Goodbye 2023...

Not a recap newsletter, I promise

Hello from Castrum Lusitania, my fortress in northern Portugal. Welcome to another edition of our weekly newsletter.

This will be a very brief one, mostly to wish you a very good year and thank you for subscribing to this newsletter. But first:

Goodbye 2023

It’s time to say goodbye to 2023, but I won’t bore you with a recap. Or if you want a quick version: I did a bunch of covers, a lot of them haven’t seen the light of day yet; I did a lot of Phenomena pages. I did many other things, some of which I can’t talk about. It all went very well and it was another dream year as I continue to develop my own creations, which is all I ever wanted to do.

HOWEVER, I don’t feel like doing a deep recap, because I’m right in the thick of it with Phenomena Book 3. It’s gonna make a lot of sense to look back once I wrap my work on the trilogy, sitting on top of 400+ pages of a brand new universe, rather than doing it right now just because the year is ending.

Me and Brian spoke this week about the ending (he confessed me he already wrote the words The End and how much that is killing him) and I’m currently drawing the big battle of the big finale. It feels heavy as it basically wraps three volumes, answers all the big questions and gives sense to everything we’ve built up until now. At this point, I’m quite excited at the prospect of having a mammoth of a book like this done and ready to be served to readers.

I’ve basically finished working until January 2nd, and it’s fitting that this is where I’m stopping - with our main trio facing their opposition right before the first punch is served:

I’m already excited to pick the nib back up. This is such an exciting scene.

Recommendation

If you didn’t know, Bill Watterson (yes, that Bill Watterson) release an incredible looking book with a brilliant artist called John Kascht. The book is called The Mysteries and I highly encourage you to seek it and read it. It’s mostly a visual experience with words being kept to an absolute minimum. But the most fascinating part is trying to understand exactly who did what. Thankfully, there’s a mini doc where we can hear and see both artists working from their own point of view and explaining their collaboration. As an artist, seeing this chaotic creative process was an utter joy. Have fun, you won’t regret the minutes invested in it:

A very good 2024

Now the important thing: I hope you all had a nice 2023 and I wish you a fantastic time during New Year’s Eve and that you start 2024 having a good time with family and/or friends.

If 2023 wasn’t that good, may 2024 be much better. If you didn’t manage to accomplish what you want, there’s always time.

You can do it. Just do it. It’s never too late.

I’ll see you all soon,

André

P.S. Caught the twins “working” at my desk this week: