Scandi-Merica #16 - Jöl

 

Gulr surprises Ætta with the Christmas/Jöl trees.

Merry Christmas and Merry Jöl! Also, Happy 1/11! I was initially hoping for this to be finished by Christmas, but it took me longer than that, especially with facing a lot of indecision with what colors to use for Gulr and Ætta's clothes, as the green Gulr usually wears would clash with the evergreens and I was going back and forth between the royal blue I've been using for Ætta lately and the lime green that was her original main standard color. I finally trusted my initial intuition on using the blues for the both of them, and I really love how it turned out! Thankfully the Scandinavian Jöl is often in January and lasts several days (it's possible the "12 days of Christmas" has its origins in the length of ancient Jöl celebrations)

This story actually came to me pretty recently, late November or maybe even early December, and I started work on it shortly after that. This whole comic idea really came to me in a very natural flow, and definitely the most romantic thing I've ever written. Winter and the Christmas season is so beautiful, and I feel I captured that beauty well here.

All art, writing, penciling, inking, and coloring created by me.

View on Newgrounds 

Seeing Constellations is Every Nautical Captain's Ecstasy

 

"Imagine your brain as a canister filled with ink, now think of your body as the pen where the ink resides. Fuse the two, KAPOW! What are you now? You're the human magic marker, won't you please surprise my eyes? It's in your nature you can paint whatever picture you like, no matter what Ted Koppel says on Channel 4 tonight, so modify this third rock from the sun by painting a myriad of pictures using the colors of the one" - Incubus - Redefine

I noticed a nu metal art collab pop up in the events on Newgrounds, and then felt inspired to create a drawing based on one of my all time favorite albums, and one that has inspired me in many ways from my music, to emotional release, to healing, to growth, and more. Incubus's S.C.I.E.N.C.E. (Sailing Catamarans Is Every Nautical Captain's Ecstasy). I've always loved this band and album, but it wasn't until a few years ago that I really noticed how beautiful and inspiring Brandon Boyd's lyrics are, and deeply spiritual/esoteric. Every time I listen to any of their albums/songs, I'm still noticing new things musically and lyrically.

 The title is obviously a riff on the original full title of the album, but with my own personal touch with Seeing Constellations Is Every Nautical Captain's Ecstasy, as I've always been fascinated by the constellations and also a connection with the sea and ships. Among the stars is a Nebula, in reference to the song and this picture being like a wandering into my inner nebula as an artist, and I wanted to use similar colors as the album cover as well as a Northern Lights/Aurora Borealis. This was also my first time combining pencils with inks, and I really love how penciling the sky turned out with the inks, makes for a nice contrast.


All penciling, inking, and coloring by me.

Scand-Merica #15 - Boing

 

The fisherman gets an unsuspected surprise when trying to get into the village waters to fish.

This is the sixth strip and conclusion in the first Scandi-Merica story arc that stretches across several comics, read the previous here

Here's the beautifully cartoony conclusion to this first Scandi-Merica story arc! This was the first thing I visualized when the idea for this story came to me, just the concept of someone going to extreme lengths like parachuting out of a plane just for a legal exploit to water access I just knew I had to incorporate it into a comic/cartoon. I was originally thinking of using it for a different story for a different comic series, but I realized it'd be perfect for Scandi-Merica and both writing and drawing/inking this story arc just flowed nicely. The third frame is inspired by the classic first episode of Lupin the 3rd Part II, which I felt was fitting to the cartoon goofiness, and the fourth frame features a reference to a classic MST3K short which was a more recent spark of inspiration as I was drawing it.

All art, writing, penciling, inking, and coloring created by me.

View on Newgrounds 

Scandi-Merica #14 - Loki Net

 

The residents of Scandimerica meet at the Alþing to discuss what action to take regarding the intruding fisherman.

This is the fifth strip in the first Scandi-Merica story arc that stretches across several comics, read the previous here

Read the next one here 

I loved the process of creating this comic, between the writing, drawing, and inking/coloring. The first frame is one of my favorites, and probably my favorite background frame I've drawn. I really captured what I was visualizing, and between the perspectives, details, I feel like the energy of an ancient Alþing (meeting place in medieval Icelandic law/governance) comes through. I love how the artworks that adorn the walls inside look, and they came out in a few different styles. Also this is the first Scand-Merica where I directly reference events in one of the stories from The Prose Edda, where Loki shapeshifts into a Salmon to try and escape punishment, but the gods/goddesses catch him with a net, and what an appropriate synchronicity.

All art, writing, penciling, inking, and coloring created by me.

View on Newgrounds 

Scandi-Merica #13 - Flying Machine

 

After Sven stops giving lake access, the fisherman finds a new way to get to the water.

This is the fourth strip in the first Scandi-Merica story arc that stretches across several comics, read the previous here.

Read the next one here 

With this part of the story getting into cartoon absurdity, I had a lot of fun drawing the beginning of the Lupin-esque lengths that this fisherman will go to for his legal exploit for lake access. I also did a lot of experimenting with different perspectives for the helicopter/boat frame as it was something new that I haven't drawn before, and I'm really happy with how it turned out after several studies. As a reference for the helicopter I took inspiration from one of the Moomin comics. I love the layering of background/foreground in the first frame too.

All art, writing, penciling, inking, and coloring created by me.

View on Newgrounds 

Happy 11/11, new album Phases of Waves!

 

 

Happy 11/11! With it comes a new release, this time a little bit longer than my EP's where I feel confident in calling it an album, therefore being my first. I released one song as a single at the beginning of this year, Phasing, which is also the first song I recorded out of all of these. 

Listen to the album on Youtube and the song Omr Þors Reið on Newgrounds (Other songs to be uploaded in the coming weeks)

The songs and this album have been in the works since last year, 2024, with getting my phaser pedal. It's an experiment with a range of different waves and aquatic sounds, there's some harmonic rock, grungy songs. and even playing around with some borderline surf thrash. Omr Þors Reið, Ægirs Feast, and Waterfjalls were all improv'd, the latter being my first guitar recording release. I kept going back and forth between keeping it as it is to adding additional instruments, but eventually I went with keeping it as it is as I first intended. I just like how it sounds, and maybe in the future I'll develop it into a more layered song with additional instruments as I would like to do that. Accoutrement Croissant (I just realized I spelled Accoutrement wrong on the back cover), Phasing, Snow Thrills, and No Comma were all recorded in 2024, and Omr Þors Reið, Aqua Frolics, Ægirs Feast, Swans of Urð (Phasing Mix), and Waterfjalls were recorded this year, 2025. 

Accoutrement Croissant is honestly one of my favorite songs of mine that I've released so far, it's the least phaser sounding song on the album that's centered around that sound, but the way the melody grows throughout the song and the emotion expressed, it just sounds so joyous! Aqua Frolics too, which is in DADA tuning, builds in such a cool way and appropriate for the title I sample some quotes from Rifftrax's Aqua Frolics short to segue into different sections. Snow Thrills additionally has an MST3K sample. Swans of Urð (Phasing Mix) I recorded around the same time as my EP of the same song, but I felt it appropriate to put the phaser pedal version on here instead of the EP. 

 The album cover is a drawing by me of Lord Shiva coming out of one side of the waves, and Oðinn, the other. This duality is connected to my belief of Shiva and Oðinn being very similar deities in their search for wisdom and creating to learn more about themselves. In both Hindu and Norse stories I feel a connection, the languages share some common words and meanings, and the ancient lord of the animals believed to be Pashupati (Shiva) relief from the Harappan dynasty in India reminds me of Oðinn's ancient origins being associated with many animals along with his two ravens and two wolves. The trident is also a symbol to both Shiva and Oðinn in Icelandic depictions in manuscripts of the Prose Edda. Interestingly the drawing started as the crescent moon over the waves, but then the inspiration came to me to draw Shiva and then after drawing the trident I thought of Oðinn.  

Played on a 5-string bass, except for track 9, played on 6-string guitar. Recorded and mixed in Audacity/OcenAudio All music and cover art created by me.

Scandi-Merica #12 - Lake

 

Sven thought the fisherman needed lake access for food.

This is the third strip in the first Scandi-Merica story arc that stretches across several comics, read the previous here

Read the next one here

While story wise this is kind of an in-between strip, I really enjoyed drawing Sven's expressions here as well as the contrasts between the colors in the inks. The purples, magenta, orange/red, and turquoise really compliment each other well. The colors also kind of remind me of artwork of Þor and Hymir fishing for Jörmungandr, the Midgarð Serpent, from an 18th century manuscript of the Prose Edda.

All art, writing, penciling, inking, and coloring created by me.

View on Newgrounds