Tuesday, December 31, 2019

Bottle in the frost


My eyes have failed for Thy word, saying: when will Thou comfort me? For I am become like a bottle in the frost; I have not forgot Thy justice. -Psalm 118

Those verses evoked the image of Bottle Miku with her hair frozen, and since I see Miku as a frequent symbolic figure of the soul, especially associated with Christmas, I wanted to do this. It's for a friend, who introduced me to Vocaloid and whom I also associate with Christmas.

Monday, December 30, 2019

Clockwork Dancer coming soon for patrons


Jon Del Arroz, the writer and letterer of Clockwork Dancer, has announced that he's working to get the first issue available for patrons of his Patreon on New Year's Day!

It's about a Scottish inventor and former member of Queen Victoria's secret service who has made an living automaton. There are clockwork robots in various shapes and sizes, steam cars and industrial architecture and airships and fun things like that!

I'm not on Twitter so I can't answer wdcttrsdaughter directly, but it is slightly linked to Coppelia in that when we were first discussing a collaboration, I did this sketch inspired by the ballet:



And Mr. Del Arroz jumped off from there!

Saturday, December 28, 2019

Bovodar and a bear, and a mole

Character sketches for the upcoming graphic novel Bovodar and the Bears by Jack Mikkelson:

Bovodar Yarkery, our main character, a young man who likes to explore and make maps.

Grep Humblemine, a mole who is Bovodar's butler.

Dandar Tapperbear, an ambitious young bear on a mission.

You can read the first seven pages of this comic here, or buy the novel on which it's based for Kindle or now in paperback!

And sign up for the newsletter to get updates on this project!

Friday, December 27, 2019

Paper Doll Veronika Christmas break

My webcomic, Paper Doll Veronika, is taking a week off of necessity. In all the Christmas bustle, I didn't get the time to prepare another update's worth of pages. Sometime I need to build up a buffer once again, I hope it will be soon. In the meanwhile, I put together a placeholder especially for this season, so I'd like to share it as a Christmas greeting.


Merry Christmas!

Thursday, December 26, 2019

The paperback is finally here!


As of Christmas Eve, Bovodar and the Bears by Jack Mikkelson is available for the first time as a physical book!

So, we did not have it ready for arrival by Christmas Day, but it would be a good use of any Amazon gift-cards you may have received; or if you, like me, give presents on Epiphany as well, it would make a great gift for anyone who likes to read fantasy adventure, especially boys ages 8-16 or so.

In celebration, I increased the preview of the graphic novel based on this book to seven pages! I hope you enjoy both. I certainly do.

Monday, December 23, 2019

Bovodar and the Bears comic preview



Sign up for the newsletter to get updates on this project!

The novel, by Jack Mikkelson a.k.a. Laramie Hirsch, on which this comic is based is available on Kindle and now in paperback! 

Friday, December 20, 2019

Paper Doll Veronika update


Paper Doll Veronika has updated; Chapter 14, "Little-Two Steps Back", is posted!
The chapter begins here.
The story begins here.

It updates every Friday. I recommend using the "Save your place" gadget, even once you catch up, because the site starts at the beginning and updates are several pages.

Veronika Bosch, who's never left her father's estate, has to go on a journey when envious animals kick her out. Half collage, half puppetry, it's the traditional media equivalent of an elaborate sprite comic.

Wednesday, December 18, 2019

Bears!



Some panel details from the upcoming Bovodar and the Bears graphic novel, and here's an early character concept design:


Sign up for the newsletter to get updates on this graphic novel project.

The novel on which it is based is currently on Kindle for only 99 cents and will soon be available for the first time in paperback! We are really getting close now!

Tuesday, December 17, 2019

Clockwork Dancer sneak peek lettering video

Jon Del Arroz, writer of the steampunk comic Clockwork Dancer, for which I'm doing the lineart, is also doing the lettering, and you can get a preview of the comic in this livestream he did of his work process:



Issue 1 will be coming out in digital form soon; as he says in the stream, as soon as he's done with the lettering! I will let you know as soon as it's available!

We were Number One!

I was astounded to see that a couple days ago, The Day-by-Day Coloring Books of Saints achieved Number One New Release status in the category of Children's Christian Biographies and then in the category of Religious Arts and Photography:




Isn't that something! It still may be ordered in time for Christmas.

Monday, December 16, 2019

Bovodar and the Bears comic page 1


Here is the first page of the upcoming Bovodar and the Bears graphic novel, based on the novel of the same name, which is currently available on Kindle for only 99 cents, and will soon be available in paperback!

I'm so pleased with that treehouse. The story is full of lively, rich images like this, so it's perfect for the comics medium. To get updates on this project, please sign up for author Jack Mikkelson's newsletter. Soon, we will share a preview of the first seven pages!

Saturday, December 14, 2019

Bovodar and the Bears cover painting


This is the gouache painting which I overlaid with an ink drawing to make the cover illustration for the second edition of Bovodar and the Bears by Jack Mikkelson, which is now available on Kindle for only 99 cents. And sometime soon, it will be available as a physical book for the first time, in paperback! Sign up for the newsletter to be informed when that happens, or just keep checking back here or at Mr. Mikkelson's blog.

Gouache is a relatively new medium for me, and I like it very much. I was very inspired and tried to take influence from the works of Toshio Ebine, who does amazing gouache fantasy landscapes. I showed a bit of my painting process earlier; here is the final result.

Friday, December 13, 2019

Paper Doll Veronika update


Paper Doll Veronika has updated; Chapter 13, "The Terrible Parable", is posted!
The chapter begins here.
The story begins here.

It updates every Friday. I recommend using the "Save your place" gadget, even once you catch up, because the site starts at the beginning and updates are several pages.

Veronika Bosch, who's never left her father's estate, has to go on a journey when envious animals kick her out. Half collage, half puppetry, it's the traditional media equivalent of an elaborate sprite comic.

Thursday, December 12, 2019

Bovodar and the Bears second edition digital!


I've been waiting to share this completed cover design for a long time. The second edition of Bovodar and the Bears by Jack Mikkelson is now available in digital form! Get it now for the price of 99 cents!

This cover illustration is, in my opinion, some of the best work I've done so far, and I hope it does justice to the sweeping adventure of this story. I posted before the ink work and the painting process, and I will soon also post the painting alone without the lineart superimposed, because I love how that turned out and it's a relatively new medium for me, gouache.

Know also that a paperback version will soon be available! Physical copies are preferable for many reasons, so for the first time, Bovodar and the Bears will be available as such! We were hoping to prepare it in time for purchase for Christmas, but it looks like that may not be possible. However, if you, like me, give presents on Epiphany too, it may very well be ready in time for that!

And that's not all. I will soon be posting a seven-page preview of the Bovodar and the Bears graphic novel that is in the works! To keep updated on all these developments, please sign up for Jack Mikkelson's newsletter here.

By the way, Mr. Mikkelson has revealed that he is the same person as Laramie Hirsch, under which name he blogs about history, private revelations, legends, and current issues from a traditionalist Catholic perspective. I respect his takes immensely. In the current conflict over the scandal and heresy emerging from Rome, he is one of the few who has maintained an attitude of charity towards his fellow trads who have differing opinions on what exactly is going on.

Bovodar and the Bears is a very exciting adventure in a rich and enjoyable world. I can't encourage you enough to read it for yourself, whether as an e-book or the soon-to-be-available paperback!

Friday, December 6, 2019

Paper Doll Veronika update - first animated page


Paper Doll Veronika has updated; Chapter 12, "The wizard who charmeth wisely", is complete!
The update starts here.
The chapter begins here.
The story begins here.

It's Paper Doll Veronika's first animated page! There will be more. It turned out quite well, even though it's a bit faster than I should have made it, the speech is quivering, and the empty dress is dancing in solidarity.

It updates every Friday. I recommend using the "Save your place" gadget, even once you catch up, because the site starts at the beginning and updates are several pages.

Veronika Bosch, who's never left her father's estate, has to go on a journey when envious animals kick her out. Half collage, half puppetry, it's the traditional media equivalent of an elaborate sprite comic.

Thursday, December 5, 2019

Thoughts on drawing the demonic in dark times


One has to be careful about portraying the demonic visually, even if one is portraying it as evil. When I set out to draw something in response to the idolatrous worship of Pachamama at the Vatican, my first idea was an image of Pachamama as the Whore of Babylon, sitting on a draconic beast with seven heads and ten horns. I started sketching but then I thought, I could see people regarding this image as awesome and metal. It was the sort of thing I could imagine someone getting a tattoo of.

There is an appreciation for abrasive and macabre images that can be completely healthy, encompassing acknowledgement of death and the need for righteous fury. But when the demonic enters in and is exalted, the truthful-yet-unpleasant celebration of darker aspects of life is twisted into an inversion of the good, just as every evil is something good inverted and perverted.

Especially nowadays, when overt Satanism is being pushed in TV, music, fashion, and even children's books, one must be careful how one depicts the demonic. What would, in saner times, be properly regarded as a warning of how evil something is now might be taken as an embrace of its power.

Thus, I made St. Michael the focus of the picture, gloriously and ragefully smiting the demon. Pray that he does thus to all evil spirits that prowl the earth seeking the ruin of souls. And remember that tomorrow is a day of fasting and reparation for the Pachamama idolatry.

Monday, December 2, 2019

From today's Matins

How is the faithful city, that was full of judgment, become a harlot? Justice dwelt in it, but now murderers.
Thy silver is turned into dross: thy wine is mingled with water.
Thy princes are faithless, companions of thieves: they all love bribes, they run after rewards. They judge not for the fatherless: and the widows cometh not in to them.
Therefore saith the Lord the God of hosts, the mighty one of Israel: Ah! I will comfort myself over my adversaries: and I will be revenged of my enemies.
And I will turn my hand to thee, and I will clean purge away thy dross, and I will take away all thy tin.
And I will restore thy judges as they were before, and thy counsellors as of old. After this thou shalt be called the city of the just, a faithful city.
Sion shall be redeemed in judgment, and they shall bring her back in justice.
And he shall destroy the wicked, and the sinners together: and they that have forsaken the Lord, shall be consumed.
- Isaiah 1:21-28
Isaiah was talking about Jerusalem, but I am inclined to think this applies to Rome today, too. While it is understandable that the corruption, abuse, and idolatry there causes people to be tempted to lose faith, it makes no sense to do so. This has been foretold, and it means that a terrible and awesome demonstration of God's power is coming. Fear not, pray and watch.