Sketchbooks

I have always been interested in the process behind the creation of comics, and often try to get artists to let me publish a few sketches or other unpublished material in connection with interviews. In this process, I realised that there was a vast amount of interesting material that the general public never got to see and thus, in 2003, I was part of starting a book series together with Jakob Hallin, showcasing this kind of material, from major Swedish comics artists.

Title: En skissbok av Patrik Norrman
English title: A sketchbook by Patrik Norrman
Format: 210 x210 mm, soft covers
Content: 52 pages, b&w
Publisher: Seriefrämjandet/The Swedish Comcis Association, 1999
ISBN: 9789197443913

Official description: In a series of sketchbooks, the Swedish Comics Association provide unpublished material from different comics artists. For the first sketchbook, we have chosen one of Sweden’s most secure artists; Patrik Norrman. Norrman has for this book selected a large number of sketches, drawings and inked images from his extensive archive and we’ve compiled them into a book with introduction and personal comments by Norrman himself. A direct look into the creative process.

Comments: The very first sketchbook that we produced, and the choice of artist was self-evident. I had been a fan of the elegant lines of Patrik Norrman for a long time, and in conjunction with an article about the magazine that was publishing his major work Bacon & Egg (Bild & Bubbla 4/1998) we got him to get out loads of unpublished material to gather in what I still think is a well designed little volume.

Title: En skissbok av Max Andersson
English title: A sketchbook by Max Andersson
Format: 210 x210 mm, soft covers
Content: 52 pages, b&w
Publisher: Seriefrämjandet/The Swedish Comics Association, 1999
ISBN: 9789197443937

Official description: This volume is chock full of the strange creations of artist Max Andersson. Andersson draws black, dystopian visions of the future in which inanimate objects often become alive and strange is rather the norm than the exception. This permeates the entire book, which presents everything from sketches for the cover of his most famous album Pixy to lesser-known items that cover art and more.

Comments: Another one of my heroes. I had admired the comics art of Max Andersson since I first read his masterpiece graphic novel Pixy, and the opportunity to work with him on this volume, going through so much of his unpublished art, was a pure delight.

Title: En skissbok av Joakim Lindengren
English title: A sketchbook by Joakim Lindengren
Format: 210 x210 mm, soft covers
Content: 52 pages, b&w
Publisher: Seriefrämjandet/The Swedish Comcis Association, 2001
ISBN: 9789197443920

Official description: This sketchbook contains material from the versatile Joakim Lindengren. Here you will find a large number of sketches, drawings and inked images from Joakim’s entire career, from quite early comics to art from Joakim’s recent children’s book project. The book contains an introduction and personal comments by the arts himself.

Comments: Joakim Lindengren had also been a mainstay of the Swedish comics business at the time of the start of producing these sketchbooks, and was a natural choice for the third volume. With a wealth of material to choose from, ranging from his whole career, producing this book was a lot of fun.

Title: En skissbok av Sven Hemmel
English title: A sketchbook by Sven Hemmel
Format: 210 x210 mm, soft covers
Content: 52 pages, b&w
Publisher: Seriefrämjandet/The Swedish Comcis Association, 2002
ISBN: 9789197444019

Official description: A sketch book of Sven Hemmel is both a glimpse into the process of creation of an important comics artist and Swedish cultural history. For our fourth sketchbook we have borrowed sketches and materials for Sven Hemmel, best known for having drawn the images in the books and the comics version of the children books with the detective Ture Sventon. Hemmel had many more strings to his bow, though, as demonstrated in this beautiful collection of images, drawings, sketches and more. The book also contains a foreword and comments by Sven Hemmels son, Jan Hemmel.

Comments: This book came out of the fact that Jan Hemmel, the son of master illustrator and comics artist Sven Hemmel, contacted the Swedish Comics Association, showing off stacks and stacks of original art left behind by his father. This was too good to be left juts lying around, and we soon had what turned out to be the last of these sketchbooks published.

Off-prints

After four books we realised that this material needed to be distributed even more, and between 2008 and 2014 we added a special section in the magazine Bild & Bubbla, which were designed to also be printed as stand alone off-prints. These mostly contained sketches and other unpublished art by selected Nordic artists, and by this time I had also added the rule that there should be an even number of male and female artists featured. All-in-all, we produced a staggering 28 of these little gems, of which I am immensely proud, not the least for having unearthed and published so much hitherto unknown art by such talented comics artists.

Title: Niklas Asker: Teckningar och skisser
English title: Niklas Asker: Drawings and sketches
Off-print from: Bild & Bubbla 180 (3/2009)
Format: 225 x 225 mm, soft cover
Content: 24 pages, b&w
ISBN: 978-91-85161-54-6

Official description: Niklas Asker has rooted through his personal archive, looking for interesting unpublished art, sketches, ink original and more – which we proudly show off in this sketchbook.

Comment: Niklas Asker is a natural at just about any technique of producing images that he decides to test. Nowadays he’s mostly a celebrated fine artist, but he used to be a very successful comics artist, with the international hit Second Thoughts. This selection of unpublished material was accompanied by a lengthy interview with Asker, by yours truly, in Bild & Bubbla #180, which also sported a beautiful cover by Asker.

Title: Sussi Bech: Teckningar och skisser
English title: Sussi Bech: Drawings and sketches
Off-print from: Bild & Bubbla 185 (4/2010)
Format: 225 x 225 mm, soft cover
Content: 24 pages, b&w
ISBN: 978-91-85161-65-2

Official description: The Danish comics artist Sussi Bech (Nofret), the indisputable Nordic queen of the ligne claire style, shares sketches, drawings and other unpublished art.

Comment: I’ve always been a fan of Sussie Bech and her unwavering dedication to her hero Nofret and the ligne claire style. Had she been bron in the French Speaking parts of the world, she would have been a household name across the world by now. This selection of unpublished material was accompanied by a short introductory article in Bild & Bubbla #185.

Title: Peter Bergting: Teckningar och skisser
English title: Peter Bergting: Drawings and sketches
Off-print from: Bild & Bubbla 175 (2/2008)
Format: 225 x 225 mm, soft cover
Content: 24 pages, b&w
ISBN: 978-91-85161-42-3

Official description: The unusually “unswedish”comics artist and fantasy illustrator Peter Bergting, who has an international hit with his The Portent, showcase sketches, drawings and other unpublished material.

Comment: To choose Peter Bergting was another no-brainer, as he is not only a very proficient artist, but also the most successful Swedish artist working in the US comics business. This sketchbook was published at the same time as a major interview with Bergting, in Bild & Bubbla #175.

Title: Malin Biller: Teckningar och skisser
English title: Malin Biller: Drawings and sketches
Off-print from: Bild & Bubbla 201 (4/2014)
Format: 225 x 225 mm, soft cover
Content: 24 pages, b&w
ISBN: 978-91-86667-41-2

Official description: The genre traversing and incredibly talented Malin Biller her showcase unpublished material from her whole career.

Comment: Malin Biller is one of my all-time favourite Swedish comics artists, for her sheer versatility. She manages to make a successful humorous comic strip alongside deeply personal graphic novels and comics adaptations of classic Swedish literature. Impressive, to say the least. This was the very last of the sketchbooks, and I made sure we went out with bang! Alongside this we also published an interview with Biller in Bild & Bubbla #201.

Title: Tony Cronstam: Teckningar och skisser
English title: Tony Cronstam: Drawings and sketches
Off-print from: Bild & Bubbla 181 (4/2009)
Format: 225 x 225 mm, soft cover
Content: 24 pages, b&w
ISBN: 978-91-85161-56-0

Official description: Tony Cronstam been digging through his archives and share sketches, drawings, comics pages in various stages of completion, and more.

Comment: Tony Cronstam is not only a brilliant and very versatile artist, he is also a colleague from way back when we started the Comic Art School. This sketchbook was published together with an interview in Bild & Bubbla #181, covering his at the time already long career.

Title: Lena Furberg: Teckningar och skisser
English title: Lena Furberg: Drawings and sketches
Off-print from: Bild & Bubbla 191 (2/2012)
Format: 225 x 225 mm, soft cover
Content: 24 pages, b&w
ISBN: 978-91-86667-11-5

Official description: We have asked the queen of horse comics to look into her archives and share number of unpublished masterpieces.

Comment: This might be my favourite sketchbook of them all. Lena Furberg is an often unsung hero of Swedish comics, making dearly loved horse comics for more than three decades. I had long felt that Furberg was due some lavish attention and it was with great pleasure that I published a lengthy interview in Bild & Bubbla #191, as well as this treasure trove of unpublished material.

Title: Anneli Furmark: Teckningar och skisser
English title: Anneli Furmark: Drawings and sketches
Off-print from: Bild & Bubbla 192 (3/2012)
Format: 225 x 225 mm, soft cover
Content: 24 pages, b&w
ISBN: 978-91-86667-13-9

Official description: Anneli Furmark has dug deep into her archives for unpublished sketches, oil paintings, drafts for covers etc.

Comment: Another one of my very favourite Swedish comics artists, whose reputation is just now, finally starting to spread outside of Sweden. This sketchbook was accompanied by a career spanning interview that I did, which was published in Bild & Bubbla #192.

Title: Sara Granér: Teckningar och skisser
English title: Sara Granér: Drawings and sketches
Off-print from: Bild & Bubbla 194 (1/2013)
Format: 225 x 225 mm, soft cover
Content: 24 pages, b&w
ISBN: 978-91-86667-17-7

Official description: Sara Granér has dug deep into her stacks of originals and let the editors select images ranging from her entire career.

Comment: A great artist whom I have had the privilege to follow right from the start, as Granér got into the comics business through The Comic Art School of Malmö, where I work. This sketchbook came about in conjunction with a lengthy interview I did with Granér, published in Bild & Bubbla #194.