Fanart Friday: Sad Comics 2021

Earlier this year a series of bad things and personal upheavals happened. I drew various short comics to process some of them and will be updating this post with them for the next few weeks on Fridays.

Content warning: some of these touch on stuff like death, grief, depression and religious trauma, so please be mindful if that is something you aren't up to reading right now.

Translation: "I don't have a lot to say to you, and not a lot to make you laugh."

[ Indochine - J'ai demandé à la lune ]

 

Berlin PSA: Shots! Shots!

Hi folks! Your friendly local double-vaxxed Clairikine here, with a PSA that there are currently multiple vaccination offers in Berlin that do not require making an appointment on Doctolib, and are not just at the Impfzentren. Please get vaccinated if you are able, please tell folks around you where they can get their shots too, and if you can, consider offering to help with stuff that might make getting them more difficult! We can do this.

Meeting (New) People

 

I am happy to report that the mullet at least is now gone, though not much else has changed! (These are observations btw, not a request for dating advice.)

 [ Lord Huron - When The Night Is Over ]

Friday Sketchpost: "Beten" (Praying)

For Lent earlier this year, I was asked to volunteer some artwork for a local church on the topic of prayer within the larger theme of "Barmherzigkeit" (mercy). This is what I came up with, with the idea that prayer can be opening yourself up to dialog with anyone—yourself, other persons human or divine—with a specific focus on places in Berlin where I've found this possible.

(No physical human presence here, because... well, you know.)  

What do I want to say, but don't know how?

 

One shitty rollercoaster

 If you've been on a shitty rollercoaster, this one is for you.

[ Julien Baker - Favor (live) ]

***

If you are a US citizen and/or EU citizen, please help pressure leadership to make covid-19 vaccines available to everyone, and not just to the countries rich enough to focus on themselves while the rest of the planet suffers with no end in sight. There is an EU citizens' initiative that needs 1 million signatures to demand action from the European Commission, and several US Senators are demanding action from the Biden administration as well. EU citizens can sign the initiative and US citizens can call their representatives in Congress to voice their support. None of us are safe until everyone is safe. Thank you.

If you would like to help support my comics work, you can become a patron or leave a tip!

Change of Seasons

 

 

I wrote this comic last month when it was suddenly 15 degrees Celsius for a couple days and since then we've gone back to subzero temps at night. I stand by it though.

[ Jars of Clay - Inland ]

If you would like to help support my comics work, you can become a patron or leave a tip!

One year later

I started social distancing in Berlin one year ago this week. Don't really have much else to add about that right now! Except that I'm OK (in pandemic-adjusted terms) and I have a support network for when I'm not. Take care of yourselves and each other, get vaccinated when you're able, keep doing the right thing.

[ Jars of Clay — Silence (live) ]  

 

If you would like to help support my comics work, you can become a patron or leave a tip! 

Hourly Comics Day 2021

The Process

That probably should have been a thought bubble in the last panel, but I'm leaving it in because it's good to vocalize stuff to yourself sometimes!

[ Kid Cudi ft. Phoebe Bridgers — Lovin' Me ]

 

 

This comic was finalized in Clip Studio Paint, using a Wacom Cintiq 16 that was acquired with funding from the German federal government's NEUSTART für Bildende Künstlerinnen und Künstler program.
If you would like to help support my comics work, you can become a patron or leave a tip!

Abandoned Places

 

Biking as a metaphor 🚲

***

I've moved my shop to Ko-Fi! It stocks digital and paper zines alike, as well as postcards and stickers. The cutoff for physical orders this year is December 15 and they will be processed again beginning January 4.

Also, ComicInvasion was a rousing success—thanks to everyone who stopped by and made it happen!! The virtual artist alley is still going and you can visit my table here.

[ Bob Moses - The Blame ]

Does Everyone Feel

[ Taylor Swift - the 1 ]

 

What is self-isolating without at least a little ruminating? Thanks to the city of Potsdam for providing a backdrop to musings, as well as a change of scenery.

***

Thanks also to everyone who requested their ballot, mailed it back, followed up with their election official, and asked their friends if they did the same. The work continues, but I hope you were able to celebrate this weekend. Let's keep going, and don't forget that the US Senate is still up for grabs.

Radio

 

(Radio ads by the Ministère des Solidarités et de la Santé in France and the Senatsverwaltung für Gesundheit, Pflege und Gleichstellung in Berlin, Germany, October 2020.)

Last Annoyances of Summer

 

 

Even with its annoyances, spending the summer outdoors was pretty enjoyable! In Berlin we're now at the start of another cold season, with the highest number of new covid cases per week since early April. Please be careful and be kind to yourself and to others!

If you're a US citizen, please mail your ballot in ASAP and call your senators about SCOTUS. Help make minority rule a thing of the past. 

 

[ Public Enemy feat. DJ PREMIER - State of The Union (STFU) ]

Treasure Hunt

 

 

I  contributed this comic to one of the ComicInvasion Treasure Hunt booklets! All four issues are hidden at various locations throughout the city while stocks last. Can you find them all?

Draw Your Outfit Right Now Meme

 

 

I participated in a meme!

Small Talk (again)

Options include the 3-second "Alright", the 15-minute rant, and the 90-minute introductory course.

***

If you're reading this from the US, please consider donating to a bail fund in your area to support the ongoing protests for Black lives and against police brutality. You'll find a list of bail funds for protesters here.

If you are a US voter and have not yet registered to vote, you'll find information on how and where to do so, as well as what to do to vote by mail, at VoteSaveAmerica.com! If you are a US voter overseas and are not yet registered, it is now best at this time to first do so via VoteFromAbroad.org and also request your federal backup ballot in case your regular ballot does not arrive in time. You'll find links to both processes here.

If you live overseas and are not a US voter, please share this information with your US friends the next time you want to talk about US politics with them! It will be very helpful. Thank you!

[ HAIM - I Know Alone ]

August Sleeping Patterns

 

Fortunately it's now autumn in Berlin.

 

[ BBXO - Sabotage ]

Fanart Friday: "Summer Years", DCFC

I was listening to Death Cab’s Thank You For Today the other day and remembered that I drew this comic a couple years ago. 🎶 (TYFT is still one of my favorite albums.) (Also I miss the Royal Armouries in Leeds, where I believe the first panel is located! Either that or Hamburg. Which I also miss.) 

[ Death Cab For Cutie - Summer Years ]

Some Other Place: Fighter

[ Jenny Owen Youngs - Vampire Weeknight ]

Lex returns! You might remember her from short stories of mine here, here and here; you can find other stories set in that universe here. 
I wrote this short comic as a poem many moons ago (remember pre-2020? I sure don't) and turned it into an exercise in drawing fiction again (I say "fiction", but of course Lex basically looks like me minus glasses, plus facial piercings and an undercut). I hope you like it!

***

Stay safe out there and take care of each other! The curve in Berlin has been flattened since I last wrote, but the virus is not gone -- and in fact there is an uptick in cases in Germany at the time of posting. Please remember that indoor gatherings have been shown to be a major vector of transmission, keep social distancing even when you're outdoors, and wear a mask (including over your nose!)

If you're in Germany, in light of the most recent terrible decisions made by what passes for the ministry of the interior at the moment, I recommend picking up a copy of the very good collection of essays Eure Heimat ist unser Albtraum, and reading up about police brutality and the widespread practice of racial profiling in this country. I also suggest following and supporting the work of Initiative Schwarze Menschen in Deutschland e.V., on this and many other issues affecting Black lives in Germany.

Clairikine Starter Kits (2020 Edition)

A study in processing an unprecedented pandemic 🚲📱😷 (March 2020, July 2020).

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!

***

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 ]

*** 
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!

***

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

***

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.

***

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 ]