It’s been another busy month here at Nobrow HQ, and we’ve got yet more exciting events lined up for this November! Whether you’re US or UK based there’s a score of things for you to get in your diaries, so whack out your pen and notebook and take a look below…
US EVENTS
AJ Dungo connects with the surfing community, in discussion with surfer and Fulbright scholar Jamie Brisick in Los Angeles
Summer may be over, but for any of you in the vicinity of AJ Dungo’s SoCal stomping grounds, you know the waves come year-round for surfing! AJ will be at Skylight Books in Los Angeles on October 11 to discuss in Waves with surfer, author, and Fulbright scholar Jamie Brisick.
Jamie Brisick is a former professional surfer-turned-author, receiving a Fulbright fellowship in 2008. His recent piece “Surfing in the Age of the Omnipresent Camera” for The New Yorker is worth a read for anyone who enjoyed In Waves’ pensive reflections on life in the water.
Friday, October 11 — 7:30pm 18 N. Vermont Ave. Los Angeles, CA 90027
Luke Healy in the Big Apple! A conversation about Americana with cartoonist Malaka Gharib at the New York Public Library
Luke Healy may be an Irishman living in London, but his new graphic memoir Americana reflects on his time spent in the United States, so it’s only fitting that he cross the Atlantic one more time to discuss his book in the country it’s named after. Luke will be at the New York Public Library’s Grand Central location on October 19 to discuss Americana with our friend Malaka Gharib—whose new graphic memoir I Was Their American Dream (Clarkson Potter, 2019) also explores personal identity as it relates to the United States as a concept.
Malaka is the global health and development editor at NPR, and the founder of the D.C. Art Book Fair, held annually at the National Museum of Women in the Arts in Washington, D.C. Check out The New York Times’ recent in-depth feature profile on Malaka, “How to Draw Yourself Out of a Creative Funk”!
Saturday, October 19 — 2:00pm 135 East 46th Street New York, NY 10017
Luke Healy in the Windy City! Cartooning workshop at Challengers Comics in Chicago
Call it a U.S. tour! After a quick NYC trip, Luke is hopping on a plane to Chicago to chat about Americana at Challengers Comics + Conversation on October 28, where he’ll be leading a workshop entitled “How to Be the Best Pictionary Player in the World,” a 30-minute cartooning workout that’s sure to get your creative juices flowing, and hopefully spark some great DIY comics! Challengers is one of the most active comic shops in the Chi-town art community, hosting all sorts of events on a near-daily basis to support the local comics scene.
Monday, October 28 – 7:00pm 1845 N. Western Ave. Chicago, IL 60647
Nobrow at Comic Arts Brooklyn 2019!
Once again we’ll be tabling at Brooklyn’s premier independent comics festival on November 2, in the strange gymnasium of the Pratt Institute campus where this year you’ll be able to snag a copy of Hamish Steele’s new book DeadEndia: The Broken Halo for the very first time, ahead of its November 5 street date! We’ll also have our full bevy of brand new releases and back catalogue classics in tow, so stop by and say hullo. If you’ve never been before, CAB is a free annual show organized by Pratt and local indie comics staple Desert Island Comics to highlight the best of independent cartooning.
Saturday, November 2 – 11:00am to 7:00pm 200 Willoughby Ave. Brooklyn, NY 11205
UK EVENTS
Nobrow at Nottingham ComiCon
Nottingham ComiCon is set to be a very special one this year – we’ll have our whole set of shiny new releases with us, from AJ Dungo’s moving memoirIn Waves to the long awaited sixth instalment in the Hilda series, Hilda and the Mountain King.
Saturday, October 9 – 10am to 5pm Nottingham Conference Centre, Burton Street Nottingham, NG1 4BU
DeadEndia: The Broken Halo Launch at Gosh! Comics
More info to come on this one, but save the 1st November in your diaries! Hamish Steele is back with DeadEndia: The Broken Halo – the long awaited sequel to the first DeadEndia graphic novel. We’re planning a suitably spooky launch London institution Gosh! Comics, so keep an eye on this space…
Friday, November 1 Gosh! Comics 1 Berwick St, London W1F 0DR
“Everything, from the candid dialogue to the artwork, brings to life an adventure full of heart. [DeadEndia] is a celebration of diversity and love that transcends all the astrals levels” – Lorena Alvarez, creator of the Nightlights series
The time is almost upon us: November the 1st is DeadEndia: The Broken Halo‘s publication day. Officially.
The Broken Halo (written and illustrated by cartoonist and all round wonder Hamish Steele) follows on from where DeadEndia: The Watcher’s Test finished off, but can also be read as a stand alone graphic novel if you fancy jumping straight in.
But as a short summary for any newcomers: war is brewing across the thirteen planes. And as always, haunted house attraction and portal to hell Dead End is right at the centre of it.
Recently reopened as a hotel, Dead End’s resident tour guide turned hotel manager Norma is determined to leave the ghosts of the past where they belong. But with her friendship with Barney up in the air, and angels and demons using the hotel as their literal wrestling ring, Norma soon finds that unwanted ghosts can appear at any moment, especially when they’re your own.
Read on for a short preview of The Broken Halo, and don’t forget to preorder your copy now if you like what you read!
A beautiful treasure trove of tales perfect for bedtime, The Sleepy Pebble and Other Stories is co-written by sleep specialist Professor Alice Gregory and children’s author Christy Kirkpatrick, who’ve incorporated mindfulness and other techniques into every chapter.
The book is fully illustrated throughout by Eleanor Hardiman, whose elegant watercolours truly bring this book to life. We sat down with Eleanor to get a closer look at her working process, and to get a behind-the-scenes look at her studio.
We’ll pass you over to Eleanor to tell you more…
Using analogue media is really important to me and my process, and that starts right from the sketch stage. My roughs always start with pencil sketches, I have one retractable super chubby pencil that I love drawing with, it means I can create more flowy shapes and spreads without getting caught up in detail.
The Sleepy Pebble and Other Bedtime stories took inspiration from old fairytale books in it’s layout and contains a huge mix of different elements, this was the biggest challenge for me! The book includes a set of patterns, spots, character’s, drop caps and single and double page spreads for each story. All my sketches start as little thumbnails and are then redrawn and finalised at book size to keep everything consistent. There were so many elements on the go I made tick-charts for each story to keep on top of all the artwork in its various stages. Seeing the rough sketches in the book layout for the first time was really exciting, it went from pages of various sketches into something book-like!
Each of the stories were so different and I paid attention to creating different environments with different plants and details for each one. I based the tree story on french lilly filled lakes, and the pig story took inspiration from the Vietnamese mountainous countryside.
Each of the 5 bedtime stories has a different limited colour palette, so my next step was to make detailed colour plans for each story and element, so that all the decisions are made before the final artwork stage. Watercolour is a very unforgiving medium so it’s saves so much time by planning everything out! I transfer the pencil sketches over to procreate for the iPad pro and plan the colours digitally. The iPad means I can try lots of different colour ways out quickly without painting each option. This process saves lots of time and makes me more adventurous with colour, although I had to be mindful about including colours that are as effective in paint as they are screen.
With a new book layout full of coloured roughs I was ready to start final artwork, my favourite part! I like to get really settled at my desk before painting, as I’ll be there for a while. I usually have a cup of tea and a good podcast on the go. On my desk I have the sketch, colour plan for reference, a mix of brushes, tissue paper, clean and dirty paint water, masking fluid and a scrap of paper for testing the colour and consistency of the paint. I work traditionally with watercolour, meaning I start by painting the lightest colours, and work my way to the darkest using a combination of washes and thicker paint for the darker details. Simple elements like the drop caps or characters are painted as one final image, however more complex spreads with lots of elements are painted in layers and compiled together on photoshop. This means there is less pressure to paint everything perfectly first time (phew!) and also means elements can be moved or changed individually if they need to. I worked on each story one at a time, this was to make sure they all looked consistent as mixing paint again is tricky, but this also meant I really got to delve into each one, I love each story for different reasons and having this variety was a great part of the project.
After scanning and combining the different layers of each image I start to edit the artwork digitally. This usually includes small tweaks like adding saturation or contrast to the paintings, cleaning up any marks and neatening any edges. Illustrating the cover of the book was so special as we got to include spot gloss and gold foiling (my favourite!), it also meant I got to revisit the underwater artwork and use all the squiggly coral patterns and speckled pebbles.
The Sleepy Pebble is out now in the UK, available on our website and in all best bookshops. The release date for the US and Canada is October 15th, and available from Penguin Random House.
A Mouse Called Julian is the tale of a mouse who is perfectly happy avoiding other animals. But after a day when he has an unexpected dinner guest, Julian begins to realise maybe having a visitor or two here and there isn’t quite so bad after all…
A big thanks to all the lovely folks at CLPE who we partnered with for this video!
Teachers, look out for more videos and teaching resources for A Mouse Called Julian as part of the CLPE Power of Pictures Programme. You can book to attend a two-day course with Joe & CLPE here!
A Mouse Called Julian is available here in the UK, and here in the US.
Joe Todd-Stanton is an illustrator based in London, England, and Kai and the Monkey King is his latest book for Flying Eye.
We had a blast with Molly Mendoza and AJ Dungo at Small Press Expo in Maryland this past weekend, but that’s not all we’ve got in store this month for our U.S. East Coast fans!
Tomorrow we’ll be at Brooklyn Book Festivalin New York, with a kid-oriented table at Saturday’s “Children’s Day.” Swing by booth #18 from 10am to 4pm to check out our latest kids’ books like Hilda and the Mountain King, Stig & Tilde: Vanisher’s Island, and Kai and the Monkey King.
But our big highlight of the festival: Shackleton’s Journey and The Wolves of Currumpaw author William Grill is making a rare Stateside appearance at Brooklyn Book Fest! He’s signing at our booth from 11am to 1pm, so be sure to stop by and say hi.
Americana by Luke Healyis a unique book: part travelogue and part memoir it’s a work that effortlessly stitches together multiple narratives across time and place. The main story is more than compelling enough- Luke recounts his 147 day journey across the 2660 mile long Pacific Crest Trail (a staggeringly long hiking path that winds up from America’s desert border with Mexico to Canada’s mountainous one). However this journey is more than just a hike, it is the culmination of a lifelong obsession with the USA that Luke has never quite managed to shake. As he puts it himself:
“I’m driven by my hunger for the American experience. But also by the hope that if I gorge myself on it, I’ll become sick of the taste.”
We sat down with Luke to get a deeper insight into why he took on the PCT, and how the book’s concept has developed since he started planning for the trail.
How did you first hear about the PCT, and how long did it take you to prepare for it?
I first heard about the PCT in 2014, when I saw a trailer for the film adaptation of Wild by Cheryl Strayed. I saw it right before I had to move back to Ireland from the USA. I didn’t want to leave, and was in a huge funk. The first thing I did when I returned to Ireland was buy and read Wild. I was immediately obsessed, and decided that I would hike the PCT in 2016, leaving myself enough time to prepare, since I had never hiked, backpacked, or camped before. All told, I prepped for about 18 months.
This is a massive understatement, but the PCT looks really, really hard. You very honestly document the amount of times during the trip that you almost quit the trail. How do you feel not finishing the PCT would have affected you, if at all?
I don’t think I’d have the same kind of closure that I have now about my relationship with the USA. Every time I’d lived there before, I was forced to leave against my will, and it definitely left me feeling as though I had left things unfulfilled. Although my journey wasn’t without compromise (in the form of a few skipped sections), I feel as though when I walked out of the USA, I’d reached the end of something. Though at the time, all I wanted was to sleep indoors again.
What were the most difficult moments along the trail?
The hardest moment by far, was around mile 340 at Cajon Pass. I’d had a horrible few days, and was suffering from a depressive period. I was so unhappy, and exhausted, and was just plodding along. And I kept running out of water, multiple days in a row; which is obviously very dangerous when you’re isolated and tramping across a blisteringly hot desert. I had a realization, then, that I was engaging in “risky behaviour”, by not taking enough caution with my water supplies. A classic symptom of depression. I decided that if I wasn’t able to take care of myself, I shouldn’t be on the trail, and a few days later I got a ride to L.A. with the intention of quitting for good.
Also, the day I broke my leg along in the mountains was pretty bad. But I just kept taking ibuprofen and hiking on it, so the depression thing was probably worse, haha.
Do you also have any stand out good memories of your time there?
A lot! As hard as the trip was, it was one of the best experiences of my life. Oddly, a moment to really sticks out to me, which actually doesn’t feature in the book because I found it too difficult to communicate, happened right after I’d crossed the state border form California to Oregon, months into the journey. I was in Callaghan’s Lodge, who offered cheap food for hikers –and when you’re hiking the PCT, you are always starving– I was walking through their dining room, and made eye contact with another thruhiker, who was taking the first bite of a huge plate of spaghetti and meatballs. We both started laughing because we both knew how much joy she was getting from that bite, and in that moment we saw how absurd we both were. It felt amazing to be so connected to a complete stranger.
Despite that there seems to be a great deal of community feeling amongst the hikers you met and walked with, a unique kind of hiking culture. Have you kept in touch with any of the people you met along the way?
Yes, I’m still in touch with lots of them, via facebook. But I mostly still talk to the hikers from the group “Mile 55”, who I hiked about 400 miles of trail with. They’re some of the best people I’ve ever met, and I’m extremely grateful to call them my friends. I’m going to be seeing them for the first time since trail in October, and I can’t wait (please attend my US events while I’m there!).
I also have seen Justin and Jenny a few times, the hikers whose wedding I attended on trail. We’ve crossed paths in London, and I am very happy any time I get to see them.
There also seemed to be an impressive amount of support along the way for hikers, people who would offer up their outhouses etc for walkers to sleep in, and leave water caches in the desert near Mexico for them. Do you know anything more about these “trail angels”, or how many of them help maintain the trail?
No official numbers, but my guess would be hundreds. There are pillars of the community who open up their houses every year, but also the dozens of people any hiker meets at road crossings or trail junctions, with cold cans of soda, or hot fresh food ( a rare luxury on trail). Or just the trail angels who don’t even know that’s what they are, who pick you up hitchhiking, and invite you to shower or sleep at their place.
They keep the trail alive, and they’re some of the most generous, incredible people I’ve ever had the privilege to meet. And that’s not even mentioning all of the volunteers who head out and do work on the trail itself, clearing fallen trees, maintaining this massive engineering project that can sometimes look like a simple dirt path, but is unfathomably complicated to maintain over such an enormous distance.
If my walk across America jaded me to certain aspects of US culture, these people, were what reminded me of the other side of that coin.
The amount of detail and small recorded moments that you‘ve captured in Americana is incredible, it almost feels like watching a documentary at times rather than reading a comic. How did you keep a record along the way? Was it all notes, or did you have time to draw occasionally whilst there?
I took no notes, and made no drawings. While hiking, I never intended to write a book about the experience. I just wanted to do something for my own self. When I got home and decided that I did want to put something together, the memories were so visceral that I had no trouble recalling them, I think just because every day was so unusual and unlike anything I’d ever experienced before. Three years later, things have definitely faded a little, so for that reason, I’m very glad I took the time to write the most interesting parts down.
Could you also expand a little more about the process of making the book itself? Did you start it immediately after returning from the US? And are there many extra stories from the trail you ended up editing out?
I started working on it pretty much as soon as I got home to Ireland. I sat down and wrote an outline, as well as a detailed draft of the first hundred or so pages before pitching it to Nobrow. Then over the next 18 months I wrote a bunch of rough drafts of the book.
A lot of stuff got cut. It’s hard to condense five months into something digestible. In the end, I mostly cut stuff that felt like it was detouring too much from the momentum of the overall book. Even though the final book has something of a meandering quality, I still wanted everything to seem purposeful, and some stories were just too unrelated to fit in.
One of my favourite little anecdotes that got cut took place in the town of Mt. Shasta, a very hippy spiritualist kind of spot (it has more than ten crystal shops). While I was there, my bankcard got blocked for a suspicious transaction, and I had no way of contacting my bank because I couldn’t pay for an international call. In the end, I had to borrow $20 from another hiker, and look for a payphone and phone card. I searched all over town. In the end, I found a phone card, buried amongst “bigfoot is real” bumper stickers and “UFO Drivers licences” at a gas station. The gas station owner was surprised when I brought it up to check out and said “that’s probably been there since the ‘90s”. It still worked.
As you describe reaching the end of the PCT during Americana’s last few pages you say you “don’t feel changed. Not yet”. Now time has passed, do you feel the trail has changed you?
We’re all changing constantly, I think. Everything we experience, and every choice we make just influences the trajectory of that change. Without hiking the PCT, I wouldn’t be somehow preserved as the person I was before I hiked it. But I certainly wouldn’t be the same person I am now. Everything in my life is different because of hiking the PCT, and I’m very thankful for that.
The book is of course equally as much about your relationship with America as it is about the hike itself. Do you still feel as such a strong pull to it as you once did?
I don’t. I have many fond memories of my times living in the USA, but I have no desire to live there now. I love my American friends, and any time I can see them is an incredible privilege, but for now, I’ve lost interest in just about everything else the USA has to offer.
And lastly, have you continued hiking as a hobby, or would you take on a similarly large hike again?
I haven’t hiked at all since finishing the PCT, but I’d love to start up again. I spent a lot of this summer in Scotland, and the landscapes here have really reignited my interest in hiking and backpacking.
If funds ever allow, I’d also love to do another large thruhike. Maybe the Via Francigena, a foot path from Canterbury to Rome. Or the Te Araroa, a trial that runs the length of New Zealand. I have my eye on those.
Luke Healy is an Irish cartoonist currently based in London, England.
Americana (And The Act of Getting Over It.) can be purchased from FlyingEyeBooks.com in the UK, and PenguinRandomHouse.com in the US. It is also available in all best bookstores.
It’s September, and you know what that means… Pumpkin Spice Latte season! And also… Maryland’s very own Small Press Expo 🙌 SPX is now less than two weeks away, and boy have we got a stellar line up for you all this year.
SPX is one of our absolute favorite US shows and joining us this year are the acclaimed author-illustrators of Skip and In Waves, Molly Mendoza and AJ Dungo!
Nobrow will have a booth at tables W76-78—if you’ve been to SPX before it’s our usual haunt, the same location in the ballroom where we were the last couple of years.
On Saturday at 1:30pm Molly will be on the Blurring the Visual Lines in Fantasy Fiction panel in the White Flint Auditorium, where she’ll be in discussion with fellow Nobrow illustrator Anne Simon (Marx, Freud & Einstein: Heroes of the Mind), along with Yann Kebbi, Rune Ryberg, Ida Rørholm Davidsen, and moderator Alex Hoffman. Molly will also be signing at the Nobrow booth Saturday 3 to 5pm and Sunday 2 to 4pm!
On Sunday AJ is taking part in the Depicting Motion in Sports Comics panel at 4:30pm in the White Oak Room (not to be confused with the White Flint Auditorium… we know it’s confusing), where he’ll be talking sports with José Quintinar, Rob Ullman, and Ellen Lindner, moderated by SPX Executive Director Warren Bernard. AJ will also be signing at the Nobrow booth from 12 to 2pm Saturday and Sunday.
BUT WAIT! That’s not all! On top of our full line of books we’ll be selling at SPX, we’re pleased to be debuting four new titles at the festival this year:
Third entry in the Brownstone’s Mythical Collection Kai and the Monkey King by Joe Todd-Stanton
In particular Kai and the Monkey King is a very exclusive opportunity for SPX-goers only, as its general US release date isn’t until the 22nd October 👀
If you’ve never been to Small Press Expo it’s the biggest indie comics festival in the United States, and is celebrating its 25th anniversary this year. We’ll be road tripping down to the show from our New York office, so keep an eye out on our social media channels for some juicy behind-the-scenes Nobrow content
So, see you in a couple weeks?
SPX takes place September 14thto 15that the Marriott North Bethesda Conference Center in Bethesda, Maryland
Released earlier this year to widespread acclaim, In Waves by AJ Dungo is a rare work of non-fiction that is as moving as it is fascinating. A dual narrative, AJ weaves together a history of the great heroes of surfing with the deeply personal story of his relationship with his late partner Kristen, and her prolonged battle with cancer.
We sat down and talked to AJ about the years he spent working on In Waves, and to get an insight into his working process.
How did you first decide you wanted to become an illustrator?
When I was in community college, I didn’t know what I wanted to do. I was just taking general courses. The only class I was taking that I really enjoyed was a printmaking class. During this time I stumbled across a book on illustrators that Juxtapoz published. I was just so enamored. I learned that it was a broad genre that covered all of the kinds of images that I really gravitated to.
The artist that really stood out to me from that book was James Jean. I started collecting his books and just fell deeper into this new genre I never knew had a name. His book of Fables covers was a revelation. It was so revelatory to me because he included process shots alongside finished pieces. My mind was blown that these intricate images started as scribbles. I dove deeper into his catalog and saw all the work he had for all kinds of clients. Because of him, I started to read more about illustration as a profession, and that’s when I decided that I wanted to become an illustrator.
In Waves is incredibly visually distinct, with the beautiful limited colour palette and the switch between the browns and oranges of the history of surfing, and the greens and blues of the autobiographical sections. At what point did you decide to format the book this way, both with the colour palettes and merged narratives?
Thank you for the kind words. The merged narrative had been an aspect of the book since it’s inception. It was the prompt that Sam, the CEO of Nobrow, gave me when we started this project together. On a study abroad trip with my school, I presented Nobrow with a project about surfing. When Sam approached me to make a book together, he referenced my surfing project and wanted to make a book about the history of surfing. Eventually he wanted a story with a more personal connection. So I told him about Kristen and how she introduced me to the sport.
That’s when he suggested I try and merge the two; the history of surfing alongside my personal history with surfing. A request that I thought was ridiculous at first because it seemed impossible but one that I’m so grateful for today.
In regards to the color, I had always known the book would be a limited palette due to the tight deadline. It was the practical choice since I had so little time to work on the book. Sam later insisted I add another color, some sort of spot color. That’s when I decided to use the color as a system of placing the reader in a certain narrative. This choice both fulfilled Sam’s request and added a layer of subtle organization to the storytelling.
How much does the final version of In Waves differ from your initial idea?
Not much. The only thing that I wanted that changed was the beginning of the book. In my mind I knew how the story would start and how the story would end and that was with the chapters “the kiss” and with “bushwick request.” I thought it was a powerful way to drop the reader into the thick of the story without much explanation. But a fantastic editor at Nobrow, Ayoola, suggested swapping the beginning out with the chapter that opens the story now, “last summer.” It made more sense, it brought all the elements of the book to the reader in a subtle way; Kristen, her illness, and our connection to surfing. In the end, I think it worked out for the best. Thanks Ayoola!
This book is clearly a complete labour of love, was it difficult to work on such personal subject matter so intensely?
When Sam asked me to make a book with him and Nobrow, it had only been 3 or four months since Kristen had passed away. It was very intense. I didn’t think I could do it. I didn’t think the timing was right. I had just started a full time job, I was doing freelance illustration on the side, and now I had to tell Kristen’s life story and the history of surfing within a few years. It was a Herculean task. Not only was it difficult emotionally but I think logistically it was pretty hard. I would work from 9 to 5 then stay at the office until 10 or 11 pm working on the book. My commute was over an hour long and there were many nights I fell asleep on the ride home. Also every weekend was spent working on the book. I became notorious for cancelling plans and being absent from events because I had to work on this book that meant so much to me. As hard as it was, it was worth it. It was a unique way for me to process my grief, I think the self induced isolation was good. This project allowed me to immortalize my best friend.
All of Kristen’s family and friends have clearly been amazingly supportive about the book’s publication, were they very involved in the making of the book?
Yes, they are incredible and I consider them my own family. Initially, they weren’t involved. I was so secretive about the whole project the entire time I was making it. I never showed anyone anything, it was important to me that everyone read the book in it’s finished state to absorb the story in its entirety, which I think is the only way it makes sense. After submitting a draft to Sam, he thought the chapter where I met Kristen for the first time was too clichè and would benefit from an outsider’s perspective. Which I thought was weird because it was exactly as I recalled. I had wanted to include Kristen’s family in some way and this was the perfect opportunity.
With a voice recorder ready, I interviewed Kristen’s mom, brother, and cousin. It was during the interview of Kristen’s cousin that his wife recounted a story that Kristen had shared with her. It was about how I met Kristen and it was told in a way that I had completely forgotten about. It was much less cliché and much more humiliating haha. I must have buried that one deep in my subconscious. It was so great having their input because it gave the story more depth and dimension. I love that their voices are a part of Kristen’s story because I’m just one aspect of her life. To have them included gives the reader insight into the depth of the love Kristen’s family had for her.
Are there any artists or illustrators who have influenced you and your work the most?
This question is always so hard to answer. There were artists that I had in heavy rotation during the writing of the book. Adrian Tomine, Jillian Tamaki, Craig Thompson, David Mazzucchelli, Connor Willumsen, Sam Alden, Chris Ware, Daniel Clowes, Olivier Schrauwen, Alison Bechdel, Katsuhiro Otomo, Yoshihiro Tatsumi. The author William Finnegan’s book “Barbarian Days” was a huge inspiration, he writes about surfing in such an intimate and transcendent way.
Are you working on any other long-term projects at the moment, or do you have anything in mind for the future?
Right now I’m just doing freelance illustration and weirdly enough I’m working part time assisting James Jean. In terms of long term projects, I’d love to make another book but I think I need to live a little before I start another one. It’s definitely always in the back of my mind though.
And very importantly, do you still get the chance to surf much?
I try to get out as often as I can. If anyone wants to paddle, hit me up!
AJ is based in Los Angeles, and In Waves is his debut graphic novel.
Copies are available from our site, or in your local best bookshop. American customers can also purchase In Waves from the Penguin Random House site.
So as I’m sure all you Hilda Folk are aware, the sixth instalment in the award-winning Hilda comic book series by Luke Pearson is set to be released at the beginning of September!
(And if you haven’t ordered your copy yet, you can preorder directly from Nobrow.net and your book will be shipped up to two whole weeks early 👀)
To celebrate we’ve organised a series of signings and workshops with Luke, where you can meet Hilda’s creator himself and pick up your own copy of Hilda and the Mountain King
Friday 30th August: Forbidden Planet Signing
Join Luke at the Forbidden Planet London Megastore, where he’ll be signing and sketching away from 5pm to 7pm
This daytime event will be running from 11am to 1pm, and is a family friendly workshop for children aged 5 and up. Luke will be on hand to help you make your very own Hilda adventure!
Here at Nobrow & Flying Eye we’re so pleased to be part of this year’s Space Chase themed Summer Reading Challenge!
We’ve got a bunch of Flying Eye titles available at your local library ready to be read as part of the challenge, from Professor Astro Cat to The Secret of Black Rock.
If you’ve not heard of it before, the Summer Reading Challenge takes place every year during the summer holidays. You can sign up at your local library, then read six library books of your choice to complete it.
And best thing is, it’s completely free!
To see if your local library is taking part head over to the SRC website here
We’re also giving away some special books to those who take part, just take a photo of a Flying Eye book one of your family have read as part of the challenge in your local library, and tag @FlyingEyeBooks on Twitter or Instagram.
And whether you’re a librarian, a care-giver, or a parent looking for some extra activities for your kids this summer, we’ve got you covered. As part of the programme we’re giving away these free Space Chase themed work and colouring in sheets, which you can see below
(For the large versions just email peony@nobrow.net with Summer Reading Challenge in the title)
I’m sure we can all agree that the artwork for Ancient Wonders, our latest non-fiction Flying Eye title about the mysteries and marvels of the Ancient World, is absolutely stunning.
Fully illustrated throughout by Avalon Nuovo, you can feel the awe-inspiring nature of everything from the Pyramids of Giza to the Hanging Gardens of Babylon emanating through the pages. The depth and sense of scale that Avalon creates in her illustrations is incredibly impressive – bringing a monument to life that hasn’t actually been seen for thousands of years is no small feat!
To celebrate the publication of Ancient Wonders we decided to dig a little bit deeper into Avalon’s working process, and she let us in on some of the secrets behind how she puts together her illustrations.
Avalon was also generous enough to send us some of her work-in-progress videos, which document her entire drawing process. See below for a time-lapse of one of her double page spreads coming to life!
So how do you begin your illustrations, do you use one program for every element?
For the roughs, I always work in Photoshop on a big Cintiq monitor. The roughs of each page are really more about design than they are about drawing, so I’ve found it really important to do the roughs on a large screen, where I can view each spread at the same size as the printed book while I’m drawing. If I don’t, I often make something that looks nice at half-size, but when it’s enlarged to actual size, it might look totally awkward!
I tend to make the rough illustrations really, really detailed— they’re in black and white, but I basically paint in all of the darks and lights and make it look pretty finished. Sometimes it feels like a lot of work for something that really only a handful of people will see, but it’s so helpful to to be super clear when showing the designer/editor what exactly what it’s going to look like, so that we can do all the decision-making before the final illustration.
It’s also a lot more enjoyable for me to make all those decisions in the sketches, so that when I do the final illustrations, I get to sit back and let my mind wander and just enjoy the drawing (and some music/podcasts/netflix to keep me company!)
And what do you do when it’s time to move on from the roughs?
Once they’re all approved, I turn the photoshop files into flat JPEGs and send them to my iPad. I use Procreate on my iPad Pro to make the final illustrations, and as you can see from the time-lapse videos, I basically use the rough sketch as an underlay.
I usually draw over all the linework first with the sketch at low opacity underneath. After that, I keep the sketch layer turned off while I fill in the color, but I continue to use it as reference for all the lighting and darks/lights that I’ve already figured out in the rough sketch. I send it back to my computer when I’m done, change the document from RGB color mode to CMYK (Procreate only support sRGB at the moment— hopefully that changes soon!), and it’s done!
What makes you prefer using an iPad over a computer?
I could definitely do the final artwork on my computer, but using my iPad really just became a habit because— aside from the fact that I LOVE the workflow in Procreate— I had to do a fair bit of traveling for Christmas holidays and other jobs while I was working on Ancient Wonders, and working on my iPad meant that I could be working on final illustrations pretty much anywhere.
That’s made for some really nice memories associated with the book, personally— when I look at the Hanging Gardens of Babylon spread, I remember working on it while watching an (American) football game with my family in northern California while visiting for Christmas, and when I look at the Inspiration: Artemis spread, I remember making it while on a trip to Finland to meet my partner’s family for the first time!
And what about the analogue vs. digital debate, are you firmly a digital person?
I actually really love working with analogue media— I’m a really dedicated sketchbook keeper and when I’m making illustrations just for fun, I still find it most satisfying to use ink, gouache and colored pencils.
I have two desks in my home studio— one with my monitor/computer, and one that has a tilting top for good old-fashioned drawing. I haven’t used it a lot these days though— ultimately I’ve realized that because my work is so detailed, it’s more realistic to work digitally for my professional work.
As a result, I haven’t used traditional materials much lately— nowadays my drawing desk is where my partner sits so that we can keep each other company while we both work late into the night (or, now that my partner has finished their thesis, so that we can still hang out while I work and they play Skyrim!)
Invented by Luke Pearson, beloved by us, Hilda follows the adventures of a fearless blue-haired girl as she travels from her home in a vast magical wilderness full of elves and giants, to a bustling city packed with new friends and mysterious creatures
And whether you’ve been following the Netflix series or not, you can follow along with Hilda’s adventures in our illustrated fiction series!
These tie-in titles expand on Hilda’s adventure’s in the show’s first series, giving you a new insight into both Hilda’s world and her own thoughts and feelings
This makes the books perfect for either a lover of the animated series, or someone only just setting out on their first Hilda adventure
Each book is beautifully illustrated by Seaerra Miller, who captures all the citizens of Trollberg perfectly
And if you didn’t already know, Hilda actually first began as a graphic novel way back when we published Luke Pearson’s Hilda and the Troll! Have a look at a page below and you can see how far Luke Pearson’s drawing style has changed
Since Hilda and the Troll we’ve published four more graphic novels following her journey:
And in September 2019 we will be publishing Hilda and the Mountain King, the next instalment in the series that will follow on from The Stone Forest’s chilling cliffhanger ending…
Zines, comics, sun, beer – this years ELCAF had it all!
It’s coming up to a month since the end of East London’s greatest (at least in our opinion) annual comics and illustration fair, so we thought we’d do a little recap
A huge huge thank you to everyone who came and braved the weekend crowds for some illustrated goodness, the fest was one of the busiest it’s ever been
Whilst there’s almost too much to mention, we’ve picked out a couple of highlights to show you below…
The festival’s artist in residence, Jon McNaught, was selling some of his beautiful prints all weekend, whilst also signing copies of Kingdom. Jon also did a sold-out talk on the process of creating Kingdom, branching out to speak more generally about printmaking, poetry, and the use of comics to explore distant memories and the passing of time
Tom Haugomat’s stencil workshop created some amazing works of printed art – all with only the use of simple stamp ink pads! You could also find Tom at our own Nobrow stall, signing copies of the wonderful Through A Life
We also loved taking part in Carles Porta’s Silly Ballet workshop, creating dancing stop motion works of art
David Biskup was the winner of 2019’s ELCAF x WeTransfer Award, where he won funding to complete his book There’s Only One Place This Road Ever Ends Up. We can’t wait to see what David gets up to over the next year- make sure to come to ELCAF 2020 to see the results!
Here’s a few more photos of the fest to keep you busy, and we hope to see you all again next year!
We have the pleasure to announce ourselves as a supporter of Pathways, an exciting new initiative for diverse, ambitious and talented artists who believe they can be the next generation of children’s illustrators.
Pathways is exclusively for those from ethnic minority and disadvantaged backgrounds and is open to both those with no formal illustration training, and well as to undergraduates, graduates and postgraduates.
The programme is a two year course, during which you will be taught by tutors from BA and MA illustration courses from ten affiliated Universities. A wide range of world-renowned illustrators, editors, art directors and designers will also be taking part as mentors – that includes some of us here at Nobrow & Flying Eye! Members from our very own editorial and marketing teams will be working with Pathways to help you get the very best start in the world of publishing.
Check out their website for further details, and don’t forget – applications close September 2nd!
