"(Dunce is) one of the most important Norwegian
comics, regardless of genre, of 2017." 

Serienett.no (Book review)

 

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COMICS

I've always loved comics, a perfect symbiosis of storytelling and art. Nothing beats finishing a strip, and then having a little peek at it before going to bed. I'm self-publishing my strip Dunce regularly with help from Kickstarter, see avilable copies at www.jensk.no.

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ILLUSTRATIONS

I've done lots of illustrations for different clients throughout the years. Even though I focus more and more on personal projects, I still do commission work, book-illustrations, magazines etc. Visit my Instagram-page to see what I'm up to right now.

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ART PRINTS

My little webshop has all my (available) self-published comics and from time to time there are originals or limited edition art prints. Prints and originals are also for sale in selected galleries and at conventions, festivals and exhibitions.

Appearing in 2018: 

January: Anguléme (France)
April: MoCCA (US/New York)
June: ELCAF (UK/London)
June: OCX (Norway/Oslo)
September: Thought Bubble (UK/Leeds)
October: The Lakes (UK/Kendal)

 

DUNCE is a comic about a guy not totally unlike myself, trying to make it far up north, in Tromsø (Norway).

 
 
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“I found Jens on Twitter a while back via his diary comics and immediately fell in love with his art style — in which I see a little Ralph Steadman and a little Quentin Blake. His simplistic character designs are deceptive and brimming over with life and vitality in a way that is surprising and deeply human.”
— Robin William Scott, The Mini Comic Courier
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My comic Dunce has been running in Norwegian newspapers since January 2017. 

The first three Dunce-collections are available in my webshop, see www.jensk.no. The fourth Dunce-zine will have a Kickstarter-campaign running in May 2018.

Buy Dunce and other self-published comics at www.jensk.no

"Affectionate, heart-warming and most importantly funny (...) Made me laugh out loud, something comics rarely do" 
Splank (Comics blog, UK)

"This book is an enrichment! Funny, hilarious." 
Comicreview (German podcast)

"One of the smartest and most original Norwegian cartoons that has debuted in recent times."
Serienett.no (Norwegian comics blog)

"Like Watterson or Thompson, Styve’s simplified drawings are enhanced by his skillful use of traditional media."
Pome-mag.com

 
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Dunce is available to read/follow here:
instagram.com/duncecomic

My result from Oslo 24H Challenge, 2016

 
“In June 2016 I did my third ever 24 hour comic (24 pages in 24 hours). I did it as a part of the annual Oslo 24h Challenge. I wanted to do a new story about Death at work, that is: Death picking up some poor soul. I had been thinking for a while: can I make a story about Death collecting a child? How would that turn out?”

Buy Homs at www.jensk.no

 

A 28 page comic book about love, death and the ocean.

 
“(…) after buying Cabin Fever online on a whim, I have to admit wholeheartedly that not only is this dialogue free comic more than worth picking up, it’s one of the best things I have read all year!”
— Patrick Scattergood, Curiosity of a Social Misfit
“Cabin Fever is gorgeous. Really beautiful. Jens has a really organic line, he’s one of those who blends cartoony with DARK really well. It looks fun, but has a foreboding of … Doom.”
— Optic Blast, Podcast

That winter, an old punk song popped into my head and stayed for a while. I don’t know why, I hadn’t been listening to it for years. It was the song Cabin Fever by Nick Cave. Eventually, I searched it up, listened to the lyrics, and a story idea started to take shape. Later on, after reading a comic called Ink by Warwick Johnson-Cadwell, some visual ideas joined in with the story idea and it all turned into this comic. 

 

 
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My result from Oslo 24H Challenge, 2015

 
“(...) subtle watercolours perfectly enhancing the story of photographer commissioned to take a portrait of Death, hinting at the fading sepia-tones of old photographs throughout.

(...) For me, Jens marks himself here as an accomplished storyteller, not least because of the limitations of the 24-hour challenge and the fact he has created something so perfectly well formed within that time, but for the deft way he handles the humour of the book, something not easy to pull off, but served up so naturally here. I’ll be rooting out more Jens K Styve, and I highly recommend you do the same at the first available opportunity.””
— Robin W Scott, The Mini Comic Courier

Buy Camera Obscura at www.jensk.no

 
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Death summons representatives from all walks of life,
tempting them to dance along to the grave. 

I've been thinking about this for a while: I want to do a comic book/zine that is non-linear, based most of all on the plain craft of drawing. The result is this little project called Danse Macabre, a 28 pages comic book, where Death travels geographically, back/forth in time, and between different layers of society. It's a celebration of human vitality and also (as the traditional Danse Macabre) a reminder of the fragility of life. 

Read more in this blogpost or buy Danse Macabre at www.jensk.no