You are viewing the Ophelia storybook series in its infancy. We are grateful for you visiting and offering support in any way. This is our life’s work.

How did Ophelia begin?

Creator/writer/art director Jacob Kilgore noticed how isolated the typical artist or writer is. He also knew that bringing on a single artist for a major project is a huge workload, and as a consequence they can quit partway, leaving the work dead in the water.

In the last half of 2019 he began working with Hong Kong artist Mark Li to bring to life a fantasy world of gods and humanity figuring out their place in the universe. Thus began the tales of Ophelia, the demigod girl with a magic paintbrush.

In early 2020 Kilgore began introducing the concepts you will read below to artists around the world whose style and ability fit his vision. Gradually they united as the team you can see on Team Ophelia, the humans with dreams and determination in common, pushing beyond the pains of everyday life to form works that challenge humanity’s potential.

So what’s the story all about?

(Limited summary of plot from the first two books SPOILERS):

The backdrop of this story is that there are beings of all different “levels” in the universe, all the way up to being like various levels of gods.

It is illegal for them to interfere with people on other planets such as humans, but some do so sneakily by having children with human women (but that’s mostly off book since the book is intended to be okay for kids to read).

The demigods that come from these mothers often grow up to create a lot of change good and bad, and Ophelia’s people (and overseeing priests/judges) don’t want that.

Ophelia and her tagalong brother are kidnapped by two imposing figures. After a caged travel across numerous lands, her young sibling is taken who-knows-where, and Ophelia is left in The Valley of the Cyclops to be devoured.

In her escape from these giants, she enters a forest and sees an injured white deer. Finding pity on the creature, partially for it reminding her of her beloved reindeer Taba, she risks her life to help the animal limp to safety. Hidden in a hollowed out tree, tending to the deer’s needs, in the morning the true form of the shaman manifests! This elderly non-human clad in cloak of coral and teal waves her grand paintbrush, creating a portal to her village home in the side of the common wood.
Stepping within will enter Ophelia into a new life full of adventures. She will be introduced to the united citizens of fantasy folk and animal kind who, like her, require the peace the ancient land provides from the ugliness of humans and other dangers.

(SPOILER END! Don’t want to ruin it for you. Thank you for reading, and please follow our social media and Indiegogo when it’s unveiled).

The cultural background of our story

Ophelia’s people are based on nomadic masters of horses and the bow such as Scythians and Amazons that existed during the time of the Ancient Greeks and Persians. These various tribes living among the wide open grasslands (Steppes) from north of Greece to the lands we now call India and China represent today’s diverse but connected citizens of Earth in remarkable ways. 

Choosing this multicultural crossroads as the inspiration for our setting allows a vast mix of traditions and myth to enrich our pages. It is fitting for the artists and fans involved with the stories of Ophelia to have a connection to the outrageous creatures and heartfelt yearning of their champions. And it is just plain amazing!