Thursday, April 29, 2010

What if I say I will never surrender?


3 pages yesterday! If this thesis is a war, I won yesterday's battle >:D

That puts me at 19/24 pages for chapter 2 (though 6 still need to be toned), and 35/40 overall. I still need to make the chapter 2 cover as well. The deadline is Wednesday, May 5. 6 days.

The written portion of the thesis is not going so hot. It needs major revisions, and my primary thesis adviser wants to edit one more draft before I turn in my final on Wednesday. 0__o So, writing tonight and all day tomorrow.

Tuesday, April 27, 2010

It's getting hard to be someone, but it all works out

Some new art from this weekend:

Con sketch of Victor from Over the Surface, utilizing my grayscale copic markers.

Con sketch I decided to take home and finish. I'm going to try coloring the line art digitally and coloring the original with watercolor.

Pin-up of Ava I did as a companion piece to a watercolor commission. I like to have an easy piece running alongside commissions, so I can warm up on it before moving to the serious project.

Monday, April 26, 2010

Stumptown 2010 Recap


(Courtesy ocean yamaha)

Stumptown wrapped up yesterday at 6, and I came home utterly exhausted at 6:30. The weekend was SO fun; it topped last year's for me twice over.

Friday:
I got into Portland around noon, milled around at home, made sure all of my merchandise was in order, caught up with the family, and got ready to go out in the evening. Emi Lenox and I went to the Doubletree at 6 to set up our tables for the next day (a HUGE improvement on last year--my stress was cut in half knowing that everything was already at my table).
We went from there over to The Secret Society; after much success with Drink n' Draw Like a Lady at MoCCA, Hope Larson organized the first Drink n' Draw Like a Lady West with help from Dylan Meconis. It was so fun--newbies, pros, artists, writers, reviewers, students, and editors all sippin' drinks and mackin' on cupcakes while talking shop. In addition to catching up with friends and talking with people trying to get into comics, I got to meet Hope, Kate Beaton, and Lucy Knisley! I feel so lucky that Portland is the site of DDLL West, and cannot wait for next year's.
After DDLL, Emi, Joelle Jones and I went to O'Brien's in NW and met up with Nicolas Hitori De, Jamie S. Rich, and Jamie's friend (Bobby...?). I left within half an hour, drove back to the suburbs, and face-planted in my pillow.

Saturday:
I got to the con an hour early, which is the way I like it. There is ALWAYS something that comes up and takes 20 minutes when you didn't expect to lose that time. For me, it was parking on the other side of the Lloyd Center from the con, trying to take a short cut through the mall, and realizing that the doors on the other side were still locked. I had to walk around the entire bloated mall! Bah!
I was set up at table 114 with Angie Wang and Emi, next to Susan Tardif and Rich Ellis and near a lot of other Periscope members. I liked our placement; we were on the outer loop of the con, and got a lot of traffic. We weren't near any huge lines that might block our table or any annoying/loud tables. I had great interactions with the people who came by, and made enough sales to cover the table by lunch. I did a lot better than I did in Seattle last month, thanks to a more relevant crowd and also to Emi's suggestions on my table organization. I put my minis out on the table instead of stacked in a stand, and people seemed more happy to browse them that way.
I left the table for short trips around the con, usually to a single table that I had been planning to visit. I bought DAR! volume 2 from Erika Moen, Spellcheckers, Mercury, French Milk, and a Kate Beaton print. If I had left many more times, I would have gone broke. There were so many great products to see!!!
After the con, table 114 went out to dinner at Gustav's with Cat Farris, Ron Chan, Sean Kelley, Emi's awesome friend Lindsay Zimmerman, Leigh Walton and intern Hazel from Top Shelf.
We schlepped down to 7-11 for cheap coffee, and then headed over to Cosmic Monkey for the official con afterparty. Jeff Parker as MC is always entertaining, and the comic art battle included a dance-off this year!
Emi and I went to Brett Warnock's for an after-after party, which was a ton of fun. His living room and basement are comic heaven, and he wouldn't let me leave without a truckload of Top Shelf titles! I felt so guilty--I could hardly carry it all.
Again, pillow face-plant in the early morning.

Swagalag

Sunday:
I rolled into the con just before it started. It was more of the same from Saturday--great traffic, great interactions, and fun with the other exhibitors. I was exhausted from the late nights, but held it together with a little help from the hotel cafe. I took Angie and Emi home and I got back to my house barely an hour after the con closed. I pulled on my jammers and watched Avatar with the family.

Some highlights:
  • Both my primary and secondary thesis advisers came to the con! Yet another vote of confidence that I picked the right people for the job.
  • Kurt Busiek bought Over the Surface!!! WHAT?! 8D
  • Talking with publishers about possible future projects~~~!
  • Fan art from Emi and Nico!!!!
  • Seeing Angela Melick again!
  • Meeting all of the great artists from out of town, most notably Nico, who had to reschedule his flight half a dozen times thanks to Iceland
A few things that I want to fix next time:
  • Making button sets at a discount - I think that they would sell much better
  • Fan art sells so much better than original characters...I have never felt quite right selling other people's characters, but I want to try next year
  • Smaller portfolio x_x
  • Bigger, easier to read price sheet
  • Cuter presentation...! My table zen is terrible...!!

Thursday, April 22, 2010

And I am not afraid to try it on my own

I'm calling it a night; I have an early train tomorrow to Portland! Woohoo, Stumptown Comics Fest weekend!!!! Before I turn it off, here's a preview from Over the Surface 2:

(I have 15/24 pages done on this chapter, 31/40 total, and 11 days remaining)

Wednesday, April 21, 2010

I realize I must have gone a million miles away

I will be at the Stumptown Comics Fest this weekend in Portland at table 114 with Emi Lenox and Angie Wang! Come on by! I will have the same things I had at ECCC (4 new minicomics, 2 prints, buttons, con sketches) PLUS a print of my Monsters and Dames illustration!

I haven't posted in a while, but you haven't missed anything. It's just thesis, thesis, THESIS at my house, punctuated only by a couple of commissions. I gave a first draft of my essay to my primary and secondary advisers at the beginning of the week, and I am drawing page 13 of the comic today (29 out of 40 total). I have to turn in all of the finished art and the final version of the paper on May 5...14 days from now. Dear God back to work.

I will try to make Over the Surface chapter 2 available as a minicomic in my Etsy store in late May.

Monday, April 12, 2010

I'll be there as soon as I can

Here's another preview from Over the Surface 2:
(7 out of 24 pages done!!! Drew 6 of them in 5 days!! WHOOO!)


I don't want to give away so much in these previews that it ruins the comic, but enough that you don't have to go without new art for the next month.

My mom is coming to my thesis defense next month. :) D'aww. <3 As stressed as I am scrambling to finish the art and the paper this month, I am really pretty stoked about my thesis. I have awesome professors on my panel, I was allowed to do exactly what I love in lieu of a very long research paper, and having to do so much work has made me a better artist.

EDIT: from the second page I drew today:


It is a day for drawing my horrified characters, I guess :P

Sunday, April 11, 2010

There's so many ways to act


Drawing page 5 of Over the Surface 2 today! I have this great energy going--I want to read what happens next but can't until I've drawn it. I'm getting caught up in the tension of something I wrote, haha.

Overall, I have drawn 20 out of 40 pages for my thesis! Yow, halfway!

Friday, April 9, 2010

This is the world that we live in

Here's a preview of Over the Surface chapter 2, page 3!


Oh man, I have had such a hard time with the planes. Even if I had experience with drawing machines, brush pens are not ideal for straight or controlled lines. Lets just say that those planes in panel 1 did not start out as black silhouettes. :P

Still, I am really excited because I see a big improvement in my ability to draw cities and landscapes. When I think about how challenging panel 2 would have been for me a year or two ago, it's a good feeling. You've gotta dive into subjects you're bad at...it may be painful for a while, but it's the fastest way to learn.

Thursday, April 8, 2010

Awkward pause, ooh fatal flaws

There's a party tonight, but I HAVE TO finish this page before I go:



Motivation ftw! T - 5 hours!

UPDATE (5:30PM):


ALMOOOOOOST

Monday, April 5, 2010

I had a dream that I was falling down

I'm back from a long weekend in San Francisco!

Emi drove us down to San Francisco on Thursday for Wondercon and other adventures. We toured the city, went to a roller derby match, and got a tour of Pixar from Josh Cooley while we were there! It was pretty dang awesome. Bucket lists were shortened.

Now I'm back at school and, as you have heard for the last several weeks, back to work on the thesis. I was relieved to get confirmation last week that the paper length for creative theses is generally 20-30 pages (vs. 40-50 for academic theses), and to receive a sheet of paper with guidelines for the written portion of creative theses that was not available online (I do not know why; it was very, very helpful).
Today, I am trying to type out everything that I can, knowing what I know at this point. Basically, I am making my roughest rough draft. Once I have all of my own knowledge down on paper, I can see what is missing and what I should spend the next 2 weeks researching and filling in.

Unrelated: did anyone see Fringe last week?! EPIC!! And the 80s intro made me laugh out loud!!!