johnnywander

Selfie sticker sheet!

I designed a sticker sheet set for [THE FUTURE]!

The concept is "Percy keeps taking selfies and cutting Leeds out of the shot" lol ... I was looking at a lot of Citypop album/single covers and thought the lines looked so fun and clean, so I wanted to use that as a touchstone. I've never done clear stickers before so I'm going to see if that is possible for these, I feel like the deco emojis would work best with that!

ALSO because I can't do anything practically, I hand-drew all of the halftoning on the final version ... I like how imperfect it looks.......

I finally got my first water bottle and have been having serious thoughts about how I should decorate it and how to make things I would want to have on a water bottle. Important thoughts ~

Chapter 9 / Page 14 pencils

THIS IS ONE OF MY FAVORITE PAGES IN THIS CHAPTER LOL (there are many favorite pages in this chapter)

Basically Ananth stood over my shoulder while I designed Leeds' outfit for this chapter and was chanting "LESS CLOTHING LESS CLOTHING" - this is exactly how it happened

we started playing Clair Obscur

My brother sent me a copy of Clair Obscur for my birthday and we've finally had the time to start it! So far I've been really impressed, I tend to enjoy things that feel like they had a first life as a pitch for a high-concept short story. (this is also how I feel about my favorite star trek episodes lol)

Anyway we finally just met Esquie then afterwards opened the menu UI and yelled real loud

I don't want to spoil anything for people who want to play the game themselves, but this one has been really fun so far, and surprisingly funny given the story's themes. Also we're probably like less than 10% through the game so please don't share spoilers either!!!

Fortuna Design (final!)

YAY she's done!!

I really enjoyed working with all of the diagonals on this one, Fortuna was just begging to be made into a bunch of harmonious shapes! ✨

Originally I was leaning heavily towards using blue and purple tones for this design, but since I've consistently used teals for Leeds when doing these types of illustrations, I went for something that would similarly say "this is a stand-in for the Familiar grey."

(this one of the Gladiator is still a personal fave, I think it came out handsome and dynamic and imposing)

sometimes I feel like in another life I would've made a decent logo designer... who wants to let me design their Olympic mascot.......

OH I just remembered, Fortuna was originally going to be named Artemisia! We changed it to Fortuna just because it felt like it fit the character more. Similarly, Winter was originally named Swanhilde (from the ballet Coppelia), but we assumed that no one would recognize the reference and also we could never remember the name Swanhilde lol. (also she was probably created before the ballet was written which would be an anachronism!)

Fortuna design!

I did some exploration for a geometric Fortuna design today! Ultimately, I landed on something that felt heraldic and went for a rampant pose.

I love playing with heraldry so this felt really fun to explore... Fortuna is supposed to be a living symbol of Cameron's family, so it also felt appropriate to her as well.

I love drawing Fortuna... just the weirdest windhound you've ever seen in your life :)

Chapter 9 / Page 13 pencils

Welcome to CAMERON'S BRAIN, also we're in a throwback!!!! Who remembers this page from Chapter 6 when Cameron was first introduced!!! (if you don't, it's added as the last image!)

This was a fun page to do, but also very involved! I wanted a mix of the building Cameron first had his binding ceremony in (which is based off a real church in NYC) and also Cameron's brain's version of what kind of building he SHOULD have had his binding ceremony in (Bigger! More elaborate! Rose windows! Flying buttresses!) -- so it involved a lot of fantastical cathedral reference. This one's not based on any particular building, I just wanted to take the original church and tape on a lot of elaborate bits and some gargoyles haha

From here the chapter goes a bit off the rails!!!! I've unfortunately been going a bit slowly because of my poor health but we're having fun with this one :)

Percy Doodle!

HI I feel like both Ananth and I have been pulled in 10000 directions lately but we're working hard!!!

I downloaded this brush set lately and wanted to try out the "ribbon brush", I love the wiggly line with the high line stabilization. It's really nice and gives some great visual interest to a line drawing. I love the look of brushes that aren't pressure sensitive, I want to collect more of them!

I really want to try and draw more 'for the pleasure of making lines' but it's really easier said than done since I make lines all day for a living lol... it's worth trying though, even a little!!!!

We did a guest lecture for Parsons Illustration senior class!

We were asked to give a guest lecture to a class of about 130 seniors at Parsons College earlier this week! Ananth put together this GORGEOUS presentation and I thought it was too pretty* not to share. :)

We more or less talked about our work history, our processes, and our current ongoing public projects. It's been a while since we got to talk in-person to a class, and it was a really nice experience!!! I'm very grateful for the warm welcome and the genuine interest and curiosity the students had in our work and how to break into our various career spaces. We wound up spending almost twice as long for audience questions as we did for the talk itself, which felt really cool!

It was also wild to talk to a bunch of young adults and say "I started my first webcomic in 1999, I guess most of you weren't born" and get a resounding "no we weren't born yet" lol lmao

These slides are largely visuals with an expectation that we'd be talking over them, but if you're curious what programs we're currently using for our process: our scripts are done in Scrivener and our comics pages are done in Clip Studio Pro. (I do colors & lettering in Photoshop still but that's unfortunately an issue with CSP being weird with lettering and CMYK color spaces. It's not an issue if you're working only for web!)

BTW if you'd like myself and Ananth to talk to a class/organization please reach out to our manager ( info@organizedhavoc.com ) and we'd love to try to work something out!

*OOPS I'm noticing the PDF conversion did some odd things with the text formatting! It's still readable, just less pristine looking! :,)

Gesture drawing: shape & character

If you’re seeing this I’m at ECCC (aaaa!!!)!!!! I wanted to make sure I left an update in the queue while we’re traveling for the week.

I was lucky to attend a friend’s online drawing event last week where they shared a bunch of exercises for animators pushing pose and character for maximum effect. It was really fun and nostalgic (I went to school for film and animation and it DID NOT jive with me lol)

I hope you’re all having a good week!!!! When we get home (Monday) the game Ananth and I have been freelancing on will also be dropping a huge update so please look forward to seeing our work in Fields of Mistria!!!!!

Ok byeeee!!

Chapter 9 / Page 12 pencils

HELLO, it's been a minute since I've shared Barbarous pencils!!

There's something satisfying about hanging Cameron upside down from a big spiderweb. :,) It's been fun finding alternate magical uses for string, though we've been trying to subtly nudge Percy's spider-ness for a little bit. Maybe too subtly??

I'm still working on the chapter as hard as I can, and progress has been steady! I'm really thankful for everyone's patience. As soon as it got cold my long covid symptoms got much worse and I've been having to rest and take more breaks than I'd like, but I've been improving.

Right now we're very intensely getting ready for Emerald City next week, which will be our second convention and our first west-coast show since 2019. If you're in the area, I hope to see you there! I (Yuko) will probably be taking shorter hours at the show, just because of the strain on my health. We'll be announce signing times when I'll definitely be around once we have a better idea of things! Hopefully in the future I'll be able to work for a whole convention without any issue. :D

If you're in Seattle I hope to see you at the show!!! We printed an extra batch of [SECRET ZINES] just for the event, so I hope people are excited for them!

🐝 It's BUZZ! release day!!

The color edition of BUZZ is out in stores today! Written by Ananth Hirsh and drawn by Tess Stone, with fresh colors by Tess Stone and Fen Garza, and published by Oni Press! We're super excited to finally have this out in the world! You can find it at your local book store, library or you can pick it up online:

🐝 Simon & Schuster
🐝 Bookshop.org
🐝 Barnes & Noble
🐝 Amazon

Thanks so much for all your support over the years! I hope you like the book! 💖

HAPPY VALENTINES 2025

YAYY HAPPY VALENTINES DAY (later this week)

I saw someone's cute art of some characters dressed as waiters from a bunny cafe and wanted to do something in that vein haha-- I am not below putting my characters in a bodysuit!

Anyway I hope you are all having a lovely week ~ 💐

We'll be at Emerald City Comicon on March 6-9 in Seattle, WA!

We're going to be at ECCC this year, from March 6-9 in Seattle, WA! You can find us on the 2nd floor of the Summit Building, at Organized Havoc booth 20804!

We'll also be doing panels! Check it out:

Comics are Collaborative: Friday at 12:30, Summit Building, 3rd Floor, Room 344
Writing for Comics with the Pros: Saturday at 1:45, Summit Building, 3rd Floor, Room 343

We'll have books and more! Really looking forward to it, hope to see you there! We'll also have the zines, in case you couldn't get then online!

I didn't do hourlies BUT-

I haven't felt the compulsion to do hourly comics day in a few years but this year I wanted to do a few 'here's an average day' comics to feel like I was participating! I enjoy the act of drawing loose and graceless but haven't had the energy lately to draw for the joy of doing something for myself. So this was a fun novelty for me!

As a quick update on Rook: he had to wear his cone for TWO WEEKS (one week longer than we initially were told) and he was a tremendous brat the entire time and needed nonstop babysitting. He is now completely healed and also continues to be a brat in a slightly different way, mostly because he is now deaf and can't hear how loud he is when he yells.

Hope you all are doing ok, sending you all love and power 🔥

Rook is preventing me from working!!!! aaa

For the past week Rook has been dealing with [undisclosed health issues / procedure that aren't necessarily BAD but GROSS] and has been forced to wear a cone. In a brief moment of respite, he was allowed to wear a plush donut which he obviously liked more but it turned out he was able to [bother the afflicted area] while wearing it and was be'coned again. :/

Regardless, he's been needing a lot of extra attention, medicine administered, and vet follow-ups and consults which has made the past week and a half a bit of a wash. He's been acting out a lot, assumedly because he doesn't like the cone - but he HAS been enjoying a lot of extra wet food, so don't feel too bad for him. He turns 20 (!!) this year and has become increasingly fearlessly pushy in his old age.

The cone comes off on Friday (hopefully) and we can all return to our regular life schedules.

Rook and his treasured garbage box, which we fill with treats for him to rummage for

anyway, he's fine and has a blessed life

BBR 4KOMA 12

NEW COMICS FOR NEW YEAR 🔥🔥

Chiaki strikes again 🔥🔥

Chapter 9 / Page 11 pencils

LAST POST OF THE YEAR!! As per tradition, we're traveling out to visit my (Yuko's) parents for the New Year. (New Year is the only holiday my dad cares about because he gets to cook a lot lol)

Cameron has been ~spidered! It's fun to make extrapolations of Percy's magic with different ways to use string. Also if you noticed, I've been trying to subtly alter Fortuna's design a bit to give her a more elegant shape, with a longer neck and spindlier legs. She's supposed to be kinda like a lacy interpretation of an Afhgan hound or borzoi made of acanthus leaves.

OK I have to pack to leave soon! I hope you all have a peaceful New Year. Thank you again for all your love and patience, and we'll see you all soon!

THE ZINES HAVE BEEN RESTOCKED!

Thank you so much for your patience! It's been a bit of a holiday rush for not just our printer, but the post and our new distro. BUT!!! Now we have a restock of both secret BARBAROUS zines, if you'd like to pick them up!

These books are each about 50 pages long and contain half comics and half color illustrations:

⭐️ https://www.crwnstudios.com/products/barbarous-percy-x-leeds-unofficial-fanbook

⭐️ https://www.crwnstudios.com/products/barbarous-savage-creatures

These are adult only and the listings are password locked only available for Patrons! Please use this password to enter:

⭐️ percyxleeds

Also don't forget, our coupon code for all Patrons is good through the end of the year if you'd like to pick up something from our shop!

⭐️ https://www.crwnstudios.com/collections/johnny-wander

For an extra 10% off your entire purchase!!! Please use:

⭐️ 24WANDER10

HAPPY HOLIDAYS 2024!

HAPPY HOLIDAYS EVERYONE!!! Thank you all so much for bearing with us while I work on chapter 9. Your support makes all this possible 💖💖

It was really fun brainstorming a goofy holiday illustration this year! Ananth put together such a cute thumbnail and I loved working over it lol... And sorry for not streaming this one, I wanted to but it wound up being a meeting-heavy day for myself and Ananth and it's impossible to do stream audio while there are other meetings in the office (we live in a small place!). I'll try and stream again soon!

I thought the color layer by itself was charming so I added it as well! I love it when an illustration still reads when the inks are turned off :D

BBR 4KOMA 11

YAY it's so fun drawing lil devil Chiaki >:)

we started playing Infinity Nikki

Surprising no one, a dressup game is catnip for Ananth (and meee) so I finally finished the Elden Ring DLC and we immediately downloaded Infinity Nikki. We were delighted you can choose your skintone (even there's only 3 to choose from) and also that you can almost immediately dress your character in all black lol

I couldn't concentrate on work knowing we were imminently taking Rook to the vet so I took the morning to sketch this out haha (Rook is actually doing GREAT, he is just nearly 20 years old!)

Anyway whee yay I love clothing

BBR 4KOMA 10

OHOHOHO who's that mysterious stranger!

We wanted to get Chiaki in early since we love her so much. These comics aren't following the plot of the regular comic 1:1, we're just doing whatever is most fun lol

doodled a stranger

Earlier I saw a person who looked uncannily like a character I designed for the game Fields of Mistria and I wanted to quickly sketch them out while I still had their look in my head. I was delighted to see someone out in the wild with dyed red hair and black roots haha

BBR 4KOMA 9

We changed the format of the way I draw these (everything on one image instead of individual panels) so now it's easier to share the pencils!

100 years.... (con't)

BBR 4KOMA 8

cross her .....

a hundred years......

Chapter 9 / Page 10 pencils

YAY we finally get to see the thing that was hinted at in the beginning of chapter 6 and glimpsed at in chapter 8! (you can see it off to the side of Leeds' head in the middle row there)

This is a pass-off page between me (Yuko) and Ananth - we you can probably tell from the art style, he laid out the first 3 panels and I did the final one. Also once again the room divider is in the wrong shape lol - it's supposed to be in diamonds not squares! I DID fix it later!

BBR 4KOMA 7

Ah yes, look at that emotive face...

(I tried to upload this yesterday but our internet was down!!!! We're back!!)

Chapter 9 / Page 9 pencils

Oh look see, they're already friends. :)

LOL, Ananth did the thumbnails for this one, I love how he centered Leeds' giant hand as the centerpiece of the page!! I messed with the final panel a bit, which unfortunately omitted the cool perspective on the figures but centered Percy more as the most important figure in the shot. RIP coop perspective U___U

GREATER SECRETS is out TODAY! Find it in stores and online everywhere!

GREATER SECRETS is out TODAY! It's the latest full-length graphic novel from Ananth Hirsh and Tess Stone.

Maya, Dyno and Cardea all have their own reasons to search for Maya's missing sister, Amara. Amara was a rockstar who was breaking out-- until she suddenly put her guitar down and walked away from everything. GREATER SECRETS is a surreal coming-of-age roadtrip at the edge of the world. 

You can get it at your local bookstore, or online: 

Bookshop.org

Barnes & Noble

Amazon.com

We're also doing a book launch in Brooklyn at the Lofty Pigeon! I'll be in conversation with Carey Pietsch of Adventure Zone fame. You can RSVP at the Eventbrite!

GREATER SECRETS is also a Junior Library Guild Gold Standard Selection Award Winner! Thanks to the JLG for the recognition!

That's all for now! Excited for the book to be out, and hope you'll check it out!

THE SHOP IS BACK OPEN!! Coupon code & zine links!

WAAAHHH after ages of coordination, our shop has finally moved to its new distributor! We're now set up at CRWN Studios!!! Thank you to them for our gorgeous new shop!

For this weekend our patrons get to have free run of the place, so please don't share this link before we make a public announcement! Take a look, CRWN did such a killer job with all the design and product photos:

⭐️ https://www.crwnstudios.com/collections/johnny-wander

Patrons ALSO get a coupon code for an extra 10% off your entire purchase until the end of December 2024!!! Please use:

⭐️ 24WANDER10

ALSO FINALLY!!!! We have physical editions of our SECRET BARBAROUS ZINES AVAILABLE!! These books are each about 50 pages long and contain half comics and half color illustrations:

⭐️ https://www.crwnstudios.com/products/barbarous-percy-x-leeds-unofficial-fanbook

⭐️ https://www.crwnstudios.com/products/barbarous-savage-creatures

These are adult only and the listings are password locked only available for Patrons! Please use this password to enter:

⭐️ percyxleeds

WHEW, that's it!!! Thank you so much for your patience and support!!!! Have a relaxing weekend everyone ~

[EDIT: WOA WOA WOA WE RAN OUT OF OUR ZINE STOCK IN ONE DAY!!!! We're reprinting them right now!!!!! Thank you so much to everyone who picked one up and to everyone who couldn't, we're fixing it I promise!!! 😱💦]