Yay, finally completed a big summer update that I've been preparing for a while. I started working on the zakka almost a year ago and it's exciting to finally present the results. The designs are based around each of the 6 dolls. In the process I grew quite attached to them since it involved creating individual personalities using visual elements. Some of my favourites include Kogal (for it's nostalgic summeriness inspired by my grad trip to Rhodes many years ago), Sakura (combining traditional chinese pottery motifs from childhood rice bowls with contemporary design) and Pinku (a straightforward Harajuku explosion). Everything can be (pre)ordered from the Momiji online shop,  and keep an eye out for them from your Momiji stockist.

I've been spending a lot of time enjoying summer in Vienna, which mostly involves coffeeshops, facebook, picnics, nightclubs and, of course, the Uefa Euro 2008. Most of the inner city is cordoned off for the Fanzone with great atmosphere, despite tighter security than Heathrow and higher prices than Harrods. For lack of any genetic connection to Europe I kept a fairly broad list of favourites: Netherlands (great game), Austria (home), Sweden, (hot players), Italy (hot skilled players) and Turkey (amazing turnarounds). I have a feeling Germany is going to come out tops...slightly meh, not that I don't like the team but just because it's boring when sports get predictable. I had a cold last week and there's something very wrong about being congested when it's 35 degrees outside :/. I sincerely hope my sense of smell and taste will return soon!

Was selling some mangas at an Austrian comic expo today and doodled this whilst sitting behind the table. It sort of looks like Kogal if she were a real person! (Why is she wearing a santa hat? Hmm....)



On a very serious note, it's been 7 days since the earthquake in China, with death toll currently at 32,500 and 4.8 million homeless. I'd like to ask people to please make a donation if you can:

http://www.redcross.org.uk/donatesection.asp?id=81125

Thank you!

Just in case there's a certain Italian reading this, your translation skills are much appreciated right now:
--> http://www.elle.it/elle/shopping/content/cheap-chic/bambole-manga-che-ti-passa

For the Brits this was in The Independent a few days ago...an early announcement of THE MOMIJI MUGS! I'm working on a new section of the website for all the Zakka items which should be up by the end of the month. I just realised it's been exactly one year to the day when I first saw the dolls 'live' in 3D (and the same day I got the RSOM book in the mail, and made spaghetti and meatballs for dinner...if I could divert half my brain capacity of storing random details to studying then I'd be number-crunching through an MA dissertation right now, instead of loafing around on LJ at 12:45am :P).

Whilst clearing up some old notebooks today I remembered that I've always wanted to post up some examples of how I work. I'm a firm believer in putting all the effort necessary into making the final outcome look good, rather than tweaking and faffing around the sketchbook stage. I hate the idea of having to present my innermost thoughts & ideas for others first, as was the case during much of school and university. I was extremely fortunate to end up on a course where sketchbooks weren't imperative but I still wish that more tutors will realise that skipping an extensive part of the 'developmental stage' isn't a sign of laziness but simply the way some people work.

My default work style hasn't changed since childhood despite battling my way through years of sketchbook zealotry and narrow-minded academia. I go from rough biro scribble to finished work...without a single 'These are my thoughts, notes, research and alternate ideas' stage.  I'm sharing some of my rough work here, and be warned that they don't look as pretty as you might be imagining:


I only ever sketch enough so that I can have an image of the outcome in my mind, which very often looks thoughtless and messy on paper. I do not buy into the notion that you must have immaculately detailed sketches/progressive work in order to produce a good final outcome. Similarly, you only need to take notes to learn, and not copy out an entire textbook word for word. Of course, I know artists whose natural creative process results in sketchbooks that are works of art, but those are personal preferences just as valid as artists who prefer to skip the developmental stage and focus solely on the end product.

Woo, survived another 12 hour flight (bizarrely, it felt shorter...either my brain went into self-preservation mode from cabin pressure and crap movies or never-ending working hours have given me a perverse enjoyment of sitting still and NOT doing anything). I took over 200 photos from the land of infinite inspiration and will use some of these as a summary of the trip:

- This is a little reminder for people to cast their vote in the Momiji Contest. I urge everyone to flip through all the designs to find their favourite since there are many stunning entries that seem to have lagged behind. The voting closes on March 22nd.

- I realised that I've been billed as a guest in some promo material for Bristol Expo 2008. Unfortunately this is not the case as I'm no longer living in London. Although I definitely still have plans to attend on of the larger events (Expo/Japanex) but still gotta work out the details.

- I'm going to Tokyo tomorrow so I may not be able to reply to emails or messages for the next two weeks. (I've had so much work recently that I'm actually looking forward to the prospect of sitting for 12 hours doing nothing 8D)! First stop: Shibuya 109...a paradise on earth.

Waah *_*!! I'm quite gobsmacked to discover that I've been nominated several times for the Eagle Awards, an annual event taking place at Bristol Comic Expo. Please visit the site here to vote, or submit your nominees.

Roll of Honour
Joanna Zhou

Favourite Comics Writer/Artist
Joanna Zhou

Favourite Comics Story published during 2007
Carlos & Sakura

Favourite Comic Cover published during 2007
Carlos & Sakura

Favourite New Comicbook
Carlos & Sakura

Favourite Letterer
Joanna Zhou

I'm hugely grateful to whoever nominated me, thank you very much ^_^!
 

Tadaa, an update that doesn't include anything work related:

Watched: Eastern Promises, a truly brilliant film set in London. One of the very few films that keeps you captivated without being able to predict the outcome right until the end. And the fact it's made in good old L instead some generic Hollywood dump gives it a nice, European arthouse feel. Last but not least, you get to see Viggo Mortensen nekkid. Win.

Disappointed: The new 007 film is called Quantum of Solace...QUANTUM OF SOLACE?!! WTF? Sounds like an extremely bad sci-fi shooter that only gets sales from gamer kids under 16. Apparently it was based on a short story by Ian Fleming which was published in (LOL) Cosmopolitan and Bond only makes a peripheral appearance.

Playing: Halo...very addictive, very fun. Don't actually have an Xbox (not enough fluffy titles) so I've become a resident bum at a friend's house who does. Haven't really been into shooters since Time Crisis III and assumed I'd outgrown them, but it really depends on the game. Even as I write this during the day, surrounded by kawaii toys and pictures, I'm itching to blow someone to pieces with the Hornet.

Learning: Japanese, sort of. Just to avoid the 'ZOMG TOURIST' looks in March I've been trying to learn enough phrases to get by in everyday places. Since I suspect it's the accent that gives it away, I've gotten an iPod version to listen to as well. I still love the anglicised versions of certain words like bijinesu, mineraru woota, yoogoruto, shoppingu sentaa XD.

I actually read this in the papers a few days ago:

10:30 RTA, frontal collision. No injuries.

12:15 Horse falls into pond. 5 injured.

Austrian police logs never fail to amuse me since it's compounded proof that nothing EVER happens in this country XD. There were only a total of 5 entries for that day...the others even less significant, in the cat-stuck-up-tree category.

Oh yeah, it was also mentioned that the horse 'suffered a chill'.

Cool, a Spanish version of Best New Manga 1 has been confirmed. It's the first time I've had a manga translated into another language, and one that I don't know myself, so it's quite exciting :D! I'm curious how Carlos & Sakura would turn out since I used loads of fonts and styles, which I assume won't be replicated in the re-texted version. Plus there are parts of dialogue which are quite english-specific...I tried translating it into german once for myself but it lost some 'punch'. Still, very exciting news and congrats to the fellow BNM1 creators out there ^_^!! Based on the popularity of the second book I think it'll only be a matter of time before that gets licensed too.

After discovering lamington at the UN Women's Guild Bazaar a few days ago, I tried making my own today. Nothing burned, curdled or ended up tasting like baking soda. Win :D!

A friend told me last week that our projects were in the Chelsea prospectus for 2008/9, and I've been trying to get onto the website to order a copy. The server was squiffy all weekend so I finally managed to get in today, and my heart skipped a beat when the main page loaded! I'm really happy that Chelsea is making an open statement in support of manga & japanese style...so any artists out there will know there's at least one haven for our hobby *pointpointpoint*.

Warning: Don't read this post if you are A: an arachnophobe or B: a creature-loving-spiders-should-be-wafted-gently-into-the-garden person.



 

Keep an eye out for the brilliant full-colour comic 'Robotgirl Versus the Universe' in The Guardian newspaper (every Saturday). It's created by the very talented John Aggs (winner of RSOM UK 2). A trailer of the comic can be found here and page previews on the Guardian Unlimited site. Eagle-eyed readers will spot a little cameo of Sakura, leaving the forest to pose as an intergalactic keychain XD.

Just when I thought the publicity for Momiji was over they crop up in...THE DAILY MIRROR!! From ComputerArts to the tabloids in one week...hahaha. When I first got the scan I misread the lower line as 'Kate Moss's Peroxide Boob' XD (which may apply anyway...who knows).

I'm a bit sad about missing London Expo this weekend...it'll be my first absent Expo in years. Though by odd coincidence Gwen (Hunter on Sweatdrop) and her husband are coming to Vienna this weekend so I'll be showing them around town ^^. She's also bringing a precious box of Twinings Everyday Tea, wooo! The small things I miss most about London are tea, cheddar and the Mail on Sunday. Then there are things like Topshop, Primark and Japancentre that leave a big hole in my existence...which is why I booked tickets for the end of November justifying it to my parents as 'business' (well I will be meeting a client) but really to give my debit card an abusing it won't forget for a while.

Work-wise I'm scrambling to get everything done before then...sadly it looks like a squeeze which means my german pitch will get pushed back even further :(. The freelancer's curse of things that may benefit you most never end up getting done because other stuff get in the way! I'm very impatient by nature and I always want things to happen asap...so it's frustrating to have something on the shelf for so long. I start worrying about silly things like if someone pitches the same idea or if the publisher start filling the schedule in advance and potential slots get taken by other artists etc. I'm just so grateful that I don't have university work to juggle as well...perhaps I'll be able to get stuff done faster than expected since I haven't known a time where I wasn't working alongside uni :/

YArgh! I just realized that I sent off an illustration two weeks ago that's wonky. I didn't know what got into my head that I only decided to flip it today, as opposed to BEFORE I SENT IT!! I have a sinking feeling it's too late to change anything and I don't want to be unprofessional to beg a busy editor to instruct someone else to swap my picture just out of pride. So the only thing to do in times like these is swear until I feel better.

**** *** ****** **** *** ********* **** **** ***** ***** ***** *** **** ************ ***** **** ********** ****!!!!!!

(Yes I really do know that many different curse words...the longer ones are in German XD)

At least I fixed it now so the version going up on my website will be normal. (Except about 10 people see my website, and thousands more see the magazine *shut up little voice in head*) I learned a valuable lesson today PHOTOSHOP ---> FLIP HORIZONTAL ---> IS YOUR BEST FRIEND.  MY EYE ---> SHIT. As a punishment I will deprive my deceiving brain of chocolate for the rest of the day.

Happy happy dance day! This has been my bible for the past three years and it's a dream come true to have my work featured. Guess this officially makes me a designer XD! I used to fantasize about being part of the Designed For Life section even before I was contacted by Momiji...they always showed lots of cool japanese stuff from TokiDoki, Murakami, art toys, plushies & co, which I found more inspiring than 2D artwork.

This is something I posted recently in the Sweatdrop forums where everyone compiled pages of their past work to see how their style has changed. For more detailed images please check here. I'm notorious at 'style fiddlling' so it was fun to see my work from the past 10 years and remember how each comic evolved into the next.

A very rare occurence has taken place...namely that I actually tidied up my room! So I thought I'd record it for posterity before it goes back to resembling ground zero. My parents let me re-do everything recently and after numerous trips to Ikea, I'm very happy with the set-up. Compared to the one TINY table I had in London, this is sheer luxury ^_^. The mirror is to check drawings for mistakes and for quick pose references. I find that just about every hand pose is do-able with a mirror, a digicam and one or the other of my own hands! Scanner and printer are under my desk...along with an absolute mess of extension boards, hair straighteners, curling iron and hair dryer. I'm not quite sure why I have two calendars, just felt the wall space needed something to hang there XD!

(Two posts in one day?! Go wild). Just got a mail from my PR agency with this attachment:


It's from the newest issue of Elle Decoration *_* (with my name spelled right, hooray!) I'm amazed at how wide a market Momiji covers...SFX and Elle Deco are probably about as opposite at you can get, yet there's been coverage from both in the past few days. Haven't gotten hold of either yet, unfortunately. It's funny how Vienna changes your pace of living. If this were in London I wouldn't be typing right now cause I'll be on the 19 bus headed for the all-night Virgin Megastore at Piccadilly...instead I'm patiently waiting for the post every morning by the postman on his little yellow scooter. That, sad to say, is about the highlight of my day...reaching civilization involves a 30 minute drive and a 'luxury' that I only reward myself with after having done enough work for several days straight!