I’m Jason James, a UK-based writer, illustrator, and animator influenced by German Expressionist cinema, classic horror, and the work of Edward Gorey and Charles Addams. Inkwell of Shadows is the banner under which I create emotionally driven stories and illustrations exploring relationships, grief, imaginary friends, and a lifelong fascination with the paranormal, told through characters navigating loss, connection, and being a little different.

My creative process often starts small — a quick sketch, a note, or a spark of an idea — gradually growing into characters, scenes, and stories. Through daily exploration in sketchbooks and experiments with illustration and animation, ideas take shape, characters develop, and worlds begin to form. This space lets me share that process, refining and expanding my projects with care. Buy Me a Coffee is a way to step inside that journey.

Here you’ll find:

Ongoing sketchbook work and visual development

Illustration studies, character designs, and animation experiments

ghostboy Journals — a weekly whimsical coming-of-age adventure set in the haunted town of Mumbey, told through the pages of thirteen-year-old Tristan.

Thank you for your support — it allows me to continue my illustration, writing, and creative practice, including ghostboy Journals, my weekly webcomic.

Jason x