July 23, 2013

Consider the lilies


I drew this last Saturday at a drink'n'draw in Görlitzer Park! Astrid was there as well. The book I'm rereading is Julia Wertz' The Infinite Wait & Other Stories, which I can but recommend if you want to laff heartily.


Secret Project is nearly done being inked! To be honest all personal comics projects have taken a backseat to looking for work at the moment, but it will go up before I go to Stockholm at the end of August, as will the travel journal I drew during my recent trip to Paris! And then work on Master of Survival - Part 2 will begin. Stay tuned!

P.S. As a reminder - I am still offering commissions until August 1. After that, there are no plans to open commissions, so this is your chance! I won't draw HIMYM fanart for just anyone, you know.



July 11, 2013

[UPDATED] Commission Slot Openings!



I currently have 3 commission slots open on a first-come, first-serve basis! EDIT: Commissions close August 1!
Prices:
  • A5 / 5.8"x8.5" black and white (max. one character): 20€/$26 USD + shipping
  • A4 / 8.3"x11.7" black and white (max. two characters): 40€/$52 USD + shipping
Everything is done on German 250g Zeichenkarton (aka the thick stuff).

You can make any requests you want (within reason) by shooting me an e-mail at clairykin at gmail youknowtherest. Requests can also include fandom characters (comprehensive, non-exclusive list here). Or even my own characters Noémie, Anaé, Sasha and Félix.
If you need inspiration, you can also check out my Behance portfolio or my Tumblr art tag (or this very blog!).
Let's art.

July 9, 2013

Small talk


I'm back from Paris! It was epic, we got to meet a bunch of people on Saturday, I sold many comics and sketches, Sarah busked all over town, and I got to shake hands with the Prime Minister on Friday and attend Mark Gatiss' Masterclass at Comic-Con on Sunday. I'm pretty much on the verge of passing out now. Thanks to everyone who ordered a postcard!

June 30, 2013

a poem about a wait

The nobility of my desires
is not conducive
to their being realised

That, at least
that is how
this transpires.


Berlin, 29.6.2013, 23:15.

June 29, 2013

Weekend Warmup: Old friends, new pen




Heading into inks for Secret Project now. Six pages and one third to go.

On a completely unrelated note, here are Anaé and Sasha, subjected to the whims of my newly replaced brush pen. (HUZZAH.)

PS - psst - want to get a personalized postcard from my next trip to Paris, or even a commission? Check this out!

June 28, 2013

Paris Fundraiser II: Le Retour!




It's postcard time again! As mentioned here, I am returning to Paris next weekend, this time with Sarah Ehrenholz, to present our comic-and-music collaboration, Noémie hin und zurück/aller-retourOnce again, I am offering you a way to get a piece of the action!

The postcards this time around are extra special, as we just got a ton of them printed with the Noémie logo on the back and a blank side for people to draw their own postcard. Needless to say, if you buy one of these postcards, the drawing will be by ME! (Sarah will also say hello on the back!)


Oh iPhone, my iPhone...

Postcards are 3€, payable via PayPal donation (button on the right), and will be mailed to you from Paris. If you want one but really hate PayPal, e-mail me at clairykin at gmail and we can work something out.

I am also offering three A5, black-and-white commissions, 10€ each + 1,45€ shipping. Also payable via donation on the sidebar (letting me know what you want me to draw - there can be maximum of two characters and a simple background.)

Also, I am bringing my minis to sell at the Franco-German Village Place de la République on July 6. Stocks of Cardialement Vol 1 are currently low, so if you want a piece of that, now may be a good time to grab a copy.

Offer on postcards and commissions expires Thursday, July 4 at 11:30PM!

June 21, 2013

Introducing ... The Noémie Project

Guys! I know this is not a comic, but as a total departure from my usual going-back-to-France rythm, I am going to Paris again two weeks from now (July 4-8), and I want to tell you why!



See that girl? That's Noémie. What is Noémie? Who is Noémie? Noémie is the result of that endeavour I had back in October to work on a comics-and-music project with a German musician. She is also, along with Master of Survival, the project that is taking up most of my free comics-making time since January. Let me tell you more about the project that now has her name on it.

I first had the idea for a project involving music and comics in October of last year, after discussing with my friend and former boss what I envisioned doing after my stint at the Info-Café was over. Since 2013 is the Year of the 50th Elysée Treaty Anniversary - which is a huge deal to anyone in the Franco-German world - it was put forth that I should apply for a grant with a project of mine that would contribute to the festivities.

Following that conversation - and as I was on a very tight deadline for that particular grant - I hit up the pool, as I usually do and did some exercising, brain-on-autopilot thinking about what would make a compelling project, but also something that would interest me as an artist, and would involve collaborating with a German creator, preferably outside of my discipline.

It sort of hit me around lap 20 that what had always interested and stimulated me in my writing was music, and that what would be really interesting both for me and for others would be to see what it was like if I actually sat down and let an original story of mine interact on a concrete basis with another musician's songwriting. (I play music myself but don't write it). I ran the idea by my boss, who thought it was excellent, and so I put out a call on my blog, Twitter, Facebook groups and through my church for a young German musician who'd be interested in the project - urgently, since the deadline for the original grant was October 31.

Within a weekend I had found five people, whom I then had one week to meet, mostly after work hours, explaining the details and making assessments of who would be a good fit. Everyone had something to bring to the table. It finally came to the Friday afternoon, hours before my deadline for making a decision so I could go to Brandenburg for the weekend and think about other things, and at 3PM in Friedrichshain I met Sarah Ehrenholz, who had just recorded an album with her brand-new band LYND.



This is Sarah.

My first impression of Sarah was that she was carrying her guitar and was wearing a black hat - it was already cold - or rather, that was my second impression, as moments prior I'd been attempting to get an idea of her stuff via her album on Bandcamp. Sarah's attention had been brought to my project by a mutual acquaintance from my church, who had sent her my ad. As we sat down to crêpes and talked, it transpired that we were at very similar places in our creative endeavours; her folksy, slightly melancholy style of music  alsohappened to be very close to what I imagined the soundtrack to the comic should be like.

On top of this, Sarah had just been in the US for over five years and could hold her own on the topic of identity and culture shock, which was also important for the project. After this conversation, it was quickly apparent to me that I didn't really need to look any further for a good match, and so we became... Claire and Sarah. (If my name was Tegan we would be Tegan and Sarah, but it isn't, so we're not.)

We found out early December that our project wouldn't be funded by the initial grant. Since then, and after some thought, we have decided to go ahead with the project, at least at first on our own time. Currently we are at the beginning stages, but already have a blog up and running, and we want to use it to track our progress. To that extent I have some bad news: as this is a Franco-German project, it is already in two languages, and I will not translate it into English. I already do that with Master of Survival and it is a huge amount of work. I do, however, encourage you to keep tabs on it if you are into makings-of, because there will be some of that as the comic and music progress. Also, you can teach yourself some French and German! As well you should!


Sarah and I were graciously offered the opportunity to bring Noémie to the festivities hosted by the Franco-German Youth Office (OFAJ/DFJW), which is celebrating its 50th July 6 on the Place de la République with concerts and a Franco-German village.  It is our plan to use the time to involve passersby in what we're doing and most notably to help us write the story, as there are a few factors we've decided to outsource. But we are also planning to have at least one original song to debut while we're there (we're currently writing some songs - and I am writing LYRICS again!! Hallelujah).

On that topic, I would like to announce that I am selling postcards again! All expenses for our trip are paid for by the FGYO, so this is just in the interest of you, dear readers, getting a piece of the action. Details for the purchasing of postcards will be posted soon (but you heard it here first).

With that, let me say that I am very excited about the fact that I am working on this project with Sarah, and I am very curious as to where it will go.

June 11, 2013

ANNOUNCING: Minicomics for everyone!

Guys, it's my pleasure to announce that all of my minicomics are currently available to order online at Bigcartel!


Never you mind those weird colors from my iPhone 3GS, these be crispy black and white!

See these beauties? They can all be yours for a mere 3€ each, plus shipping. Each copy is signed, sealed and delivered to you by the Deutsche Post. Grab'em while they're hot! Or don't grab them actually, as that would injure your hands.

N.B. The Master of Survival mini is bilingual: flip it over and it is also in French! The Cardialement minis are both in English (mostly), except for a few French and German strips which are subtitled.

If you are more favorably inclined to digital objects, each minicomic is also available as a pay-what-you-want PDF on Gumroad (suggested donation is 3€ for a mini):


As always, if you want to contribute to my endeavours as a cartoonist, but don't actually want anything, please feel free to Flattr this blog or make a donation using the button in the sidebar. I'm on a tight budget these days (also I need a bike) and any help is welcome.

If you DO want something that is not a minicomic - such as a customized drawing - you can also either e-mail me at clairykin at gmail or make a PayPal donation specifying what you'd like in the note to the seller.

We now return you to your regularly scheduled programming.

June 8, 2013

Weekend Warmup: Companions' Tiff



Elementary fanart! I started watching the show this week and have not been disappointed, so of course I drew my new favorite pairing as a warmup today. I'm especially pleased with the way Joan draws out the humanity in Holmes' character, which is not an easy thing to do. I won't compare it to Sherlock, since the two shows are really not part of the same universe at all. I highly encourage giving it a try if you haven't already.

I'm still working on the secret project I have mentioned before. Once it is finished, I will be getting back to work on updating Master of Survival, I promise. In the meantime, I am going to put up an additional comic I have also been working on and which I also think will be of interest. Sorry I've been inconsistent these past few weeks, and that Master of Survival has been on a longer hiatus than expected!

June 5, 2013

Wednesday Workpost: Staffellauf!



In order to raise funds for social projects, my church participated in last week's Berliner Wasserbetriebe relay race in Tiergarten. I was asked to draw a few cartoons to use in the thank-you cards sent to donors. Even though it poured rain the day of the race, it was a success and much money was raised. Hooray!







One of the supported projects is a new church project in Friedrichshain (accordingly called Projekt:Kirche).




May 27, 2013

Announcing the "Clairikine Hits Paris" Digital Download!

Hot on the heels of debuting Cardialement Vol. 2 and Master of Survival #1* last Friday comes the Digital Download of Clairikine Hits Paris, my first fundraiser travel comic!

This 17-page-long comic details my 5-day stay in Paris and Noyon, France last February. The France-Germany game   at the Stade de France gets its own 2-page recap, and elsewhere I tell of planes, métros, beers, politics, friends and (adoptive missionary-kid extended) family. The suggested donation is 3€, but if you want to pay more, you can! (If you want to pay less, you also can!) The link to the download is here.




As a side note, the notebook I drew this comic in was also sold as part of the fundraiser to help offset my traveling costs. I plan to do more such fundraisers in the near future, so keep your eyes peeled if you want a piece of it :D

Here is a picture of me seeing the comic on an iPad for the first time (courtesy of benefactor and iPad owner Alex Koppel):

Woohoo woohoo woohoo ohmigosh ohmigosh ohmigosh

* P.S. I am currently working on making the Cardialement and Master of Survival minicomics available to order online very soon. Stay tuned!

May 21, 2013

Comics Market Action! [UPDATE]



(En français ci-dessous)


Hey dudes! I am thrilled to announce that as part of the OFAJ' 50-year-anniversary, I am gonna be tabling at the Info-Café Berlin-Paris' Franco-German Party flea market this Friday starting at 4PM.

For Berlin readers (and other readers!) who have wanted to buy real, solid, hard-copy comics from me, I will be debuting the BRAND SPANKING NEW LONG-AWAITED SECOND AND FINAL VOLUME OF Cardialement*, as well as THE FIRST PRINTED VOLUME OF Master of Survival**! Cardialement Vol. 1 is still in stock as well and will be present. I am also offering a limited amount of commissions (Barney Stinson fans, this is your chance).

Also present from 4 to 5 PM will be the witty and talented Sarah Ehrenholz, who, I am extremely pleased to announce - for those of you who recall the Franco-German music-and-comics project I mentioned last fall - is officially my partner in multimedial crime! She will have CDs of her sweet folksy music and we will be very happy to talk about our project, entitled "Noémie hin und zurück / Noémie aller-retour", for which we are currently setting the narrative and musical foundations. Hooray! (More info on Noémie will come soon.)

In addition to the actual flea market, there will be live music,  circus and theater performances as well as crêpes, good food and a Biergarten! It is all followed by a massive party at 8PM with Mr. Bondy, La Marche, Rolando Random & The Young Soul Rebels and Son Kapital, followed by DJ Trim. It's basically a huge Franco-German festival of awesomeness, and Franco-German stuff rocks. So make sure you grab a crêpe and a Pilsner and come say bonjour!


En français

Hé les gens! J'ai le grand plaisir de vous annoncer que dans le cadre des 50 ans de l'OFAJ, je tiendrai un stand sur le marché au puces du Bal Pop' franco-allemand de l'Info-Café Berlin-Paris ce vendredi à partir de 16h..

Pour mes lecteurs berlinois (et venus d'ailleurs!) désireux d'acheter des copies dures, vraies et véritables de mes BD, j'ai l'encore plus grand plaisir d'annoncer que je vendrai des exemplaires FLAMBANTS NEUFS ET MEGA ATTENDUS du SECOND ET DERNIER VOLUME DE Cardialement*, ainsi que LE PREMIER VOLUME IMPRIME DE Master of Survival**! Cardialement Vol. 1 est toujours en stock également, et je ferai aussi des dessins sur commande pendant le marché (fans de Barney Stinson, viendez!)

Egalement présente de 16h à 17h sera l'intelligente et talentueuse Sarah Ehrenholz, avec laquelle j'ai le très grand plaisir de collaborer sur un projet franco-allemand musique-et-BD depuis le début de l'année! Le projet s'appelle "Noémie aller-retour / Noémie hin und zurück" et nous en posons actuellement les bases scénaristiques et musicales. Nous nous ferions un plaisir d'en discuter au stand! Sarah vendra aussi sa délicieuse musique folksy. Youpi!! (Plus d'infos sur Noémie viendront prochainement.)

En même temps que le marché, il y aura de la musique live, du cirque et du théâtre ainsi que des crêpes, de la bonne bouffe et un Biergarten! SUITE A QUOI il y aura une méga-teuf à 20h avec Mr. BondyLa MarcheRolando Random & The Young Soul Rebels et Son Kapital, suivis par un set de DJ Trim. En gros c'est un énorme festival franco-allemand de ouf, et le franco-allemand c'est super bien. Donc n'oubliez ni votre crêpe, ni votre Pilsner, ni de passer dire Hallo!


* In English/en anglais.
** In English and in French/en anglais et en français.


May 14, 2013



Hashtag white college graduate multitalented trilingual Berlin-dwelling EU citizen cartoonist problems.

(On a related note, I am totally for hire!)


May 12, 2013

Weekend Warmup: Dr. Torres



Two drawing habits I can highly recommend: doing warm-up drawings before you do anything else, and drawing while watching Grey's Anatomy (or some other form of televised entertainment that you find both engaging and of high quality). It follows, therefore, that I drew this sketch of Callie "BAMF" Torres today.

May 7, 2013

Dive Bro

Last week it was my brother's turn to have a birthday! He is a certified diver and works at the Monterey Bay Aquarium, which basically makes him the one in the family with the unbeatable dream job. (Just you wait.) He also runs a website with video montages of his dives. He did actually go diving in Baja recently. It was an experience.

April 30, 2013

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.)

April 27, 2013

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.

April 22, 2013

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.

April 20, 2013

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.

April 15, 2013

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.

April 13, 2013

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.

April 2, 2013

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.


March 29, 2013

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!)]

March 24, 2013

March 18, 2013

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.

March 12, 2013

MOS #8


Traduction à venir.

When I was a young'un in high school, I once had to compose an extensive sort-of essay project-thing on a theme I got to pick out along with a project buddy. (It was called "Travaux Personnels Encadrés" and it was to my French baccaulaureate what the Extended Essay is to the IB program.) As I had spent most of my previous years infatuated with the late Kurt Cobain and Nirvana, I chose to write my part of the essay on the figure of the suffering artist as embodied by Cobain (also on the roster were Baudelaire and Renaud).
Much of the project involved sitting long hours at my desk making notes on Cobain through my readings of his journals, lyrics and of Charles R. Cross' Heavier Than Heaven (amazing book), which was insanely fun (even if the subject matter was very dark). At this moment a lightbulb went on in my head that I wanted to write about artists. And so, during my internship in 2010, it so happened that I ended up being able to do that very thing, several times, in fact. This is the "what I dreamed of in high school" refers to in this comic - I was actually unaware of Mrs. King's work until well after I'd finished my Bachelor's, which is when I was more open to adopting my dad's love of instrumental guitar. She wrote some great answers to my questions - although currently I can't link you to the interview (conducted in French) because the site is partly down. And she was very gracious to sign my album cover and shake my hand.

Also, if you're into good melodies, great guitar and sweet drumming, you should definitely check out JuniorKaki's new stuff is equally pleasing.

The next Master of Survival page involves Easter weekend and will therefore go up on Good Friday (March 29) as a contribution to the all-round "hey guys, it's Easter" chitter-chatter. Until then I will be posting a couple other things and trying to not break my coffee fast.

Lorsque je fus une jeunette au lycée, j'ai dû m'atteler à la divine tâche des Travaux Personnels Encadrés (en première ET en Terminale, mes petits). Comme j'avais passé une bonne partie des années précédentes à faire une fixation sur feu Kurt Cobain et Nirvana, j'ai choisi de faire ma partie sur la figure de l'artiste maudit telle que Cobain l'incarnait (ma binôme était chargée de Renaud, et Baudelaire fut des nôtres aussi.) Un bon morceau du projet consistait à passer de longues heures à mon bureau à prendre des notes sur Cobain à l'aide de ses Journaux, de ses textes de chanson et de la (génialissime) biographie "Heavier Than Heaven" de Charles R. Cross, et c'était vraiment sympa, même si le sujet était bien sombre. C'est à ce moment que s'alluma la proverbiale ampoule dans ma tête - ce que j'avais envie de faire, c'était d'écrire sur des artistes. Et donc, pendant mon stage en 2010, il s'est avéré que j'ai eu l'occasion de le faire, plusieurs fois même. C'est à cela que fait allusion "ce dont je rêvais depuis le lycée", puisque j'ai découvert la musique de Mme King bien après la fin de ma Licence, à une période où j'étais plus ouverte à la guitare instrumentale tant prisée par mon paternel. Elle a écrit de super réponses à mes questions (quoique je ne peux actuellement pas vous linker à l'article en question), et elle était très gracieuse après le concert.
Par ailleurs, si vous aimez de bonnes mélodies, de la bonne gratte et de la bonne batterie, vous feriez mieux d'écouter l'album Junior. Ses nouveaux morceaux sont également plaisants.

La prochaine page de Master of Survival traitant du weekend de Pâques, elle sera mise en ligne le vendredi 29 mars (alias le vendredi saint) pour contribuer à l'ambiance générale ce jour-là. En attendant, je posterai un ou deux trucs et tenterai de ne pas briser mon carême sans café.

March 7, 2013

Scène ouverte franco-allemande!

I was at the Théâtre au fil des nuages' Franco-German Open Mic last Thursday! They gave me one of their custom-made notebooks so I could make some brushpen sketches of the artists. I didn't manage to get everyone's names, but you can find out more about the event on their Facebook page!

J'étais à la scène ouverte franco-allemande du Théâtre au fil des nuages la semaine dernière et j'ai fait des dessins! Plus d'infos (et les noms de tous les artistes) sur leur page Facebook.














March 4, 2013

MOS #7



It took forever to ink that table pattern, oh my gosh.
Cell groups (or small groups) are a practice found in many evangelical churches. They're intended to allow church members to experience community in smaller, more personable units. My church happens to be huge (by German standards), so this is primordial for getting to know people that you see on a regular basis. I'll be honest and say that I'm more comfortable discussing spiritual matters in French (which I attended church and student group in until I moved here) or English (as my mother tongue), not in German, but you can't have that kind of mentality when you're living in a country for more than short term, so it's not a very good reason to not be a part of a group.

La vache, j'ai mis une éternité à encrer le motif de la table, sans déconner.
Les petits groupes (ou groupes de maison) sont une pratique commune chez les églises évangéliques. Le principe est de permettre aux membres d'une église de faire l'expérience de la communauté dans des unités plus petites et donc plus personnelles. Mon église étant en l'occurrence énorme (pour une église allemande), les petits groupes sont primordiaux pour apprendre à connaître les personnes que l'on y croise régulièrement. Pour être franche je suis plus à l'aise pour discuter d'affaires spirituelles en français (langue dans laquelle je fréquentais l'église et une asso étudiante avant de venir ici), ou bien en anglais (qui est ma langue maternelle réelle), mais pas en allemand. Par contre, si on envisage d'habiter un endroit à plus que court terme, la langue n'est pas vraiment une bonne raison pour se priver d'un petit groupe.

March 3, 2013

Weekend Warmup: Musikmachen



It's been back to the drawing board this week (huzzaaaahh), so here is yesterday's warmup drawing. This is a special character of mine, and hopefully you will be able to see much more of him in the future when a few other projects have been completed. (His feet were chopped off by the scanner.)
Also, check it out - I've been using the brush pen! It's getting a little easier.

Cette semaine marqua le retour pour moi à ma table de dessin (huzzaaaahh), donc voici le dessin d'échauffement d'hier. Ceci est un de mes personnages et il est particulier; j'espère que vous pourrez voir davantage de sa personne une fois que quelques autres projets seront achevés. (Ses pieds ont été coupés par le scanneur.)
En passant, matez, j'ai sorti le brush pen Pentel! Je m'y suis faite un peu.

February 26, 2013

MOS #6



[ Le Peuple De L'Herbe - Look Up! (live) ]

Traduction en français.

At this stage of my life, I was able to communicate verbally without actually being in possession of a mouth. This is a skill I lost when I completed my internship.