This years manga gingerbread cookies

Merry Christmas! ^_^

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Recension av hela tam-serien i DN!

Lite halvdassig men ändå:

"Tanketalande drakar, en fattig pojke som bär världens öde på sina tunna axlar, vanställda prinsessor som stryker runt i hemliga slottsgångar och salar, en stad uppbyggd på ett berg, åtskild av fem murar där de rika bor högst upp. Jo Salmsons bokserie om tiggarpojken Tam som drömmer om att bli drakriddare är ett fantasyäventyr i sex delar för lågstadieåldern.


Jo Salmson, pseudonym för Catharina Wrååk, tar rygg på bland annat Eragon-serien och tillför inget nytt till själva genren. Men att skriva fantasy för så unga barn, vilket hon även gjorde i bokserien Alamandrarnas återkomst, är ett annorlunda grepp. Böcker för åldersgruppen 6-9 år är ofta sömnigt realistiska, som Helena Bross populära Klass 1B-serie där den dramatiska höjdpunkten kan vara att någon tappar en tand. Även deckare för lågstadieåldern är snälla och vardagliga.


Tamserien sticker ut genom att satsa på spänning. Språket är lättläst och högtravande på samma gång: Åtta drakar finns i världen, åtta drakar är för evigt här. Så står det skrivet. Den storslagna stämningen återfinns även i miljöerna, men den grundar inte alltid i intrigen. Böckerna är packade med mystiska, fantasieggande platser, hemliga gångar, ruinstäder, men de integreras inte ordentligt i den övergripande handlingen. När Tam besöker drakarnas övergivna stad händer ingenting, Tam traskar runt bland ruinerna som en turist. Det blir mystik för mystikens egen skull.


Handlingen rör sig långsamt framåt och består ofta av två personer som talar, oftast om drakar, men med Åsa Ekströms mangaliknande illustrationer känns det sällan enformigt. I en lång scen tecknar Åsa Ekström sexton bilder av en diskussion i en stensal. Hon varierar perspektiven vilt, uppifrån, underifrån, ansiktsbilder och avståndsbilder - och det fungerar. Tyvärr känns vissa bilder, särskilt i de senare delarna, framstressade, figurer saknar ansikten och miljöerna liknar skisser.


Den första delen Tam tiggarpojken är starkast, Tams fattigdom känns ända in på skinnet, han försöker stjäla från en köpman, hamnar i fängelse och träffar sin första drake. Det händer överlägset mest i del ett. I senare delar plattas karaktären ut, Tam blir präktig och felfri. När serien hostar i mål med del sex, Tam och nydraken, verkar både författare och tecknare ha tröttnat en smula. Även i Alamandrarnas återkomst stack den första delen ut. Nästa år kommer Jo Salmsons nya serie Häxfolket, då bränner hon förhoppningsvis inte sitt bästa krut direkt.


Andreas Palmaer"

Eftersom det här är min blogg kan jag kommentera recensionen efter behag (Moahaha!!). Man tackar och bockar för att min kamp att illustrera scener som ibland i mer än ett helt kapitel utspelade sig mot samma bakgrund (min tankebana som illustratör: jag är en fågel som betraktar scenen som förvandlas till en groda som förvandlas till en get som står på huvudet), men håller inte med om att sista delarna skulle vara framstressade. Tvärtom kändes det tryggare och lugnare med varje bok; slutet på del 1 däremot som prisas i recensionen tycker jag är mer förtjänt av nämnd kritik. Då hade jag tecknat sönder armen, och det syns tyvärr.

Hela grejen med att den anonyma folkmassan inte har några ansikten är också en mangaestetik som är väldigt praktisk om man är lat. Man utesluter det oviktiga för att fokusera läsarens blick på det som är viktigt; huvudpersonerna vars ansikten står ut desto mer i kontrast.

Länk till recensionen i sin naturliga miljö här

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Mmm.... datum...

Datum för Sayonara September bok 2 är satt! Den kommer första veckan i februari, dvs måndagen den 31:a januari kommer den vara i en bokhandel kanske inte så nära alla, men förhoppningsvis nära just dig!

Det står iof på Sf-boks hemsida och ev andra ställen att den släpps tidigare, men varför vet jag inte, kanske är det förhandsbeställning. Men info om aktiviteter kring boksläppet inom kort.

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the actual proof

Upon request from one person, proof I actually drew jellyfish in my jellyfish side comic.

(Surprisingly hard to draw tho - looks very much like mushrooms)

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Done!

Book 2 is done, finished, sent and over with! ;_; (<--happy tears)

I can't believe I'm done, when did i start? Summer 2009? So a year and a half, then, with about 70 % of time dedicated to it. So if it'd been 100% fulltime maybe I could have done it in a year, but still this takes time! (don't think of the next one don't think of the next one don't...)

Thus, in retrospect (from working process perspective) presenting best and worst of:

Best: Oh yeah baby. This is what I'm talking about.

Worst: Ok I couldn't pick a worst page, so many were just horrid to draw. But not very fond of making this one, weirdly enough cause it's not particularly difficult. None the less I battled sketching the first panel for about 5 hours. Normally it would take about 15 min. It made me cry. Did you hear that page! I hate you!! `_´

And finally celebrating finishing with half the convenience store and lotr the Two towers extended version!

Life is good :3

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The girl and the backgrounds

The little masochist living behind my spine decided we should have a 12 page short story as extra material for the book -despite I only need 4 pages to fill my quota- entitled "Flickan och havet" (The girl and the sea) so here we go.

Was delighted however by having it set on a beach seeing as the only background needed is a horizontal line! Genius! Though you do have to draw sand, which is annoyingly unsubstantial. Why would anyone decide to have their story played out against the backdrop of a city? Why did I do that?

The short comic story might seem to be about the girl, but it's really _only_ about jellyfish.

Oh little jellyfishies how I adore thee... all these years just waiting to draw you...^^

See? See? Didn't even bother to draw out the line!

Because we have the joys of screentones! This is MY short story and I'll use as much of them as I want, for once not caring about holding back (yes, I do try to hold back on screentones on the regular pages, can you believe it).

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manga mania

Lovely housemate Dan brought me back a massive pile of manga from her work (discarded research material)! Hello reference!

Massive. It really is.

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Ha ha ha!

My friend sent me this link:

http://www.tradera.com/STILIKON-Asa-Ekstrom-2005-NM-rea-10-kr-auktion_341655_121396801

Apparently my old fanzines Stilikon have gone up quite in value with time! And people are buying them off auction sites. One can always expect a good comic fan to be collecting things... ^^

Wish I had any left! Or... maybe I don't... No offense to anyone buying them but compared to my drawing now they were a little... quite... rubbish...

Vilken stil?

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Barbican cosplay extravaganza

For not having many published native manga artists -that I know of, and despite interest being huge- London still has a lot of events going on related to Japanese pop culture. This weekend was Cosplay Extravaganza; rumored to be something as unusual as a cosplay party going well into the morning!

Was a bit skeptical of the combination, and admittedly it was less of a party and more of an exhibition hall where you could drink beer whilst wandering around.

Jonna and I went exploring.

Asking for directions from a white rabbit

The scene with mandatory talks and lectures

Video game corner

Making an effort

The very unusual view of cosplayers in front of bar

Loved this guy, and his two beers.

Jonna glittering like the prettiest star, supported by camera sparkle filter (the best filter).

DJ even

Vivienne Westwood rocking horse wing shoe! If one has ever read Nana, one can not help but be a Vivienne fan. I blame the comics.

/weekend adventure/End.

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Excellent!

Just a quick post to let you know that it's now certain Sayonara September bok 2 will be published in February!

It was pretty certain before as well mind you, but seeing how the Swedish manga scene crumbles before our eyes one there was still some uncertainty how events would turn out. But yeah, it is happening.

Yay!

To celebrate, let's enjoy a cute and slightly paranoid kitten.

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Pimped my cover

One month to go and more than time to fix the cover. So I fixed.

The initial criticism was that 1st version was too similar to cover of SS1 and readers wouldn't be able to tell the difference. Fair enough, I do think readers would be able to, if nothing else for the gigantic "2" spreading across half the front, but it was pretty much exactly the same color palette, which was boring.

So changed colors of the sweater, eyes and some minor details and added rabbit rabbits and strawberry pillows on the back. ^____^ (Mind you this version is not approved yet, so we will see if it lasts all the way)

And admittedly you can't see the strawberries are pillows but you will on the next cover... *du-duuum*

x

å

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Fake it till you make it

Found Pocky rip off today. And I thought the worst thing that could happen the pocky religion was changing the name to ridiculous "Mikado" in Sweden.

But these were awful. Don't be fooled!!

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Omg

Random googling and I found Amigurumi Gloomy!

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Off topic: Blog recommendation of the week: Other Dutch Animals

My creative hose mates have started a blog about life in London, or more specifically about wearable fashion, making tomato ketchup on a weekend and why we should not take Mad men too seriously. Also featuring photos from our house, the garden and general cool stuff:

www.otherdutchanimals.com

And what a blog it is! I wish mine looked like that! When I grow up I'm gonna make a blog that's also a homepage that's also a spaceship. One day.

Dan and Lauren

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The best thing about london is...

...going to Japan centre to buy take out sushi and have a picnic in Trafalgar square. Japan centre is the most amazing shop, a bright star of hope and happiness for the western world. You can find anything from freshly baked melon pan to tempura and all kinds of onigiri! I know, I didn't believe it myself, so I produced photo proof:

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Last chapter preview!

So it's drawing close to the final hours of the last chapter of book 2! (Sorry, it's past my brains bedtime so English is going to be extremely basic) None the less only 12 pages to go and then we are... finished!!!

Mind you though before my deadline there is loads of other yummy things to deal with besides just the petty detail of finishing all the comic pages. Am i talking a lot about my deadline by the way? Am I? Like one of those super annoying friends just talking about about their partners? "We want to do this for holliday..." "We don't like fish" "Me and my deadline don't have time for drinks today" etc. Uh, sidetrack.

Anyways, extra work besides finishing drawing include but are not limited to:

*finishing cover, such as the backside (what am i going to have on the back? What!!? Ahh!!) and changing colors of cover.

*all the chapter intro pages

*texting and finishing up 25 inked pages in(/on?) computer

*screentoning about 40 pages

*intro for book

*extramaterial for book such as maybe a short comic I so far have no ideas or script for

*going over all the pages and fixing insignificant mistakes no one will notice

*etceteras

But more on the cheery side, some photos from todays page from last chapter - sorry about the bad quality photos:

But no one ever get the gender of my characters right unless they are super stereotypical! ;_; . Mostly I get that my boys are girls (cause i like them with long hair :3) but also confusion about the girls as well if they have short hair or whatnot.

For example above pages feature random aggressive biker-chick-punk-girl (love drawing her!) but everyone amuses she's boy... -_-;

Doesn't anyone see the boobs? boobies anyone?

Finally rough idea sketch to give myself a feel for her character:

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Yaoi on Swedish radio

Intressant från P3 Star om ung sexualitet med yaoi som exempel:

Ps. Jag har lärt mid att adda videor nu :D 

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Japan Matsuri and Hyper Japan London 2010

Been to two Japan festivals lately, so here goes; heaps of photos: a mix of geeky things to love... :3

Japan Matsuri:

Japanese food! Lot's of it! Oh I miss...

Waah!!! takoyaki... ^^

Your coctailpartner ^_^

lol

Bit of Geisha spotting

Hyper Japan 2010:

Queuing outside

Yukata in the que!

Poster

On stage

He he

Japanese character design is the best! How cute are those dolls.

So simple, so good!

Angelic Pretty and other Gothic Lolita brands! Sooo expensive though... :(

Moi Même Moité bags! Mmm... Mana...

Love love

Internal organ bags. Do I want to put my stuff in the stomach or the heart? 

Eyelash extension station

Dressing up as Geisha and take photos. Classic.

Mangasake? ^^

Sushi making

Special invited cosplay guest from Sweden! Jenni Kallberg. Cool.

Green tea and Green tea Dorayaki. Yum.

Gloomy x Hello kitty series! Suddenly I like Hello Kitty a lot more.

Para Para workshop! And I thought Para Para was so a long time ago

Cosplay and Gothiloli outfit spotting:

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