I Seriernas Värld: Seriemaskerad

Posted on October 7, 2009 by Andreas Qassim

I’ve been busy lately with several projects for the upcoming Malmö Comics Festival I Seriernas Värld. One of these is the mask exhibition at Teknikens och Sjöfartens hus (26 Oct-22 Nov), where a group of professional comic artists will exhibit their masks. I handed mine in today (at least one hour prior to deadline!).

It’s supposed to be a somewhat distorted mask of Buster Keaton. My thoughts behind this is that I always wished I was a better storyteller. To be so you need to be able to keep your cool, to have a poker face. Especially when you want to tell a funny story. Buster Keaton was a very funny man, in spite of being known as “the stone face”, or maybe because of it, I’m not sure. So instead of loosing out to four year olds in “the angry game”, like I do, I wish I was as cool and funny as Buster Keaton…

And these were the sketches leading up to the finished piece:

Young Buster of the 20s or so. Wasn’t he somewhat reminiscent of The Spirit?

Old Buster, as he appeared in the 60s.

Good ol’ Buster after having been squeezed through my twisted mind.

The finished piece is enormous, like A1. I loved working in this large format again. Long time ago. Notice how it completely fills up my drawing table, to the extent that I had to turn it 90 degrees. After two days work, my back is but a shadow of its former self…

And now for the very best part of this project: If you happen to be 11-14 years of age, you can participate in a mask workshop 26-30 Oct (at Teknikens och Sjöfartens hus) that will be headed by me and Mia Widén, a great artist, graphic designer and creator of comics. By pure coincidence she happens to be from the same little village as me (Sandsbro, 5 km outside Växjö). Participants get two hours to create their own mask that will be part of the exhibition!

The finished exhibition with all the masks (there will be at least a hundred of them) opens Fri 30 Oct. It’s going to be cool. Don’t miss it!

Dream Project: Children’s Book in Arabic

Posted on June 18, 2009 by Andreas Qassim

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The last few weeks I’ve been doing illustration work for an Arabic children’s book, a project I’m getting pretty excited about. The script has existed for a while. It’s a beautiful text in Arabic verse, written by my dear friend Brahim El-Mansouri.

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The story is about a boy who dreams at night about flying his ambulance plane rescuing those in need. Graphic designer and photographer for the book is another dear friend, Alfred Gunnarsson. The illustrations will eventually be collages of water colors (me) and photos (Alfred).

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These pictures are for the dummy that we’ll take to the publishers. Cross your fingers for us. We’re gonna need it.

Studio Qassim 2009

Posted on April 3, 2009 by Andreas Qassim

Illustratörcentrum (http://illustratorcentrum.se/) publishes annually a catalogue of its members. Each participant gets one page each to show off their work. I turned to my dear friend Alfred Gunnarsson (the hippest graphic designer in town: http://www.salmiakmedia.se/) to help me make a nice layout. Many thanks, Alfred! I posted my page to Illustratörcentrum today.

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Looking at this little compilation makes me reflect on Studio Qassim. Where was I 1,5 year ago and where am I now? Actually, I don’t think I’m that far from where I want to be. Through Studio Qassim I’ve done comics, illustration and animation. I even managed to get some puppetry in there. The only thing missing would be games. So I guess I have to make a game then, just for the sake of it… 🙂

Anyway, looking back at my first year as a company, regardless of the tough times (believe me, it’s been tough at times) I seem to be on the right track at least. I got around. I managed to pay my bills. I even managed to have some fun every now and then. What I need to do now is to grow, as an artist and as a business. Hey! I’m working on it…

The sky is the limit, folks! See ya around!

Pig-tures for Hans

Posted on February 26, 2009 by Andreas Qassim

I have a German fan! His name is Hans. He’s a 59 year old chef. His wife Ulrike collects “pig-tures”, cartoon pigs made by comic artists from around the world. He sent me a long very kind and sweet e-mail asking me to draw a pig for his wife. This is so far out it could be someone pulling my leg (Jimmy, is this one of your practical jokes?). If so, it was so well done that I’m happy to fall for it. 🙂

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Here’s an Elvis pig for Ulrike!

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Regardless if Hans and Ulrike are for real, I’ve been wanting to find a technique suitable to make “luxury cartoons” if the occasion should arise. So I used this fine request to try some stuff out. Which one of the pigs do YOU prefer?