Sondern auf Wiedersehen

My good friend Alex left Berlin this week for new opportunities in Chicago. He got this as a parting gift and general thanks for being awesome. I am rarely sappy on the internet, but I will miss him. A lot. Who's going to discuss Matt Smith with me now?

(As an aside, that'll teach me to watch Sherlock with relative strangers.)

Schwestas don't shake hands

It was my sister's birthday this month! She is an up-and-coming super-talented artist and by the time she graduates college she will have trailed all our butts in the dust.

I have a theory (oftentimes proved correct) that were it not for our considerable age gap, we could probably pass as twins. That being said, we do have our differences: most notably, she has a Swedish-style love of consensus and likes to give temperance at the dinner table whenever I make an absolute statement with my Latin-raised gesturing hands. Also, she doesn't know what it's like to be a teenager with dial-up and without Tumblr. Worlds apart, I tell you. Worlds apart.

Delayed Gratification

Hey guys,

I usually make a point of sticking to my deadlines, but the next Master of Survival update is going to go up later than the originally announced May 5 date.
There are several reasons for this:

• I have another comic project that has a firm deadline and therefore it has to take priority in my comics-making time for the coming month and a half. (You'll get to see it when it's done, of course!)
• My job situation changed in January (this was expected) and paid work is the priority for most of my week. On that topic, if you'd like to help out by commissioning some artwork from me, you can shoot me an e-mail at clairykin-at-gmail-dot-com and we can discuss possibilities.
• The next episode of Master of Survival is three pages long, and I'm using it to try out new things, which takes longer. MOS has always been my canvas for trying things in comics, and I'm interested in using this update (and future ones) as a stepping stone to leveling up.

I'm giving the next update a tentative ETA of mid-June, but it's going to have to stay flexible for the time being. Sorry for this, but it's worth the wait! Posts will still be happening, have no fear.

Hé les gens,

C'est une habitude profondément ancrée chez moi de tenir mes délais, mais le prochainMaster of Survival ne sera pas posté le 5 mai comme il était prévu initialement.
Il y a trois raisons pour cela:

• En ce moment j'ai un autre projet BD qui, lui, a un délai très strict et doit donc avoir la priorité pour les six semaines à venir. (Bien sûr vous y aurez droit une fois qu'il sera terminé!)
• Ma situation professionnelle a changé en janvier (ce qui était prévu) et gagner des sous constitue donc la priorité numéro un pendant le plus gros de ma semaine. A ce sujet, si vous souhaitez me filer un coup de pouce financier en commandant un dessin, écrivez-moi à clairykin - at - gmail - dot - com et on pourra en discuter.
• Le prochain épisode de Master of Survival fait trois planches et je m'en sers pour essayer de nouvelles choses, ce qui prend plus de temps. Le but premier d'MOS a toujours été de me servir de canevas pour tenter des nouveaux trucs, et je tiens à ce que cet épisode (et ceux qui viennent) contribue à mes musculations de dessinatrice.

Le prochain MOS est donc tentativement prévu pour mi-juin, mais il faudra que ça reste flexible. Je suis vraiment désolée, mais ça en vaudra la chandelle! En attendant des posts sont toujours prévus, vous inquiétez pas.

 [ Paramore - Last Hope ]

Instagram!

Did I mention I post pics of my process and occasional graffiti on Instagram? If you wanna, you know, follow me, you can. No pressure.

[ Yeah Yeah Yeahs - Sacrilege ]

Journal Dump: Church & Doodles

Guys, tonight you get to see scans from my otherwise super-personal journal, which I mostly use for writing but also the occasional doodle and comic thumbnail. First off, sketches I did during a sermon at my church yesterday:

I've begun using church services as an opportunity to draw from life and thereby stretch my cartooning muscles. (Someone said this was like eating kale for breakfast. Erm, alright.) No churchgoer is safe. Pastors neither.

 Also, more of my own characters.

I also attended a living-room concert at a friend's house in the northern Berlin suburbs last Sunday. It was awesome. First truly warm and sunny day of the spring, so we all sat and brunched outside.

[ Depeche Mode - Perfect ]

Weekend Wistfulness: Sam Tyler

Recycling a Tumblr post for your weekend entertainment pleasure. Spring seems to have finally arrived in Berlin - and by spring I mean that it's not cold enough to snow anymore and one can walk around the neighborhood with just a jacket, even if you still run the risk of getting drenched by Sudden Rain. It's this time of year that inevitably reminds me why I love this city, and I'm looking forward to taking a whole lot more walks.

In the meantime, have a drawing of Sam Tyler, aka Life On Mars' moody, fairly holier-than-thou protagonist. If you haven't seen Life On Mars, it's some of the best television ever made. My Dad can vouch for this.

[ Travis - The Humpty Dumpty Love Song ]

Being Awesome

I've been battling second winter with binge-watching sessions of How I Met Your Mother (currently in the middle of season 4). I guess I have a thing for lanky blond dudes in nice shirts? I started out favoring Ted but now Barney Stinson steals the show for me, especially since season 4. Though his morals are (to quote my own mother) "questionable", Barney has that advantage of being very consistent in his goals and personality, which I tend to find more impressive than Ted Moseby's recurrent "This is what I want but I will go through several more-than-iffy compromises while convincing myself that I'm actually getting it." Possibly this explains why I often go for the bad guy in a given production.

[ Taproot - Poem ]

MOS #9

[ Soundtrack: Tegan and Sara - Knife Going In (live) ]

Version française

Thus concludes the first half of Master of Survival. The events in the next update date back to late April 2010, and guys, I'm going to take that as my cue to halt Master of Survival updates until May 5th.  Gasp! [*EDIT: SEE BELOW*]
The reasons for this are twofold; mainly, I have a lot on my real-life plate at the moment that requires my attention. BUT ALSO, following this page, all Master of Survival pages are not yet drawn and will therefore be BRAND NEW*! You're excited, aren't you? That's the idea.

I will still be posting stuff to the blog on occasion, and if all goes according to plan, there will be other good stuff that will start to trickle down around mid- to late May on the blog as well. Until then... Happy Easter, and see you next week!

* Except for one, but shh.

Ainsi se termine la première moitié de Master of Survival. La prochaine note traitera de la fin avril 2010, et je prends donc cette occasion pour marquer une pause dans les mises à jour de MOS jusqu'au 5 mai. [*UPDATE: VOIR CI-DESSOUS] Il y a deux raisons pour cela, la principale étant que dans la vraie vie j'ai quelque peu du pain sur la proverbiale planche. MAIS AUSSI, et à partir du post suivant, toutes les pages de Master of Survival doivent encore être dessinées, et seront donc FLAMBANT NEUVES*! Palpitant, non? Effectivement.

Je continuerai de poster sur le blog jusque là, et si tout se passe comme je veux, il y aura d'autres bonnes choses qui commenceront à apparaître autour de la deuxième quinzaine de mai. En attendant, joyeuses Pâques, et à la semaine prochaine!

* Sauf une, mais chut.

[February 27: Obviously this didn't happen, due mainly to my need to find a job, followed by picking up freelance comics and illustration work while holding down a new part-time job and freelancing in other areas. I am now working on new pages and the comic will update again beginning April 1, 2014 (no joke).
February 27, 2014: Clairement, ma pause a duré beaucoup plus longtemps, d'abord parce que j'ai dû retrouver du travail et ensuite en raison de divers boulots en BD et en illustration qui sont arrivés au moment où j'ai retrouvé du travail. Je me suis remise à dessiner de nouvelles pages et celles-ci paraîtront à partir du 1er avril 2014 (si si!)]

#mpt

You're fighting the wrong fight.

Sketchdump: But I'm not sleeping and you're not here

The next Master of Survival page is going up on Good Friday, and so, to tide you over, I will be presenting you with some excerpts of my current sketchbooks.

Oh look, it's Anaé (I love her and I do not tire of drawing her), and she's smiling, for once. Next to her is Sasha who needs a lot more work. Also he appears to be slanting.

A Watson (from my Tumblr), since Sherlock Series 3 began filming today. (I really need to start stalking following this.)

I went to Scott McCloud's lecture at the Berlin Comic Summit last week. It was awesome. I pulled out my sketchpad and drew this during the Q&A session with my brushpen.

More brushpen doodles.

[ My sister hates this song, bless her heart ]