I’ve got something to say my friends

The big SDCC news for me this weekend was Oni Press’s announcing my book with Jamie Rich, A Boy and a Girl.  I believe there will be more news at NYCC in October.  Here are some of the teasers you may have seen me post over the last year and a half:

In totally unrelated news, here are some animal sketches I did this weekend:

I’m moving past the feeling

Between Gears came out last week!! Release week was tons of fun. Read Christian Lipski’s article on the release party here.

(photo by the Deborah Lipski)

With my Oni and Lerner books done and Between Gears released, it’s time to focus on Over the Surface! I updated that project’s blog yesterday.

Here is a preview of upcoming fan art for Arrietty:

I LOVED that movie. Do yourself a favor and go see it in theaters, then buy every song Cecile Corbel made for the movie. They are GORGEOUS. I have been listening to a mix of them all week as a writing soundtrack. My favorite right now is ‘My First Borrowing’ (Disney seems to be pretty on top of blocking uploads at the moment, or I would link it).

地球はまわる 君をかくして

My Between Gears comp copies came yesterday, so I’m having a giveaway (starting at 12:01 PM)!!

Get back get back up

I was too tired/happy to post anything at the time, but I finished my Oni book last week!!!!

I really wanted to finish before the holidays. Now I have a bit more capacity to handle the holiday+birthday+other time constraints and stress that are coming up.

I made this progress chart in November to help motivate me to finish:

(24 penciled/inked/toned pages in a month, what’s up)

The 9 check-offable boxes after ‘Celebrate’ were a joke, but looking at it later I decided that I should create 9 distinct rewards for myself — turn it into a kind of ritual and commemorate the end of a big book project. It was fun coming up with a list of things that I’d been wanting to do (rather than buy, it being the holidays anyway and material rewards requiring less creativity/more money):

• Spend a day drawing fan art
• Climb the *****’s fire escape onto the roof
• Hike somewhere nice and watch the sun rise on New Years morning for good luck
• Go to the Sky High trampoline gym (can you tell that I like heights??)
• Christmas movie marathon (The Snowman, Just Friends, Love Actually, Die Hard, Tokyo Godfathers, Elf, Rudolph)
• Get dressed up and spend a day going into EVERY boutique on 23rd (more to satisfy my curiosity than to actually shop…how are there so many nice boutiques on one street?!)
• Go into Counter Media (The porn scares me off every time I think I’m going to go in! xD But I’ve heard there are good comics in there…!)
• Spend a long, lazy weekend morning at the gym (work out, hot tub, sauna, shower and get dressed nicely, eat lunch at one of the nice restaurants upstairs)
• Draw a cover for my Ghibli sketchbook and give it to the next person to draw in

I’ve done 2 of these already, and am looking forward to the rest.

You’ve journeyed far

Oh boy oh boy! Image Comics’s February solicitations just went up on CBR, and Between Gears is among them!

“BETWEEN GEARS TP
story / art / cover NATALIE NOURIGAT
FEBRUARY 22
304 PAGES BW T+
$19.99
This honest, autobiographical account of a college senior’s life will transport you to the land of Jell-O shots, term papers, job interviews, road trips, and sanguine optimism in the face of uncertainty and change. Trade paperback collects the comic in its entirety, with 30 pages of new material!”

Here’s a preview of the cover artwork:

I am incredibly excited; this is my first book and I am honored to see it get the Image treatment!

I’ll post more in the next few months with more book previews and any new ordering info. Please help me spread the word between now and February 22!

Dare to be one of us girl

Here are some sneak peaks at my project with Jamie Rich:

I only have 24 pages left to draw! It’s racing by. I am thumbnailing the last pages for my other graphic novel this week as well. I’ve only been working on these books for 10 months, but it’s going to feel like the end of an era when I wrap them up.

My roommates and I are watching THE CUTEST cat this week. We are considering adopting her, but she tested positive for Feline Leukemia Virus and we need to learn more about that and whether or not we’d be able to give her a good home.

At least for now, though, KITTY!!

I really hope that it works out. We have been talking about getting a cat since we moved in last year, but we need a cat that is grown, well-behaved, can be alone during the day, and is alright being an indoor cat. Until now, we hadn’t found one. Toushe is a tiny, grown, female cat whose needs I think match ours. She’s quiet as a mouse, loves people, and has a calm demeanor I just LOVE. Having claws and long hair were not on my list of ideal traits, but the more time I spend with her, the less I care.

Today’s the day

Woah, hey! What’s this? 5 new books from me available overnight? That’s right!! My dad just launched his series of children’s books! I spent the last year illustrating them, and even got to work with Cat Farris (cool colorist) and Emi Lenox (incredible inker) on books 2-5. Check them out on Amazon!

Wandering over the hills unseen

I drew some fan art for Watership Down this week. It’s my absolute favorite book. **spoilers ahead**

I watched the 1978 animated film when I was little (my mom wasn’t ignorant of the content–I was just persistent in asking to be allowed to see it). In 5th grade, I was surprised to see a book by the same title on the shelf of our neighborhood library. It was so fun rediscovering the story; some scenes were familiar but I was still surprised by each twist in the journey. I bought the book and read it every summer until my paperback copy fell apart. Even when it was in 3 pieces and the pages fell off one by one when you turned them, I kept it. I can’t find it now, though…I must have finally given it up when I moved out of my parents’ house last fall. I need to find a good hardback copy…
In 7th grade, I was reading Watership Down on the sidelines of soccer practice during one of my frequent sprained ankle recoveries. A friend’s mom came up and commented on the book. We started talking about the movie, and in my teenage eagerness to distance myself from anything emotional, I made a joke about how terrible the musical sequence in the middle was. My friend’s mom mused, “That’s my favorite part, actually,” and explained why. I was suddenly ashamed, wishing I had the confidence to admit that it was mine, too. She passed away a few years ago. I didn’t know her well, but this is something I will always remember.

So this fan art is for that scene from the movie, where Fiver’s vision leads him to Hazel. It’s so beautiful–the feverish imagery and the Art Garfunkel song and the symphonic suite in the middle of it. I love poor Fiver, set upon by his gift/curse, thought to be mad by just about everyone, and how he saves the lot of them time and again. I especially love the sun/moon bleeding into the field (and the music that accompanies it), and how this is a metaphor for where Fiver finds Hazel, bleeding out in a storm drain–something that hit me while rewatching the movie this week.

Fiver’s ears should probably be down to tag him, but I liked the composition much better with them up.