Peter Hallin - The Blog

The end of the beginning

2011-04-04T17:08:00.003+02:00

Den här bloggen går, föga överraskande i graven. Men en ny ska resa sig ur askan!
Grejen är att jag har haft den här bloggen som en bildkonstblogg främst, men det är ett alldeles för tunt underlag för en blogg med tanke på att vandrar igenom min tillvaro och gör lite allt möjligt och inte endast tecknar dygnet runt. Min bildkonstsajt som ligger på www.peterhallin.net (för närvarande iaf) gör sitt jobb alldeles galant (och jag gick nyligen med på Deviant Art under namnet TallDarkAndStrange ).
Så, jag ska börja göra en blogg som handlar om allt som har med mig att göra. Visst, det är inte mycket, men det är i alla fall mer. Och den blir förhoppningsvis roligare och mycket mer aktiv. Om det blir under den här adressen och det här namnet återstår att se och jag återkommer om det.

This blog will, not surprisingly be put to sleep. But a new one will arise from the ashes!
The thing is that I have had this blog as a way of showcasing all manner of visual artwork, and since I am going my existence doing quite a few other things and not drawing 24/7, it's too thin as basis for a blog. My artwork site www.peterhallin.net is doing the job nicely (and I recently joined Deviant Art under the name TallDarkAndStrange).
So, I'm starting a blog that will be about all things me. Yes I know, that still won't be much, but at least it's more. And it will hopefully be more active and more fun. If it will be under this address and name remains to be seen. I'll get back to you on that.

2011-01-16T21:07:00.004+01:00

Lite omdesign och uppdatering har skett på min portfoliosajt inför det nya året.

I've made a slight redesign and update to the portfolio site to welcome the new year.

www.peterhallin.net

Sketchbook outpoor - part 3

2010-12-19T17:11:00.003+01:00

Lite av det ena och det andra och det tredje.

Little of this and a little of that, and a little of the other...

Up Shit Sea Again

2010-11-28T18:26:00.004+01:00

Jomenvisst, några skillz har jag trots allt.

Yes, that's right. I got some skillz.

I see a brown door and I want to shade it black

2010-10-27T19:11:00.003+02:00

Halloween och alla helgona nu i helgen. Den här bilden har legat och skrotat på min hårddisk ett bra tag. Jag har undrat vad jag ska lägga till. Inget, visade det sig. Den passade för ändamålet såatte...

It's Halloween this weekend. This illustration has been lying uncompleted on my harddrive for a while. I've been wondering what to add. Nothing, it turns out. It fit the occasion so...

Full moon

2010-10-23T19:11:00.002+02:00

Fullmåne ikväll. En illustration för ändamålet på det...

A full moon tonight. Here's an illustration to go with that...

Shitty is pretty

2010-10-22T19:35:00.003+02:00

Ett par grafiska verk med visdomsord från en man vid namn Gabriel Roth från Daptone records och bandet the Dap Kings. Betydelsen bakom fungerar som inspiration för mig vare sig jag gör musik eller tecknar en bild.

A pair of graphic design pieces featuring words of wisdom from a man named Gabriel Roth of Daptone records and the band the Dap Kings. The meaning behind this is something I try to take inspiration from whether I make music or draw a picture.

Exterminate!

2010-10-22T19:22:00.003+02:00

Påtade ihop en bild av några Daleks från Dr Who. Ja, jag är en nörd.

Put together an illustration of some Daleks from Dr Who. Yes, I'm a nerd.

Sketchbook outpoor - part 2

2010-10-04T21:20:00.007+02:00

Och här vare mera gamla (och inte så gamla) skissbokbilder dårå...

And here's some more old (and not so old) sketchbook drawings...

I valet och kvalet

2010-09-17T17:18:00.006+02:00

Så här två dagar innan riksdagsvalet i svea rike så kände jag det passande att lägga upp ett par gamla D.H.K.-sidor som är relavanta. De gjordes inför det förra valet, men det hjälpte ju inte så mycket. Jag menar, se hur det gick. Så det kan vara värt att göra ett försök till.

Greetings english speakers. Since this post has to do with the swedish elections and the comics are in swedish, there is nothing for you here. This time. So bugger off! (But welcome back...)

Sketchbook outpoor - part 1

2010-09-13T20:12:00.019+02:00

Jag gör en djupdykning i gamla skissböcker från några år tillbaka fram till idag, och här är några axplock, i ingen särskild ordning. Jag vet, de flesta av de här bilderna är mer än vad man borde kalla "skisser", då de är tuschade och allt, men jag har funnit att det är allmänt vedertaget att kalla alla block och böcker man bär med sig och tecknar i då och då för skissböcker, även om innehållet är fotorealistiska målningar. För att inte göra ett alldeles för tungt inlägg delar jag upp dem i ett par. Det är här del ett...
Kistan som springer är bagaget från Terry Pratchetts Discworld-böcker, och leksaksbartendern i plåt är från Robert Rankins The Hollow Chocolate Bunnies of the Apocalypse.

I do a dive into my old sketchbooks from a few years back up until very recent, and here is a few tidbits of what I found, in no particular order. I know, most of these images are more than what one should call a "sketch", being inked and all, but I have found that it' common practice to call all books and pads one carries around and draws in from time to time sketchbooks, even if the contents are photo real paintings. To avoid making too big a post, I split it up in a pair. This is part one... The coffin running is the Luggage from Terry Pratchett's Discworld novels, and the toy tin bartender is from Robert Rankin's novel The Hollow Chocolate Bunnies of the Apocalypse.

Review standoff

2010-06-22T15:29:00.002+02:00

En till recension på Samtidsislam. Den här gången i Sydsvenskan. Den bara kan beskrivas som en tävlan mellan tre böcker i ämnet. Jag väljer att tolka det som att vi vinner. Finnes här.

One down...

2010-06-08T14:48:00.004+02:00

Boken Samtidsislam har fått en första recension. En klart shysst sådan. Här.

The book samtidsislam have gotten it's first reveiw. A quite good one. But if can't understand swedish you are shit out of luck. Anyway, it's here.

Making baking

2010-06-04T15:51:00.007+02:00

Inte mycket händer i min bildkonstvärld just nu. Därför kan det upplevas tunnsått här. Jag har till och med en lågperiod på mitt dagsverke. Jag gör mest annars sånt jag gör. Försöker skriva och spela in musik, läser, går på bio och ser film med kraftigt varierad kvalitet (Kick Ass sparkar verkligen röv!), umgås med mina närmaste (både relationsmässigt och geografiskt), renoverar gitarr (1960-tals Höfner) och förfäras över världsnyheterna. Jag har också börjat skriva dagbok. Känn på den! Den är dock för personlig för att hamna på en arbetsblogg som denna.
Jag åkte dock till Komiks.dk för första gången. Det är väl lite relaterat i alla fall? Där gick jag på föredrag med Kevin O'Neill (League of Extraordinary Gentlemen), Dave Gibbons (Watchmen), Daniel Clowes, Chris Ware, Peter Madsen (Valhall) m fl. Alla mycket intressanta. Men det hjälper ju dig som läser föga. Och jag tänker inte göra en redogörelse för vad som sades. Jag nöjer mig med att frustrera dig som läsare som kanske missade det och skulle ha velat vara där.
Och en Veckans Johan har jag svängt ihop också som synes.

Not much is going on in my world of visual art. Therefore it can be a bit thin on updates here. I even have a slow period at the dayjob. So I'm just doing what I do. Trying to write and record music, reading, going to the cinema and seeing movies of wildly varied quality (Kick ass really kicks bum!), hangs out with the once closest to me (both relationship wise and geographically), is fixing up a guitar (1960's Hofner) and is horrified by the world news. I also started a diary. Take that! But it's too personal to publish on a working blog like this. I did go too the comics festival Komiks.dk in Copenhagen though. That's blogworthy right? There I saw lectures with Kevin O'Neill (League of Extraordinary Gentlemen), Dave Gibbons (Watchmen), Daniel Clowes, Chris Ware, Peter Madsen (Valhalla) and so on. All very interesting. But that is hardly of help to you reading this. And I'm not going to transcribe what was said. I'll settly for frustrating you who might have missed it and had wanted to be there. I have made a new weekly Johan too as you can see. Translation: "Johan can bake. With the right motivation."

Negative philosophy

2010-05-25T10:28:00.004+02:00

Veckans Johan 18.

The Weekly Johan 18. "– I wonder what the problem is? – Have you considered the possibility that there is no problem? – But that can't be."

Out and about

2010-04-25T13:14:00.002+02:00

Nu är Samtidsislam ute i handeln. En bok jag har varit med på ett hörn och illustrerat med serier och sånt.

Samtidsislam is out now in shops. A book I have illustrated with comics and such.

It's back! The site behind the mask...

2010-04-08T16:12:00.004+02:00

Hej och hå, nu ligger min online-portfolio med "bildkonst" uppe igen efter ett alltför långt uppehåll. Finns fortfarande ett par detaljer att fila på såklart och fler bilder ska upp. Men den finns där. Det är alltid något. Den finnes på www.peterhallin.net

Hey ho, my online portfolio is once again up after a far too long hiatus. There is still a few details to polish of course and a few more images will go in the gallerys. But it's there, and that counts for something. It can be found at www.peterhallin.net

Paint it black

2010-03-30T16:48:00.003+02:00

Veckans Johan nr 17.

The weekly Johan 17. "Johan is somewhat of a "Wigger". – I'm not a wigger. I'm black."

A star is reborn

2010-02-23T15:29:00.003+01:00

My partner in crime, Nils Karlsson and I have decided to give up doing music under the D.H.K banner and resurrect our old band name Silikonsafari (it's swedish and it means what it sounds like. Dont give it too much thought. You might just end up hurting yourself). Not a day too soon I feel.
A new logo and symbol is in order I think, and so I went at it.

Correctional facility

2010-02-19T15:49:00.002+01:00

This concerns swedish folk only so, excuse me while I cross over to the mother tounge... in print.

Boken Samtidsislam av Jonas Otterbeck kommer att ges ut i mars. Den har redan börjat förhandssäljas på nätet på sajter som Adlibris, Bokus och Ginza. Det gick ju såklart grus i maskineriet någonstans från början, och det står sedermera på ett par platser att jag heter Peter Haldén. Det gör jag inte.
Det finns också lite förvirring kring hur boken kommer att se ut. Vissa visar upp ett gammalt utkast. Det här är vad som gäller.

Wallpapers anyone?

2010-01-17T21:01:00.006+01:00

So I make my own desktop wallpapers. Big whoop. I do them annually so I use them for a year each. And no, I don't tire of them during that time.

I thought maybe there is someone out there who might like them, so here are last years and this ones. They're in 1280x1024 format but they work ok stretched if you use another resolution I think.

Wallpaper -08.jpg
Wallpaper -09.jpg

Gallery of the macabre

2010-01-12T15:44:00.010+01:00

Had to do some portraits of a few of my fellow co-workers for one of our sites. Lovely people. Mostly.

This is not a drill

2010-01-01T15:55:00.001+01:00

Here we go again. For real this time. This is the year things will happen. Even more than previous years. I don't know this for sure mind you. I'm just doing some positive affirmation.

I hope everybodys 2KX celebrations have been pleasant (unless you are from a culture who hasn't celebrated it yet, that is). I had a good time at our party as you can see by the fact that i'm smiling in this picture.

Holiday wishes

2009-12-18T13:54:00.004+01:00

Happy holidays everyone! However, or if, you choose to celebrate them.

Don't Fear the Reaper...

2009-12-01T00:00:00.002+01:00

... especially when he looks like this. My latest piece of work.

"It's no problem" - a trip to India - part 1

2009-11-24T16:42:00.016+01:00

I promised to post some more pictures from my trip to India, so here are some. I have focused my selection more on what pictures look good and are interesting and less on personal ones. More to come in a later post. Click on them to get a fatter view.

I love the fact that almost all signs are hand painted, even the ones with official logos and so on. And sometimes they pimp a little local flare, like the lamps in this case.

I want this printed on a t-shirt.

A Heron on Lotus flowers. Almost a bit too much isn't it?
Photo by Sofia Axelsson.

One of several mosque ruins in the park Lodi Gardens.
Actually this particular one is a tomb.

Agra. What a high class town! But plenty of nice people.

I won our traveling party's contest in who could take the closest and best picture of a squirrel.

The Taj mahal. Yes, I know, it's the picture everybody takes.
Here's one more.

Redesigning the shizzle

2009-11-10T16:08:00.003+01:00

I am noodling around a bit with the design of the blog as some of you may notice. It might change some more, since I 'm never happy. But one day, maybe...

Scary Move

2009-11-10T10:00:00.003+01:00

In other news, me and my partner have moved house. Well, when I say "house" it's a bit of an overstatement. We moved to the apartement/flat across the hall, but anyway. It's nice, it's bigger and a welcome change.
It has also been halloween. This doodle represent these things.

You can kiss my ass, Smith. I'm done!

2009-10-23T10:10:00.010+02:00

This rather rude titel is a quote by the character Cooper in the underrated movie Event Horizon. It has stuck with me and I say it from time to time when it applies. Because sometimes I am done with something, and I always want my assed kissed.
This time I am done with drawing comics for the book "Samtidsislam" I've written about in earlier posts. To be honest, it hasn't really been alot of work as such. But it has been a long strenious process for me none the less.
Now let's see if it will turn the academic world of islamology upside down.

I will now illustrate the occation with a kind of suitable picture from my trip to India, where I look serene and holy in the ruins of the oldest mosque in the country.

This is just a taste. There will be more.

Peter - The Return

2009-09-11T11:25:00.005+02:00

Long time, no updatey. I've been away in India for a while. Spent some time in New Delhi, Agra and Manali and came back totally bushed. It has been an adventure, and much have been great, but the country takes alot out of you. The heat, the traffic, frustrating people and situations and being witness to lots of social misery. But sure, I've seen alot of fun and wondrous things too.
Pics are coming at a later date when I have gotten around to edit them!

Came back too work this week and managed too crank out this tasty bitty of a logo for one of our projects...

Can't divulge any details about what the project is yet. But if anyone is curious, just keep an eye on the Spiritus Mundi website.

I got it covered

2009-08-08T17:01:00.004+02:00

I did a proposed cover illustration for the book Samtidslam - Unga muslimer i Malmö och Köpenhamn. It might not make it all the way intact. But I thought I'd share it.

Gnome concept

2009-07-17T18:58:00.006+02:00

I did this guy as a test for a little project I'm working on. Turned out ok so why not post it (go postal with it)? I hate that Blogger is rezising images and therefore degrading them in quality by the way. If I have made a good looking png and made it a perfect size to fit, leave it the fuck alone!

On the more personal notes, it's summertime. The weather is mostly nice, I'm biking more and most things are just that little bit nicer. I should be moving around the world according to where the weather is the most perfect at any given time. Don't get me wrong, I love winter, and like fall in a way. But lately, the swedish long boring cold and grey winter... not so much. Could do without that for a while. Like a century, like in Narnia, only the other way around. Then I'll be ready for some winter again.
No vacation as such yet, but there is serious down time at the dayjob, so it's like a little vacation, or holiday, before settling in for the big one. I know, this sounds idyllic. If only I did'nt have a lot of work to do. But I can't complain. Really. Morally I have no right by... law probably. Even my biggest problem, a health problem, that affects me to the point of tears sometimes, is likely a result of being a citizen of a western, rich, developed country. So no, shut up and smile for the world. You have it all and some more. Until next time: Keep on!

Hellboy fan art

2009-06-28T16:05:00.008+02:00

I did this instead of doing what I should. It was fun. I might do some more of these.
(The character Hellboy is created by Mike Mignola.)

Publishing secured

2009-06-21T22:01:00.005+02:00

Even though there has been a publisher willing to release Jonas Otterbeck's book "Samtidsislam" that I'm working on, there has been a lack of funding. But now that is taken care of and the book is set to release in december or january. Above is another sample. Yes it is in swedish. Deal with it bitches.

If anybody wondered after my last post what I thought about the new Star Trek movie, then I'll tell you. I think it was very inappropriately titled. Sure, it was an ok movie in some aspects, but it wasn't Star Trek. Those characters was'nt Kirk, Spock, Scotty or even Chekov. Those weren't even phasers for fuck sake! JJ Abrams and co have tried so hard to reinvent the myth and the franchise so that there is hardly anything left from what we know and love. For the new fans on the other hand, it might be all for the best.

Buffing up the movies

2009-05-21T12:58:00.024+02:00

Can I talk about movies for a moment? This is not a movie review blog in any way, but since I am a film buff and therefore have opinions I feel I must include them here too from time to time. I also have the bug. The acting kind. And the interest to be involved in film production in other various forms. It's been waaay to long since I steered my pirate ship in that heading. (Time to fix.)

But yeah, a film buff, but not necessarily one who automatically like the "classics" everyone else feel the need to hail as the greatest. I show very little love for the likes of The Godfather, A Clockwork Orange and Citizen Kane. And I haven't felt the need to delve deep in the European "art" film djungle. Even if there can be pearls there. So I am probably more of, what someone I knew once described as "Hollywood movie conesseur". That is a simplification of course, but it describes it rather well. Since I am a sci-fi & fantasy nerd too, it is often movies with that type of content that gets extra attention. Or if they deal with music and musicians, it's also a plus.
Therfore it is with utter confusion I have been looking at imdb's "top movies" list in the last months. Usually I can show my love for a mere few in the top ten. Pulp Fiction, One Flew Over the Cuckoos Nest and Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back, that are usually there.
But lately there has been... The Dark Knight (hence the hastily made Batman pic above), Jo-jo'ing about the top ten. I even think it was up in second place when it came out, and it's still in 7th at the time of writing.
Now, you would think I'd like this. But, I don't think it's a good movie. Nor Batman Begins. They are not great movies, hell, not even good Batman movies. Tim Burtons versions should kick their boring, cynical behinds down the list. I don't hate them. I watched and thought they were allright, and offered an interesting take on the franchise. But no more than that. I feel one could do a great, exciting, cool and visually stunning Batman movie with great acting. But it's like they decided "Yeah, let's not do that". (Even though Heath Ledger played brilliantly as the Joker.)
The movies that comes closest to a good version of what a Batman movie should be according to me? Check out the animated ones.

And then theres Star Trek. A new Trek movie should make me excited. (Yes I'm a Trek fan too, nerdy and all that, move on.) But not an OC/90210 version of it. I have nothing against young, good looking people, far from it. But this just doesn't feel right. I mean Zachary Quinto as Spock? What...? I'm happy for Simon Pegg though. He might not be right for the part, but he must be over the moon for this opportunity. And he deserves it. Brilliant guy.
The movies I am looking forward too this summer on the other hand (being a bit more positive here) are: Coraline, Terminator: Salvation, Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince and, of course, The Imaginarium of Dr Parnassus. Terry Gilliam returning to his "old school" style. Very promising.

This leads me too a conclusion I have come to. Sometimes you hear about what people consider the "Silver age" or "Golden age" of cinema. And these ages are usually a decade long. This has probably something to do with generation and reflects directly on when you were born and grew up. It's like that for me anyway. I was born in -77 and around there I say it begins, and ends somewhere in the end of the 80's. Now, there is so much a hate about the 80's. The politics, the clothes, the aggression, most of the popular music, the strikt policy of "you and them" and so on. But the movies had a magical "veil". I love alot of stuff from before and after. But when I thought about the feel and look and intention in many of the movies from this era (minus some of the outfits) it kind of dawned on me. Sure, I might change my mind in a week, I'll let you know.
Even if the music in many films of this era are very 80's, it is that in a better way than what was offered on the charts. Duran Durans best song ever is for the Bond movie A View to a Kill for example. The rest of their stuff can sod off.
Let's do a quick rundown: The Star Wars trilogy, Alien and Aliens, Blade Runner, Labyrinth, the Indiana jones trilogy, E.T., The Goonies, Jumping Jack Flash, The Blues Brothers, The Warriors, Time Bandits, most of the Monty Python movies, the good John Carpenter movies, The Breakfast Club, the list goes on. Well ok, it seems it may have been the silver age for sci-fi and fantasy at least. A lot of good stuff in that category is being done in later years too. But something is lacking. And I don't necessarily mean analog synths, reverb and David Bowie.
But it could be something like that.

Facing the book

2009-04-21T13:54:00.004+02:00

Ok, so I have finally, despite my principles and protests, fallen for it. I've joined fucking Facebook (or Facefuckingbook perchance?). So if you too are amongst the fallen you can find me there, under my name Peter Hallin of course.
Above is a picture of my face.

Panzerfaust

2009-03-25T19:46:00.005+01:00

So I have tendancy to like retrofuturistic design. Technical looking things, but not in an ugly way. Things that look old, battered and weathered. Things that make you wonder what they do and how they work. (If anything or any way.)
I will probably make prints of this. And when I do, I might have the versions of the gauntlet separate. We'll see. (And that goes for everything btw.)

Wu Tang for ever

2009-03-17T15:52:00.005+01:00

You may not realize it by looking at him, but the dude is actually into Hip hop.

I saw Oliver Stone's "W".

I was disappointed. Thought it was going
to be about the Wu - Tang Clan.

Cavefish

2009-03-01T22:29:00.002+01:00

I told you didn't I? Fish comin' at ya'! And so it begins...

Pumping Iron

2009-02-26T13:42:00.013+01:00

Another weekly Johan. Apparently it is going quite well for him. Who would have thought?

Johan has started working out.

Pray for him.
"Beef... ... c... cake!"

Fishy, fishy, fishy, fish! ...

2009-02-20T10:36:00.010+01:00

... That went werever I did go. (Quote from Monty Python's the Meaning of Life).

About thirteen years ago I had a period when I was into doing pop art with fish motives. There were paintings and such, and I even made necklesses that I made for myself and by request, for a few friends (I know, the whole thing was a bit gay, but so what?). But why was this? I think the iconic character of some animals, in this case fish, is appealing because of their distinctive shapes and useability in artwork. It was also a way of getting into an artistic identity in a time when I barely had any. I thought people could go "Oh yeah, he's that guy who does the fish stuff". (Not the guy who does the fish, that can be misleading.)
Why am I going on about this? Besides my massive ego and nostalgia. Well, I have had a stirring to get into it a bit again. That may partly be because I from time to time feel I still lack an artistic identity. But not in the same way though. Since then I've done so much different stuff (acting, TV, set design, photography, illustration, graphic design, comics, music writing/performing/producing, teaching and so on) so the problem now can be that I'm too diverce instead. Not that I care so much about that... Don't care what the soulless droves of cattle that is the public thinks... I listen to no one... I walk alone... That doesn't sound convincing does it? Well, I tried.
But what jarred my memory? Could it have been the Goldfish in the comic Ragnar that I did a while back that got me going:

Or could it be my friend Sofia Falkenhem and her beautifully done golfish in a comic she presented in this post on her blog or this illustration by her that subconsiously slapped me in my face with inspiration?
Anyway, there will be illustrations with fish in them a lot more in the near future. And maybe some monkeys, elefants and rubber duckies...

Revolving door

2009-02-04T21:55:00.007+01:00

This post might be a bit redundant, but if anyone that has visited the blog recently and clicked on the link to my site on the right there, you might have felt you got snowblind. (Since it was totally white.)

I'm rebuilding you see, and now I have at least put up a sign that welcomes the esteemed visitiors of my site and tells them (you?) so.
The only thing you get otherwise is directions back here so it's a bit like a revolving door when you have gone half a turn too far.
I'll keep you posted on when I feel good and ready to put it up again in it's new form.

New Year, new fear

2009-01-16T15:58:00.008+01:00

Johan got a hair trimmer for christmas.
So the cap stays on.

It's high time I kicked off the year. And even more so that I did a "Veckans Johan" (Weekly Johan). I should do a bunch to keep up, but I'll do a slow start with this.
On other notes, the new year have been interesting so far. I went to Nöjesguiden's big annual party/club thing and managed to catch one or two things (at least) and have been really fuck off sick for a week. I also worked out one of the biggest health risks for me: Caffeine. Yup, that's right, I'm kicking coffee. My beloved coffee. And if only it was that easy (well... that's not easy). I'm giving up caffeine, which means no black, green or white teas. Only red/herbal kinds. But brace yourselfs for this one: It also means no chocolate! Nooooo! The cocoa bean has caffeine in it! Not much, but if I'm kicking it I should be totally clean for a period of time to get rid of from my system. Will I miss it? Well, let's see if I will start posting weird hate posts with pictures of what I can do with my own blood on walls or something...

Moving time

2008-12-28T21:17:00.004+01:00

New blog here. But not really. Had a not so very well managed blog going on my site www.peterhallin.net but decided to move it to Blogger. The site will just be a small online portfolio and gateway from now on.
If there is someone who just discovered this blog since the move, then welcome. Let's see how this goes...

Tahonga has arrived

2008-11-23T20:23:00.007+01:00

The music project, band, collective or whatever that I'm in, DHK, have been working on an album for four years. Well, mostly I have, as the producer, mixer and so on. And yes, I have been taking my sweet time.
But now it's done. The rock opera "Tahonga" is born. And we are announcing this the same day as Guns "Chinese Democracy" is released. But they took like 14 years or something to make that.
A bunch of the songs of the album is up on our Myspace page myspace.com/dhkmusik. Warning, it's an all swedish page and all the lyrics in the songs are too. Still quite good though.
Hopefully we will find someone willing to release it.

Dragon for change

2008-11-10T18:18:00.005+01:00

I had some extra time on my hands during an event hosted by the day job (called "Soundtrack for change", hence the corny header for the post) were I was in charge of an art workshop. The scribbling resulted in this dragon.

Publisher secured

2008-10-01T19:27:00.003+02:00

Jonas Otterbeck has found a publisher for the book I mentioned some time back that I am doing comics for. The book, entitled "Samtidsislam" (approx. trans. "Contemporary Islam"), will be published by Carlson.
It is scheduled to be out next fall. If I manage to make it in time. It's all up to me. Ugh...

Back from the Book fair

2008-09-30T16:08:00.003+02:00

I kind of hope no one came by and tried to see and hear what went on in the booth. Anyway, you almost couldn't. The number of songs we played were few, because there were hardly any point. The sound in the convention center travels like 3ft before falling helplessly to the floor. And we weren't allowed to be amplified to any greater extent.
Oh well, I saw a pair of good talks by Bud Grace and Martin Kellerman of Ernie and Rocky fame respectively. Even though Mr Kellerman didn't get much chance of talking because of his interviewer (Mr De Geer, put your ego aside when it's not about you please). And I also had a good time on the town at night, so it was not all to waste.

The Green Party booth. It's huge, it's cozy, it's glamourus, it's... no it's not. Nice people though.

Off to the Bookfair again

2008-09-25T15:46:00.006+02:00

This year at the Gothenburg bookfair, me and Nils Karlsson will be playing some D.H.K. songs and read a grown up fairytale or two. We will also write a protest song during the day on a topic chosen by someone in the crowd. We will be there between noon and 5 pm. Come on down!

R.I.P. Mollevangen

2008-08-22T16:05:00.001+02:00

The community site mollevangen.net has passed on. At least for the time being. And that of course means that the run of D.H.K. -Det hårdnande klimatet has stopped. Theres a chance it will resurrect in a new form in the future according to the sites creator.

Nighttrippin’

2008-08-22T15:45:00.001+02:00

In my last post (over a moonnnth ago) I wrote about Alter Ego. Working with this project I of course did an example of how a submission for the contest could look, and being quite pleasedwith the result I post it here. I give you: Black Pete the New Orleans Night Tripper. I know, I know, the Night Tripper is Dr Johns nickname to, but I borrowed it.

When this is written it's festival time here in Malmö, so there has been a bit of nighttrippin' going on for my real self too. Have seen quite a bit of good stuff and it feels like a good year for the festival. Even though it isn't really good thinking to put one of the stages on Stortorget just in front of a rollercoaster ride...

Soon I will move this blog to Blogger and start writing in english since I realized the internet is a massively international thing and even some of my friends can't read what I spew out here. I will also translate all the previous posts. (Edit: Done!)

Alter Ego

2008-07-07T21:29:00.005+02:00

During the course of two days I will be present during a competition for young people called Alter Ego workshop. That entails me guiding and helping the participants who wants to do their submissions in artwork form such as illustrations and paintings and so on. The other "stations" will be manned by street artist Grenaid, hip-hop producer Oskar Ling and musician Christine Owman.

If you are between 14 and 18 years of age and wants to participate in a competition for different forms of expression like music, photography and drawing, with the possibility to win a week in Denmark to develop your art form with the help of professional European artists in different fields, come down to House of Spiritus Mundi the 8th or 9th of July between 10-6pm.

The poster for the Alter Ego event. Redesigned by me for the Swedish part of the competition.

All is well...

2008-06-12T21:47:00.000+02:00

... apparently. Things are more or less like this right now:

Translation: "Well, your test results are in, and everything looks normal." "Peter normal? Peter Fiiine?"

Pillpoppin'

2008-06-11T21:59:00.003+02:00

It's been a while since I threw a "Weekly Johan" together. Am I lazy or hasn't he said anything noteworthy of late? Oh well. He thought he was quite funny here himself. True...

"It's good that antidepressives has lowered sex drive as a side effect isn't it? The less you think about the women the less depressed you are..."

Ragnar update

2008-05-15T14:14:00.002+02:00

The children participation comic book project "Ragnar - En man i mängden" is now up to page 13 at serienragnar.blogspot.com

"Ragnar was going to the supermarket to buy whole milk, but miscalculated one meter or other."
"Two meters, three meters, seven meters..."

Spreading da love in da heart of Malmö

2008-04-07T22:21:00.001+02:00

Since last sunday the comic DHK - Det hårdnande klimatet by Nils Karlsson and myself is being published on the local community site möllevången.net. (Update: The site has since been shut down)

Wag it. Wag it good.

2008-03-19T22:27:00.006+01:00

And the award for slowest blogger goes to... moi! It has been a lot lately with everything. Website contruction and comic drawing at my dayjob, and mixing of an album and so on. No, I can't focus my creation to just one media easily. I want it all! A sentence that is all too true for me. It's also a song by Queen. It could have been better.

I'll just have to share some of what I have been doing lately. Below is a logo I designed for the newly formed project Wag the City. I have also designed the website. www.wagthecity.com

I'm also doing sequential art of interviews for a book by islamologist Jonas Otterbeck. It an intresting process to create visual representations of real people without showing how they really look, but rather creating a character, a mask, for them. And at the same time do them justice. An extra dimension of this is that I have never met any of them. I just loosely follow descriptions given by Senior Master Otterbeck. Soon I will win a price for most boring bloggpost too. I'll make it silly by typing "poo". Below is a preview. Of the artwork from the book that is. Not of poo.

I just.. won't translate this...

The Weekly Johan - Häjkon päjkon

2008-02-16T16:57:00.000+01:00

My colleage Editor Björkwall thinks that a lot of things is "Häjkon Päjkon" (you english speaking individuals can speculate as to how to prononce it). Which I have come to understand is an expression for things that are New Age, out there, ridicuolus or similar. It's hard to know sometimes, because it's damn close to everything that doesn't fit inte the standard western norm that won't qualify... So I had to do a couple of Weekly Johan on the subject. (I am aware of that they would look better if I only tried, but that didn't seem to be my thing this week.)

Things Johan thinks are "häjkon päjkon", part one.

Dreadlocks... Insence... Yoga. More to come. "So. F***ing. Discusting."

Things Johan thinks are "häjkon päjkon", part two.

The shop Mandala... Vitamins... Malin Berghagen.

"This is really starting to piss me off right here!"

New Year. New hair

2008-01-03T17:14:00.000+01:00

Happy new year you lost souls that have wandered in here. The biggest news in my life right now is that I got my hair cut short. (Hey my hair is important to me!) And I manage to make this post postworthy by putting up a self portrait of myself showing kind of how it looks now.

Project Ragnar

2007-11-24T17:19:00.001+01:00

Almost a year ago a project was started by my day job, Spritus Mundi, which is a multicultural initiative that use a reange of cultural expressions and medias to help bridge the differences between cultures and regions. Specifically by letting children and young adults from different areas and background meet and create things together. One of these things is a comic book project that came to be that because of my experience as a sequential artist. Our idea was that schoolchildren would come up with characters to be in the book and then we (scriptwriter Editor Johan Björkwall, creative producer Mikael Sethson and I) would take these and crate a cohesive story with them by using the kids own ideas as a basis.

Recently I came up with the idea to make a blog where we put up a finished comic page at a time when their done. That way the involved parties don't have to wait a year to see some result, and they have the opportunity to make suggestions along the way by writing commentaries.

The comic has gotten it's title, Ragnar - En man i mängden (A man amongst us) from the main character and anti hero, Ragnar the 92 year old man. Created by a pair of guys from Karl Johan school. The blog is here: serienragnar.blogspot.com

With DHK at the book fair

2007-11-21T17:40:00.003+01:00

Mr Nils Karlsson and myself was invited up to the Gothenburg Book fair this year by Miljöpartiet - the Swedish Green party, as the creators of the comic DHK - Det hårdnande klimatet. The thought was that we would host workshops in how you create political satire comics (yes, I want to know how you do that too). Since we just got a few feet of space and a pair of tables that you stand by, there were almost none of that.

But we did meet some more or less nice and strange people and manage to sell and sign a few of the books. The latest I heard were 17. Not so bad for two short days. There were also a bit of shouting into the microphone like we were some kind of street vendors or doomsday preachers. We even did a rap. When it comes to satire drawings we were probably even more upsetting than our booth neighbors the Ex-muslims, even though they had put up a wall full of Muhammed caricatures.

We had done a new DHK comic for the occasion. Which can be read here. Click the above frame to see it all (in swedish).

This is Halloween

2007-11-05T17:54:00.003+01:00

I feel like the leaves on the ground right now. Without energy or time. And that effects the blog and such. But I will put up this pumpkin version of me since it was just Halloween.

The Weekly Johan - The beginning

2007-11-01T17:58:00.001+01:00

I have a collegue at my day job. His name is Johan. I'm an optimistic ray of sunshine compared to him. He does however have a sense of humour and self-irony. And he droppes one-liners here and there that just demanded that I chronicle some of them. So I started doing The Weekly Johan. Comics taken straight from reality. I haven't done one a week. And that won't change. But once i a while I make one. The idea is that it'll only take 15 minutes of my time, so it's no masterpieces we're talking here. Here's some of the ones I've made so far.

"I have been dying since I came out of my mothers belly."

"Now begins Johans positive year 2007!" How do YOU think it will turn out?

"Look! It's snowing." "Shit, how discusting..."

About the dimise of Anna Nicole Smith:

"If i were f***ing an 82 year old man I would die too. One way or the other."

"I'm gonna f**k with one of you tonight. It' looking good for YOU!"

Apperantly some people think Johan looks like Tobey Maguire.

"You know, things like that can destroy a whole day for me."