Hello you

It’s been a quiet kind of summer for me, as I’ve been living inside several big projects at once, while focusing strongly on establishing new routines. Routines are something I think is necessary when working independently to stay organized, sane and motivated. That’s why I’ve been working on building fresh new ones, both within my work and my spare time.

I’ve been testing them, and for sure I’ll write more about it sometime soon:)

I’ve got a few things to share this week. Let’s go.

Menu for today:

• Mugo’s Universe painted by YOU!

• Hachette, Birds and I

• I ran out of space

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I’m thinking this is how I’m gonna start advertising all my creations After seeing hundreds of coloring books clearly generated by AI, proudly displayed in my local stationery shop, I’m finishing my own - the slow way:)

I spent over 2 weeks (Ai will make it in an hour, I know) on planning, designing and drawing my very first coloring book, based on The Ritual of Light. That means the same characters, scenery and mood, only this time, giving You the full decision on how the Mugo’s Universe should look like in color. I’m excited!

If you’ve read the first Mugo book, you know it’s fully monochrome, which was a decision I made fully knowing how rare it is. Grays, blacks, and purples were a very intentional choice; I wanted it to feel like being wrapped inside a night and sitting in silence. Naturally, as in any case of an illustrated book, it also means this world only ever exists one way. My way.

The coloring book changes that. Same world, same characters, familiar scenery and mood, but now the colors are up to you, to color however you want. Mugo can go through a golden forest. A red one. A blue one. The whole atmosphere can shift depending on who’s holding the pencils.

Honestly, working on this has been surprisingly entertaining. Translating those monochrome spreads into clean line art made me revisit old Mugo sketches, unused concepts and ideas and also create a bunch of new scenes. There’s also an Easter egg: one of the illustrations to colour is a rejected book cover:) Going back into a finished world with a different job in your hands is a strange experience. I liked it.

Aiming to have it out at the begining of August - we’ll all see if I make it:). If you want to be the first to know when it drops, make sure to subscribe to the mailing list at www.mugosuniverse.com - I only send updates related to new releases from the Universe.

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You may have seen my last project with Hachette, a special book called The World Without Birds. The premise is simple and quietly devastating: what happens to a world when the birds disappear?

I love birds and I’ve been learning what a luxury it is to have them right outside the window working as your alarm clock in the morning, instead of traffic noise or loud neighbors. Currently my bird buddies include a cheeky magpie knocking with his beak on my window, an obese looking pigeon who once tried to build a nest (he did not succeed, it was sad and stressful to watch), a nightingale that only appears early in the morning or in the evening to sing, a couple of colorful parakeets and an unidentified owl who stays hidden.

And they make my current apartment so so much better. It would definitely not be the same without them.

Watching them made me want to revisit the book. The World Without Birds is divided by ecosystems, showcasing the beauty and uniqueness of our birds. Because to imagine and understand the value of what’s there to lose, you have to first notice and appreciate what you have.

For the book I illustrated several full colorful spreads, some full pages and many small spot illustrations. I’m leaving some of the process and final illustrations here for you to have a sense of the steps and decisions made to bring it to life. And if you or your loved one are into the nature, birds and earths ecosystems - I highly recommend it!

The World Without Birds was written with care and love by Nick Lund, published by Hachette.

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My iPad is full. My computer is full. My phone is full. None of them can be updated to a latest version, none of them serve me fully, as my hands are literally tied. For weeks now, every time I try to film, edit, save, work with Photoshop.... saving a simple file has gotten way to complicated than it needs to be.

This drove me crazy. Because when working independelty, you have to prioritise and make decisions of what deserves your time, energy and attention, and what can wait. For me storage cleaning was at the bottom of my to do list, yet every time I tried to work, I ran into ‘out of free space’ notifications, which logically made my work bumpy and interrupted. Even so, I couldn’t be bothered enough to actually take action. But then, a few days ago, I had to face the fact that if I don’t tackle this issue, I’m soon gonna be unable to do basic work. (even Whatsapp got blocked , because of no space left). Also worth adding: every time I actually tried to move videos from my phone to my computer, it wasn’t possible - the lack of memory couldn’t even handle downloading them.

So naturally, to make room, I had to actually look at what I’d made.

Half-finished work, video ideas that were started but not completed, the saved memes, all the dogs, known and unknown, on my phone, and most importantly, 40 different versions of the same illustrations saved with layers at high res. It also made me realize how many things I started years ago, only to got back to them a few months back and still be carrying them now.

The strangest part is realizing how much of what I’m making now was already there, in some form, years ago. Ideas I thought were new turned out to be things I’d been circling for a long time. The full storage became a kind of accidental blast from the past.

So these days I’m gonna be patiently moving and removing old stuff, to make room for the new things and what’s to come!

Talk to you soon Asia

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