July Recap – Summer blues, sketches, smog

Hiya everyone, welcome to the dog days of summer. We have no term to describe the middle of summer up here in Quebec (‘cept the Construction Holidays, which isn’t as poetic). I always get the summer blues around this time of the year; most of my friends are away on vacation while I sulk at home because I don’t drive. I’ve been biking a lot, to see parts of the city that are actually nice for a change. It’s good for my glutes and my mood!

I had a little freak out about deadlines earlier this month (crunching during the summer is kinda disheartening, see above) but everything’s starting to fall into place (it always does). All I can do now is wait for my publishers to come back from vacation and look over the sketches I’ve done. Those include a new cover gig for Aggretsuko! I obviously can’t show the ongoing cover, but here’s a glimpse at the first cover I did for them, last year!

2021 is also the first year where most of my projects are actual books. It hit me not too long ago, and honestly, I’m very happy that I get to illustrate books and make comics for a living. Post-college me wouldn’t have believed it was possible!

Oh and I’ve been taking so much pictures. There was a great apocalyptic smog over Montreal a few days ago and I thought it’ be a great idea to go for a jog, ruin my lungs and take a few pics. I messed around in Light Room a bit but I got mad at how bad my old iPhone for pictures. I’m thinking about going back to film for now, but what I really want is a medium-level digital camera. Alas, I can’t justify the expense right now -_- Until then, I took a lot of pictures with the intention of drawing characters in them… when I get the time!

Oh and here are a few doodles from the scratchpad.

I’m looking forward to August, my second favourite month of the year. Here’s what I’ve been up to in July!

Reading: The Deleted Years, a great article about all those forgotten and lost MP3 files between Napster and iTunes Music and the arrival of Spotify. I have a tiny iPod which is full of music I don’t own anymore. The Rapture, Maximo Park, Friendly Fires, Ladytron, etc. Thank god I kept my CD collection up to this day.
Watching: Loki, one of my favorite Marvel “thing” so far. I even made old school desktop wallpapers with the ending credits. James Acaster’s Repertoire is wonderfully fringe and funny. And lately, Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D got me hooked, even though I can’t get over how absurdly good-looking everyone is, for no good damn reason. A hacker chick who lives in a van can’t look like she’s going to Coachella on episode two.
Listening: No Swoon, which I purchased after just one glorious listen. That good. Waaves has a new album, rejoice! Mark Ronson’s interview with Damon Albarn is crazy inspiring. I have the utmost respect for team players like these two, who thrive on being curious and collaborating. One sounds like a toothless scholar, the other, like a stoned prodigy. Very surreal!
Artist: Micheal Sweater. I have a soft spot for comics about dirt bags and I love his style!