Sometimes things happen all at once!

It seems that short break that I wrote about earlier became quite long...

Since my last update, I’ve started working full time (which is a positive thing), but due to the increase in working hours, my projects have been missing out, some.

Although ’tis the season to be jolly and all that, early december something really, really sad happened, that has just taken it’s toll on all of us. Since I’m a man of integrity I’m not going to get into great detail here. But the short story is that we are all so, very, very sad. To everyone that have helped us out, my warmest thanks! A friend in need, is a true friend indeed!

The holidays are soon upon us, and on that note I wish you a happy christmas and a happy new year!

Take care!

Taking a break?

This week I’ve pondered about the importance of the short break. I guess I’ve written about it before, but maybe there will be a new angle here, or a piece of a new angle...

I’ve discovered that when I’ve taken a short break, I often get new ideas and tend to see my project from another angle. I think that a short break fuels the creativity and gets you more creative, and let you try out new ideas. Because if you hadn’t taken that break, you just might have continued in your own footsteps or as you previously had thought, and not gotten that idea that will turn your project into a smash hit!

That’s why I’m enjoying some days where I’m not working on my projects at all and is content with doing nothing!

Take care!

P.s Well... earlier today, I finished two new sketch books, so how about that break, eh...!

The winds of change are coming...?

Some changes might turn up for me in the near future, that might affect this blogging activity of mine. One of these changes might be that my weekly updates might be semiweekly or whenever-I-can-weekly...! To tell you the truth I don’t know if this will happen. Maybe I will continue with the updates, the future will tell!

I’ve had this blog with weekly updates now for about four years, and maybe it’s time for some changes...

Take care!

P.s And yes, you guessed it! I’m still designing the characters... I don’t know if I’m slow or if this is how the process is. Sometimes I feel like I’m as fast as a snail...!

A new grip on the pencil!

In my design process, that is still ongoing...! I had some pictures of actresses that I thought was spot on, for my various female characters to be designed. First off I have to declare that I am not a portrait artist! But for the sake of the design process I took the bull by the horns! And it was tough, real tough.

My drawings wasn’t nearly as close to the character of the person as the picture was. But something happened...when I was nearly done and I thought that I can at least do one more, before I call it quits. For some reason I gripped my pencil on the upper half of it, thereby loosing control of the tip (kind of) and therefor not being able to control the drawing, and therefor the drawing came out better; than the previous ones!

Last week I tried it ones more and it kind of works. When I hold my pencil as I usually do, I tend to focus on the details, but by holding it this way I can’t really control it and I let go, and the result is better for it. So, try it out!

Take care!

The difference between the amateur and the professional.

Yesterday when I was strolling around in the centre of Gothenburg with a camera to capture the moment in the inner city. A thought struck me, and it goes like this:

The difference between the amateur and the professional is that the amateur takes the first sketch/photo and goes with it, while the professional makes many sketches or take lots of photos and then choose one of those to continue the project.
A while back one of my friends showed some pencilled comics pages, which I thought were great. I suggested to dash on some ink and they would have been done! But my friend didn’t think so at all! He said that he wasn’t sure about the pacing of the panels and what not... while I was astounded over the fact that he wasn’t satisfied with the equivalent of the sistine chapel in comics... So in this story he was the professional and I was the amateur!
With lots of sketches or photos you can choose what kind of angle you want for your project, and it’s easier to choose the right one when you have tried them out first with a simple sketch.
It needs to be said also that the professional with his/hers experience can probably do a quick project with great result, due to the fact that they have the accumulated experience and the knowledge.

And that was my thought yesterday! I’m not sure if it is a water tight truth, since we are all different and all that, but I think that it has some truth in it!

Take care!

P.s It just dawned on me that this is why my current projects don’t move that fast, because I’m still sketching and trying out things... the character design is going slowly forward, veeeeery slowly...

International Animation Day 2014 in Gothenburg!

Fancy some animation? Off course you are!

Then I would suggest you to attend the IAD screening in Gothenburg, 28th October 18:45 at Hagabion!

International Animation Day, or IAD is an event to celebrate the very first screening of Émile Reynaud’s animated film, which took place in Paris in 1892. IAD is a global event with screenings all over the place. To learn more, check out the ASIFA webpage:

www.asifa.net

This screening will feature among others, films from locally based animators here in Gothenburg. And if that’s not all, these animators will attend the screening! So if you are keen enough you just might get to rub shoulders with live animators! We are planning to have a little chat with each and every attending animator, to get to know them a little more.

The featured attending animators are (drum roll please):

Jacob Stålhammar
Monne Lindström
Adam Boklund

We are also going to show some student films, so you will be able to see what tomorrows animators are doing today!

And if that’s not all, we will also show an international award winning short film!

So I hope you understand now, that you HAVE to be there!

This screening is a collaboration between:
Animation i Väst
Västra Götalandsregionen
Hagabion

For more information about Hagabion:
www.hagabion.se

For more information about Animation i Väst
www.animationivast.se

A published illustration!

Some weeks ago I got an email from Hagabion (a cinema here in Gothenburg). They needed illustrations for their upcoming program. The deadline was really tight, just a couple of days. I gave it some thought but none of the ideas took flight. But then I remembered that I had a quick sketch of a shark, that I had in my sketch book. So I took it, scanned it, and toiled with it in Photoshop, not that much if truth be told... and sent it to the cinema.

I didn’t hear from them so I thought they used some other illustration. Because I wasn’t the only recipient of the e-mail... This week I passed the cinema and I went in to see what kind of illustration they used... to my big surprise, they used mine!

I was extremely surprised by this, because usually assignments like these pass me by. The chain of events usually looks like this: I get a tip, I do an illustration, I send it and get rejected! That has happened quite a lot.

The sketch is done with a blue pen, you can actually see how I have searched for the right form and then taken decisions and then pressed harder with the pen.

Here are some scans of it, so you can see it in all its glory.

Take care!

My text in translation:

Illustrator, P-G Lidström
Jaws, (1975), Steven Spielberg.
A book I haven’t read, that became
a really good film; that got consequenses
for it’s "main character". The first
thriller that I took to my heart! A
cooler antagonist is hard to find...

www.pglidstrom.blogspot.se

Here I put together the two scans in Photoshop so you can see the whole shark.

The character design has begun!

Last week I finished the analysis! Which feels great. To my surprise it became quite the bundle of drawings. Even though I was the one doing all the drawing, it dawned on me just last week, how many there were!

During the design of the characters, I don’t think I will post scans of the pages; because I don’t want to disturb the process. But when they are done, scans will be posted!

Take care!

How to make apple mash, the comic!

It might be some months ago, that I got a tip that a comics publisher were going to put out a book with recipes from comics artists. At first I didn’t know if I had an idea strong enough for a book like that. To my surprise I did! Unfortunately the deadline came fast and I was out of town that very week. So I decided to do my pages the week after, and so I did! Because I thought that they had a few weeks to put it all together and so on... to my surprise they had already sent it to the printers!

So what have I learned from this? A deadline, is a deadline, is a deadline!

So here are my comics pages about apple mash! Although I think it’s kind of self explanatory I will provide a translation under the pages.

Take care!

How to make apple mash by P-G Lidström

Wash up jars!

Peal, take away the pips and cut the apples into small pieces.

Pour a small amount of water...

...and jam sugar!

Boil!

Well, boil asunder then you wretched pieces!!!!!!!!!

Aouch!!!

Pour the apple mash into the clean jars.

Put the lid on!
Boiling hot apple mash + jar of glass + lid =

Aaaaaooouch!! Raaaaaaahhh!!!!

Recipe
- Lots of jars.
- Lots of apples.
- Jam sugar, that you can mix with castor sugar, if you would like a looser mash.
- Put the apple pieces in water with lemon juice, (or a vitamin C-tablet) so they won’t turn brown.
- I tend to rough or play it by ear, the amount of kilos of apples and jam sugar, it makes it more thrilling...!!
- Good luck!

The final piece of analysis!

Finally I’m done with the analysis! Here is the last scan.

I’ve continued with the Spirou album Drömfabriken/Machine qui rêve. Sadly the binding of the album gave way, so some of the pages are now loose... The grade of the album went from very fine to (kind of) poor quite quickly!! (By grading I mean the scale that the comics collectors use...)

Sometimes it’s hard to estimate how long something will take, for this analysis I had estimated about 3-4 weeks... Lets just say it took longer than that...! But hopefully I’m going to benefit from it later on...I hope!

Next up is character design!

Take care!

Yet more analysis.

The analysis here has continued and I start to feel like a copy machine...!

Here are some new scans! This time around I’ve concentrated on a motorcycle because in one of my scripts, there is one... I’ve noticed that the motorcycle as on object is quite hard to get right...

On top is a drawing from the comic Joe Bar Team by Bar2 and Stéphane Deteindre, it’s a Ducati as I’ve scribbled beside it. Below that one and for the rest, are drawings from the Spirou album "Drömfabriken"/"Machine qui rêve", by Tome & Janry. This album is, according to me, by far the best looking and story wise it’s great! The story stays with you... It’s one of my favorite Spirou albums!

If my eyes don’t deceive me, the make of the motorcycle is Kawasaki, I haven’t yet looked up what kind of model it is, mainly it’s because it’s another make in my comic...

Below is a drawing from the front cover of the album.

Four year anniversary!!!!

Today I was thinking that I needn’t do any update because I wasn’t done with the analysis yet... But then I realized that it’s the four year anniversary today! It’s cliché but time really does fly away!

Since the last anniversary I finished my first longer comic (Pilgrim), which fills me with great pride! Since then I’ve finished three more scripts. Currently I’m analyzing some drawing styles that I like, to prepare me for the design process that will start soon.

To have a blog like this is a process, and I do some thinking about which direction I want it to have. These past months I’ve been thinking about if I should start writing about things I like that is already out there, like everyone else does... But I decided to keep it simple and about my own creativity, this blog will continue to be a place where I can show stuff, for those who are interested.

Take care!

Some more analysis.

The analysis continues here, below are some scans of the drawings so far. I'm getting closer and closer to the end of the analysis. It will be very interesting to see if something has stuck from the analysis to the character design or if I’ve been wasting my time... I think it will bear some fruit, I just don’t no what kind yet...

The woman on the left are from an album cover, from the comic Roco Vargas by Daniel Torres. I liked this one because it was in the clear line style/ligne claire. The bathing beauty and the following pages are characters from a blog which features drawings by Bruce Timm.

These drawings are analyzed from the comic Theos Ockulta kuriositeter/The Occult Curiosities of Theo by Ola Skogäng. I like his style because it is in the clear line style in a contemporary setting.

Writing about the clear line style, it would be impossible to not include Tintin by Hergé. Funny note, the Tintin character seems to be fairly easy to draw, but as you see on the second one, the character isn’t quite there...

Two women from the Skogäng universe and one from Hergé.

These two gentlemen are from the Hergé universe, I made these quite fast, hence their sketchiness...

The Analysis continues! Redux!

Well, what can I say, I felt bad to post stuff with photography of sub quality, so I scanned the suckers instead! For information of the drawings read the post below, it’s the same drawings! I’ve focused here on the style of Bruce Timm, save the first page which is from Wizard magazine.

As I’ve written below I’m analyzing/copying various styles to see what makes them great. When I do get to do my own character design I hope that it will be of a good mixture of inspirational material and my own creativity. Even though it would be kind of cool to be a Bruce Timm-copy, I don’t think he would think that would be as great as I would... But to tell you the truth I don’t know how the actual character design process will be like. So stay tuned!

One last thing, when I started this process I made a time schedule to help me be on track. That worked for a week or so... According to that schedule I would be in the middle of the character design process by now... but I think thusly, it’s better to let this phase take it’s time, and make sure that the quality will be as high as I can muster. Instead of hurrying something forward that will be of poorer quality.

Take care!

As I’ve written below, for the drawings below I paused my dvd-player and tried to get the character right for a limited period of time, so that is the reason why they are a bit more sketchy!

The analysis continues!

The analysis continues here, although I’m coming closer to finishing it. I think this is a valuable exercise, and I hope I will gain from it later on in the process.

Here are some pictures, unfortunately my camera is acting up so the drawings are much better, really, I promise... ;-)

Take care!

This photo actually works! The second drawing here and on to the "Justice League-ones" are from comics adaptations in an animated style inspired by artist Bruce Timm. I’ve taken these from two issues of Swedish magazine Gigant 3 and 4 from 2001. The drawings on Catwoman above are from an issue of Wizard.

 Here the camera decides to not participate...

On the second drawing above (on Batman), my reference was a paused episode of the tv-series "Justice League". This gave me less time to "get it right" so the following drawings are quite quicker and more in the line of studies. I kind of focused here on Hawk Girl because it’s a character that I know quite little about. Hawk Man is a character for me that pops up somewhere and is cool, I have to read something with that character...
The fact that I paused a tv-show sent me back in my mind to when I was a kid and paused "The Gummi Bears", to draw the characters from that show...

The second drawing above and the drawing below on Catwoman are from "Batman TAS" season one I think, a kick ass show...

Some drawings at last!

Finally I can show you some drawings, it was some time ago that was a possibility! Currently I’m looking at various designs for the character design for my projects. To do this and get to try out the style I analyze the style. You might also say that I’m copying them, but analyzing sounds better...!

These drawings will function as inspiration for the design later on. How the end result will be, remains to be seen... this exercise also functions as a way to try and improve my skill set, or challenge me if you will. I’ve been really inclusive when I looked at stuff that I like, the styles you will see here are mainly from animation and comics.

Here are some pictures on the drawings so far!

Take care!

It’s official, I’m now a bachelor!

This week I got my diploma from Gothenburg University! Have you seen something so beautiful?

I’m so proud I might burst at any second now! And as always here in the blog, there is a story!

When I went to high school or gymnasiet as we say here in Sweden, the probability that I were going to study at a university were on the minus scale, basically it was non existent. Then and there I was studying economics and I kind of quickly realized that economics were not my forte.

The years passed and in my early 20’s I began to think about maybe studying religion, not to become a priest or anything like that, just to get to know more and satisfy my curiosity. But I was quickly told that it was so hard and so difficult to do that. And since I didn’t thought of myself as an academic I thought that it was not for me. Around this time I also wanted to pursue this artistic career, that I later on did pursue.

In my mid 20’s I played around with the idea of having an artistic career and on my spare time taking courses at some university, where I lived somewhere in Europe; while working in a major animation studio...

Quite some few years passed and it becomes clear to me that this career in animation will have to wait, due to how hard it is to get in... I start studying and upgrade my grades, and here I anew start to ponder about these religious studies. I apply to some schools and I got accepted for two educations: religious studies in Uppsala and Fritidsledarlinjen at Sigtuna folkhögskola. The Uppsala one was full on academic and the Sigtuna one was not that academic but we did our fare share of studying and preparing for the working life. I chose the Sigtuna one because I didn’t feel like an academic...

The years passed and I worked with kids in the church of Sweden. A job that I liked which was also rewarding. I decided to finish my education and become församlingspedagog/Parish pedagog. So I returned to Sigtuna for my final year. That year was an important one for me for it gave me some time to put things into perspective. There we that studied parish pedagogics were also teachers for other students, where we looked at the five world religions.

I was very surprised because we had to get the knowledge ourselves and also to pass it along to our students, and how can you distill thousands of years of hinduism in one or two lessons, for example. I was seized by this question, and that made me to apply to the Gothenburg University and the program Religious studies and Theology.

In 2009 I started my academic studies and I liked it, a lot! But then and there it was only to be that one year, then I was going back to work. But after a while I decided to actually finish what I started (I want to do that). And the result from these endeavors can be seen on the picture of my diploma! I now got a Filosofie kandidatexamen med huvudområdet religionsvetenskap och teologi/Degree of Bachelor of Arts with a major in Religious Studies and Theology.

And I’ve already started my graduate studies, and at the moment I’m planning what I’m going to specialize in.

So do I feel like an academic then? Well, the jury is still out on that one...! But I can truthfully say that I during these studies didn’t need to redo any exam at all, I passed them all and some with distinction!

So what can we learn from this then? If someone says that something is so difficult or so hard, that doesn’t mean that you won’t be able to succeed, you might just do that!

I’ve always held the academics in high regard because of how difficult their studies have been. Well, the only thing that was needed, was time and interest!

Well, I better stop now before the gods strike me down for my hubris...

Take care!

Sketchbooks

Last week I wrote about the sketchbooks I was making, this week I’m going to show the pictures! The technique is as always very simple: grab a pile of papers and make holes in them and bind them together with a string. In this batch I pimped them (kind of) with a colored paper as a cover. In the bottom I’ve got cardboard to make them sturdier.

The papers for these sketchbooks were free to take. It will be interesting to see how the format will feel, they are a bit squared...

These papers are from a pile of broken dreams and promises and wants, basically a pile of "shait"! But as sketchbooks or notebooks the will be dandy!

These paper were also free and yet another format, they feel more like drawing pads than sketchbooks.

When I was done with this batch I was amazed by the fact that I had made 11 sketchbooks, I thought that it would be three or four...

I think that it is a brilliant way to make something out of almost nothing. And it is so easy to do, that it’s almost no reason not to! There are a whole range of sketchbooks out there that one can by, some are cheap and some are expensive. But why spend your hard earned cash on something that you can do yourself, out of discarded pieces of paper? Sure it will take some time to make them, but if one looks at the cost per item, there is no excuse. For these eleven sketchbooks I bought four sheets of colored paper. The string I had and also the cardboard, and of course the papers. I’m making an estimate here, but the total cost per item might be around 3-4 SEK, labour not included though ;-)

Alright they may be a bit rough on the eyes but then again they are sketchbooks, not fancy drawing pads with quality papers. In these books I will write down ideas and make sketches, and not do final line drawings. The fact that they are not fancy makes it easier to bring them along or have them in my backpack. The functionality is extremely high!

This week I finally got started drawing, currently I’m analyzing various styles that I can be inspired by when I start with the character design, pictures will follow!

Take care!

Stuff going on!

My updates have been somewhat erratic lately, hopefully I’m back on track now!

The illustration about the draughtsman’s habits wasn’t done, there’s a shocker..! I’ve tweaked it a bit, enlarged the pictures so you don’t need so search for them with a magnifying glass...

Last week I read my scripts that I’ve written lately, all of them are done save but one. When I read it, it was okay, but I want it to be great! The main story works, I just have to work it all out with the characters... I think that what the script needs is some rest and relaxation and then a day or two to sort it all out!

Currently I’m making some sketch books, pictures will follow, soon...

Take care!

The Draughtsmans five (bad) habits.

This was (kind of) an assignment that got thrown my way... We had seen some fun illustrations in the form of edutainment. I got this pass and I tried to do my best with it.

I’m not sure if these are bad habits, but they are all true!

Paper and pencil nearby
I think I’ve written about this before, as of now I’ve got sketch books laying in strategic positions in my apartment, so that I always got a sketch book nearby, so I can write down that idea or do a quick sketch.

Yearning to draw
Actually I heard this from a friend, that said that sometimes she couldn’t stop herself from drawing someones nose, if that had an interesting shape...

A sound relationship to pencils
This is definitely true for me, and I also saw this in a documentary where an artist dropped one of his paintbrushes in a manhole, so sad and so fun at the same time! If you have a favorite pencil then you want to use it, and when it breaks... let’s not go there...

Difficulty to get payed
This is very true and very sad, just because it is an illustration or something creative people expect you to work for free, more or less. A personal memory comes to mind... I had painted this watercolor that got some interest from a very small magazine. They wanted to publish it, and I told them my prize (I had looked it up what I could charge), and then the editor said to me that he had a friend that could do that for free! Although it was a very small magazine, with a very tight budget, I still think they could have offered me something... this was many years ago, for now I don’t really mind to do work for free if I get some compensation or if I think that the idea is especially good. I think you have to go to yourself, if you are okay with it or not. I mean for every assignment you do, you get experience that you can use for the next one.

Close to inspiration
I’ve written about this before, about the elusive inspiration. Yet another personal memory comes to mind... I was in a middle of this project and my time was limited and I didn’t know what to do. So I took a shower and all of a sudden I got this brilliant idea of how I could proceed with the project.

So is it done then? Well...sort of, I’m done with it for now, if I want to tweak it a little I can do that, but for now, it’s done! It’s a low rendition.

Take care!

The real and the not so real.

A couple of days ago I saw the film Mademoiselle Chambon (1). While watching it I began to think why it appeared to be so real, or believable.

In my latest course we have discussed photography and that the staged photograph can be as strong a messenger as the more documentary photography can be. Even though the staged photograph might not be as real as the documentary one, the message might be better transmitted with a staged photograph.

In literature there is almost always a mix of true events and fantasy that is mixed together into something new. For literature to be successful it needs to connect to the reader, somehow. Because we do not read something that we don’t like to read, if we do not need to... The writer must get the right mixture of the real and the un-real and transform that into something believable. It’s easier to buy it, if it’s believable.

One of my favorite films is An american in Paris (2). The film is so good that it needs to get its own post... so I might return to it!
I’m fascinated by it because the only shots of actual Paris in the movie is the very first shots of the film which are taken from newsreels or travel journals of some sort. Directly when we get to Gene Kellys characters’ building where he lives, we have left the real Paris for a Hollywood soundstage. The film is staged in Paris, but is recorded in Hollywood. This is not something new in the film business, but I’m fascinated by it none the less.

A city like Paris that has been written about and painted and photographed over the years, might be a bit difficult to get a handle on. Because the image you get from reading, and watching films and looking at paintings might not be what you encounter when you actually get there. The image and the real collide. The same can be said for New York or any other city that is featured in books, or TV or films.
There is no wonder that the image and the real collide when one is actually real and the other might be a total fantasy. I’m really in for a surprise if I’m going to Paris and hoping that my stay there will be like the film An American in Paris... I’m not saying that it might not be like that, lets just say that the odds are against it...!

In conclusion, believability is based on actual facts, and fantasy mixed together into something new. The mixture is then read or watched and connects to the reader/viewer, where an image is formed. I think that the film Mademoiselle Chambon contains a great mixture of believability, of facts and fantasy that connects to the viewer, at least to me. And also great performances from the actors, that probably draws from their own lives, when portraying their characters.

Take care!


1 http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1285246/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1 (Accessed 11 June 2014)
2 http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0043278/?ref_=nv_sr_1 (Accessed 11 June 2014)

It’s a brave new world!

According to Swedish communications agency Cordovan, you can now apply for a job via Twitter. This is interesting on many levels.

In summarizing your CV in 140 characters you must also use the right words, the words that the agency especially are looking for. Is it at all possible to summarize your life/CV in 140 characters? I would say that it’s hard, but not impossible; even though the picture gets a bit fragmented.

It’s a fascinating grip by the agency, if not genial. Because if you can handle information in 140 characters, you can probably handle it with even more.

On a grander scale or with a wider perspective, what does this mean for producers of content in the media business? We can deduce some things. As a producer of content, you must get to the point fast, if not dead fast! The clock/the characters are ticking... The content must be readable very quickly, with just a glance the “story” must be told. A way to get around this is for example to use several commercial “spots” to tell the story, and to give a clearer picture to the viewer along the way.

The producers must also use the right platform to tell their story. But these platforms are only just that, platforms. What’s important here is the content, that must be modified according to the platforms technique, or specifications. It also puts more pressure on the content, on readability, clear visuals and that it hopefully includes a beginning, a middle and an end. To summarize, this means that the producers need to put the right content, to the right audience via the right platform.

So, it’s a brave new world out there, we’ve seen today; what we will probably see more of tomorrow.

Take care!

The inspiration list

What is that you may ask!

Well, when I developed these latest ideas of mine, I came up with this list of comics and films and books, that I needed to see/read to be able to write a good script, or so I thought...

Well, I did watch some of the films and read some of the comics, and they have helped me in the writing process. But I haven't finished that whole list of stuff.

So what did I learn here, then?
I learned that although inspirational stuff is very handy to get and to digest, what's important is that you or I get our thumbs out of our derrières and do stuff! By doing stuff, you get experience and with experience you get better. Sort of a learning curve that goes (hopefully) upward...

Take care!

P.s There has been a short hiatus here on the blog due to Easter and reading... I've written earlier that the scripts are done (sort of) and also the scripts for the teasers are now done too (sort of). What's next is to start drawing and implement those styles that I've imagined... But more on that later.

The Writing as a craft.

Uh, oh, that title is promising something that I might not deliver...

As I've written before I've enjoyed this period of writing, earlier when I drew Pilgrim, these ideas that I've now turned into scripts were kind of stealing time from the drawing. I almost felt that I was cheating on Pilgrim when I was toiling with these ideas.

I think that is why I've enjoyed this writing period, because I've been able to focus on these scripts. I do like to focus you see, I usually tell people that I'm a guy, in that way, that I have trouble doing multiple things at the same time... like I can't walk and chew bubblegum at the same time... It's an exaggeration, but with a smidge of truth!

Today my scripts will be done, sort of. They will now get some rest and hopefully later today I will look at the scripts for the teasers.

Take care!

P.s What about the writing as a craft then? Oh, I almost forgot!
Something I've been thinking about is that, as some writer pointed out somewhere, writers start out as readers. I think of it as a spiral, you read, you get inspired, you write, and then when you go back to reading, you understand more because you have garnered more wisdom about writing since you started writing yourself. So you read more and you write more and the spiral continues. And along the way your writing has improved.

I believe writing is a craft, one that you can hone and develop, through reading and writing.

The power of literature is that a person by making signs on a paper/document can create worlds and communicate ideas and information about life or whatever, just by making these signs on a piece of paper/document.

Off curse I'm writing this as an amateur writer, in the very sense of the word, someone that loves what (s)he is doing. I can't (yet) say that I'm a writer, just that I've studied some literature and written something along the way... This said I do have trouble with labels, like when can you say you are a writer, really? Or when can you say that you know something, for real?

Oh, I better quit now before I write something that I really can't deliver...!

The end of the line...?

My process of writing is coming closer to an end. One of my scripts is almost done, last week when I read it, it felt almost done. Today I'm going to read it again and see how it feels.

After this I'm going to finish my other script, that I have in my pipeline. When the scripts are done they will get some well deserved rest, and the designing process will start.

Take care!

An article about creative people...

Some weeks ago I got an article sent to me about creative people. Since I was not that impressed with it, I'm not going to link to it... But it got me thinking! And my mind played a trick on me...!

A few years ago I attended a retreat at Lilleskog. One of our teachers were the very wise man Magnus Malm, you could even call him a sage... for you not knowing about him, he is a writer of what we in Swedish call uppbyggelselitteratur (literature-to-get-get-you-on-your-right-path-with-a-smidge-of-inspirational-issues). He is writing within the christian faith tradition. As a writer and lecturer he has a knife-sharp intellect, with a knife's edge of humor.

We had a talk and he gave me some pointers about creativity, in his case writing. I've always thought that I wrote those pointers down. This morning I looked through the notes from that retreat and I didn't find anything about those pointers... My mind tricked me!

So here are his pointers, as I remember them...
We talked about the creativity, and how I wanted to get there but ultimately didn't got there. At the time I sent applications to design schools and art schools, because I thought I had something to contribute, and they seemed to think that I did not...

Anyway, what Magnus Malm told me was this:
A lot of people think that they will write "that book", on their vacation or when they retire. But that is not how a book is written! You just don't sit down in front of your computer and write a book. No, a book is written on napkins, tissues, receipts, and various pieces of paper. These notes can then be transformed into a book.

That is how I remember what he said...

I took this to my heart, and started to have notebooks in my backpack so that I could write down ideas. Although it took some time before I used them... These scripts that I've written recently has started out as notes and then ordered in the computer.

So what has this memory given me?
1) I always have notebooks with me or in my proximity.
2) I try to keep myself open for new ideas and when I get them I write then down.
3) I create documents on my computer where these ideas are further worked on and developed.

Maybe this will be of help to you, I hope so, it sure has helped me!

Take care!

Writing continues

I've been enjoying this period of writing. As I've written before it has gone smoothly. Today I might be done with my current script, well so far as to be ready to send it off to my friends to read and to give input.

I've been thinking about the theme of this script, it's in the horror/thriller genre, can I do it? Will it work?

A funny thing with the horror/thriller genre is that it only works, when it works. When the reader gets frightened/scared. Hmmm, maybe it's a drama with some slightly scary moments, or with a smidge of scariness...

Take care!

Feedback on the script

Last week I wrote about the feedback that I was going to receive this week. This tuesday we met and my friends told me everything that I needed to work on... Well, to tell you the truth the list wasn't that long, but there are some stuff that I need to work on.

My writing on my next script has been progressive and today I'm going to devout myself to my third script... third script you ask? Can't you count? Well, when I was drawing Pilgrim, I finished another script, that is script no. one, the script that I sent to my mates is script no. two, and the one that I will write on today is no. three!

But why do you write three scripts, isn't it better to concentrate on one thing at a time!!!!
I'm glad, you asked! During the drawing on Pilgrim, I constantly got these ideas for my upcoming projects. Which is always fun, but also takes time from the current project. To get these ideas out of my system I decided to devout myself to my writing these months. So far it's been very productive, and it feels great to already have received notes on one of the scripts.

Take care!

Next project!

Last week I sent my latest script to two friends that are going to read it, and give feedback on it. This is crucial to get the best script out of me. I tend to be quite blind after a while when it concerns my own writing. When I let others read the script it's easier to pinpoint things that can be better. Hopefully we will meet next week to discuss this pearl of literature!

In the meantime I've begun writing my next script, yeah, the light of diligence burns brightly! So far the writing has been smoothly.

Take care!

My identity as a hipster or hipster qualities that I possess.

This week when I and some friends of mine attended a "bandy" match (this gentleman sport), they told me that I have certain hipster qualities... this came as a total surprise to me, really it did!

My hipster qualities are:
My fabrication of alcoholic beverages, my micro brewery so to speak.
My cycling, I'm a year round cyclist, I only let my bike be if the roads are covered with wet ice...
My beard/moustache, at the time I had quite the moustache, which I've trimmed down now, unfortunately...
My interests and pursuits in violin making.

These traits combined made me a hipster in their eyes. They explained it thusly that devotion in something narrow and niched equals hipster, kind of... with a sense of aesthetics.... I'm not sure what the science says but I'll take their word for it. But there's more! It's best if the hipster doesn't know that what (s)he does is hipsterisch, because if you know that you're a hipster, then you're not.

So, now that I know that I have these qualities, that disqualifies... me from... being a hipster... Thanks guys... bastards! ;-)

Ah, well, my hipster days were short and sweet.

Take care!

Doing creative stuff.

Last week it was all about the quote book. The books that I got is still on my coffee table, as coffee table books... They do the job nicely!

This week I've been thinking about the creativity, I have written about this before, so it's an interesting subject of mine.

Lately I've been able to schedule my creativity so that I've had roughly a day a week, when I can do the creative stuff. This is positive because I can totally devout myself to my projects, and not feel the need to rush things. A negative point is that if that day freezes in, then my projects doesn't move an inch!

Some years ago I scheduled the creativity to be about an hour a day, sometimes more. This is positive because I am always up to date with the projects, and I work on them everyday, hopefully. A negative point is that, how much can you do in an hour, it's kind of starting and stopping, and starting and stopping. But the projects moves forward everyday and that is great!

So what is to prefer?
I really like to know that I can have a whole day at my disposal because I can then take my time, and not rush things. But as stated above, if that planned day freezes in, the projects don't move an inch.

But I also like to have every day contact with the projects, because I can then have them in my mind in another way, and stay current.

Maybe a combination is to prefer. If it is possible devout yourself for a day a week, but also keep tabs on the projects during the other days as well. Take notes for ideas and so forth.

Maybe this isn't the last post about creativity...!

Take care!

Necronasses lilla svarta

Earlier I've written about a release party for a quote book... Last weekend it took place and it was a lot of fun!

But first things first, here it is in all it's glory:

Translation:

Death Piglets Necromantics with friends presents: Death Piglets Little Black (book)

50 illustrated quotes

Although not all of the creators were there, I still got signatures from those present.

So how did it all got started you ask?
Well, The Swedish comics collective Nasses necromantiker/Death Piglets Necromantics started in Hofors at the comics school, in the late 1990s (I guess), mixing their love of comics and games, and the result was their own comic book: Nasses Nekrozin/Death Piglets Necrozine. It still gets published but not as frequent as before. I've made one appearance in 2002.

And the quote book?
In late winter/early spring 2011 me and some friends were going to have a tasting of my latest mead. Jan Kustfält then talked about this quote book, that he was involved in and asked if we were interested. I looked at the quotes which were very funny, and I found one and I instantly got an idea that I sketched in my notepad. Later I decided to find some more quotes to illustrate and I posted them here on the blog, you can look at them here:

http://www.pglidstrom.blogspot.se/2011/02/weekend-update_25.html

http://www.pglidstrom.blogspot.se/2011/04/weekend-update_15.html

http://www.pglidstrom.blogspot.se/2011/04/happy-easter.html

http://www.pglidstrom.blogspot.se/2011/04/weekend-update_29.html

http://www.pglidstrom.blogspot.se/2011/05/weekend-update.html

http://www.pglidstrom.blogspot.se/2011/06/weekend-update_10.html

These are all works in progress. Later I inked them and scanned them and sent them to Jan. Two of the illustrations got into the book, they decided to let the creators do two quotes each. I then waited for the quote book, and waited, and waited... When I was approached to be a part of it, they had a deadline and it all felt real, like it was going to happen. But as it turned out it didn't. It felt a bit sad. I don't really know, why it got put on hold, it just did.

The years passed, in december last year when we had a tasting of a very strong "glögg" that I had mixed together, Jan told me that they had sent the quote book to the printer! Fortunately I sat down, because if I hadn't I would've fallen.

Last week I attended my first release party as a creator, it was a lot of fun, and I got to sign a few of the books myself. I hope this wasn't my last release party, I liked the taste of it!

The day after when I read the book for the first time. I was amazed about the talent that I got to rub shoulders with in this book.

So, what have we learnt from this:

1) Good things comes from drinking strong beverages, of my own creation!

2) If a project doesn't get published right away, that doesn't mean it will never see the light of day. It probably will, but in another way.

Take care!