An Approach to Tabling by So What? Press

Dave Kelly of So What? Press recently shared with me how he and his partner in crime, Lara Antal, decide which comics fests to attend every year. Dave says, “We were inspired to do this by the band Fugazi who had a similar "code" about when and where to play concerts.”

• Admission must be under $10/day or free.
• Show must be curated - - you want to feel good about being there.
• No more than one fest per month - - unless one is in NYC.
• Table price must include two badges, two chairs.
• Fest cannot run longer than two days.
• Never pay more than $100/half table, $200/full - - and always share whenever possible.

“We break the rules every once in awhile, but they've proven their worth - - and not just monetarily, but in overall positivity of the experience.  The winning combination is always a free, one-day show, in NYC - - you can never go wrong, haha!

The disclaimer: we do break our own rules sometimes and do not put ourselves above any festival.  We know there are logistical reasons why some festivals charge higher table prices.  The ultimate point, though, is that "the rules" have helped inform our decision-making process as well as improve our exposure and performance.”

Paul Studies and First Pages

Here is what I have been drawing the past few days. I'm working on a story from a veteran who I have not yet met in real life, it's been interesting translating this story into a comic. I'm trying to develop cleaner lines and possibly do more with less digitally with this story.

Page One Pencil

Page 2 Pencil

Studies of Paul, done from photographs.

Drawing Paul from memory, making a character.

Florida Week Two

I'm here at a three week comics residency at the Atlantic Center for the Arts in eastern/central Florida, a few miles inland from the Atlantic Ocean, in the midst of saw palmettos and stands tiny magnolias and brushy oak trees. It's already the beginning of the second week and time is moving quickly.
I got through sixteen pages of thumbnails in just a few days, which was a new personal best. Hoping to work faster! I learned some cool Photoshop moves from George Folz, his comics are really cool, check them out on his Tumblr here. Hopefully laying out pages will be less of a struggle now. Gonna try it out now.

Here's the thumbnails, pre-Dean Haspiel edits (they look a bit different now). These are only half of them, the other thumbnails were vague and uninteresting, because I drew them too small initially, and when I blew them up I drew them very fast.

This story is beautifully written by a friend-of-a-friend, Paul David Mansfield. He's an incredibly gifted storyteller, and it has been such an amazing experience to translate his words into comics. I will post pencils soon, I can't wait to share this story.

Also, currently obsessed with Bon Iver's newly-minted Stems Project, a collection of remixes from the most recent album. Not much of it is on Youtube, but you can find it on Spotify.

First Days in Florida

I've been at the Atlantic Center for the Arts Comic Book Residency with Dean Haspiel for the past few days. It's a wonderful and amazing program so far, here's some pictures of the vegetation, art folk, and other assorted items.

New studio space.

They have tea here, and we each got a mug :)

Outside the painting studio, where we are camped.

Inside the painting studio, view from my desk.

On the first day, we met most of the day and talked about our projects.

Dean imparts some wisdom to us.

Megan's amazing comic thumbnails during crit.

James' inked pages during crit.

Megan, Gregory, and Fionnula on a walk down the road.

Turnbull Bay and a heron!

Baby banana spider catching the sunset in his web.

Following Fionnula to dinner.

Dirt road between housing and art buildings.

My place.

Residency! at Atlantic Center for the Arts in October

Here's an excerpt from an email I just received from the Atlantic Center for the Arts:

Dear Jessica Ruliffson,

Congratulations! We are delighted to inform you of your acceptance as an Associate Artist at Atlantic Center for the Arts’ October 8 –October 28, 2012 residency session with Master Artist Dean Haspiel. We are looking forward to hosting you. Throughout the three week residency, you will meet within your discipline with your respective Master Artist, with the daytime and evenings open for interdisciplinary interaction and collaboration, in addition to the opportunity to work on personal projects and goals.