8/14/14

I've been meaning to write a long, detailed post about my MFAVN summer semester experience, but I haven't had a chance to sit down and actually do it (which I eventually will).

Most of the work produced during my eight weeks were more experimental exercises than polished pieces, but I was happy with how some projects turned out, including these two silly animations. One features Tate the Tater, a character I developed in my Black, White and One Color class with Nathan Fox. The other is loosely based on a Missed Connection ad found perusing Craigslist (which I didn't know was a thing until recently).

Aside from catching up on sleep, I've slowly begun working on silkscreen projects left on the back-burner, like the follow-ups to the mini-silkscreen zine, Best in Show, tentatively titled Agility Trials (which will feature hurdle-jumping cassowaries) and Dressage (featuring emus). I'm also super excited to be part of the One-Shot Gallery Daughters of The Atom group show in September (a work-in-progress shot below).

6/2/14

So much going on this week!

Today marks my very first day as Class of 2016 in the MFA Visual Narrative program at SVA. Super excited and nervous and eager to see how my working method and storytelling evolves over the next two years. Also looking forward to meeting new folks with different approaches to telling and presenting stories. My first (most likely intense) week back in school will be followed by two events this weekend…

You'll find me and the rest of the Three Armed Squid gang selling silkscreen goods and comics at the Grand Comics Festival this Saturday from 11am-7pm. I'll be debuting my Uncanny Alien Raver postcard set, featuring 7 delectable mutants heroes and villains.

Right after GCF I'll be high-tailing it to Grumpy Bert's for the opening reception of Life on Mars, featuring work from Apak, Monica Ramos, Scott Albrecht, Brendan Monroe, Evah Fan, Andrew Bell, Ramiro Davaro-Comos, Theo Ellsworth, Michael Hsiung and myself! I'll have two pieces appearing in the show, one of which I've posted for your viewing pleasure above. Prior to the reception, special guests will speak about the current happenings on the planet Mars. Seating is limited, so shoot an email to bert (at) grumpybert.com to secure your spot! Special guests include Miriam Kramer (Staff writer, Space.com), Caleb Scharf (Director of Astrobiology, Columbia University) and Chris Patil (Mars One Project candidate). I'm sad to miss this discussion but hopefully I'll be able to get the cliff notes version when I arrive. Don't fret if you can't make it; the show will be up through July 13th.

5/29/14

Thanks to everyone who went to see Narwhal and the other amazing MoCCA Arts Festival Award of Excellence winners at the Society of Illustrators this past month! I'm so grateful to the judges and the SoI for exhibiting my work. Hopefully I'll have another opportunity!

5/20/14

Come on down tomorrow for some libations, good company and to view the MoCCA Arts Festival Award of Excellence winning work of David Plunkert, Greg Kletsel, Jess Ruliffson, Luke Healy and myself! Festivities will begin at 5pm in the third floor Hall of Fame Dining Room (check out our exhibition on the second floor as you head upstairs!). A $5 cover charge will go towards the Society of Illustrators Student Scholarship Fund.

Hope to see you there!

5/16/14

TCAF RECAP! It was my very first time at the Toronto Comic Arts Festival (and Toronto/Canada). It was held at the magnificent Toronto Reference Library (5 floors of books!) during a gloriously sunny weekend. The festival ran smoothly, thanks to The Beguiling and the TCAF volunteers. Saturday was especially packed, with the diverse crowd oozing excitement and eager to engage. By Sunday, several highly sought after books were sold out (like Jillian and Mariko Tamaki's This One Summer). Some exhibitors were so popular as to be extremely difficult to approach; it took me 15 minutes to get close enough to Peow! Studios' table to just glance at their gorgeous risograph books. There were familiar faces in the vast sea of exhibitors: Andrea Tsurumi, Keren Katz, Molly Brooks, Nick Bertozzi, Pat Dorian, Josh O'Neill and Andrew Carl of Locust Moon Comics and of course my table mate Estrella Vega.

Now calls for lots of reading (sadly I have not yet taken a picture of my TCAf haul but I promise you there is one) and working on some upcoming group shows (more on that soon!). And of course, Grand Comics Festival, which will be held on June 7th at Bird River Studios in Williamsburg. Thank you TCAF, The Beguiling and Canada for making my trip a memorable one! Hopefully I'll be back soon!

5/8/14

TCAF poster by the grotesquely talented Michael DeForge

I'm heading to Toronto, Canada this weekend for TCAF! This marks my first time visiting Canada AND going outside the US. Color me excited to get my passport stamped! You'll be able to find me on the 2nd floor at Table 220, which I'll be sharing with good friend and fellow squid Estrella Vega

I'll have issues 1, 2 and 3 of Three Armed Squid on hand, as well fresh goodies from the silkscreen oven: TCAF exclusive Alien Raver Pancake Pin-up prints and a second edition printing of my book Narwhal.

The 2nd and 1st printings of Narwhal side-by-side

See you soon, Canada!

4/25/14

If you find yourself in Minneapolis tonight, you should mosey over to Light Grey Art Lab's Animystics exhibition opening reception. Above is my piece for the group show, titled Eikthyrnir, the Gardener. A limited edition of signed silkscreen prints and giclee prints will be available for purchase during the show with proceeds going to The Animal Humane Society. If you, like me, can't make it to the show, you can see everyone's contribution on their website and buy my prints here!

4/8/14

T'was a grand ol' time at MoCCA this past weekend! Thank you to everyone who stopped by my table, adopted my silkscreen books and engaged in small talk with me! I sadly didn't get to chat with everyone at their tables but I was able to visit some! It was really hard sticking to my MoCCA allowance this year. So much good work out there!

In an unexpected yet pleasant twist, I won a MoCCA Arts Festival Award of Excellence for my silkscreen book, Narwhal! I'm so grateful to this year's judges and the Society of Illustrators for the honor. A special thank-you goes out to James Strum for rallying behind my little narwhals! Congratulations (and many high fives) to the other winners of the Award of Excellence: David Plunkert, Greg Kletsel, Luke Healy and Jess Ruliffson!

While this year's MoCCA has come to a close, my festival circuit has just begun. Next up: TCAF!

4/4/14

Hoo-ray, MoCCA Arts Fest opens tomorrow (see map here)! Above is a sampling of what I'll have on hand at the Three-Armed Squid table (D12). Additionally, I'll have copies of my Narwhal and Pulpo silkscreen books, Owl Maiden totes, and Llama Salutations greeting cards!.

We'll also be debuting the new issue of Three-Armed Squid's anthology, The Four Elementals, featuring work from Andrea Tsurumi, Jess Worby, Pam Wishbow, Will Varner and more!

3/26/14

MoCCA Arts Fest is quickly approaching! I will be tabling with fellow squid Alden Viguilla and Mauro Balcazar, a contributor in the upcoming issue of Three-Armed Squid. We’ll have lots of new comics, posters and silkscreen goodies at our table, D12, so drop by and say hello! MoCCA Fest is held at the 69th Regiment Armory, April 5-6, and will be open 11am – 6pm. Previews of everything I’m bringing soon!

3/4/14

My piece for Merry Christmas, Mr. Lawrence is up on Silver Screen Society!

2/19/14

Currently silkscreening a small edition of Best in Show zines for MoCCA Fest in April. Hoping to finish printing next week. More projects on the way!

1/29/14

Recently, I've been working on a short, triptych comic titled He Who Is Upon His Mountain. Keeping the ink washes and line art separate gives me greater control once scanned and imported into Photoshop. This comic will appear in a mini-comic collecting several of my short comics in time for the spring/summer festival circuit the next issue of Carboncito, due out this summer.

1/7/14

I recently wrapped up a short comic for the upcoming third issue of Quarter Moon, which will be out in time for Valentine's Day (which is appropriate because it's erotica themed). I rarely take process pictures when I work but I managed to remember to take a few while working on the first page. My process is a long one!

First, a quick thumbnail on my sketchbook to help me determine layout and pacing.

Then the sketch is enlarged, printed to scale and traced onto bristol vellum with my trusty Artograph Light Pad (I love this thing soooo much. Never runs hot! No warped paper!!). I pencil in more details in preparation for inking with Staedtler pencils in HB and 2B (However I pencil really lightly for some reason).

Panel borders are inked first, which serves as a good warm-up and gives the impression that you have accomplished more work than you actually have. Finally, I ink the pencil drawings with my Raphael red sable brushes (sizes 1 through 3), sumi ink and pro white for the mistakes.

I was given a sneak peek at some of the other contributors' work, which has me super STOKED to see the issue in person. Locust Moon will throw a release party in mid-February, so look out for more pictures then!

1/1/14

Another year has come and gone! Looking back at all I accomplished in the past year, I can say I met and sometimes went beyond my 2013 goals!

• More comics & illustrations. Not only did I make more comics this year, but one of them was published in the first issue of Quarter Moon Magazine, curated by the cool folks over at Locust Moon Press. I'm currently working on a themed comic for their third issue, an a 1-page comic for their Little Nemo tribute anthology.
• More collaborations. My friends and I self-published another issue of our zine anthology, Three Armed Squid, this time with a little help from our friends! The zine literally tripled in size. Our third issue is going to be EVEN BIGGER. Hold on to your tentacles. Good friend Kim Ku and I tag-teamed again to make another round of Rawrs & Noms, which to our surprise sold out at MoCCA.
• More festivals. I upped my 2012 total of 3 to 4! This year will mark the first time I attend a festival in another country: TCAF!
• More traveling. While I didn't exactly leave the country, I did make the rounds here in the good ol' USA! I visited Philadelphia a couple of times, spent a long weekend in Miami, attended a bachelorette party in Las Vegas and spent time relaxing in rural Pennsylvania (I don't go out much because of time and monetary constraints, so this is a lot for me!).
• Group shows and more! I contributed work for AMMO Magazine's Poop Deck Project at the Coningsby Gallery, Small Ass Zines, and Silver Screen Society!

(Forgive my list-making. I love lists) I'm eternally grateful to everyone who helped me achieve my goals! 2014 is already shaping up to be a very promising year and I'm eager to see how it unfolds. Here's to the long and winding road…

12/26/13

Happy Holidays to all! It's been a busy couple of days (excluding a short getaway to Lewisberg, PA to visit friends!). There are 3 (!!!) comics in the works, plus some illustrations for Silver Screen Society on the queue. Recently, I made a tiny, tiny zine about kiwi birds competing in 'Best in Show' for Small Ass Zines, helmed by the lovely Ness Lee! SOOOO happy to be part of the group! I had fun drawing and inking these little guys. If you find yourself in Toronto, you can nab a small ass zine of your own for a loonie at Art Metropole.

12/16/13

Thanks to Andrea Tsurumi for taking a lovely solo shot of me!

Thank you to everyone who braved the storm and stopped by the Degenerate Craft Fair this weekend! I had a good time but it left me completely exhausted. All my wares were well received and I even sold out of my Frida Llama notebooks! Luckily this is my last fest/fair of the year, so I can hunker down and work on new things for the spring.