Spooky Ghost Town

@stefgaines

This account is dedicated to my love of (and drawing) comics. Opinions expressed here are my own. 💌info@stefgaines.se

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Spooky Ghost Town@stefgaines· 20d

By the way, I started a new blog comic project with the aim to update at least once a month. The first month is this month so there’s already some comics to read. Mundane sketchbook hourlies. 😸 stefgaines.wordpress.com/category/com...

The year is 2026 and the artist is looking at a calendar and thinking “what if…”

Stef and Linus on a folded out sofa, drawing. Linus is sitting up and Stef is lying down. A caption tells us it’s July 6.

Spooky Ghost Town@stefgaines· 29d

🌟 Dreams DO come true 🌟

Drawing of the artist and her partner driving a Suzuki Swift and text surrounding them. The text says: We got ourselves a car! She’s old. She’s small. She looks like Toriyama drew her so we named her AKIRA and I love her ❤️

Spooky Ghost Town@stefgaines· Jul 18

Fellow comic artists who draw on paper (instead of digitally) - how do you store your original artwork? My current solutions is to draw most of my comics in sketch books and keep A4 - B5 comic pages in binders. But I’d love to see some of your solutions as inspiration. 👀✨

A collection of sketch books on a shelf. The books are in a variety of sizes, the biggest ones being A5.

Spooky Ghost Town@stefgaines· Jun 30

Update months lates: I got the opportunity and drove it 😸

The artist driving a car. Point of view from the passenger seat.

Spooky Ghost Town@stefgaines· Jun 30

I still draw sometimes by the way.

The artist is walking in light clothes with a umbrella in the rain. She’s thinking (in Swedish) “rain but 27 degrees plus Celsius “

Spooky Ghost Town@stefgaines· Jun 19

Sällan känner jag mig så svensk som när jag njuter av sill och potatis. Glad midsommar 💐🥰✨ Foto av @vaderhatt.bsky.social

Hon firar midsommar omgiven av grönska, god mat och fina vänner.

Spooky Ghost Town@stefgaines· May 30

Hope you feel better soon!! I loved your work at the exhibition 💖 I’m looking so much forward to reading your thesis!! But do check if you can get more time if you need it, I handed in mine in September 😅💝

Exhibition hall showing works of two students from Konstfack University of Arts and Crafts. The centered piece is a large comic displayed on the wall.

Spooky Ghost Town@stefgaines· Mar 21

Åh drömmen ❤️ inte samma sak, men jag blev så glad när jag blev varse att det går att använda agar agar för att kirra frukttårtors glansiga topp utan att behöva äta gris.

En jordgubbstårta med glansig agar agar top och gräddig sida, omgiven av koppar och juice glas.

Spooky Ghost Town@stefgaines· Mar 20

JA.💙

Spooky Ghost Town@stefgaines· Feb 16

My late orange boy Közi. 🧡

A orange cat in a sink with water running. He is trying to drink the water.

A orange cat sitting in a window, wearing a green bow collar.

A old orange cat lying in front of a laptop with a tired face. As if he’s disappointed by how the internet has changed.

A orange cat sitting in a window and tilting his head upwards. In front of him there are two plants, one with a Sailor Moon figure in its pot.

Spooky Ghost Town@stefgaines· Feb 12

Jaa!! Jag blev också hänförd tidigare

Ett fotografi som visar ett vintrigt södra Stockholm med station Globen för tunnelbanan och tvärbanan. Det är skymning, långa blåa moln täcker en himmel i blått, gult, rosa och orange

Spooky Ghost Town@stefgaines· Feb 8

Hourly comics day always occurs during the season of my much beloved pastry semla. So it often finds its way into my hourlies. Here’s a photo of the semla I ate today and the one I ate during my hourlies.

A photo of a semla. A Nordic pastry which is usually sold around shrove Tuesday and lent. Behind this semla we see a cup of coffee as well.

A photo of a semla. A Nordic pastry which is usually sold around shrove Tuesday and lent. This one is made with sourdough and has roasted almonds which are a bit visible in the middle of the bun.

Spooky Ghost Town@stefgaines· Feb 8

Aaaand here’s the rest of them #hourlies2026 #hourlies #hourlycomicday #24hcd Part 2/2

Hourly comic in greyscale.
16:00 I’m still drawing on my hourlies, almost caught up. I’m out of tea though and comment that it’s now dark outside.
17:00 I stretch and think “Maybe I should take a break…” I don’t take a break.
18:00 now I groggily crawl under a blanket in the sofa and start watching Star Wars: the force awakens.

Hourly comic in greyscale.
19:00 Linus hangs out in the doorway of the living room and says “Hello”. I ask if he’s going to go bouldering but he answers that he’s thinking of skipping. I ask if he would like to accompany me to buy some groceries which he agrees to. We end up buying a lot of food which will be easy to make (which will be helpful if we both get sick in the week to come). We also get some cinnamon buns.
20:00 frozen pizza for dinner (but heated up) while watching the anime Jujutsu Kaisen. I cut up my pizza slices using a pair of scissors.

Hourly comic in greyscale.
21:00 we see my hands and my drawing pad (which is shaped like a book). I’m drawing my hourlies and wondering if I actually will make them in time this year. But I’m also realizing that a lot of the panels ended up just being of me drawing my hourlies.
22:00 Me and Linus are sitting in the sofa and eating homemade ice cream while watching Malcolm in the middle. The theme song is playing from the tv. The ice cream is made of mango and coco milk.

23:00 I explain that my Sundays are usually spent on planning my week. Making meal prep and preparing breakfasts for the entire week to follow. NOT TODAY.
I’m looking very tired and pouring soyghurt into a jar. I was too tired for my usual prep but I’m at least making my breakfast for tomorrow.
Last panel depicts me and Linus drinking tea in the sofa and looking horrified at the tv. We end the day by watching YouTube and getting even more sad about the political state of the USA.
Last text reads: Hourlies 2026. Started 25/1 finished 8/2

Spooky Ghost Town@stefgaines· Feb 8

Ok, here’s my own #hourlies2026 #hourlycomicday #24hcd I knew I wouldn’t be able to do them February first this year, which is why I started them a week in advance. The date was moved after that 😅 Part 1/2

Hourly comic in greyscale.
00:00 Me and (my partner) Linus cleans up after a late tv dinner and I start drawing this hourly comic. This year I’m making them not digital and being a bit worried about being rusty.
01:00 Tea and watching the tv-show Malcolm in the middle. A short comment about how we usually stay up late even though we now have 9-5 jobs, but tomorrow’s Sunday.

Hourly comic in greyscale.
02:00 I brush my teeth and my partner gives me a kiss despite it.
03:00 Not the best sleep of the year. I wake up groggy and take a Tylenol.
10:00 Waking up and not snuggling up against Linus as I usually do since I unfortunately feel sick and need to lay on a tower of pillows to avoid a stuffy nose.

Hourly comic in greyscale.
11:00 we are drinking coffee in bed. I’m using my phone to cancel plans with friends and read the news. As I’m drawing these hourlies January 25th the news cover Palestine, Iran, deportations in Sweden (the country I live in) and ICE killing people in the USA (where some of my family and friends live)
12:00 we take a short walk through the snow to our local bakery. To buy bread. I also order two semlor (an explanation of what that is will arrive on the next page)
13:00 Brunch. Leftovers from yesterday’s dinner with today’s bread. I eat a sandwich while explaining that I was planning to make scones but it felt like too much work.

Hourly comic in greyscale.
The explanation of “semlor” comes now. A semla is a Nordic sweet cardamom pastry sold around shrove Tuesday and lent. This one is my third semla of the season. It has roasted almonds with its almond paste, which I enjoy. But the bun is made with sourdough and mostly just taste like bread by the end.
14:00 I make a big pot of tea and draw hourlies.
15:00 I take some more Tylenol and keep drawing at the sofa table as I’m sitting on a floor pillow. Linus is sitting in the sofa with a laptop and coding. I say: “Ugh, lame ~ (being sick)” and Linus answers: “but also kinda cool (that you’re drawing comics)”

Spooky Ghost Town@stefgaines· Jan 28

Hourly Comics har hållit på i 20 år. Det är en dag då serietecknare från hela världen dokumenterar varje vaken timme i serieform. 2024 samlade jag ihop sju serier jag gjort under dagen ifråga. Jag älskar att rita, och läsa, hourlies. Så det här är ett test från mig för att dela den glädjen. >

Spooky Ghost Town@stefgaines· Jan 28

Hej tecknare i Sverige! I och med 20-årsjubileet för HCD gör jag en liten tävling. För att delta: 1. Rita en Hourly Comic som beskriver ETT dygn - Make it in English! 2. Lägg upp den på BlueSky nån gång mellan 8 - 28 februari 2026 3. Tagga mig. Läs mer om HCD här: hourlycomicsday.com

Texten lyder: Gör en Hourly Comic under februari 2026 och tävla om en bok som samlar sju omgångar av Hourly Comics day!

Fotografi på Stef som håller upp sin bok ”Twenty-four SEVEN” som samlar sju omgångar av Hourly Comic hon gjort över lika många år.

Spooky Ghost Town@stefgaines· Jan 28

And here’s the rest of them. My #hourlies 2025, almost a year later. Part 2/2

Comic depicting hours 16:00 - 18:00 in which the artist makes five people try to draw a bad comic. Then there’s a classic music quiz, some socializing and a bible quiz. The artist has no bible experience but somehow her taste in music was helpful.

Comic depicting hours 19:00 - 20:00 when the artist travels home and meets her partner for dinner. They talk about American politics, being sad and having no idea how much worse things will get.

Comic depicting hours 21:00 - 23:00 where the artist watches the Swedish competition for Eurovision. (Oh Melodifestivalen, I would miss you this year if I wasn’t so disappointed in that Sweden is not joining the current boycott. No more.) Then she reads other hourlies and suggests drinking tea and watching YouTube. These hourlies were started February first 2025 and finished January 27th 2026.

Spooky Ghost Town@stefgaines· Jan 28

At least it got finished before the next one - here’s my #hourlycomic #hourlies #hcd from 2025 part 1/2

Comic page depicting the artist between 00:00 - 08:30 February first 2025. In which she watches YouTube, draws, has trouble falling asleep and finally gets to sleep a luxurious amount of seven hours.

A comic page in black and white depicting the artist 09:00 - 10:00. Waking up, establishing that she will attend a party and then gets up for breakfast. The last panel shows her sitting at a table, drawing this page, while watching as her partner prepares breakfast.

Comic depicting hours 11:00 - 14:00. The artist eats breakfast, gets a haircut and a shower. Then she dresses up and packs her bag and leaves. While riding the metro, she catches up on drawing this hourly comic.

Comic depicting hours 14:00 - 16:00
The artist buys some freshly squeezed orange juice, arrives at the party and holds a presentation about comic storytelling methods.

Spooky Ghost Town@stefgaines· Jan 27

Also the realization that HCD has now been going on for 20 years and I’ve kinda* participated 15 of them. * = my first HCD is lost in time, the HCD from when I attended the Angoulême comics festival got incomplete and I’m still finishing up the one from last year.

A panel from my hourly comic 2022. It depicts me drawing in a room with my partner and our late cat. The text is commenting on the fact that making my hourlies in time means some panels just depicting me drawing said hourlies.

Spooky Ghost Town@stefgaines· Jan 6

I och med att jag börjat göra mer i köket ska jag försöka rita receptserier igen. Mest som egna anteckningar på grejer jag vill göra igen. Dessa har jag gjort ett par helger nu.

En analog receptserie i gråskala som beskriver ingredienser och förberedelser till att göra scones.

En analog receptserie i gråskala som beskriver smörmängden i scones och påminner tecknare att ta mer betalt när de håller workshops. Serien berättar också att tecknaren tycker att knåda deg är obehagligt och därför bär hon handskar när hon gör det.

En analog receptserie i gråskala som beskriver att baka scones och hur man kan äta dem.

Spooky Ghost Town@stefgaines· Dec 30

Jag har också känt mig så utanför SerieSverige och som att jag inte gjort något seriemässigt alls i år. När jag gick igenom kalendern för att skriva årsdagbok märkte jag att jag, som alla andra serietecknare, hade fel i detta och visst hade gjort grejer. Jag är mig egna klyscha.

Serie från 2011 med ett gäng serietecknare som underskattar sitt skapande.

Spooky Ghost Town@stefgaines· Nov 23

Det var frustrerande att inte kunna träna på någon månad pga förkylning-säsong men det ledde mig till en gammal annan avstressning: rita små menlösa dagboksserier

Serie på tre rutor.

I ruta ett klär sig Linus för att gå till jobbet. Stef står framför honom och frågar ”Heh. Vill du att jag tar med nåt från Göteborg när jag åker hem imorgon?”

I ruta två funderar Linus ”Hm”

I ruta tre svarar Linus ”Dig!!” med en pratbubbla som det strålar hjärtan från. Stef ser överraskad ut och rodnar.

Serie på 4-5 rutor

Ruta 1: Två silhuetter står i en dörröppning som är mörk. Den ena silhuetten säger ”Wah, jag måste kontakta värden om vår trasiga dörrlampa” Den andra silhuetten svarar: ”Äh vaddå. Mörkt och mysigt”

Ruta 2: De går in genom dörren och in i ljuset så att vi ser att det är Linus som sa ”mörkt och mysigt” Stef svarar: ”Det är inte mysigt att inte hitta blippen!”

Ruta 3: Linus går upp i trappen medan han säger ”Mysigt ” Stef står kvar och säger ”Om det är så mysigt… varför kysser du mig inte?”

Ruta 4: Den här rutan visar bara mörkret i trappen.

Ruta 5: En leende och rodnande Stef går arm i arm med Linus medan hon säger ”Wow, ok” Linus svarar ”Sa ju det var mysigt ”

Spooky Ghost Town@stefgaines· Nov 9

You've just died. The 6th picture in your phone gallery is what killed you. Might be accurate. It’s the gigantic cake my workplace got as a gift. The picture depicts the cake AFTER our entire workplace took their pieces, and before me and my boss split up the rest between us.

Spooky Ghost Town@stefgaines· Oct 25

Ten days since the last one, but here we go. Cartober continues with T Ford, the first affordable car. Which kind looks more like a bicycle than a car.

Spooky Ghost Town@stefgaines· Oct 19

Quote with a vampire 🩸

Four panels from a comic. A person is lying down on the ground while a four eyed vampire is bending down towards them while holding a knife.

Spooky Ghost Town@stefgaines· Oct 14

My cartober drawing challenge continues. It’s time for another art study. I didn’t really reflect on how to draw car wheels in action scenes before this, it was a lot of fun!

Two drawings of cars in car chases, both inspired by the manga artist Kenichi Sonoda

Spooky Ghost Town@stefgaines· Oct 12

> And this is what I drew today. I realized that a carpooling company had a Toyota nearby, so I actually walked to it and started the sketch outside. It’s nice to hope that I might get to drive it someday. >

Spooky Ghost Town@stefgaines· Oct 12

> Next was again an art study of how another comic artist draws cars. And yes, of course I have to study this master of cute chunky cars. >

A drawing of the artist and her partner, taking a drive in a Akira Toriyama (Dragon Ball) inspired car.

Spooky Ghost Town@stefgaines· Oct 12

> Then on to the car brand list again. As I searched Volkswagen cars I realized they made the beetle cars. I enjoyed drawing this as well. My friend @spansky.bsky.social advised me to draw the wheels first “just like when you draw your humans, you begin with sticks and circles!” That helped! >

A drawing of a Volkswagen 1303, a “beetle” from 1975. My mother used to own a car like this when she met my dad, and was very sad to leave it back in Mexico.

Spooky Ghost Town@stefgaines· Oct 12

> Ok first comic art study and it’s my favorite comic car - the one driven by Donald Duck in the Nordic / Italian comic books of my youth. This was actually fun to draw. >