APE Extravaganza!!!

Whoo, boy, APE has come and passed! It was quite the planning and work getting there, but my first time as an exhibitor at Alternative Press Expo was well worth the lack of sleep, eye strain, and busy September. I shared a table with three amazing artists and friends: Annie Wong, Andy Malpica, and Allentine Tanujaya. Although I didn't get everything I wanted to finish done in time to sell at APE (still working on my comic about Catholic school), I did get a lot of things made. I had 8.5 x 11 prints, postcards (printed at Moo - as well as my business cards), and made my first keychains and necklaces.

My pretties....

Since I couldn't make buttons (couldn't afford a good button maker), I decided to try and make some keychains and necklaces. After searching on Etsy, I got a trial DIY package from Sun and Moon Craft Kits.

The first six.

I was hooked. So I ordered some more and (lightly) crafted my hands away.

Many a late night...

My tablemates and I also collaborated on a zine/comic called The Cadence of Dreams: A Door to Another World. We each interpreted the title how we saw fit. I knew I wanted to make a comic. Then I decided I wanted it to be Sci-Fi. The story came quick from there and I got to sketching, planning, and inking. 

Day 1

Day 2: The Sunday of INK

We printed and bound it all up and voila!

Annie created the great cover. I really loved collaborating with those awesome ladies. It was inspiring to work on a project with other artists. 

I packed everything up Friday night, checked it twice then three more times in the morning, and was on my way! 

My part of our table

Table full of awesome! Unfortunately, I didn't get Annie's banner name in the shot. Fail.

Peek-a-boo, art! Annie and Andy - watchers on the table

The four of us and our sweet table.

I really enjoyed exhibiting at APE and will definitely be doing so next year (hopefully the exhibition changes don't alter my plans). Now it's time to keep drawing, but also look for more exhibiting options in the future. It was a great experience and I would love to do it again. If anyone has any suggestions, let me know! Right now the only one I'm planning for is CAKE (Chicago Alternative Comics Expo). Plenty of time to make more comics!

In the next two weeks, I'll be updating my Etsy shop with prints, keychains, and necklaces leftover from APE.

Now, lastly, here is my submission for our collaborative zine The Cadence of Dreams: A Door to Another World:

A Dream In Progress

Today's main focus has been starting my painting for the cover of "Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?" I thought I would share some progress shots thus far.

Transferring the drawing to panel using graphite transfer paper. Now there's something I must say here. For the longest I forwent the transfer paper and did the cheap method of just coloring the back of your drawing with pencil myself, then transferring it. Now, that works fine and all... but I have to say I am not regretting the ten bucks I spent on the transfer paper AT ALL. And it's only been used for two illustrations so far. It really saves me time and also makes the lines much darker and legible than the self-graphite method (at least in my experience... perhaps if I had used darker leads..).

Morale of the story: if you're easily distracted and impatient like I can be, do yourself a favor and get the transfer paper.

Drawing's all ready to go on the panel. Time to start painting!

And an in-progress. Definitely gone farther and there's A LOT more to do on this, but I'm pretty sure I won't be able to finish it traditionally in time for the class deadline of Monday. That's where my handy dandy computer is going to come in this weekend. However, I am definitely finishing this piece traditionally for my thesis... just need to also meet the deadline of the Narrative Illustration class.

It's been a fun day of painting and I'm looking forward to many more. Painting, you teach me patience and to relax and not worry about the little mistakes or "errors". It can always be covered up and re-worked. And, hey, that "mistake" actually kinda looks cool and inspires me for something else. Way to go, painting.