Chapter 127 . Infinite Sadness

I often talked about Infinite Sadness, but I didn't know what it truly was.
Now I do...

Infinite Sadness

Sincerely,

Serge
22nd June 2014

Chapter 126 . Illustration . Work in Progress . The Shaman

The Shaman

Work in progress...
Illustration of one of the character of the Hessfog PI saga, The Shaman.
The Shaman is one of the individuals Hessfog goes to see when he needs answers from the Multiverse.
Here are few of the progress screen shots.

The Shaman 1

The Shaman 2

Voila, that's all for now Peeps, I gotta go.
Strangely looking forward to watch France-Honduras...

Sincerely,

Serge
15th of June 2014

Chapter 125 . My response as an artist to all the idiots

Have a nice life

Sincerely,

Serge
14th of June 2014

Chapter 124 . Murder at the Warehouse J4 . Hessfog PI . The Youth

AC Hessfog . Private Investigator

Since December 2012, I have been working on a project that seems to become my master piece, if I can even use such a term...
Illustrate the adventures of A.C. Hessfog Private Investigator with a graphic novel using a film noir style.
His cases are filled with intrigues and mystery, and he particularly favoured an uncanny and mystical clientele.
His methods are unorthodox.
Regarding the main character, Hessfog PI was born at the end of the 60's in the South of Europe, it's not until the end of the 80's that Hessfog moved to North Africa, then Casablanca to finally relocate in North America.
He previously had, at 18 years old of age, open his own private investigator agency that he ran up to this very day.
His cases brought him to various part of the world.

AC Hessfog . Private Investigator

The project started with a 3 volumes Graphic Novel, from which, the 1st volume is nearly ready to be released: The Case of the Chinese Cemetery . Adventures in Victoria . Volume 1

Graphic Novel Front Cover

In that story, our private investigator is hired by a Mrs. Wong, a wealthy Chinese lady, to find the missing skeleton of her great grand father.
The investigation will reveal a sordid scenario involving a bone collector, a pair of thugs, a mysterious Chinese lady, a Russian girlfriend, and most importantly, this volume introduces the reader to the main characters and the real hero, the dark city of Victoria...

More information regarding the graphic novel, the private investigator and the illustrator can be found here:
The Case of the Chinese Cemetery


The project, then, started to grow unexpected branches!
While the graphic novel still is the main project within the project, a series of alternate stories involving the same PI started to appear.
It became evident quite rapidly that this would be an opportunity to narrate different aspects of Hessfog's life. It would then be possible to create an entire detailed universe without having to always use the graphic novel medium, which, even though is an extremely efficient and wonderful medium, requires also an insane amount of work.
To give a somehow precise idea, the 1st Volume required about 75 illustrations.
That is a fairy amount of work.
Hessfog and I started to work on some other stories, that would use mixed medium, and would be meant to, again, allow us to create a complex universe where the main character evolves, within an acceptable amount of work.

The 1st Multiverse Project was named The Night of the Sasquatch . Adventures in Sooke BC

The Night of the Sasquatch . Main Poster

The package includes a poster, various illustrations, portraits and scenes, and a little booklet narrating the story.
In that case, Hessfog gets hired by Joanna Steinfield, free lance journalist at the Times Columnist, the local newspaper, to investigate about a possible hoax regarding the sighting of a Sasquatch in the Sooke Hills, the region surrounding Victoria.
The package also includes a full coloured map of the Sooke area:

The Night of the Sasquatch . Map of the Sooke Area

The 2nd Multiverse Project was about The Villains...
My personal favourites...
This was meant, and still is, to define few characters very precisely, again, without having to put an insane amount of efforts.
Few illustrations with few little stories should suffice and do the job!
It might seems like a cheap way to deal with that situation, but it's not.
To be able to accomplished such things, it requires some very smart thinking, and some even smarter use of skills.
It is, all in all, an exercise I enjoy a great deal!
The 1st and, so far, only drawing on that project is The Prestige, Hessfog's arch enemy...

Out of all the evils that Hessfog will encounter during his life,
The Prestige will always win the gold palm.
Attractive, brilliant and without a soul,
She is driven by total power and complete submission of the human race.

This, was a picture of herself she sent to the FBI, as the ultimate dare, after the case of the South African diamonds genocide, in which she was deeply involved.
The blood was not hers, but belonged to the FBI agent that were chasing her...

And, I finally get to the point of that post, the 3rd Multiverse Project, the one I have been working on recently, The Youth...
Here, again and again, the idea is to create a story with a minimal amount of elements.
The difference is that, it's like using a time machine, it's a jump in the past, time and space are different, the details are different, it has a taste of melancholy, Saudade as the Brazilian say...
It's a lots of fun.
So, let me talk for a short while about Murder at the Warehouse J4, my latest illustration:
Year: 1987
Location: Marseille . France

Marseille . France

Marseille . France

The Story: 1987 . Hessfog is already a PI, in the south of France, at the age of 20.
From the St Marie Light House in Marseille, Hessfog observes the crime area, in a mysterious and disturbing case that will bring him all the way to Istanbul, facing drug trafficking and human sacrifice...

The Illustration:

Murder at the Warehouse J4

In the illustration, we can see a younger Hessfog, not wearing his usual suit and tie, but more of an estival style, smoking and looking at the Warehouse J4, where the body of a turkish individual was found mutilated.
Hessfog was then hired by the family of the individual to investigate as an alternative to the police work.
The illustration also show Fort St Jean (St John Fort), La Bonne Mère .  Notre-Dame de la Garde (literally Our Lady of the Guard), Le Pharo, and of course, the dock warehouse name J4 as shown below:

City Trademark Monuments

Fort St Jean

Basilica Notre Dame de la Garde

Notre Dame de la Garde (Marseille) - Résolution 4K from DroneCast on Vimeo.

Le Palais du Pharo

Docks Warehouse J4

But something happened since 1987...
Nowadays, this is how Warehouse J4 looks like:

Mucem . Marseille

It's been turned in to The Mucem In Marseille, a Museum of European and Mediterranean Civilisations (MuCEM).

MuCEM

MuCEM

MuCEM

This, clearly, add to my story in a very positive way.
What was is not anymore...
A vestige from the past...

I wanted to go a tad further, and get a better geographical position of the St Marie Light House, the spot where Hessfog is standing, smoking his smoke...

St Marie Light House

Here are some images that I am assuming are about 2 to 3 years old, prior to the MuCEM being completed, and that locate pretty well the global area of the murder:

Global Murder Area Bird View

The St Marie Light House Bird View

The Light House and the Dock J4/MuCEM

The Light House , the Dock J4/MuCEM and the Pharo

The Light House and the Dock J4/MuCEM

The Light House and the Dock J4/MuCEM closer view

The Light House St Marie

Marseille Bird View

Marseille Bird View

And now what?
Well, as I was telling my good friend Mike yesterday, the comic itself is like making a 2.5 hours movie. It takes time, it's very darning, it requires commitment, but it also is extremely exciting and the most wonderful experience.
However, this shouldn't stop me to make some short films in the meantime, under the form of single illustration, like Murder at the Warehouse J4.
So, I am thinking of doing a series of 3 or 4 portraits that I need to do for The Night of the Sasquatch anyway, and, this sounds like a lots of fun!
Who's gone be the first one?
The Shaman, The Slug, Joanna Steinfield or The Bakwas?
To be continued...

Voila, that's all for now Peeps.
Have yourself a great day!

Sincerely

Serge Foglio
8th of June 2014

Chapter 123 . Illustrations update...

Britt H

I guess, the most common comment I get about illustrating is the fact that it is a gift to have the skill...
I couldn't possibly disagree more.

What I feel about it is more of a curse than a gift.
It obsesses me, spy on my mind, forced me to proceed, withdraw my freedom, torment me and have the insane power of bringing depression above my humble being, like a cloud hovering over my head...
And still, I can't get rid of it, so I guess I am better comply and try to find some peace of mind.

The lovely lady opening the post is a friend of a friend who asked for a fast portrait.
So, here we go.
I treated it as a serious doodle, trying to get the feeling I got from the picture through simplifying, an attempt to express an individual's personality through a simple illustration.
Thing was, I actually didn't know the individual, or very little about her.
Anyway, and I am smiling as I am typing this, here is the result.
I, personally, like it.


OK, I could debate for more than a decade about the different type of mediums I practise, and what they are for and what's not, but in the end, I am only descent when I draw illustrations.
And I am totally fine with that.
Most probably, that's what I should focus on doing, as there is still so much to learn, and maybe take it as a daily challenge.

So, since I more or less stopped writing on that blog, about 2 years ago (ok, I'm back for good btw), I have drawn a fair bit, to not say, more than ever before in this lifetime.
I will go onto the details soon, but not now.
However, to summarize and give you a preview, I worked on a series of Silhouettes, in a specific area of Victoria, and on a massive project that is, almost, ready to be released, a Comic Book or Graphic Novel, about a Private Investigator in Victoria BC Canada, who mainly solves cases involving the use of magic and surrounded by the mysterious.
I designed the entire universe to have a Film Noir feeling, and a matching style.
There is a lots of parts in the main project, such as, a large format comic called The Case of the Chinese Cemetery , an illustrations set with mini book named The Night of the Sasquatch, and a series of illustration about the past of the main character, an attempt to show his life without having to tell it, from his Enemies, to his Youth.
Last, a work in progress piece I'm working on, a scene of a case for that very same PI, that happened in Marseille-France, in 1987.
So, here we go.

Silhouettes:

Man On A Bike in James Bay

Renaissance Lady Walking in James Bay

Young Lad Walking in James Bay

Graphic Novel - The Case of the Chinese Cemetery - Volume One

Front Cover

Page 4

Back Cover

Detail

Mini book - The Night of the Sasquatch

Main Poster Package

Detail

Map

The Villains:

The Prestige

SnakeHead

Liebert The Cannibal

And last, a drawing I'm working on, Hessfog in Marseille, 1987, at The St Marie Light House.

Hessfog at The St Marie Light House - Marseille

Voila,
That's all Peeps.
Have a good time,

Sincerely,

Serge
June 4th 2014

Chapter 122 . What are we to you, Norah?

What am I to you
Tell me darling true
To me you are the sea
Vast as you can be
And deep the shade of blue

When you're feeling low
To whom else do you go?
See I cry if you hurt
I'd give you my last shirt
Because I love you so

Now if my sky should fall
Would you even call?
I've opened up my heart
I never want to part
I'm giving you the ball

When I look in your eyes
I can feel the butterflies
I will love you when you're blue
Tell me darlin' true
What am I to you?

Now if my sky should fall
Would you even call?
I've opened up my heart
I never want to part
Giving you the ball

When I look in your eyes
I can feel the butterflies
Could you find a love in me?
Would you carve me in a tree?
Don't fill my heart with lies

I will you love when you're blue
Tell me darlin' true
What am I to you?

Music, Lyrics . Norah Jones

Norah Jones

Norah Jones

Norah Jones

Norah Jones

Norah Jones

Voila,
That's all for now Peeps.

Sincerely,

Serge
June 1st 2014