A photo says what it is, not what it's like
Hallå pals!
Jonas here with another issue of Indie Notebook to get some ideas out of my noggin, and to inspire you to do the same.
I’m back from a one-week vacation in Switzerland with my partner. I thought it would be beautiful, but I didn’t expect it to be THAT beautiful. Which made me think of something one of my art teachers told me when I was in my teens.
He basically said,
“You’ve seen pictures of nearly everything in the entire world, and you’ve seen and heard so many stories through books and movies, you might think nothing could ever surprise you or wake you up. It might feel like you’ve experienced everything in life already. But actually going out into the world is very different from being told about it through stories and pictures.”
Me and all my classmates were tired, maybe depressed and kinda out of hope. Or maybe we were just suffering from teenage angst? Either way, what my teacher said helped me that day and I know it helped my classmates too.
I took some neat pictures during the trip. When I look at them I remember what it felt like to be there. But I know that anyone who wasn’t there has no idea of how enormous these mountains really are - they swallow the f*cking horizon.
I’ve been to the Grand Canyon and didn’t think too much about it, I will remember this much more fondly. This place was so much more alive and welcoming.
I’d love to live surrounded by nature and mountains like this.
We stayed in a calm village called Wilderswil. I definitely recommend staying there if you’re thinking of visiting. It has great bus and train connections to see lots of stuff easily.
I took a bunch more pictures but I haven’t had time to edit them all yet. I’ll be uploading HD versions of the pictures to this dropbox folder, feel free to use them as wallpapers on your funputers or handputers!
Review of Surmount in Jeux Video
On the trip to Switzerland (we went by train) I managed to snag a copy of Jeux Video, a french video game magazine. I got it because there was a review of Surmount in it! We got a 15/20 score, not too bad..!
Pretty wild to know that something I made appears in magazine racks in train stations in an entire country.
Now I’m considering whether I should cut out the review and paste it on the wall behind my monitor or keep the magazine intact. I would look at it way more if I put it on the wall, but I don’t like destroying stuff. Hard decision……
Mini Notes
📝 Essay - In Praise of Shadows
This is kind of a camera review, but it’s also sort of a love letter to shadows. A photograph without shadows usually feels dead. And whenever the sun shines in through the window I feel happier, because it allows me to see the shadows in the room. It shows how much volume the world really has. I think shadows might be one of my biggest visual obsession in terms of art.
Anytime I get the chance, I like to add a bit of shade, especially with a blotch of black when I ink.
💬 Web comic - Forming
This comic, 14 years in the making reached its end just recently. If you’re looking for something sort of Space Deer esque, but MUCH weirder and trippier, then I hugely recommend this. I find it a bit hard to follow the story, cause there are so many characters and… general strangeness going on. But reading it is quite an adventure and it had some bits that really spoke to me despite the context around them being vague.
It’s also cool how the art evolves over time, it’s quite dull to begin with compared to how it turns out in the end.
Panel of the week
(from Space Deer)
Thank you for reading Indie Notebook! The best way to support me right now is by sharing this newsletter with a friend.
Take care and have a creative week.
Those are definitely some words of wisdom from your old teacher. Maybe I should take that advice to heart as well.
Even though the pictures don't give the full experience, those are some really pretty pictures. Glad you had a nice trip!
That's so cool about the Surmount review in the magazine. I actually think I picked up a copy of that magazine way back in the day, even though I didn't know a word of French -- lol. It was also on a train trip. 15/20 is a fine score.
Btw, we've talked about the remake of Metroid 1 before and it seems like Nintendo finally released it on the Switch (it's called Metroid Zero Mission) -- so now, there at least is a legit way to play it if you decide to.