Comics Workbook

An online magazine for comics makers

Posted in NewsTagged conor stechshulte, emma rios, gato gif competition, hwei lim, jillian tamaki, mirror, tara helfer, tyler landry

Juan Fernández

Posted on February 25, 2016February 25, 2016

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On Reselling Comics

Juan FernándezJune 26, 2018NewsAt Comics Workbook we are testing what it means to be a new kind of learning institution for comic book making. Among the many activities engaged in by Comics Workbook is the selling of comics we publish ourselves and the reselling of comics we have purchased from others. The collecting and reselling of older and out of print comics has been – and continues to be – fundamental to the creation and maintenance of the comics ecosystem through which the medium has advanced and developed over the last half century. This activity laid the groundwork for the creation of the “direct market” for comics, which in turn enabled the establishment of the market for independent, creator-owned and self-published comics that all of us now take for granted and without which Comics Workbook could not exist. We employ a curatorial approach to buying and selling comics. Generally, we comb old mainstream and independent comics offerings wherever we find them – looking for those that contain exemplary work that inform and/or showcase the comics values promulgated here at Comics Workbook. We then display and sell them in a curated fashion, focusing on the work of individual artists – whether they be pencillers, inkers, colorists or, yes, even letterers – and, of course, those artists whose work combine some or all of the aforementioned skills – in order to document the amazing richness and diversity of work in the various comics traditions that it is difficult to successfully parse for the purposes of study without guidance. Among our wares, you’ll find old mainstream and independent comics, rare mini-comics and zines, along with work by contemporary cartoonists and comics makers. When it comes to contemporary work, Comics Workbook often buys comics from individual artists, with the dual intent of both adding the works to the Rowhouse Residency collection and supporting the artists – and small press publishers – from whom we purchase the work. In addition, it is worth noting here that we do not knowingly sell work by contemporary, independent, small press and/or self-published creators that is still readily available from the creator and/or original small press publisher – unless it is by arrangement with said creator or publisher. Otherwise, on those occasions when we resell these works, our intent is to make unavailable works available. Our goal in selling the work of contemporary creators is the same as that of selling older work: to connect comics readers and, particularly, comics makers with works the quality of which we value here at Comics Workbook. On those occasions we choose to resell a comic, we normally sell it at a higher price than paid in order offset the costs involved with maintaining, storing and organizing the collection, as well as the costs associated with connecting readers with these comics, particularly at shows, where set-up costs are often significant, but also online, where listings of individual comics is time consuming and labor intensive. Any profits made over and above these expenses go towards funding our workshops, residency expenses and publishing costs. If you have questions or concerns about our resale policy please address them to Sally Ingraham and Juan Fernandez by emailing sally.ingraham42@gmail.com or fernandez.juan.j@gmail.com Share this page: [...]

Art Trip: The Orlando Museum of Art

Gabriella TitoAugust 12, 2016Art Trip / EssaysThe Orlando Museum of Art is located in Loch Haven Park with the Science Center close by. Their biggest exhibition right now is their Contemporary Art exhibit from May 13th to August 28th. When I visited recently I was pleasantly surprised to find that the the exhibition was extremely diverse, with many female and Latino artists. Of the many artists I saw, it was Maria Martinez-Cañas who stood out to me. She is an artist who works WITH photos but does not really use a camera to take photos. My interest was captured as soon as I walked into the exhibition and saw the faded out prints. Her Vestigios Series is my absolute favorite body of work in the museum. She takes images from Gelatin silver prints or printed pages of books and manually “erases” them with sandpaper, creating a vintage look. Her whole Vestigios Series can be found HERE. I feel like she was trying to find a connection to the past in this series. In the same exhibition room, there was a video of Dawn Roe’s Mountain Field Studies being projected onto the wall (pictured above). I almost felt like I was looking at a comic of fleeting observations of a mountain. In this series, she carefully put together details of a mountain into a series of blocked out images, and even some grids thrown in there! I couldn’t help but think about the observations I make when I’m creating a comic based on the environment around me. When I’m making an observational comic, I’ll usually make broader “statements” at first, meaning I don’t go too much into detail with the environment. These drawings will usually be wide shots of the scene, or even quick silhouettes of the subject matter. Then, I’ll start zooming in more and capturing those details in different ways. I like holding the tempo sometimes and lingering on a subject for a panel or two and then moving on. I apply this concept to other works I make as well and it hasn’t failed me yet! Also, on Dawn Roe’s portfolio site I found something in her statement that I completely resonated with – “This earthly presence is distinct from the seemingly stable, reproducible image – one that persists, suggesting that all matter is sound enough to endure the world’s relentless shifts, however benign or catastrophic.“ In her statement, Dawn talks about the spaces that objects in the world make and that she captures the “unique situations” these objects make. This completely applies to comics as well – not just observational, but the way cartoonists capture moments in time, opinions, a romantic scene, and just about everything you can think of really. You can watch Dawn Roe’s Mountain Field Studies HERE. Throwback to Sally, I also ran into a Georgia O’Keefe piece! Red Hills and White Flower was her featured painting there. I really enjoyed my visit to OMART! There were so many galleries and exhibits there, it was a little mind boggling – but these were just some of the pieces I thought more intensely about. I went in there thinking like a cartoonist, but I also kept my mind open to new thoughts and art forms I had never been exposed to. ————————————————————————————————— Art Trip is a series that features reflections on art and comics, and the adventures that transform those who seek it out. ————————————————————————————————— Gabriella Tito is a cartoonist living in Orlando, FL. She is a graduate of Frank Santoro’s Correspondence Course for Comic Book Makers and a member of the Comics Workbook Roller Derby team. You can find more of her work HERE. Share this page: [...]

08/17/2017

Sally IngrahamAugust 17, 2017NewsSally here with work by Indian cartoonists Sarnath Banerjee, and Appupen – plus a few other comics news notes! ———————————————————————————————— A recent Comics Workbook Rowhouse resident – Javed Haque – brought along a copy of Corridor by Sarnath Banerjee to show us. This comic has been loudly touted as India’s first graphic novel – a masterful publicity move, which, although it is untrue, helped get international eyes on the book and brought good attention and energy to the alt-comics scene in India. The River of Stories by Orijit Sen was published in 1994, and is actually the first Indian graphic novel. Corridor, created by Sarnath Banerjee in 2004, it is set in contemporary Delhi and follows the adventures of 4 characters. At the center of the group is Jehangir Rangoonwala, something of a Socrates wannabe who owns the second hand bookshop where the other characters meet and mingle. Brighu is searching for rare books and maybe an even rarer love. Digital Dutta meanders among his own dreams and ambitions, but makes little progress. Shintu is recently married, and quite caught up in keeping his domestic life spicy. Written and drawn by Sarnath Banerjee (who grew up in Calcutta and Delhi in the 70’s) the artwork is a mixture of black and white drawings, color work, and collage. Banerjee captures Delhi street life and “the psyche of middle-class India” deftly, and with compassionate humor. He has gone on to publish 3 more comics – The Barn Owl’s Wondrous Capers (2007), The Harappa Files (2011), and All Quiet in Vikaspuri (2016). In a great interview from last year on Guernica Magazine, Sarnath Banerjee talks about how he came to make Corridor. He was more of a documentary film maker, but through a string of small miracles he received a version of the McArthur Genius Award, and suddenly had to produce the graphic novel he had accidentally pitched. He actually went to Orijit Sen (who if you recall made India’s true first graphic novel) in the hope that Sen would draw the stories Banerjee had written. He got encouragement and support, but not an artist. So he drew Corridor himself. “I started at the deep end. I learned while writing the book. I started drawing all the time after that. Like a maniac. My ex-wife recently told me that when she was cleaning up our house she found trunks—I had forgotten about this—trunks and trunks full of notebooks on which every surface had been drawn. I drew everything. I drew toasters, air conditioners, chairs, people and flowers. I was a maniac. I drew, drew, drew, drew, drew. And that’s how I learned. Purely by doing. In Japan there’s a phrase for it, it’s called aware karada, which basically means learning through your body. You practice something to the point where you don’t think anymore about it. It just comes out. The brain and hand barrier is absolutely taken out. So I think now I don’t think about my drawing at all. It just comes the way it comes. Another thing that was good about working in this entirely new medium—new to India at least—and not getting published was that it makes you learn everything from scratch. Which is why I feel that every graphic novelist from India—Amruta Patil, Vishwajyoti Ghosh, Orijit Sen, Appupen—is phenomenally original.“ I highly recommend reading the rest of this interview. Banerjee is a very thoughtful and interesting person and there is a crash course on Indian comics, film, and other pop culture to be had just by perusing this conversation. Read it HERE. I’ll be tracking down Banerjee’s other comics asap – and also looking for Orijit Sen’s comic. Sen has been making a ruckus lately with politically charged artwork – a recent article about his work and life can be found HERE. While I’m at it, I may as well link you up to the other comics makers Banerjee mentioned above – here’s Amruta Patil; Vishwajyoti Ghosh – an interview on TCJ; and Appupen. ———————————————————————————————— My research sucked me in and I discovered this comic by Appupen – Dedshort #7: The Ring of the Lord, originally published on Brainded. Appupen wrote: “This classic story has stood the test of time in Halahala. You can clearly see their influence on some popular stories of our world.” More on Appupen, from his website: “Appupen is a comics creator, visual artist and musician who tells stories from a mythical world called Halahala. Armed with a skewed view of the world and a sarcastic bite, he is a unique voice in Indian comics and comics in general. God recently appeared to him and said he needs to push out his comics more and hence this effort. Please help him.” As per this stated mission, there are tons more comics on his site – check them out HERE. ———————————————————————————————— Other News of Note Unaiza Ali Barlas, a 20-year-old Lahore-based cartoonist, has been officially named in the Guinness Book of World Records for creating the world’s longest strip. Her strip is 267.38 metres (877 feet) long! More details HERE. Tara Betts is interviewed on LA Review of Books – she is the editor of the anthology The Beiging of America: Personal Narratives About Being Mixed Race in the Twenty-First Century (which includes work by Pittsburgh cartoonist Rachel Masilamani) – interview HERE. ———————————————————————————————— Suzy and Cecil – 8-17-2017 – by Sally Ingraham ———————————————————————————————— Joanie and Jordie – 8-17-2017 – by Caleb Orecchio Share this page: [...]

12/01/2016

Sam OmbiriDecember 1, 2016NewsToday we have Sam Ombiri with a new comic and his thoughts on rereading, Tyler Landry on the movement in Ronald Wimberly’s comic page layouts, new work by Chris Visions and Tanna Tucker, the POW! Womxn in Comics and Illustration exhibition, details on pre-ordering “The Art of Vanesa R. Del Rey” and your Santoro Correspondence Course reminder, plus the latest “Suzy and Cecil” strip. ————————————————————————————————— ReRun – Sam Ombiri Someone told me that, to them, rereading is like dreaming a dream you’ve had before. This person said it to me like it was something she often did. I’ve never experienced anything like that, where I have a “rerun” of a dream. I could relate to the idea of rereading being like revising a place you’ve been before. I don’t think I can come up with one specific motivation behind rereading. It’s something people do with different motivations. Sometimes rereading is like visiting a place, a kind of copy of the original moment, with intentions maybe of recreating the original feeling. Sometimes (while engaging with work in this manner) I find that I skip ahead to the best parts, then I feel like I’m betraying the re-creation, or maybe the form? I don’t know, but I feel like I’m doing something wrong. Sometimes it’s very fulfilling to read in this manner (of recreating the first reading), and sometimes reading work this way just ruins things. It can get really boring to just validate established feelings. Like really really really really boring. Or maybe not boring, just very bland. I think that’s why my short attention span kicks in, and I flip through mindlessly. Sometimes after going through this I reproach rereading and suddenly what I’m reading is not “ruined”. It’s like if you can be anywhere you want but it’s too dissatisfying and too easy to be everywhere, so any moment you encounter ends up feeling like…unearned? Kind of like how easy it is to get information now. So then it helps to navigate more delicately (that’s probably the wrong word). – Sam Ombiri ————————————————————————————————— Tyler Landry here. Gonna talk about movement in comics page layouts, via the highly energetic work of Ronald Wimberly. Sequences are nabbed from Prince of Cats. Check it out: This sequence shows the beginning of a violent altercation, with heavily weighted forward (left to right) movement, bringing your eye ever-closer to the focus, the point, the unmistakable K-T-T-T- sound of a box-cutter blade being pushed up… At a glance, there’s a powerful “X” slash through this sequence. Corner to corner, face to action/face to action, crossing through the attacker’s antic. We can also interpret, by the facing direction, and the trajectory of character movement, an intention on Ronald’s part to guide our eye along certain lines. Through the 3 horizontal strips, we feel a rhythm to this motion as well – perfectly paced out in corresponding measures. Pink > blue, pink > blue, pink > bl-blue. This next sequence acts like a ball, thrown across the page at first, then bouncing from one figure to another – still with diligent respect for a vertical stack of horizontal movement. I’ve focused mostly on characters, because they are the primarily active elements here, but this sequence leverages the content of its backgrounds beautifully for the assist. Check out the train across the top panels, then the view of the platform in bright yellow in the middle section, hauling your eye heavily towards the bottom right chunk, where tension has been building. The details get smaller, tighter, more condensed, helping you FEEL that something’s about to go down. Different groupings of characters take on different palettes, and different tones to reinforce their presence, and to balance them against each other and their background content. – Tyler Landry ————————————————————————————————— Sally Ingraham here with the news bites! While we’re on the topic, get a copy of Ronald Wimberly’s Prince of Cats from Copacetic Comics (it’s not listed on the website yet, but you can order one over the phone – I can personally vouch for copies of the book being in the shop!) From a recent NPR write-up on the book: “…Wimberly is out to do something more than just combine elements from two compatible genres. He’s clearly aiming to translate the mechanics of hip hop composition into a visual form. In Prince of Cats‘ introduction, University of California media professor John Jennings calls Wimberly a “See-Jay:” Wielding his pen the way a DJ mixes, he mashes up wildly diverse elements into a fresh creation.” – Etelka Lehoczky for NPR.org Read the rest of the review HERE. ————————————————————————————————— If you’re in the Oakland, CA, area be sure to check out the POW! Womxn in Comics & Illustration exhibition at Studio Grand. The opening reception is Dec. 2nd 2016. From the exhibition description: “Comics and illustrations have long been a popular art form, intended to reach the masses. They easily engage audiences by the use of humor, cliffhanging narratives, relatable stories, all through captivating visual narratives. Comics and illustrations have often portrayed womxn in a hyper-sexualized manner and have not shown more developed female characters. Much of this is due to the comic book industry which has historically profiled work written and created by men. POW! seeks to center womxn comics and illustrators who hold the pen and the narrative. This Exhibition centers stories that concern womxn comics and illustrators offering transformative narratives, one where women characters—speaking of mental health struggles, struggles of poverty and survival, isolation, resiliency, sisterhood—are at the forefront. The POW! Exhibition and accompanying events offer a nurturing space of solidarity and healing, letting womxn know that they are not alone in their struggles and resiliency.“ Check out the list of exhibitors HERE. I heard about the event from Tanna Tucker, an illustrator who is turning her focus increasingly towards comics. (She may join us in Pittsburgh next spring for a Rowhouse Residency!) Her recent ongoing projects include a 7-part fantasy comic with Mark Turner and Orpheus Forge Studios called Sea Wulfe – you can check it out HERE. Here’s an “excerpt” from Tanna’s piece at the POW! exhibition: Come see this piece in its entirety next week at the “POW! Womxn in Comics + Illustration” show next Friday @studiograndoakland Listened to Solange the whole way……. • • • • #womxnincomicsandillustration #afrofuturism #comics #illustration #artistsoninstagram #studiogrand #solange #wip A video posted by @t.ann.a on Nov 23, 2016 at 7:44pm PST ————————————————————————————————— Here’s Chris Visions dropping that hot fire! Gotta get back, back to the past– // ChrisVisions.BIGcartel.com, coming tomorrow! // #samuraijack #aku #red #art #comics #process #wip #ink A video posted by Chris Visions (@chrisvisions) on Nov 30, 2016 at 6:19pm PST Follow this link to get yourself one of these “visions in red” but don’t sleep on this – these pages are selling out fast. ————————————————————————————————— Thee great Vanesa R. Del Rey has generously agreed to let Comics Workbook publish selections from her sketchbooks. We designed it to look like a 1980’s comic book artist’s art book. The text is a transcription of an interview she did at The Comics Workbook Rowhouse Residency in 2016. Vanesa is a once in a lifetime talent who studied with George Pratt and who has worked with Grant Morrison. We are offering pre-orders now at a lower price than we will be offering the book for in the new year. Great stocking stuffer. Pre-order your copy of The Art of Vanesa R. Del Rey HERE! ————————————————————————————————— December 1st! That means you have 13 days left to get an application in for the Winter term of the Correspondence Course if you want that sweet “$100 off” discount! More details below. The Winter Semester of the Santoro Correspondence Course for Comic Book Makers starts Dec. 29th 2016! 8 week course – 500 bux – 10 spots available – apply by Dec. 13th 2016 and get $100 off course fee! More details can be found HERE – or email santoroschoolATgmail. Santoro School Application guidelines: -3 figure drawings done on blank 3 x 5 index cards -3 landscape drawings done on blank 3 x 5 index cards -3 still life drawings done on blank 3 x 5 cards -draw in a contour line style – Think Matisse – no under-drawing – draw directly in ink -just send small jpgs of images – dont post to your blog pls -specific url links to any comics work you have done. Send applications to: santoroschoolATgmail ————————————————————————————————— The latest Suzy and Cecil strip by Gabriella Tito! Suzy and Cecil is a collaborative daily comic strip project based on characters invented by Bill Boichel and Frank Santoro. It is primarily drawn by Gabriella Tito and Sally Ingraham, who are teammates in the Comics Workbook Roller Derby League. The strip is part of their continuing development as cartoonists – follow @suzy_and_cecil on Instagram to see the project unfold and keep an eye out for guest strips drawn by other Comics Workbook students and friends! 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03/02/2017

Sally IngrahamMarch 2, 2017NewsSam Ombiri is here today with thoughts on influences and his recent adventures in comics post-production – plus all the Comics Workbook Daily Strips! ————————————————————————————————— Sam Ombiri here – David O’Reilly said something like “it’s real cool for people to hide their influences and to not admit them“, and that “people who refrain from admitting their influences tend to have the most obvious ones“. I think he’s saying that it’s not so important how well one can hide their influence or not be obvious – it’s just a reflection of a certain attitude prominent in certain people. There is something to be said to not wanting to list influences. I recall both Claire Denis and Stefan Burnett saying “listing them seems boring/contrived” after mentioning 2 or 3 things when asked something akin to what other work has shaped their work? I remember reading about the guy who created Mr. Robot – he was listing all his influences in this way that kind of drove me nuts for some reason. He said something like “Taxi Driver for the narration, Breaking Bad for it’s character arc, Blade Runner for its introspection” and such and such. It makes me understand why Matthew Thurber said “All of these shows make me want to vomit in the face of the indoctrinated fool who invariably speaks of them in rapturous tones. I’d rather spend my time cleaning out a ten-year-old Rapidograph, or picking a scab!” (Maybe I don’t understand why but for a moment I can share his sentiment!) Sammy Harkham was saying something akin to “An influence is a thing that if a solution to a problem wasn’t found, it would be a longer winding road in order to find it.” The problem being, trying to figure out how to execute something that’s not entirely clear. It sounded like a really optimistic thing – that art is made with what is already in someone, and is not exactly dependent on what art a person encounters. It seemed a bit of a mystical idea. Sort of “the man at the end of the search” type of deal. It reminded me of the time in The Dance of Reality where Jodorowsky says “Everything you are is already inside you.” Something like that. I remember it more from the trailer than the movie. I don’t remember the movie too well as I haven’t seen it in a couple years, or at least it feels that way. I remember Jodorowsky’s Dad fighting a bunch of Nazis – and this one anarchist not wanting to live in world where dogs wore clothes. I remember other things. I must disagree with what Nicolas Winding Refn said about Jodorowsky’s movies being about what we don’t see. (What Refn actually said was that Jodorowsky’s movies remind him that all movies aren’t about what you see but what you don’t see. Trailers are to a huge extent how he executes this idea, I think. The movies our minds see when we see his trailers and the movies that we see on screen, and all the ideas floating around in the movie that aren’t fully uttered… I think Sammy Harkham said something like “Plot is like a coat room for one to hang ideas in.“ I think really often Sammy’s ideas of cartooning are almost similar to Robert Bresson. Not that his work is like Bresson’s, or completely like Bresson’s – they at times share similar traits. Or at least traits in what Bresson says. I think what Sammy was saying was about what fascinates him in horror films, which sounded very much like stuff that Bresson would talk about. Or this whole thing he says of demilitarized drama, and everything having the same weight, similar to how in Brian Chippendale’s Ninja things aren’t brought so much attention to. How Sammy was talking about cartooning was similar to how Bresson was talking about a virtuoso playing music and how their faces and composure are completely controlled. Or how Sammy was saying he’d rather people’s sadness not be on display for everyone to see – it echoes how Bresson said, “The sadness on people’s faces when you pass them on the street isn’t readily apparent.” They also share similarly mysterious triumphs strictly in themselves. That’s not to say that their work is, I don’t know, too too similar. Maybe Sammy is hiding Bresson’s influence to be cool, ha ha. I know that’s not the case. I think in a way that’s why I link Michael Haneke with Sammy a lot. I’m very certain Bresson had a ton of influence on Haneke. I always in my mind link Harkham with Haneke, for what are highly shallow reasons – not thinking that there are major connections, but a certain extremely specific similarity I see. – Sam Ombiri ————————————————————————————————— The Comics Workbook Rowhouse Residency is a space where cartoonists from out of town can come for a week or more of comics-making intensive – but it is also a space for Pittsburgh’s local cartoonists to “spar” and train. Sam Ombiri stopped by recently for an afternoon tutorial on final production – layout and printing. Over cups of tea and The Lounge Lizards spinning on the record player, he completed his comic Haunted VHS – debuting at the Pittsburgh Indy Comix Expo this April 9th! There’s always something interesting happening around the Rowhouse – comics to read and make and share. Learn more about the Residency program HERE or email santoroschool@gmail.com. ————————————————————————————————— The Spring Semester of the Santoro Correspondence Course for Comic Book Makers is about to start! Although we have a rolling start date this semester, the course will officially kick off on March 7th. We will continue taking applications past that date – Frank is always willing to make it work for your schedule. Just apply! The course is 8 weeks long – 500 bux – payment plans are available. Check out the comic Connor Willumsen made when he took the course – Calgary: Death Milks a Cow! More details can be found HERE or email santoroschool@gmail.com to apply. ————————————————————————————————— Blinkers – 3-2-2017 – by Jack Brougham ————————————————————————————————— Suzy and Cecil – 3-2-2017 – by Sally Ingraham ————————————————————————————————— Joanie and Jordie – 3-2-2017 – by Caleb Orecchio ————————————————————————————————— Cozytown – 3-2-2017 – by Juan Fernandez Share this page: [...]

02/25/2016

Posted on February 25, 2016February 25, 2016 by Juan Fernández

damn, it’s cold and gray in Pittsburgh. Bummer.

Gotta get toasty somehow… thankfully Tara Helfer‘s got a little 10-panel winter ditty for you. Great pantomime of a hungry young troll girl. Interesting, subtle designs that leave you excitedly filling the narrative blanks. It’s the kind of comic that leaves you smiling imagining the before and after of the sequence. Read her comic here.

– Jillian Tamaki has a new comic out on Hazlitt entitled Boundless. She glides through the animal kingdom, giving the reader a taste of what life is like for several critters. The comic is a great empathetic exploration of the human in the natural. No panels, just images and words swimming together. Hop on over to Hazlitt.net to read Boundless.

– Tyler Landry has uploaded the gory, grotesque glory that is Shit and Piss 3 over on Ello. It’s a glorious, carnal, fetid, sumptuously human 16 pages. Beautifully choreographed action, spliced with strong poetic imagery. Dive into the muck and give it a read.

– If you haven’t yet heard through the grapevine, Sally Ingraham and Maggie Umber are hosting a drawing challenge over at the comicsworkbook.tumblr. It’s the Gato Gif Competition.

Do you like to draw?

Do you like cats?

Do you want to win comics books from Comics Workbook and 2dcloud?

Then you best get the inside scoop on the Gato Gif Challenge from Maggie and Sally!

– Emma Rios and Hwei Lim Reflect on their collaboration for their work on Image’s new miniseries Mirror. It’s a standalone narrative where the duos been collaborating in new and leftfield ways, dipping into the experimental waters with gusto. Rios, known as the artist on Pretty Deadly, here writes for Lim. Sit down with the two of them over at Comics Alliance and learn more about their collaboration.

CA: How have you found the collaborative process together?

HL: Emma is incredibly open to all my crazy suggestions, and extremely forgiving of my countless silly questions and backtracking and forgetfulness!

ER: Beyond the obvious beauty of her lines and colors, Hwei’s brilliant narrative, and her ability to make characters feel, have always stood out from anything I’ve ever seen. She turns everything into twice as nuanced with very little, a glance, a wink, a joke… in a way that looks almost effortless and natural. If you don´t draw it’s hard to imagine how difficult that is but, literally, it’s bringing life to the pages.

Analyzing how she is building Mirror, and comparing the result with what I would have done myself is mind-blowing for me as an artist. If I were the one drawing the book, this story would have looked grittier and more disgusting, because I’m rather visceral and sometimes I just can’t restrain myself when drawing violence and similar stuff. But this light she brings … has transformed the story even since before I started writing a single line. It allows us to work on another level, with cuteness and humor, and is taking the tragedy to a whole new level of pain, haha…

The eyes she draws are the saddest eyes, and if they belong to a caged animal, man… I don’t even know how I can even deal with it. Actually I’m always apologizing to her each time I send her stuff that is twisted with a, “Sorry, I’m a horrible person” but she seems to enjoy it.

There’s a nice interview with Conor Stechschulte at Broken Frontier. They dig into lots of really interesting aspects of Conor’s comics making processes and the evolution of his creative interests from his years studying art at MICA with the Closed Captioned Comics crew to present day. Read all the nitty gritty here. [and you can pick up Generous Bosom 1 and 2 at the Breakdown Press online store here. ;)]

With up to 25 panels per page, the pacing of your comics seems very carefully laid out. Do you plan it out carefully?

When I get down to planning the pages, I do work a good deal on it. I think a lot about timing and focus, especially on where the page turns fall. I write out dialog, then thumbnail pages, then do a “Scratch” version of the full-size page, then lightbox the finished drawing from there, and I’m making changes at every stage.

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Comics Workbook

An online magazine for comics makers

Posted in NewsTagged conor stechshulte, emma rios, gato gif competition, hwei lim, jillian tamaki, mirror, tara helfer, tyler landry

Juan Fernández

Posted on February 25, 2016February 25, 2016

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03/21/2017

Aaron CockleMarch 21, 2017NewsAaron here today with Sikoryak; Feiffer/Eisner; Drawing Lessons with Victoria Lomasko; Intensive Publication Intensive; Till Doomsday; Fit to Print. ————————————————————————————————— ‘Other than that, there’s very little in the book that has any connection, visually, to the text.’ Rachel Davies interviewed R. Sikoryak on the occasion of the release of Sikoryak’s Terms and Conditions collection: RD: Both of your most recent projects—Terms and Conditions, and the Unquotable Trump—were first realized online. How does your attitude toward a work change when transitioning it from the internet to something tangible? RS: It’s funny, they were first seen online, but the iTunes project started as a mini comic. I published the first two parts of the iTunes book in April 2015, and I published the second two parts, the finale of the iTunes book, in September 2015. I had been selling them at conventions, and I’d been distributing them a little bit online through a mini comics distributor called Birdcage Bottom, I had gotten them out a little bit and I showed the mini comics to Françoise Mouly, and she said, Oh, you should put these on Tumblr! I did that, and then I sent out an email to everyone I knew in the world, and said, I’m doing this thing! The minute I sent out that email, this was like 20 or 30 days after putting it on Tumblr, the day I sent that email, Boing Boing had done a story, NPR called me to do an interview, The Guardian, all these other places came in, and started writing about it. I tip my hat to Françoise for knowing enough about the internet to tell me to use it. I kind of like to know what my work is before I release it to the world, like the iTunes book, I put out the first mini comic after I’d finished the first half of it—I wanted to stake my claim to it, but I’d already done like 35 pages. By the time I put it on Tumblr I was done, and I was really astounded by the response. I don’t know if it would have been more paralyzing to have seen all those people be very excited about it. It was a little startling to see how fast it clicked in with people. With the Trump book, again I made a mini comic, but this time I already knew I was going to start putting it on Tumblr. But I did make all of it, 16 pages, and I published the comic—published, I photocopied it, and then I put it on Tumblr. The response to that was so great that I was encouraged to make more. In this case, for Trump now [The Unquotable Trump], I’m making images, and posting them on Tumblr, and in some ways I’m certainly open to suggestions, people have , Oh, you should do this or that! But most people don’t have it all thoroughly worked out, so you end up just having to do what you’re doing. I’m certainly keeping my ear open if anyone has any ideas. In the Trump case, I kind of have my approach, and I’ve mapped out where I’m going, but who knows what he’ll say tomorrow! He’s a different case because the iTunes thing is a living document, they do update it, but he’s a living human, and a volatile one, so I don’t know what he’s going to do next. I’m happy if he stops giving me material! I don’t need anymore, but we’ll see what happens. I have to admit, I’m really glad that Françoise suggested Tumblr to me, it’s definitely increased my visibility. I don’t know what I’ll do next online, but I might post my next project there. It is part of what comics are now, and I hadn’t embraced it before. I feel like the iTunes thing in a lot of ways has just made me think about how comics work, and how I can make comics in a new way. I also think that’s what I’m all about is thinking about comics, so it’s definitely achieved way more than I expected it would! – via The Comics Journal ————————————————————————————————— Jules Feiffer Honors Will Eisner at 100: A Will Eisner Week Event The 182nd meeting of the NY Comics & Picture-story Symposium will be held on Tuesday, March 28, 2017 at 8 pm at Parsons School of Design, 2 West 13th Street, in the Bark Room (off the lobby). Free and open to the public. Please note 8 pm starting time! Will Eisner (1917-2005) innovated and pioneered comics in two different eras. Eisner helped invent the comics industry in the 1930s and created The Spirit in the 1940s as a heroic crime-fighting figure who appeared in a Sunday newspaper comics insert. The Spirit walked through a world of noir-inflected, urban drama, one suffused with humor and insight into the human condition, a world not afraid to essay the occasional Yiddish in-joke or Bronx social drama vignette. Then after producing comics for training and education, Eisner, in 1978, re-invented himself―and the medium of comics―with his first graphic novel, A Contract With God, followed, until his 2005 passing, with many additional graphic novels and textbooks. From 1946 until The Spirit’s end in 1952, Eisner counted as part of his close-knit, talented staff, a precocious teenager named Jules Feiffer, who worked on The Spirit and Clifford for Eisner, and also took on the self-appointed role of Eisner’s social conscience and resident smart-ass. In the years since, Feiffer’s own multifaceted career as satirical cartoonist, screenwriter (Carnal Knowledge), playwright (Little Murders) and children’s book author (The Man in the Ceiling)―and most recently, creator of his own trilogy of graphic novels (so far Kill My Mother and Cousin Joseph have been released, with the third volume in the works)―has blossomed in a unique and spectacular manner. But he did get his start with Will Eisner, with whom he was friend and colleague―and admirer―through the rest of Eisner’s life. Tonight, Jules will speak about his experience working for Eisner, what he learned from him and how Eisner influenced his own work, and why Eisner, a century after his birth, is still an important figure in the past, present and future of comics and graphic novels and in our culture as a whole. Jules will speak and present via Skype, and will be joined by in-person panelists, including Paul Levitz (author of Will Eisner: Champion of the Graphic Novel) and Danny Fingeroth (co-editor of The Stan Lee Universe and Chair of Will Eisner Week). ————————————————————————————————— ‘On the outside, I drew cartoon characters.’ Other Russians, by Victoria Lomasko, excerpted at n+1: In August 2010, I visited the Mozhaysk Juvenile Prison for the first time, as a volunteer for the Center for Prison Reform, and gave a drawing lesson to some of the inmates. I taught drawing classes at the girls’ penitentiaries in Novy Oskol and Ryazan and the boys’ penitentiary in Aleksin, but Mozhaysk is the only place I visited more or less regularly. I was originally trained as an educator, and before I came to Mozhaysk I prepared an experimental syllabus with ten lesson plans. There was almost no funding for the trips. We traveled by commuter train, carrying everything we needed for classes in our backpacks, so, with rare exceptions, we used the simplest materials during the lessons: paper and black pens. The Center organized the trips once a month. If you missed a trip, you had to wait for the next time around. There is a constant turnover of inmates at the juvenile prison. Some are released on parole, others are transferred to adult prisons, and new inmates show up all the time. Over a six-month period, the roster of my drawing groups changed completely. Some of the teens were well educated, while others were hearing everything for the first time. Many of them had psychological problems. In short, teaching classes at a penitentiary was tricky: you had to experiment and develop your own lesson plans. ————————————————————————————————— Publication Intensive at Triple Canopy: July 19-30, 2017 Triple Canopy is pleased to announce its fourth Publication Intensive, a two-week program in the history and contemporary practice of publication. During the Publication Intensive, Triple Canopy editors and invited artists, writers, and technologists will lead discussions and workshops with twelve participating students, who will research, analyze, and enact an approach to publication that hinges on today’s networked forms of production and circulation but also mines the history of print culture and artistic practice. The program will take place at Triple Canopy’s venue in Manhattan, and will include visits to studios of artists and designers, archives, and cultural institutions. Apply online through 11:59pm on Monday, April 17 2017. Participants will be notified no later than Friday, April 21. If you have further questions, please write edu@canopycanopycanopy.com. Read a conversation between participants in 2014’s program here. ————————————————————————————————— TILL DOOMSDAY Coming up on March 30th: John Malta & Siobhan Gallagher launch new doomsday anthology zine and Desert Island window installation, and Ezequiel García visits from Buenos Aries to sign his Fantagraphics book “Growing Up In a Public”. One big event Thurs the 30th at 7 pm! Come hang and meet the artists. ————————————————————————————————— FIT TO PRINT Fit to Print brings together a selection of art and editorial illustration created by 17 graduates of the Haute école des arts du Rhin (H.E.A.R.) in Strasbourg, one of the preeminent art schools in France. First presented at the Tomi Ungerer Museum in Strasbourg from January–April 2016, the exhibition debuts in New York in two parts — one at the Society of Illustrators, and another at The New York Times. Since 2012, The New York Times’s Opinion section has commissioned more than 100 illustrations from H.E.A.R.-educated artists to accompany a wide range of articles, or “All the News That’s Fit to Print,” in the words of the famous Times slogan. These artists caught the art directors’ attention with their excellent drawing and printmaking skills, strong sense of visual storytelling, and an often surreal, poetic approach to composition and concept. On view here is a selection of the artists’ personal and collaborative projects, primarily created for galleries or self-initiated publications. The exhibition continues at The New York Times with a collection of the artists’ commissioned illustrations. My hope is that these two shows demonstrate the power of editorial illustration, not only in its functional role as visual communication, but also as a unique form of fine art. – Alexandra Zsigmond, curator and art director at The New York Times ————————————————————————————————— Among many interesting offerings on the CW School Store is this set of comics (above) by Jake Terrell and GG – check it out here and explore the rest of the site while you’re there! ————————————————————————————————— A Cosmic Journey – 3-21-2017 – by Cameron Arthur ————————————————————————————————— Suzy and Cecil – 3-21-2017 – by Gabriella Tito ————————————————————————————————— Joanie and Jordie – 3-21-2017 – by Caleb Orecchio Share this page: [...]

06/30/2016

HarrisonJune 30, 2016NewsJune 30th 2016, Harrison is filling your doggie bag with scenes from Chicago, a classic format returning, darkness on television, sex and mystery, and the ten greatest songs of June 30th 2016. Starships and Rockets LOVE AND ROCKETS: THE MAGAZINE returns! Gilbert and Jaime Hernandez to revive their beloved series. The new Love and Rockets marks Gilbert and Jaime’s return to the “floppy” format for the first time in a decade and will measure 8 ½” x 10 ¾”, with at least 32 pages per issue, retailing at $4.99. Get all the details on the Flog. Shadows “But one problem with the wave of technological change that has made dark lighting easy and cheap for filmmakers is that it doesn’t translate to all television sets. Old televisions did a better job of rendering dark colors than modern ones. Detail that’s visible on an expensive television disappears on a cheap one, and suddenly Game of Thrones is indecipherable. The same is true when a television is viewed in a brightly-lit room or from an angle: Dark scenes lose more detail than bright ones. There’s a reason Best Buy doesn’t have The Godfather playing on their wall of TVs show. (There’s also a reason they were running The Dark Knight in their more dimly-lit Magnolia showrooms for years, directed at people willing to buy their most expensive models.)” Read about Darkness. There is no try – Watching the George Lucas Fiasco “When plans to develop the Presidio site were shelved, Lucas went looking for a new city. Enter Rahm Emanuel. Lucas found an eager suitor in the mayor, who offered up a lakefront site in Grant Park and a sweetheart lease. And clearly the mayor provided Lucas something else, too, something the filmmaker was very accustomed to receiving in Hollywood, but certainly didn’t get in San Francisco: brash creative freedom.” Read about a mess. Dr. Paracletus! “You spoke of love. But I loved you! It was like sinking into a quicksand for me….” The Trash Twins Sarah Horrocks and Katie Skelly published THE COMPLETE AGENT 73 yesterday. Click below for cigs, sex, mystery, eyepatches, thigh highs, revolvers, and colors. Read it all here THE TEN GREATEST SONGS OF JUNE 30,2016 De La Soul “Ego Trippin’ Part Three (Egoristic Mix)” (1994) Young Thug “OD” (2015) Aphex Twin “Bodmin 3” (2009) Max Roach “Effi” (1968) Milton Nascimento “Volver a Los 17 (Violeta Parra) feat. Mercedes Sosa“ Jazmine Sullivan “Let It Burn” (2014) VAGUE001 “got em’ buzzing“ halpe “emerald“ Moses Sumney “Pleas“ Beyankha “Stones“ Share this page: [...]

02/07/2017

Aaron CockleFebruary 6, 2017NewsAaron here today with Roman Muradov; ‘Elitist Empathy’; What we talk about when we talk about ‘A study of issues relating to the collection, care, and accessibility of zines in institutional and alternative collections in the UK’; 2 Robs at TCJ, writing about comics; Ley Lines; INK BRICK; Furie explains Pepe, Pepe explains Furie ————————————————————————————————— Roman Muradov on How I Didn’t Write Certain of My Books To hell with narrative and self-expression! Instead: constraints and repetition (and repetition)! This talk sets Idleness against Inspiration, and namedrops an indecent number of French names in the process. Reader, attend!! The 176th meeting of the NY Comics & Picture-story Symposium will be held on Tuesday, Feb. 7, 2017 at 7pm at Parsons School of Design, 2 West 13th Street, in the Bark Room (off the lobby). Free and open to the public. Roman Muradov is an award-winning illustrator and the author of (In A Sense) Lost & Found, Jacob Bladders and the State of the Art and the End of A Fence, as well as a French collection Aujourd’hui Demain Hier. He has a Gold Medal from the Society of Illustrators, a habit of long aimless walks, and an imaginary dog named Barchibald. ————————————————————————————————— NOTHING LEFT TO LEARN 13 nearly 60 pages of content regarding race, post-liberal America, and the election. essays and rants from Jason Lee illustrations by Laura PallMall “Things That Kill More Americans than ISIS” SPECIAL INSERT: for the first time in print “Greek Church,” a 15 page comic by PallMall for an extra 25 dollars you can purchase the original drawing of any illustration from the zine. please email laurapallmall at gmail dot com before ordering this option to confirm the availability of your desired drawing. 50% of all proceeds from this zine forever will go to CAIR. NOW AVAILABLE FOR PRE-ORDER. ————————————————————————————————— Zines in the Academy? Siobhan Britton’s University College London’s dissertation, What we do is secret? A study of issues relating to the collection, care, and accessibility of zines in institutional and alternative collections in the UK, has been posted for your downloading/reading pleasure. Here is the abstract: Fanzines, or ‘zines’ are self published magazines with small print runs, where the entire process from creation to distribution is done by the maker and generally not created for profit. Their subject matter can be almost anything. They are distinctly anti-commercial a, often acting as an outlet for alternative or marginalised voices, which are often ignored by mainstream publishing. The UK has a strong zine culture, and an increasing number of libraries here are developing zine collections. There are also a number of alternative spaces such as self organised zine libraries and anarchist social centres which do the same thing. The first chapter sets out the context of the dissertation, and flags up the fact that most of the research and literature about zine collections in both institutional and alternative spaces is very USA-centric. As a result the study of UK zine collections is important in terms of the focus of this dissertation. Chapter two considers the way that zines might be defined. Using a combination of face to face and written interviews with people responsible, and fieldwork in the form of visits, this dissertation examines a selection of both institutional and alternative zine collections located in UK and examines how they collect, care for, and make accessible their collections in the third and fourth chapters. The concluding chapter draws examines the issues that UK institutional and alternative zine collections face, including the argument for and against collecting zines at all. Although this study does not consider every institutional or alternative zine collection in the UK, and therefore cannot be considered comprehensive, it aims to give an idea of the range of collections that exist here. ————————————————————————————————— Dueling Roberts at The Comics Journal Rob Kirby reviews the recent Spanish Fever anthology, edited by Santiago Garcia: The talent roster in Spanish Fever ranges from well-known pros like Miguel Gallardo and Max, to newer artists like Ana Galvañ and Clara-Tanit Arqué. There’s a wide variety of narrative and visual styles, ranging from traditional underground comix to the ubiquitous European “big nose” style to work that would look at home in an American minicomic. In subject matter, the stories range from autobiographical, political, and quotidian to surreal and just flat-out weird. It’s an eclectic stew that comes together agreeably, making a good case for the vibrancy of the Spanish comics scene, though a few weaknesses keep it from being a truly top-notch compendium. In his introduction, Eddie Campbell notes that the new Spanish comics all share the importance of authorial voice, i.e., that they feature characters that are pure expressions of the authors, beholden to no meddling publishers or corporations. Garcia’s forward to the collection extrapolates on this theme, offering a mini-history of Spain’s comics leading to its current artistic renaissance amid the country’s current economic crisis. And Rob Clough gives a characteristically comprehensive run-down of some short-form comics highlights from 2016: 26. Faded Frankenstein, by E.A. Bethea. Bethea’s scratchy, scrawled line is a perfect complement for her poetic and heartfelt prose about missing friends, fading memories, and the images of jobs past. 27. Zebidiah Part 3, by Asher Z. Craw. Part autobio story about embracing one’s identity as a trans person, and part magical realist adventure, the genius of the story is the way Craw wrapped both up together in telling the tale of Zebediah and Eula-Lee, who were pursued by the forces of evil into their modern-day incarnations as Asher and Lillie (Craw’s actual wife) Craw. 28. Paper Pencil Life #4, by Summer Pierre. This is a clearly written and cartooned collection of diary strips about life as an artist, a mother and sharp observer of the world around her. 29. Sorgin, by Amelia Onorato. This is an immaculately constructed and heartbreaking story about genocide and resistance, told with a humane and restrained touch. 30. Self, by Meghan Turbitt. This is a warped, hilarious deconstruction of trashy women’s magazines reorganized around Tubitt’s own personal obsessions. ————————————————————————————————— ART, CULTURE, AND SOCIETY COMICS Ley Lines 2017 Subscription Ley Lines is a quarterly publication dedicated to exploring the intersection of comics and the various fields of art & culture that inspire us. Each issue features a different artist’s take on a different subject matter taken from the larger context of art making, past and present. Our 2017 Ley Lines are: Tommi Parrish on William Blake/Lydia Lunch (February 2017) Eric Kostiuk Williams on Kylie Minogue (May 2017) Shreyas R Krishnan on Abida Parveen (August 2017) Evan Dahm on the Surrealists (November 2017) Price includes shipping!(additional shipping applies for orders outside the US). Subscriptions include new 2″ vinyl sticker designed by Eric Kostiuk Williams. Each issue is 24 pages, 1 color risograph printing by Issue Press, half-letter size, saddle stitch binding. ————————————————————————————————— POETRY COMICS INK BRICK’s FIRST KICKSTARTER IS LIVE! Starting this fall, our journal issues will debut in bookstores across the country! To celebrate this milestone, we’ve invited some of our favorite cartoonist-poets to create a special issue. We’re crowdfunding it, and we need your help to support comics poetry and grow this movement. ————————————————————————————————— The iconic frog’s original creator finally clearly defines his enigmatic brainchild, once and for all ————————————————————————————————— Learn more about the Rowhouse Residency and apply HERE – join us for a week or two in Pittsburgh, PA, and take your comics making to a new level! ————————————————————————————————— The Cosmic Journey – 2-7-2017 – by Cameron Arthur ————————————————————————————————— 2-7-2017 – by Jack Brougham ————————————————————————————————— Suzy and Cecil – 2-7-2017 – by Gabriella Tito ————————————————————————————————— Joanie and Jordie – 2-7-2017 – by Caleb Orecchio ————————————————————————————————— Cozytown – 2-7-2017 – by Juan Fernandez Share this page: [...]

10/18/2018

Juan FernándezOctober 18, 2018Festivals and Shows / NewsJuan here with a mid-October weekend recap: the Idea Factory and the Eighth Annual Pittsburgh Zine Fair Last weekend was a brilliant doozy here in Pittsburgh. I mentioned that it was a busy one, so you knew something was coming! I was programmatically double booked, with a cartooning program, the Idea Factory, from 10am-4pm at the Children’s Museum on Saturday and Sunday, and then as one of the head organizers of the Pittsburgh Zine Fair the zine fair’s annual mixer and reading from 4pm-7pm and the main zine fair event from 2-8pm. Combining the setting up, the striking, the picking up of a U-haul and tables Sunday morning at 6am… It was a lot. Thankfully, I wasn’t afraid to ask for help and got the much-needed assistance from the cartooning team that I scheduled at the museum, and my fellow zine fair organizers. Thank you so much. I was anxiously going over all possible scenarios, load-ins, transitions, shifts at the museum, and above all the zine fair set up. This anxiety filled all last week, so I’m happy to say that it all went swimmingly. I hate that feeling of anxiety trying to get all of your ducks in a row while an event looms ahead, especially when certain things can only come together last minute, but it’s that feeling that drives me to be careful and make sure that everything goes without a hitch. Especially when you’re in a sequence of weekend that all follow each other, in this case, SPX and CXC happening every other preceding weekend… We made it through folks! The Idea Factory was a concept that I came up with Zena Ruiz, the Children’s Museum of Pittsburgh’s Program Manager. The idea was to create a playful space for an imaginary patent office for contraptions. The goal was to come with ideas for Rube Goldberg style contraptions and draw out blueprints for these contraptions, live, and for kids to take them home to decorate their homes. This process was to be a collaborative one between children visiting the museum and local cartoonists. I was the ringleader of this drawing circus. On hand I had a great crew that comprised of Jennifer Lisa, Audra Stang, Asia Bey, Caleb Orecchio and Camden Yandel. They were my brilliant inventors. When visiting the Idea Factory, the kids found prompts on colored paper all around the room. These prompts invited them to make a contraption that did a certain thing, buttered toast, brushed a horse’s hair, fed a goldfish, etc. They did this on letter size sheets of white paper. When they were done, they brought their finished draft to the inventor/cartoonists. Children were visiting the museum with their parents so my team had plenty of parental assistance when kids were confused, stuck or needed a snack. For my crew of cartoonists, their primary role was to work with kids to take their ideas to JUMBO size with writing and clear drawing. Using a big black marker, the cartoonists reviewed over the drawings with the kids asking them about what they drew. How one part connected to the next part and the next part. This was done by having the child work witht the constraints in the prompts and arrive at a workable silly or serious, though usually silly, drawing. Then they went up to the cartoonists and described their machine. The cartoonist the wrote down the play by play in the tradition of Rube Goldberg’s cartoons. Then they worked together to draw, color and label the jumbo blueprint version of their machine. It was REAL. This was essentially a writing and editing exercise that allowed children to see how their ideas translated across forms. Of course, that was all going on under the hood. On the surface, the kids were drawing their inventions with inventors! It was such a blast. Besides having fun, the underlying goal was to create a collaborative moment between adult and child of communication and collaborative work – where the child could see their idea fleshed out by someone else. In this sense, it would allow them to be listened to. That their ideas are worthy of attention. This sense of validation is very important to me in the workshops that I lead, with both adults and children. All of this in the tradition of Fred Rogers. A huge thank you to Zena for inviting us to spend these two amazing days at the museum during Rube Fest. Another huge thank you to museum staff who were always on hand to solve any problems that came up! What else? Well, the Pittsburgh Zine Fair returned to its home base, the Union Project on Sunday! Naturally, by this point of the weekend I was beat. All of the previous week, I was on the verge of tears balancing all of this stuff all of last week on top of my day job and getting some sleep. I can’t tell you what a relief it was at 4pm when my old radio pal, dj extraordinaire Allison Cosby stepped up to the plate play a set of reggae and dub on WRCT Pittsburgh’s mobile rig. It was bliss. The sun was beaming in through the stained glass windows, the dub warmed my body with its groove, the wall of noise of chatter fluttered around me. People were smiling, trading, spending money, eating tacos, catching up, meeting for the first time. In all the wretched isolation that comics creates as a commodity form, these moments are what I live for. People really sweetly asked if I had some new comics and zines and I smiled that I’d been busy with other work. Thankfully, they got it. In it’s eight iteration, the zine fair is a real community production. For example we don’t get access to the space until 1pm, so the first 15 minutes is us all collectively working together to get all 38 tables set up and to get all exhibitors in their spots! It’s a zine fair so we fly low to the ground and are super agile/flexible. Despite that, it was still a super stressful 15 minutes this year. Thankfully, exhibitors Max Gonzalez and Jerome Charles stepped up and helped me direct folks to where tables needed to go. And, as per usual everyone was game to lend a hand and make it happen. And, make it happen we did. Thom Delair, Raiona Gaydos, Jennifer Lisa and Kate Harmon all pitched in and helped things flow during the fair where we received 790+ attendees from 2-8pm. Wild. We were all wearing many hats that day, organizer Christina Lee was hustling her wares and repping her new print studio, Pullproof Studio, and organizer-on-hiatus/ new-momma Maggie Negrete was there showering her yet-to-be-month-old Mora in the glow of zines. It was a family affair. We were lucky to have Di-ay Battad snapped some photos right as we opened our doors: We’re proud of how affordable we can keep table fees. We charge $10 for a 1/2 table and $20 for a full, this is thanks to our low overhead and the great relationship we have with our host site, the Union Project. This important to me personally. This cost allows people to experiment with publishing techniques, commit to publishing things and ideas that are hard to sell, while ensuring that they won’t have to dig themselves out of a financial hole because of their self-publishing. This year we received 143 applicants but could only offer spots to 64 exhibitors -ACK – this put us in a pickle as to our curatorial process. Above all we wanted, as we always do, to uplift the work and voices of marginalized makers while creating a fertile and ecologically diverse intellectual and artistic landscape in Pittsburgh. The head organizers got together + 6 volunteers and we evaluatde our applicants along several axes to arrive at our 64. It went smoother than any prior year, but it was a whirlwind of a process. Though it wasn’t easy, but it seems to have been successful as multiple people came to me explicitly to tell me how much they enjoyed the variety of zinesters on hand. It’s important to take note, this is a zine fair, not comics show, not an art book fair. There’s nothing inherently wrong about those things, but there are some things that inevitably get lost in those spaces. Aesthetics and popularity before community and empowerment, more often than not. At the Pittsburgh Zine Fair, we hold in highest regard the idea of democratic multiple and the self-authorization that zines give our community of makers. A high school poet who has been exhibiting at the fair for 3 years now mentioned that she wants to work with the zine fair to organize a high school zine fair in the coming year. What could be more exciting than that? That’s what I’m here for. -juan 10/18/2018 – by Fifi Martinez Cement Mixer 296 – by Caleb Orecchio – 10/18/2018 Share this page: [...]

06/07/2016

Aaron CockleJune 6, 2016NewsAaron Cockle with Oliver East Comics; C.A.K.E. 2016; Moholy-Nagy; Exercises in Style; 5,000 km per second; Peter Kuper; Vintage Vintage Contemporaries; AI DMCA ————————————————————————————————— CW’s Featured Comics continues this week with Oliver East’s Cottonopolis, from 2014-2015. ————————————————————————————————— Chicago Alternative Comics Expo (CAKE) Saturday-Sunday, June 11-12, 2016, 11am–6pm Center on Halsted, 3656 N Halsted, Chicago IL USA FREE and open to the public! Panels & Workshops ————————————————————————————————— László Moholy-Nagy at the Guggenheim ————————————————————————————————— Matt Madden on Exercises in Style ————————————————————————————————— Lauren Weinstein and Mike Dawson on Manuele Fior’s 5,000 km per second ————————————————————————————————— Peter Kuper Deconstructing Comics ————————————————————————————————— Vintage Vintage Contemporaries For book art nerds, a look at the line of Vintage Contemporaries softcovers from the 1980’s-1990’s, cover designer Lorraine Louie, lots of books, author quotes, lots of process, over at the Talking Covers blog. ————————————————————————————————— Do Androids Dream of Androids Dreaming of Electric Sheep? Last week, Warner Bros. issued a DMCA takedown notice to the video streaming website Vimeo. The notice concerned a pretty standard list of illegally uploaded files from media properties Warner owns the copyright to — including episodes of Friends and Pretty Little Liars, as well as two uploads featuring footage from the Ridley Scott movie Blade Runner. Just a routine example of copyright infringement, right? Not exactly. Warner Bros. had just made a fascinating mistake. Some of the Blade Runner footage — which Warner has since reinstated — wasn’t actually Blade Runner footage. Or, rather, it was, but not in any form the world had ever seen. Instead, it was part of a unique machine-learned encoding project, one that had attempted to reconstruct the classic Philip K. Dick android fable from a pile of disassembled data. -via Aja Romano at Vox ————————————————————————————————— Share this page: [...]

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