{"id":5134,"date":"2015-12-21T08:30:43","date_gmt":"2015-12-21T14:30:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/web.saumag.edu\/news\/?p=5134"},"modified":"2016-01-27T12:15:49","modified_gmt":"2016-01-27T18:15:49","slug":"college-student-draws-national-attention-with-her-creation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/web.saumag.edu\/news\/2015\/college-student-draws-national-attention-with-her-creation\/","title":{"rendered":"College student draws national attention with her creation"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Beka<\/a>Update<\/strong>: \u00a0Comic Alliance just announced the winners of “Best New WebComic for 2015,” and Beka Duke’s “Fantomestein” earned a runner-up honor (http:\/\/comicsalliance.com\/comics-alliance-best-of-2015-best-new-webcomic-of-2015\/<\/a>).<\/span><\/p>\n

The judges had the following comments about Duke’s work:<\/span><\/p>\n

“Everything about this comic, written and drawn by Beka Duke, is drenched in atmosphere, with thick scratchy inks, bold lettering with perfectly chosen fonts, and desaturated colors wringing the operatic melodrama for all that it\u2019s worth. If you love stories like\u00a0Wuthering Heights\u00a0and\u00a0Crimson Peak, this comic should do right by you.”<\/em><\/p>\n

Beka Duke lived around the world growing up and shied away from her true calling as she progressed in school, but she has now found a home at Southern Arkansas University and is drawing national attention for her artwork.<\/p>\n

Duke recently earned a spot on an elite list of finalists for Comic Alliance\u2019s \u201cBest New WebComic for 2015\u201d with her comic series \u201cFantomestein.\u201d Her proud professor, Scottland Stout, shared with the SAU campus via email the great news and a link to her web comic at http:\/\/fantome-stein.tumblr.com\/<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cShe has put in long hours on what she loves to do, and you can easily see this in her work,\u201d said Stout.<\/p>\n

\"Beka<\/a>

Fantomestein cast in Breakfast Club theme<\/p><\/div>\n

Duke is a junior studying Game and Animation Design and Communication Design at SAU. She shared her excitement about the nomination in a recent post on her Tumblr account.
\n\u201cI am hugely honored to get nominated with such an amazing group of artists! Regardless of the outcome, I am a happy camper,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

The college student and aspiring story artist explains that \u201cFamtomestein\u201d explores the idea that Frankenstein\u2019s creation did not die, but rather lived on to become the Phantom of the Opera. She said it started as a bit of a joke, but went on to be a full-fledged comic, school product, and part time job that she devotes \u201ca truly embarrassing amount of time\u201d creating.<\/p>\n

I am hugely honored to get nominated with such an amazing group of artists! Regardless of the outcome, I am a happy camper.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\u201cThe story follows Frankenstein’s Creature and his continued struggle to find humanity as he attempts to win the affections of Christine Daae. The story is woven, or \u2018stitched\u2019 if you will, from the narratives of Mary Shelley’s original novel and Gaston Leroux’s spooky masterpiece,\u201d Duke describes.<\/p>\n

Duke came to SAU in the fall of 2014, and by the following spring Stout was encouraging her to give the comic book genre a go. Having been frustrated by earlier attempts, she passed until the idea of \u201cFantomestein\u201d came to her.<\/p>\n

\u201cI had to write Mr. Stout an email over the summer and tell him he was right,\u201d she joked.<\/p>\n

She credits Stout, too, for being \u201creally chill\u201d and letting her develop \u201cFantomestein\u201d for credit on class projects. She is excited to continue to delve into her comic\u2019s storyline and artistry in next semester\u2019s Graphic Novels class.<\/p>\n

\"Beka<\/a>She said that fans have charted the evolution of the comic since it started, saying that the increased use of color has dramatically changed the look of her story. And as the story has expanded, as has her fan base. Her \u201cFantomestein\u201d merchandise has sold out of her online Etsy store, but she hopes to catch up with her custom drawings and watercolors over the holiday break. She also has had to balance her school work being on the road to host \u201cFantomestein\u201d promotional booths at expos and conventions.<\/p>\n

I was shy about my artwork, but I would take every chance I got to draw sketches and scenes on my essays.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

She admits this is quite a trip, admitting that she\u2019s still not completely confident about her art. It was only a couple of years ago she came out as an artist. Again she credits encouragement from professors steering her toward her natural talents while she was completing her Associates of Liberal Arts and Culture at New Saint Andrews College in Moscow, Idaho.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was shy about my artwork, but I would take every chance I got to draw sketches and scenes on my essays,\u201d she said, remembering that her artistry for her analysis on Aesop\u2019s Fables really caught her teacher\u2019s attention.<\/p>\n

She is no stranger to being in the spotlight, though, as she grew up the eldest daughter of seven of a Marine Corp. Military Attach\u00e9 assigned to the U.S. Consulate in Jerusalem.<\/p>\nhttps:\/\/web.saumag.edu\/news\/files\/2015\/12\/Fantomstein012716.mp3<\/a><\/audio>\nDuke interview with NPR\/Red River Radio<\/em><\/p>\n

Her experiences in Israel opened her up to different types of people and situations. As such, \u201cFantomestein\u201d has a lot of inspiration from Israeli and Middle-Eastern culture. And even though her parents, Darren and Maggie, are \u201cstill really confused about the whole comic situation,\u201d her father gladly gives her cultural and historical insights upon request as he is fluent in Arabic, Hebrew and French.<\/p>\n

Duke is not sure where this journey will take her, but she is hopeful that \u201cFantomestein\u201d will get published one day. Until then, she is going to continue enjoying the experience and popularity of her creation. She is online as @thedrawingduke on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook and Tumblr.<\/p>\n

While at SAU, she is residing with her grandparents in Magnolia, Darrell \u201cGrand Daddy\u201d and Diana \u201cNana\u201d Duke.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Update: \u00a0Comic Alliance just announced the winners of “Best New WebComic for 2015,” and Beka Duke’s “Fantomestein” earned a runner-up honor (http:\/\/comicsalliance.com\/comics-alliance-best-of-2015-best-new-webcomic-of-2015\/). The judges had the following comments about Duke’s work: “Everything about this comic, written and drawn by Beka Duke, is drenched in atmosphere, with thick scratchy inks, bold lettering with perfectly chosen fonts,… Read More<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":820,"featured_media":5136,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[94,309,207,32641,7753,143],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-5134","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-admissions","8":"category-art-and-design","9":"category-college-of-liberal-performing-arts","10":"category-featured-layout","11":"category-homepage","12":"category-student-life","13":"entry"},"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/web.saumag.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5134","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/web.saumag.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/web.saumag.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/web.saumag.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/820"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/web.saumag.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5134"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/web.saumag.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5134\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/web.saumag.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/5136"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/web.saumag.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5134"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/web.saumag.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5134"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/web.saumag.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5134"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}