Lucy Bellwood

Special Edition: New York This Weekend

Greetings, East Coasters! I’m heading to your fine shores this weekend (June 6th & 7th) for Special Edition: New York, a comics-centric show from the folks who bring you New York Comic Con. I’ll be in Artist Alley at Table H3. There’s a great line-up of creators attending, and I’m really excited to do my first-ever show in New York (and stick around for a few days to explore the city). I even designed one of the show badges!

Our pieces needed to include a New York landmark, so of course I chose the South Street Seaport Museum, home of the tall ship Peking. I can’t wait to visit and see her in person—did you know she’s featured on one of my super fancy nautical postcards? She’s also the subject of Irving Johnson’s incredible film “Around Cape Horn”, which is a must-see for anyone interested in tall ship culture.

I’ll be bringing loads of great comics, including the first six issues of Cartozia Tales! These award-winning all-ages adventure comics are generally only available by mail subscription, so be sure to stop by and pick up some signed copies in person—I’ll even have sticker sheets and paper dolls. Here’s a selection of pages I’ve been drawing for the series:

If you want to learn more about Cartozia, there’s some really fun behind-the-scenes stuff happening on our Tumblr this week. Take a peek!

I’ll also be running an iteration of the ever-popular Freelance Like a Rockstar panel on Saturday from 3:45 to 4:45pm in Theater 2. Come learn about freelance career secrets from me, Ron Chan, Cat Farris, Molly Ostertag, and Katie Lane. I’m really thrilled with this line-up—lots of experienced folks who can share valuable advice and answer your burning questions. More details here.

I think that’s it from me—hope to see you in the Big Apple!

Art, News

Special Edition: New York Pre-Show Commissions

Hear ye, hear ye: I’m taking a very limited number of PRE-SHOW COMMISSIONS for Special Edition: New York next week. Pre-show art means I’ll be able to deliver a higher calibre of work to those of you looking for originals while prioritizing talking to everyone on the show floor rather than hunching over my sketchbook desperately trying to complete larger art pieces. Everyone wins!

There’s a couple different options for con commissions. Read on to find out which is best for you:

1. Little Paintings (Full Color / $30 – $45)

These cuties are done on high quality cold press watercolor paper and measure either 3″ x 4″ or 4″ x 6″. Featuring a bird or animal of your choice with an optional word balloon, they’re ideal gifts or tiny talismans of your favorite beasts.

2. Pin-Ups (Ink Only, Grayscale, or Full Color / $50 – $70)

These are larger pieces (generally 6″ x 9″ or 8″ x 10″, but I’m flexible) with minimal background elements and one or two figures. More figures or full-color generally equal higher costs, but let me know what you’re after and we’ll work together to achieve it!

3. Ships (Grayscale or Full Color / $80 – $120)

A handsome portrait of a tall ship of your choosing on a calm (or tempestuous) sea! 8″ x 10″, full-color, lotsa rigging guaranteed.

Sign-ups are limited since there’s only a week and a half before the show, so shoot me an email at lucypcbellwood [at] gmail [dot] com and let’s get rolling! Payment for commissions is due up front via PayPal or your online money transference service of choice. All pieces will be ready for pickup at Special Edition: New York, June 6th-7th.

News

VanCAF This Weekend

Hey Friends!

Just a heads up that I’ll be tabling at the Vancouver Comic Arts Fest in Canada this weekend and would love to see you there. Here’s the details:

VanCAF takes place May 23rd & 24th at the Roundhouse Community Center (181 Roundhouse Mews, Vancouver) from 10am-6pm Saturday and 11am-5pm Sunday and features FREE ADMISSION.

I’ll be in the front hall at Table E2 with a gaggle of amazing creators like Chris Schweizer, Tony Cliff, Dylan Meconis, and Ron Chan in the neighborhood.

Goodies on the table: Baggywrinkles 1-5, Grand Adventure, Down to the Seas Again, Definitely-Not-Filthy Sailing Prints, Nautical Postcards, SPACEWHALES PRINTS, and brand-spankin’-new Queer Bird Stickers!

StickerSelfie — Mmmm yes delicious stickers.

I’ll also be on THREE panels because I have zero time management and they were all just too much fun to pass up. (I’ll record and upload these to SoundCloud for those of you who can’t make the show.)

Saturday:

Sunday:

Phew, I think that’s the lot! I can’t wait to see you there.

Comics

True Believer PDF Free for FCBD 2015!

Happy Free Comic Book Day, everyone! I thought I’d celebrate by making one of my most meaningful comics available for you all as a PDF at no charge. True Believer (for those of you who’ve only arrived at this blog in the last couple years) was an autobiographical story I completed as part of my thesis at Reed College in 2012. It was my first “real” comic—a meditation on why we make space for creation in our lives and an homage to my teacher Dylan Williams, a legendary local comics publisher.

I’ve been meaning to release the PDF of True Believer to the general public for free for a while, and what better day than today? This comic and the Kickstarter that went along with it were huge early career milestones for me, and I realize a lot of the folks following me now maybe don’t know about them.

So download the comic for free here, and thanks so much for all your support through the years—this was where so much of it started and I’m really thrilled to still be doing it as hard as I am.

(If you want to keep helping me make more comics, check out my Patreon page! There’s lots of new content going up there every week.)

Illustration

The Ornithology of the American Lesbian

If you follow me elsewhere on the Internet you’ve probably already seen that I illustrated this feature for BuzzFeed on The Ornithology of the American Lesbian. The writers gave me a ton of freedom when it came to matching birds and humans, so I got to run wild picking my favorite avian friends. Challenges included accurately translating Bette Porter into an ostrich and Lea DeLaria into an owl.

My only enduring sorrow is the fact that the authors were originally thinking of human illustrations, so the classification text never got updated from Mammalia to Aves. Apologies in advance to my scientist pals—I promise I’m only responsible for the artwork. Check out the whole list here!

News

New Recordings: Crowdfunding & All-Ages Comics!

Hey blog friends. Just wanted to check in and let you know I’ve released two new panel recordings on my SoundCloud page!

The Modern Realities of Fundraising for Artists ran at Linework NW here in Portland this month. Tristan J. Tarwater led a great discussion on modern techniques for funding creative projects and careers through the Internet, including Kickstarter, Patreon, taxes, generosity, and many things in-between. The panelists included me (True Believer), Hazel Newlevant (Chainmail Bikini), Taneka Stotts (Beyond), and Kory Bing (Skin Deep, Borogrove).

All-Ages Comics Aren’t Limiting ran at Emerald City Comicon back in March under moderator Rachel Edidin. The panelists—myself, Jen Van Meter, Janelle Asselin, Adam P. Knave, and Sarah Gaydos—discussed the elements of great all-ages comics, where to draw the line with content, and recommendations of favorite titles.

Thanks to my generous supporters on Patreon for covering the hosting fees for these recordings!

News

Linework NW This Sunday

Hey Portland! I’m making a hometown appearance at Linework NW this weekend. This fantastic indie comics and illustration festival boasts a unique format with two completely different sets of exhibitors Saturday and Sunday. This means you can only find me there on Sunday (at Table 24B), but should totally show up both days to take full advantage of the talent on offer. Did I mention it’s stone cold free to attend? You heard it here first. Or maybe you didn’t. Either way I’d love to see you on the floor.

The skinny:

Linework NW – 4/18/2015 + 4/19/2015

Location: Norse Hall, 111 NE 11th Ave, Portland, OR 97232

Date: Saturday, April 18, 2015 & Sunday, April 19, 2015

Time: 12:00pm – 8:00pm

And here’s a handy map! See Table 24B? Right in the middle there. Aw yeah.

You can check out the exhibitor lineups for both days of Linework NW right here. I’ll also be speaking on a panel called The Modern Reality of Fundraising for Artists at 4:30pm on Sunday with Hazel Newlevant, Kory Bing, and Taneka Stotts, moderated by Tristan Tarwater. Check out the full listing of panels for more exciting discussion topics.

Hope to see you there!

News

ECCC This Weekend!

Hey friends: I’m headed up to Emerald City Comic Con this weekend! I’ll be exhibiting at Table Island 1214 along with a bunch of my pals from Periscope. Here’s a handy map:

What can you expect when you find this trove of comics riches? How about some SPACEWHALES?

The commissioner of this illustration graciously allowed me to make some art prints out of it, so now you can own and display this nice picture of the Cutty Sark cruising through outer space with some whales in your very own home. The prints are 8.5 x 11″ on semi-gloss paper and they look very handsome if I do say so myself.

Also, you remember those Definitely-Not-Filthy Sailing Terms I illustrated on The Nib a while back? I also made prints out of those because I LOVE YOU.

You can come by my table and pick out your favorite, or nab a bundle deal on three at once! I’ll have seven designs available at the show and any leftovers (along with the remaining spacewhale prints) will be put up in my online shop on Wednesday.

I’ll also be appearing on a sweet panel at 11:50 on Friday morning with Rachel Edidin, Jen Van Meter, Janelle Asselin, Adam P. Knave, and others to discuss crafting truly “all ages” comics. We’ve run this panel once before at Rose City Comic Con, so I’m looking forward to going more in-depth with all these smart, skillful folks. Here’s the detailed listing:

All Ages Comics Aren’t Limiting
Room: Hall E (TCC 303)
Date: Friday, March 27th
Time: 11:50AM – 12:40PM
Moderator: Rachel Edidin

Tired of dark and gritty? Looking to expand your market share? Want to make something your kids can enjoy? Just plain curious about why you should take all ages comics seriously? Join Rachel Edidin, Jen Van Meter, Janelle Asselin, Adam P. Knave, and Lucy Bellwood for a discussion of what creates an exceptional all ages comic.

And I think that’s everything! Give me a shout in the comments or on Twitter if you’re gonna be there so I can keep an eye out.

See you in Seattle!

News

BellCAF This Saturday!

Pacific Northwesterners, rejoice! My first convention of 2015 is here and it’s taking place in beautiful Bellingham, Washington this weekend.

BellCAF is totally free and promises a really fun roster of indie cartoonists. I’d be delighted to see any/all of you there. Learn more at their website, RSVP to the event on Facebook, and let me know in the comments if you’re planning to attend!

Comics

New Comic: Dance Yourself Clean

I’m so delighted to share this comic today as part of Whatever We Please, The Nib’s collection of comics honoring International Women’s Day. Dance Yourself Clean is a brief meditation on what being a part of the social dance scene here in Portland has done for my sexuality and my sense of self. Read the whole thing here.

(This comic was made possible by the generous support of my patrons on Patreon! If you’d like to see me making more comics, won’t you consider joining them?)