A Riddle.

Who’s got two thumbs, a peanut butter and jelly sandwich, and is finally fucking done with finals for the year?

THIS GIRL.

Expect more updates now that there’s actually time for that sort of thing. The time is upon us for drawing and scanning and generally having a nice time of it. Woo!

To start the deluge, here’s a quick cover I created for the collection of IPRC collaborative comics.

We had our last critique session on Monday, with a visit from the extraordinarily talented Craig Thompson (!!!) and his awesome girlfriend, who works as an editor at Dark Horse. Getting to glimpse the phenomenal quantity of work that Craig produces was truly inspiring (and kind of terrifying) and seeing original inks for iconic pages from Blankets was akin to a religious experience. Also: Holy goodness, Habibi. That book’s going to be amazing.

Basically: There are some goddamn brilliant artists at work out there today.

My goal for the final was to complete the pencils for the next issue of Baggywrinkles, which I managed in the nick of time. The mere fact that I was putting aside academic work because comics had mentally taken a position of greater importance was thrilling, and led to some work that I’m super proud of. I’ll scan pages individually as next week rolls around so you can see how they changed from the thumbnails. Feedback from the class proved exceptionally helpful, and I think the final product is really going to benefit as a result.

For now, here’s a quick photo from the workbench:

Until soon!

Collaborative Goodies

More on the backlog of things I’ve been doing in the past month! One of our recent assignments was to illustrate a script written by one of the students in the prose class. I was fortunate enough to get paired with Michael Heald, a very talented writer who nonetheless had the merciful impulse to keep his script short and sweet. I am forever in his debt.

 

 

Proof!

Heed no rumors of my demise, Internet. It’s just that glorious time of year known as “Finals,” and I have been a very busy bee. To prove that I am not just bluffing about this, and that even in the heat of papers and exams, I am still finding time for comics, here’s a very messy collection of thumbnails for Baggywrinkles Vol. 2, which will be penciled (come hell or high water) by the 13th, inked over winter break, and printed in time for Stumptown! Excitement abounds.

As time permits, I’ll also be rounding up photos of the book I illustrated, typeset, and printed this past month, featuring a poem by the insanely talented Hallie McPherson. The IPRC program has also had me hard a work on various assignments, of which there will be more evidence later.

For now, enjoy some nautical sneak peak material!

(Oh, and for those of you who care about layout and page spreads and that sort of thing, it’s worth noting that I was dumb when I started drawing this in my sketchbook and didn’t lay out the pages to reflect their appearance in the final printed pamphlet. Thus, pages 1 and 8 will appear on their own, and 2/3, 4/5, and 6/7 will be spreads.)

Less smudgy versions to follow as I get these onto Bristol!