WRITTEN_BY David REVOY -
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23 comments
**Transcript:**
A webcomic storyboard in four panels, black and white and sketchy:
Panel 1: A cute mermaid sings, eyes closed, with a melancholy expression, sitting on a rock in the middle of the ocean. She plays a small lyre.
Panel 2: Aerial view: many boats gather, forming a circle around the mermaid, drawn in by her performance.
Panel 3: The mermaid bows modestly to the enthusiastic applause of the sailors on the boats, who give her a standing ovation.
> Mermaid: Thank you...
Panel 4. The mermaid now yell angrily to the sailors. In the foreground little fish, crab, and shark are throwing trash back to the boats.
> Mermaid: "...And now that I've got your attention, stop polluting our waters and take your trash with you!"
[Source here](https://www.peppercarrot.com/en/miniFantasyTheater/013.html)
WRITTEN_BY David REVOY -
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57 comments
**Transcript:**
A comic comic in four panels:
Panel 1: A landscape view of a temple floating above the clouds. The landscape is colored with golden and purple hues, which are unusual for the land of mortals. In the foreground, a sign reads, "Temple of the Goddess of Life."
Panel 2: The Goddess of Life kneels in her garden, watering it while whistling. She is happy and enjoying her peaceful daily routine.
Panel 3: Suddenly, the Goddess of Life is violently punched in the face by a flying lemon coming from below the clouds.
Panel 4: A top-down view of a catapult with lemons. Pepper, a young witch, and her cat, Carrot, are in command. They bump fists in a "Check!" sound while watching the sky with fierce eyes.
[sources here](https://www.peppercarrot.com/en/miniFantasyTheater/012.html)
WRITTEN_BY David REVOY -
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51 comments
**Transcript:**
A comic in four panels:
Panel 1: Young witch Pepper, writing at her desk, with a feather pen and ink. She worries, clearly struggling to find inspiration with a white page, while her hand support her head. On the wall near to her a calendar with a big 'Deadline' in red written on it, circling a day. All the day before that one are striked with a cross except one. Whatever Pepper is supposed to write is up to the audience's imagination.
Panel 2. Suddenly, a powerful goddess emerges from a light before the writer, her aura like a flame of pure golden light. She stands divine, while Pepper is captivated in awe before the gorgeous goddess, radiating light and life.
> Pepper: Who... Who are you?!
Panel 3. The Goddess of Life bends slightly toward Pepper while creating a spell with her hands in a intense light a rounded object. She speaks with an air of complicity.
> Goddess of Life: I am the Goddess of Life, and I've come to give you a special gift.
Panel 4. The Goddess of Life's gift is a lemon fruit. She beams with pride and happiness. Pepper looks resigned with a mixture of disappointment and exasperation.
> Pepper: Of course...
> Goddess of Life: You're welcome.
This comic strip is a reference to the proverbial phrase: "When life gives you lemons, make lemonade"
[sources here](https://www.peppercarrot.com/en/miniFantasyTheater/011.html)
WRITTEN_BY David REVOY -
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46 comments
I just took a peek at the thermometer outside...
Yeah...
This is fine...
[source here](https://www.peppercarrot.com/en/viewer/misc__2025-07-01_This-is-fine_by-David-Revoy.html)
WRITTEN_BY David REVOY -
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8 comments
Relaxing with a fan-art: Roderika from Elden Ring! Painted in my cool down sessions between comic pages. Love her signature worried look!
I also published a short video making-of on my social media (eg. https://youtube.com/shorts/FHpZLPX3ArQ or https://framapiaf.org/@davidrevoy/114739069770929198 )
WRITTEN_BY David REVOY -
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7 comments
I'll be back in Brittany in July with two dates:
**Saint-Brieuc, Bulles à Croquer festival, saturday 5, sunday 6, 10h/19h**
I'll be doing signing sessions for my comic book during the "Bulles à Croquer" festival in Saint-Brieuc. Entry is free, and there will be many other authors and activities. For more information, visit: https://www.bullesacroquer.net
**Dinan, Bookstore "Le Grenier", wednesday 9 Jully, 15h/18h**
On my way back to the south of France, I'll do a halt to the bookstore "Le Grenier" in Dinan for a signing session. For more information, visit: https://www.librairielegrenier.com/decouvrir_la_librairie/
I hope to meet many of you there!
WRITTEN_BY David REVOY -
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3 comments
## The trip to Selles-sur-Cher
After a long train ride, I've just returned from the GeekFaeries festival in [Selles-sur-Cher](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Selles-sur-Cher), France, and I'm still feeling energized and inspired by the experience.
[](data/images/blog/2025/2025-06-08_geekfaeries-2025_01_Selles-sur-Cher_net.jpg)
_Panorama of Selles-sur-Cher commune from the bridge, a classic walk from the train station to the Geekfaeries festival, the castle is on the right of the photo._
[](data/images/blog/2025/2025-06-08_geekfaeries-2025_02_the-castle_net.jpg)
_This is a photo of the castle in the morning light. The tents were being taken down on this shot, that's because I took this shot one day after the end of event, just before going back to Montauban, but it's a nice shot to show the castle._
For context: Selles-sur-Cher is one of the commune in France with [a specialty cheese](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Selles-sur-Cher_cheese) and its own vending machine for cheese on the street. Unfortunately for me, it was empty.
[](data/images/blog/2025/2025-06-08_geekfaeries-2025_03_Cheese-vending-machine_net.jpg)
_The cheese vending machine in the street of Selles-sur-Cher. So Frenchy!_
## The Festival
[](data/images/blog/2025/2025-06-08_geekfaeries-2025_04_prints_net.jpg)
_I took a photo of the bar before opening, along with a selfie of my face. You can see my artworks printed in the background._
What impresses me the most about GeekFaeries is its commitment to remaining independent and free from commercial sponsorship. The festival's passion-driven approach is really refreshing, and definitely a "one of its kind" in all the landscape of usual festivals on the same topic.
[](data/images/blog/2025/2025-06-08_geekfaeries-2025_05_festival-overview_net.jpg)
_Overview of the festival on Sunday start of afternoon. No ads, no sponsor, it's rare nowadays, right?_
[](data/images/blog/2025/2025-06-08_geekfaeries-2025_06_festival-overview_net.jpg)
_Another overview of the festival on Sunday start of afternoon._
[](data/images/blog/2025/2025-06-08_geekfaeries-2025_07_festival-overview_net.jpg)
_A last overview but I forget many parts, it was way bigger than this. This photos shows only 1/4 of it._
## The watercolor workshops
One of the best parts for me was teaching five watercolor workshops. In these workshops, we painted simple scenes together step by step. This year, I led the workshops under my own tent. Many of the participants were new to watercolors and painting in general, so we covered the basics, such as creating an undetailed light pencil sketch with a frame, applying pigments to wet areas, mixing colors, and controlling the wet areas on the paper to build our picture. I improvised the themes, which were simple landscapes. The inexpensive watercolors, paper, and brushes that I bought for the festival got the job done, but the brushes are nearing the end of their life. I wasn't paid for these painting sessions; it was a personal initiative to bring animation to the festival where I could share some knowledge. It was delightful to paint outdoors for the entire weekend, and it was great to share this experience with all the participants.
[](data/images/blog/2025/2025-06-08_geekfaeries-2025_08_watercolor-workshop_net.jpg)
_This is my tent booth with the drawing workshop and my hand-painted banner._
[](data/images/blog/2025/2025-06-08_geekfaeries-2025_09_watercolor-workshop_net.jpg)
_Here is a sample of three watercolor exercises we made in the workshop, all of which are simple landscape drawings from imagination, without characters._
[](data/images/blog/2025/2025-06-08_geekfaeries-2025_10_watercolor-workshop1_net.jpg)
_An overview of the first workshop and its participants._
[](data/images/blog/2025/2025-06-08_geekfaeries-2025_11_watercolor-workshop2_net.jpg)
_An overview of the second workshop and its participants._
[](data/images/blog/2025/2025-06-08_geekfaeries-2025_12_watercolor-workshop3_net.jpg)
_An overview of the third workshop and its participants._
[](data/images/blog/2025/2025-06-08_geekfaeries-2025_13_watercolor-workshop4_net.jpg)
_An overview of the fourth workshop and its participants._
[](data/images/blog/2025/2025-06-08_geekfaeries-2025_14_watercolor-workshop5_net.jpg)
_An overview of the fifth workshop and its participants._
## The other guests and tents
I also have many other fond memories of my time at the festival, including my close relationship with the Mozilla/April/Framasoft tent (of course!). But also when I participated in a live tabletop role-playing game session hosted by [Le Tropeur](https://www.youtube.com/@letropeur), or attended a conference about pirate women presented by [Litterature Buissonière](https://www.youtube.com/@FiamoaMcBenson), and met the friendly [Capsule](https://smartlink.ausha.co/capsules) team.
[](data/images/blog/2025/2025-06-08_geekfaeries-2025_15_peertube-drawing_net.jpg)
_A quick drawing on Framasoft's paper board in front of their tent: Sepia of PeerTube!_
## The signing sessions
I would also like to express my gratitude to the visitors who met with me to sign their Pepper&Carrot albums or prints and ask questions during the festival. It was a pleasure connecting with you and receiving your feedback in person.
[](data/images/blog/2025/2025-06-08_geekfaeries-2025_16_signing-session_net.jpg)
_Result of a signing session inside the purple inner cover of the book 4 of Pepper&Carrot in French._
## The light tags on the castle
Once again, I used my Debian KDE laptop to "light tag" the castle. I connected it to a projector and used it to "paint" artwork directly onto the castle walls. This time, I used my external XpPen Deco 01V3 with a USB connection rather than the built-in digitizer. Drawing in the dark with a full black canvas on Krita was a challenging but enjoyable experience. The result was a series of quick, ephemeral pieces of art that were visible to everyone walking around the castle or relaxing in the deck chairs around the festival. It was thrilling.
[](data/images/blog/2025/2025-06-08_geekfaeries-2025_17_lighttag1_net.jpg)
_First light tag test: taking advantage of the windows for an horror theme._
[](data/images/blog/2025/2025-06-08_geekfaeries-2025_18_lighttag2_net.jpg)
_Second light tag: a simple profile, line by line. he hair were also projected on the large tree behind the castle, it was beautiful in live._
[](data/images/blog/2025/2025-06-08_geekfaeries-2025_19_lighttag3_net.jpg)
_Third light tag: something I forgot to do on the two previous time I was on Geekfaeries, drawing Pepper and Carrot on the castle, of course!_
[](data/images/blog/2025/2025-06-08_geekfaeries-2025_20_lighttag4_net.jpg)
_Fourth light tag: the Geekfaeries dragon sleeping on the edge of the castle._
[](data/images/blog/2025/2025-06-08_geekfaeries-2025_21_lighttag5_net.jpg)
_Fifth light tag: an idea: let's try to sync the live symmetry painting tool of Krita on the castle already symmetric architecture. It works!_
## The Krita demo in the main tent
Unfortunately, I had bad luck with my Krita demo on Saturday under the Tentacule, the main tent. A power outage occurred just as I began, and it lasted for over an hour, so I couldn't do it. However, I improvised and used a whiteboard and marker to share some drawing tips with the audience. It was one of those special moments. I thank the audience for enduring this improvised "unplugged" workshop.
[](data/images/blog/2025/2025-06-08_geekfaeries-2025_22_demo_net.jpg)
_A photo just after I set the laptop on the main tent, 5 minutes before the general power outage..._
## A retro gaming moment
I had a memorable experience at the retro gaming tent, where I got to try out my Japanese Secret of Mana cartridge. I bought it on eBay a long time ago because I wanted a "real piece" of my favorite game. However, I don't have a compatible console at home, so I had never tried using it to see if it had dormant games saved on it. I was super curious about it! I knew that if there was one place in the world where I could find a Japanese Super Famicom, it would be at the Geek Faeries' retro gaming tent... and I was right!
The tent was full of all kinds of games, retro consoles, and retro PCs connected to a local area network (LAN). They even had a modified European console that could run Japanese cartridges! I was fascinated to see that the built-in battery was still powering a '90s cartridge's memory slot. There was a high risk of the battery being completely empty.
In the memory slot, we found a player who had completed the game with impressive stats and had simply named the main character "Randy." It's similar to naming Cloud "Cloud" in Final Fantasy VII. In that old game with text speech bubbles on the screen and no dubbing, you could choose to enter a custom name when starting the game. Generic names like "Randy" or "Cloud" were how the game manual usually referred to the character.
Now, I'm the proud owner of a Secret of Mana cartridge used by someone who beat the game with passion. It's an object loaded with history and a long life. Great!
[](data/images/blog/2025/2025-06-08_geekfaeries-2025_23_secret-of-mana-cartridge_net.jpg)
_under the retrogaming tent, testing the Japanese cartridge of Secret of Mana and finding finally what was on the memory slot, dormant since the 90s._
## End notes
Finally, I can't describe the festival without mentioning the volunteers. The GeekFaeries volunteers are a remarkable group who work together seamlessly, much like a family. They support each other, making the festival a warm and welcoming place. I've attended many festivals, but the sense of community here is especially notable. Despite being seriously understaffed this year, the volunteers worked tirelessly to make the festival a success, and I'd like to express my appreciation for them. Their dedication and hard work are a testament to their passion for the festival.
So... What an unforgettable time! Another weekend filled with creativity, community, and inspiration. This festival has a unique blend of art, retro, rpg, technology, and passion. I'm already looking forward to next year's edition, where I can once again connect with the GeekFaeries family!
WRITTEN_BY David REVOY -
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6 comments
I am very happy to announce that I will be a guest at the Geek Faëries Festival 2025!
The festival will take place at the castle of Selles-sur-Cher (France) on June 6, 7 and 8. This year I'll have a permanent booth with chairs and tables dedicated to drawing. Come with your sketchbook if you want training and tips, I'll be around to help. I'll also be giving workshops, and I'll be bringing my laptop to do screen projections and live painting with Krita on the castle at night.
More info: https://www.geekfaeries.fr/
[Illustration source here.](https://www.peppercarrot.com/en/viewer/misc__2025-05-02_Pepper-and-Carrot-at-Geek-Faeries_by-David-Revoy.html)
WRITTEN_BY David REVOY -
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31 comments
Hey everyone, I'm taking a break from my usual digital painting topics to share a special DIY project. I'm not sure who this will help, but I think there's a place for it on my blog somehow. Who knows, maybe it will spark some ideas for your own DIY projects.
Recently, during a routine health check of my four cats, I found out that one of the band might have heart problems, the younger one "Geuloush". I'll tell you right away **he's fine**, everything is fine, but he just has a little abnormality that needs to be monitored.
[](data/images/blog/2025/2025-04-24_digital-stetoscope_for_cats_01b_routine-check.jpg)
_Preparing the annual vet routine for the four cats._
So, after a long trip to a specialized vet's office, one in France with an expensive animal echocardiogram (which was an adventure in itself) I was told to monitor his heartbeat monthly. The vet's advice was to just put my finger on his pulse and count, but I was skeptical. I mean, cats have a heartbeat of 140-220 bpm, that's ridiculously fast! The vet seemed confident that it could be done and I was a little too washed up from the whole experience to question the thing. You see, the echocardiogram was a bit of an ordeal: it took all the morning, my cat was covered in echocardiogram gel, and we were in an operating block shared with dogs. So I just nodded and agreed that I'd do my best.
[](data/images/blog/2025/2025-04-24_digital-stetoscope_for_cats_01c_the-specimen.jpg)
_"Geuloush", the star of this article, knows the most charming positions._
Needless to say, when I got home, I realized that manually counting my cat's heartbeat was impossible. I tried the online tip of counting for 15 seconds and multiplying by four, but even that seemed daunting. So I started looking for a machine that could do the job for me, like the one the vet had in his office. But to my surprise, these machines were very expensive and mostly aimed at vet offices.
That's when I decided to get creative and go the DIY route. I figured that if I could just hear the heartbeat more clearly, I might be able to use some audio magic to count it. I picked up a cheap stethoscope (less than 10€) and a low-quality lavalier USB microphone I already had that worked plug-and-play on my Linux machine (around 10€ too).
After doing some research, I found a lot of helpful videos on the subject that showed me how easy it was to attach a microphone to a stethoscope. You just cut the rubber tube and put the microphone inside. Voilà.
[](data/images/blog/2025/2025-04-24_digital-stetoscope_for_cats_03_the-stetoscope.jpg)
_A lavalier mic inside the tube of a stethoscope: the USB stethoscope! Peak DIY._
And with that setup, I was able to record my cat's heartbeat using Audacity on my Debian KDE machine. Of course, getting my cat to cooperate was a challenge. At first, all I got was a lot of loud purring that masked the heartbeat sound. But I was patient, and after a few minutes he fell asleep and I managed to get a clean recording.
[](data/images/blog/2025/2025-04-24_digital-stetoscope_for_cats_02_sleeping.jpg)
_He didn't even realize he was sleeping on this metal thing._
[](data/images/blog/2025/2025-04-24_digital-stetoscope_for_cats_05_15sec.jpg)
_Audacity hint (red framed): you can toggle the lower view duration to see the length, it helps to select exactly 15 seconds._
[▶️ Audio sample: listen the heartbeat of my cat (15sec, ogg)](https://www.davidrevoy.com/data/images/blog/2025/2025-04-24_digital-stetoscope_for_cats_05b_15sec-audio-sample.ogg)
From there, I cropped a 15-second sample, took a screenshot of the waveform, and used Krita to highlight the most obvious beats. Then it was just a matter of counting and multiplying by four to get an approximate measurement:
**41 counted x 4 = 164bpm. **
All is well, he is a relaxed cat 😺.
[](data/images/blog/2025/2025-04-24_digital-stetoscope_for_cats_06_paint-over.jpg)
_Counting the beats, highlighted here for the blog-post._
I'll be tracking these measurements in a LibreOffice Calc spreadsheet, complete with a graph, so I can keep a close eye on my cat's health.
That's about it! It's not the most conventional DIY project, the DIY part wasn't even really exciting or challenging, but it was an interesting challenge to count the beats per minute of a cat, and I was able to get something that works. I hope it inspires someone else to get creative with everyday problems. And if you have more ideas on how to improve this rig, I'd love to read them.
## Update
2025-04-27: Thanks Hackaday for [the featuring](https://hackaday.com/2025/04/27/quick-and-easy-digital-stethoscope-keeps-tabs-on-cat/)!
2025-04-29: Thanks to [a comment by Nia Valentine](https://framapiaf.org/@daughterofrao@weirder.earth/114415392045138030), I tried the automatic bpm (beat per minute) analysis with the software [mixxx](https://mixxx.org/download/). At first, I was skeptical, because I already tried to detect beats with the CLI software [bpm-tools](https://www.pogo.org.uk/~mark/bpm-tools/) and didn't get a result close to the manual counting.
The difference: mixxx has an option "Assume constant tempo" that you can disable in the settings. After that it does the job pretty well and as easy as just playing the audio. It found 169bpm on a longer sample, which is close enough to the 164bpm I found manually. So I'm validating this approach. That's very good news because it simplifies the counting process and also the trimming of the audio to exactly 15 seconds. I can now sample a larger amount of good quality audio and let mixxx do the work. More info in the [mixxx beat detection documentation](https://manual.mixxx.org/2.5/en/chapters/preferences/beat_detection).
[](data/images/blog/2025/2025-04-29_digital-stetoscope_for_cats_05_mixxx.jpg)
_The user interface of Mixxx, loading a longer sample, my mouse cursor is over the bpm analysis number._
WRITTEN_BY David REVOY -
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23 comments
I'm excited to share with you a significant update I've made to my digital archive. I've been working on re-releasing around 25 of my 'best-of' digital paintings from before 2012, under a new license. Previously, they were available under Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial Non-Derivative 3.0 (CC By-Nc-Nd 3.0), but I've now updated them to the more permissive Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 (CC By 4.0).
To make them more accessible, I've even uploaded the full high-resolution, in lossless quality to the Pepper&Carrot artworks gallery, under the "Misc" directory (and at the bottom, because before 2012). [Gallery link here](https://www.peppercarrot.com/en/artworks/misc.html#2013-04-28_peacock-dragon_by-David-Revoy).
Some of these artworks, like my award-winning "[Alice in Wonderland](https://www.peppercarrot.com/en/viewer/misc__2010-07-21_Alice-in-Wonderland_by-David-Revoy.html)," (2010) were already available under CC By since 2022, but didn't have a proper home to host the lossless file. Others, like "[SpiderHarp](https://www.peppercarrot.com/en/viewer/misc__2006-11-19_Spider-Harp_by-David-Revoy.html)" (2006) and "[Fantasy Landscape](https://www.peppercarrot.com/en/viewer/misc__2007-01-30_Fantasy-Landscape_by-David-Revoy.html)" (2007), had never been shared in their full resolution online before.
You'll also find my portrait of Charles Darwin in the collection, which I'm thrilled to say was recently on display [in an exhibition at a museum](https://www.davidrevoy.com/article1073/my-portrait-of-charles-darwin-is-in-a-museum-now). This whole project was inspired by that, after seeing that photo of an old artwork from 2012 inside a museum, which got me thinking about the importance of digital conservancy and preserving my art for the long run.
It took me all the evenings of this week to update the old blog posts, dig out the high-resolution files from archived DVDs, and convert them, but it was worth it. Some pieces are over 20 years old... It made me realize all the time I've spent in my life with a stylus in my hand, painting, painting, painting.
I hope you'll find something in this list of artworks that inspires you to create something new, whether the project, medium, a print, or something completely different. On my side, I'm happy to share this 'vintage' pieces with you in a new way. 💜
**[→ 📦 Gallery link](https://www.peppercarrot.com/en/artworks/misc.html#2013-04-28_peacock-dragon_by-David-Revoy)**
[](data/images/blog/2025/2025-04-17_maintaining-my-vintage-digital-paintings.jpg)
_An overview screenshot of the concerned digital paintings_
WRITTEN_BY David REVOY -
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95 comments
I'm super excited to share this with you: my artwork is now on display in a museum. I just received a photo of the room of the exhibition with my [portrait of Charles Darwin](https://www.davidrevoy.com/article145/portrait-of-charles-darwin), and it's huge and looks amazing in this setting. This is a piece I painted in 2012 with the software Krita and the portrait is made up of many species from the evolution, kind of like a modern take on Giuseppe Arcimboldo's style, but with a twist dedicated to the famous father of the "On the Origin of Species".
It's part of the "COMPASSION" exhibition at the MAS in Antwerp, which runs since January 31 and to August 31, 2025. The exhibition is all about compassion and helping others (what a chance to be part of that!) and it features a mix of ancient and contemporary art, objects, and music. My art is on the same room than the "Declaration of the Rights of Man", what a honor!
If you're in the area of Antwerp (Flemish Region of Belgium), you should totally check it out. The museum is open from 10:00 to 17:00, and you can even take a guided tour. Tickets are €12 for standard admission and €8 for a discount.
I'm really proud to have my work included in this exhibition, and I hope you'll go see it and let me know what you think or send me a picture, because unfortunately, I'll can't travel to this place until the 31 August.
All in all, it's a dream come true for me to see my art in a museum 🤩, thank you MAS and the exhibition team for that.
Links:
- https://mas.be/en/
- https://mas.be/en/compassion
