You'll definitely be seeing more of Low Brow Artique, because I'm gonna be spending some days there working on inking Will & Whit in the coming months. Thank you Bishop for hosting us!
Here's all of our finished paintings!
And here are all my finger paintings! I'm totally mailing one to my parents to put on their fridge...
To see all the pics from this month and past months, here's the Bushcraft Flickr Set.
Currently Listening: Heartless Bastards...The Mountain
This weekend I dusted off my cigarette girl tray for an adventure at Adam Aleksander's Country Blues Country Blues themed edition of Les Salonnieres!
You might remember that back on Valentine's Day I was a Lipstick Painting Cigarette Girl. But this time I made THUMBPRINT PORTRAITS...
I turned people's thumbrints into a mini-portraits of them on the spot, which is something I've loved doing since I was a kid! (It's on a string so you can wear it.) I would draw the person twice, so they can be telling an joke or one of their personal sayings...I was sorta making it up person to person! Here are some examples:
There were also some great performers milling about...
When I was in San Diego for Comic Con last week, I stayed for an extra couple extra days so I could hang out with my Artner Lauren Larken! Luckily she was able to come down from Oakland. It was great to actually hang out in person...
On our retreat we decided that we're switching gears, now that we're half-way through our year long collaboration. (We've been responding to weekly creative assignments.) We're now going to work on developing Will & Whit as a musical to be licensed out to school groups. I am in love with this idea! It'd feature a script adapted from the graphic novel I'm currently drawing out, fun songs written by Larken, and a strong DIY element where students would utilize shadow puppets, projected drawings, an audience-interactive phone app, etc. I love scheming!
Of course, I brought along some art supplies for us to play with.
I plucked flowers from people's yards for us to use for inspiration. We
played with chalk pastel and water, which is something I have not done
for ages but my Mom's recent exploration of chalk pastel rekindled my
interest.
And here's the finished art! First, here's Larken's very colorful painting.
Then this one was mine...
Our friend Perry only had time to draw a single flower on her paper, but we wanted to finish it for her. So I copied her flower a few times and turned it into a sort of wallpaper design.
Then I made a Little Prince inspired cover for the base of Perry's new orchid, which we gave her as a thank you for letting us stay at her place. (I didn't have tape so that's why it's loose.)
Then of course we had fun exploring around San Diego and La Jolla...
What a fabulous Artner Retreat! I can't wait for the next one...
Currently Listening: The Lumineers...by The Lumineers
I am finally back at my desk here in Brooklyn, what a whirlwind! Here's my recap...
Let's see...on Kids Day (Sunday) I did a signing at the Abrams Table. Everyone was so supportive!
I gave out my Paige inspired easter eggs to folks, and dropped some in the bags of people walking by. It included some of my Mermaid Parade glitter from a few weeks ago.
I was up for an Eisner Award, which I didn't win. But honestly, I didn't care because I felt so honored to be there in the first place! I was definitely battling a Wayne's World style "I'm not worthy" complex.
Abrams had our own table! My publicist Mary Ann was a fabulous partner in crime for the evening.
There were many amazing presenters, but the geek in me was especially excited to see Battlestar Galactica actors Tricia Helfer and Michael Trucco! (I've actually hosted a couple BSG themed events in the past...)
I finally got to meet some folks who I really admire, such as new Eisner winner for Best Artist/ Writer Craig Thompson! I mentioned his book latest book Habibi a few months back.
And amazing female-empowering comic historian/ artist/ writer Trina Robbins!
And I crossed paths with some NY comic friends, such as Smile writer/artist Raina Telgemeier.
And fellow Jugs & Capes member Colleen AF Venable, who was also nominated for an Eisner Award! (For Best Publication for Kids) Here we're holding "Izzy," my fake Eisner award/ swiped coconut centerpiece.
And I was excited to see my former studiomate Reilly Brown who had a table in Artist Alley.
And I must give a shout out to Adrienne Lombardo and the New York Jedis. Jedi photo bomb!
What about the convention itself? Well, I went to some great panels, a Tr!ckster workshop, gaped at many fabulous costumes, and had some zany adventures. *I've posted ALL the pics on Flickr.*
My constant traveling companion MR DUCK came along, and he made many new friends.
To see all of Mr Duck's pics, click here!
It was a professional goal of mine to make it out to SDCC, so I am very thankful I was able to make it happen. I'm so lucky that I get to be a part of this community! Thank you everyone for your continued support, especially now that I'm delving back into "hermit mode" here in my studio. After seeing so many inspiring artists there, I am determined to make Will & Whit as amazing as possible!
I've been working the past four months on producing my second graphic novel Will & Whit, so I thought I'd share some pics from behind the scenes so far!
Here is my messy studio, which is in the second bedroom of my apartment. Which means I can go DAYS without leaving the house! I admit I've been a total eccentric hermit through this whole process, so my apologies to all folks I have not been able to hang out with while I've been spending all my time living under a rock.
The view from my studio window...
Rory is my constant companion (heh, companion) in the studio. He makes the isolation much more tolerable! He's sneakily distracting ALL the time.
On my computer I have HUNDREDS of reference photos I've taken to use as reference for penciling out characters. These pics are mostly of my hands since hands give me so much trouble. HANDS.
I'm in the reference photos a lot as well. Sometimes wearing curlers!
Once I've finished polishing out all these penciled pages, I'll definitely post some samples. My new characters are so much fun to draw and I can't wait to share them!
Currently Listening:We Shall Overcome: The Seeger Sessions by Bruce Springstein
