Hello there!
Updates from a comic gremlin
It’s been a while since I’ve updated this newsletter *cough* five months *cough*. So rather than do the sensible and obvious thing (writing an actual newsletter) I spent an insane amount of time (almost 5 hours) animating this little gif. For what it’s worth- it was a lot of fun. I don’t have a lot of experience in drawn animation (ask me sometime about my stop-motion animation projects from when I was a kid) but it was nice to explore it a little.
Honestly- I’m a little shocked that it’s already May! I’ve been in my little comic cave working away like the comic gremlin I am. I blinked and half the year went by.
You may have been wondering what I’ve been up to or, more likely, haven’t noticed my absence (anyone else subscribed to a million newsletters you’ll probably never read?). Either way I wanted to share what I’ve been working on since I last updated this newsletter in *double take* OCTOBER? Oops.
Secret Project
I know I keep teasing this because I don’t yet have the go ahead to share much publicly but I’ve been making good progress on this project and spent most of January and February buried in this work. I’ve spent the rest of the year worrying about it. Hope to be able to share more about this soon?
Adrian’s Story
Towards the end of the last year I was contacted by a couple of Med students in Vermont about making a comic based on an interview they did with Adrian who wanted to share his experiences with diabetes and how he turned around his health. James Sturm at the Center for Cartoon Studies (CCS), where I got my MFA, recommended them to me because I make science/education comics but also because I speak Spanish and had helped him translate a mental health comic CCS into Spanish. I was very excited to work on this project- a graphic medicine outreach for the Latin American community, which struggles with high levels of type II Diabetes. This is one of the first comics I’ve made based on someone else’s script, and I was surprised at how well I took to it. Right now I’m working on finishing the art and will have some final art to share with you all soon (although its in Spanish haha) and I want to share more about what the commission/collaboration process has looked like. Here’s a little process video of me inking a panel from this comic!
It’s been a long time (I think more than a year!) since I’ve actually drawn any finished pages of comics. I’m in the early stages of a lot of projects which mostly means writing, sketching, and thumbnailing. To be honest when I started finishing these pages it felt really awkward and horrible- did I forget how to draw? But after a while it started to flow and I’m feeling happy with how it’s coming out. One thing that I’ve learned from this is that for my own sake I need to make final art regularly. I’m toying around with an idea for that purpose so keep your eye out for that!
A couple of smaller projects
I’m working on a short little four page comic for a digital magazine that’s raising funds for the U.S. Committee for Refugees and Immigrants. It’s a cute little project, in watercolor, and fun.
And that’s pretty much it! It’s not much of an update- still chugging along on more or less the same projects. Hope to have more to show to ya’ll soon! I’m planning on keeping a once a month update schedule from now on and update on the first Tuesday of the Month. See you then!
Food for the Soul
Last year I started reading the Artists Way which advocates for making time for ‘Artist dates’ which are solo expeditions aimed at nourishing the inner artist. Since then it’s a thing that I’ve noticed many artists talk about- to be creative you need to have as much input as you have output. Take the time to fill your cup so to speak. This doesn’t have to be anything fancy- taking a walk, visiting a museum, garden, mail some letters for example. The more I work the more important I find this to be. So I want to introduce this new section for the last part of my newsletter called ‘food for the soul’ to share the things that have been inspiring me lately. Enjoy!
Atomic Habits by James Clear
This book proposes that you really shouldn’t be relying on ‘motivation’ to achieve big things. It’s more important to create a system that makes it easy to follow positive habits. As someone who is prone to procrastination and experiences ebbs and flows of motivation being self-employed and working as a freelancer has been challenging. I can’t always wait for inspiration/motivation when I’m on a deadline. This book has been really helpful and inspirational.
A Prayer for the Crown shy by Becky Chambers
This book (and the previous one in the series- A Psalm for the Wild built) is such a lovely little book. It’s a solar-punk story that imagines a future where we have really changed as a species and found balance with nature and each other. It’s such a lovely vision of our future that it made me tear up. Can’t recommend enough.
Comic Lab
I’ve been listening to this podcast a bunch- practical advice for anyone seeking to make a living pursuing their creativity. Yes it’s comics focused but I think it’s advice that anyone can use, bonus points because the hosts Dave Kellett and Brad Guigar are hilarious.
Lucy Bellwood’s Talk on Kelp Farming
I recently attended (via zoom) Lucy Bellwood’s presentation on her latest project- illustrating the process of Kelp Farming. I’m a big fan of her work and it was really interesting to get a peek of not just the art itself but the whole process of teaming up with scientists/kelp farmers to create something that can really connect with a broader audience. As some of you may know- I studied Biology in undergrad and working in a lab for almost two years. I’ve done a couple science comics but haven’t had many opportunities to make more recently. This whole talk made me excited about the process again. Plus she uploaded the talk to youtube so you can see it too!
The other cool thing about the talk was that it was attended by several other cartoonists into science comics like me! Here’s a couple that were shared in the chat:
https://ripley-lacross.com/adventure-comics/how-to-poop-in-the-woods/
https://www.crucialcomix.com/comic/lake-erie-was-declared-dead-now-were-fighting-for-its-life/
Crucial Comix is (I think) a more recent comix digital publisher that popped up to fill the much needed void. Since the Nib folded there hasn’t really been a good place to publish digital comics. I’ve also just seen in general a downturn in magazines and newspapers publishing short comics. Crucial comix has been putting out a lot of great work, generally focused on queerness, the environment, and memoir. Check them out!
Nature
I have a love hate relationship with spring since I have really bad allergies. But of course the bursts of color and the greening landscape is such a beautiful thing to see. I’ve been taking lots of walks and I’m always taking pictures in case I need to reference something or maybe will use them in the future for a block print. Here’s a couple of my favorites.
What have you been inspired by lately?
Love the animation. Reminds me of the little you and the stop motion days