Where The F*** Have I Been?

Where do I even start?

Guess I can say that 2020 was one of the best years of my life. Despite Covid-19 looming over us like a dark, fatal cloud, I think the quarantine was good in some ways. It made me realize what was important, and what wasn’t. For starters, I shocked even myself upon realizing I didn’t miss going to concerts and clubs as much as I thought. In fact, I throughly enjoyed the downtime. An added bonus was the six feet apart rule. It felt so damn good not to be squeezed in on queues just to get a loaf of bread. Oh, and I didn’t have to go to my then dayjob. It was so amazing to wake up with a nice payment from pandemic unemployment. There was no stress, no drama, just peace. It was truly lovely.

Eventually, I lost my “inspiration” to draw. I was okay with that, for a while. Figured it was time to take a break.

Then I threw out my knee in Febuary 2021. Then came the hardcore vertigo. Then came the lost of balance. Yeah, 2021 pretty much sucked. This forced me to take a good look at everything around me. Someone once told me outright: “You know a lot of assholes.” She wasn’t wrong.

That’s when I took a good look at my personally inventory. First I left the dayjob I held for six-seven years. Then I started cutting off people. Don’t mean one or two here and there. I cut off whole groups of people. Once they were gone, that’s when the healing began. Then out of the blue, I pulled the plug on my old Facebook account. No warning, no nothing. Just outright pulled the plug. Next step was to transfer out of a few more things. Basically I had become a people pleaser, living a life that wasn’t for me. Surrounding myself with fakes who were never my friends. I’m not as involved about promoting myself on social media either, but that part might change. Who knows. Right now, I’m just busy being me.

While I did attend a few concerts after pandemic restrictions were lifted, it just wasn’t the same. I used to dream of making a name for myself in the creative field, in alternative comics. Now, I dream of other things. It doesn’t mean I’ve given up on cartooning or illustration altogether. At the moment I’m re-arranging my little art studio.

Mold discovery made after new year’s celebration.

Speaking of art studios, I made a discovery right after this past New Year’s Eve. Turns out I had serious black mold in my art studio. No wonder I’d been getting sick! For now the mold has been removed. Just as I was about to start drawing again was when I made the mold discovery. I’ve been going through old art supplies, and throwing out dried out paints, pens with dried out ink, busted paint brushes, stained sketchbooks from the past…all of it, gone. I went Konmari on my place. It’ll be a while since I’m still in my Marie Kondo phase.

Now, for no reason. Here’s a logo I created for a project. Maybe I’ll get into details about this, maybe I won’t. Until next time.

Logo design, Jan. 2024.

Stripwinkels in Amsterdam

The title of this post, Stripwinkels in Amsterdam translates simply as “Comic Book Stores In Amsterdam.” If that translation isn’t accurate, well then. Blame DeepL.

This short post has photos from my first trip to Amsterdam in late summer/early fall 2021. I fell in love with The Netherlands. Since then I’ve visited that country two more times. I particulary like Amsterdam as a city. Everyone says Paris is an amazing place. While I liked Paris, I still prefer Amsterdam.

City of Amsterdam at night. 2021. Photo taken by Michele Witchipoo.

Right now I’m just going to focus on two places inside Amsterdam. First one is Henk’s, which is Amsterdam’s eqivlent of Forbidden Planet. Not as large as Forbidden Planet or Midtown Comics in NYC, but it has a selection that is similiar. Hank’s focuses mostly on popular titles, superhero, manga and other pop-culture related items. What I liked about Hank’s was that it has two entrances. That way instead of waddling through the tourist crowds, I can just walk through one end of the store, and exit on the other side. Those two entrances were very conveinant.

Henk’s Comics & Manga in Amsterdam, 2021

Second comic book shop I visited was Lambiek. I’ve heard of Lambiek for years, as their website has an online encycopedia of cartoonists. There was no iternarity planned, so I took out my cell. It was still halfway through the pandemic in 2021, so there wasn’t that many tourists. Lambiek is on a side street, which makes it a bit tricky to find if you’re a first time visitor. Yet if you’re a huge Alternative comics fan, you’re going to love this place.

Lambiek comic shop in Amsterdam, 2021.

The shop has a mixture of old and new titles. As I was browsing, another local creative stepped in. Turns out he was an American expat, Chad Bilyeu. He has a comic series titled Chad In Amsterdam, which Lambiek highly recommends.

Chad Bilyea in Lambiek, 2021.

That’s it for now. Amsterdam is a very magickal place, I’ve been back two more times since then. Yes, I’ve been really slow on this blog, a lot has happened between Febuary 2021 and now. The year 2021 was a bad time for me, the only highlight was the trip to the Netherlands. Perhaps I’ll explain more in future posts. No worries, I’m doing much better now.

In the meantime, I shall leave you with this stray cat I met in Amsterdam.

Hello It’s Me

It’s been some time since my last blog post. Life really has been busy. Suppose that’s a good thing.

Did some traveling, as you can tell from my last blog post. So far I’ve been to The Netherlands, Germany, France and Belgium. The Netherlands is a beautiful country, and so far it’s been my favorite.

Miffy Store in Amsterdam, Netherlands. Summer 2023

Summer 2023 marked my third time in The Netherlands. This time around I explored more of the country itself, not just Amsterdam. Visited Utretch, The Haag, and Rotterdam. Checked out this Renaissance Fair titled Castlefest while in the Netherlands. In the end I went back to Amsterdam where I caught the Pride celebrations and got another tattoo.

Pride celebration in Amsterdam, Netherlands. Summer 2023

My adventures in Europe will have to be another blog post. Anyway, I get back to NYC. I travel halfway around the world, mingle with large crowds, etc. Didn’t catch Covid. I come back to the big bad rotten apple and stay local. Staying local is how I caught Covid. What a nice welcome back gift.

Duran Duran at Forest Hills Stadium, 2023

Luckily my Covid case wasn’t too bad. A day or two after recovering, I forced myself to go see Duran Duran at Forest Hills Stadium. Only because I had already spent the money on tickets. Nobody wants to flush $300 down the toilet.

The Steve Ignorant Band performing Crass songs. NYC, Fall 2023.

Before I caught Covid, I managed to see The Steve Ignorant Band perform Crass songs. The female vocalist stepping in for Eve Libertine understood the assignment.

Coney Island, Aug 2023. Photo by Michele Witchipoo

Here’s a photo from Coney Island, late summer 2023. Threw it on this post because I can.

A logo designed by Michele Witchipoo. Fall 2023.

Otherwise I’ve just been majorly busy. Good news, I’m now a part time art teacher. Oh, and I designed some lovely logos. The logo you see above is from a school project. it’s not a real business, but as an idea, it sounds like it could work.

A graphic design experiment, 2023

Some graphic design experiments 2023

I’ve been focusing a lot on graphic design, as you can tell from above.

NYCC Fall 2023. Photo by Michele Witchipoo

The one thing I do every single year is attend New York Comic Con. No matter what, I always manage to visit NYCC. Since the pandemic, I’ve cut it down from attending the entire weekend to only one day. Be assured, I had recovered from my bout with Covid by then.

Queens Comic Party Logo

No, I didn’t design the logo for Queens Comic Party, but I’ve been attending their monthly events. After talking to two local cartoonists, I decided to fire up this blog again. Just found out there’s a Drink and Draw event in Queens too. Although I don’t really drink anymore, I’ll check it out, perhaps do a few sketches.

Rockaway Beach sunset. Labor Day 2023. Photo by Ben Herman.

It’s getting late. Hopefully I’ll continue this blog with more postings about Europe, my artwork and such. À bientôt.

Still Here!

Hello. It’s been a while since last posted. I’ll make this brief – a lot has happened since Feb 2021. In a few weeks I’ll fire up this blog again.

I’ve done a bit of traveling since 2021. On my last trip, I visited a lot of museuems, took in some art.

Below is an example. The photo is from a visit to Musuem De Reede, in Antwerpt, Belgium. A lithograph of Edvard Munch’s ‘The Scream’.

The Scream (lithograph print) as seen in Museum De Reede in Antwerpt, Belgium.

Stay tuned for other updates.

UPDATE!

It’s been a while. I’ve been busy with assorted offline activities.

Good news, I have brand new work to upload. In the next few days, most likely the weekend, I’ll post some new comic/sequential content. Late December I’ll begin updating on this blog again.

In the meantime, I’d like to thank everyone who contributed to my Patreon, brought from my re-opened Etsy shop, purchased from RedBubble, and supported my webcomic. I don’t promote my Patreon or my other channels as much as I should. Thanks to offline responsibilities, I had to put my WEBTOON series on the side. In a week I’m going to pick up where I left off.

Other news. Was pleasantly surprised by a positive review of my last printed comic, The Temptation of Squeaky, which I published last year. 

Two of my illustrations were published in a local zine, simply titled Ridgewood Zine. Available locally. Details in another blog post. 

I designed a logo for a wonderful lady, who has her own shop. Nightbird Enchanted. 

As for my radio show, I made the decision to put it on hold until further notice. Basically I wanted to get back to my own artwork. Simple as that.

Until then, Happy Holidays, Hanukkah, Festivus, Krampusnacht, and all that good stuff. 

LadiesCon 2020 – Virtual Edition

This week will be LadiesCon 2020 – virtual edition. It starts today, Wednesday Sept. 9 to Sunday, Sept. 13th. On Sunday, from 11:30 am – 12:15pm, I will be part of a panel titled Exploring Immigrant Stories & Legacies In Comics & Media. I was graciously invited by moderator and comics creator herself, Maria Photinakis, who currently has her own web comic up on WEBTOON. I will be joining other creators on the panel. Also on the panel will be someone speaking about being a expatriate.

Latest Episode of Web Comic and Psycho Bunny Sketch of The Week.

Hello once again. Chapter six of my web comic is now up on WEBTOON.

A panel from the latest installment is the also the Psycho Bunny sketch of the week. Check out the series, hit subscribe, click on the heart, all that stuff that makes me look good. Hope you enjoy the comic as well.

Psycho Bunny gets his stimulus check. A panel from the WEBTOON web comic “Psycho Bunny – Summer of Covid19”

The usual: social media links, Etsy shop, Patron and other sites.

WEBTOONS: Psycho Bunny – Summer of COVID-19.

 Facebook: Psycho Bunny and for Michele Witchipoo – WitchesBrewPress.

 Twitter: One account for me, and one for Psycho Bunny.

Tumblr: World Ov Witchipoo

Instagram: there’s WitchipooArt

Want to buy some of my designs? There’s RedBubble: Witchipoo

Baby Yoda The Kitten (2020 – 2020)

Today is International Cat Day, as well as Caturday.

In memoriam, I did a quick free hand watercolor sketch of a stray kitten I had for a week.

When Baby Yoda was first found. July 2020. 

The little boy was the runt of the litter, abandoned by his mother. The kitten was infested with fleas, ticks and who knows that else, why he was basically skin and bones. The little bugger also had nasty eye infections. Found in my back yard, I tried to save him, along with Ben, and another friend. In her spare time, the friend does TNR, and rescues cats in need. She’s the one that found Mr. Jet Alister in the street on a cold, rainy night.

I’ve rescued animals before. Way back, I saved a pregnant mama cat, raised her kittens, and placed the kittens in homes. That’s where I got my cats Tabitha and Champ. Took in another grey cat a year later from a car repair business, that was Leo. Saved another cat off the street, which turned out to the birth mother of one of my present cats, Netzach Wondercat, aka Nettie. Welcomed another kitty from neglect, that was the infamous Squeaky Squeakums. Saved a dog off the street, and returned him back to his humans.

Baby Yoda, the kitten sleeping on my chest. July 2020. 

We took him to two vets. The first vet said he had a fighting chance, which was my first thought. At first he was doing well. The little bugger was even eating on his own the second day I had him. The rest of the time was spent taking out his fleas and giving him good care. Meanwhile, I had contacted a local animal rescue, in hopes of finding him a good home.

Then within twenty four hours, the kitten took a turn for the worse. We all rushed him to a second vet. The second vet worked in an emergency animal clinic. An ER for pets, as you will. Let me tell you, the second vet tried. He really tried. Did EVERYTHING he could to save him – alas, he couldn’t. Turns out the kitten had FLV, which overtook his immune system. If 2020 was a kitten, this was it. In end, the fella passed away in the vet office. We all started to cry. Even the vet had a tear.

This kitten was the only animal I couldn’t save.

I tried. We all tried.

After his death, I went into mourning for over two weeks.

This is a reminder that spay and neuter is very important. If you have a pet, and don’t have your pet fixed, you’re part of the problem.

He was named Baby Yoda, due to his appearance. R.I.P. little guy. Despite your short time on earth, you were loved.

Here’s the freehand watercolor sketch.

Baby Yoda, the kitten. Freehand watercolor sketch. Michele Witchipoo, August 2020. 

Adam Ant

I’ve been in a late ’70s/early ’80s mood lately. Listening to a lot of bands from that era. Mostly New Wave and Post-Punk. Which brings us to one of the most performers from that time, Adam Ant.

First learned about Adam Ant when I was a child. Think it was from a segment on a Entertainment Tonight episode. The clip mentioned the latest craze from the U.K., which was Adam and The Ants. The program showed a scene from the music video for Ant Music, and how the fans dressed like New Romantic pirates. It was the time of Ant Music for Sex People. Of course I was intrigued.

Later in my teen years, I brought a later pressing of Kings of The Wild Frontier. By then Adam Ant’s star was slightly beginning to fade. Didn’t matter, still loved the album. In fact, I brought the album again, later on CD format. There were other classics too. Who can forget such songs, like Stand And Deliver. There’s countless others, but I went and illustrated Adam from his Prince Charming days.

Before Adam went solo, it should be noted that his band used two drummers, otherwise known as Burundi Beat. Burundi Beat was taken from African musicians. Discovered by French anthropologists, the original Burundi musicians recorded, and had musical careers of their own. Later on, Adam and The Ants, and later Bow Wow Wow used this method, incorporating double drumming. It should be noted that the British New Wave concept of Burundi Beat came from none other than the notorious Malcolm McLaren himself. Speaking of Bow Wow Wow, McLaren ever the opportunist, swiped drummers from the original Ants line-up and threw in a thirteen year old Annabella Lwin to front a new band. That’s okay – Adam hooked up with Marco Pirroni, to form the classic Ants line-up that found world domination.

Two other curious tidbits from Ant history. Pirroni was one of the first ever guitarists for Siouxsie and The Banshees. Meanwhile, before Jon Moss found success with Culture Club, he beat the skins for the Ants, as well as The Damned.

It wasn’t until years later I FINALLY had the chance to see Adam Ant live. After decades Adam Ant put his old pirate gear on, and performed the classics. It was winter of 2017. Unfortunately in my opinion, I was slightly disappointed. It felt like he rushed through the set of old Ant ditties, rushing through songs. Guess he must be tired of performing them, and you could sense he was doing it for the money. Hey; everyone has to eat, right? I had another chance to rectify the situation when I won free tickets to see Adam Ant live yet again. However, Test Dept was playing the same night at Brooklyn Bazaar. I gave my Adam Ant tickets to a friend and headed to Brooklyn for the Test Dept gig. Perhaps third time will be a charm.

Without further ado, here’s my Adam Ant sketch. Done in pen, ink, watercolor, shimmer watercolor, and a tiny bit of digital enhancement. During his Prince Charming period. Btw. The promo video had one of the last appearances by British actress Diana Dors.

Adam Ant. Illustration by Michele Witchipoo. Watercolor, pen, ink, digital . July 2020. 

 

One Year Anniversary – Squeaky Squeakums

 

Happy Caturday! For cat aficionados, Saturdays are for cat lovers who have the weekends off, so they spend their Saturdays with their cats. For this week’s Caturday, here’s a tribute to my beloved tuxedo cat, Squeaky Squeakums.

Photo collage by Michele Witchipoo. Featuring Squeaky Squeakums. Created in 2011.

Squeaky was one of the best cats I ever had.

 

Squeaky was the inspiration behind the comic I published last year, The Temptation of Squeaky. (You can buy your own copy from my rebooted Etsy store.)

 

 

It was around this time last year that Squeaky dropped her body. On the anniversary of her death, I did this watercolor sketch.

Watercolor sketch of Squeaky Squeakums. Pen, ink, watercolor. June 2020 by Michele Witchipoo.

Squeaky Squeakums is survived by Netzach Wondercat, aka Nettie.

Although I’ve adopted another rescue cat since then, nobody can ever take the place of Squeaky Squeakums. Mr. Jet Alister, an all black male cat has some big paws to fill.

Rest in peace, Squeaky.