Only then you'll see the world all brand new

I haven't been posting here too much.  It's a combination of having lots of work (a good thing), and the weather being great in Portland.  You have to go outside when that happens; it could change back at any minute!

I drew at a little cafe downtown yesterday.  Ice coffee, filtered sunlight...heaven!

So what have I been up to?  Lots!

There was the Stumptown Comics Fest, which was GREAT this year.  Fest director Kaebel Hashitani knows what he's doing and his team was on it.  The guests were phenomenal.  I spent about as much time away from my table as at it--there was so much I wanted to see!

 

Brett Warnock gave me this copy of Jess Fink's new book.  I LOVED it.  Whatever materials she's using (pencils and a wash?) really work.  It's so pretty and warm.

 

I have a gallery show this month at Sequential Art Gallery, and I did a First Thursday event for the opening of that.  I was on Geek in the City with Merrick Monroe to promote it.

^(That has to be the happiest face of mine anyone has ever caught on camera. I love it.)

On May 6 I had a signing at Powell's for Husbands!!!  I got to meet Brad Bell, Jane Espenson, and Tania del Rio.  We did a panel and Q&A with my studio mates Ron Chan and Ben Dewey as well.  It was cool having so much of the creative team in one place.  The crowd was great and we filled that Pearl Room space!  

It felt full-circle for me because I found out about Periscope Studio at a Powell's author reading in the exact same place where Steve Lieber and Jeff Parker were speakers.  I was a 19-year-old, making comics but badly wanting some IRL comics friends.  Finding out about the studio changed everything for me.

I'm working away on It Girl issue #12.  Mike Norton, Chynna Clugston, and I each get 8 pages--I think it's a really nice device for bringing the whole creative team together in the finale issue.  I got my comp copies for #10 yesterday and I am SO happy with them.  The issue drops May 15; be sure to pick it up!

 

I've been running for exercise.  I'm finally finding the nice pockets for that in my neighborhood.

And I'm still a klutz.  At least I have an outlet.

 Lastly, I'll leave you with some new doodles.  Until next time!

What's your name no one's gonna ask you

I've been doing a lot of life drawing around town lately. I love it!!  Truth is so much stranger than fiction; I would never think to invent the characters I see on the street.  It's a great reminder about variety/diversity in everything from proportions to how people walk and stand to their mannerisms to clothing and hair styles.  Here's a big ol' post of the drawings I've done in the last month:

I can feel my feet on the ground

I'm back from Oahu and it was GREAT!  I had this image in my head that Oahu was one giant city, and why would you travel all the way to Hawai'i to just be in another city?, but it was actually the best island experience I've had yet.  There are parks and hikes and tons of nature within walking distance from Honolulu, and some parts of the island look completely untouched.

Here are my travel sketches.  I would clean them up if I had more free time, but I've got to hit the ground running today on actual work-work.  Even if some of these are less-than-legible, I hope you enjoy!

I looooove the way that the island looks from the water.  The clouds passing over the mountains cast shadows that seem black in contrast to the bright light shining everywhere else.  It made this great layering effect on the mountains, depending on whether the shadows were on the peaks closest to you or further away.

Autobio travel comics:
In hindsight, these sound a little...boastful?  That's not my intention; I just want to remember what we did.  It was an extraordinary trip and it looks like an embarrassment of riches when it's all listed off in one place.