As of 2026 I'm based in Portugal, still chained to my drawing board, cranking out pages for my original shonen manga "DURRUN," which I've been serializing online since January 2025. And as I officially declared last time, I've appointed myself Hype Man of DURRUN — which, in practice, means painting murals of it wherever I can talk my way onto a wall. This is installment #2. If you missed the first one (Lisbon), it's right here.
Now, you'd probably assume I traveled all the way to Denmark specifically to paint. I did not. The actual reason: our landlord was coming to stay at our place for a few days, so we had to clear out — (yes, the landlord, sleeping over at our house. Most of you are reading that and thinking WHY????. So am I. We're going to skip that part.) — and my wife happened to have a work trip up to Copenhagen around the same time. So I tagged along. One month after Lisbon, manga-promotion mission #2 launched in the Nordics.
The Location: "Bolsjefabrikken" in Copenhagen
For us Japanese, "Bolsjefabrikken" is a borderline unpronounceable name to keep in your head — but mercifully, in Danish it means "The Candy Factory." So just call her Candy and move on.
It's a fully non-profit, non-commercial, self-governed culture house. The name traces back to around 2008, when a crew of artists and activists squatted an actual disused candy factory and started doing their thing there (...which is, technically, a crime). In 2009 they relocated to the current site — an old blacksmith's and warehouse — (oh, so they moved) and were officially recognized by the local municipality as a space for art (...sure, why not).
Here's what it's got going for it:
- Ever-changing building murals — every exterior wall around the grounds is officially sanctioned as a free canvas, so street artists from all over the world show up and paint over each other's work daily. A genuine "living outdoor museum."
- 100% volunteer, DIY operation — commercialism is shut out entirely. It's run by volunteers, entry is basically free (a small donation at events), drinks are cheap, and the whole "everyone gets to enjoy this equally" free-space ethos is taken seriously.
- A hub for every flavor of subculture — it's not just walls. On weekends the buildings host underground Dub, punk, and techno gigs and club nights, plus film screenings, art workshops, even Monday board-game sessions, and on and on.
Arriving On-Site — and Ending Up Painting Something Insane
The second I stepped onto the grounds, the entire building was already crusted wall-to-wall with murals.
The internet said you could paint anywhere, but just to be safe I went hunting for someone who looked like they knew the deal. I found a guy tinkering with a motorbike in a garage-like corner — with a baby strapped to his chest. The baby, predictably, declined to comment. The man, however, gestured around and told me this whole stretch (pointing) was fair game. Free wall confirmed. Then, over the baby's head, he added: "You can paint on that too, if you want." That "that" was —
A car. An actual car, handed to me as a canvas — a concept that had simply never existed in my mural vocabulary. I gave a noncommittal "mm, sure, anyway—" and went back to scanning the walls. But then my wife, who'd tagged along, chirped "oooh, the car looks fun~" with zero accountability, and just like that, the situation changed. So, to prove my don't-underestimate-me, old-school-delinquent pride to my wife, to the Nordics, and to the world at large — I picked the car.
Facing Off Against the Car
Originally I planned to prime the whole surface white before painting — but on a car, that would've looked deeply uncool, so I scrapped that step on the spot. Miraculously, the visual I'd planned fit the car's side panel almost perfectly.
Like last time, I'd use the Doodle Grid technique to lay down my guides.
And here's where the first wave of panic hit. The spray paint I'd used last time to scribble out my Japanese-text grid? Didn't bring it — you can't take it on a plane, and I didn't want to buy a can locally only to dump the leftovers before flying home. "Eh, regular paint'll be fine," I figured, optimistically. It was not fine. Painting a grid with a brush is misery, and I started seriously worrying I'd burn the whole day just doodling.
No matter how long I spent, the grid refused to fill, my brain went totally blank, and not a single funny scribble would come. So instead, I just kept writing the name of one specific obscure Japanese comedian, over and over and over. (Which is how I learned that this guy lives permanently, rent-free, in my subconscious.) Henceforth, this grid shall be known as the HAYASHI GRID.
Now the Real Work Begins
From here it's the actual mural. Leaning on the HAYASHI GRID, I drew the lineart in marker while referencing the illustration mapped onto the grid. This stage decides everything about the piece, so it's where I lock in and concentrate hardest. Full speed.
Then I rushed color in wherever I could read the shapes. Blocking in rough color like this makes the silhouette pop and lets me grasp the whole composition at once.
Last time, coming back after years off, my linework was shaky. This time the feel had returned, and I could lay down thin, clean lines exactly where I wanted. The face is the most important part of any mural — and the eyes matter even more than the face — so I poured everything into them. Still racing the clock to finish before dark, I worked the tightrope between fastest and most precise.
Turns out, manga really pops in the Nordics.
Almost every mural around here is graffiti — lettering-based, romaji-style work. So my wall, with full-on manga characters on it, stuck out whether I liked it or not. Picture a sumo wrestler photobombing a row of ballerinas. That exact level of "one of these is not like the others."
Redeeming Myself on the Speech Bubbles
Last time I drew the dialogue purely on vibes and momentum. Lesson learned: this round I masked off guide lines in advance, so the line spacing and letter size would come out uniform.
And it worked — the text came out evenly sized and clean.
The Secret Ingredient Is Dirtying It Up
Load black onto a dry brush until it's all scratchy, then scrub it over the whole piece — focusing on the shadow areas — and suddenly you've got that gritty street-art texture. Precisely because it's a poppy manga style, this grime step matters a lot. Or so some random lady who has absolutely no idea told me.
Then: glove up, dab paint straight onto the gloves, and flick white, black, and purple everywhere, endlessly. Beginners do this with the mural's face fully exposed; expert me covers it with a towel first. What expert me did not plan for was cleaning the paint-soaked gloves afterward — so my bag got absolutely wrecked. We'll file that under "charm."
The Mural, Finished
Ten-plus hours later — quietly, but done, and finished before sunset. Thanks to the Lisbon run, I could take on a canvas as awkward as a car and fix a whole list of past mistakes, so honestly I'm pretty happy with how it came out.
The entire time, Copenhagen's weather absolutely toyed with me. Clear skies one second, overcast the next, then a sudden gust, then a faceful of rain. Hats off to past-me for finishing in weather that moody — but no, I would not want to be in a long-term relationship with Copenhagen's climate.
What I painted is a panel of Yu-ri — DURRUN's second lead — from Episode 5. Squaring off against a yakuza who won't listen to reason, the line he throws out is: "So I guess violence is the only language you speak?" I tried to carry the motion of Yu-ri's weapon bursting out of the panel straight onto the wall. You can read that scene here (DURRUN Episode 5).
I cut the whole mural-making process together with the streets of Copenhagen into a reel — definitely give it a watch. (And if you follow my Instagram while you're there, I won't complain.)
View this reel on Instagram
This mural will get painted over the moment the next person rolls up with a can. But that's a free wall. That's street art.
Whenever I get the next shot at a DURRUN mural somewhere in Europe, I'll log it right here.
One last note, in case any of this somehow inspired you to grab a spray can: tagging walls without permission is a crime. Stick to the free ones. 🙏
And hey — go read DURRUN. Por favoooor 🙏
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