Recovering...

Of course I ended up getting sick after I finished Show, don't tell. Of course my computer got a virus as well. Of course. Well... nothing lost, computer restored (still lacking some programs though), and I'm... almost well again.
The lack of internet and general non-functioning of so many things (such as being able to walk up the stairs without getting dizzy) did leave me with a lot of time to sit down and draw.

For years I've wanted to do a story about a 'skogsrå' (a Swedish mythological creature with either a fox or a cow's tail and a hollow back) and now... well, let's just say that I've been drawing this character a lot recently.

And yes, I do like those forest spirits quite a bit... :)

In less exciting news, I've got a lot of catching up to do as far as my studies go. Hooray...

It's been one week...

It's been one week since I got the idea,
Sat down, wrote the script and started working.
Four days since I laughed,
Finally done with sketching.
Three days since I inked the lot
And then spent two days fighting the scanner
Today I did the last
Of that horrendous grayscale-ing.

One comic, four pages, one week. Show, Don't Tell, starring Jenny (alternative universe!Jerker... sometimes I toy with the idea of having her as a main character instead, though the story would be mighty darker, methinks) and poor Ian who gets bossed around most heinously.

Copic markers

My friend Amanda let me borrow her copics a while back (before my trip to Plymouth) and I am completely in love.
My first attempt was the dryad of my Dry Spell comic, because I was a scaredy cat and didn't want to mess up the skin color. After that I did give regular skin colors a go, and that worked out well too :) I'm definitely going to buy some pens of my own.

Home again

Back from Plymouth now - two weeks and some 3000+ pictures and videos later. I have so much reference material now that I barely know what to do with it. But it was a most enjoyable trip, even though I was probably THE most touristy tourist of all there. 200 pictures of one building is perfectly normal, I say D:

I have to say that the staff of the church St Andrews was probably what made me the happiest. They thought that my interest in their church (where one of my main characters seeks refuge in my vampire comic) was a good thing and let me run around and take pictures inside <3 I left one and a half hour later...

'Resurgam' (sign put up after WW2 when the church was bombed, so sadly will not appear in the actual comic which takes place in the 18th century) means 'I will rise again.' Very fitting for a story about the undead :p

Pin-up

Moving and preparing a trip and... well, a lot of things happening all at once.
At least I'm done with the pin-up for the calender :D

And yes... drow are still awesome...

Practice makes perfect...

I've started practicing drawing birds (magpies, specifically) for a short comic. The first attempt looked more like a pidgeon, but I'm getting there...

Think Ink are working on our next fanzine, and this time I'm the one who is in charge of drawing our animal-selves. Spiders, birds, horses and now this. Not to mention that I have a dog illustration that I should be working on. Lots of animals right now.

Currently planning a research trip to Plymouth, England, and I'm really excited about it. Lots of 18th century buildings that I need to photograph for reference, and they've got a bunch of Victorian exhibitions (and buildings, for that matter) so it's two birds, one stone.

Then there's the pinup calendar that's in the making, together with 11 other wonderful artists. Lots of sketches and few of them good enough, but I think I've got the pose now :)

Aaaaaand I'm reworking the script for The Red Planet. We've got a 24 hour comic day coming up next week, and though I probably won't manage 24 pages (20 is my record) I think I'll treat it as a 'draw a lot for a period of 24 hours and spend the next day sleeping' thing. So, script and layout are to be done beforehand, and with a little bit of luck some serious progress will be made. Of course, it all starts with a fighting scene, just to make things extra difficult for me.

And it's over...

My year at Malmö Comic Art School is over, and I must admit to feeling a little bit lost. There is some comfort in the fact that I will be taking their summer course (though, to be frank, as I have already received one year of education I am essentially there to have a place to work) together with a couple of my classmates. This also means that it doesn't quite feel like it's over, just... strange.

I did manage to finish Ilta Dalharuk in one month *victory pose* I still need to fix those sound effects because they look horrendous, but... whatever. Still counts!
I've also been re-working the character designs for most of The Red Planet crew. Still not entirely pleased with the outcome, but it's better at any rate.