Work work work~

Right now, I'm multitasking all week:

Mondays at Serieskolan, teaching the students everything I know so they can conquer the world out there!
Tuesdays at Malmö University, teaching sketching techniques. The diligent students follow my crazy gudelines so well, and they evolve fast! I'm impressed!
The rest of the week is a mix of:
...finishing my manga Hearts of Midsummer for Nosebleed Studio's next anthology
...doing economy papers for Nosebleed Studio, Wasabi Press and my own company
...sending books to printers and recieving them.
...detail-planning A Sword Princess Tale, my next big project!

 The diligent students at the sketching course at Malmö University.

As written before, I have reprinted A song for Elise and my Harry Potter doujinshi The Marauders and the Secrets of the Heart. The former is avaliable for purchase in Nosebleed Studio's webbshop, but the latter is only purchaseable at events or via e-mail correspondance with me (see contact), since it is a doujinshi and I don't want to upset J.K. Rowling too much. It is a non-profit production, but I still want to be careful.

 Here's a photo of the two fabulous books, fresh of the printers!

I look forward to have them on Nosebleed Studio's book table for sale at all the events we're attending this year (check the list to the right to see which ones).

But, what is really stressing me out right now is the short story Hearts of Midsummer for Nosebleed Studio's next anthology, with a Swedish theme. I'm still screentoning and the book needs to go to the printers on the 1st of March! I hope I'll make it!

Here's a little short description on the storyline:

Julia is forced to celebrate Midsummer's Eve in her home village with her childhood friend Dennis' family. They havn't met up in two years, and last time they did he confessed to her that he likes her. So embarrassing! What will happend when the meet again? Will this be a Midsummer's Eve she will always remember or just wants to forget?

I really need to finish this manga short story NOW! Because 1) I have to start drawing A Sword Princess Tale to make it to the deadlines, and 2) I want to send HoM to Ribbon as my third entry, hopefully before the deadline in March! So much work!!

Ok, back to the drawing table! Please email me if you are interested in the books!

Teaching, PRAO and a new project

Long time no see!
Sorry for the one month silence here... Well, life have been busy and I wanted to get rid off some stuff on my table. Here's a report on what I've been up to!

Two weeks ago, I was teaching at Serieskolan in Malmö for the first year students, about how to build a story.
It was very fitting, since I just recently finished John Truby's The Anatomy of Story: 22 Steps to Becoming a Master Storyteller, a very good book on how to tell a story with natural and organic storytelling. I read it because since I started sending in my mangas to the Japanese manga magazine Ribbon, I have wanted to evolve my storytelling (since that was one of the main problems my stories had).

So my week with the students at Serieskolan was aslo a perfect chance for me to repeat the ideas of Mr. Truby in my own mind, and see them in use.
We also talked about visual storytelling; how to construct a picture and how the reader reacts to a picture or sequence of pictures. I recommend Scott McCloud's Understanding Comics to get knowledge on visual storytelling and comic perception.

The week after, I had a PRAO (an intern) here at my studio at home. She was nice, working hard on her own project and practicing drawing wolves. Rawr!


And now, I have started working on a new project. Like before, this will be a Ribbon manga entry, but also a short story in Nosebleed Studio's next anthology!
I don't want to spoil too much, but as Ribbon editors have suggested I do something more Swedish this time, and because Nosebleed Studio's next anthology will be a Swedish-themed, this story will play out in the Swedish countryside during the shojo-manga-esque traditional Midsummer Eve. Flower crowns, nice dresses and the romantic feeling in the air will be perfect for a Ribbon manga entry, don't you think?

Here's some quick sketches I did of the main character, Julia. Oh, and her childhood friend Dennis as well.

I've just finished the layout sketches and will probably start drawing any day soon. I look forward to it!!

A Sword Princess Tale, my longer project, is also developing nicely. I have a Swedish and a Danish comic publisher on the line and they are both interested in publishing it next year. Because I don't want to get too hasty, I won't reveal  names before contracts are written, but it is surely looking good right now!
Some things should not be rushed.

Oh, and now some shameless advertisement!

Nosebleed Studio is having a December Sale on our webshop!  
Our anthologies Seaside Stories and 5 Years Jubilee Anthology are both 10% off, and also the Deluxe Set is on sale!
Here's a perfect chance for you to get an awesome and uique X-mas present for someone, save some money and also help us fund our future projects!
Please, check it out!

~*~*~*~ Happy Holiday Everyone! ~*~*~*~

New York Comic Con Report!

Wow, long time no see! A month since I last wrote here, and that's because I've been quite busy... With everything else than making comics, sadly. Still enjoyable stuff though, so here's a HUGE report!

In September I was teaching comics art and visual storytelling at Malmö University again, thanks to Gunnar Krantz - my ex-teacher from Malmö Serieskola (Comic Art School). It was fun and this time I had the chance to go through more than the basics, which was nice.
The course was Serieteckning och visuellt berättande if you are interested in taking it. It's in Swedish but there's also an English one every Spring called Comics, International Perspectives.

Ok, now over to what I've done in October!

Guess where I have been off to?

Me and my boyfriend Emil went to the US of A! More precisely New York City, for their yearly New York Comic Con! It's the second biggest comic convention in the US, the San Diego Comic Con being the biggest.

Why New York? Because I have wanted to see these. You don't find this in Sweden, and the Big Apple is such an interesting and energetic city. It's not really an American city as much as it is an International city, especially Manhattan (where we hanged out most of the time).

 

The food. Oh, the food.

These huge pancakes (pobably more than 20 cm in diameter each) was our breakfast. Twice, and then we realized it would actually kill our stomachs...

Thursday was the "Professionals and VIP's only" day! So after standing in this line for one hour we finally eneter the huge convention center.

Huge. ((This word pretty much describes most things we experienced in the US))

Powaaaah!!

Back to the future!

  All the big videogame and comic companies was there. Big booths, a lot of "booth babes" (both female and male ones) and cool sculputers, life size models, figurines in glass cabinets... So much to see!!

These historical originals was displayed for the charity auction, check out the starting bid!

Also, there was a lot of shops and smaller companies and studio's there, selling all from nerdy T-shirst and self-published comics to steampunk stuff and small production toys.

Yes, a steampunk keyboard...!

 Lego also had a booth, with awesome models like these of Gandalf and Bildo. They're smart, they know their audience is not only young kinds but old kids as well!

We had to check out the Artist Alley, which was in it's own big hall. So many fantastic artists! Most into the American comics style, but also some into manga and more European styles. Mike Mignola had a table, which just shows the level of artists there. Some where more green though, and the diversity was appealing. So inspiring!

I usually don't buy prints, but since some of the artists was so freaking amasing, I just had to. I think we spent more than 100 dollar on prints alone!

I also took the chance to talk to editors at Yen Press (yes, I know, I'm a workaholic!) and their great and insightful feedback made me change a lot of my agendas and plans. They where harsh and honest, which I love!! Hopefully a collaboration in the future, a great contact!

The next day, we went for a walk in Central Park. Here's the statue of the sled dog Balto, who aslo got his own animated movie, remember? 

Even the squirrels were huge! And cute~

 We stopped by the Natural History Museum and checked out the space exhibition and the dinosaur skelettons!

HUGE!

 

Saturday, and back at Comic Con. If we ever though it was packed on Thursday, this was HELL. So much people it took us 3 times longer to get anywhere. 

A lot of awesome cosplayers and people dressed up for the costume contest.

So... much... people...

The Artist Alley, a little more packed, huh?

The Javits Center (where Comic Con was held) from the outside. Um... huge?

 On Sunday we had the chance to check out Midtown and Downtown, and especially the shops we had maked on the map before the trip. Among them was Forbidden Planet on Broadway and Midtown Comics at Times Square. Both have a lot of comics and figurines and made me even more poor...
We also went to Chinatown, Financial district and walked along the High Line, a former train bridge that was turned into a floating park along the West side of Midtown. 
We walked a lot... I meassured on the map, and we went like 60 km all 6 days! O_O

Monday was return day, but we still had the chance to go on a visit to Parsons New School of Design thanks to my friend Dinah (the same Dinah that helped me back when I got my contract on Ein Lied für Elise with TOKYOPOP back in 2010). It was interesting to go there, see the school and participate in a lesson.

Wow, a trip I will remember and that mattered a lot to me. Tired and dirty we returned home to Sweden.
Feels like this trip was like a piece of the puzzle of my life, put in the right spot and made things a little clearer. 

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Now some tips for you who think of going to NYCC any time in the future:

1. Book a hotel on Manhattan, as close to NYCC as possible. The island is HUGE and walking in the city makes your feet hurt... Bring good shoes as well!
2. Make sure you have the ESTA (a traveling visa you have to apply for at least 3 days before your trip). The Americans are super duper careful, scanning every inch. And don't lock your bag, they have to be able to check it if they want to.
3. If you are a librarian, artist, game developer, publisher or any other professional, apply for the NYCC Professional Pass at least 2 months before the trip. It's so much cheaper, plus you get entrance to the Show room at Thursday, which is the only day you actually can breathe in there.
4. Do a lot of planning before the trip! Check the Internet for shops and restaurants and attractions you wanna go see. Print out maps, mark the shops and restaurants and always have the addresses written down. Did I mention that the city is HUGE? People are helpful though, so as long as you have a map and an address you'll manage.

2011 - in retrospect

Okay, time for some reviewing of the past 12 months of my life.
I'm kinda not looking forward to it, though...
This year have been filled with work, and it was fun, don't get me wrong on that, but I didn't get to do all the things I wanted to do, in the time I put up for my self. Well, let's start with looking over the events of this year.

Milestones of 2011:

• I started the year with finishing the illustrations of Fly Sol, Fly!, the second of four in the children book series Häxfolket by Jo Salmson and Bonnier Carlsen (big Swedish publisher of childrens books). It was easier to work with the second book, compared to the first, because now we had settled how the characters and everything should be portrayed.
  
  
  
• While Fly Sol, Fly! was going to the printers, I had a month to work on other stuff of my own before starting with the third book. Perfect timing, because Nosebleed Studio's 5 Years Jubilee Anthology was in the making, and I had my quota of 50 pages to fill! (>_<)
  So I finally started drawing the Circus manga idea that I had developed with the editor at Japanese manga magazine Ribbon that I met in Spring 2010 when I visited the country.
  
  
  
  The one shot manga of 32 pages
  
  was finished for the deadline the 1st of March.
  
  
• But because I made Circus Romantique for the rookie competition in Ribbon magazine, I had a maximal page count of 32. So I still had another 18 pages to make to the anthology. My sister Catarina and our Nosebleed camrade Joakim Waller met up and had a 24-hour marathon session, at which the story and final drawings (before inking) for Bad Boy was made. It's a short story about Alice's two dogs, Charlie and Nebel. Sadly Charlie left us later that year.
  
  
  ♥ Rest in peace, dear Charlie, you were loved by many and will be missed forever~ ♥
  
  
• During Fall 2010 and Winter 2011, I had a chair and a table at the comic art studio Seriestudion in Malmö. I wanted to have a real workspace, away from home, but it didn't really work that well... Frankly, I was too lazy to get my bum over there when I have a private workspace at home, with everything I need. Also, we had a little family X-mas present in january: a kitten!
  
  
  
  Hilda is her name, and with her around I never want to
  leave my home! So I quit my Seriestudion-workplace in March
  to become a full time shut-in, hahaha...
  
  
  
• Then the terrible earth quake happened in Japan. TOKYOPOP in Germany took action, and got us artists involved in an auction of original art. The money was sent to an organization that helped out in the aftermaths of the disaster.
  
  
• Spring arrived with a big bang! Not only did I have the sketches and illustrations for Magiska Krafter (the third in the Häxfolket series) to do, but also finishing the work as the editor of Swedish Comic Sin 2. This year the project had over 20 participants and the book reached 400 pages! So cool!!
  
  
  
• And so the touring around the country began! First stop was in March: book signings at SF-bokhandeln in Stockholm and selling our books and fanzines at OkashiiCon in Malmö. April was mostly work (illustrations for Magiska Krafter) but May held Small Press Expo in Stockholm. In June, we went to UppCon in Uppsala and B.L.Y.G. in Stockholm. Last but not least, a book signing at SF-bokhandeln in Gothenburg in July.
  
  
  
  Nosebleed Studio's 5 Years Jubilee Anthology
  
  was a real hit at both SPX and UppCon!
  
  
  
• July was calmer, less work and even some vacation with my fathers family in Portugal. Fun and nice with some time off~
  
  
• As soon as I returned home, work gathered... First and foremost the illustrations for Folket Som Försvann, the last of four books in the Häxfolket series. The Fall was also filled with conventions to attend, such as Danish GenkiCon in August, Gothenburg Book Fair in September, Malmö comic festival ISV in October and Danish J-popCon in November.
  
  
  
  I signed the third book in the Häxfolket series
  
  at the Gothenburg Book Fair.
  
  
  
• During the Fall, I also worked at libraries and schools as comic art and manga teacher. I usually don't have time for doing that, but some things is hard to say no to. I held workshops at libraries in Kristianstad and Lund, and in Jönköping at their film festival - which was loads of fun!
  I also got the honor to teach at Malmö Högskola (college) for a week in September, and at Serieskolan (Comic Art School) in Malmö in November. It was awesome!!
  I really like teaching comic art, so when I one day feel like I have fullfilled my own need of attention, I will probably try to get my hands on a good spot somewhere as a teacher, and use my achieved contacts and experiences to make aspiring artists reach high!
  
  
• Finally, in October, I did the last touches on the illustrations for the fourth book of Häxfolket, and thus finalized this one year project! Phew, nice! Don't get me wrong, I loved working with the books, and the editor and author and everyone did a fantastic job. I learned so much, and it also earned me a good pay. But I was also glad to finally be able to return to making comics, which feels like my true habitat.
  
  
  
• So after 1,5 year of delays, I could finally finish the Japanese verion of Circus Romantique and send it off to Ribbon. It feels almost like this project had a "slow pace" button pushed all the way through. Everything went painfully slow!! It was so frustrating!
  
  
  But as soon as it was sent for Japan, it feelt like a big burden was lifted of my shoulders.
  I got it in on time for a deadline, and thus got the results in December: not a first place (of course, it was my first time) but a runner-up spot, and a feature in the end of February's issue 2012!! OMG!!! I was thrilled!
  Just like the TOKYOPOP contract in December 2009, this was a perfect X-mas gift for me! These are the kind of achievements that makes me strive higher and higher each time!
  
  
• In December, I immediately started working on three new projects of mine:
  ★ a new short story for Ribbon called Hooked On You (that will also be a part of Nosebleed Studio's next anthology) ~ Layout sketches done for 32 pages
  ★ a short sidestory to A Song For Elise/Ein Lied für Elise, my Boys Love manga (the short story will be published in an anthology with other Nordic BL-artists) ~ 12 pages inked and partly finished
  ★ a longer and epic fantasy shojo manga about a sword princess, that I want to pitch for TOKYOPOP in 2012 ~ Layout sketches for chapter 1 done, 40 pages
  
  

So, that was my 2011!
Well, now that I look back at it, I am kinda pleased with it all. I did do loads of stuff, all in all 58 manga pages and over 300 illustraions! Three printed books, two anthologies and even a little extra victory with the coming feature in Ribbon.

But I feel frustrated over how slow it all went. I wanted to make even more manga this year... I guess the reason to me feeling a little down is because I have been longing to get back to making comics.
What am I doing here waisting time?!?

Let's make manga!!!

I've been doing stuff...

Hey, I have to begin with defending my lack of activity here!
It's not like I have been doing nothing, so let's do some reporting...

First:
ISV 2011 (28-30th of October)
This is the most important childrens comic festival in Malmö, and me and my friends in Nosebleed Studio had to be there, to represent! We sold our books in the market and also held a 'Drawing Battle', where the winner received a Deluxe Bag with our latest anthology and an awesome bag, poster, postcards and badge!

Photo by Anna Åhlén

Mjau! was popular among the kids, and I'm so glad for that. It makes me all warm and happy inside when I hear or see people (young and old) that appreciate what I create.
I participated in the project 'Livsviktig Konst' ('Vital Art') at the festival, where artists made artworks that later would be sold at an auction to give money to children in the Horn of Africa. Here's the picture I made for the auktion, drawing it live in front of an audience.


As soon as we got back home, I got myself to finishing a project that have been hanging over me like a dark cloud for some time now...
It is the Japanese version of my manga Circus Romantique. It's a project I started in Spring 2010 when I went to Japan and got a meeting with a Japanese editor at Ribon magazine (one of the biggest shojo manga magaziens in Japan). I had e-mail correspondance with the editor and developed the story and drew it for the Nosebleed Studio 5 Years Jubilee Anthology, but had to later redo the screen tones because for the format differences... (Ribon is B-size)

Cover of the Japanese version

This project would not have been possible if it wasn't for a bunch of warm hearted and lovely friends around me, that helped me with the translation and proof-reading:
First of all to Kristina and Johan and Elise that have helped me with correcting my e-mails. Without that help I would probalby have embarrased myself alot! Thank you!!
A huge thank you to Simon Lundström for the translation of the 32-page manga. He didn't just translate, but accualy but a lot of character into the dialogues, things I would just dream about. Thank you!!!
And thanks to everyone that proof-read the manga, and especially to Akio-san, whom as a native Japanese could give a lot of essential input. Thank you!!!

So, on monday the 14th of November 2011, I picked up my manga from the print shop and sent it to a Japanese manga magazine for the first time in my life with hope and dreams of one day being accepted for publication. I don't expect it now, but this is a first step...

Right before that, Nosebleed Studio went to J-popCon in Denmark in 11-13th of November. It is the biggest manga convention in Denmark, and they also host the Danish selection to the World Cosplay Summit, so they attract a lot of awesome cosplayers.
We met a lot of interesting people, many artists both from Denmark and from other countries, because the con in visited by more people from the continent than the Swedish cons are.

And...
This past week, I have been working as a teacher at the Comic Art School (Serieskolan) in Malmö. It's fun to be back, and to teach again at the school. I used to be the teacher during the summer course, but had to say no when I got more commissioned work as an artist.
The class was so fun to work with! Becasue this was their 'Manga Week', I was affraid that there would be people complaining because they don't like manga, but all of them was open minded and gave it a shot! Yaaay!! Thank you ~
Also, it's fun that most of them are girls! Only 5 guys in a class of 24! Wow!

So, a lot of working and finally finishing stuff, feels great!
Now it's time for some new projects... More about that in my next entry!

Jönköpings filmfestival, kattvakt och jag drar åt skogen

I lördags var jag på Jönköpings filmfestival och höll i två mangakurser och en föreläsning om manga på biblioteket.
Och wow, jag var helt lyrisk när jag återvände hem på kvällen!

Jag nästan svimmade av lycka när jag såg bibliotekets serie- och mangaavdelning. Mi, som jobbar med barn och unga på biblioteket, visade mig runt och jag började nästan gråta av glädje! Dels har de en gigantisk (i jämförelse med andra bibliotek) barnmanga-avdelning, precis vid tv-spelen där man även kan hänga och spela spel.



Dessutom har de en vuxenavdelning med manga för äldre, och utöver det har de även en "Unga vuxna" avdelning, bredvid en egen avdelning för sci-fi och fantasy-böcker (på engelska)! Dock ursäktade Mi sig att den fortfarande var under uppbyggnad, och att de hade stora planer för denna del, med utställningar och annat kul!



Detta känns så främmande för mig! Jag har varit på en hel del bibliotek i mina dagar, hållit mangaföredrag och workshops, och aldrig har jag sett något liknande! Dessa bibliotekarier har faktiskt lyssnat på vad de unga besökarna har efterfrågat, och det har dessutom gett märkbara resultat:

Medan andra bibliotek förgäves försöker locka in den knepiga "unga vuxna"-läsgruppen (10-17-åringarna), så har Jönköpings bibliotek dem i överflöd! Cosplayande mangaläsare är stammisar, de hjälper bibliotekarierna att hålla ordning bland mangaböckerna och har gjort en fin rekommendationslista för manga-nybörjare som står på en av hyllorna.

Men det coolaste är ändå att Mi även håller i en mangatecknargrupp, som idag är så många att de måste ses i två omgångar vid två olika tillfällen (varje vecka) för att deras grupprum inte räcker till! Jag visste inte vad jag skulle säga, det var så häftigt alltihop!
Dessutom var det många som hade läst och gillade Mjau! och ville ha autografer... *rodnar*

Detta var nog det coolaste jag varit med om på länge. Alla ni där ute som tröttnat på att biblioteken inte tar in manga, gå genast till era bibliotekarier och be dem kontakta Jönköpings bibliotek för att få tips och idéer om hur man skapar en mangaläsares drömbibliotek!

Jag vill tacka Mi och Elin och alla andra som arrangerade detta och hjälpte mig runt, samt alla duktiga tecknare som var med på kurserna och publiken på föredraget!
Det är dagar som denna som gör allt slit med att rita böcker värt det! Tack!!

Jag blev ganska nöjd med denna snabba karaktärsdesignen som jag fick till på whiteboarden. Vanligtvis blir det så fult när man förklarar på whiteboard...

Nu till nått annat.
Vanligtvis brukar mina arbetstider då och då bli avbrutna med detta:


Dagarna innan lördagen var det dock annorlunda. Jag var kattvakt åt en kompis lilla vita honkatt Mira. Hon är samma ålder som Hilda, men min osociala mongokatt hatar visst allt som går på fyra ben och har inte accepterat en enda katt hon träffat hittills (inte ens sin egen mamma). Så vi bestämde oss för att denna gången ska det gå!
Med en liten manick man stoppar i vägguttaget som pumpar ut lugnande kattferomoner släppte vi in Mira och hoppades på det bästa. Det gick såhär:

Dag 1:
Kallt kattkrig. Hilda och Mira är på helspänn, morrar så fort de känner varandras doft och gömmer sig på var sitt ställe (Hilda i ett av klädskåpen och Mira under täcket i sängen).

Dag 2:
Misstänksamhet. Båda två har insett att de kommer törsta ihjäl om de bara ligger gömda, så de rör på sig, försiktigt... Morrande, stirrande...

Dag 3:
Genombrott. Mira har hunnit lära känna hemmet, och även insett att den där korkade fegiskatten inte kommer inleda någon relation, så hon tog tag i det själv:

Kväll dag 3:
KÄRLEK. Det enda som krävdes var "gottismat". Efter att båda fått i sig lite var de t.o.m. framme och nosade varandra i ansiktet. Kvällen spenderades på kull, den ena jagade den andre och så bytte de av lite då och då, tills båda däckade i varsitt hörn.

Jag vet inte om manicken hjälpte, men jag hoppas det... (den kostade 500 kr!!)

Ännu en händelserik vecka, som avslutades med en liten promenad i Risens naturområde. Jag och Emil letade svamp (hittade en massa men vågade inte plocka för vi hade såklart ingen koll på vilka som var ätbara) och såg rådjur!


På sistone har jag skrivit mycket om mitt liv och mindre om mitt jobb, men det kommer snart mer om det... De senaste två månaderna har endast handlat om avslut. Snart är det dags för en nystart, med något helt nytt!!
Tack för att ni läser!

Alla äventyr har sitt slut

Den gångna veckan har varit äventyrlig!

Först har jag jobbat som gästlärare på Malmö Högskola (!!) på kursen "Serieteckning och visuellt berättande", i ledning av Gunnar Krantz. Han ville att jag skulle lära ut serieskapandets grunder, vilket jag gjorde på 5 dagar. Det var pirrigt, mest för att jag är så ung och då är det ibland svårt att känna sig auktoritär i ett klassrum med folk som är äldre än en själv, och speciellt på högskolenivå!
Mitt unga utseende skapade även problem när jag försökte ta mig in i den låsta lärarmatsalen...


Det var kul att gästlära där, och jag kände mig så proffsig! Jag hade gjort ett fint kompendium åt deltagarna, hade lektion i varje steg och visade exempelserier, samt träffade en del duktiga och flitiga tecknare!

Sedan, mitt i en tajt deadline med Häxfolket bok 4, kom den inplanerade resan till Barcelona med pappa och syster Catta. Väl där mötte vi upp med faster, farbror och fasters vän, för att fira fasters 60-årsdag och hennes väns första pensionsdag. Det ledde till en helg full med god mat och gott umgänge i troligtvis Europas vackraste stad!

Catta, pappa och jag framför ett av Gaudís mästerverk,
Sagrada Famillia (ännu inte färdig, de har inte ens kvar
hans ritningar eftersom de förstördes under Franco-diktaturen).

Det var en trevlig familjeträff och underbart fint väder, definitivt en stad jag rekommenderar! Min andra vistelse i Barcelona, men inte sista, det vet jag. En annan sak jag nu vet är att om jag hade haft råd att designa min egen villa, så skulle den vara inspirerad av Gaudís hus, utan raka linjer och räta vinklar, som ett unikt sagohus...

Så fort jag kom hem var det tillbaka till arbetsbordet, för att avsluta Häxfolket 4: Folket som försvann. Det gjorde jag i onsdags, och med en stolthet utan like skickade jag över de sista bilderna till Bonnier Carlsen.
Det har varit en väldigt rolig, lärorik, stundvis utmanande och stundvis inspirerande erfarenhet att få illustrera Jo Salmsons bokserie. Jag har lärt mig massor om hur de arbetar, men även om hur man ska tänka som illustratör och bildberättare till en barnbok med så mycket bilder. Det har funnits stunder då jag känt mig lite förvirrad och vilsen, men redaktören och Jo har varit två klippor i samarbetet, och hela tiden lyft upp mig med konstruktiv kritik och beröm. Tack till er båda, och alla på BC!

Här kommer en sista tjuvtitt på bok 4, som kommer någon gång runt/efter nyår:

Vänner är bra att ha!
Eno och Sol från Häxfolket av Jo Salmson.

Så nu sitter jag och avslutar sådant som legat och väntat ett tag, som t.ex. japanska versionen av Circus Romantique, cirkus-mangan jag tecknade till Nosebleed Studios antologi.

Dock måste jag bli bättre på att utmana mig själv, känner jag! Jag vill känna att jag pushar mig själv, och lever för dagen. Tar chanser här i livet och vågar mig på saker.
Jag är höjdrädd. Ändå slängde jag ur mig "Kan vi inte gå och klättra någon dag?" till min sambo, och tyvärr tog han mig på orden. Vi kollade upp den lokala klätterväggen, och idag var vi där på en testa-på-dag. Det var så pirrigt!! Man började trevande, steg för steg. En meter, två, tre. Fingrarna värkte och benen skakade av nervositet, och jag fick intala mig att fortsätta, att jag klarar mer!



Mitt mål var den orangea stora biten jag nuddar i slutet. Jag klarade det!! Så stolt jag är över mig själv!

Det påminner mig om Gunnar Krantz lektion som han hade med min klass på Serieskolan, då jag gick första året där 2005-2006. Han pratade om att rita serier är som att bestiga ett berg (och att karriären är lite så också, tror jag?). Varje ny sak man gör är en ny klippsats, men när man väl tittar upp kan toppen fortfarande se så avlägsen ut. Det är därför viktigt att titta ner ibland och se hur långt man kommit, hur mycket man lyckats med!

Att titta ner när man är höjdrädd är inte så smart, kanske, men jag kände faktiskt inte av min höjdrädsla när jag gjorde det. Jag såg bara hur högt upp jag var, och sedan tänkte jag:
"Inte kan jag sluta nu? Jag har bara en bit kvar till mitt mål (den orangea biten)."
Så jag fortsatte, och det var en sådan kick att nå den!

Så, mitt tips till alla er aspirerande tecknare där ute är att sätta mål för er själva och nå dem!