| Comic! |
[May. 12th, 2012|03:55 pm] |
There's a new Stop Paying Attention comic!
I'm just finishing up the convention-crowded MoCCA and TCAF couple of weeks. Conventions are so great in terms of meeting readers and other creators, getting to see new work and get excited about the things people are doing in comics. But they're also exhausting and crowded and often covered in germs. I've been exhibiting at shows for a while (since my first one; TCAF when I was 19!), and I still get a little blindsided by them every year. So much fun and so much overwhelmed craziness, packed into one little weekend.
Brief MoCCA rundown:
This was the fourth year of the annual Drink and Draw Like a Lady event, and it was another great year. So many amazing ladies came, and ate cookies and chatted about comics and drank wine. I love being a part of organizing this event, and I love doing it at 192 Books, but so many people showed up that we may have to move it to a larger space next year! Hooray for DDLL!
Thanks to Marion Vitus, who took lovely photos all night!
I had my Chicago pals, Sarah and Niles, as houseguests for MoCCA weekend. Sarah (of the lovely food comic, Sauceome) and I ended up sharing a table for the second day of MoCCA, so I got to hang out with them while we plied our wares.
(This photo is also by Marion!)
I like that Niles is grumpily checking his phone. I think this was the 2nd day and we're all tired.
Those guys, like me, love to find delicious things to eat, so I trooped them all over the city for amazing eats, which you can read about and see drawn on the latest installments of Sarah's comic, Sauceome!
We also visited the Way Station bar while they were in town, otherwise known as "the Doctor Who bar!" It is much like a typical Brooklyn bar, save for a few key differences.
You guys, this was a pretty awesome bathroom.
Speaking of me being a big British television nerdo:
In the madcap week between MoCCA and TCAF, I went to the PBS premier event for the new season of Sherlock. I sat in the second row, and it was glorious. Look at that gorgeous jacket! The one on the gorgeous man.
Hmm. Quite a nice view.
Brief TCAF rundown:
I brought my mom with me this year! It was a nice weekend away with her, and she got to see a little of what I do at conventions, as well as wander Toronto a bit. It was funny how many people I ran into later who said, "...Did I see your mom walking around, or was that a time-travelling future version of you?" I look like my mom a bit, you guys.
Anyway, it was a great show, as usual. I love TCAF. I didn't really have anything new to sell this year, as I'm sitting on a bunch of things yet to come out, but I had a great time, nonetheless.
I didn't get any photos, really, but I was doing little watercolored convention sketches again this year and I managed to snap some photos of some of the sketches before they were whisked away. You can see a whole selection of them here: Convention Sketches
(There was... sort of a theme this year... Something in the air, perhaps?)
Until tomorrow, my good ol' Hot Dog shirt is available for purchase again on Woot! I was excited-- I like this shirt, and now it comes in LADY SIZES, which it didn't have before. I got another one. You should, too! Get my Hot Dog Shirt from Woot!
And now for some exciting news: I'm going to TANZANIA in less than a week! To make comics for Saveur magazine, and presumably see elephants and zebras and basically run around going, "I AM ACTUALLY IN THE LION KING RIGHT NOW" while trying to resemble a serious travel diarist. The comic shall be something, indeed.
Still plugging away on "Displacement" (Aka: the cruise comic)-- hoping to finish it up soon. Lot's of exciting comics on the way, pals!
Back to work. Or to shop for Mother's day. It's too nice out to keep working right now. |
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| Update |
[Apr. 16th, 2012|11:46 pm] |
Still chugging away at the cruise comic, now tentatively titled "Displacement." It keeps getting more involved, and now it's hovering at an estimated 100 pages! It's taking longer than I thought it would, but that means more comics, so that's good. Here's a little preview page:
As you can probably guess from this page, it was quite a trip.
Sorry about the delay. I'm hoping to be finished with it by CAKE (Where I'll be exhibiting!).
I'm also going to be at MoCCA, TCAF and (in November) Thought Bubble (My first UK show!). It's a short list of conventions again this year. As soon as Relish comes out, I'll blast through as many as will have me.
But it works out nicely, because along with "Displacement," I've also got a few other exciting projects on the horizon this Spring! Like this: Did you guys see my first Adventure Time comic story? It was in Issue 2, and an absolute blast to make! I can't believe how many awesome people are involved with this series. Speaking of, have you heard about this amazing thing? I'm really excited to see the comic, and so pleased to be a part of the cover art!
Also: There's another travel comic I'm going to be making in May, but I'll tell you more about it later because I'm too excited to even deal. Yooou'll seeeee!
It's been a strange and tumultuous few months, but now it's all humid and hot and my priority becomes trying to make my hair look less weird.
Today was the first hot day in NYC. It was pretty and everyone was outside. I managed to snag a half-hour of reading by the river while I waited for the post office to open this morning (I've been getting up early now that I'm on summer hours. It's to do with the light that comes in my bedroom). Did some work, cleaned/groceried, and then I went to the figure drawing session headed-up by an old childhood pal of mine. The model was especially good-- curvy and angular all at once! Here are a few watercolor sketches from the session.
( Safe for work if you work at a place with naked ladies! )
I seriously love drawing naked people so, so much.
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| POETRY! |
[Apr. 6th, 2012|11:14 am] |
Last night my friend Holly and I went to a star-studded poetry event.
I made some tipsy doodles about it last night. Here they are!
( Poetry and the Creative Mind ) |
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| Down the Who Hole |
[Mar. 30th, 2012|06:41 pm] |
I don't know if you guys know this, but I really really like television.
As a kid, there were inhibiting factors at play. Parental limitations, the infernal rabbit-ear antennae that never worked, and the fact that my favorite shows would usually only play once a week... While I was supposed to be doing my homework (I'm looking at you, Chris Carter... Moving to Sunday nights at 9...).
But as an adult, I frequently keep the TV on in the background while I work, which means that I generally watch (listen to) a lot of TV. With the advent of streaming media, it's only gotten worse easier.
Because of the aforementioned limitations, now I get to catch up on all I've been missing. Frequently, my poor understanding friends will be treated to my total shock at Spike and Buffy's secret tryst. Or my endless curiosity about the truth behind Gabrielle's mysterious trip into the underworld to save Xena.
I get a little fixated.
As a lot of cartoonists will tell you, watching something while working is a delicate balance. It needs to be interesting enough to occupy part of your brain without your full attention, but it can't be so interesting as to divert your eyes/attention entirely from work. I'm good at splitting my attention, but certain things get away from me.
So when I hear about shows that compel frothing-at-the-mouth fandom, I usually try to stay away until I have a project that will take less than my full attention. Because the cruise-comic I'm working on now is a lot of inking/coloring, it seemed like the right time to open a particular can of worms I'd been putting off.
An added factor of going through some other stressful work stuff tilted me over the edge of the cliff, and I vanished into the complete and total insanity of.... The Doctor.
Anyway, I found myself needing to doodle in the margins while I journeyed through. Spoilers abound, but if you're familiar already, read on to hear about my first experience watching Doctor Who.
( READ ON IF YOU DARE ) |
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| All Kindsa Stuff! |
[Mar. 8th, 2012|02:19 pm] |
Cruise Comic Update:
The trip with my grandparents ended up being a lot more intense than I anticipated, so I came home without many finished pages. I'm at around 35 pages done and working towards a total of around 70. But the pages look nice and I'm excited for it to be finished! Here's a little photo preview:
I baked a batch of my mom's famous cookies for a meeting with my publishers recently, and I made this little comic recipe to go with:
( Read the Comic Recipe! )
I did a guest comic for my pal Lonnie's webcomic this week:
Lonnie Comics
It's gorgeous outside this week! I made a pretty pigeon poster to celebrate Spring:
Springtime in New York Print
Here's a little painting I made for a friend about dazzle camouflage:
Back to work! |
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| Cruise Comic Project |
[Feb. 11th, 2012|11:15 pm] |
Next week I leave on an elderly cruise tour with my grandparents. The origins of this unlikely vacation will be revealed in comic form. I'll be making a small watercolored travelogue about the experience, that'll likely be on sale for digital download when I return (in a little over a week). I hope you guys enjoy this little preview, and I'll be back soon with comics and a sunburn!
( Read the first 5 pages of the comic here! ) |
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| Tomboy Heroes of the Cinema |
[Feb. 9th, 2012|03:02 am] |
Using some of my recent insomniac energy, I thought I'd make a little piece of art, but then felt that I'd like to write a bit about the subject matter. The following paragraphs are some 3AM thoughts about a film trope that I find endearing and appealing, in relation to my own development and bias.
I am often asked which comics I liked as a child, to turn me into the adult who spends her days bent over a comics desk. I nearly always cite Archie and Tintin and Calvin and Hobbes. I was a serious tomboy as a kid, and the truth is that I identified comfortably with Calvin and Tintin and Jughead for a long time. Jughead, especially. I didn't have any interest in dating until I was around 13, much like Jughead, only he never really caught on. Plus I really love hamburgers.
I got older, and discovered things like Strangers in Paradise, Lynda Barry and Maira Kalman, developing access to more specific, female-centric or lady-created work. I gradually became less horrified by dresses, learned how to use a comb to make my cowlick less ridiculous, and learned to love the girly along with the tomboyish. But I have a lifelong love for cowgirls and overalls and, oh lord, the secret lady tomboy.
By virtue of necessity and interest, I do spend time thinking about gender in relation to comics. By virtue of noticing which movies are my favorites, I've recently been thinking about the lure of the secret-lady, and its relation to my own gender and emotional triggers.
I've always loved these movies. As a curious tomboy and developing bisexual, I think the appeal was clear as to why I specifically adored characters who passed themselves off as men for various reasons;
I like the idea of someone loving someone regardless of their clothing or even perceived gender. I love the idea that you could choose how your gender was perceived, while keeping it to yourself. Who wouldn't love the hero who tampers with gender norms?
I love the underlying feminist message behind quite a few of these stories, that women are able to prove wrong the preconceptions of male superiority by enacting a citable ruse.
I like the reveal, the point at the end when the lies unravelled and someone inevitably ripped open their shirt to prove to an unbelieving friend-or-something-more-perhaps that they were, indeed, female. As if tits are the undisputed deciding factor! Hah.(Admittedly, Hollywood is, perhaps, not best at creating nuanced tales of gender subversion. Usually drag comes in for laughs, but some of us get more than what's on sale.)
And to be fair, many MANY of these ladies look gorgeous in their tuxes and spats.
I'm uncomfortable with the spate of transexual fetishization that seems to have become acceptable practice nowadays, so I want to make it clear that I'm not droolingly celebrating the objectified-in-between. Gender is very personal, and not to be prodded with kink-sticks unless a mutually agreed-upon safeword is in practice. I'm one of those irritating bisexuals (pansexuals, omni-whathaveyou) who legitimately believes that attraction lies in the individual, and not in that person's gender. So be as you will, I'm not talking about that. That's only a peripheral aspect, as I believe most references to a person's sexuality should be-- a sidenote and not the headline.
I'm talking about how I love stories where ladies secretly pass themselves off as dudes. I have loved them since I read Twelfth Night as a kid and spent a week wandering the hill behind my house, pretending to be shipwrecked and forced to disguise myself as a page to Count Orsino.
I've loved them since I was a kid, and I love them still. Someday I'll make that comic I've been writing for years that includes this (admittedly popular) plotpoint (spoiler alert). But for now, I'll just calm myself from a fit of temper this evening by watching Victor/Victoria and drawing little watercolor sketches of some of my favorite heroes.
To be fair, not all of these are secret-ladies. But quite a few of them are!
( Tomboy Heroes of the Cinema )
Buy it as a print! |
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| Hurray! |
[Feb. 6th, 2012|04:44 pm] |
Thank you guys for helping me win with my Miracle Jump ad design for the Fluevog creative contest! I was bowled over with the awesome support I received through your votes and kudos. I'll letcha know when my "winner profile" is up, and when the ad runs!
My first prize footwear!
SUPERBOOTS!
I mayyyybe went out to the Fluevog store as soon as they told me I'd won. Maybe.
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| Hourly Comic Day 2012 |
[Feb. 2nd, 2012|04:47 pm] |
Okay, I set myself the challenge to watercolor my hourlies this year. I'm fast at watercolors, but apparently not THAT fast. Anyway, I made it all the way to 6pm before I started falling behind, and ended up coloring the last few hours today (CHEATING! Mon DIEU!)
But anyway, here are my technicolor Hourly Comics for 2012:
( Hourly Comic 2012 ) |
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| Freelance Dance! |
[Jan. 29th, 2012|09:34 pm] |
This last month has been a flurry of freelance projects for me. I love freelance illustration-- it's a challenge and a chance to try new things and look critically at my own work, while (usually) making enough money to pay my bills and support my comics work. But at the same time, multiple deadlines can play havoc with my sleep and stress levels.
From the point of view of the artist, online voting-based art contests aren't the greatest. We deserve to be paid fairly for our work and appreciated for its merit, not made to directly compete with one another for the popular vote. But certain contests are just too irresistible-- they can be good for publicity and to generate excitement about your work, and sometimes the prizes are quite nice.
After this long couple of months of chipping away at a big stack of freelance work,* I'm still only paying my bills. Sometimes I think it might be nice to earn something besides money, so that I wouldn't feel guilty spending my earnings on some frivolous purchase. Like... SHOES. What? I'm a girl. Deal with it, yo.
So for the next three days, my ad will be up for voting on the Fluevog website. The prize is $1000 in SHOES. Seriously. So if you like my ad and you'd like to help me skip around my studio in a few new shoesies, please take a minute and vote for my ad!
Thank you.
~~ VOTE HERE ~~
*Here's a big ol' preview of a few of the freelance jobs I did in the last month or so:
( DRAWINGS THAT I DID ) |
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