January 19, 2015

Mixtape Monday: Car Drive 2014 + Yearly Recap





Today's Mixtape Monday features the newest instalment of my yearly mix series, Car Drive - initially just something I put together to listen to in the family car, now pretty much a chronicle of the past year told through songs. If you had a year full of transitions, professional ambitions and the occasional instance of suckiness, this mix just might be for you! I got to give it a spin while driving up and down the coast of Northern California, which was pretty cool and didn't alienate too many family members.

You can listen to it (minus Cooper's "This Year") on Spotify.


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Also, due to time constraints, I'm not doing a recap comic this year, BUT below you will find an unsorted recap of stuff I did and enjoyed. Read on below the cut, if you are so inclined!


January 13, 2015

7/1/2015



Pariser Platz, Berlin, 11.01.2015

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I'm back from the US and (thanks to jet-lag) have been working on this at hours where no sane person should be awake.

California was great, don't get me wrong - I chilled a lot, wrote a lot, drew a lot, watched a lot of TV, got that precious Vitamin D, reconnected with family and my NorCal roots. There'll be more about my trip in awhile.

For now, these are pretty much all of the words I've got. See you next week.



December 16, 2014

Finished Art



Or Grey's Anatomy, or Downton Abbey, or whatever keeps my brain focused enough on the task at hand. So maybe containing less abs and fight scenes? Shhh.


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Hey, if you want to come talk, read and make comics in a cool café as depicted above, tomorrow is the special Xmas edition of Panel Up, Berlin's monthly English-language comics meetup at Sankt Oberholz! Bring your fave comics, buy a beer, draw a thing - it's awesome.

And as for this blog, this is the last thing I post before I take off to spend time at home in California (yes, I know, whatever) for three weeks. Want a piece of the action? The Traveling Tip Jar is still open through tomorrow!

 See you in 2015! Don't trip on the way out.

P.S. If you are able, search for and feast your eyes on the video for the song below - it's probably my favorite video of the year.


December 9, 2014

MOS #16 - The End




The End.

Funnily enough, as I was putting the final touches on this I happened to be in the exact same place at the exact same time of year as during the scenes depicted in the two bottom panels - namely Lyon, France, explaining to friends where I was and what I was doing, not unlike the visit that came after my thesis defense in October 2010. I even slept in the bedroom where I can be seen hiding out and being completely wiped out from life. Life is a cycle, and autobio just brings that out, it would seem.

This is the final instalment of Master of Survival #2 and therefore of Master of Survival itself. So what happens next? I realize this brings the story to a fairly harsh stop - which on the other hand is how it felt graduating after two years of moving and a grueling thesis - but fear not, there is still more to come!

I originally wrote a short epilogue for the story, which didn't make it into Vol. 2 due to time constraints. There are also a few bonus comics, episodes that didn't make it into the main story for timing/storytelling/flow reasons, plus a couple that were drawn in 2010 and that I just didn't want to put online at the time. And I've got notes down for a longer epilogue as well that brings us a bit more up to speed on what moving to Germany has been like since my grad student days.

All of this should tie up the main story quite nicely and fill in any holes remaining in my comic archival of my transitional period in Berlin, 2010-2014. They are currently planned for a bonus, final MOS mini to be debuted in the spring.

In the meantime, if you want a hard copy of these comics, they are as always available in my store.

Bis bald...

December 2, 2014

#MOS 15


[ Soundtrack: Die Toten Hosen - Nur zu Besuch (live) ]

Version française.

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There's one update left... Aaah!

Until then, perhaps you want to check out this Christmas sale I have going on in my store? Or maybe you want to grab all of my minicomics for free by pledging on Patreon, or snag a postcard or personalized art (even an avatar!) by throwing some money into the Traveling Tip Jar for my trip to NorCal in three weeks. Up to you!

November 25, 2014

9.11.2014

If you were in Berlin a couple weeks ago, you might have seen this installation that was put up to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the fall of the Wall. It was pretty cool.

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Peeps! I returned safely (but incubating Con Crud) from the UK last week, and I loved it immensely. Thought Bubble was both my first major convention and my first convention abroad, and it delivered on sooooo many levels. I also enjoyed London for two days prior and would definitely like to return to both places (I think I've heard about "the north" from too many Londoners - Leeds put my preconceived ideas of rundown urban sadness to shame). Thanks to everyone who hosted me, took me out on the town, bought comics from me and spotted me £20 when my bank card stopped working!

Master of Survival will return next week with its penultimate episode(!). You can already get a hard copy of the full run on my store - all my minis are on sale this holiday season!



>> Patreon! <<

November 4, 2014

MOS #14


* Vacation in Sweden.

[ Soundtrack:  U2 - City of Blinding Lights (Live) ]

Version française.

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Berliners! I will be at Zinefest Berlin this Saturday until 6PM - with Volume 2 of Master of Survival, hot off the presses and containing THE NOT YET PUBLISHED FINAL EPISODES! I'm also selling small sketches! Come say hi!!

October 14, 2014

Experience


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I'm going to Lyon for two weeks on Friday! Woot! I have missed my old stomping grounds.

And when I come back I have a ten-day turnaround before hitting up Thought Bubble, via London for two days. It's gonna be a crazy few weeks, I tell you what.

And hey - if you wanna support my trip to Thought Bubble, please feel free to do so by visiting the Traveling Tip Jar page. I am selling postcards (of this), custom-drawn postcards, sketches and even avatars there to cover the (high) costs of traveling to England with a brand-new print run.

A bientôt!

[ BANKS - Beggin For Thread ]

October 7, 2014

Productive


Yep sorry the emo comics just keep coming.

Speaking of productive, I'm hard at work on penciling, inking and translating the final pages for Master of Survival! I will be doing this as well during my trip to Lyon in ten days, towards which you can donate! You can also donate towards my trip to the UK for Thought Bubble, where I aim to have Master of Survival #2 all fresh and shiny. Just click on the Traveling Tip Jar logo on the sidebar, there.

October 3, 2014

Friday Fanart: Finch


Against all expectations, one of my favorite bands, Finch, reformed last year and put out a new record this week called Back To Oblivion. I sketched this after listening to this teaser.

You can listen to the album here and order it here.