Under the false floor concluded on Arktoons

 

Chapter 10 of Part IV of Paper Doll Veronika concludes on Arkhaven! 

The latest episode is here.

The series is here.

You can also read it on my own website. (I recommend my site for PC and Arkhaven for mobile.)

Support the comic and get special bonuses here!

Get the book of Part I here!

Paper Doll Veronika update - End of Island

 

Paper Doll Veronika has updated; Chapter 14 of Part IV, "Iconoclass war", is posted!

The chapter begins here.

The part begins here.

The story begins here.

This is the conclusion of Part IV!

Thank you for reading! Paper Doll Veronika will return… I know not exactly when.

Presently I am working at a frenzied pace on the illustrations for The little Drummer Bird, which will go out to backers as soon as it's ready, then become available to all in time for Christmas.

Then, at the New Year, I have to go away, I know not for how long, a couple months at least. Because of all the boxes and drawers of dolls, scenery, clothes and props, and stacks and stacks of papers needed to make this comic, Paper Doll Veronika is not something one can work on away from the studio. With the exception! of writing the script and formatting what is already made for print. So I will do that while I’m away, in my free time. And thus! I may run a crowdfund in late winter for the book of Part II – Mountain. I learned a lot from the one for Forest, and this time there will a lot more different rewards!

For news, please watch this blog and/or my art newsletter substack. Thank you again and God bless!

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, a fairy tale adventure made with hand-drawn paper dolls

Support the comic and get special bonuses here!

Get the book of Part I here!

Under the false floor on Arktoons

 

Chapter 10 of Part IV of Paper Doll Veronika continues on Arkhaven! 

The latest episode is here.

The series is here.

You can also read it on my own website. (I recommend my site for PC and Arkhaven for mobile.)

Support the comic and get special bonuses here!

Get the book of Part I here!

The Moon, and the Bears, are out!

 

Bovodar and the Bears has updated on Arktoons! And this is the conclusion of Volume One. I hope that before the year is out, I can announce how and when the book will be available!

The latest episode is here.

The series is here.

Paper Doll Veronika update

 

Paper Doll Veronika has updated; Chapter 13 of Part IV, "Iconopathy", is complete!

The update starts here.

The chapter begins here.

The part begins here.

The story begins here.

This is the heart of Book One. The background is watercolor by my grandmother.

It updates on Fridays/Saturdays on my site, Sundays on Arkhaven, Mondays on Substack, and Saturdays on Deviantart. (Substack and Deviantart are at much earlier points in the comic). I recommend using bookmarking or the "Save your place" gadget on my site, 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, a fairy tale adventure made with hand-drawn paper dolls.

Support the comic and get special bonuses here!

Get the book of Part I here!

Parnassus Entryway

 

The most complex background environment yet from Paper Doll Veronika, which has updated on Arktoons!

The latest episode is here.

The series is here.

The floor took the longest, it's made from film photographs I took of light coming through colored glass, pasted to graphing paper so that I could cut it into geometrically regular shapes and fit them together. The walls are a watercolor wash made by my grandmother, the columns are scrapbook paper, and the ceiling is The Apotheosis of Saint Ignatius by Andrea Pozzo and other public domain frescoes.

A Bear-Deer Collision

 

There's a new episode of Bovodar and the Bears up on Arktoons!:

The latest episode is here.

The series is here.

Paper Doll Veronika update - Not a feminist heroine

 

Paper Doll Veronika has updated; Chapter 13 of Part IV, "Iconopathy", has begun!

The chapter begins here.

The part begins here.

The story begins here.

This condition Veronika is in and the confrontation that led to it are what I was talking about at the end of this post. We finally reached the "part I was having difficulty with" that the Arkhaven article helped me "make... far more exciting." The Arkhaven blog I refer to has since been deleted, but upon my request, the writer reposted the article here!

Paper Doll Veronika updates on Fridays/Saturdays on my site, Sundays on Arkhaven, Mondays on Substack, and Saturdays on Deviantart. (Substack and Deviantart are at much earlier points in the comic). I recommend using bookmarking or the "Save your place" gadget on my site, 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, a fairy tale adventure made with hand-drawn paper dolls.

Support the comic and get special bonuses here!

Get the book of Part I here!

The Deer Queen made human

 

An ink-and-watercolor portrait of the Deer Queen from Bovodar and the Bears, but if she were human!

Author Jack Mikkelson embellishes the piece with fantastical speculation: what this shows us about her character, how this image could fit into the world. 

She looks almost wild, but she is not. She is controlled, polished, composed, jeweled—almost courtly. And yet, she is menacing as she looks at us—a menace comes from her refinement and power.  

Back-and-forth mutual inspiration, that’s what art and storytelling is all about!

My thoughts drawing her were: She has to have a certain striking beauty, but arrogant and asymmetrical, be wearing men’s clothes, and have a large nose like a deer’s snout. By the way, I based her face on young Barbra Streisand.

Arktoons is hoppin'!

 

 

Both Bovodar and the Bears and Paper Doll Veronika have updated on Arktoons!

The latest Bovodar and the Bears episode is here.

The series is here.

The latest Paper Doll Veronika episode is here.

The series is here.

With this resumption of updates, more Bovodar content will be forthcoming!

The Bears are Back!

 

After a long absence, Bovodar and the Bears returns to Arktoons!

The latest episode is here.

The series is here.

Arktoons is presently the only place where you can read this comic, written by Jack Mikkelson and drawn by me in ink and gouache! But we are working toward making a real book of it! That'll be really great especially since the page layouts are really dynamic, and they are are of necessity lost in the Arktoons format.

We waiting to hear back on one possible avenue of publication; if that doesn't work out, we'll try another, the main thing is that Volume 1 has been completed! Keep watching and reading!

Paper Doll Veronika update - Climax of Island

 

Paper Doll Veronika has updated; Chapter 12 of Part IV, "Rise and Fall", is complete!

The update starts here.

The chapter begins here.

The part begins here.

The story begins here.

This--well this whole chapter--is the climax of Part IV! As you may be able to tell, I have been planning this since 2020. I am glad it goes up on the Feast of the Name of Mary.

It updates on Fridays/Saturdays on my site, Sundays on Arkhaven, Mondays on Substack, and Saturdays on Deviantart. (Substack and Deviantart are at much earlier points in the comic). I recommend using bookmarking or the "Save your place" gadget on my site, 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, a fairy tale adventure made with hand-drawn paper dolls.

Support the comic and get special bonuses here!

Get the book of Part I here!

Two small but key revisions

 

Veronika was just too pale in my first rendition of this piece, "Neither do I judge my own self", extra art for Chapter 10 of Part IV of Paper Doll Veronika, so I went back and added a little more color to her skin. While I was at it, I thought I'd make revision to another piece that had been bothering me:

"Adrift", art for Chapter 19 of Part III, is in my opinion one of the best paintings I have ever done, but Veronika was colored very flatly as opposed to the water and sky. So I gave her shading, and now it holds together much better.

For the past couple years I've been trying especially hard to shed perfectionism with my drawings, not get caught in endless corrections. But when there's a glaring deficiency where one knows exactly what to do about it, coming back and revising can be very rewarding.

Neither do I judge my own self

 

Bonus art for "Under the false floor", Chapter 10 of Part IV of Paper Doll Veronika, which is now being posted on Arkhaven! 

The latest episode is here.

The series is here.

This is my second attempt at Macoto Takahashi's style, and while I did better on the eyes, it doesn't have near his symmetry and softness, and with the overall color combination, the result looks fairly strange. She's very pale, almost vampire-like, but that fits with how she was just at death's door and hearkens forward to things to come... Well, it's interesting. 

Companion piece to "Wind through the leaves judgeth you", my first attempt at Takahashi's style. "Island" having so many companion pieces to works from other parts reflects how it is very much about Art, y'see.

You can also read Paper Doll Veronika on my own website. (I recommend my site for PC and Arkhaven for mobile.)

Support the comic and get special bonuses here!

Get the book of Part I here!

Paper Doll Veronika update

 

Paper Doll Veronika has updated; Chapter 12 of Part IV, "Rise and Fall", has begun!

The chapter begins here.

The part begins here.

The story begins here.

We move into the Part IV climax!

It updates on Fridays/Saturdays on my site, Sundays on Arkhaven, Mondays on Substack, and Saturdays on Deviantart. (Substack and Deviantart are at much earlier points in the comic). I recommend using bookmarking or the "Save your place" gadget on my site, 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, a fairy tale adventure made with hand-drawn paper dolls.

Support the comic and get special bonuses here!

Get the book of Part I here!

 

Starving Artists on Arktoons? Hopefully not!

 

Chapter 9 of Part IV of Paper Doll Veronika concludes on Arkhaven! 

The latest episode is here.

The series is here.

You can also read it on my own website. (I recommend my site for PC and Arkhaven for mobile.)

Support the comic and get special bonuses here!

Get the book of Part I here!

Paper Doll Veronika update

 

Paper Doll Veronika has updated; Chapter 11 of Part IV, "Sandy Savage", is complete!

The update starts here.

The chapter begins here.

The part begins here.

The story begins here.

Thus begins the climax of Part IV.

It updates on Fridays/Saturdays on my site, Sundays on Arkhaven, Mondays on Substack, and Saturdays on Deviantart. (Substack and Deviantart are at much earlier points in the comic). I recommend using bookmarking or the "Save your place" gadget on my site, 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, a fairy tale adventure made with hand-drawn paper dolls.

Support the comic and get special bonuses here!

Get the book of Part I here!

A New Sletter

 

I have made a new Substack, as a general go-to newsletter consolidating updates on all my art projects. Because I've been stubborn, sticking with Blogspot and Deviantart, thinking, "Well if people want to look at my stuff they can come and find it.” After all, why not go where people are and let them know? It’s all about giving them something they’ll probably enjoy.

So if you've enjoyed my work over the years and would like to stay informed easily, consider subscribing. I'll also be doing some retrospectives and talk about others' works.

But I'll still stubbornly be here, too.

Ars Longa

Bonus art for Chapter 9 of Part IV of Paper Doll Veronika (although this scene is actually from Chapter 10), which is now being posted on Arkhaven! 

The latest episode is here.

The series is here.

This picture draws heavy inspiration from Yoshitaka Amano's style and Their Story: the story you don't know by Haenuli Shin, and the background is strewn with my unfinished sketches.

You can also read the comic on my own website. (I recommend my site for PC and Arkhaven for mobile.)

Support the comic and get special bonuses here!

Get the book of Part I here!

Paper Doll Veronika update

 

Paper Doll Veronika has updated; Chapter 11 of Part IV, "Sandy Savage", has begun!

The chapter begins here.

The part begins here.

The story begins here.

Sibyl lost her shoe somewhere in the chaos, because I actually lost her shoe and couldn't find it. Often I'd make another one, but it fit this moment in the story.

It updates on Fridays/Saturdays on my site, Sundays on Arkhaven, Mondays on Substack, and Saturdays on Deviantart. (Substack and Deviantart are at much earlier points in the comic). I recommend using bookmarking or the "Save your place" gadget on my site, 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, a fairy tale adventure made with hand-drawn paper dolls.

Support the comic and get special bonuses here!

Get the book of Part I here!