20
Apr
2010
Show: Building Peers
A few weeks ago I was invited to be in an alumni/faculty show put together by the VAT Environment at the Cleveland Institute of Art. I’m a recent graduate and currently work as an assistant in the digital labs, and I’m really looking forward to seeing where everyone’s work has gone since we finished school.
The show, called “Building Peers”, opens today, with a reception this Friday, April 23 at 5:30pm. It’ll be running until May 15, so you’ll have plenty of time to stop by and check it out!
My own piece is the first chapter of my current work in progress, SOME DID REST, a teaser of which you can see here. If you want see it at a size where it’s legible, you’ll have to stop by the show or wait until the book finds a home. :) If you do get a chance to visit and read it, be sure to leave a comment and let me know what you think!
1
Mar
2010
Art of Comics
March already?
Still no sequential art I can show, but I’ve been doing a few covers for small presses as freelance.
I’m deep into the first bit of SOME DID REST at the moment, inking the second half of the chapter and prepping files. It seems like script revisions never end, and I’m just lucky that the ones I’m thinking about right now won’t result in what I’ve drawn so far going into the trash. My days are spent hunched over my lightbox, drawing rubble…
Things are coming together for IN MAPS & LEGENDS, though I still don’t have anything I’m allowed to share. Soon, though! I’ve even tricked collaborator Mike Jasper into doing a few pages of thumbnails. Poor guy doesn’t realize he’s been swindled into doing the least enjoyable part of comics for me~ ;) We’re both eager to move forward with the story.
Fellow Cleveland Institute of Art grad and comics guy Kevin Czapiewski is teaching a continuing education class called The Art of Comics right now at CIA, and he recently asked me if I was interested in stopping by and getting involved. He’s got a great curriculum planned, and those who sign up go through the process of building a comic from a script and series of thumbnails all the way to a finished story.
I’m hoping to help out with next week’s session, where Kevin’s talking about how time can be portrayed in sequential art. He plans on teaching the class again during the summer, so I’ll be sure to post more info when I have it so anyone local can take a look. Who says Cleveland doesn’t have a comics scene?
And while you’re at it, take a look at Kevin’s long-scrolling webcomic, SPOILERS! We’re both what you get when you combine fine arts majors with a love of comics.
I also recently did an extensive update to the list of literary agents who represent graphic novels, going through it to fix links and remove names of those who are no longer in the business– as well as adding a few agents. So take a look if you’ve got a graphic novel ready to query. (But please– I’m not an agent! Queries that come to me don’t get you anywhere!)
14
Jan
2010
Splitting My Focus
It’s been a crazy winter. I spent a wonderful three weeks in Germany, visiting friends and family, and, most importantly, getting married. :) It was the perfect way to cool down from the crazy ride that was the Zuda competition.
Speaking of which, things have started moving with IN MAPS & LEGENDS! Writer Michael Jasper is hard at work on the script for season 1, and we’re waiting to hear back from our editor about the path we want to take MAPS down. I’ve started doing sketches of the new characters that will be introduced in the upcoming pages, one of whom you can see to the right. He may be old and crotchety, but he’s good at what he does… We hope to launch the first season within a few months.
I’ve also been hard at work on SOME DID REST. I just finished some major script revisions, and I hope to start on the sample chapter’s art for the pitch soon. I really want this book to go places. For now, I’m keeping it tightly under wraps.
13
Oct
2009
A Good Rest
After a long and convoluted path, Some Did Rest is finally out with a few test readers! I finished up this most recent draft of the script a few weeks ago, after far too many index cards and hours working in Scrivener. (Well, actually, Scrivener Gold, the free beta version… I’m a frugal sort of girl.) I’m still waiting on a few things and some second reads, but after so many weeks spent writing, I needed to stretch my drawing muscles. I drew a few pages from a scene near the beginning of the book, and have uploaded them to the book’s section of my site, so take a look.
There are still a lot of things to figure out, but I couldn’t resist sharing a peek at what I have so far. Hopefully there will be more to see soon.
For those writing/drawing graphic novels and looking for literary agents, the list has been updated with a number of new names. There are now 58 different agencies out there with a record of being open to graphic novel queries.
30
Aug
2009
Short Distractions
I’ve been taking a break from writing Some Did Rest recently to work on a few shorter projects, samples of which you can see to the left and below! Maps & Legends is 8 pages, full-color, and is part of a collaboration with author Michael Jasper. We’re revisiting a book he wrote and adapting it to visual form; as you can tell from the title, maps play a large part in the story, and portraying them has been a fun challenge. Hopefully I’ll have an update about Maps & Legends’ future soon! Mike has some great ideas about where the story will go.
I also finished up a short submission for a comics anthology. Best Erotic Comics is true to its name: an annual anthology out from Last Gasp. I had a short story in this year’s BEC 2009. The book just got a great review from Carnal Nation, and it has short comics from a lot of great artists: Alison Bechdel, Gilbert Hernandez, and others. So pick it up if it’s your kind of thing! The short story I just submitted is titled In Winter, and is only three pages. I’ll update with any news about whether it will be in next year’s edition when I find out. I love doing short comics because of the freedom they allow– I’m always playing with different styles and figuring out what works best for the story I’m drawing.
Now, though, I’m ready to focus. Some Did Rest needs a finished script (and I’m dying to figure out the look of the pages and send it out into the world). And then… who knows? I’ve got another YA idea floating around in the back of my head that might get some attention when I’m done.
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