What Was 2010-2019 Like?

This one took awhile to get out of the gate, and here it is! I officially first moved to Berlin a whole ten years and about six weeks ago.

I'm just gonna post this with the huge implicit caveat that What 2020 Currently Is Like is a whole new dimension of ... you know what, I don't have the words. File "discussing the closure of public transit" and "socializing in parks and bars" under Things I Didn't Imagine Would Date This Comic By The Time I Finished It. (If you live in Berlin and are reading this, please avoid doing all of those things for the time being, so that we can all do them again together later!)

Stay safe, protect your community, stay at home, and stay in touch. And hey—thank you, Berlin, for being one of the things that keeps me happy, even now, especially now.

[ Julien Baker - Rejoice (live) ]

Hourly Comics Day 2020

Journal comics in 2019: a selection

Over the past few years I've been drawing occasional journal comics and posting them for my subscribers on Patreon. This year was no exception, and I thought I'd post some of those here in the spirit of my year in review. Read on below!

Per tradition, I started the year with a cold. I proceeded to have several more over the spring and realized I had to slow down; and then the end of the year was extremely busy and head colds returned with a vengeance.

What Did I Do in 2019?

I also have a loooonng 2019 year in review / entertainment recap post up for my Patreon subscribers this month! Thanks to everyone who made the cool things this year possible.

And stay tuned here for more retrospective stuff, because it's still January and I don't make the rules I do make the rules.

if you like this comic, you can help me make more through Patreon!

Enough

Hi there! Been awhile. I hope everyone is having as low-stress a month of December as is feasible (haha).

Should you wish to acquire stickers or zines from me in time for the holidays, my store is accepting orders (and everything is on sale!) through this Friday!

If you like what I make and want to help me make more of it, you can also support me with a pledge on Patreon or a donation on Ko-Fi!

More comics coming in 2020 - until then,  guten Rutsch!

[ Jimmy Eat World - 555 ]

Weekend Sketchpost: Imaginary Street

From the depths of my sketchbook: a drawing I produced while in SE Portland last month.

[ Ketchum, ID (live on KEXP) - boygenius ]

Missed Connection (2017)

Here's a comic that's been sitting in the hopper for nigh on two years! In the time since I drew this, I got a new phone that looks less like a brick, and I've asked for those numbers and sent those texts, and also gotten my hair cut. Personal growth on multiple levels!

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In more recent news, I have returned from visiting Portland for XOXO (and stopping by Seattle on the way home). Both trips were incredible and I cannot thank everyone enough who made it possible in ways big and small. I daresay you'll see me again, PNW! (You too, XOXO, hopefully.)

[ Tegan and Sara - I'll Be Back Someday ]

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If you like this comic, you can help me make more through Patreon!

Friday Sketchpost: Self-portrait, 2019

A self-portrait from this spring that was hanging out in my sketchbook!

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Things are both busy and not busy over at Clairikine HQ. I have just returned to Berlin after a week in Lyon (where I did see Groupama Stadium on an off day and otherwise cheered teams on in bars), and after a very intense season between January and May I have been switching gears for the summer, keeping commitments to a minimum, writing, and catching up on TV.

Once summer starts winding down, though, I am happy to announce that I'll be in Portland for xoxo this September! My travel is pretty much paid for at this point, but I've reopened both my Traveling Tip Jar commissions and my Bigcartel store to help offset some of the costs.
My store in particular hosts my brand-new zine The Person You've Never Met alongside How ARE You??!, both of which collect my illustrations from Inktober 2017 and 2018! There are also sets of Glücklich in Berlin stickers and my collected Master of Survival zines.

And as always, if you'd like to simply support my comics without purchasing anything, you can make a monthly donation at Patreon!

Time for Coffee

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ComicInvasionBerlin 2019 was a blast! Thanks to everyone who came out, everyone who bought comics, everyone who tabled and everyone who volunteered. You made it happen and it was so cool to behold.

Speaking of cool things to do on a weekend, European Parliament elections are taking place from today (in some countries, including the UK) through this Sunday (including France and Germany)! Go vote! Vote vote vote vote vote.

Okay

 

I drew this comic for the Berliner Comic-Fenster program, which airs comics by Berlin cartoonists on TV screens in the local subway! You may have seen it when it aired for a couple days last month, but just in case you didn't, here it is!

Speaking of Berlin and comics, ComicInvasionBerlin is nigh and I will be tabling at the Museum für Kommunikation on May 11 and 12! I am working on putting together a zine of my Inktober 2018 entries and will have that for sale along with copies of Master of Survival, my collection of short fictional stories For The Ones That We Love, and my collection of illustrations from Inktober 2017. Plus Glücklich in Berlin stickers and Something About The Woods postcards! Come say hello and ask me what I'm fangirling that day :D

[ Bob Moses - Writing On The Wall ]

Lent (2018)

Lent begins tomorrow, so here is a comic I drew about it last year!

2019 update: I have a daily time limit set for Twitter on my phone now and I still watch angsty superheroes when I'm sick. No telling what will happen with the weather anymore,  my hair has not been that long in awhile, and I'm willing to wager there will be less emotional upheaval this season, but there is still time!

[ Bob Moses - Talk (Live) ]

If you like this comic, you can help me make more through Patreon!

Hourly Comics Day 2019

 

Another year, another Hourly Comics Day! You'll find my hourlies from previous years here, and I encourage you to check out #hourlycomicsday on Twitter and Instagram. It is one of my favorite things on the internet.

[  The Cranberries - All Over Now (Edit) ]

What Was 2018 Like?

2018 was A Lot! Here's to 2019 also being A Lot, with possibly less weeping at concerts (although that's usually a sign of a good concert for me, so).

Per my tradition, I've posted a list of my favorite entertainment from 2018, over on my Patreon (it's a public post!)

And in lieu of my traditional blog post accompaniment song, it is nigh impossible for me to list all of the music I enjoyed in 2018, but here are 3 tracks from 2018 that I identified with:

Death Cab for Cutie, "Gold Rush"

Mike Shinoda, "Running From My Shadow"
Alex G, "Rhyme Reason"

If you like this comic, you can help me make more through Patreon!

Memories

I've had this comic rolling around in my head since late 2016, and the premise seems to confirm itself every year. The concert mentioned here was Placebo's 20th anniversary tour stop in Hamburg - but as things would have it, I got to visit Texas last week and see Mike Shinoda live, which were two of the best decisions I've made in 2018.

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Some housekeeping: I've updated my Patreon to replace the longstanding postcard reward with the digital sketchbook reward - a monthly PDF of everything I've drawn, now at the $15/month tier instead of $20, including journal comics that are also available on their own at the $2/month tier. If you would like to support my work, consider making a pledge this month!

Also, tomorrow is election day in the US! If you are a US voter, please make a plan to vote, and go vote. You can do this! We can do this.

[ Thrice - Hold Up A Light ]

Monday Sketchpost: CSSconf EU / JSConf EU 2018 Sketchnotes

As I mentioned in my previous post, last June I had the opportunity to attend CSSConf EU and JSConf EU in Berlin! Here are all the sketchnotes I drew during three days of talks. These conferences were incredible and I recommend them very highly!

CSSConf EU / JSConf EU 2018 Diary Comics

Body

 

Earlier this year I was asked to contribute a story to a zine about bodies, and this is what I came up with! The zine is not currently for sale, but I will keep you posted.

Meanwhile in Berlin, ComicInvasionBerlin 2018 is already over*, it's Fußball season, and I'm working on stuff and gearing up for the fall while also drinking Ricard and yelling at widescreen televisions. * Thanks to everyone who came by my table! :D

[ Ria Mae - I'm On Fire ]

If you like what I do, you can support me on Patreon!

Gardening

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

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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!

Friday Sketchpost: salt + sass #8 with tINI

As always, I was very happy to attend another edition of salt+sass - this time featuring tINI! You can see the other sketches I've made at this event series - which I cannot recommend highly enough - here.

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If you like my work, you can support it on Patreon!

Low Battery

Usually I let my lack of updates speak for themselves, but this time I'm checking in to say that the past couple of months have been pretty full, hence the lack of posts. I have a couple projects in the pipeline that will emerge beginning when summer rolls around, though, so don't worry!

If you're in Berlin, I'll see you at ComicInvasionBerlin on June 23 & 24 (and if you want to volunteer this year, signups are open!) - and I'll also see everyone at Thought Bubble in Leeds on September 22-23. I will have a new zine that will be available at both cons!

Stay tuned, and in the meantime, give yourself some downtime if you need it, because you deserve it.

[ CHVRCHES - Never Say Die ]

Hourly Comics Day 2018 (+1)

Continuing my semi-regular tradition of having too much going on on the actual Hourly Comics Day,  I drew these a day later during my day off from work. So this is what I do on my days off!

You can also read my hourlies from 2017 (same-day!) and 2016 (a week later!).

What was 2017 like?

Also, in keeping with tradition, here are three songs I took away from 2017:

3. Miami Still (demo) - Tegan and Sara

2. La vie est belle - Indochine

1. One More Light - Linkin Park

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If you liked this comic, you can help me make more by supporting me on Patreon!

Départ imminent

 Access authorised... Doors closing... Module departure imminent...

You're happy to start university, though, aren't you?

Your mom wanted to come along, you know, to see your apartment and everything... But she needs to rest, you saw that.

***

This comic will be in the next issue of BETON! More on that soon. Have a great weekend.

[ Linkin Park - Iridescent (Live) ]

Summer's Greatest Hits

I am back from the US! And Berlin has already shifted to autumn. The fall is gearing up to be super busy, which is a good thing. You can keep up to speed on Patreon, where I have been posting monthly behind the scenes updates on where I'm at project-wise.

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).

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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!

Friday Sketchpost: salt+sass #7

I was very happy to attend a new edition of salt + sass at Soundcloud this week! You can also see my previous sketches salt + sass sketches here.

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Like my work? You can support it on Patreon!

1964-2017

I drew this while in Sweden last week. Chris Cornell's music was an important part of my teenage years, as Audioslave's self-titled debut came out when I was in high school (I was a little young when Soundgarden were first active). I will miss his voice.

[ Audioslave - Like A Stone ]

BETON #10

I contributed this comic to BETON's 10th issue on the theme of Work! You can pick up the new issue at BETON's stand at Comic Invasion Berlin, Berlin's local comics festival, which is taking place this weekend at Urban Spree.

And speaking of Comic Invasion Berlin, as every year, I will be there!! Once again I shall be located next to my too-talented-for-words table buddy Ash Pure, and I am working on having at least one brand-new collection of Clairikine comics, a thing which I have not put out since 2015!

Come say hello!!

And if you see me standing in line to vote at the French embassy in Berlin on Sunday morning, say hello too. (Please go vote on Sunday.)

[ Paramore - Hard Times ]

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.

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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) ]