826NYC Comics Workshop

Cover art by Katrina

Not long ago, I had the pleasure of participating in a comics workshop over at 826NYC.  I joined fantastic cartoonists Nathan Schreiber, Domitille Collardey, and Sarah Glidden along with comics guru Chris Eckert in helping seven youngsters (ages 10 to 12) each make a four page story.

In order to help focus the class and make a sort of cohesive anthology, each story began with the main character turning out their light to go to bed.  The entirety of the story would then take place overnight and end the next morning when they get up for school.  Over four weeks, the kids wrote, drew, inked, lettered, and colored (if there was time!) their stories.  We called the whole thing "And Then the Lights Went Out" and here are the amazing results!

Illustrations for Christine

I did a couple of illustrations for my friend Christine.  The idea was to do a bio in a children's story style complete with five or six drawings.  Christine tells great stories (check out her blog), so it was easy to find interesting things to illustrate, and I enjoyed dusting off the ol' watercolors.  Maybe we'll do more!

Growing up on a sheep farm...

During her stint as a wedding singer...

Being all sorts of studious...

Arriving in Japan knowing only the phrase "I haven't seen you in ages!"

Organizing speed dating for charity (coincidentally, for the blind)...

MoCCA Wrap-Up

I don't think I was quite awake yet when this was taken.

Thanks to everyone who stopped by my table at MoCCA. It was quite a successful outing for me -- I nearly sold all of my copies of "Haberdash" and "Second Chance Vance"!  Thanks again to Amelia at Sugarbuilt -- I only ended up selling half of the cookies because I kept hearing comments like "Oooh, those are too pretty to eat." (So darn it all if I didn't have to eat the rest myself!)  I also got my hands on some good comics and met some great cartoonists and fans.  I'm already looking forward to SPX!

Haberdash, Second Chance Vance, Cookies, Huzzah!

This weekend I will be debuting "Haberdash" at the MoCCA Festival.  "Haberdash" is an 18 page mini-comic featuring ink drawings of odd people wearing hats (a few of which I have posted on this very blog) paired with a vignette penned by writer Tim Hall.  This was my first time working with Tim and I'm pleased that our collaboration yielded such rich and humorous characters.  Here's a sample page:

I will also be selling the first ever print version of my online comic Second Chance Vance.  This 24 page book features the complete first three chapters and sports an awesome handmade cover.

And last but possibly the most awesome of all, I will be selling custom made cookies based on my comics!  Amelia at Sugarbuilt crafted these amazing (and delicious) organic Darjeeling tea and cardamom cookies with vanilla icing just for MoCCA.  Check 'em out!

MoCCA Art Fest 2010

 I will have a table at this year's MoCCA Art Festival which takes place April 9th and 10th at the 69th Regiment Armory in Manhattan.  This is the best indie comics convention in the country so if you are in the area, you should stop by.  I will have not one, but two new mini-comics available, plus some other little surprises.  Hope to see you there!