Gardening

This is an old doodle that was hanging around in my sketchbook! Enjoy.

***

Things are busy this month at Clairikine HQ! ComicInvasionBerlin begins this weekend with a series of Satellite events - including the launch of BETON's Science Fiction issue this Friday at Raum B! I contributed my short story "Départ imminent" to this one and am very much looking forward to seeing it in print and hanging out with you all.

The Satellite events are followed by the main event on June 23 & 24 at the Museum für Kommunikation Berlin - if you fancy lending a hand there, you can send an email to cibhelpers at gmail dot com to volunteer! I will be tabling both days at the MKB - you'll find me in the Lichthof. Come say hello and check out my new zine (TBA)!

And if you're in town the following week, be sure to stop by Panel Up on the 27th so we can all come down from the con together. Whew!

[ TT - I've Been Fine ]


You can help me make more comics on Patreon!

Sporadic Travel Comic - Sthlm Edition Pt. 3

That bridge is still one of my favorite bridges, and I wasn't able to make time to cross it the last time I visited. So, yay!

This marks the last of my sporadic travel comics from Stockholm this year. Hope you liked them!

[ Linkin Park - One More Light (live) ]

Like my work? You can support it on Patreon!

Sporadic Travel Comic - Sthlm Edition Pt. 2

Last month I discovered that many restaurants in Stockholm ... don't take cash. (Which is the exact opposite of the Berlin dining experience).

***

Some news!

There is a new Electronic Beats comic up over yonder - on the topic of finding the perfect festival location in 2017!

I also moved my store to Tictail, where everything is currently 20% off for the rest of June! This includes zines (such as Master of Survival Vols. 1-3), but also original comic art AND A5 portrait commissions!
If you like my work but would like to support it via other means, I have a Patreon and have also now opened a Ko-Fi account!

Last but not least, I am teaching a comics workshop at Wedding's Jugendkunstschule from July 10 to July 14 - ages 13 and up! Signups close on June 26.

[ Audioslave - Be Yourself ]

Sporadic Travel Comic - Sthlm Edition Pt. 1

I drew a handful of comics while in Stockholm last month! Here is the first one.

[ Linkin Park - Invisible (live)]

Like my work? You can support it on Patreon!

Status Update

I'm off to France this week, as a matter of fact! Haven't been back in a year and a half. I have missed it!!

[ Depeche Mode - Going Backwards ]

Support these comics on Patreon

Which is it?

Fortunately, where SAD is concerned, Daylight Saving Time is just around the corner! And then those oppressively early nights will be a thing of the past. Can't do much about the rest, though.

***

Some news! In the time since I last posted here, I've illustrated a new comic for Electronic Beats. I was also interviewed for the season premiere of the Comic Invasion Berlin podcast and talked (in German) about this year's festival, which takes place April 24 to May 7, 2017*. If you are in town and you want to help out, the festival is currently looking for volunteers!

And finally, tabling at Comics & The Beast two weeks ago was a blast. Definitely one of my favorite comic events. Thanks to everyone who came out and bought stuff!

*Right between the first and second rounds of the French presidential elections, as it turns out. If you can vote in them, please do.

[ Warpaint - No Way Out (Live) ]

Intermission

I'm back!! And finally recovered from a two-week-long cold I caught in the US. Despite this, my month-long visit was amazing and I have brought back many cherished memories. Choosing to make stops in Chicago and D.C. on my way in and out of California was the best travel decision I made last year.

Things are hectic at the moment, but I have a comic recapping what I did in 2016 in the works and I totally ran out of time to make this a reality, sorry! In the meantime, If you would like to help me begin the new year and support the making of future comics, you can pledge to my Patreon. $2 or more per month unlock access to journal comics and to an exclusive newsletter!

I have also opened commissions for the foreseeable future - if you would like me to draw something for you, drop me a line at clairykin at gmail!

Darkness

WINTER! Eh? Eh?? Fortunately, 'tis the season and I'm off to California this month to flee Berlin's relentless lack of daylight. Could be worse.

[ twenty one pilots - Car Radio ]

Impulse

Told you it would be the longest campaign season ever. (The deadline is December 31, in case you were French and/or wondering. Also applies if you don't live in France.)

***

I still have 5 x $20 slots open for A5 portrait sketches! They close December 1. Reserve your own at clairykin at gmail! They make good stocking stuffers.

Nothing

I wrote this comic in the week following the attacks in Brussels on March 22 of this year, and planned to post it this week in remembrance of last year's November 13 shootings in Paris. Those weren't the only times it has been relevant for me, and I know they won't be the last.

***

In other news, Christmas is around the corner, so I am doing limited portrait commissions for $25. Drop me a line at clairykin at gmail if you would like one - orders close December 1.

I have also added For The Ones That We Love, my new zine collecting the English-language versions of fictional comics I've put out over the past two years, to my store. It includes this comic and other comics originally published in French and German in the BETON anthology zine. The Glücklich in Berlin sticker has also returned, and both are currently on sale.

[ Placebo - Soulmates ]

support these comics on Patreon

Acquaintance

It's strikingly cold and gray in Berlin now and gets dark much earlier than it did a month ago - and after all this time I still manage to find this change of season comforting in its familiarity. Until the SAD kicks in and I need to switch the daylight lamp on, obviously.

***

November is nigh, and that means conventions! Specifically, I will be tabling at Zinefest Berlin on Saturday, October 29 (only one day for me this year), followed by Thought Bubble in Leeds on November 5 & 6, in New Dock Hall, Table 112b. Please do drop by if you're in town!

[ Warpaint - New Song ]

It Begins

That sweet inexorable return to the long nights of winter.

[ Ah! Kosmos - And Finally We're Glacier ]

Comic-Con

3G issues notwithstanding, I had a fun time at Comic-Con Germany! I am now back in Berlin for a couple weeks before taking off to Stockholm for a week.

Speechless

***

Will you be at Comic-Con Germany in Stuttgart this weekend? I will! In the Comic Zone, table 127, to be precise. I have never been to Stuttgart and am looking forward to visiting. Please do come say hi!

Procrastinating

In the defense of Berlin-based procrastinators, lately the weather has felt like the gross soul-draining version of a sauna, so.

***

Two pieces of big news from Clairikine HQ!

First off - I illustrated a guide to post-clubbing activities for Electronic Beats, which will be of interest for anyone in severe need of readjusting to the world after a night in the club!

Also, changes are afoot over at my Patreon campaign! Next month I will be switching over to a monthly donation model instead of the per-comic model I've had in place for the past two years. Folks will be able to pledge at $1 or more per month, with rewards beginning at $3 per month* - these include, as before, access to personal updates, works-in-progress, plus monthly postcards and a monthly digital copy of my sketchbook at the highest tiers, with a couple other reward ideas in the works for the coming months.

If you like what I do, and you would like to see more of it, please consider making a small donation when the change is live (TBA)! It would mean the world to me, and the more donations I receive through Patreon, the more I can focus on writing and drawing my own autobio and fictional comics.

If you would prefer to support me through a one-time purchase of customized art or original comic pages, or even just a one-time donation, I am also planning a fundraiser to help pay for travel costs to Stockholm this summer and Leeds (Thought Bubble) this winter. Watch this space! You can also let me know in the comments below if and what you would be interested in obtaining during this fundraiser.

* I would have it lower, but I live in the Euro Zone and must account for the current not-awesome exchange rate with the dollar.

Surrealism

In case you missed it on Twitter. (Also, not the first time television and the current French PM have crossed paths on this blog!).

[ Arctic Monkeys - The Jeweller's Hands ]

TV Habits

Writer brain never rests, even and especially not when it's watching TV.

It's warm and sunny in Berlin! Happy weekend, everybody.

[ Tegan and Sara - I Was A Fool (Monsieur Adi remix) ]

Frühling

It's finally here! I will be tabling at Comic Invasion Berlin this weekend -- go through the left entrance, turn left and walk a few feet, and you will find my table (right next to Ash Pure's, as tradition has it)! I will have zines - including Master of Survival #3 and Clairikine - Round 2 - plus "Glücklich in Berlin" stickers, postcards and original comic pages!

Also, there is a special secret menu this year!

• Bring me a copy of BETON #3, #5 or #6 to sign, and I will rap something for you! (There will be a BETON table outside - even if it rains).
• Guess who my favorite character is in House of Cards, and you will get a free postcard! (Only valid if you guess at the convention).
• I will draw something in your sketchbook for a donation!

See you there!!!

[ Tegan and Sara - Boyfriend ]

Friday Sketchpost: Creative Mornings Berlin with Susanne Koelbl, 8.4.16

This morning I attended a most excellent talk given by Spiegel foreign correspondent Susanne Koelbl at this month's Creative Mornings Berlin on the topic of "Risk".

Have a great weekend!

Milchkaffee

***

It's been a busy week! I've been in the Tagesspiegel! And on FluxFM with Marc Seestaedt to talk about Comic Invasion Berlin! And in Comica London's write-up of the Berlin comics scene that is Comic Invasion's raison d'être!

Speaking of Comic Invasion Berlin, the Satellite program is in full swing with comics events nearly every night all over the city, and the main festival is two weekends away. I will be selling goods there! Come say hi!

[ Eliot Sumner - After Dark (live) ]