Juan here with the news: Rowhouse Residency Benfit Auction of Eightball era time capsule box; Audra Stang’s Rowhouse Residency Report; Chris Kindred on how to hire an illustrator; “Tell Me All Your Bad Thoughtz on God” by Jillian Fleck; Kilgore Books & Comics Fall 2016 Lineup; Ben Juers’ comics review of Sasaki Maki’s DING DONG CIRCUS; Grants and Residency opportunities for cartoonists; J. A. Micheline discussing True Criticism; new STREET ANGEL; MOME Vol. 1 – Summer 2005 reviewed by Bill Boichel.
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First off, we have the TOTALLY AMAZING AUCTION of an Eightball era time capsule box, donated by Mr. Daniel Clowes himself to help support the Rowhouse Residency. Check out the video above for a taste of the contents and the firecracker commentary of Jim Rugg and Frank Santoro. Lots o’ hyucks.
Personal items, artwork…we weren’t sure we even wanted to part with things like Clowes’ Windsor-Newton Series 7 brush #3… but they are now up for grabs!! All the items in the box could be yours, so jump into the mayhem – auction runs until Wednesday, August 17th at noon EST. Don’t sleep on it.
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Audra Stang’s Residency Report: Pokémon GO Edition
Audra Stang visited the Rowhouse this July and accomplished an incredible amount in the three days she was in Pittsburgh, setting new Rowhouse records for “crushing it”. She shared some journal notes with us recently that describe many of her impressions and experiences of her residency. We’ve shared excerpts from them, mixed with some of the process drawings and doodles that she made while she was here.
My visit to the Rowhouse was my first ever residency… I came with the goal of totally drawing out a story that I only had a hazy idea of called Pale, Sick, and Magic; this seemed fitting, considering I only had a vague idea of what a residency would entail.
Between Frank, Sally, and I, we had great conversation – not just about, but often returning to, comics. It fed into the “cycle” – draw by day and tour Pittsburgh by night. Or draw by night and explore Pittsburgh by day. It was a charged atmosphere but in a positive way – I was full of energy. Franks uses language that masterfully evokes the feeling of being “in the game” and gets you hyped for the next comics bout.
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“Tell Me All Your Bad Thoughtz on God” by Jillian Fleck
I’m happy to announce that we are featuring Jillian Fleck’s “Tell Me All Your Bad Thoughtz on God” on the site this week. “Tell Me All Your Bad Thoughtz on God” is part of Fleck’s on going Bad Thoughtz series and was made in 2015 for Comics Workbook.
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Kilgore Books & Comics Fall 2016 Lineup
Denver based comics publisher, Kilgore Books and Comics has announced its fall publishing lineup:
- Blammo #9 by Noah Van Sciver
- The Plunge by Emi Gennis
- What Happened by Simon Moreton:
- The Complete Scorched Earth & Other Stories by Tom Van Deusen
You can help support Kilgore’s fall release of four great comics by supporting their Kickstarter.
Our mission is bridge the gap between self-publishing and the bigger publishing houses. We want to find talented cartoonists with unique voices and help them when they need it most by ensuring they have professional looking books and plenty of stock. We’re also able to pay royalties up front, and help take some of the logistics off artists which lets them focus on their work.
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Sasaki Maki & Abstract Comics
Ben Juers has just released a comics review of Sasaki Maki’s Ding Dong Circus. It’s magnificent. All sources cited 😉 It was originally done for Australian literature and culture magazine, the Lifted Brow. It’s a real insightful joy to see comics reflections and criticism in comics.
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J. A. Micheline On True Criticism
J.A. Micheline has written a new entry to her Critical Jam series of essays on cultural criticism. It’s a great, on the ground, response to Daniel Mendelsohn’s A Critic’s Manifesto published a couple years ago over in the New York Times. For those of you interested in where and how comics criticism can grow and expand as a from in 2016, it’s definitely worth a read.
What we fear with the rise of grassroots criticism–and, for that matter, grassroots creation–is the absence of gods and masters. It’s a legitimation crisis. If there is no hierarchical structure, no above and below, and no true and false–then how is one to know one’s place in the world? Without modernist establishments, how am I to know whether I belong in the critical class, whether my arguments are good, whether they carry more weight than the average person’s?
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How to Hire an Illustrator
Chris Kindred waxes on how to hire an illustrator over in this well thought and thorough piece over at NPR’s Editorial Training blog.
The internet is a very visual place. It goes without saying that if you want your story to stand out, it needs a strong photo or illustration of some kind. But commissioning an illustrator can be confusing if you haven’t done it before. This guide will walk you through the entire process, from finding an artist to sending the final payment.
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The Sustainable Arts Foundation: $6000 Grants for Artists with Children
This goes out to all you cartoonists with children. The Sustainable Arts Foundation is offering awards of up to $6000 to writers and artists with children. The money can be used for costs such as child care, workspaces, new equipment, research and travel. All the stuff that you’re hard pressed to getting when you need to get your comics done. Applications for the Fall 2016 round close on Friday 2 September. Don’t sleep on this opportunity, parents!
For more information visit the Sustainable Arts Foundation website.
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Grants, Fellowships, and Residencies for Cartoonists!
Cartoonist Melanie Gillman, author of As the Crow Flies, has compiled a list of grants and residencies that have demonstrated an interest in comics and cartooning. You can check them all out on their blog. If you know of any others, chime in, all ye faithful!
Of course, for a rigorous, comics focused residency experience like no other, you need to look no further than our Rowhouse Residency! Level up and become your best.
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MOME Vol. 1 – Summer 2005 reviewed by Bill Boichel
Here’s a little throw back for you. Bill Boichel’s got a hearty review of the first volume of Fantagraphics’ mid-aughts anthology, MOME. Few people can write as insightful reviews as Bill, so it’s an honor to be able to share his writing with you here. This is an oldie but a goodie. Step into our little comics time machine and enjoy <3
This is an excellent semi-regular anthology that is stepping up to meet the demand for new work by the talented generation of cartoonists that have been filling the pages of annual anthologies like Non, Kramers Ergot, Top Shelf, Rosetta, SPX and others. A novel feature of this anthology title is its declared intent to feature the same collective of artists every issue, allowing the artists and audience to grow together and build an ongoing identity that is highly unusual for the world of contemporary comics. Only time will tell how this intention plays out when confronted by the realities of a publication schedule, but we can attest with confidence that it’s off to a solid start.
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keep yerr nose to the grindstone and until next time!