A drawing I did for The Culture Bureau of Stockholm, for use as a 2011 christmas card.

Drawn on paper but colored using my brand new Wacom Bamboo Fun & Touch tablet. It was my first time using a tablet, and I’m still very much just learning as I go.

My first serious attempt at colouring one of my drawings using my computer instead using ordinary coloured pencils… I really need to practice. Obviously.

Peek-a-boo!

A slightly older version of my character Saga, wearing a pretty dress borrowing inspiration from both Japanese and Chinese designs.

This is the first time I’ve drawn Saga in years and years. This is also the first time in years that I have used coloured pencils, so this was indeed a very nostalgic (in a good way!) experience for me.

Above you can see the typical steps when I make a drawing (click to see a larger version). The drawing is a drawing of my old character Saga that I finished sketching out a few days ago. I hadn’t drawn her for years, so it was fun to see her again. Just for fun though I drew her in a completely different dress – a complete mashup of Chinese, Japanese and other elements.

Maybe I’ll ink and colour it as well… If I do it’ll be the first time in years I do that.

To sum up the steps:

1. I start out with a simple stick-figure, 5-7 heads tall.
2. Then I add some circles mainly at the joints of the body, to get a better flesh out the pose and feel of the body.
3. Then I connect the circles with curves that broadly define the outline of the body.
4. After that it’s just a matter of drawing the character on top of it all, which really isn’t too difficult as most of the body is already there. It’s like putting clothes and makeup on a mannequin I guess.

One of Sweden’s most reknown translators and experts on Japanese manga was a few days ago found guilty of “possession of child pornography” – or in other words a handful of (drawn) lolicon hentai pictures. This was the first time Sweden’s anti child pornography law has ever been tried regarding drawn pictures, and I and pretty much anyone else in this country who like manga and Japanese culture is currently both furious and in shock.

It’s madness that drawn cartoons – created out of pure fantasy and without the involvement of real children – should be regarded as real child pornography! Simple lines on a paper! It’s an insult to simple cartoon lovers and real victims alike! The verdict didn’t come as a complete surprise to me, as I’ve worried and waited for the law to really be put to the test for years, but I am now fighting the law in any way that I can – blogging a lot, printing and wearing an “A drawing isn’t a crime” t-shirt, and talking to everyone I know. And in the coming elections voting for the only party that has said they will get the law reformed – The Pirate Party.

To show just how ridiculous and medieval the law is I also drew this picture one day: A girl receiving a dildo (and some chocolate). According to the law pictures/drawings of children “appealing to the sex drive,” and which are made available to others, is “child pornography”. Pah, humbug!