

If you could sum up your creative journey in one lesson or mantra, what would it be?

Gosh, that’s a tall order. I’m not sure if this mantra encompasses my entire creative journey, but it has been a strongly influential idea throughout: You do what you do. This means that you get hired to do the kind of work that you’re already doing. Publishers/creative directors/entertainment studios don’t care about projects you’re envisioning–they care about projects you’re already making. If there’s a type of project you want to create some day, create it now, don’t wait for someone to hire you to do it. If you make it first, you’re ten times more likely to get hired to KEEP making that type of thing. And don’t waste your time creating work that you don’t want to keep doing for the rest of your life. 

As your artistic career continues to evolve, what excites you most about the future of comics, games, or any other medium you might explore?

I think that the western comic book market will be forced to transform in the coming years, and I think that’s great news for the industry. I believe the way the direct market functions now is no longer serving the industry and as soon as it changes, more people will have access to comics, more people will read them, and the market will improve. 

I’m also very excited about what’s happening with original comic art. Sales have become really sophisticated and people are starting to place greater value in comic art. I think that value will only increase as our world becomes more saturated with AI

You can follow Rae Allen and see more of her work on Instagram