04/17/07 - Book Reviews: Anyone Interested?

This idea has been simmering with me for a while. I must confess the premise came after seeing some of the cool things that our local Adobe Users Group (www.d-mag.org) was doing. See their site for an example of what these book reviews might be like. My first thought is to get our members to review and rate some of the prominent "how-to" or educational books written about comics/cartooning/illustration.

I've been itching to comment on Wizard's How to Draw series - by the way, there will be another new one coming out in May. We could also review extraordinary comics, graphic novels and animated features/DVDs. I'm not sure about these reviews as I don't want to veer off into fandom - there are plenty of blogs and websites for that kind of coverage now! However, perhaps having a list of recommended readings posted here on our site would help grow the audience for these media?

Leave a comment or send me an email if you are interested in participating or have suggestions.

4/13/07 - Lexington Comic Show 2007

OOPS! This one almost got by me - there will be a Comic Show in Lexington on Saturday April 14th 2007. This is being presented by the same folks who put on the show last year. This one day show runs from 10AM to 3:30PM and is being hosted by Comic City Comics out of Nashville. Here is a link to their site with more info about the show. They are advertising that Central Kentucky's own comic writer extraordinaire, Robert Kirkman to be in attendance from 12p-3p.

04/12/07 - Ohio State University Storytelling 2007

You may remember a past post about The Festival of Cartoon Art coming up in October but that is only part of a much bigger event! Here is their description of this year long extravaganza:

To commemorate the centennial of the birth of Milton Caniff, the founding donor of The Ohio State University Cartoon Research Library, a year-long celebration is planned. Storytelling 2007: A Celebration of Graphic Narrative will include exhibits, speakers and other special events that explore both the history of graphic storytelling and the work of current practitioners.

Lots of great exhibitions, talks and presentations coming up in Columbus - they have a wonderful facilities and a dedicated staff - so don't miss out!

04/12/07 - Rave Reviews for The Experts

Kenn Minter, writer and inker for The Experts, and also a CCG member got some great national exposure for his book over at Newsarama.com - here is a direct link to the glowing review of this indy book. Congratulations to Kenn and Clarence Pruitt (penciller of The Experts) for some well deserved recognition - I hope it translates into booming sales for your title.

3/30/07 - Scott McCloud Talk In Columbus

Lesson: Keep the faith even when things aren't going your way!

OK, I have egg on my face. I got kind of bummed out after failing to get a local (Lexington) Scott McCloud talk/seminar set up for this spring (see previous posts) and stopped watching his website (and posting to this blog, and scheduling meetings, etc..). Well, I got bit hard for indulging in my little pity party. Unknown to me until after the fact Mr. McCloud spoke earlier this month at two nearby sites: March 6th in Louisville (UofL) and March 7th in Indianapolis (IUPUI). Did anyone reading this attend either of these? Post a comment with your reactions if you did.

Well anyway, just two days ago I saw that there will be another Scott McCloud talk this time in Columbus OH (about a 3-hour drive) on April 4th. I hope to make the trip (send me an email if anyone wants to carpool) to the Ohio State Cartoon and Research Library (see earlier post about the Festival of Cartoon Art they will be hosting in October).

Don't miss this one as it may be a while till (or if) he gets back to our region!!

3/30/07 - Visionfest 2007 Animation (& Comic Art) Festival

Here's something cool I just found out about (and of special interest to students): the New Media Department in the School of Informatics at Indiana University (IUPUI) will host Visionfest 2007 from August 16-18 , 2007 in Indianapolis. This is a unique student animation festival, as it is a juried competition open only to High School, Undergraduate and Graduate Students. They have awards for 2D and 3D animation as well as a sequential narrative art (comics) category. The deadline to apply is June 1 2007.

12/04/06 - Scott McCloud Making Comics Book Tour

UPDATE (1/15/07): Looks like it will be this fall for our chance to host Mr. McCloud. Still need help pulling this off - we need to be working now to make this fall a reality!

Sequential Narrative Guru, Scott McCloud, is making a 50-State tour to promote his latest book: Making Comics. Visit his site to see his itinerary. McCloud is responsible for coining the term "24-Hour Comic" and has been a vocal proponent of the web comic.

He is scheduled to be passing through our region in March/April; I am working fervently to find a local host/venue for him to talk or even possibly instruct.

Please contact me if you have any ideas or can offer any assistance.

12/04/06 - Way Early Notice: OSU Festival of Cartoon Art

The Ohio State University Cartoon Research Library will be hosting a major comics event in October 2007. The 2007 Fesitval of Cartoon Art "will celebrate the centennial of the birth of Milton Caniff, whose papers formed the founding collection of The Ohio State University Cartoon Research Library." Curator Jenny Robb from the library served as the moderator for the 2006 UK Womens Writers Conference Graphic Novel Quorem back in April.

11/26/06 Digital Illustration Links & Events

Guys, here's a little doodle to get you in the Christmas Spirit (women visitors are encouraged to post a link for their hot Santa).

Did not get to go to MOC (see previous post), home sick today ;-(

But here are some links some of you may find interesting. I have talked about the Gnomon Workshop videos before, they are based out in California and really work to support the movie and television production industry out there. Well I have found some other folks in that same market who have some nice sites with really good tutorials (no videos or DVDs yet). Conceptart.org is hosting the Insomania workshop and seem to be physically centered in the San Francisco area. I know of at least one CCG member who is a big Jason Chan (lately of Imagine FX magazine fame) fan, he seems to be a prominent member in this online community. Some great content there, but hard to navigate all the forum posts to know what's happening! Massive Black is a large studio for concept artists and they apparently are on the brink of releasing some video instruction and also have info about a workshop they host/hosted in June (I checked my calendar and think this is a past event - but they were too cool to put the year anywhere on their site!).

11/22/06 - Mid-Ohio Con This Weekend!

In case you didn't know there will be a fairly large comic convention this weekend 11/25 to 11/26/06 in Columbus Ohio. There will be some fairly big name creators there: Adam Hughes, Ron Garney, Matt Haley, Herb Trimpe, Beau Smith (frequent contributor to Sketch Magazine) and Don Rosa (UK graduate and famous Disney comic artist). Here is a link to the con site. This event has been up on the CCG calendar for several days - so you might want to remember to check that link on the blog sidebar!

I hope to make the trek to attend this, if anyone local is interested in joining me (and helping with some of the expenses) please send me an email ASAP!

11/22/06 - What is the CCG about?

Hey everyone! Please read and comment on this post - I have lined out what I think is the CCG's reason for being. Have I done so accurately? Here is an excerpt from an email exchange with an artist who is just finding out about our group:

---

Hi Jonathan,

Sorry for the late reply. What all do you do in the comic meetings?

---

Our meetings follow this basic pattern:

• Announcements: local events of interest, group business, etc.,
• Round Table Review: where we bring in recent work (finished or WIP) and let everyone comment, with writers I am asking that they bring copies of their scripts for everyone to take home and read thoroughly before making comments. Visual artists work is usually easier to scan and comment on.
• Closing: I try to get anyone new added to email list and maybe some other last minute announcements.
  

Our meetings are pretty short, 1 hour - 1.5 hours. (Update: As of May 2007 we have gone to a once monthly frequency but meet for 3 hours - added a hands on workshop for the second and third hour.) We did have a special meeting back in October to work at a local library. We had a mini 24-hour comic event. Three of us met and worked on spontaneously creating a 4-6 page comic story. I would like to meet like this again for an Artist's Jam or maybe some Digital Painting workshops. We also have tentative plans to produce a print anthology comic to get our work in print and help promote the group in the local arts community.

I probably need to add a mission statement to the CCG blog: but basically my goals for the group are:

1. Community - Build a community for the comic creators, illustrators, animators, caricature artists in the area so we can have one place to go to share and find out what's going on in the area - this is accomplished through the blog posts and announcements by email or at the meetings.
2. Education - Share knowledge between members; use one another for critiques and advise. Teach basic to intermediate skills in seminars or workshops. Share and or review instructional books and videos. Promote the medium to community at large, try to increase readership.
3. Networking - Serve as a "matchmaker" of sorts - to join creators in creative teams. Also to serve as referral service for those wishing to contract the services of our members.
   

---

I do want to formalize our goals and purpose as a group. Please send me your feedback!

11/18/06 - Using the Computer for Drawing and Reference

I found this post over at Newsarama.com, it is an interview with Brandon Peterson. He has worked with using 3D design software for comics since he was the art director for CrossGen Comics (sigh, I miss that company!). I found out about Google's SketchUp (WOW! A free 3D program that's easy to use and learn!) from reading this piece and find it touches on some timely issues: use of photo references and TRACING! SketchUp looks like a great way to work out perspective for interior or exterior comic scenes...but I will still be working on my hand drawing skills for drawing perspective scenes, interior and exterior. Ask me about the great tutorial DVD I purchased from Gnomon Workshop by Scott Robertson on sketching by hand various 3D objects. Over at eatpoo.com (Yum! what an inventive name!) they have a post by Scott showing his special perspective skills if you are interested.

Just keep saying this mantra: "The computer is just a TOOL, The computer is just a TOOL...". By the way the images above are by moi, they were drawn freehand with a Intuous 3 tablet and SketchBook Pro 2. If anyone has samples they have created in SketchUp I would be interested in seeing it - I will post something once I have gotten through the tutorial!

11/17/06 - Children's Literature Conference in March & DMAG

UK is hosting a Children's Literature Conference in March 2007 here in Lexington. Loren Long who I met a this years Bluegrass Festival of Books will be a speaker. Loren grew up in Lexington and graduated from UK. He gained national attention as the illustrator for one of Madonna's childrens books (Mr. Peabody's Apples). There is a cost to atttend, see website for specifics - I don't know if there is a discount for students?

I just found out about a neat group that meets once a month here in Lexington. DMAG (Digital Media Artists Group) appears to essentially be an Adobe Users Group (but with the aquistion of Macromedia by Adobe there is a lot to cover under Adobe's banner!). Thanks to Loren Elks for organizing a cool and much needed group!

10/06/06 - Joel Pett Lecture at UK October 9th

Here is a chance to hear and possibly meet and talk with the Herald Leader's Pulitzer Prize winning editorial cartoonist. An interesting aspect of his work is that he does it all digitally. I plan to attend and hope many of you will too.

This event is open to the public. Pulitzer Prize Cartoonist Joel Pett Kicks-off Archives Week at UK

LEXINGTON, Ky. (Oct. 2, 2006) − In celebration of Archives Week in Kentucky, University of Kentucky Libraries Special Collections and Digital Programs will present a lecture by Pulitzer Prize winning editorial cartoonist, Joel Pett, at noon Monday, Oct. 9, in the Great Hall at the M.I. King Building. The lecture will highlight Pett's work and the historical significance of editorial cartoons. A reception and open house celebrating 50 years of archiving Kentucky's newspapers at UK Libraries will follow the presentation. Monday's festivities, which honors KentuckyÂ’s journalistic legacy, will give insight into Pett's career and the influences on his career. Pett was the 2000 Pulitzer Prize winner for editorial cartooning, and was selected as a finalist for the prestigious journalism award in 1989 and 1998. Pett joined the Lexington Herald-Leader after a number of years as a freelancer. He started his career at the Bloomington Herald Telephone in his native Bloomington, Ind. The open house following Pett's lecture at M. I. King will feature exhibits of the many projects Special Collections and Digital Programs is undertaking to save the history of Kentucky as documented in the state's newspapers, including archives developed as part of national preservation projects. In 1956, the UK College of Journalism (now the College of Communications and Information Studies), the Kentucky Press Association and the University Libraries joined forces to centralize the microfilming of Kentucky newspapers at M. I. King Library. After 50 years, the Preservation Reformatting Center (PRC) continues to collect and microfilm more than 170 Kentucky newspapers earning them repeated national recognition for their work archiving the state's newspapers. From 1983 to 1991, UK Libraries participated in the United States Newspaper Project to locate, collect, inventory and preserve historic Kentucky newspapers. More than 500 repositories were visited, 5,000 titles were cataloged, and 1.5 million pages were microfilmed. Today, the PRC continues microfilming as it explores future preservation options including providing digital access to the archives. The UK Libraries is also participating in a two-year project to contribute to the National Digital Newspaper Program (NDNP), an effort supported by the Library of Congress and the National Endowment for the Humanities. As one of only six projects selected for this national program's test-phase, the UK team digitized 100,000 pages of Kentucky newspapers from the period 1900 to 1910. The papers archived for this 10-year period were selected by an advisory board of scholars and librarians for their representation of the state's history and diversity during a tumultuous and fascinating time in the state. The work is part of a long-term effort to digitize the nation's historic newspapers from 1836 to 1923. UK's contribution to the NDNP will allow anyone to access issues of the selected newspapers online, to view images of original newspaper pages, and to search a newspaper for items of interest. With funding from the National Historical Publications and Records Commission (NHPRC), Special Collections and Digital Programs is also processing over 97,000 acetate photographic negatives given to UK Libraries by the Lexington Herald-Leader. This work includes separating the images from acidic paper materials, re-housing negatives in protective archival sleeves, and providing access through a searchable database. The project will make mid-20th century photojournalism widely available for research and scholarly use. The resulting database can be searched online at http://kdl.kyvl.org/. In addition to Monday's events for Archives Week, Special Collections and Digital Programs will present an exhibit of antebellum Bluegrass imprints and a printing demonstration at the King Library Press from at 4:30 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 12. The King Library Press event is part of the 2006 Bale Boone Symposium History Hop. Archives Week is part of a national effort that hopes to educate the public and resource providers about archivists' work and the importance of their service. For more information on Archives Week events in Kentucky, visit the state's Web site online at http://archives.week.ky.gov

Lisa R. Carter
Director of Archives
Special Collections and Digital Programs
123 M.I. KingLexington, KY 40506-0039
Phone: (859) 257-9672Fax: (859) 257-6311
E-mail: LisaC@uky.eduwww.uky.edu/Libraries/Special/

09/28/06 - Explorium: Comic Convention

NEWS RELEASE

Family Comic Book Convention
at Explorium of Lexington October 28

Contact: Deanna McDaniel, Marketing Director
(859) 258-3253 x19
mcdaniel@explorium.com

Explorium of Lexington is hosting the Bluegrass’ first Family Comic Book Convention,
Explor-A-Con, Oct. 28th from 10 am to 6 pm. a family-friendly version of the huge comic book conventions in Chicago and San Diego, the convention features an amateur comic book art show for artists under the age of 21. It will open up a whole avenue of creativity for young artists. Central Kentucky’s young people can sculpt an action figure, paint a super hero portrait, draw a 9-panel comic page or use their favorite graphic software to create a cover design – anything that they can imagine drawing inspiration from manga, graphic novels or comic books.

Essential convention programming takes an interesting twist at Explor-A-Con. In addition to the art show, there will be workshops in creature illustration, an “artists’ alley” with artists offering original artwork for sale, a demonstration on designing a web comic and a panel discussion with local comic industry professionals. “Every aspect of the programming ties in with literacy, art, technology and encouraging people of all ages to explore their own creativity,” said Deanna McDaniel, Marketing Director of Explorium. “Comic books are valid literary tools. Besides that, they’re fun.”

Explorium is hosting this convention not only to promote young artists, but also to encourage the learning that comes with exploring new territory. “Comics are not just illustrations. Graphic Novels work with words to tell the story. Great for reluctant readers,” said Jan Isenhour, Executive Director, Carnegie Center for Literacy and Learning. The first 100 people will receive exclusive grab bags full of prizes including PETA comics and Explorium freebies.

“Many of today’s comics rely heavily on allusion, satire, irony, and parody to make a point. Students discover they might actually need to know such terms for reasons other than analyzing a Dickinson poem. Making this connection has strengthened their understanding of terms,” Sharon F. Webster, English literacy coach at Narragansett High School in Narragansett, Rhode Island.

And of course, there’s the fun! Children in costume will receive a dollar discount off regular admission. In addition to the typical programs Explor-A-Con will also feature a live action battle between Super Heroes and Villains performed by the Known World Players. The workshop that follows will be of particular interest to people who aren’t quite ready for Halloween - a costume specialist will demonstrate how to make your own costumes based on comic book characters. Clay Held of Kid Twisted Comics will lead a workshop on creating your own web comic.

“Go experience it. Comic stores and comics have evolved. Comics and graphic novels incorporate all genres for all different kinds of people," said Elissa Lynch of Diamond Comics. Fans of classic literature will even have the chance to meet the author and artist from the Frankenstein comic book offered by Dead Dog Comics, R.D. Hall and Mark Kidwell.

For a full schedule check out www.explorium.com or www.myspace.com/explorium

08/28/06 - Tomorrow's CCG Meeting

WELCOME BACK TO SCHOOL EVERYONE!
8/29/06 - I have updated this post with some links...
At our next meeting (Tuesday, August 29th) we will be discussing PERSPECTIVE. If you have any favorite methods of constucting 1-point, 2-point, 3-point or beyond please bring the explanation with you or be prepared to demonstrate the method. Bring your reference material if you need it for constructing perspective guidelines.
Other topics to discuss:

• 24-hour comic day in October: what do we want to do? We could do a mini version, perhaps a 4-6 hour comic... (see next item)
  
• I have been thinking we should have a quarterly (4 times a year) "jam session" one day on a weekend somewhere with enough room for everyone to work. Send me your thoughts; best as a comment to this post or you can email me if you're too shy to comment.
• Developing a group library with donated books, audio tapes and videos. For video ideas see: http://www.thegnomonworkshop.com/dvds/bka01.html - look around under 2D dvds. I have ordered one of Scott Robertson's DVDs (perspective).
  
• Start/support a figure drawing workshop targeted to Illustrators, similar to this: http://www.thedrawingclub.com/home.asp
  

the Experts #1 in September's Diamond Previews

This is an exciting time for myself and penciller-co-creator, Clarence Pruitt. "the Experts #1" has made it into Diamond Distribution's September issue of "Previews." So, if you have any interest in the book or would just like to lend a hand in supporting your fellow, struggling, independent comic book creators... then bug the tar out of your favorite comic book retailer and tell them that they need to check out the September issue of Previews and order as many copies of "the Experts #1" as they can.

I know Clarence and I sure would appreciate it.

Thanks in advance,
Kenn Minter
http://expertscomic.blogspot.com/

the Witch's Spell

Some useful portfolio tips

Okay, so this isn't PRECISELY comic related, but the same standards hold true for any portfolio and prospective employer. And to avoid John's chiding for my not blogging (as I generally e-mail him these things), I'll share what I found in my insomniac hours. Of course, views of Drawn! have already seen it, no doubt.

http://igallo.blogspot.com/2006/07/in-response-to-old-question-what-do-i.html

07/08/06 - Tuesday CCG meeting a GO!

Hungry Like the WOLF-

Thanks to Wolf (founder of the CCG) for volunteering to shepard the upcoming meeting (Tuesday July 11th, 6:30 PM at A+Comics). Here's a great chance to meet and talk with the guy who was brave enough to start this endeavor! Despite great personal sacrifice (Tuesday is his BIRTHDAY!) Wolf will be running the meeting - so make sure and show up with your latest and greatest comic works and make his long drive into town WORTHWHILE!