Harry Potter references in Between Gears:

I counted 8. If you find one that I missed, comment here or e-mail me a description and I'll draw your favorite HP character.

1) “…Snape’s patronus.” in foreword

2) Oct 19 – Hogwarts/Pigfarts

3) Jan 17 – Dumbledore

4) Mar 4 – invisibility cloak

5) Mar 30 – ‘Harry Potter did WHAT to WHO?!’

6) Mar 30 – Wizard People, Dear Reader

7) May 12 – ‘Gryffindor won the house cup…’

8) Bonus Material (SF trip comics) – ‘Nick is on a Harry Potter kick’

(^This one has 9)

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)!!

Coming through the trees

My Etsy shop is off of vacation mode! I've listed all of the minicomics I have in stock, as well as a Between Gears original page:

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! :)

Don't you want me to be the captain of your submarine up periscope

Deconstructing Comics Episode #285 part 1 takes a look at comic studio set-ups. I talk about Periscope Studio around 19:40. I have to research my Periscope history...!

Portland Comics posted an article on Periscope today as well.


7 new Between Gears pages up today if you haven't read them!

There ain't nothing gonna stop me now

New: fan art for The Princess and the Frog!



Also, 9 new Between Gears pages this week!

I complain very little because it's better than it was

4 new Between Gears pages today! And I drew 2 more as a warm-up today. :D I think I'll do the same thing I did last summer: draw as many as I can during the week and update every Monday morning. 68 leeeeeeeeft.

I feel like a machine lately. Not only have I been churning out page after page, day after day, but I'm managing to fit in tons of fun/social things as well. Please let me keep this up!

And please make my neighbors shut up, because this machine runs partially on sleep. >:-/ They have been bad lately. Partying late, and being loud early. Today I woke up at 5:30 to what sounded like hammering (but couldn't possibly have been--who is that dumb?!). I make lemonade when I have to...so today I was at the studio by 7...but I would like to be able to sleep regular hours. X(

I heard, I heard, what you gonna do?

God, I love Parks and Rec. I rewatched one of my favorite exchanges today, a deleted scene from the episode 'Kaboom':

Marlene: "You cut through the red tape? Honey, don't you know why red tape was invented? To cover your ass. Red tape is our pants."
Leslie: "Mom, I went rogue. I went cowboy. Now I have to find a way to go reverse-cowboy."
Marlene: "Leslie, please. You don't even know what that means. What are you trying to say?"

Leslie: "I built a playground in a day. A day. It was like your stories of cocaine."
Marlene: "Leslie, those were different times. Everyone in government was doing cocaine. It was like Snapple."

Today I find myself strangely free of artistic duties, so I think I will draw me some Between Gears. :)

I can't stop thinking about you

Hey guys!

Sorry if you've already read this in 3 places, but Between Gears is up for a Smack Jeeves Award! See the nominees here, and vote here. The other nominees are really fun; check them out!

I'm working pretty much exclusively on Between Gears these days, and getting ready for Comic-Con (just 2 weeks away!!!).

You have been cloudy, distant, dark; I'm thinking of Noah and the ark

9 new Between Gears pages this week!

I just drew the last November page, and hit the 100 page milestone!! WHOOHOO!! Just 172 left! Ha ha....

I've been hitting a lot of milestones lately. I went to my last Pi Phi chapter last week, took my last test on Tuesday, turned in my archival thesis copies today, and have my last day of class (EVER!) tomorrow! Exciting times, exciting times.

Consider this the calm before the storm of new art that will come after I move home and get set up there. :D Priority 1 will be finishing Between Gears. I start a BIG project in the middle of August, and would really really really like to finish BG before I get taken away by that. It's a pretty daunting race against time--I have to make 17 pages per week for 10 weeks to finish in time. But if you know me you know that's exactly the kind of challenge that gets me psyched to work :P

Oregon is being a beez this spring/summer. May was a bust, raining or cloudy all but a handful of days, and June is off to the same start. Even for Oregon, it's ridiculous and depressing. CHANGE!

EDIT: Oh HAY! Did I ever mention that my thesis went really well??? IT WENT REALLY WELL! I passed with distinction, which is the best you can do. It means that out of the honors college theses presented this year, mine was in the top 10%!

I can dream of ways to keep you occupied

7 new Between Gears pages in the last week!

I'm going back and finishing November and December, so check the site often, because I will place pages in their proper order in the archives after they have been up for a week, and then they will be hard to find.

Obviously I have more time to work on BG now that the thesis and Over the Surface are over, but another great breakthrough that has allowed me to update more often is that I am penciling with blue lead now instead of graphite. With non-photo blue pencils, I can ink over them and NOT erase! It's wonderful. I used to have to ink my pages again after erasing pencils, because the eraser would fade the ink pretty badly, but no more! Pages take a lot less time to make, which means more pages, faster! (^^)b

Last week, I counted all of the pages I need to make for BG and all of the pages that I have made so far. I am at just about 1/3 of the pages done, which is actually a lot better than I thought! I am starting a big project in August, and I would really, REALLY like to finish BG before I start that. I want to have a complete narrative of my senior year from September - June, and I think that the next couple months are the best window I will have to finish it for quite a while.

Let it come true right now

I added Over the Surface, Between Gears, and The Legend of Larsha to my Etsy store, which means that all 4 new 2010 minis are now available online! :D

Ashita ga aru!

Larsha is officially done and printing! Whoo! And great news: J. and I have decided to sell minicomics of it at my booths at ECCC and Stumptown!! :D It is well-written and full-color and I am really happy with it. Please check it out! More information later~

I finished the linoleum prints for the Between Gears and Over the Surface minis this week, and though I am no master printer I hope that people will enjoy them!

Now the only big thing I have left for convention preparations is Over the Surface. I finished page 9 tonight, the cover and bonus art pages are done and printed...it's just 7 more pages of art before March 11!...
Seriously getting down to the wire, but I'm keeping my head down and telling myself "I think I can!!" I have made 2 pages in a day each, which I didn't know I was capable of, so that's a real boost of confidence at least! (me=silver lining person)

Here's my favorite part of page 9:

Life is love in a neon rainbow

Get excited! I've been working on bonus material for the Between Gears minis, including toning tips, my process, a limited edition linoleum print, and pin-ups that will only be available in the minis.


Between Gears minicomic cover by ~Tallychyck on deviantART

Love is our resistance

Emily Rose's The Girl Who Lost Her Voice
Originally uploaded by tallychyck

AAAAH check out this comic from my cousin Emily!! LOVE IT. AAAAAAAAAHHHHHH!

Man, it's shocking good to me that she knows to use an establishing shot at her age!!

It's one of the presents I mentioned in this Between Gears.

You just keep me hanging on

Wish me luck on inking and coloring these pages! For only then can there be Between Gears pages...

We are widening the corridors and adding more lanes

Recruitment is FINALLY OVER!!!!! We have 45 lovely new members, including 2 of my rush crushes. :) Let the real world resume.



I am eating Marshmallow Magic lately, which is something between Pokemon and Lucky Charms. (I love definitely-not-Ash's wizard hat. wtf)


And I am working on Between Gears pages now. Don'cha fret.

Follow me down into the valley below

New Between Gears pages coming soon~...

100% reason to remember the name

It's coming~~~! I still don't have Photoshop working (tech nightmare...don't make me type it out...), but I'm still toning the new Between Gears pages, slowly, by mouse. So get excited!

Oh, and funny story, the heavy line on the bottom left of this lady's sweatshirt was an accident--I dropped the brush pen! It left this thick, wavy line, and I changed her outfit to accommodate it. :P