So, i'm pretty sure that's the longest i've ever gone without updating my LJ. Stuff got pretty crazy in the beginning of May, as predicted. Convention stuff started, so i've been going a bit nuts mixing preparing convention materials with comic pages. I've also been doing a lot of school contracts and administrative contracts, so i've felt glued to my chair. Good thing the weather has been moody lately. Because having gorgeous days while being trapped on a chair is torture.

Last week, I went to TCAF and shared a table with the creators of The End, a sci-fi webcomic. The artist, Ran, gave me some wonderful fanart of Namesake :



As always, the Toronto Comic Arts Festival was intense and amazing. I met so many friends while I was there. I also got to meet one of my comic heroes Boulet (and gave him a copy of Namesake, which was a bit nerve-wrecking! Aaah!) I got less books then last time. Last time, I filled an entire suitcase. This time, I only got 12 books. Pretty tame. We also had a large gathering of comic artists at a Korean Barbecue which lead of of them to write the most hilarious restaurant review i've ever read.

Now that's i'm back, i'm still sharing my time between contracts, comic pages and convention preparations. I've done a couple of mini prints, both fanart and fairy tale stuff.



This piece is inspired by one of my favorite fairy tale figures : Baba Yaga, an old witch who lives in an enchanted forest, rides a mortar instead of a broom, lives in a house with chicken legs and usually has three magical sons. I have an obsession with witches in general, but something about this old Russian spell caster really captures my imagination. Basically, this is a young version of her. I always loved stories about people gradually turning into witches or monsters...

And of course, I drew some doctor Who. 




And some Homestuck, although I don't know the story very well, I love the character designs : 




Now i'm working on some pony prints and possibly something with Madoka.... Hummm.

Back to work!

Isa
Posted to both Lj and Dreamwidth.

I posted this on tumblr recently... It's the resume and an illustration I drew of a story I wrote as a pre-teen :

Life is pretty hard for Josephine, fourteen. Her mom accidentally killed a witch, and is now turning into one. There’s boxes everywhere in their new house, formerly her uncle’s. He’s still around though. He’s the fire spirit in the hart. A couple of the boxes went missing, taken by the power-hungry miniature warlocks in the attic. To top it off, Josephine has a big magical key for an invisible door, and a crush on a strange boy who eats fairies. And it’s raining.

Josephine and the house nobody wanted is a story I wrote in junior high. It was heavily influenced by all the European comics I read as a kid, but I still love it and feel the need to draw these guys once in a while. I should definitely revisit it once day.

I wrote a ton of stories when I was a kid and teen. Sometimes I feel the need to revisit them. None of these stories are that good. Several have predictable twists and turns, and sometimes completely rip-off stuff I was reading at the time. But each story has a little something I can build upon, which is why I keep my kid notebooks preciously.

Lately, i've been poking at my muse a lot, trying to find new things to do with my comics. I've been thinking that I wanted to try the one-panel webcomic format some artists have been doing (namely Emily Carroll and Michelle Czajkowski). It's a format that works nicely for visual storytelling, and seems to work well for kid's stories. I've seen it used for a couple of French comics too, such as Yaya's Ballad, that use one to three panels per page in these small, rectangular shaped pages : 






I really like this format. I really, really want to try it.

Posted to both Lj and Dreamwidth.

Still working on making a zillion pages. Creating buffers is long!

The new Game of Throne episodes are quite tantalizing. It's too bad I don't have cable. I'll most likely do what I did for the first two seasons - watch them online and then buy the DVDs. I really like the ladies in this show. Especially Sansa and Dany, who display opposite spectrums of badass.

Last week I went to a Draw and Quarterly event : a talk by Alison Betchel (mostly know as the comic origin of the Betchel test). I picked up her books while I was there. I mostly knew her for her strips called Dykes to watch out for. This is my first time reading her graphic novels. The first, Fun Home, is about her father. The second, Are You My Mother, is about her mother. In both cases, it's also about how Alison grew up, about the evolution of her sexual identity, and the evolution of her general identity. I love the spot color used in both books. I love the drawing style that reminds me of classic strips drawings like those of For Better or for Worse. It really adds to the story, i'm not sure why. Maybe because cartoon strips are so associated with family life? The story is very interesting too. It's unique, just like it's composer, which is appropriate since it is her life. The book also analyses literature and the value of the memoir genre. In general - a great read. Cannot recommend enough.



On the subject of comics, I was surprised to learn that a rather dated French comic series (from the 70's) is being currently addapted to the big screen in an american/korean co-production. The original comic is called "Transperceneige", which translates to Snowpiercer, the title of the movie version.



The film is set in a future where a human engineered Ice Age kills off all life on the planet except for the inhabitants of the Snow Piercer, a train that travels non-stop around the globe and is powered by a sacred perpetual-motion engine. The train is divided into a harsh class-system. The story is difficult to describe because it's so ambient in the books. Basically, picture this as a strange mix of Space Opera with the Hunger games. It's got virtual realities, revolutions, weird science, military conspiracies, religious sects, everything. The movie looks like it's going to kick-ass with it's multi-cultural badass cast.

I'm looking forward to it because, let's face it, more cool European comics SHOULD be adapted in big budget movies. There's a lot of stories in European comics that are unique. It's a group of comics that needs more translations and adaptations because it's chock full of amazing things for all ages.

I just hope that in the Snowpiercer that upgrade the gender roles a bit though - because in the 70's comic version, all the guys are stoic badasses and all the girls and sexy emotional minxes. So yeah.

Been working on pages lately, i'm trying to build an efficient buffer for May, when i'll be out and about at conventions and stuff. 

Aside from that, i've been working on costume designs, since most of the characters are getting a new wardrobe in the next chapters. I LOVE designing clothing. It is my favorite thing. Sometimes I wonder why I didn't go to fashion school or something. Designing weapons and clothing is something I love. I could have been a costumer or something *laughs*



I've also been re-watching Futurama while I ink and honestly, Futurama is still one of my favorite shows. I love how it's funny and sad at the same time, I love the characters, I love the silly-retro-futuristic universe....

I wanted to share with you guys a really great post by Gail Simone - an american comic writer - about breaking into the comic world. A lot of these ideas can also be applied to the writing and publishing world in general. She's a great lady. I adore her!
Posted to both Lj and Dreamwidth.

We grew up believing no one would love us.

Don’t tell me that hurts less then a broken bone. (X)

I was really touched by this poem by Shane Koyczan about bullying, it made me want to draw this picture. It's the type of subject that really makes me want to take arms and defend the weak, the depressed and neglected. Because it reminds me a bit of my own life, but mostly, because it reminds me of the harsh lives of so many of the people that are beloved to me.

The characters in the image are a bit the... stereotypical underdogs, in a way. People with disabilities. People who are punks and geeks. People who are homosexuals, people who are minorities in mostly white schools, people who are told they aren't pretty... And people who are punished because other people want to own them. When I first drew them, they seemed a bit too much like stereotypes, but then again, those are the types of people who are still getting the raw end of the deal. It has not changed yet. It changed in a couple of spots. A few towns and schools got better. But you still have so many places where black kids are called dirty, where girls are raped and then threatened to hold their tongue,  where people don't want to touch the "kid with the weird hand" because they are afraid they will catch something. As it turns out, people are so afraid of what's different, that what is different has not yet changed, despite us suppose to have had evolved. Sexism, ignorance and racism is not gone. In fact, the more I think about it, the more it seems strong. I want to fight it when I can, by treating kids in school well, by letting them talk, and in my art. 

Long story short I suppose... injustice and bullying bothers the hell out of me. If you can donate to an organism that helps kids in your area, please do. 

In other news, seems I need new glasses. *sigh* A new pair is always an expense, but my eyes are my main tool, so I need to treat them well. I have a bit of a minor infection thing too, due to the dryness in the air. Urgh, my poor eyes. 

I also finally saw les Miserables... It wasn't bad. They really sing all the time though. I would have appreciated less songs and more spoken dialogue. You know, make the songs seem more pretty and epic rather then the constant dispensers of story. I got a bit tired of the constant close-ups too. I was, however, really amused by Javert extremely romantic song about catching people. Javert wants to catch people so hard.
Posted to both Lj and Dreamwidth.

 Lately, i've been thinking it would be nice to spend a day jamming to music and drawing "mood comics". Just drawing comics based on the music playing, no matter how strange the stuff turns out to be. I've been thinking about that because Link just got the Journey soundtrack (fromt he game with the little hooded folks eagerly crossing their world). It's so gorgeous, it makes me want to draw strange things...

I also had fun re-drawing an old drawing of mine I called "Phoenix girl", first drawn in 2011. The new version  and the old one look so different. I'm not really sure which I prefer. It's fun because this type of thing really allows you to see what changed in your art style. I seem to be shifting more and more towards a European-ish comic style. The body types are less cartoony....





In other news, the Croods was pretty fun! Good female protagonists, wonderful animation, nice emotions... the story was a bit too... simple for my taste. Nothing was really deep or explained. Everything just felt like a big pointless family road trip, but then again, maybe that's what they were going for? It's not Dreamwork's best, but it put a smile on my face, big time. Also, Eep is amazing. I have a thing for girls who can toss their boys on their shoulders and walk off into the sunset.

Strong redheads give me such Slayers nostalgia.


Posted to both Lj and Dreamwidth.

For starters, the Namesake hardcover designs are done, and look how gorgeous they are! Link did the coloring this time, to help out, and he did a great job. I'm really amazed by how well these turned out. This is a HUGE thing to take off my to-do list, so i'm glad!





In other news, I watched the movie "The Wolf Children Ame and Yuki" by the director of Summer Wars. It was awesome. Most of the movie is bitter-sweet. It's about a young woman who marries an enchanted wolf man, who then dies, and she's stuck raising alone two magical children. The mother in this movie deserves the most badass mother of the year award. She suffers so much because she's scared for her kids, because Japan is harsh to single moms, but then when people start to help her out, and when her kids can finally decide if they want t be part of human society or part of nature, it's so sad, and rewarding at the same time. Great movie, full of human emotion, with a poetic and slow pacing... I just can't recommend it enough. Bring kleenex though. Most of the time, it's heartbreaking. In a good way.



On the other side of the spectrum, i'm really HATING the new Oz movie that came out : "Oz the great and Powerful". On the good side, this movie is absolutely gorgeous, I liked the character of the China Doll, and the story is pretty okay, even though it's the basic "white tortured male comes around to distant land and safes everyone because the natives can't" plot that I don't really care for much. What bothered me about this movie was this :

In an interview, the producer of the Oz film said :  " …during the years that I spent running Walt Disney Studios — I learned about how hard it was to find a fairy tale with a good strong male protagonist. You’ve got your Sleeping Beauties, your Cinderellas and your Alices. But a fairy tale with a male protagonist is very hard to come by. But with the origin story of the Wizard of Oz, here was a fairy tale story with a natural male protagonist. Which is why I knew that this was an idea for a movie that was genuinely worth pursuing."

…Jesus dude, have you ever even read fairy tales? There’s a crap-ton of male heroes. Yes, most are nameless and don’t really have personalities, but that’s also the case with all the female character’s you have enumerated because characters in original fairy tales are plot devices. Recent remakes gave them personalities. Not to mention all the ladies you just listed get saved by dudes in the end… Aside from Alice.

Also, have you ever read Oz books? Oz books are about how amazing ladies are. If you really wanted to do something with a male hero, pick someone who isn’t a “coward” in canon. The Wizard is a bad, bad guy who needs to redeem himself in the series several times. I would have preferred seeing a movie that really rolled with the fact that he's an awful, manipulative bastard. Maybe something that explores why Glinda tolerated his nasty lies. Again, they could have kept the love story between him and Glinda that they shoved in this flick, but made it tragic?

This movie just feels like it craps all over the feminism and the originality of the Oz stories by being as pandering and predictable as it can be.

I feel like this guy was just angry that there was no male character in the Disney princess line or something. I'm tired Hollywood movie directors who find concepts from the 1900’s too adventurous for american cinema and just want stuff to be all about boys and boy things.

I'm not the only one who finds this to be contrary to what Oz usually stands for. Check out this article.

Isa out!

I finished the cover for the Namesake book 1 (Hardcover version). Well, I finished the inking anyways! This version, unlike the softcover, is a wrap-around cover. took quite a while to ink, but I find the results are stupendous.

Sorry for being so quiet you guys... I sorta feel out of it. I feel like I need a break. I feel like i've got nothing to talk about, not that much motivation left... Even talking about Namesake grosses me out. I think i'm a bit tired of always working. It's probably time for a big-ass vacation soon. I'm not depressed or anything. I just feel overly tired, and like there's a zillion little obstacles to deal with all the time. I don't really feel like talking or typing. Like everything requires energy I don't really have anymore.

But I still work, and my work still looks good, so it's just something to trudge thru until I can get some time off and breathe a little.

Today is the international women day (as dictated by the UN). So, a good day to read comics done by amazing ladies. :)

Oh, re-watched Wreck it Ralph. Still love it. Although kudos to Disney for making a genuinely distressing villain. Holy cow.  

Posted to both Lj and Dreamwidth.

The Namesake book 2 kickstarter ended and, i'm sure you're all shocked, we made our goal! WOO! Now on to step two - working on finishing the book's design and working on the ad campaign. The good news aboutt he kickstarter too is that we actually made enough to print HARCOVER VERSIONS. I'm thrilled about that. You might not know this, but European comics are almost always printed by default with hardcovers, to the contrary of american editions (where hardcovers tend to be a big, fancy deal).

So doing hardcovers feels kinda special for me.

I'm planning on designing covers specifically for the hardcover edition, with a wrap-around cover style (like they do for comics like Fables).

I'm pretty excited about this, guys.

In other news, I'm shopping in baby stores a lot lately. Many of y friends are pregnant, and I've never been to so many baby showers in my life. The store clerks are starting to look at me funny....

I've also been thinking of trying out Scandinavian baths in an almost desperate attempts to relax the stress out of my poor back by using something I love to do - aka dunking in warm water. It would probably work better then stuff like massages, which I hate (just like Kuzko, i,m not big on the touchy). They have a couple of pretty cheap bath houses in Montréal... So it's very tempting. Hummmm. Yes. Isa likes warm things.

We got a pretty neat Namesake review today - be sure to check it out : http://io9.com/5986320/saturday-webcomic-namesake-is-an-incredible-return-to-oz-and-so-much-more

And here a few of the ads I designed. You might see these around Deviant art!



( More ads under cut!Collapse ) Posted to both Lj and Dreamwidth.

Happy hearts day, everyone!



This jewel of art is brought to you by my long-standing dwarf obsession. I kinda like how Bilbo seems to have convinced a lot of folks that dwarves are, in fact, really really awesome. I've loved them since I read the book at 12 years old. I'm going to put on my hipster glasses for a sec and state that I loved dwarves before it was sexy. Haha! Anywho. Dwarves. They don't mind body hair.

I actually got the Bilbo artbook and some of the costume designs are really inspiring. Hopefully I can use some of this inspiration in Namesake... Hummmm. I should toss in Snow White and Dwarves in there, I should...

I also drew some Namesake valentines :



Guess I was quiet for a while. I kinda unplugged for a while, posting pretty much only things for the kickstarter. Urgh. I think I needed a mild computer break. Oh well. The kickstarter is almost over too. I kinda look forward to it being over. It's like a weird added stress, even when it goes well!

The weather is getting nicer! I'm incredibly happy. COME HERE SPRING! COME TO MEEEEEEE!

Got hooked on a new webcomic if you guys want to check it out : Monster Pulse.

I kinda like comics like this or Gunnerkrigg court about kids having sciency-magicy adventures with big beasties. This one is about kids who, once in contact with a strange ghost-like substance, see a monster born from one of their body parts. The main girl’s companion is her heart. Obviously, some shady types want in on the whole “weaponizing of one’s eye/stomach/heart/etc. It reminds me of Naru Taru, but in a lot less gore/adult.

(And you all know how much I love characters with enchanted/missing hearts, amiright?)

You can read it online, or get the book thanks to the kickstarter.  :)