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The fanciest Studio YOLO digital masthead to date

Studio YOLO was born out of the comics residency at the Atlantic Center for the Arts with Dean Haspiel (and Megan Kelso and Ellen Forney). The nine artists in Dean's group have banded together digitally to bring you interesting stories every month. One script, nine artists, and a few guest artists--once a month!

Check out the Studio YOLO website here, as well as our shiny new Facebook page, where you can follow new work and submit your own renditions of YOLO stories.

Sketchbook Pages from ACA Comics Residency

I had the honor and great experience of taking part in a three-week long residency at the Atlantic Center for the Arts in New Smyrna Beach, Florida this past October. Things have finally settled down long enough for me to post these sketchbook pages.

(An outdoor yoga session taught by Ellen Forney and Lara Antal.)

(Clever hats on a boat tour.)

(Birds and houses and trees seen from the boat.)

(Gabby Gamboa, Lark Pien, Eleanor Davis, and Leela Corman in Gainseville, Fl.)

(Sketching one of the ACA interns, Greg.)

(Greg seated, three views.)

New Nib and Brooklyn Book Festival

 

I went to New York Central Art Supply on Saturday and picked up a new nib holder, fancy G-nibs, and some really gorgeous Strathmore 500 Bristol. I bought a Dustin Harbin original drawing at SPX and was inspired to use the materials he draws with to see if I could make something really clean and pretty, like his stuff. The lines are not as clean as I thought they would be, quite messy actually, but really fun. I don't understand how people letter comics with nibs. It's hard and unwieldy. I think the ink I use is too thick and may be causing all the trouble. Further investigation is required.

 

 

I also had the opportunity to see a great panel at the Brooklyn Book Festival, moderated by Bill Karalopoulos. It was inspiring and encouraging to hear about each of their story-writing processes.

Bill Kartalopoulos,  Gabrielle Bell, Carla Speed McNeil, Adrian Tomine, Jaime Hernandez.

Adrian Tomine, Jaime Hernandez.

I want to find a smarter way to work, or a way work faster. Maybe it is a matter of developing consistent work habits.

Drawing on Location at the Jalopy Theater

On Monday I took the day off from my photo job to draw Ernesto Gomez, Arturo Jugman, Walker Shepard, Jackson Lynch, and some others at the Jalopy Theater during the Brotherhood of the Jugband Blues recording session. The idea is to collect good drawings for the album artwork. It was slow going, since people move a considerable amount when they play instruments. They usually oscillate between two poses, and you have pick one and keep looking for the moment when they go back into the pose. It's a really fun and challenging way to draw.

Back from SPX - The Small Press Expo

This was my very first time tabling at a convention, and the feedback from other artists was incredible, inspiring, and awesome. Another cool piece of news: Haditha/Katrina and Bethesda minis were selected to be included in the SPX Collection at the Library of Congress. Josh Kramer (Cartoon Picayune) and J.T. Yost (Digestate, Birdcage Bottom Books) were there selling copies of the anthologies I've been lucky to be a part of, it was great hanging out with them and seeing all their hard work paying off--really beautiful comic books! Susie Cagle's thoughts on comic making shared in the Comics on Assignment panel were really inspiring to me. She's done great work in reporting on the Occupy movement and women's health issues in California, where she is based.

Me and Tom Hart with my Sequential Artists Workshop Grant!

Me and Matt Bors talking about how cool comics are.

 

SAW Micro-Grant

I just received the great news that my grant application to the Sequential Artists Workshop Micro-Grant program was accepted. Funds were limited and applications were abundant in number and talent. I'm honored to share this distinction with Julia Gfrorer, her work is really beautifully drawn. You can see some of her work and read about her here on the Comics Journal. Congrats Julie and thank you, Tom Hart and SAW!

Design Recharge Spreecast Interview with Diane Gibbs

Diane Gibbs (Little Bird Communications) hosts a weekly Spreecast episode called Design Recharge, where she interviews artists, illustrators and designers about their working process, staying unstuck, and navigating the business of being creative.  I met Diane in Mobile, Alabama when I was attending school at the University of South Alabama. She is an incredible, inspiring, and contagiously enthusiastic person.

Diane interviewed me about making comics and getting my work out there, and we talked about what inspires us to make good work. You can watch the full episode here. On her next episode (Wednesday July 25th at 2pm EST) she discusses the transition between freelance to full time--a great topic I am looking forward to hearing more about.

Digestate Pencils Preview

Been working hard on this chicken comic for the Digestate anthology. My original story idea involving Blaine and his cow adventures wasn't really working and I had to abandon that idea.  A few weeks ago I talked with a man I had met at the Just Food Intro to Chicken Keeping workshop this past spring, Greg Anderson. It turns out he and his wife run a community garden (with chickens!) that is not very far from me. They were a lot of fun to speak with and got me to think about personal impact on a community over time. Staying in one place, digging in and working hard will eventually bear fruit. And chickens! Here's a preview of the first three (of ten) pages.