2020 – Counting blessings

: to make a special effort to appreciate the good things in one’s life

So, it’s now the first of January 2021. And as we look back, it’s time to say… well WASN’T THAT STRANGE?

I spent the first half of 2020 working on the second chapter of Fisksoppa and ignoring the apocalypse. I am currently on the fourth chapter and I am so damn proud it’s hilarious. For those not in the loop, Fisksoppa is the best webcomic me and my sister ever made, and it updates every Monday and Thursday.

Sometime in July, Nor’s holiday came out in France, at Les Aventuriers de l’Etrange. I mostly stood on the edges, while Ileana worked on the translation and made sure everything was book-shaped. There were comics festivals plans, and then there were none, so that was that.

The plan was to set some time aside to work on The Shakespeare Project – and yes, yes, I got my wish, even if it was in strange and unusual circumstances. Oh, how I had missed traditional work, and oil pastels. Oh, how I hated them two weeks in, because god-damn-it, where is the hue-saturation button? But things soon fell into place (ha! no they didn’t, it took three months and a lot of sad-artist-noises) and I now have illustrations for The Twelfth Night, The Merchant of Venice, Love’s Labour’s Lost and Macbeth. And ideas for Hamlet and The Tempest, so, with a little-bit-of-luck, I won’t forget the technique (AGAIN) by the time I get to them.

Zestrea also arrived on European shores in July, and the rest of the summer was spent fulfilling the Kickstarter. We were sold out by the end of November – but since we are business savvy kids, the second batch was already on its way. And it still is to this day – spare a thought for all those shinny game boxes, spending New Year alone in the middle of the ocean. Shipping in a pandemic, eh?

In November, my friends an I published a Tarot Deck, bringing together 40 artists from Romania. Quite proud of that project, check it out!

The Comics Academy also happened in November, celebrating ten years of the Cluj Comics Club. There were conferences and there was an exhibition – but more importantly, there was a sense that time has not passed in vain. I got to see how we all changed and improved, and how those students from 2008 turned into ”professional illustrators”.

Then Fisksoppa started AGAIN – this time I’m working on chapter 4, and will be until March. If it all goes according to plan, the first book will come out in autumn. Fingers crossed!

These were the highlights of 2020 – and I am very curious what 2021 will bring.