# @stevedmcdonald on Instagram

- **Type:** Image
- **Original URL:** https://www.instagram.com/p/DWm5N2gDXgM
- **Gondola URL:** https://gondola.cc/posts/63359011-stevedmcdonald-instagram
- **Thumbnail:** https://img.gondola.cc/tr:w-,h-,fo-auto/postThumbnails/fd862d4498.jpg
- **Posted:** 2026-04-01T23:36:28.000+00:00
- **Account Owner:** Steve McDonald 🎨📚 (@stevedmcdonald) — https://gondola.cc/stevedmcdonald

## Caption

‘Opel Kadett Remembers Everything’ 

I’ve just posted a 20-slide Instagram graphic novella. Enjoy!

It’s about Opel, a red car, and yes, It was absurdly fun to make. About that…

On the surface, it’s a story experiment. But underneath that, it’s also something bigger: a test of pipeline, process, and technique for the kind of graphic novel work I want to keep making. I wanted to explore where I should still be using traditional methods, where I might emulate them, and where I should stop pretending the old rules are the only rules and build something new.

This project became a manageable way to test all of that and share. Please do share - the silly instagram algorithm squashes anything with type visible. 

The story, the panels, the hand sketches, the diffusion model work, the color choices, the overlays, the text, the design decisions, the whole workflow, all of it was documented as I went. Not just to finish the piece, but to understand the piece.

That is a big part of what my upcoming community will be about.

Not just final images.
Not just polished outcomes.
But the real process of image-making: what worked, what changed, what got combined, what got thrown out, and why.

So if you want to read the full novella, swipe through.
And if you’re interested in the deeper process behind it, the new community is coming soon.

Link in bio to sign up. ‘Community ’ 

#oldschoolartist #newschooltools #illustration #graphicnovella #stevedmcdonald #opelkadett #digitalillustration #customdiffusionmodel

## Stats

- **Views:** 0
- **Likes:** 959
- **Shares:** 0
- **Comments:** 52

## Tags

opelkadett, customdiffusionmodel, graphicnovella, illustration, newschooltools, digitalillustration, oldschoolartist, stevedmcdonald

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