September 24, 2013

[UPDATED] ANNOUNCING: Comics workshop + Zinefest Berlin!



* "So how do you do the bise, exactly?"
"Uhhhh, I have no idea... Couldn't we just shake hands instead?"

UPDATE [18/10/2013]: Due to illness (the organisers', not mine!), the book fair  and the comics workshop have both been postponed to a date which is TBA.

People of Berlin! This fall is going to be happenin', and it's going to be happenin' big.

First of all, the Info-Café Berlin-Paris is holding a comics and book fair on Saturday, October 19* at Molkenmarkt 1 (behind the Rotes Rathaus on the other side of that massive street, the yellow building with the flags).  I will be tabling there from 11 AM to 12:30PM roughly, with Cardialement #1 and #2, Master of Survival #1 and stickers, and I will be offering small postcard sketches!

During the book fair, from 1PM to 3PM, I will also be hosting my third Franco-German comics workshop. This time the topic is "Franco-German friendship from panel to panel." Participants will be paired up in bilingual teams and walked through the process of creating a comic that fits the topic, start to finish.

Signups for this free workshop are currently open - you can sign up by e-mailing cafeberlinparis@dfjw.org. Please note that the workshop will only be in French and German! This kind of workshop can be a great activity for tandem partners.




Secondly, I am insanely excited to be tabling the following weekend at Zinefest Berlin in Kreuzberg on the 26th and 27th of October!

I can only highly recommend this event as I walked in last year with 30€ of cash and walked out with 30€ worth of excellent zines and comics. In addition to the previously mentioned minicomics, stickers and commissions, I will also have a couple surprises. Come on over, say hello, and grab some cake! For there will be cake.


See you there! Clairikine out.


September 17, 2013

Zugverspätung


* "The train to Westkreuz via Gesundbrunnen is subject to a delay of 18 minutes."

This situation is best experienced when you've been out three nights in a row and all you want for the rest of eternity is your bed.


*** 

Also, if you live in certain parts of Berlin or Stockholm, you may have recently seen the STICKERS I have ordered (thanks to Josh "Caffeinated Toothpaste" Bauman for his advice)! They now come free with any purchase in my store. Perfect for expressing your urban twentysomething angst!

I will also have them for sale at markets this fall/winter in Berlin - more on that soon.


Life imitates art on Södermalm (right photo courtesy of Mattias Davén, insane  mug courtesy of myself).

September 13, 2013

Friday Fanart: Arctic Monkeys, "AM"

High on my list of bands that can literally not do much wrong are the Arctic Monkeys, whose second album Favourite Worst Nightmare was on repeat in my room most of last winter. In heady anticipation of their new album AM, I drew some fanart for "Do I Wanna Know?" and "Why'd You Only Call Me When You're High?", the two singles released this summer. I also spent all my cash on a ticket to their November show at Berlin's C-Halle, of course, as you do.










September 10, 2013

Clairikine Hits Paris ... Again!


As you will recall, thanks to the OFAJ/DFJW I returned to visit Paris again last July as part of raising awareness for my music and comic project with Sarah Ehrenholz, "Noémie - round trip". My good friend and frequent benefactor Alex was kind enough to donate funds towards a journal comic about the trip. The comic itself is now available as a DRM-free PDF on Gumroad for the looooww price of 2€ (or more) - and it is also free to read in its entirety on this very post, below the cut at the bottom!

Do you want to get your hands on the original pages of a future travel comic? Then watch this space! Alternatively, you can shoot me an email at clairykin - gmail to be first in line for the next one. They are made whenever I'm going on non-vacation-related trips, in small A5 notebooks (usually these). None are currently in the works, but plans change fast! UPDATE: several trips are in the works for 2014! Stay tuned!

Enough talk, then - enjoy !

September 6, 2013

For I have returned, etc.

Sisterly drawing session with Jonny, view from the quay at Hammarby Sjöstad. Contagious summer plague not pictured.

I'm back! I dropped off the grid for awhile to enjoy some downtime in Stockholm, took some pics, went walking up and down the city and engaged in loosely legal activity, more of which you will be seeing soon. It was good to have a break, but also good that things are back on track, 'cause there's new art lined up in the coming weeks for your enjoyment!

First off, if any of you are following me on Twitter or Tumblr and are inclined to sharing my musical interests, I'd advise you to keep your eyes peeled next week for a little somethin' I've been working on. 

Nextly, if you've been paying attention, you'll know I've had a travel journal up my sleeve these past few weeks. More to come on Tuesday! And then I have other things lined up for this fall. Like, you know, that webcomic of mine.

Until then, I'm off to a wedding in North Berlin. Toodles!

August 27, 2013

Björney!





This is Björney Stinson telling you all that I am leaving for Stockholm tomorrow and will return in a week. Can't wait! I haven't been in ages.

Ha det bra!


August 23, 2013

Comicomat!

Last Saturday the Comicomat landed at Haus Schwarzenberg's Hoffest!



The Comicomat is basically a photobooth, but with comics. For a donation of their choice, visitors can sit in front of a one-way mirror and get their picture drawn by a rotation of cartoonists; the proceeds are then split between the artists.



A blog for the Comicomat is forthcoming; in the meantime, enjoy these shots (by Alise)!











August 13, 2013

Fanart: Hovercat



"There is a cat hovering in the men’s bathroom at the radio station here.
He seems perfectly happy and healthy, but he’s floating about four feet above the ground next to the sink."

I lied just a bit about not updating, because more fan art. I recently started listening to Welcome to Night Vale (spurred on by the contagious Kate Leth, to whom I also owe my awareness of Amanda Palmer). So far it hasn't made me crawl entirely out of my skin yet, but it could get there.

Stay safe.

August 6, 2013

Fanart: "Cry"







***
The text for this comic comes from a blog post that appeared on Spinner.com in 2008. That site now seems to be entirely gone; a copy of the original blog was posted here.

So. Tegan and Sara.

Tegan and Sara have been the soundtrack to my life ever since I came across a blurb about them in SPIN magazine the summer of 2007. Their last three records especially touched on key moments in my life. In the fall of 2007, after The Con came out, I was living in a giant house in a wealthy village near Lyon, France, and while I was looking for jobs to pay for my year off from college I found myself navigating a breakup. (It was not unlike the season of house-dwelling Tegan describes.) In 2009, Sainthood came out, and I was pining for someone I deemed was pretty close to a saint.

Even at the Astra show last June, I realized that without the new songs from Heartthrob, I would be processing a variety of things that I've experienced this year (goodbyes, disappointment, shocks) very differently. Their music is an integral part of my life, going on six years, and it meant a lot to me to see them live.

I started writing this comic in 2010 - after wanting to use the text since 2008 - but finally got around to drawing it at Easter of this year. My initial plan was to deliver the finished product to the Quins at their Berlin show via the mail bag they often have. Sadly I ran out of time, but I did leave them a package of my comics and a letter thanking them. It was a big project compared to everything I've done thus far and has taught me quite a lot. Mainly that I want to make more comics.

Which is good, because next on the dock is the return of Master of Survival! That drawing hiatus is now over, so I will be sitting down to that as soon as I can. In the meantime I am taking a couple weeks off from updating this blog. In the meantime, stay cool!