Recap
Hi everyone! I hope you had a good Halloween, full of candy and scary movies. For my part, I verified and validated the existence of the “cottage curse”, a spell that has been ruining my vacation photos for the past 2 years. This year, I managed to expose the same film twice (no comments) thus rendering 72 photos unusable. Except this one, which turned out really cool by sheer luck. Next year, I'm getting my camera exorcized before going to the cottage. I could also, maybe, start paying attention to what I'm doing, in general. That could work.
The release of the new Slowdive album made me revisit my year-old shoegaze/dreampop playlist. Later, while absentmindedly doodling, the idea of a group of ghosts with little Converse shoes came to me. A ghost band and their haunted pedals, I thought it was neat! Since it fit with my current musical mood and the arrival of Halloween, I set out to finish it as soon as I could. Honestly, I think this is my favorite drawing of the year. The whole creation process, sketches and color tests are on my Patreon! It also made me realize that I have a lot of illustrations that revolve around music. It’s worth looking into!
Ponto, our own famous sentient construction cone, made a call for guest comics and I responded with this. I never miss an opportunity to talk about the Pataterie--and the cutest mascot around.
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The “Shoeghosts” print is available in my store. If you put your ear close enough, you can hear fuzzy guitar through the paper.
The book by Denis Côté that I illustrated, Le Cinéma de l'horreur, is now in bookstores. For fans of monsters, suspense and theremin.
I’m also going to be doing signings with la Courte Échelle and Front Froid/Nouvelle Adresse during the Montreal Salon du Livre. Here is my schedule:
Friday 24: 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. (FF/NA)
Saturday 25: 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. (FF/NA) and 1 p.m. to 2 p.m. (Courte Échelle)
Sunday 26: 11 a.m. to 12 p.m. (Courte Échelle) and 2 p.m. to 3:30 p.m. (FF/NA)
Come and get books signed at the kiosks, we’re waiting for you!
That’s all for October! I'm going to play in the leaves for a while. See you again in November!
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Cool stuff
Reading:
We’re all lurkers now, on Embedded. It’s a good snapshot of the state of social media.
“This echoes a wider sentiment I’ve seen creeping into my personal feeds: No one really posts anymore, no one’s having fun, and it’s partly for this reason that no one seems excited about any of the newer apps and features, like Threads, that keep popping up despite everything.”
As someone who needs social media to reach out to readers, sell merch and advertise events IRL, this feels especially bleak. But it’s not wrong.
Watching:
My Salinger Year, which had been on my list for a while now. I really enjoyed it! Great cast and performances, good, heartfelt story. Also, the most obvious Montreal attempt at New York I’ve seen in a while. You can’t fool me!
It’s spooky season and what better way to celebrate than to watch Tom Hiddleston in gothic 19th century attire for two hours? Crimson Peak is an OK film with a slim intrigue but Guillermo del Toro does know how to compose beautiful shots, holy molly.
A fantastic video essay on the concept of content by Patrick H. Willems. The word now feels like a curse, reducing everything artists and creators make into a gray sludge, meant to be consumed instead of being appreciated. Everything is Content now. Follow up read: The word Content is rude.
“In practical terms, “content creator” neatly accomplishes two things at once: It lets people who make garbage think they’re making art, and tells people who make art that they’re making garbage.”
I’m listening:
I’m doing a lot of writing right now so I need some good upbeat tunes. I’m listening to the Soul Slabs compilations from Colemine Records a lot. The new Black Pumas album, Chronicles of a Diamond also just came out and brings a little warmth to my little heart.
Cool artist:
Leslie Parsons renders the architecture of Montreal and Japan with a lot of color and charm. Whimsical, is the right word.