Fall on Me

Hello!

I wanted to share with you this Fall on Me critique podcast by Tim Young and Mulele Jarvis, from Deconstructing Comics.  It wasn’t all positive (in fact, it was very harsh), but by no means it was unfair.  They made very excellent points on things that I had either completely overlooked, and on stuff that I’d already noticed but didn’t really know (still don’t know) how to exactly tackle.

First of all, to hear the podcast, please go here: Critiquing Comics 006: “Fall on Me”

I have to admit I was pretty hesitant to listen to the podcast (even though I myself requested the critique), but I’m glad I did.  Some of the things they pointed out are easily addressed and fixable (the website stuff, for example), but the writing bit will be much tougher for me.

It’s funny that they mostly talk about the lack of conflict and that things are “too happy”, because that’s something I myself have thought about from time to time over the last year or so. Why I haven’t acted on it is because yes, every relationship has its negative sides and mine is not an exception, but this being an autobiographical comic I’ve held back for fear of making our real, personal lives too “public”, too “out there.”   To be honest, I’m not sure that’s something I (and heck, even my husband!) would feel all that comfortable with.  Unfortunately, from what these guys have pointed out, that “holding back” has become this comic’s biggest flaw.

It’s easier for me to share the funny, positive stuff because they happen most of the time, and it was precisely those moments that inspired me to start this comic in the first place.  I’m fully aware that the more conflicting aspects of our lives would make for more meaningful, 3-dimensional storytelling, but again, this being an autobio it makes it a lot tougher for me to just expose it all for people to see and judge.  Many people have had no problem and even succeeded to do so (Lucy Knisley and Lezley Davidson from Peeling Onions come to mind), but I have to admit it’s a scary prospect to bring your own dirty laundry out in the open.

All that said, though,  I do want to get better, and I do want to grow as an artist and a writer.  I’ll make a point to be more observant and see if I can better “mine” our not-so-happy moments and make them work as comics.  It may not happen right away, though…but I’ll try.  I’ll have to make a decision about what I want this comic to be(come).

Argh this is hard.  We’ll see how this goes =P

Huge thanks to Tim and Mulele for spending their time reviewing and critiquing this rookie’s little comic.  It’s been a lot of food for thought!

Hey guys! Here’s one more festival coming up where I’ll be exhibiting!

The Word on the Street is a book festival taking place on the 25th of September from 11am to 6pm. Please come by and say hi; besides the fact that it’ll be super-awesome, it’s free admission! I’ll be in the area called the Fringe Beat, dedicated to indie publishers.  I’ll be at table FB6 with the awesome Julie Faulkner and Brian Evinou!

(click map above to enlarge)

I’ll of course be selling Fall on Me books Volumes 1 and 2, along with mini prints and art goodies

To find out more about the festival, click here or on the banner to the right hand side of this site.

Hope to see you there!

Hello all!

Just today I was spotlighted in Girls Read Comics Too! Check out the article here (it includes a brief interview as well ).

Thanks to the ladies of Girls Read Comics Too for starting this “Women in Comics” spotlight series; I look forward to the rest!!

*******

Also!

For those who may not know, from 2006 to 2008 I worked with Light Bug Productions on the short hand-drawn animated film version of the children’s story “The Firefly and the Stars“. You can watch the trailer of the film below:

The Firefly and the Stars trailer

While working on the film, we also put together an illustrated book version with art by my friend Bill Ferguson, and it is now available as an e-book in Barnes and Noble! Please check it out and spread the word!

*******

In other news:

I’ll be participating as an artist in the Womanthology project!! If you don’t know anything about it, it’s an anthology graphic novel created entirely by women for charity. The purpose of the book is to showcase the works of female creators of every age and experience levels.

The book will majorly consist of many short stories interpreting our theme for this volume; “Heroic”. We’ll also have interviews and how-to’s with some of the industry’s top female pros, as well as talks with young girls who someday want a career in comics.

It will be published through IDW Publishing and will be raising all the printing costs for the project through Kickstarter.com, which you can find out here.

Even though it’s reached its funding goal, it’s not too late to help out! More donations = more books = more money for charity!! Please help spread the word about this too!

Also, although contributions are closed for this first volume, a list has already been started for contributors for the second volume (writes, artists, editors, colourists, inkers, etc.) If you’re interested in learning more, please check the Womanthology website here.

On that same note, I recently finished a Womanthology inspired drawing now available in the Colour gallery of my main site, Littleteacup.net