Comics Workbook

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Posted in NewsTagged Aidan Koch, austin briggs, colonising the clouds, daniel zalkus, Fred Carlo, Indian coloured drawings, new york public library digital collections, Noel Sickles, tyler landry, watch out 4 snakes!, Works Progress Administration

Aaron Cockle

Posted on March 22, 2016

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The Lakes International Comic Art Festival 2016 report

Frank SantoroOctober 19, 2016Festivals and ShowsFrank Santoro here – reporting from Kendal, England. If you are only hearing about “The Lakes Festival” or “LICAF”, please read last year’s report. This is my second year of going to “The Lakes” and I hope to make it back every year. Why? Frankly, it’s because this show has Mr. Chris “TCAF” Butcher’s stamp of approval, and anything Mr. Butcher touches is gold, so I’m sold. Meaning LICAF and TCAF (Toronto Comic Arts Festival) have some cross-cultural curation going on with the great Julie Tait, who steers the fleet of LICAF activities and who was at TCAF’s 2016 show, helping with the expansion of that festival’s venues. So, I see the big picture. A comics festival that appeals to just about everyone – not just the “mainstream” or the “alternative” crowd. LICAF, like TCAF, has something for everyone. Indeed, this year’s LICAF hosted Gilbert Shelton and Bryan Lee O’Malley and Tillie Walden and Jordi Bernet (amongst many other greats, see the full list here). That’s about four major demographics in my comics world. Plus, ahem, Aidan Koch, Connor Willumsen and l’il ole me representing some other, uh, demographic. Kendal is a small town on the northwest coast of England, above Manchester. The whole surrounding area is absolutely beautiful and up the road is where Beatrix Potter called home. What I like about it is how pleasantly unique this show is because of the way the show is embedded in the town. The festival takes place, primarily, at a few different venues spread within walking distance to each other. It is a Saturday/Sunday type of show, however, one can feel it expanding. The Comics Workbook crew arrived a day early to present at an academic conference at The Kendal Museum and The Box Theatre on Friday. Then over the weekend we hosted workshops at The Brewery Arts Centre and sold our wares at The Clock Tower. And then had a closing party at Ruskin’s Bar. The Comics Workbook crew at LICAF: Aidan Koch, Connor Willumsen, Oliver East, Jack Brougham and myself – with a special appearances by Naomi Nowak. A number of students from Kendal College and the University of Cumbria participated in Comics Workbook workshops after the presentation to “the academics” at The Box Theatre. The great comics scholar and author Paul Gravett was in the audience, so you can be sure, loyal reader, that the Comics Workbook team “slayed them”, as the saying goes. Here is a link to my “notes” for our presentation on Friday. I like to have a long rambling blog post of inspirational videos and rough notes to refer to during a presentation. I find that it allows the audience to revisit the material later or even during the talk. My basic argument that afternoon is, as Geoff Dyer says of D.H. Lawrence, an inversion of the “traditional hierarchy of genre” has occurred – in comics – and more importantly for those associated with Comics Workbook. Aidan Koch spoke of how she rejects the idea of “the great American Graphic Novel” or even telling stories. She spoke eloquently of how she is concerned mostly with “the poetics of comics”. Connor Willumsen talked about genre being merely a raincoat and umbrella under which to make comics. He even lovingly compared it to a sport where performing under pressure to “do it right the first time” was valued. I riffed on my modular notecard method. A lively and valuable discussion followed within the question and answer period. It was, for me, one of the best received presentations I’ve been a part of and I would like to thank Aileen McEvoy for helping myself and my team feel so welcomed. Oliver East and Jack Brougham – the UK CW representatives – worked the table at the Clock Tower. Generally, there are tables selling comics like a traditional comics show at the Clock Tower. And “programming” is at The Brewery Arts Centre, however, there is programming and signings at The Clock Tower. For example, the great Jordi Bernet was signing in the same room as our table on Sunday. Actually, the signing area was behind us on an elevated stage which helped ease the flow of traffic at busy times. Also, hats off to Ollie and Jack who stuck to CW’s number one rule at shows, which is, of course: “sitting is not selling”! One of the current riffs about comics festivals is that many different shows exist within the show. Meaning, you can go to SPX and not even see everything or miss your friends completely – whereas in years past you could lap the room each hour and see everything and everyone there. LICAF is different insomuch as it is not situated centrally in a hotel or a convention center. So what happens is that one has their interactions in the town of Kendal itself. The Brewery Arts Centre provides ample space to host everyone and the short walk to the Clock Tower is where I found myself most often running into friendly faces – friends and strangers alike. It was very pleasant, I thought, especially because it was so unlike what we are used to in the States and specific to the town of Kendal. During the fantastic opening night ceremony for, ahem, VIPs, I was lucky enough to meet the Mayor of Kendal, Mr. Stephen Coleman, and his wife, Sarah. Mrs. Coleman was kind enough to give me some driving directions up to see the beautiful countryside around Kendal. On Friday and Saturday after our obligations at the festival concluded, myself and the CW gang piled into our hired car and I drove us up as far as Ambleside and Windemere. Believe me when I tell you that everyone in the car was startled at how beautiful this part of the world really is – you gotta see it to believe it, folks. Book your tickets in advance for next year and head to LICAF and “The Lakes”, you won’t be disappointed. Aidan Koch, Connor Willumsen and I have just returned Stateside as I type this on the plane now. I will try and fill out this report a little bit more as the jetlag wears off. (I gotta tell you about talking shop with Gilbert Shelton.) Until then, I’d like to thank Julie Tait, Carole Tait, Aileen McEvoy, and everyone who believed in the Comics Workbook programme and helped us make it to LICAF 2016. For additional reading: Connor Willumsen on Mint Cakes, sheep photography, his LICAF workshop experiences, and Frank’s “intuitive” driving. Aidan Koch shares some of her LICAF experiences HERE. My student Niall Breen’s thoughts on LICAF – he came from Ireland to hang out with us. Jack Brougham sent his thoughts on tabling with Comics Workbook at the festival – HERE. LICAF opening night #licaf A video posted by @santoro.frank on Oct 13, 2016 at 2:17pm PDT Connor Willumsen’s workshop LICAF UK 2016 #comicsworkbook He is talking about his comic Swinespritzen – available through the link my bio #licaf A video posted by @santoro.frank on Oct 15, 2016 at 2:07pm PDT Aidan Koch discussing her collaborative workshop project from LICAF UK 2016 #comicsworkbook @aidanalexiskoch #licaf A video posted by @santoro.frank on Oct 15, 2016 at 2:11pm PDT Connor Willumsen demonstrating the differences between Western and Eastern landscape painting #comicsworkbook LICAF UK 2016 #licaf A video posted by @santoro.frank on Oct 15, 2016 at 2:16pm PDT Ahem. Hanging out and talking shop with thee one and only Gilbert Shelton at LICAF UK 2016 #comicsworkbook #gilbertshelton #licaf A photo posted by @santoro.frank on Oct 16, 2016 at 3:39am PDT Ambleside UK A video posted by @santoro.frank on Oct 14, 2016 at 12:58pm PDT Connor Willumsen talking about working with colorists #comicsworkbook #licaf LICAF UK 2016 A video posted by @santoro.frank on Oct 17, 2016 at 2:24pm PDT Aidan Koch workshop at LICAF – Connor’s was next door at same time (note @comeauslomeau appearance) #licaf @aidanalexiskoch #comicsworkbook A video posted by @santoro.frank on Oct 17, 2016 at 10:05pm PDT This is one of the LICAF locations – ye olde clock tower in Kendal England – from yesterday Sunday #licaf A photo posted by @santoro.frank on Oct 17, 2016 at 1:24pm PDT Share this page: [...]

06/29/2016

Juan FernándezJune 29, 2016NewsJuan Fernanadez here with your Wednesday Spanish language comics news: Selo Piqui’s TOPOGRAFIAS; Valencia Línea Clara; Comics workshop with LUTO; Ana Galvañ comics making video series; Isabel Cortés Navarro entrevista a Max; taking a look at Portugal’s Chili com Carne; fotos de los cicloreaders y Sindy Elefante. ————————————————————————————————— Now available: Topografias Topographias is Selo Piqui‘s latest collection of stories, whose common thread is the way, the route: through the frames, unlikely places are discovered, all with a strangely familiar narrative. It features two color work by Barbára Malagoli, Julia Balthazar, Lovelove6, Mariana Paraizo,Puiupo e Taís Koshino. Very cool comics poetics in service of these 6 women’s stories. If you’re curious about this exciting anthology, check out their online preview. ————————————————————————————————— VLC. Valencia Línea Clara El Institut Valencià d’Art Modern presenta la exposición “VLC. Valencia Línea Clara”, que podrá verse hasta el 2 de octubre de 2016 en las salas de la instituciónn. Esta exhibicion es un recopilatorio de alrededor de 200 cómics originales del grupo erróneamente conocido como la Nueva Escuela Valenciana de los años 80, uno de los proyectos expositivos estrella de la programación del IVAM para el 2016. Entre los artistas participantes destacan Sento Llobell, Mariscal o Micharmut. Una colección que se contextualiza con otros cómics de los años 70 como Tritón de Daniel Torres, Macao de Mique Beltrán o Futurama de Micharmut, también presentes en la exposición. Durante los años 60 y 70, Valencia vivió un espectacular momento creativo. Las vanguardias creativas explotaban con grupos como el Equipo Crónica y Realidad, que influían decisivamente en los jóvenes que por aquel momento comenzaban a cursar estudios artísticos. Unos jóvenes que, además, se habían formado en la cultura del tebeo, que tuvo en Valencia un centro neurálgico durante los años 40 y 50, y que sirvió para que estos nuevos artistas generaran un bagaje visual que se amalgamó durante su etapa formativa con las nuevas tendencias artísticas que inundaban la ciudad. ————————————————————————————————— Aprende a dibujar cómics con Ana Galvañ Ana Galvañ, dibujante de cómics e ilustradora a creado una serie exhaustiva de videos y actividades en Domestika. En esta serie, Galvañ te enseñará a crear tu propio cómic con el programa de ilustración Clip Studio Paint (anteriormente conocido como Manga Studio). Aprenderás a plasmar y estructurar tus ideas de cara a la creación de una historia y llevarla a cabo de forma fácil e intuitiva. Es un guia extremadamente útil para vosotros que quieren utilizar Clip Studio Paint pero que prefieren no dibujar en un estilo de manga tradicional. Te lo recomiendo! ————————————————————————————————— Isabel Cortés Navarro entrevista a Max Isabel: ¿Qué valor tiene para alguien que ha promovido el reconocimiento artístico de la historieta ser editado por el Museo del Prado? Max: A nivel personal es una satisfacción y creo que es bueno para el cómic en general. También debo advertir —sé que hay por ahí mucha gente que me va a dar la brasa con eso— que hacer esto no significa en absoluto venderse al sistema. Para mí no es nada contradictorio, ni con mi pasado underground ni con mi presente. Igual que hago esto hoy para el Museo del Prado, mañana hago un tebeo grapado y autoeditado. No tengo problemas ni nada de eso, eso que quede claro. Isabel: Además de compartir obsesiones, entre tu obra y el Bosco se pueden encontrar muchos otros paralelismos. Simbolismo, iconografía propia, surrealismo, arte secuencial… Max: Sí, eso es mérito de Jose Manuel , que pensó que yo era el adecuado para el Bosco. Por lo demás, la influencia de este pintor la he tenido siempre. Igual no evidente, pero creo que se nota que andamos por caminos parecidos. Soy muy consciente de la tradición simbólica de ciertos personajes y objetos, y la he usado mucho siempre. Funciona como un extra narrativo en mis tebeos, para quien lo pilla. Bueno, algunos elementos simbólicos son ya tan antiguos que todo el mundo los pilla, aunque sea a nivel subconsciente, pero otros no. Por ejemplo, lo de los mochuelos es curioso. En todos los libros sobre el Bosco se citan mucho como ave de Atenea y por tanto de la sabiduría, o bien como infernal porque es el ave asociada a las brujas, y no salen de ahí. Pero me di cuenta, a raíz de esa época en que dibujaba mochuelos en las esquinas, que no tenían ninguna función especial, de que el mochuelo es el autorretrato del autor. Es el pájaro que ve en la oscuridad, por tanto es el testigo de lo que estás contando, y es el autor el que ha sido testigo de algo y lo puede enseñar a los demás. En el Bosco funciona así, en casi todos sus cuadros hay un mochuelo. ————————————————————————————————— Gerardo Vilches le da un vistazo a la editorial portugues, Chili com Carne: Una de las cosas más interesantes de la última edición de GRAF en Barcelona fue la presencia de dos editoriales independientes extranjeras. Una fue la letona Kus!, y la otra la portuguesa Chili com Carne. De esta última, gracias a la amabilidad de Marcos Farrajota, responsable de la editorial, me traje a casa un puñado de cómics que he podido ir leyendo poco a poco, y que me han resultando muy estimulantes. Chili com carne lleva años publicando cómics en su país, e incluso han publicado obras de Olivier Schrauwen o Tommi Musturi. Resulta muy significativo lo poco que conocemos del cómic que se hace en Portugal, un país que tenemos literalmente a un paso. Tiene que ver con muchas cosas, cuestiones históricas y políticas que ahora mismo no vienen al caso, pero espero aportar mi grano de arena para dar a conocer una escena independiente muy interesante, y accesible para el lector español: muchos títulos incluyen traducción al inglés, y, en realidad, no es complicado leer en portugués con un poco de voluntad por nuestra parte. ————————————————————————————————— Taller de comics con LUTO – Comics Workshop with LUTO (Luis Tobon) in Colombia ————————————————————————————————— Documentado: El 1er tour de los Cicloreaders Estuvimos dibujando y pedaleando por la sabana con @SindyElefante ¡Gracias a todos los que participaron! pic.twitter.com/Bi5we75x6D — Cicloreaders (@cicloreaders) June 26, 2016 ————————————————————————————————— hasta la proxima! Juan Share this page: [...]

11/01/2018

Caleb OrecchioNovember 1, 2018NewsCaleb Orecchio here with a strip by Jimmy Swinnerton ————————————————————————————————— What a lovely strip from one of our earliest pioneers, Jimmy Swinnerton. What I enjoy about many of these early strips is the simplicity. The background is held for the entirety of the strip while the action unfolds without a hitch like a stage. I find this simple way of cartooning makes for seamless reading. The first panel sets the scene along with the players, and once you have understood that this is the environment (stage) and these are the characters you are free to sit back and “watch.” There is no effort on the readers part to evaluate changing settings or new characters. This, also, I think is the key to much of comedy in comics. I think that this is why, for example, DeForge’s comics are so effective as humor. The characters look the same in every panel and their habitat is simply rendered. The words become the main focus because the reader has already downloaded the rest of the information right off the bat. And if the words and action are funny, the comic will be funny. Make sense? I look at this Swinnerton comic all the time. It is a reminder that simplicity in comics speaks volumes once ink is laid to paper. ————————————————————————————————— Niall Breen – 11-1-18 Share this page: [...]

02/02/2018

Sally IngrahamFebruary 1, 2018NewsSally here with the myth of the Wonder Woman, plus Vanessa Davis, Little Dot, Ulli Lust, and more! ————————————————————————————————— There is a lengthy, intense essay on Artforum by Sarah Nicole Prickett titled Serious Sex Battle – it is about the myth of the “wonder woman”. She digs into comics, literature, and film and discusses the ways that pop culture has tried and repeatedly failed to make women “super” – often by stripping them of all the real things that in fact make them super. For example: “The scholar Michele Wallace argues in Black Macho and the Myth of the Superwoman (1978) that the black woman doesn’t need a costume. She is already held to be a “woman of inordinate strength.” She “does not have the same fears, weaknesses, and insecurities as other women, but believes herself to be and is, in fact, stronger emotionally than most men. Less of a woman in that she is less ‘feminine’ and helpless, she is really more of a woman in that she is the embodiment of Mother Earth.” Ergo, says Wallace, she is a superwoman, burdened by the source of her powers.“ Prickett talks about Wonder Woman quite a bit, of course, both the strengths and weaknesses of the character and what she represents. She also brings up Miss Fury, Scarlett O’Hara, Tim Burton’s take on Cat Woman, and a whole lot more. Devote an hour at least to sifting through this piece (one that Prickett spent a few years writing!) Read the whole essay HERE. ————————————————————————————————— There is a nice interview with Vanessa Davis on Pocko, which digs into her career as a whole so far, her influences, and the choices she’s made along the way. “Pocko: Your father was a commercial artist and photo-journalist. Can you see any of his work in your own? How did your childhood affect your career? Davis: It feels natural (if not always easy) for me to live and work within an uncertain freelance lifestyle. The humility of struggle and uncertainty mixed with the rush of work and money… that’s always been sort of central to my experience, but both my mom and dad worked doing what they loved, so that’s just paramount, by any means necessary, to me. It is a high-maintenance lifestyle, but it feels almost just cultural or religious or something–I can’t get away from it. My dad definitely had an eye for the absurd and could criticize his subjects by merely portraying them. But he also maintained a sort of joy for the chaos of this world. That’s definitely something I aspire to in my work and in my own viewpoint.“ Read the whole interview HERE. ————————————————————————————————— Michael Dooley has another great article on Print, this time tying a famous comic book character of the 1950s/60s – Little Dot – to today’s art scene and specifically the work of Yayoi Kusama (who is, if it’s possible, even more dot-happy than Dot). The article includes multiple scans of old Little Dot comics, and this excellent reminder of what made them interesting: “If you’ve never heard of this one-time comic book celebrity, it’s because Little Dot hasn’t been getting around much anymore. She started out in 1949 as a back-up feature in kids’ comics like Richie Rich but soon earned her own title. As originally conceived by cartoonist Vic Herman, she was designed with a distinctive flair and personality. But in 1953 her appearance melded into Harvey’s house style. She was softened and rounded out, which rendered her barely distinguishable from Little Audrey and Wendy the Good Little Witch. But from a marketing angle, it was a huge success. Like the gluttonous Little Lotta, Dot fits neatly into Harvey’s formula of one-dimensional, obsessive-compulsive personalities. The less said about the actual stories, the better, because what’s truly fascinating is that this kid is completely dot-crazy, hooked on circles. She’s constantly compelled to reconstitute her surroundings to conform to her own private fetish. And why not? She may simply be an instinctual Design Modernist, sensing the dot as infinite, supremely iconic, the purest, most perfect single form in the universe. Not to mention that her very existence is totally dependent on the CMYK/benday process. Insert a shout-out to Pop Art’s Roy Lichtenstein here.” Check out the rest of this enjoyable read HERE. ————————————————————————————————— France Culture asked ten authors to make a comic about their relationship to Chris Ware, in the event that he won a big prize at Angouleme. Ulli Lust made the little scene pictured above. As it turns out, neither Chris Ware or Ulli Lust won prizes this year at Angouleme, so when she shared the strip Ulli said it could have an alternate title: In the same boat again with Chris Ware. ————————————————————————————————— An announcement went out this week from the organizers of the Pittsburgh Indy Comix Exposition: Dear Friends of PIX — We know some of you have been wondering about the status of PIX 2018. To make a long story short: there will NOT be a PIX 2018. We apologize for the late announcement of this fact. We are, however, already working on PIX 2019 and plan to return to the August Wilson Center in April 2019. We will make a formal announcement in the summer of this year. Thank you for your past support. Stay tuned… —Team PIX ————————————————————————————————— Sticky Notes Apply for the Lucy Shelton Caswell Research Award, offered by the Billy Ireland Cartoon Library and Museum – applications due by March 1st – more details HERE! The Daily Beast has a lengthy profile on Trina Robbins – read it HERE. Sara Lautman writes a comic for the New Yorker about Cow Tools and a new tattoo – HERE. ————————————————————————————————— Collected from the thousands of pages of material that Frank has left scattered all over the digital landscape, these 4 PDF collections contain Frank’s best writing on comics and comics making from the past decade. Theory and process, reviews and discoveries, journeys both physical and spiritual. Check out the “Best of Frank Santoro” PDF collections, available HERE! ————————————————————————————————— Suzy and Cecil – 2-2-2018 – by Sally Ingraham ————————————————————————————————— Joanie and Jordie – 2-2-2018 – by Caleb Orecchio Share this page: [...]

08/25/2017

Sally IngrahamAugust 25, 2017NewsBon voyage to Caitlin Rose Boyle, and to Suzy & Cecil too – plus weird longbox comics finds and other news! ———————————————————————————————— Caitlin Rose Boyle‘s work was featured on the cover of Pittsburgh’s City Paper this week, and inside there’s an interview with her, on the eve of her departure for L.A. After a successful stint as the artist for Jonsey, Caitlin is ready to focus on animation for awhile and wants to be nearer to the studios where she hopes to collaborate. One of the things she’ll miss about Pittsburgh however are the comic makers here. “There are too many wonderful artists in this city. John Peña taught a comics class at CMU that kind of helped jumpstart my comics making process. Juan Fernandez has been a constant friend since our time at school and he’s one of the hardest working comics people I know! I’m always inspired after a conversation with Juan. Jenn Lisa’s drawings are so full of life and heart; her comics & drawings supercharge me when I look at them. Lizzie Solomon’s work pushes me to be bolder and weirder, Rachel Masilamani’s work is so powerful and raw and makes me want to share my heart on the page. I’m very lucky I got to share a space with Pittsburgh artists and comics-makers for awhile.“ Caitlin also makes note of her influences and the changing comics scene. “I wasn’t super into American comics growing up, and the male-dominated atmosphere was a big part of it. I gravitated towards manga, which had a huge selection of female creators to choose from in a bunch of different genres. There’s still totally an old guard of comics dudes making really stale stuff with the bigger publishers, but there are honestly SO many women and non-binary people doing amazing work in comics right now, here and all over the world. A large chunk of it is independently published, or published online, but it’s accessible and there’s so much of it that I frequently have a backlog of amazing work to read through.“ Read the rest of the interview HERE – and good luck to you Caitlin! ———————————————————————————————— Gabriella Tito and I are releasing a collection of Suzy & Cecil strips! Pulling from the comic strip that has been shared daily on Instagram and here in the Comics Workbook Daily News since November 2016, it will feature 44 strips picked out of the hundreds that we’ve made so far. Please pre-order a copy HERE! ———————————————————————————————— Digging through longboxes is often how I discover new-to-me comics makers who happen to be women. As with any sort of hunting, there are good days, and bad days, and just weird days. It’s interesting and informative to add names to my mental list, and file comics titles away, but not surprising that there is a great deal of chaff to sift through. Above is a comic by Diana Sasse, which at first glance I thought was a story by Donna Barr, who made those wild Stinz comics about centaurs. There are talking animals and centaurs galore in Diana Sasse’s Frenchie Doudou series, which follows a French soldier through a fantasy version of Europe in a time similar to WWI. The centaurs, and their more humanoid biped strain of being, are the Germans. Diana is Swiss, and began publishing comics in 1988. I think her most recent project was this Antique White House series from the early 2000’s (a European fairy-tale-style take on JFK…) I guess the wind has blown away much other traces of her work. Far more interesting – probably I should have led with this one – is one of Rachel Pollack‘s Doom Patrol issues, with art by Linda Medley. Rachel Pollack took over the writing on Doom Patrol when Grant Morrison left, and scribbled issues 64-87. Fans were heartbroken when Morrison left, but Rachel Pollack did some pretty interesting stuff with the series despite being a newcomer to comics – most notably, introducing a transgender character. Here’s an interview with Rachel from 2014 where she talks about some of what she tried to do with the series. DC is actually finally collecting Rachel’s run of Doom Patrol – Doom Patrol Book Four will be released in February of 2018. Rachel Pollack’s run of Doom Patrol featured a number of different artists, but the issue I found was penciled by Linda Medley. She, of course, went on to be the award-winning creator of Castle Waiting, a series she started publishing in 1996 with the help of a Xeric grant, and continued to self-published for years on her own. Fantagraphics collected two volumes of Castle Waiting, but as of now Linda is working on volume 3 and is back to funding it herself (with a little help from her friends, hopefully). One more longbox find – and this one IS by Donna Barr. No centaurs – instead we have the adventures of the (sadly fictitious) younger brother of the notorious German general the Desert Fox (Erwin Rommel). His little brother is Oberst Manfred Pfirsich Marie Rommel, and he is the Desert Peach. An openly gay German soldier during WWII is somewhat intriguing, and his misadventures as the commander of the 469th Halftrack, Gravedigging and Support Unit of the Afrika Korps, are pretty bonkers. Supposedly this unit is for the fellows who are really not “fit for service” in the German Army, the weirdos and strays who were nonetheless enlisted. The Desert Peach mainly tries to keep them out of any fighting, beyond what fighting they do among themselves. From the looks of issue #2, the series is pretty lively, and it appears that Donna aimed to bring a few more dimensions to the good vs. evil story-line of WWII. I guess I’d have to read the rest to see if she succeeded… Earlier this year Donna Barr announced that the San Diego State University Library had released her Black Manuscripts – a series of 12 “ornate” works that collect what she was writing and drawing about in the mid-1970’s, soon after she got out of the army – things she never expected to see published (like many girls of the time, she noted). You can peruse the manuscripts in the digital library HERE. ———————————————————————————————— In Addition Andrea Ayres digs into the barrier breaking/industry leading work of Kelly Sue DeConnick and MariNaomi over on The Comics Beat, laying out the resources both women have created to combat the problem of diversity in comics. Read the article HERE. Sara Lautman gives a shoutout to her “Microgeneration” on the New Yorker. Check out new online magazine Anomaly 25, featuring the work of a bunch of rad women – HERE. Melissa Mendes shared a comic she created based on a Twitter thread written by Julius Groat that deals with the recent white supremacist activity in Charlottsville. Read it HERE. ———————————————————————————————— Suzy and Cecil – 8-25-2017 – by Sally Ingraham ———————————————————————————————— Joanie and Jordie- 8-25-2017 – by Caleb Orecchio Share this page: [...]

03/22/2016

Posted on March 22, 2016 by Aaron Cockle

New York Public Library Digital Collections; the tyranny of the cloud; comics journalism in the 1950’s; new interviews to read/read aloud and/or listen to; random word informatics.

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NYPL Digital Collections
Recently, the New York Public Library posted an amazing amount of content to its digital collection. Work above is from Indian coloured drawings: a collection of 177 original paintings on “talc,” etc., with 17 engravings, illustrating costume, vehicles and trades in India and Fred Carlo, Works Progress Administration, respectively.

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Exercises in Scrolling
Colonising the Clouds, an essay about Internet/institutional power structures, physical and virtual territories, ‘memory’, ETC.

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Mid-20th Century Comics Reportage
Featuring work by Noel Sickles (‘The immediacy of a direct drawing or sketch seldom breaks through in the more static nature of other forms of art.’) and Austin Briggs. Essay by Daniel Zalkus.

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Recent Interviews of Note

Aidan Koch + Tyler Landry

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Random Word/Phrase/Sentence/Paragraph Generator

This is a good site if you’re in a pinch for words. For illustrative purposes, the Random Paragraph Generator has been utilized above with the following keywords: ‘Frank Santoro’ + ‘Golden Age of Comics’ and ‘Frank Santoro’ + Comics Instruction’.

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One thought on “03/22/2016”

Frank Santoro says:

March 22, 2016 at 6:17 pm

LOL that random word generator is hilarious

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Comics Workbook

An online magazine for comics makers

Aaron Cockle

Posted on March 22, 2016

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04/05/2016

Aaron CockleApril 5, 2016NewsMoCCA Recapitulation; Sarah Horrocks; Edie Fake; Aidan Koch; Chester Brown; Julie Delporte; O RisoLAB, My RisoLAB!; Retrofit Comics ————————————————————————————————— MoCCA 2016 This past weekend, the Society of Illustrators hosted it’s annual Museum of Comic and Cartooning Art (‘MoCCA’) Arts Festival in some desolate, blasted-out, post-industrialized urban hinterland Manhattan’s far west side. Attendance seemed pretty good at the 2-day show. If anyone who tabled at/attended the show has anything to say about it (Was it a ‘good’ show? What does ‘good’ even mean? Like, did you make a lot of $$$ at the show, or enough to cover your table, or is that something people talk about these days? Did anyone get donuts at the car wash donut shop? How were the panels? What were the highlights of the show, comics-wise? IS this a snapshot of the current ‘industry’? Do we all wish it was 2005 again and that we were back in the Puck building? Does anybody miss that Armory space?, Where do we go from here, etc etc???)…please feel free to leave a comment at the bottom of this newsblog. ————————————————————————————————— Horrocks on Horrocks; Edie Fake at Marlborough Chelsea; Aidan Koch’s After Nothing Comes; Chester Brown’s Mary Wept Over the Feet of Jesus; Delporte in Moominland ————————————————————————————————— Summer Risography 6-8 week artist residency in NYC. Application deadline is April 22. ————————————————————————————————— 3 Days Left Please consider supporting the Retrofit Comics Kickstarter. Image above by Alabaster Pizzo. Share this page: [...]

07/21/2016

HarrisonJuly 21, 2016NewsDaily News with Harrison returns with drones, thoughts about war, dark animation, and ends with a question. ————————————————————————————————— Ride or Die “Jasper. We’re picking up a lot of drone noise. I think there’s a watch coming.” Sam Alden‘s Test of Loyalty at Hazlitt. Here ————————————————————————————————— Shadow and Form Jonathan Djob Nkondo’s Dark Day is a conflation of everything I want from contemporary animation; moody, inventive, stark, humorous, surreal, frightening, and impeccably illustrated. Pts. 2, 3, 4, 5, 6. ————————————————————————————————— Before ” “NOddIN” is a collective launched by filmmakers and artists in the wake of the 3.11 Great East Japan Earthquake and related Fukushima nuclear power plant accident. With the cooperation of a large number of Japanese animation artists, we spearheaded this self-production with the aim to animate the words of the book round-robin style, and our collaborative project was begun. After over a year of production including the conception period, we completed our short film.” – The NOddIN team, October 2, 2015 More about the film project here. More about the collective NOddIN here. ————————————————————————————————— Visions of Heroes Friend of Comics Workbook Chris Visions has a collection of fun drawing videos shot by Richmond photographer/videographer Tyler Q. Tucker on his site. Here. ————————————————————————————————— Why? Share this page: [...]

Aidan Koch at LICAF

Comics WorkbookOctober 27, 2016Festivals and ShowsAidan Koch discusses a collaborative project during a workshop she led at The Lakes International Comic Art Festival 2016. Share this page: [...]

11/27/2018

Aaron CockleNovember 27, 2018NewsVERY LATE EDITION: Roz Chast; Christoph Niemann; Katie Fricas; IN THE LABYRINTH ————————————————————————————————— SVA Honors Roz Chast With 30th Annual Masters Series Award and Exhibition November 17-December 15 SVA Theatre, 333 West 23rd Street, NYC Artist’s Talk: Wednesday, November 28, 7-9pm Chast’s interest in drawing started when she was a young child growing up in Brooklyn, where she learned to use art as a way to make sense of an anxiety-inducing world. She once told an interviewer, “On every level I feel like anything horrible can happen at any moment.” Early on in her career, her nervousness even found expression in her chosen scale. “I used to work really tiny,” she says. “I thought if I worked small, nobody would mind me that much. If I take up as little space as possible, then everything will be okay, nobody will get mad at me.” ————————————————————————————————— CHRISTOPH NIEMANN: HOPES AND DREAMS November 13-December 21 ZieherSmith, 505-507 West 27th Street, Suite 5, NYC In November 2017, artist Christoph Niemann flew from Berlin to Los Angeles at the invitation of his Zurich publisher, Philipp Keel, under the auspices of meeting David Hockney. Anybody who knows the first thing about Christoph Niemann (from his many New Yorker covers, museum exhibitions, children’s books, “Abstract Sunday” his New York Times blog and Instagram account, TED Talk, apps or any of the many other ways he manifests as a contemporary visual voice) knows that under his scrutiny, even the most mundane task can turn into something altogether peculiar, altogether special, as if to say everything can be enlightening. ————————————————————————————————— A Graphic Tribute to Anne Sexton Katie Fricas at the NY Times. ————————————————————————————————— CELEBRATING ‘THE LABYRINTH’ BY SAUL STEINBERG On Tuesday, November 27, at 7pm, join us at Powerhouse Arena (28 Adams St, Brooklyn, NY) for a celebration of the reissue of Saul Steinberg’s remarkable graphic work The Labyrinth, available from NYR Comics. Liana Finck, Françoise Mouly, and Joel Smith will be in a conversation moderated by Bill Kartalopolous. ————————————————————————————————— Cement Mixer – 11-27-18 – by Caleb Orecchio Share this page: [...]

08/21/2017

Caleb OrecchioAugust 20, 2017NewsCaleb Orecchio here with your Monday edition of the Daily News with some thoughts on drawing sparked by Eleanor Davis and the reputable discipline of Leslie Stein and Gary Panter–and remember not to go blind looking at the eclipse ———————————————————————————————— Recently, a friend of mine lent me Eleanor Davis’ recent Koyama Press release, You & A Bike & A Road. I read it on Tumblr when she was serializing it live (I think) as she embarked on her cross-country bike adventure which the book illustrates; but I never really took the time to notice how immediate the drawing is. From what I understand, these pages were drawn first take as she was making her way through her journey, like a diary, which is really impressive. The drawings are sparse and noodley, yet feel perfectly complete–and they teem with a pertinent energy. Last time I was in Pittsburgh, Frank Santoro talked a lot about Gary Panter and how he draws constantly. Even while you’re having a conversation, he’s just drawing away, “He’s just someone who draws all the time no matter what.” On the most recent episode of Greg Hunter’s “Comics Decalogue,” Katie Skelly talks about going to a bar with Leslie Stein and Gary Panter and, basically confirming Frank’s story, that both Stein and Panter drew while conversing the entire time they were hanging out. I think this idea of being a “drawer” is often lost on most cartoonists. I mean, we all draw, right? But how many of us REALLY draw all the time–and how many of us can draw in any other way than our “style?” Now, I’m not throwing shade to style, but I think it’s worth thinking about. When I was going to school for graphic design, the designer Timothy Goodman came to talk to us and one of his big statements I took away from his lecture was, “Don’t have a style.” His reasoning mostly pertained to the idea that having a style will basically hinder your creativity. Now, most cartoonists are not being asked to create an ad in 3 hours for Time Magazine like a highly in-demand designer like Goodman, BUT can anyone really argue that style often does limit the kind of stories a cartoonist can make? In fact, most styles can even limit a cartoonist to a demographic–speaking strictly, and generally, in marketing terms. What am I getting at? I’m not trying to preach or sound like I have THE answers, but what I like about Davis’ recent book is the fact that it is drawn. It’s not inked with a brush with every stroke carefully crafted and feathered. It’s just drawn. Ever seen a Brian Chippendale comic? He just draws them (mostly). Crumb? Moebius? (Conflict of interest warning:) Frank Santoro? Just drawn. I like “professionally” inked comics and comics where traditional craft is essential, but there is an immediacy that is stripped at every step of the process. It’s like going acoustic, once you add a drum kit, you have to turn up the volume on everything else and the intimacy gradually is drowned out. I’m working out these thoughts as I go–thanks for reading. Next week–Kirby’s 100th birthday:) ———————————————————————————————— yikes! I’ve been so pumped about drawing and Kirby’s 100th that I almost forgot other comics existed in the world. Here are some links I found after I came back to our reality. Don’t miss that eclipse. Here, everyone is going to be talking about this so get your info about the eclipse. If you want more info, try a google search. Yo, today is Marie Severin’s birthday. You know who Marie Severin is right? Get acquainted. Heroes punching Nazis has becoming a particularly pertinent topic lately. Speaking of Kirby, I’m suspicious of the new highly hyped-up Mister Miracle comic, but maybe it’s good–who knows. ———————————————————————————————— Suzy and Cecil – 8-21-2017 – by Sally Ingraham ———————————————————————————————— Joanie and Jordie – 8-21-2017 – by Caleb Orecchio Share this page: [...]

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