Info about the artist

My full name is Chantelle Awere but I am known as Eternalbeliever/Eternalbeliever12 amongst many internet forums. I'm currently a student at East London University. I hope to attain a degree in Moving Image and Illustration. I also previously studied BTEC national Art and design for two years at Croydon College. During my first year of college I was into mostly photography and video. Later in my second year I took part in a film course at the Croydon Clock tower. They taught me how to use professional film equipment and computer programs and I took part in making four documentary films. However I only fully directed two of them. It was a great experience, it helped me gain new skills and it made me more passionate about film.

Most children whilst they are young spent time outside picking at worms or playing sport. I spent most of my childhood watching cartoons, Japanese animations and read lots of fictional books. This inspired me to create my own stories about young children saving the world and friendship. I frequently showed these stories to my English teachers and they encouraged me to keep writing.

During my eighth year at Secondary school I brought my first how to draw manga book. Bearing in mind that I did not know that the Japanese animations I watched as a child were actually created in Japan as well as manga. I loved the idea of turning the stories I created into illustrations rather than writing them out and worked at learning the basics of anatomy and manga. My passion for manga also made me open to other illustrations and art-works from all over the world. It made me appreciate art and I learnt how powerful imagery can be when used with a good story. By the time I left secondary school I had already decided to become a comic artist. This way I could write and illustrate stories at the same time. I spent most of my spare time drawing illustrations but had always kept them separate from my education out of fear it would be rejected.

During college I also took interest in web comics and started a few online. My first long running web-comic is called, "Head over Heart." It’s a story about a young girl who falls in love with a Korean transfer student. It strictly follows the same structure as most teenage Japanese girl comics, known as "shoujo." It first appeared online in year 2009 and has been running ever since but is currently on hiatus due to other commitments. In year 2012 July, I started a new project called, "Stampede: Jessica's story." It is a story about youth violence, inequality and teenage gang crime.

I use pencil, ink and Photoshop to complete my illustrations and comics. In the future, I want to create work that people can relate too. Social issues such as suicide, depression, low self-esteem, inequality and race are things I'm deeply interested in and hope to incorporate in future comics. I hope to one day be able to print a wide range of comics for people to enjoy.