just a case of never breathing out (before you're breathing in)

[turtlesoup]

Whew, hello there. It has been a long month (as you can see).

Final projects for CCS first-years are due tomorrow morning! I'm just gathering my energy to print my books off and assemble them. Not entirely to my surprise ... the version of the chapter I'm handing in won't be fully complete in every respect: only seven of the twenty-four pages have been inked. I'm still really pleased with the book, mind, and I think this is worth it: I've refused to cut corners on the quality of the art (or the writing, to the best of my ability), and the versions I put up for sale online and at upcoming conventions will truly be my best work. Plus my pencils are, as people frequently tell me, kind of exhaustive (and readable).

Comics take a really long time to make, particularly considering how quick they can be to read. I may have mentioned before!



See, that ... is work I can be really proud of, silly though the material is. All semester I've felt as though I was sacrificing a certain level of craftsmanship for all the other things I've been learning to do here (working faster, utilizing various approaches and techniques in terms of visual storytelling, using different materials and programs and creating packaging, just plain fulfilling assignments, etc). That was a very valuable experience, but it feels great to finally be showing people what I can really do, if that makes sense.

That said, I will be debuting a minicomic at MoCCA this weekend! (I'm excited; this qualifies as my first big convention!) It's a mini-anthology of my work: "The Swamp Bride," "A.I.♥.U.," a couple of my best Turtle Soup strips from last semester, and a seven-page preview of "Goodness Knows: Chapter One." The cover might look a bit familiar:



If there's any chance you're going to be at MoCCA Fest, please drop by and say hello! I'll have my books at Table M8, the Center for Cartoon Studies table, and I'll be on duty there myself Saturday from 11-1 and Sunday from 5-6. I'll probably be around more than that, too. There's so much amazing material coming out of my school right now; you definitely won't be sorry you stopped by.

This is a slightly rambly, content-light sort of post, so let me leave you with a random comic strip starring Luce and Mickey:



More Goodness Knows talk & pages when I'm back, done inking, and have rested a bit! Mwah.