So, the cat's officially been let out of the bag: After taking a break for a couple years so that I could pay more attention to my own creative work, I've jumped back into organizing the Stumptown Comics Fest! I started taking steps to move back into a directorship role just before the 2010 Fest, as I was helping with promotion and art direction. It was clear that Shannon Stewart, the current Director at that time, was ready to hand the reins over to someone with more time and attention than he could spare.
In taking the Fest back on, I realize that it will be dominating my attention again for the next few years, so I really want to make it worth the trouble. To me, that translates to making the Fest bigger and better than it's ever been before. To start with, the exhibition floor needed to expand - the show has had an ever-growing waiting list for spaces for the last four years - a need which necessitated the move to the larger Convention Center venue. I'm also going to be shifting the gaze of the Fest ever-so-gradually toward the more established, professional creators in the Portland area and beyond. For years Stumptown has been considered just another indie-show, like APE, SPX or MoCCA. And while it has catered predominantly to that stratum of creator, there's a lot more that a creator-focused show like Stumptown can offer. I've already reached out to a number of creators who might previously have felt like they wouldn't fit in at the Fest, and the response has been gratifyingly positive so far. We're also going to be expanding our workshop track to an additional room, allowing more flexibility in our curriculum and again, the ability to broaden our scope a bit to offer a range of classes for beginners and more advanced comics writers and artists, and even for those aspiring to self-publish and distribute their work.
So, that's the big news of the day. I hope you can join us at the Fest next year, and keep checking back at the site for additional updates over the coming months!
Just in time for Back To School, all Apparel and Badges in the store are 25% off until Sept. 15! Also, check out the new lower price on the 8-Bit Tarot decks! That's a permanent discount of $10 off the deck!
With last month's Liquidation Sale, I managed to move about half of my inventory of comics, tarot decks, and t-shirts at just-over-production-cost prices. Even though the sale is over, I still have a lot of stuff I'd like to clear out, and I'd like to start rebuilding my bottom line a bit. SO! I'm raising the prices a bit over what they were during the liquidation, but still keeping them wicked low (50% off on EVERYTHING!) through the middle of August! Go! Partake! Save!
My personal financial situation isn't something about which I've spoken publicly, I was always taught that money is a private concern. Whenever I asked my parents if we were rich, their answer was always a particularly cryptic "we're comfortable" (which, come to find out many years later, means we were scraping the bone to keep going). I always had a kind of laissez-faire attitude about money, spending my allowance as quickly as it would come, borrowing against future allowances to get that Really Big Toy that I wanted. This way of thinking about money has followed me into adulthood, and to no good result.
For the next two weeks, everything in the Lunarbistro.com store is priced to move! For financial reasons, I need to clear out as much of my inventory as I can. Everything in the store is priced at or below cost, including the Limited Edition 8-Bit Tarot Decks, as well as all of my shirts and comics!
Doing a little bit of Spring Cleaning here at the Lunarbistro HQ. I've got Shirts, Tarot Decks, Comics and Badge Sets, all on sale starting May 5th and running for two weeks! I'm also bringing back the Personal Sketchcards, and keeping the Tarot-and-a-T-Shirt bundle discounts in place! Check out the deep discounts in all categories!
This is a really excellent essay (in the form of a list) detailing ten things Milton Glaser has learned during his lifetime of award-winning design work.
Of particular interest to me, is Number 5: Less Is Not Necessarily More. I've long been critical of the current school of art in cartooning that's epitomized by the work of John Porcellino and James Kochalka, a home-grown aesthetic that celebrates its simplicity and minimalism. Not to say that I dislike the work per se, just that I prefer work that has more to it, visually. I guess I'm tired of feeling like I need to justify my texture work and 'over-renderings' in the face of such a simple alternative, and it's nice to see someone else share my ideal.
I'm going to have to continually revisit this list during my journey.
Well, another Emerald City Comicon has come and gone, and I live to tell the tale. I thought I should collect my thoughts on the con while they were still moderately fresh in my head.
Stumptown Comics Fest Art Show 2010
ArtBar at Portland Center for Performing Arts
1111 SW Broadway
Portland, OR
Artist's Reception, April 1, 2010 6:pm-9:pm
Hey, gang! I'm participating in this years Stumptown Comics Fest Art Show again, with two pages of Ellie Connelly art in the show. I'll be in attendance at the artists' reception on April 1st, where Mayor Sam Adams will be reading his proclamation to make April Comics Month in Portland for the third year in a row! Come check it out and say hi!
The Ellie Connelly Badge set and Eye of the Vortex Preview Book which both debuted at last weekend's Emerald City Comicon are now available in the Lunarbistro.com store. I'm excited to finally have some Ellie-related merchandise in there!
Emerald City Comicon Seattle Convention Center Seattle, WA March 13th & 14th, 2010
The Emerald City Comicon is right around the temporal corner, and to help you find me in the labyrinthine exhibit hall, I've put together this handy map, with a few noteworthy placemarkers to help guide you!
(click the image for a larger copy)
I'll be exhibiting at table G-05 in the Artist's Alley section, way in the back of the hall alongside my studiomates! Sarah Oleksyk will be debuting the final chapter in her magnum opus Ivy, and Les McClaine will be showing off pages of the recent run of The Tick which he's been working on. I'm debuting a couple pieces of official Ellie merchandise, like the badges I previewed earlier, and a black and white preview of Eye of the Vortex containing the first 20-pages in an easy-to-lend booklet! Also, my assistant Kim Probable will be on-hand doing live Tarot readings, so be sure to come and say Howdy!
In my search to rediscover what it was that originally made me want to become an illustrator, I revisited a number of the children's books I enjoyed so much way back in the day, and the illustrations that really sparked my imagination and held me in such thrall. I was an avid reader back then, and my literary diet was comprised largely of selections from the Weekly Reader Book Club and some of the novels of Roald Dahl. I remember being so familiar with James and the Giant Peach that I could rip through the book in less than two hours by the time I was eight years old.
Until the 1990s, when Quentin Blake was given the boon of re-illustrating Dahl's entire bibliography for Puffin Books, two of Dahl's most popular books (Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and its sequel) were illustrated by Joseph Schindelman, and he was one of the first I wanted to study on this journey.
Stumptown Comics Fest
Lloyd Center Doubletree, 1000 NE Multnomah
Portland, OR
April 24th & 25th, 10am-6pm
If you're going to be in or around the Portland area the weekend of April 24th & 25th, you really should consider dropping by the Stumptown Comics Fest! It's the convention I helped found several years ago, and I'm looking forward to exhibiting again! I'll be handing out buttons and doing free doodles of Ellie, Henry, Everett, or whoever you'd like! I want to try to come up with a good fun game or two, as well, but we'll see if I have time. Either way, there'll be over a hundred other artists, publishers, webcartoonists, and special guests at the Fest this year, plus panels, workshops, and a wicked after-party at Cosmic Monkey Comics. It's always a great time, and this'll be my last convention of the year, so it'd be nice to see you there!
know it's already the end of January as I type this, but I wanted to get this spelled out while I'm thinking of it: 2010 is going to be a big year for me.
I've got big plans and big goals for the year, but they all share one common goal: to become completely self-sufficient on only illustration work. This means covering all of my expenses, my monthly bills, rent on my workspace, any new equipment, supplies, or software I need to purchase, while still being able to set money aside for taxes.
For too many years I've simply had ambitions to become a professional illustrator. I tried to do as much illustration as I could in whatever job I held, but until now the only really marketable skill I've been able to capitalize on is my familiarity and comfort with Flash programming (at least in ActionScript 2). Since I lost my job in 2008, the bulk of my income has been earned through Flash programming while picking up a few small illustration jobs here and there throughout the year. My number one goal for 2010 is to flip those percentages, and to end the year as a full-time illustrator.
To that end, I'm detailing my monthly plan:
Like a lot of my friends, I anxiously awaited the announcement of this new Apple Tablet with a great deal of trepidation. And that trepidation was not disappointed. Which is to say, I was left after the big announcement feeling unfulfilled and disappointed. I wasn't sure exactly what this new 'iPad' thing was trying to be, but I knew that it wasn't what I was hoping that Apple would reveal.
I'm excited to announce that my piece, 'A Visit With Hades' has been selected as one of only 48 to appear as part of the Monsters & Dames benefit book being released at this year's Emerald City Comicon! This beautiful hardcover volume is a follow-up to last year's successful book, and will be limited to only 850 copies. Proceeds from sales of the book go to benefit the Seattle Children's Hospital, and I believe some of the original artwork from the book will also be available at auction during the Comicon. I'm happy to be able to be part of this great book with so many other excellent cartoonists and illustrators. And I hope to see you come up to ECCC so I can sign your copy!
The full details of the book and all the contributing artists (along with some preview images!) can be found right here!
Bundled product discounts have been set up in the store, order a deck of tarot cards and any t-shirt and get $10 off your total order!
It's my birthday, so I'm celebrating by starting the Lunarbistro.com holiday sale! Between now and the end of 2009, you can get 20% off your entire purchase, and if you order by December 14th it should even arrive in time for Christmas (domestic shipments only). No new merchandise has been added, unfortunately, but if there's something in the store that you've had your eye on, now's a good time to pick it up, for yourself or a friend!
OMG PWN!ES
Sequential Art Gallery
Portland, OR
Dec. 3rd 2009, 6PM-10PM
This month my friends Kaebel, Merrick and I put together a Modified My Little Pony group show at Sequential Art Gallery here in Portland! Come by if you're in the neighborhood on this thursday night for the opening reception from 6-10! A bunch of the artists will be in attendance, and you can check out modified My Little Ponies by myself, Erika Moen, Lucy Knisley, Star St. Germain, Nubby Twiglet, and dozens of other artists! All ponies are priced for the holidays, and would make great gifts WINK WINK.
For as long as I've been working as a freelancer, I've had trouble keeping my portfolio updated, current, and organized. I find it hard to motivate myself to work on projects specifically aimed at putting them into the portfolio, and some of the work that I've done isn't represented there at all, because it doesn't really fall into either of the categories there.
So, my plan is to take a tip from the Jeff Fisher episode of Escape from Illustration Island, and turn my blog here at lunarbistro.com into more of a 'blog-folio'. I'll be posting work-in-progress, finished artwork (largely ancillary art for my webcomic, The Adventures of Ellie Connelly), sketches and studies for upcoming designs, and commission information for potential clients.
I will, however, need to pretty much scrap all of the current entries here at the blog. I'll try to be careful and find a way to move them all into a 'legacy' category, so nothing gets lost. And if the entry featured artwork or sketches, well, that'll just be moved into the appropriate category.
So, basically, look for some changes to take place here, and I'll try to make it as painless as possible!
Emerald City Comicon
Seattle Convention Center
Seattle, WA
April 4th & 5th
Hey! The Emerald City Comicon is this weekend, and I'm totally going to be there! Be sure to come by and say howdy, I'll be exhibiting at table F-13 in the Artists Alley section, along with a bunch of my fellow webcomics artists, and my friends from Periscope Studios. I'll be doing mini-portrait sketches, selling some of my older print comics, showing off previews of Ellie Connelly and the Eye of the Vortex, and giving out free promo Ellie Connelly buttons to the first 300 folks to come by and say hi!
Ten-Cent Tales!
Sequential Art Gallery
Portland, OR
Artists Reception: Dec 3rd, 7pm
I've got a piece going up in a group show here in Portland this month, and here's some info on the artists' reception taking place this wednesday, Dec. 3!
Sequential Art Gallery is proud to present TEN CENT TALES of TRUE TERROR and TWO-FISTED TITILLATION!, a group show inspired by pulp fiction novel artwork.
Featuring new artwork by:
Kirk Alexander • Melissa Armstrong • Benja Barker • Todd Brabander
Jereed Breeden • Matthew Clark • Elizabeth Conley • Sarah Cosman
Paul Guinan • Garret Izumi • Tim Janchar • Indigo Kelleigh
Josiane Keller • Randall Kirby • BT Livermore • Rich Mackin
Tony Morgan • Shinichi Moriyama • Bruce Morrison • Neal Skorpen
Mona Superhero • Nubby Twiglet • Brenna Zedan • Lee Zeman
As usual, there will be a First Thursday reception from 6-10pm. But you are invited to the Artists' Reception the night before: Wednesday, Dec. 3rd, from 7 to 9pm. There will be refreshments & many of the artists in attendance. And I'd like to thank each of the artists for all the time, effort, and imagination they've put into this show. It'll be well worth your while to check it out.
Hope to see you.
Portland Zine Symposium
Smith Memorial Ballroom (third floor) at Portland State University
Portland, OR
Sat. & Sun, August 23 & 24
The Portland Zine Symposium is coming up in about a week-and-a-half, and always has a lot of interesting minicomics, zines and one-of-a-kind art objects. And this year, it also has me!
I'll be tabling at the Symposium this year, handing out Calling Cards and postcards to promote Ellie Connelly, selling my comics and buttons, and I'll also have the latest pack of Tarot cards there at the table. So if you're planning on going, stop by and say Hi! I'd love to see you!
The Zine Symposium is Saturday and Sunday, August 23-24 at the Smith Memorial Ballroom (third floor) at Portland State University. It starts at 10:am both days, and admission appears to be free.
MEANWHILE...: An Exhibition of Comic Book Art
ArtBar & Bistro
Portland, OR
Artist Reception: March 6, 2009
Hey, Portlanders! Tonight's first thursday, which of course means gallery openings across the NW and SW PDX areas. I'm actually taking part in one, the Meanwhile... show being curated by my friend Kaebel Hashitani, proprietor of the Sequential Art Gallery.
I'm providing a page of Ellie Connelly art, as well as donating a couple pieces from my private collection (not listed below)
Here's the listing for the Meanwhile show:
First Thursday, March 6, 6:00 p.m.PCPA and the Sequential Art Gallery present MEANWHILE...: An Exhibition of Comic Book Art, featuring artists from the Stumptown Comics Fest, a collection of comic book pages, covers and crossover art. Featuring artwork by Ryan Alexander-Tanner, Jon Ascher, Matthew Clark, Paul Guinan, Seamus Heffernan, Garret Izumi, Indigo Kelleigh, Carolyn Main, Kip Manley, Jenn Manley Lee, Larry Marder, Dylan Meconis, Erika Moen, Bill Mudron, Sarah Oleksyk, Jesse Reklaw, Craig Thompson, Jim Valentino and John C. Worsley.
The ArtBar and Bistro inside the Antoinette Hatfield Hall. 1111 SW Broadway at Main St. Portland, OR.
see you there!
Just in time for Back To School, all Apparel and Badges in the store are 25% off until Sept. 15! Also, check out the new lower price on the 8-Bit Tarot decks! That's a permanent discount of $10 off the deck!
@indigo_k, @ellieconnelly
Yeah, so, I'm Directing the Stumptown Comics Fest again: http://bit.ly/c8LiNAIt's not often I play around with basic design work: "2011: International Year of Chemistry" http://bit.ly/97mScc Maybe for a shirt?But it will tell anyone who asks it how many times I've listened to the Wicked soundtrack. Or what podcasts I like.Will iTunes Ping tell me if I have snot on my shirt? Somehow I doubt it.
