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Audio Treats: KBOO and Chris Schweizer

A quick post today to let you all know I’ve got two new audio interviews up for your listening pleasure!

I had a great time guesting on KBOO’s Words and Pictures show a couple weeks ago, where I talked to host S. W. Conser about my recent projects, including my upcoming show at Portland’s Sequential Art Gallery (more on that tomorrow!). You can give that a listen right here.

I also had the immense pleasure of talking with fellow boat-savvy cartoonist Chris Schweizer as part of his new conversational podcast. We delve into all sorts of stuff including (but not limited to) boats, comics, theater, higher education, and French comics. Chris is not only a stellar cartoonist and history buff (have you read Crogan’s Vengeance? YOU SHOULD. IT HAS GOT BOATS IN), but also an eloquent, fascinating guy. This was a blast! You can expect more of these recordings from him in the future, so keep an eye out.

I’ll be back tomorrow with more details about next week’s show at the Sequential Art Gallery. Hooray!

Panels & Talks

Panels, Podcasts, and Posts!

Hi gang! First off: big thanks to all of you who came out last month to say hello at Emerald City Comicon. It was incredibly cool to see so many familiar faces and get comics into returning hands. I promise I’ll keep cranking ’em out so you’ll have more to enjoy in 2015.

Now: I have a whole bundle of audiovisual treats for you today, taken from various panels and speaking gigs I’ve done in the past few weeks.

First up is It’s Not Too Dangerous to Go Alone, a great panel run by Kenna Conklin of Geek Portland on having the guts to make your creative career happen. I got to speak alongside Erika Moen, Dylan Meconis, and Angela Webber, which was a treat in and of itself, but I also feel like we hit some great points about motivation and starting from scratch.

Second is Erika’s Freelance Like a Rockstar panel, with Steve Lieber, Dylan Meconis, and Amy Falcone. (I nabbed this recording on my phone, so the quality is a little less spectacular, but you can still hear everyone!) We discuss all the juicy freelancer topics like finding jobs, self promotion, pricing strategies, and *gulp* contracts. Valuable fun for the whole freelance family.

Finally, I got to participate in a panel on Setting Realistic Goals as part of the MakingComics.com Massive Open Online Course last week. I really enjoyed getting to digitally discuss project management, scheduling, and work/life balance with Jared Cullum, Jen Vaughn, Damon Gentry, Eric Shanower, Christina Blanch, and Patrick Yurik. Plus this one has video so you can see all our weird facial expressions while we talk.

Phew. That’s all from me for now — I hope these discussions are useful to you all!

News

Emerald City Comicon This Weekend!

Yes! It’s here! Convention season! Madness! Excitement! Comics! Emerald City Comicon, the Pacific Northwest’s biggest comics event, is THIS WEEKEND and I want YOU to come out and say hello. The show runs all day Friday, Saturday, and Sunday at the Washington State Convention Center. Hours are 10-7 Friday and Saturday, and 10-5 Sunday. Also: event tickets are sold out! So I guess this is really a post for those of you who are already planning to be there. You can find me tabling with a slew of folks from Periscope Studio at Table Island 1214 (see the ginormo map at left) with my shiny new swallow postcards, a brand new issue of Cartozia Tales (#3! At last!), print editions of Grand Adventure, the full suite of Baggywrinkles comics, and many other goodies. I’ll also be on two (yes, TWO!) panels: On Saturday: It’s NOT Too Dangerous To Go Alone: Finding the courage to do it yourself “How long have you been thinking about starting that comic, game, or band? Feel scared? Join the club! Just don’t let it stop you. Learn how navigate through self-doubt, motivational issues & lack of know-how on your way to victory!” With Erika Moen, Dylan Meconis, Angela Webber, and Kenna Conklin Room: HALL C (610) Time: 11:20AM – 12:10PM And on Sunday: Freelance Like a Rock Star “Do you fantasize about being self-employed but you just don’t even know where to start? Shh, shh, little friend, no more tears – this group of seasoned pros is here to share their hard-won knowledge with you so you can freelance like a rock star, too.” With Matt Bors, Erika Moen, Steve Lieber, and Dylan Meconis Room: 2B Time: 4:00PM – 4:50PM See you in Seattle, friends!

Art, News

“Setting Realistic Goals” Talk @ Making Comics MOOC

So this is something of a new game for me: in a few weeks I’ll be speaking on a panel of creators as part of a Massive Open Online Course (MOOC) run by MakingComics.com. The CEO, Patrick Yurick, was actually at CCS the same summer I went through my Comics Conversion and started doing this stuff for living, so it’s pretty neat to see where the two of us have ended up after four years.

The course is free and open to the public, with a pretty minimal time commitment and a rockstar line-up of creators ready to talk about four key topics as each week of the course goes by. It’s like a panel discussion where you can log in and ask questions in real time. The course is perfect for those of you looking to launch a comic or learn more about the process of going from idea to finished product.

Here’s the flier for the week I’ll be participating:

Look at all those cool dudes! We’re gonna get technical up in this business — motivational techniques, time management, maintaining momentum oooooh yeahhhhh. However! To attend the talk you’ll need to register for the course (again: FREE) before this Saturday. If you’d like to learn more before you register, or take a gander at the other weeks’ guests, click here — there’s a great FAQ about how the MOOC is structured and run.

Hope to see you online April 9th! And be sure to register this weekend to participate.

Art

Patron Saint: VanCAF Promo Card

Had a lot of fun illustrating this exclusive postcard for the Vancouver Comic Arts Festival last week. It’s funny how certain pieces really showcase the concept that “Everything’s a Remix”. There are a couple influences here that I’d feel remiss not pointing out: the concept for this piece is totally a spin on a shoot my photographer friend Peter Chee did a couple years ago. His original subject, my pal Tess Myers, is a metalworker, so the halo featured all her tools. I loved that photo and have always wanted to do something similar for illustration or comics.

The second influence is definitely Erika Moen’s saintly portraits, though they have the benefit of real gold leaf (shiny!). I love Erika’s comics, but I’ve also been really inspired by her mixed media collage illustrations. I have all this fancy paper at home that I never really play around with anymore (I used to be more of a book arts gal), so this was an excuse to try something a little more illustrative.

Anyway, keep an eye out for these at VanCAF 2014! I’ll be exhibiting there in May.

Art

31 Days, 31 Outfits: COMPLETE!

It seems my daily efforts for the month of January have borne tangible fruit. Behold: 31 Finished Outfits!

(If you want to see the little people all lined up in a big ribbon — my favorite, but it doesn’t display so well on the site — you can check out that full-size image right here.)

Before anyone asks: Yes, I did totally space that January had 31 days when I started, hence the first post being 30 Days…But it all shakes out because I did a couple drawings in December and missed two in early January. PHEW.

This project was a blast, but I’m glad to be moving my creative energy towards more comics-related gigs in February and beyond. Look for them on the web soon!

Comics

Party on Paper: Origin Stories

I finally rustled up another contribution to Party on Paper this week! P.O.P. is a collaborative comics project run by me, Bridget Underwood, and Carolyn Nowak where we draw conversational comics about, well, comics mostly. This round we wanted to answer some of the questions in our Inbox, so here’s my take on an origin story.

Stay tuned for Carolyn’s story by following Party on Paper on Tumblr.

Main

Grand Adventure — Part 3

Here it is, friends: the final installment of Canyon Comics! I hope you’ve enjoyed reading along and experiencing the adventure secondhand — it’s been great to share it all with you. You can now find the whole thing in sequence on the Other Comics page for easy access.

I’ll be rescanning all these pages on the fancy new watercolor scanner at Periscope in the next few weeks so the print edition will really shine. I’m looking forward to making some quality full-color minis for you all.

Main, News

Symbolia is LIVE!

The latest issue of Symbolia, the tablet magazine of comics journalism, is OUT!

It’s been almost a year since Sarah Mirk first approached me about illustrating this project, so it’s very exciting to have the full issue out in the open at last. Declassified brings to life the firsthand experiences of two women who served at the Guantánamo Bay naval base circa 2001. From witnessing the shift in detention practices post-9/11, to grappling with sexual assault in the military, their stories are raw and powerful. Here’s a page to whet your appetites.

The rest of the issue features stories from women around the world dealing with human trafficking, tattoos, military service, immigration, and more. It’s a powerful and diverse showing, and I’m proud to be a part of it.

To read this issue, subscribe to Symbolia: on iPad // via PDF // Kindle Editions.

Main, News

CAKE this Weekend!

Banner by Chicago's own Jo Dery. — Banner by Chicago’s own Jo Dery.

Convention alert! I’m spreading my wings and heading to Chicago this weekend for the Chicago Alternative Comics Expo. Come say hello! The show is FREE and open to the public Saturday and Sunday from 11am to 6pm at Center on Halsted (3656 N Halsted). I’ll be with my best comics bro Sam Alden at Table 90, but I couldn’t stop there on this doofy map so I just threw in icons for most of the folks I’m excited to see on the floor. Find the whole gang here.

As always, I’ll have Baggywrinkles galore, copies of True Believer, a previous few Tales from the Fragment, buttons, ladies’ shirts, and watercolor birds! Oh, and the squeaky walrus. Of course.

See you there, friends!