Comics Workbook

An online magazine for comics makers

Posted in NewsTagged 2dcloud, ignorant bliss, julian lytle, kayla e, lambda literary awards, nat. brut, nick gazin, peter bagge, rocky hadadi, spitandahalf

Juan Fernández

Posted on March 8, 2016March 8, 2016

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09/15/2017

Sally IngrahamSeptember 14, 2017NewsSally here at Small Press Expo with much more to come – but also some comics news from beyond these hotel walls…! ———————————————————————————————— Small Press Expo begins tomorrow! The Comics Workbook crew has arrived a bit early, and we’re taking today to finish plotting our workshops (full details on the workshops can be found HERE), and lay claim to a corner of the hotel restaurant. Tomorrow, find us at table N9 in the exhibitor’s hall, alongside the likes of Jim Rugg, and Andrew White, or downstairs in the official workshop space – the Glen Echo Room. I’m excited to encounter the great lineup of Special Guests – including Eleanor Davis, Jillian Tamaki, Ann Telnaes, Tillie Walden, Emil Ferris, Hannah K. Lee, Sloane Leong, Gabrielle Bell, Janet Lee, and Anais Depommier – plus many more! Between a terrific programming schedule, an Exhibitor’s hall packed with talent, the always exciting Ignatz Awards (presented by Caitlin McGurk!), and the gathered comics rabble, it’s sure to be a fun weekend. We will be reporting on the show via the Comics Workbook Instagram feed – @comicsworkbook. Live vicariously, or perhaps we’ll see you there. ———————————————————————————————— Elsewhere in the comics world…(mostly) Lynda Barry suspects that smartphones are hampering creativity by inhibiting boredom, loneliness, and and uncertainty – get into her head and maybe take what she says to heart – HERE on Open Culture. Sara Lautman writes about being an Ignatz Awards juror this year – includes mini reviews of 10 of her picks – read about it HERE. I (Sally Ingraham) was interviewed on The Comics Beat earlier this week – part of The SPX Interview series put together by Philippe Leblanc – read about my teaching, and thoughts on drawing Suzy & Cecil HERE. Sophia Foster-Dimino is on the most recent Inkstuds – listen to it HERE. Katie Skelly on Artist Spotlight: Beyond the Longbox Episode 8 – here’s the “A-side“, and here’s the “B-side“. Vanesa Del Rey‘s sketchbook collection, published by Comics Workbook last December, is reviewed as a Staff Pick at Orbital – read about The Art of Vanesa R. Del Rey here. Creative Women’s Circle talks with Mirranda Burton, an Australian print maker and cartoonist – HERE. The Comic Art Workshop 2017, a residency for comics makers in Jogja, Indonesia, takes place this October. This residency is specifically for emerging artists from Australia, New Zealand and Indonesia, and this autumn it will feature the assistance of Sarah Glidden and Sonny Liew. Keep it in mind if you are a cartoonist from the Asian-Pacific part of the world – the next residency will take place in 2019. If your SPX shopping list still needs some added suggestions, here’s a list from Just Indie Comics of 10 debut works – including new comics by Comics Workbook alumni Andrew White, Warren Craighead, and Connor Willumsen. GG‘s new comic from Koyama Press – I’m Not Here – is previewed and reviewed on the A.V. Club. Here’s a comic by Katie Fricas on The New Yorker – The Smells of Capitalism. Rob Clough made a list of 10 artists to check out out at SPX, and most of them are women – check it out HERE. ———————————————————————————————— Suzy and Cecil – 9-15-2017 – by Gabriella Tito Share this page: [...]

04/08/2016

Sally IngrahamApril 8, 2016NewsSally here with the good news from Retrofit, the Bad Boyfriends collection, and comics from Amanda Hamilton, Disa Wallander, and Jonathan Yee to send you into the weekend with light feet – plus Gabriella Tito on Audra Stang’s new piece! ————————————————————————————————— Kicking things off with a couple of forays into comics that’ll give your Friday a colorful start! From Amanda Hamilton comes this piece in marker – a new medium for her, and one that seems to suit! The comic came about “…during one very anxious night where it was too noisy to sleep. I was inspired…to do something with markers instead of colored pencils and I had a set of Rose Art neon markers I thought would be good to convey that jarring, discordant feeling and combine the colors in interesting ways.” ————————————————————————————————— Next up, something from Jonathan Yee – Jonathan made this comic last weekend at PIX, during a Comics Workbook workshop with Juan Fernandez and Frank Santoro. ————————————————————————————————— Gabriella Tito taking a turn here! Attention: Audra Stang is branching out into new territory (following her recent wrap up of “Love Me Like An Autograph“) with her new comic “April 2008“ (see panel above). Most noticeably, in her recent series taking place in the fictional town “Star Valley”, is her change in technique! Instead of using bold line art for her characters and traditional color, she’s now transitioning into using sleek pencil shading without too many lines – and I think it’s absolutely fabulous. Audra keeps the style current with light digital color overtones, not breaking the mood and flow even the slightest. Once again, check out my good friend Audra’s new comic HERE! ————————————————————————————————— Back to Sally, with the stellar news that Retrofit did it! All those lovely books will be coming out soon – including the title above by Sophie Franz – with the first ones hitting the world in May. Congratulations! ————————————————————————————————— Bad Boyfriends is out now. It has comics by Cathy G. Johnson, Celine Loup, Hannah Kaplan, Laura Lannes, Julia Gfrörer, Laerte Coutinho, Mariana Paraizo, Paula Puiupo and Hazel Newlevent (above). This collection is important and gut wrenching – available as a free download HERE, and for sale as a physical copy HERE. ————————————————————————————————— Disa Wallander posted a cute spring comic, which offers a glimpse of sunlight unlike anything I personally have seen recently…! Spring is around here, somewhere. ————————————————————————————————— Something to take with you into the weekend – Practice your craft, whatever it may be, stay nimble and sharp and badass! Catch you later – Sally and Gabriella Share this page: [...]

07/09/2018

Caleb OrecchioJuly 9, 2018NewsCaleb Orecchio here with brief thoughts on Steve Ditko, and other news! ————————————————————————————————— You’ve probably heard by now that Steve Ditko has passed away. Thee great Steve Ditko. I’ve been going through my annual Ditko obsession these past few months which makes his passing all the more surprising. For a while, I’d figured he’d live forever–and he will, being survived by his work. Often, I can’t decide if I’m more in awe of his strange imagination, his incredible storytelling chops, his amazing formalistic skills or his unstoppable work ethic. Ditko is a true inspiration to cartoonists, or at least to this cartoonist. I could go on and on, but am wary of adding to the noise. “What can be said that hasn’t been said before?” I’ve already written multiple columns about Ditko’s work and will continue to do so, so I’ll not exhaust my praise and admiration here. I constantly find new challenges as a cartoonist, formalistically and idealistically, in Ditko’s work. I am constantly blown away by the man’s innumerable innovations. I am sure he is on the Astral Plane, navigating the cosmos with the other long-lost comic book greats. Or maybe not. I wouldn’t be surprised if he’d spend the afterlife working in isolation, and mastering his art as he did in this life. Below are three of my favorite Ditko spreads lately. Two of which I’ve written about on this site. ————————————————————————————————— ————————————————————————————————— ————————————————————————————————— ————————————————————————————————— if you don’t know, now you know Michael Dean has written an obituary for Ditko over at TCJ.com. Also on TCJ.com, an obituary for Harlan Ellison (also by Dean), along with the infamous 1979 Comics Journal interview with Gary Groth. In case you are curious what The Comics Reporter’s latest Five For Friday was… Scott Cederlund on Young Frances by Hartley Lin at Panel Patter. Robin McConnell has read some comics recently, and talked to Mariko Tamaki. Finally, on TCJ’s latest installment of Retail Therapy, we get a look at Mission Comics. Share this page: [...]

Frank’s Soapbox plus Philly Scene Report

Frank SantoroOctober 9, 2011Riff Raff / Scene ReportsOhhh, I gotta preach up in here! I can’t take it anymore, Lord, help me find the strength to control myself! They make me so angry – I wanna get all Old Testament on them. Fire. Brimstone. Who? You! Every week you come here and read this column – but what do you do? You just take, take, take. What’s happening in your comics scene? Do you have a comics scene? Well, why not? Is the Wednesday comics scene all you’ve got? Then you gotta do more. I live out in the middle of nowhere and I bend over backwards to bring you CONTENT week after week. And you just link to me on your blog or tumblr. Tweet about this post. Oh, wow, thanks, champ. You do so much. Where would we be without you? Go write a review of some corporate comic book brand like it matters. I love all comics. But I want a divorce. No more superhero comics. Ever. As historical documents – fine. Kirby? Yes, all day. But don’t talk to me about what DC or Marvel is doing today. I don’t give a shit. Playtime is over. Crisis on Infinite Fanzines Blogs. So, within the hallowed walls of this venerable institution – The Comics Journal – I am devoting more space towards local scene reports. Up with local comics scenes. Down with Marvel. Down with DC. Boycott Disney. Boycott Time Warner. Up with writing about small press comic books. No more writing about Marvel and DC comic books. At all. Ever. A pox on the houses of the Big Two. TOO BAD, SO SAD, BYE BYE. ————————- INTERMISSION FUNNIES with MICHAEL DEFORGE ———————— Philly Scene Report By Ian Harker At the center of the Philly underground comics scene is the Philly Comix Jam. The jam started as an informal drinking and drawing session in the fall of 2007. While jam comics are still drawn at the meetups, the monthly gathering now serves primarily as a networking and brainstorming session for local cartoonists. Before the jam, there was very little infrastructure in Philly for anything that could be described as an alternative comics scene. From Comix Jam has sprung various projects such as the free tabloid Secret Prison, the Philly Alternative Comic Con, and upstart publisher Retrofit Comics, which have all helped Philly’s developing cartoonists find a broader context for their work. Jam regulars include veteran cartoonists such as Art Baxter and Terry LaBan, young cartoonists in full stride such as Box Brown and Pat Aulisio, and newcomers like the girls of the Dirty Diamonds mag. Institutions vital to the Philly scene include the comic shops Brave New Worlds and Locust Moon Comics. Brave New Worlds is a mainstream-centric comic shop in the gallery section of Old City. BNW has a great gallery space featuring local comic art in the front of the shop that regularly draws hundreds of visitors during First Friday festivities. Locust Moon Comics, by contrast, is a smaller DIY operation in University City that is always happy to stage events for local artists looking for an excuse to drink cheap beer. Other important spaces include the world renowned SPACE 1026, which often features great art comics work from around the world; Pterodactyl Philly, a great gallery space that moonlights as the small run digital press Fireball Printing; and Cha Cha-razzi, a studio space that has recently hosted various comics-meet-music events. Important figures in the scene include the aforementioned Art Baxter, who organized the Comix Jam for close to 3 years and is a source of unlimited wisdom in the craft of comic making; double Ignatz winner Box Brown, by far the most productive cartoonist of the bunch, whose Retrofit Comics venture looks to revive the alternative floppy; and Pat Aulisio, up-and-coming artist and organizer of Philly Alternative Comic Con, who lends the scene its “Yeah Dude” street cred. Orbiting on the perimeter of all of this, of course, is comics legend Charles Burns, whose appearance at any local event serves as the ultimate blessing from the Alt-Comic olympians. Oh yeah, and Robert Crumb was from Philly, so take that New York! ——————- Frank here again…Don’t forget! I’m starting a cartooning correspondence course. An 8-week workshop. Application deadline is October 28th, 2011. Check out the details here. ——————- Share this page: [...]

12/11/2017

Caleb OrecchioDecember 11, 2017NewsCaleb Orecchio here with the Dayton-based educational comic, Treasure Chest of Fun and Fact—plus other news. ————————————————————————————————— Several weeks ago I found Treasure Chest of Fun and Fact Vol. 24 No.12 in a dollar bin here in Dayton, OH. It was a nice find. The cover was a portrait of The Wright Brothers, Dayton’s most celebrated sons, with the cover story drawn by none other than “Joltin'” Joe Sinnot. “What a find!” I thought. I look at the indicia and found the book was published right here in Dayton, OH–on 5th Street, right near where the convention center is (where they now hold Gem City Comic Con). “Gee! This is tops!” I screamed at the top of my lungs. I had no idea this comic existed, nor did I realize (obviously) that it was published right here in Dayton near a culturally thriving part of the city. The issue itself is cool. The Sinnot/Wright Bros story, some gag strips, some serialized stories, an illustrated prose story about elephant poaching, and a great editorial page called “Backtalk” located on each inside cover that could go toe-to-toe with Stan’s Soapbox. It was an educational comic that was published “twice monthly during the school year…” It was distributed across the U.S. and Canada, subscription-only, to Catholic schools mostly from what I can find–which makes sense with Dayton being a primarily Catholic town in the past (ever heard of the University of Dayton?), and being in the Rust Belt. The series ran from 1946 to 1972. You get some great EC cartoonists like Joe Orlando (!) and Reed Crandall, plus Silver Agers like Sinnot throughout the years. Really interesting stuff—and many other notable artists. I love finding these x-factor comic books that seem to come out of nowhere (to me). Anyway, the most interesting part I found about this series was the story, “This Godless Communism.” Drawn by Reed Crandall (whom I’m a fan of), it was a 10-part story serialized in every other issue from Vol.17 No.2, until No.20 in 1961. Basically, the title (you have to admit it’s a zinger of a title despite the propaganda) says it all. It documents the rise of communism in Russia and its evils and all that. Evidently, the story made it’s way up the chain. Look at the letter below that graced the inside front cover of the Vol.17 No.2. This must have been the pride of George A. Pflaum, the publisher of this Daytonian mag: NOTE: Apologies for the bad scan above–it’s the best I could find online since I don’t actually own the physical copy. The other images of Treasure Chest herein are from my own copy and scanned at a reasonable dpi. You can read and/or download, if you want, “This Godless Communism” in it’s entirety here, and be on the lookout for other issues of Treasure Chest of Fun and Fact in your local dollar bin. To me, it’s one of those weird pieces of comics history that almost seems to run parallel with the industry as oppose to within it—make sense? It’s just weird that it exists I guess. -CO ————————————————————————————————— if you don’t know, now you know Gilbert Hernandez gives a “graphic review” of Catcher in the Rye at The NY Times. TCJ.com has a great inside baseball conversation between Dash Shaw and Connor Willumsen about the latter’s book, Anti-Gone. Also, Greg Hunter reviews Old Ground by Noel Freibert on the same site. Didem Tali writes about women in Mongolia making comics to raise questions about gender norms. Shout out to Dayton comics-blood-brother Jason Hart who is appearing in the New Zealand literary magazine, Geometry, issue 2. The comic that appears in the mag is a short story he did last year I think. It’s called, “Message in a Bottle”. I am happy to see it find a home because this to me was around the time we both were finding our sea legs in comics and was his best work at the time. He has since gone on to be published in Ink Brick and other publications. Former New York State Senator Marc C. Panepinto had a box of comics stolen from him, which he claims was worth $20,000 to $40,000. Haha I wonder what the perpetrator’s reaction will be when they find out that comics are actually worthless. The Schulz Museum is hosting a fundraiser for those affected by the North Bay wildfires. See the journey of Simon Vance, narrator of Alan Moore’s Jerusalem audio book, to Northampton where he meets with the man himself. Prologue starts here. ————————————————————————————————— The Winter Semester of thee Santoro Correspondence Course for Comic Book Makers starts January 18th 2018! 8 weeks – 500 bux – coaching for as long as you need. The course is hard, but Frank will push your comics making practice to a new level, getting you to think about timing and color in new ways. Makes a great holiday gift for yourself – or for a loved one who is interested in comics. Apply by midnight (EST) on Dec. 25th and get $100 off the course price. Full details and how to apply can be found HERE! ————————————————————————————————— Suzy and Cecil – 12-11-2017 – by Sally Ingraham Share this page: [...]

03/08/2016

Posted on March 8, 2016March 8, 2016 by Juan Fernández

They did it. 2dcloud reached their Kickstarter goal. It was a stretch but they had that long game. Art wins again. If you haven’t had a chance to check out the work that they are publishing i their upcoming season, I encourage you to check out their crowdfund campaign. There might be something right up your alley.

Now in their twenty-eighth year, the Lambda Literary Awards have announced their nominations. The Lambda Literary Awards celebrate achievement in lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) writing for books published in 2015. The awards ceremony on June 6, 2016, will be held at the NYU Skirball Center for the Performing Arts (566 LaGuardia Pl, New York, NY 10012). It’s exciting to see the work that was chosen from the world of comics. Check out all the nominations here.

LGBT Graphic Novels

Curveball, Jeremy Sorese, Nobrow

Honor Girl, Maggie Thrash, Candlewick Press

The Less Than Epic Adventures of TJ & Amal, EK Weaver, Iron Circus Comics

O Human Star: Volume One, Blue Delliquanti, Self-published

Wuvable Oaf, Ed Luce, Fantagraphics Books

NEW at SPIT AND A HALF!!! Lisa Carver, Ian Sundahl, and some great French imports from Editions Tanibis (in English and/or wordless!): Sylvie Fontaine and Paul Kirchner! All the good stuff over at www.spitandhalf.com. John P. is doing God’s work.

Andrew White made a free PDF collection of his favorite among the one page comics he posted on Comics Workbook from 2012 to 2014. You can still read all 350 or so strips online, but Andrew thought it might be nice to have a pared down and easier to read version of the material available.

Even if many of the strips are rough or haphazard, this was an important body of work through which I began to address some of the topics that are important in my comics today. I hope you like it.

Nick Gazin chit chats with Peter Bagge over at VICE. While you’re at it, read up on the 5 Musical Urban Legends comics Bagge has done already for VICE. The series continues with the form that Bagge developed for Magnet Magzine. The Who, Mick Jagger, Chuck Berry, Michael Jackson and Prince. Who’s next?! Read the whole thing over on VICE.

You never really learned how to draw, but your comics look great. Most people who try to make comics without learning to draw make garbage. How did you figure out the drawing style you have?
Well, I can draw people and things that look like what I’m drawing while looking at it/them. But that bores me, and I assume it would bore the viewer of the results as well. So I prefer to draw from my mind’s eye, and I take my chances from there. I’m almost never happy with the results, though, so I have a hard time arguing with anyone who thinks my art looks awful.

Initially, I was trying to duplicate the way old cartoons look, specifically ones directed by Bob Clampett. Later on, I was also mimicking early comics drawn by Harvey Kurtzman, in his old Hey Look! one-pagers and such.

It’s a very polarizing drawing style, though. Goodreads has all these rave reviews ofWoman Rebel by all these woman’s studies majors who love the content of the book but give it three or four instead of five stars, simply because they can’t stand my art!

Cartoonist and movie critic, Julian Lytle, sat down with Rocky Hadadi to talk 2015 Film on the most recent installment of Ignorant Bliss. This was recorded before the Oscars so there is a lot of talk about the nominees and a little TV talk. Good talk, good music, good banter. Listen in for a while.

Chris Mautner took some time to write about Michael Deforge‘s latest work, Big Kids and the themes and story mechanisms in Deforge’s work more generally. Read on.

Despite its small size, Big Kids manages to hold just about all of the ideas and themes DeForge has been exploring up to this point. The secret societies, the adolescent angst, the strange body transformations, the antisocial hero desperate to find acceptance — they all coalesce in this slim book. If you were looking for a starting point in DeForge’s bibliography, this might be the place.

Would you like to be Nat. Brut’s first Artist-in-Nonresidence?

It’s like an artist residency – but not.

You will get a month’s worth of gift cards to cafés around New York City and activate the whole city as your workplace!

The residency will last April 1-30, 2016, at the end of which all or part of your work will be published in Nat. Brut.

Who can apply?
Artists or writers of any medium, with a work sample.
We are limiting our first round to applicants who identify as people of color.

HOW TO APPLY
Apply now until 11:59 on March 31 using our online application here:https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1XSbc4qqQQOOPGYm0TjplyLGWOpqJlMlXY7o8EFcdFp4/viewform?c=0&w=1

that’s it for today.
juan fernandez, over and out.

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Comics Workbook

An online magazine for comics makers

Posted in NewsTagged 2dcloud, ignorant bliss, julian lytle, kayla e, lambda literary awards, nat. brut, nick gazin, peter bagge, rocky hadadi, spitandahalf

Juan Fernández

Posted on March 8, 2016March 8, 2016

Explore

03/15/2016

Aaron CockleMarch 15, 2016NewsComics in China Cartoonist and critic R. Orion Martin did a brief overview of Chinese webcomics on the TCJ blog a while ago. From his post: ‘Although there are many working cartoonists, publishing is tightly controlled and few are able to reach a wide audience through bookstores. As a result, many cartoonists publish their comics on social media sites such as Douban. Douban began in 2005 as a review and recommendation site, and is something like a mix between Facebook, IMDb, and Tumblr.’ Artwork above by Scarlet-Faced Dog and Bu Er Miao, respectively. ————————————————————————————————— MoCCA 2016 Programming Schedule The Society of Illustrators MoCCA Arts Festival is April 2-3, 2016. As with previous years, there is a robust programming schedule. Of specific interest to readers of this newsblog would be the lead-off talk with Phoebe Gloeckner and Ariel Schrag, as well as the ‘Venn Diagram: Art/Comics’ discussion with Bill Kartalopoulos, Austin English, Aidan Koch, and Blaise Larmee. But really, there’s something for everyone this year. The above 2016 MoCCA Arts Festival image is by Noelle Stevenson. ————————————————————————————————— Laura Poitras + Vigée Le Brun 2 exhibits by 2 artists with very different relationships to institutional power are currently on view in NYC. Laura Poitras: ASTRO NOISE is at the Whitney Museum through May 1, and Vigée Le Brun: Woman Artist in Revolutionary France is at The Metropolitan Museum of Art through May 15. ————————————————————————————————— Pedagogical Sketchbook Based on Paul Klee’s extensive lectures on visual form at the Bauhaus Staatliche Art School. Originally handwritten – as a pile of working notes he used in his lectures – it was eventually edited by Walter Gropius, designed by László Moholy-Nagy and published in 1925 as a Bauhaus student manual (Bauhausbucher No.2, as the second in the series of the fourteen Bauhaus books) under the original title: Pädagogisches Skizzenbuch. It was translated into English by Sibyl Moholy-Nagy (in 1953), who also wrote an introduction for it. ————————————————————————————————— Comics Journalism and The COJO List This is a newly-launched and expansive clearing house for all things comics journalism and nonfiction comics-related, run by Josh Kramer and Em DeMarco. Above image by Susie Cagle. Share this page: [...]

11/22/2017

Juan FernándezNovember 22, 2017los Cómics / NewsEmpezamos el día con Berliac, Redlands, La Polola y más! ————————————————————————————————— Berliac, el dibujante de cómic que reivindica el robo cultural como esencia creativa Victor Parkas charla con el dibujante argentino coincidiendo con la publicación de ‘Sadbøi’, un cómic de trazo manga que reflexiona sobre cómo construir la propia identidad a través del arte: “El cómic propone el arte como herramienta para recuperar poder de decisión sobre uno mismo”, explica Berliac. “La idea surge cuando me mudo a Berlín y me doy de bruces con la situación de los refugiados. Entro en contacto con ellos, así como con los activistas que les tratan, y caigo en la cuenta de que su condición –refugiados– lleva implícita una identidad impuesta por terceros. Quise explorar cómo esa idea del ‘otro’ se utiliza para fines políticos, de derecha a izquierda”, incide el autor. “La epopeya de Sadbøi consiste, así, en cómo salir de ese fuego cruzado; en cómo trascender la categoría que otros se empeñan en otorgarle”, concluye. Léanlo todo AQUI. ————————————————————————————————— Sol Díaz Castillo y Marcela Trujillo tienen una nueva edicion de La Polola Podcast! Las chicas conversan con Juana Neumann, Delius y Clara Lagos acerca de sus inicios, sus vidas, sus primeros pasos en el cómic, nos contaron acerca de sus proyectos, sus referentes, su visión de la historieta, el dibujo y mucho más! If you’ve been digging Jordie Bellaire & Vanesa R. Del Rey‘s @VDelRey’s Redlands, check out PanelxPanel magazine #2 for 80+ pages of exclusive essays, interviews and craft pieces about the first issue. Equatorial Guinea Cartoonist Ramón Esono Ebalé now imprisoned without charge for 55 days. International cartoonists join call to #FreeNseRamon. Dibujar es pensar. Jorge Carríon escribe en @nytimesES sobre George Herriman y William Kentridge, las exposiciones del Museo Nacional Reina Sofia. En el último #FanzineMagazine Victor Coyote y Mireia Pérez entrevistan a Alfredo, premio nacional de ilustración. Colaboró también @miriampersand en Canciones para Dibujar y ¡hablamos de lettering! Puedes escuchar el podcast aquí. ————————————————————————————————— Suzy and Cecil – 11-22-2017 – by Gabriella Tito Share this page: [...]

Art Trip: Pots, Lamps and Comics in Rio

Anna ManciniJuly 29, 2016Art Trip / EssaysA couple of weeks ago, I visited the “Carlos Scliar – from reflection to creation” exhibition at Caixa Cultural, in Rio de Janeiro. With a friend by my side, who is also a designer and cartoonist, I had the chance to look closely at his paintings, drawings and screen prints. I wasn’t really familiar with Scliar’s work, although his name does figure among the greatest Brazilian artists. This ended up being a fortunate ignorance, because reproductions will never do his work justice. Getting to know it in person was a touching experience, especially regarding his colors and subtle use of texture (I’ll leave the pun). In many of his paintings, you can see layers of paper and fabric that serve only as a tactile hint beneath the paint. It left me wondering if it served in any way as a direction for the compositions, or if he had it all planned from the start. In other works, this layering is more evident as he uses collages of music sheets and book pages. It was a pleasure to take a closer look at the patterns of mite-eaten paper carefully incorporated to the paintings. I’ve been experimenting with layering and collaging in my sketchbooks and these observations have inspired me to explore it further. Another happy moment of this first close encounter was a realization similar to, I imagine, what occurred to Sally Ingraham at the Georgia O’Keefe exhibit (as she writes here). Not too far into the gallery, as I walk, noticing the artist’s synthesized depiction of flowers, candles, pots and lamps, I see comics. Two of his compositions follow the well-known 9-panel grid. Into the exhibition’s second room, this similarity becomes more evident and justified. Here are his drawings and screen prints, with more explorations of what can be seen as a comics grid, and a graphic style similar to what flat design trends and contemporary illustration seem to be channeling lately. The justification comes from a video interview with Scliar, played on loop at the center of the room. In this interview, the artist recounts his trajectory as an illustrator; the influence of pop-art and german expressionism in his work; his early experiences with typography for a newspaper; and later on, as an art director for an avant-garde magazine. After watching it in full, my friend and I left thinking how it all made sense now, to somehow “find” comics in a work coming from a background like that. ————————————————————————————————— Art Trip is a series that features reflections on art and comics, and the adventures that transform those who seek it out. ————————————————————————————————— Manzanna, or Anna Mancini, is a Brazilian freelance designer, illustrator and comics artist. Check out her work HERE. Share this page: [...]

08/19/2016

Sally IngrahamAugust 19, 2016NewsSally here with your Friday comics news roundup – a little bleary after a late night comics-making blitz with Gabriella Tito. The Rowhouse is a busy place these days and Comics Workbook is moving ahead at full-steam in a number of directions – I’ve got updates on those projects, as well as some glorious Olympic moments with Katie Fricas, Leslie Stein with some guitar riffs, Meghan Turbitt on the the move, and a brick or two thrown by a mouse named Ignatz. ——————————————————————————————————————— Gabriella Tito arrived at the Rowhouse last night for a weekend residency, and she hadn’t been in the house more than 5 minutes before the index cards came out. She and Frank and I sat around until late in the night drawing and discussing comics. Gabriella is a graduate of Frank’s correspondence course and a member of the Comics Workbook Roller Derby League. You can find more of her work HERE – and expect to hear more about this true comics ninja soon. ——————————————————————————————————————— Speaking of the Comics Workbook Roller Derby League…the girls have been quietly pumping out articles, reviews, and comics all summer, meeting for “practice” and “derby bouts” every Sunday, honing skills and getting comfortable “skating together”, if you will. You can find an index of the work that the league has published HERE on the site – follow them on Instagram (@cwrollerderby) – catch up with members of the team at SPX and CXC this year (more details on those appearances soon!) – and stay tuned for other exciting developments as the Comics Workbook Roller Derby League continues to evolve. More info about CWRD can be found HERE. ——————————————————————————————————————— Katie Fricas jumped on the Olympics bandwagon this week and published a hilarious comic on The Awl about Forgotten Moments From Past Summer Olympics. Check out the rest HERE! ——————————————————————————————————————— The Bandcamp Daily blog recently published a profile on Leslie Stein, which showcases her music as well as her comics (she is a guitarist and vocalist for the rock band Prince Rupert’s Drops). “Though her comics are usually based on her own life, and are infused with her love of music (referencing Alex Chilton, LCD Soundsystem, Ringo Starr, The Band, Neil Young, Michael Hurley, and even the Osmonds), they rarely focus on her experiences as a musician. “I think art has always taken precedence over everything in my life,” Stein says. “I read about Hendrix falling asleep with his guitar in his bed; I fall asleep on the floor next to my drawing table sometimes. Not that I am comparing myself artistically to Hendrix, of course.” “ I read the most recent volume (Time Clock) of her long-running series Eye of the Majestic Creature a few weeks ago and found the stories about weird jobs, bad hangovers, and mysterious loneliness to be very funny and heart-wrenchingly familiar. Be sure to also check out her diary comics, which are running on VICE – here’s the most recent update. The rest of the Bandcamp Daily piece on Leslie Stein is available HERE. ——————————————————————————————————————— SPX announced the 2016 Ignatz nominees – HERE. ——————————————————————————————————————— Meghan Turbitt is having a Moving Sale! Original drawings from her NYC and Philadelphia Subway Sketchbooks starting at $10 – get all the goodies HERE. ——————————————————————————————————————— Comics Workbook is very pleased to present a new book from Connor Willumsen – Portraits. Available now for pre-order – get your copy HERE! Connor is one of the original CW samurais. He will be joining Frank Santoro at The Lakes International Comic Arts Festival this fall, teaching workshops and sharing his process. Look for him there! ——————————————————————————————————————— Go forth and lead extraordinary lives this weekend, folks. Sally out. Share this page: [...]

08/03/2018

Sally IngrahamAugust 3, 2018NewsSally Ingraham here with a look at Aisha Franz’s Shit is Real – plus other news and comics! ————————————————————————————————— Aisha Franz‘s new comic – Shit is Real (Drawn & Quarterly 2018) – begins in a wilderness at the edge of a city. The main protagonist, Selma, is crawling toward a city, and you realize that this may be a sort of dream or fantasy – one that she abruptly snaps out of, just in time to be dumped by her boyfriend. Selma drifts in and out of this fantasy world as the comic continues, which accurately portrays the ways that such fantasies both help us through difficult times, while probably causing more harm than good. Selma struggles, for the majority of the story, to relate to her best friend, to connect with other people she encounters, to do laundry or cook for herself. She is lonely and just as lost in the urban monotony of the city as she is in the bizarre sci-fi world of her dreams. The only creatures whom she seems to connect to are a giant fish (who occupies the fantasy) and a cat who belongs to the woman in the next apartment. When Selma discovers that she can access this apartment, some of the fantasy becomes reality, and the line between the two blurs. Aisha Franz uses the comics medium quite effectively to tangle and untangle the threads of the story. There are many quiet moments, where the sequencing of simple movements or no movement at all conveys immense emotion. The comic is about the inner life of Selma – whether that is inside her head, or inside the lonely space she occupies in her life – and Franz is able to show this very well. The fantasy sequences mesh with the slightly futuristic urban environment of the “real” world, and there is a vibrancy to the drawing despite the softness of the pencil lines. Thoughtful and actually funny in a few spots, this is an excellent followup to Earthling (which also dealt with female loneliness). You can read an excerpt from Shit is Real HERE. For other reviews of the comic check out these ones at Publishers Weekly and Broken Frontier. LA Review of Books also has an interview with Aisha Franz HERE. ————————————————————————————————— Comics News of Note The Billy Ireland Cartoon Library & Museum has a spotlight on their Nicole Hollander collection – read about it HERE. Lauren Weinstein is the guest on Episode 31 of Comic Book Decalogue – HERE. Philippe Leblanc has his Small Press & Indie Comics Galore roundup on The Comics Beat – he always finds the good stuff! Margaret Stohl talks Captain Marvel and why now is the best time to be a female hero – on The Guardian. Columbus Alive has a feature about Annie Koyama and her donation to The Billy Ireland Cartoon Library & Museum – read it HERE. ————————————————————————————————— Suzy and Cecil – 8-3-2018 – by Gabriella Tito Share this page: [...]

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