» Directing the Comics Fest
posted on September 1, 2010

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!

» 2010: The Year I Make Content
posted on February 1, 2010
I 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: