storm

"your sorrow will drown us both"

the process

No, I haven't forgot my blog. I've been drawing a lot but finishing very little. Also a couple of big future art projects have been in my mind lately, just been thinking and planning and writing, trying to get my ideas together. Can't remember the last time I was this excited about something.

But here's something I've done lately, thought you'd like to see the different stages of the process for a change, not just the final product.

pencils




















original ink




















colors




















"just look what you are turning into"

unfinished

Here are some unfinished pages from a graphic novel I'm working on. Just experimenting with the coloring and wondering what to do, still not sure. I'm probably going to draw these again too.

I've spent almost a week without drawing anything, not even filling my trash bin with bad ideas and sketches. Unusual for me, but maybe I needed a break for more ideas to emerge. Let's hope there's a couple of good ones coming too.
It's back to work then.

postcards

Just got these from print.

Now I have a pile of postcards, so let me know if you want some of these.
(You can reach me by commenting this post or by email: markku at groteski dot net)

I'm never coming down

"a temporary escape becomes a home"


Hmm, this could look nice as a big poster size print, anyone interested having one?

winter is coming

My mental state looks like that.
This is maybe the worst time of the year, cold and wet, some snow but not enough. The grey sky hangs over the even more grey little town. Waking up in the mornings into that scenery feels... meaningless. Not inspiring anyhow.

I liked autumn, where did it go so fast?

the last dragon

"I don't understand why you have to go"

what to draw next?

Hmmm....mmm....um...uh?

a whisper

Let me whisper you the things I cannot say out loud....

sketch

A sketch of a cityscape for a friend's film noir-short movie.

lost?

"don't worry, we'll find the way home"

everything can be taken away

"this is something you just have to live with"

A friend of mine asked me to draw something for her and this is what I came up with.
I have stared at it too long for one day, can't see if there's something wrong with it or not. But now I've given it a name so it's officially finished and I can go and have some sleep.

dream a little dream

Sorry, I had nothing for you last week, just empty promises. But now I have this, I paid last night's sleep for it, but I think it was a good deal.

28 cups of tea later

Ok, I didn't actually drink 28 cups of tea while coloring this but almost. I'm going to beat this flu with tea. With tea and some garlic. What a great diet.

More posts next week, something else than these wood creatures - I'm going to give them a rest for awhile, though they are fun to draw.

dancer

This started as a black and white ink drawing, but on the screen it looked dull and then it turned to this. And still I want to do something with just inks, no colors. I guess it's back to drawing then.

Oh, and another wood creature coming up. Need to color it first.




















Damn flu is still killing me but I really got tired of being sick and not doing anything. Couple of hours of doing something useful and being miserable doesn't really differ from just being miserable.

a wedding card

A friend of mine got married last Saturday so I drew a little card. Congratulations Mari and Marko, it was a great party, thanks!

I have an awful flu and my Internet connection was down for awhile, some explanations for the lack of posting. I'll post soon something I did manage to draw despite the fever and the headache and the mucus and the general feeling of not wanting to do anything but to lie down.

cover girl

This came out today. She's my cover girl.

tahtivaeltaja.com

sketch

Just sketching today. Maybe my next dryad will look something like this.

Kouvostoliitto

I made the pictures and Jouni from Medialouhos edited the video.
Sweet.

summer breeze

Are you seeing a pattern forming?

I already tried once to do a series of illustrations about the four seasons, but they weren't good enough, so I never finished them. But these are looking good, aren't you my little woodlings...

my heart is withering away

I have an awful headache but I had to finish this before going to bed. These wood creatures don't seem to leave me alone, and there's old mysterious trees everywhere. In The Crow Road, the book I'm reading, in Carnivale that I'm watching and in The Fountain, a movie I saw couple of days ago.
Trees... now I'm going to sleep and find one in a dream and ask what they want from me.

the dreamer

I'm everything in my dreams
and nothing in this world
And if I'd become something outside my head
my dreams would cease to exist

portrait

This is actually supposed to look like someone who isn't just in my head.

kouvostoliitto - city of ruins

I took this picture right in the heart of my dear little home town. The building was once called Kymenhovi, now it is a monument to remind us how things are done around here.

dryad - now in full color!

She got finally some color on her skin.

frog prince

Yeah right, like the little bastard would turn into a prince if she stuck her tongue in its mouth....


I don't like this but decided to finish it just to get it out of my way.

sketch

Yesterday I thought that I just draw little something for the blog, something fast and nothing too serious. I was thinking maybe a frog... And this came out, being nowhere near fast or little.
It looks nice now, but let's see what's left of it after I've ravished it with my inks.

the last shift

Just finished these, a couple of illustrations for the upcoming issue of Tähtivaeltaja, from which you can read The Last Shift, a short story by Hal Duncan and also look at these pretty little pictures with it - and smell them too, the smell of the paper is very relevant... I mean not just for these pictures but in generally...

Nimipäiväkortti

There's no accurate translation, but this is a nimipäivä card for my niece. She liked it and I got to eat some cake.

And thank you Krisse for telling me to draw this.

At least we are in this together

color test

Well, this is a one panel from a comic I'm doing. The panel is far from being finished, just put a little color on it, trying to figure out how to color the whole damn thing someday. Maybe it will look something like this. Or not. But this is quite close to what I had in mind when the pencil had not even touched the paper.

I have grown deaf

More Dryads

A work in progress.
Well, it took awhile to draw her but it was fun. Now I just have to ink her... *sigh*

I'm finding this kind of style just fun and relaxing. I had a bad block for several weeks when I didn't seem to come up with anything good, but then I started to draw these dryads and now my head is again full of ideas. Maybe I just needed to do something different for awhile and something that wasn't full of meanings. Just pretty pictures with lots of little details to work on and empty my thoughts.

Dryad

It's summer again so remember to watch out those dryads when you're walking in the forest.

I think I'm going to do an inked version too, I'm not totally happy with this one.

Reality check

Oops, it's been awhile.
I've been drawing a graphic short story that has almost completely satisfied my creative needs, heh. And... and yes, I've also been very lazy... and I started to play Oblivion again. That wasn't a very smart move.
But here's a strip on Kumiankka, you can read the newest here.

Now I'm going to be a good boy and do some work and continue the comic and draw lots of new pictures and all of them are going to be just perfect!

"yeah right, at 4 am he is going to be frustrated and pissed off and there is nothing finished or perfect anywhere near" said the Old Cynical Reality with a bored voice.

cold and hollow

Butterflies

Don't swing too hard or you might throw up. Your dreams, hopes, whatever that is you keep inside.

A Cup of Tea

On Thursday mornings, Miss Tightwood liked to relax on her favourite chair and drink a cup of strong Malaysian tea.

Winter

Dancing Queen

It was about 1 am. I was drawing puppies and kites when suddenly she came in. Before I stopped wondering who she was and how she had gotten in, Diablo's great Abba cover Dancing Queen was playing on my stereos and she started dancing. And the way she danced.. like an angel. I almost had to cry a bit, it was so beautiful. So beautiful. And somewhere after the first chorus I think I fell in love for a moment or two.

The song ended and she stopped dancing and just left before I had a chance to ask her name. Or see her face. I sat puzzled and alone in my apartment and realized it was almost 5 am. How could it be? She had been here only for the duration of one song... but hours had passed. I don't understand. Now my head just feels heavy and there's needles in my eyes. I have to get some sleep...

Spring

Bad hair day? No, she is Spring.
I'm doing a set of postcards, and this is one of them. It's still a work in progress but I had to show it because I like her so much. Autumn is also almost finished, so two down, two to go, Summer and Winter are next.

Birdman

- Well isn't it a lovely day, said Jebediah. - A little bit windy but still such a lovely day. It's a shame that everyday isn't like this fine sunny day when everything seems to be alright. Even the slaves at the dungeon seemed to be smiling while the rats ate their toes. Or were they grinning... hmm, well actually, don't think about the slaves down in the dungeon. Yes yes, such a lovely day. The birds and the rats... sweet smell of chloroform... ah yes. But I shouldn't keep you any longer from your affairs, I'm sure you have a lot to do in this fine day. Goodbye.

sketches : people

Some people I drew last night.

I will never hurt you again