Allie makes comics!

They don't call the first year "CCS bootcamp" for no reason! What follows is quite a sizeable art dump, for which I apologize. The last few weeks have really gotten away from me - I haven't even managed to cook for myself, for the most part! But the faculty seem to have taken pity this week, and hopefully it'll be a bit easier to get a handle on things ... ride the wave instead of getting crashed around by it.



Last week, my class took a trip up Mt. Ascutney (the mountain we'd previously been sketching from a poet's back yard), so this diary comic is a sequel to the previous one. It's a little less ... deep, but I like the way it kind of inverts the first one: from the sublime to the ridiculous. (I remain amused that I sat that close to a precipice--though there were a few big ledges just below me, I couldn't have fallen far--and then managed to fall off a small rock.)

You might recall that, some weeks back, I mentioned the facebook project my class was working on together. Each student had to screenprint a portrait of some kind, and draw a bio for the facing page. Behold, ( my first attempt at screenprinting. )

During the very end of September, CCS played host to the International Comic Arts Forum, an international academic conference, which was a pretty fascinating experience. (There's a write-up over at the Schulz Library Blog.) I discovered that I'm definitely still, in some sense, an academic; still inclined to analyze as well as enjoy (and create) stories, and ... somewhat frustrated when a presentation doesn't draw a conclusion from its material. There were some really fascinating talks; the panel on Race and Class was perhaps my favorite, although CCS senior Kate Moody's talk on the so-called "death of print" was particularly scintillating as well.

We also held a sort of miniature, all-CCS convention during the conference, where my classmates and visiting alums set up tables to sell our work to each other and attendees. ( I tabled with four of my classmates. )I was thrilled to finally have the chance to check out what the second-years have been doing (we have precious little chance to bug them about it these days!), and it makes me wish I could fit minicomic reviews into my schedule, because seriously, my school is full of amazing people and you should read their stuff. Maybe I'll do some in celebration of winter break; I can't promise.

Also, this happened:



Conventions do always involve rather interesting conversations and feedback! It got me thinking a bit about the nature of autobiographical comics ... how if you do them for long enough (even when you're taking distinctly non-serious, episodic approach, as I generally do), the "you" on paper becomes a character just slightly distinct from the person you are in real life. (It also made me think that I need to start taking more care not to draw myself in t-shirts all the time. I'm given to wearing a lot of collared shirts and neckties, and that fedora is becoming sort of a signature accessory.)

Exhausting as ICAF was (as a CCS staff member, I worked for much of those three days, when I wasn't tabling), I was grateful for the homework assignment we had that weekend. My artwork is ... a little intricate? While I've certainly grown faster even in the short time I've been here, my process is time-consuming and meticulous, and often results in very very late nights (which I enjoy, but pay for later). That week, however, we were assigned a short comic on a "journey" theme, using Ed Emberley's Make A World.

( In which I play with stick figures. )

More recently, I managed to more or less drive myself into the ground with our latest project, all due to my still absurdly slow process, a bad stretch of art block (school does not allow for this!), and a little bit of life outside of school (I do kind of want to have one). That project deserves its own post, once I've reworked the cover, but I do have a little bit of non-schoolwork to share as well ...

This past weekend, a very dear friend of mine got married back home in Western Massachusetts, and I was lucky enough to attend. I wanted to make a personal gift for the couple, which isn't something I've ever really done before. Fortunately, we had recently learned a little bookbinding, and they happen to have a highly comickable inside joke! My friend is a devoted fan of The Wrath of Khan; her wife, on the other hand, is not quite a Star Trek fan. My friend's wife has famously given many hilariously incorrect recitations of the plot of this movie, which she's sat through numerous times. I drew four comics based on these retellings and bound them into a book; ( this one is probably my favorite. )

It was a beautiful outdoor wedding in the height of New England fall, and everything turned out about as close to perfect as I can really imagine. There was, however, a tense moment; the day before was very rainy, and the area of the lawn where the ceremony was supposed to be held was briefly flooded. (The spot they used instead was gorgeous!) My friend posted some very picturesque images of her feet immersed in water, and I was hit with this nagging inspiration to draw a fantastical bride standing in a pool of water.

It's nice to have a little artistic energy back! (Last week was kind of terrible.) This wound up becoming much more creepy than ethereal in execution, which I blame on the season:



It looks like the cover for something, doesn't it? Hmmm. (Clearly this image has absolutely nothing to do with any real-life events or people, although I do find myself working marriage into various project ideas right now; it was an inspiring celebration.) I don't have a story right now, but you never know.

I'd better stop bombarding you now, but I'll be back soon with a thoroughly un-fantastical adaptation of one of Aesop's fables, because apparently I'm contrary like that. COMICS.

So, first things first: I received my first ever solo review from Chad Parenteau over at we got comic issues last week! He discusses both of my minis, and I must say, I'm extremely flattered and grateful. :)



At CCS this week, we're working on the first of our major group projects: a hand-bound facebook full of screenprinted portraits and "bios" for each student in the first-year class. The above will actually be printed in red and blue on yellow paper (and probably not nearly so well aligned), but I've overlaid the color separation files to give an idea. Going back to my older (and perhaps favorite) influences a bit. I'll take a picture of the finished project.

I wasn't too pleased with my contribution to our other main assignment of this past week; a series of original gag strips. It's not really my strength, but I'll share one: ( the classic desert island scenario )

Now I'm off to the Boston area for MICE, where I'll be hanging around at the CCS table at the start of the morning, and again mid-afternoon! More content (and hopefully more comics) soon!

I'll leave this quick little post with a view of how seriously we take our studies here at CCS:

So, six years after my internship, I'm getting ready to return to White River Junction at last. It's kind of funny, now that I'm a month and a half out from my first actual class as a CCS student ... I've had this plan for so long that the idea of actually doing it is weird! My friend Amelia and I drove up last weekend to check out my brand new apartment (which I'll be sharing with kickass new classmate April) and have lunch with a whole pack of fantastic cartoonists.

Every once in awhile I briefly wonder if I should be throwing all my money at a two-year stint of studying comic-making in the middle of Vermont. Briefly. But just having the opportunity to spend two years focusing on learning to tell visual stories better would be basically priceless in and of itself, and I also get to learn with a diverse and talented group who love the medium as much as I do. Among other things, I really should have cause to update this blog a whole lot more!

( A few more Cartoonland photos )

So everything's coming together ... soon. Sadly I haven't really been producing much that I can post here in the interim, but! Here's something I'm pleased with:


My friend Andrea is writing a novel I'm ridiculously excited for, full of magic and underworldly demons and fascinating female characters. (A cast full of women, if you can believe in such a thing! Sigh.) The anticipation is such that I felt compelled to visualize the last tiny excerpt she teased me with, and this was the result. This is my favorite kind of subject matter to draw, and it has been a ridiculously long time since I did anything like it.

I believe I've mentioned, but: fun as it is drawing silly diary comics and the like, I want to get back to fiction; preferably long-form. And I'll never stop loving fantastical themes and settings, no matter how many insightful, unassuming slice-of-life graphic novels I read and admire.

Plus, I love Andrea's fiction, and I really can't wait until it's out there where I can recommend it to the rest of the world. I am awfully privileged to have such talented friends. (Also, I should note that the characters above are the same ones being referred to in this strip. ;))

As for my stint as graphic diarist, well, the Turtle Soup minicomics should have been ready by now, but I'm having some printer issues. I hope to finally have them in my hands within a week or two!

Happy Solstice, my lovelies! Whichever holiday you celebrate around this time of year - or even if you don't at all - I hope you have warmth and light and good company. (Even if you're in the hemisphere where the first two aren't so lacking, right now.) ♥

It's been a momentous year for me, and the next will hopefully be even better; I have all sorts of projects planned for the first half of the year, and then it's off to the Center for Cartoon Studies in the fall. I'm looking forward to sharing everything here.

In the meantime, I'm happy to announce that my first minicomic, "Fruitless," is now available at two fine Boston-area comic shops: Hub Comics in Union Square, Somerville, and The Million Year Picnic in Harvard Square, Cambridge. Both shops have been very good to me over the years; the Hub is a second home to me these days, and MYP was a wonderful source for me as a tiny kid, just discovering comics for the first time. I encourage you to support them, if you're around here!

However, for those of you who are not, I do plan to make "Fruitless" available online, probably in the next week or so. It should be joined in all these locations (and perhaps more) by the "Turtle Soup" minicomic, probably by the end of January at the latest.

Thank you to everyone who has been so supportive of my faltering efforts over the last few years. ♥ From in-depth critique to little comments of acknowledgment and enthusiasm ... I appreciate it all so much.

Hmmm, so much for that plan - I announce that I'm going to start making regular weekly blog posts, and then completely disappear instead! My apologies, folks. I took on a number of deadlined projects for the next couple of weeks, and between those and the Thanksgiving holiday, I've had less time than ever.

I'm really starting to learn what it's like to do comics/art like a second job, at least in terms of production. (One day, perhaps I'll also get paid!) I need to learn to also space projects out a bit better. At this point, I think regular recommendation/link posts will commence beginning with the new year.

In the meantime, if you're local to or visiting the Boston area this holiday season, I encourage you to check out one of the many fantastic holiday fairs in our area. The Boston Comics Roundtable plans to attend three of them. I won't be there personally (except perhaps as a shopper), but if you stop by our table, we'll be selling Inbound 5: The Food Issue, holiday minicomics packets (including my very first effort, "Fruitless") and a variety of other treats. There may even be comic strip wrapping paper!

"Fruitless," which is the my robot/snowman CCS application comic, will also be available at local comic shops and online fairly soon; I'll post some information then. :)

I'm not sure about the status of the comic strip wrapping paper, but I thought I'd share my contribution to the project. It comes from an old, rejected holiday card idea of mine (it just wasn't quite inclusive enough for that), and features characters from what I hope will be my first long-form comic project, Goodness Knows.



(Oddly enough, she is.)

So hey, if you happen to be kicking around the Boston area this weekend, feel free to stop by the Atomic Bean Cafe in Cambridge (halfway down Mass Ave between Harvard & Central Squares), grab a hot drink, and check out some original artwork! We're having a release party from 7-9 pm for Inbound 5: The Food Issue, with books for sale and artists milling around. Should be a fun time! I'll have two of my own original pages on display; come marvel at how destroyed my eyes & back will be in a few years. (Apparently I draw very, very small.) I'd love to see you there!

I'm super excited to head home to Western Mass after that, for Webcomics Weekend. Also, the Turtle mini is coming together nicely; at this point, I hope to have it printed & ready to go in December (just to be safe). I figured out most of the layout last night!

Before I wrap this up - lately I've spent quite a bit of time wading through arguments on the internet. It's kind of funny that I so rarely make comics about social issues, given how important they are to me, but maybe I just wear myself out before I can get near my pencils. The dust-up over Kate Beaton's comments on sexism and female creators is old news by internet standards, but this comic by Gabby Shulz/Ken Dahl on the topic is well worth checking out. (His site is down as of this posting, but I hope it'll be back up soon!) Also, more recently, there's the case of deviantART and the binary gender selection requirement. There appear to be some efforts to fix the issue now, but I've been less and less enamored of the place lately anyway (and this isn't the only example of support problems I've come across, either), so I'm not sure if I'll be keeping my account there much longer.

Hey kids! So it looks like Boston Comics Roundtable's Inbound 5 anthology (the food issue) is now available online. Features five pages of goofy noodle hijinks by yours truly, as well as a plethora of great work by other local cartoonists. (I met a whole bunch of them last week, and they are pretty rad! Having read their work, I was not surprised.)

If, however, you're local to the Boston area yourself, please consider patronizing one of our fantastic local comic shops - of which there are many. My own most local of shops, Hub Comics, just happens to be having an enormous sale this weekend. I'm not sure if they'll have the anthology in stock yet, but drop in anyway and pick up that graphic novel you've been meaning to add to your library! (I finally have copies of Maus, to my great relief. I don't think I've read it since high school!)

Seriously, they've had kind of a rough year, and they really deserve some support. Hub is one of the friendliest comic shops I've ever stepped into (which is saying something; I have a knack for finding good ones). They not only have a huge selection of quality sequential art; they're a community, well, hub (and practically my home not-so-far-away from home at this point). And they have an adorable dog. What more can you want?

Since I'm on the subject of selling you things ... I'm planning to have my first couple minicomics done and ready to go within about a month. I have a list of great stores I'm hoping to send them to, and I may start looking into conventions for next year(?!), but I'm pondering setting up an etsy store as well. None of the cartoonists I know personally use this method, but I've seen minis for sale there before. If anyone had thoughts (think this would/n't work? would/n't like the opportunity to give me money? etc), please share? ♥

Sorry for the huge artless post! The next one will at least include doodles or teaser panels, I promise.

Hey, sorry for vanishing again - I'm working hard on my application comic for the Center for Cartoon Studies (at very long last), so that's taking precedence at the moment. Things may get a little choppier around here in general, as I wrap up my Turtle mini and decide what to work on next. ;)

Meanwhile, if you're in my area at all, Boston is having its very first indie comics convention tomorrow: the Massachusetts Independent Comics Expo (MICE). I am super excited, as this will be the first comics convention I have ever attended (not counting my alma mater's tiny scifi/fantasy/anime/comics con). There will be some really fantastic creators showing off their work, and some nifty panels too! I won't be exhibiting, but I believe that the Boston Comics Roundtable will be premiering the Inbound 5 anthology there, including five pages by yours truly. (I haven't heard officially, but I know they were hoping to do so!) It should be a really fabulous time.

So first of all, remember that anthology submission I posted about in July? Today I found out that I got in, which is pretty awesome. It's called Inbound 5, the fifth volume of a biannual publication put out by the Boston Comics Roundtable. I'm told it'll probably be out by the end of the month. :)

Anyway, here's a new Turtle strip (getting really close to filling out that mini, now!):



( A little more blather than usual. )

Back to Turtle! This can be considered the sequel to a previous strip, as both events took place on the same strange day (and were connected, if distinct episodes of sorts).



I don't think I quite captured the sheer NONCHALANCE of the bear, who was really entirely unperturbed by the six-foot-three adolescent human's abortive attempt to attack it with an umbrella. (This was fortunate for all involved.) Also, I think the shading got a bit too busy, although I had difficulty figuring out where to simplify it. The panel layout was really fun to play with, though!

More coming up, of course - people sticking their faces in cats! geek websites being tiresome! kitchen disasters! - although I also have another comic to be working on (part of my grad school application, eep). I need to go do some cursory research about nuclear winter.