Easing into the week with Jesjit Gill on riso printing, something new from Gabby Shultz, a Rowhouse Residency experience, more on Annie Koyama’s recent gift to the BICLM, and the latest strips from our team of daily cartoonists!
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Frank Santoro interviews Jesjit Gill of Colour Code Printing for Part 2 of his Risograph Workbook on The Comics Journal.
“FS: What is your risograph origin story? When did you first encounter risograph? I assume you were interested in printmaking before you discovered riso printing.
Jesjit Gill: I studied printmaking, primarily screenprinting, at OCAD in Toronto. After graduating I did a residency at AS220 in Providence, Rhode Island, where I got to learn how to use a small offset press. While I was there I visited Mickey Zacchilli and saw a riso for the first time. I think I had a vague idea of what they were but when I saw one working for the first time it blew me away. At that time it perfectly encapsulated what I loved about screenprinting and what I wanted to get out of offset printing, but it was so much easier to handle in terms of costs, materials, and space. As soon as I got home from the residency, I was on the lookout for a used riso and soon after I went splits on one with Patrick Kyle and Michael Deforge.“
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Adam Griffiths offers a detailed report of his experiences in Pittsburgh during a Comics Workbook Rowhouse Residency. He found that a new environment, distanced from his normal spaces and routines, brought greater focus.
“I felt very concentrated on completing the work, and was very satisfied with the quality of the drawings. Part of focusing on completion has nothing to do with how fast you’re working – it’s more like being a kind of live television actor with floor marks that you need to hit during scenes. If you miss the mark, or a line, you play through anyway, and plot to sneak in the part you meant to express later. I would work on a page for as long as I could – if I hit a dead end, I’d go to the mini-library I’d set up on the floor in the front room and look through comics until I was ready to start working again. The privacy of the Rowhouse made that feasible – I just kind of tore all over the place unrelentingly, joyfully.“
For more details about our residency program visit this page or email santoroschoolATgmail.com
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Gabby Shultz has a “sudden unexpected new book for sale”…! He writes on his blog:
“Alec Longstreth’s bizarre, Fitzcarraldo-like obsession with publishing my awful diary comics (previously only seen on this extremely obscure & neglected website) has beaten the odds and reached fruition! A Process of Drastically Reducing One’s Expectations is an almost 400-page collection of the diary comics and doodles i scrawled out in Iowa City and Chicago, during hopefully the most hopeless and miserable period of my life. It (the book) is now for sale *cheap* through Alec’s new Phase 8 imprint…“
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The Comics Reporter has an interview with Annie Koyama about her recent gift of over 250 pieces of original artwork by contemporary American cartoonists to the Billy Ireland Cartoon Library & Museum.
“SPURGEON: Do you remember how the collection stopped being just a few pieces you were buying from friends and people you liked and started having its own weight and momentum? Did that change how you approach your purposes?
KOYAMA: I do. I was at TCAF and I was talking to Jim Rugg. I knew that he was bringing his ballpoint pen drawings for sale and I really loved them. It seemed that no one else was doing that kind of work at the time. After gently berating him for charging too little for his work, I took a couple of pieces home. Looking at them later, I realized how selfish it felt to hold onto those pieces and have very few people ever see them in the flesh. So I started thinking about where I could place them so that anyone could see them. For a while I considered trying to organize a gallery/museum space but then realized how insane it would be to add another full-time job onto what I do now. I need regular reminders that I am not 20 any more, it seems.”
Get a copy of Storeyville HERE!
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Have you seen the trailer yet for Dash Shaw’s My Entire High School Sinking Into the Sea? If not, view it HERE.
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The Spring Semester of the Santoro Correspondence Course for Comic Book Makers is starting soon!
The semester has a rolling start date, but it 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.
More details can be found HERE.
Email santoroschoolATgmail to apply
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Blinkers – 2-27-2017 – by Jack Brougham
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Suzy and Cecil – 2-27-2017 – by Gabriella Tito
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Joanie and Jordie – 2-27-2017 – by Caleb Orecchio
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Cozytown – 2-27-2917 – Juan Fernandez