Comics Camp Day One

It feels really good to be back in White River Junction, VT! There's so much inspiration all around the town. Even the alleyways have art!

I'm taking the Young Adult Graphic Novel Workshop with Tillie Walden and Jo Knowles. This is a very sketchy comic done in about 45 minutes that interpreted the first page of SPEAK by Laurie Halse Andersen.

I've been posting this kind of behind-the-scenes stuff, sketch-notes, and the more personal comics - on my Patreon page. It's a membership/subscription page, but that means I can post material that doesn't feel appropriate to let loose unsupervised onto social media.

If you'd like to see what I'm working on, I encourage you to become a patron here:

https://www.patreon.com/posts/28948391

Let's Try This...

I've been venturing out of the house, a bit farther afield - first to Massachusetts, now I'm in Maine. When I get back home, I'll be working on the Studio space - electrician ("Let there be light!"), removing the piano, clearing out the toys, and setting up the work space.

Setting up new spaces, healing, taking risks and Begin(ning) Again - seem well timed for Springtime!

So, in that spirit, I'm revamping my Patreon and would love it if you would consider becoming a Patron!

Right now, most of my Posts are Public, so feel free to take a look and see what's been going on. You can click on tags - like Comic or Sketchnote or Lilah Bean! Soon, those posts will be visible only to Patrons.

I've decided to make new posts private so that I can post without worrying about getting into trouble and so I can post content that I don't want finding its way onto social media... such as downloadable PDFs and printables.

Also, I created new tiers so that you can decide what you want to see --- Comics, Sketch-Notes, or Zentangle? Or all three! You can choose what you want to pledge and you can cancel at any time.

I'd like to do more comics about life, mental health, parenting, and joint projects with my kid. I want to post Zentangle ideas I'm working on and tangles from the past, sketches and material from my books too. And I plan to do more sketch-notes! I'll post the scanned, cleaned up versions of the sketch-notes so you can print them out. Also, I can post sketch-notes from classes and conferences that I've completed in the past. Other printables too - coloring pages or other material from books I'm working on!

This is an experiment! I had made all the comics and other material on Patreon available to the Public... and I lost almost all my Patrons.
OK. That was a dumb idea.
Begin Again.
I work really hard on these drawings and sketch-notes, etc. so I'm testing out the idea that people might not mind paying to have first crack at new material or the privilege to see behind-the-scenes and influence a project or even, get exclusive material!

If you've never heard of Patreon, or don't know how it works --- it's a lot like a "subscription" for creative material (artists, writers, musicians). You "pledge" an amount each month and you get content (like comics, essays, printables, video, etc.) Your pledge is charged to your credit card at the beginning of each month and that unlocks the posts. You can cancel your pledge at any time.

You can also "Follow" Creators that you like. In this case, you only see public posts that they make. It's possible to leave Comments on the posts and that creates a sense of community. I really need to build/rebuild my Art Tribe, so that feedback and acknowledgement would be incredibly valuable for me. I often feel like I'm working, alone, in my Belfry with only my Demons, the Lilah Beans, and Minou (the cat) to talk to!

I need feedback and encouragement. Cheerleaders, Art-Tribers, fellow cartoonists, Tanglers, and folks who love reading comics and sketch-notes!

And, lastly, if you need more incentive - you know me - I always overdeliver! ("Anything worth doing, is worth OVERdoing!")

If you'd like to become a Patron, click here: https://www.patreon.com/join/SandyBee?

If you want to take a look at the current posts, click here: https://www.patreon.com/SandyBee/posts
You can Filter the posts according to Tags - on the left side of the page.

Meanwhile, Back in the Studio...

Here's another behind-the-scenes for a different project I'm working on.

Starting on January 1st this year, I gave myself the goal of drawing a Toy Every Day!
Then I added a few more parameters.

First, I was aiming for 5 out of 7 days - it's not always possible to spend the time necessary since I always overdo these things. And the week that I was in the hospital - I didn't do any drawings.

Second, I'd work on 6"x6" cards, and use materials, like alcohol markers, that I needed more practice with.

Third, the toys (I have thousands) would primarily focus on figures. So, not a drawing of an American Girl bicycle, unless there was also an AG doll on it.

Here is the process for the toy I drew today:

pencil sketch

inked

darker markers in the brown and gold shadowy areas

warmer browns and yellows, then darkest blues

blending the blues so it looks SHINY!

Finished!

And then I post them to Instagram. 

It is very satisfying to see the collection grow...

...if I can keep this up, then later this year, we can do another Kickstarter and turn the toy comics into a book!

READ! Behind-the-Scenes

In my QUO VADIS Kickstarter Project Rewards, I have an option for Custom Original Artwork. As I was writing the description, and trying to describe what I would actually create for a Backer - I wrote this:

To clarify, here's another example: Let's say you are a librarian and want artwork to hang in your elementary school library... you could ask for the word "READ!" with some Lilah Beans. I would create the R-E-A-D letters made from books and stacks of books with Lilah Beans sitting on the stacks and reading other books. You could also tell me if there are particular titles you'd like on some of the books. Hmmm.... that sounds pretty cool - I may have to draw that one for myself!

I really liked the image in my head, so I decided to draw it!

I start with a pencil sketch that I trace over lightly with pen

I clean up and clarify the lines with ballpoint pen

I love ballpoint pen because I can do shading with it as well

I like it simple, but I was determined to do a piece with more detail and color

I have lots of colored ballpoint pens too

I like this part with B&W and just pink cheeks

color is cool too...

I get most obsessed over the shading!

I was really excited about how it turned out! So I added it to the Rewards - you can get this original artwork or you can get a 12"x 8" print of it on heavyweight, archival paper. I also have the "BEGIN" art available as a Print too.

Please take a look at the QUO VADIS Kickstarter Project and scroll to the bottom of the project description to see the New Rewards added for this final week!

More stuff I'm working on...

I was very productive this past month, not only did I complete three rounds of antibiotics for ear infection, sinus infection, AND STREP! - I also decided to turn the front end of my house into an apartment, and scheduled a hysterectomy (more on that in the next post).

We'll skip the details for the holiday illnesses, although, not leaving the house for 4 weeks may have contributed to my productivity?

First up - I enjoyed doing the daily Inktober drawings (in October) and was horrified that I stopped drawing again on November 1st!? So I set myself a Challenge for 2019 --- I would draw one of my Toys every day for the entire year!

Yowza! My goal is to draw 5 out of 7 days, I'm not completely insane after all. There are times when I just can't get to it. I'm posting the drawings on Instagram, so if you'd like to see all the pics I've done so far, they are HERE.

I've also been working on either a HUGE coloring book, or a series of smaller coloring books - with my daughter, Lilah. It's a lot of work scanning and cleaning up the art. But I love to color and her images are a blast to mess with. Here are a few that I colored:

The apartment idea has taken over my life and my house - there's mess everywhere - and I've spent many nights carrying boxes of books or staining walls - until 3am!

In order to free up the front of the house, I have to empty those rooms and the attic. So I'm converting my Library (aka the Dining Room) into a bedroom for my kid and a Library hallway. This is what the room looked like when I started cleaning it out...

 The books are stacked in the laundry room, in piles in the Living Room, on the stairs to the Studio...

 And the other two walls of the Library had my Lego City! It sat on the kitchen table for days.

Where in the WORLD was I going to find space for that!!??

Hmmm... the town would look really cool on the shelf in the kitchen!!

And there is still room for the Diner (which I have not built yet.) All the Harry Potter, Medieval Village, and Monster Legos went up in the Studio treehouse.

Then the real mess started...

The ugly chimney was boxed in.

Those pink walls were the first thing I painted when I bought the house, like 25 years ago! It was nice to paint over them, but took quite a few coats. And the walls are ancient plaster and lathe, so really lumpy. The ceilings are awful, cracked and stained too - they'll be covered by tin-like ceiling tiles next week.

So much brighter!!!  The bedroom will be rather tiny, to the right of the chimney box. To the left, is the new Library hall that goes to the laundry room/bathroom and the front of the house (new apartment). The wall is "temporary" so it could be removed by future owners who have a use for a dining room.

We jump ahead a few days and the bead-board wall is built ( stayed up til 3am staining the durned thing) and the door track is installed. The door is a sliding "barn" door, but I found more modern hardware for it. I'm painting the door with chalkboard paint (both sides) which makes my 12 year old very happy! I'm guessing the outer side will read something like "Go Away So I can Read!"

We moved all the bookcases into place in the new hallway today. Tomorrow I'll finish painting the door. Then the electrician has to fix the light. Then the ceiling panels. Then we move the kid's STUFF down from her room... and I figure out where to put all the rest of the stuff from all over the house....AAAAAAHHHHHHH!

All before February 6th. Which is when I go in for surgery. I'll tell you about that, my Idea, and the next Kickstarter in the next blog post.

Fun things I'm working on! (And you can Buy!)

It's NOT all about GOrillas you know! I've been working on a whole bunch of things this fall and I'd like to show you some of them now.

The Demons from We Will Never Leave You have been up to all kinds of things besides my Christmas Card. I've started thinking of ideas for a sequel as well. I made a tiny "zine" of the Demons and I'm looking into making a tiny Teachables class with it. I'm planning out Demons Trading Cards.
I made cool pins (buttons)...

and I just created this Introvert Demon Sweatshirt...

Introvert Demon Sweatshirt
by BumbleBat

And this is the back of the sweatshirt...

It's very soft and cozy - perfect for hiding out. I got an XL so I could disappear completely (they're available up to 3X). They sell for $50, but Zazzle often has excellent coupons that make it a no-brainer.

I created THIS t-shirt for my daughter so she wouldn't have to keep repeating herself...

"Go AWAY so I can READ" T-shirt
by BumbleBat

If she doesn't want to be that specific about WHY we should go away, she can cross her arms across her chest, like a teenager. Just, "Go Away."

And she created this design of Creature, the Cat, being Moody...

Creature Cat Baseball Tee
by BumbleBat

and this is the back...

Maybe you remember my daily comic collection, QUO VADIS? (That means "Where are you going?") I created that comic as part of my Thesis - I drew a cartoon or sketch every day for a year.

But the published edition (which sold out!) only included 7 months, since I had to publish what I had drawn so far for the thesis committee. BUT - I kept drawing cartoons every day until the end of July - one complete year! I'm working on revising and republishing QUO VADIS to include the entire year. I will probably do a Kickstarter to presell the comics. Stay tuned!

But the partner project to QUO VADIS is the ARTgenda - which is a "Planner - Sketchbook - Journal." The calendar comics are so-called since I drew them in a weekly formatted calendar. It worked well in that it kept me moving - don't miss a day! - but there were a number of things I did not like about it. The paper was really thin, Saturday and Sunday were smaller boxes, I had to start on the date the calendar started, etc.

So, just in time for the New Year... I redesigned it all and created my own... the ARTgenda. I printed them through BLURB (an on-demand printing company) and they look and feel really nice!

"The perfect planner, sketchbook, and journal for creative people. Can be used as a weekly calendar too. Perfect for doing a "drawing a day" challenges or keeping track of books read, Zentangle® patterns- anything! Features 4 intro pages with ideas and suggestions for use. 52 undated, weekly spreads - with 8 days each. Weekends are just as important as Weekdays!"

It has 120 - 8"x10"pages.

You can order them directly from BLURB - especially good if you want to get a quantity discount or use a BLURB promo code, or if you live outside the US.

If you are in the US, you can also order them (not with a discount) from my Etsy store, Bumblebat.
As always, I throw in some fun goodies. :-)

Lastly - if you'd like to see (most of) the calendar comics I drew, you can see them on my Patreon page.

Inktober 2018 - Week Three

Just one more week of Inktober!
(And one more week of Kickstarter - not related - but very cool.)

Week One HERE
Week Two HERE
And a quick recap of The Rules:
• Draw a picture based on the word prompt for that day
• Ink it
• Post it on social media with #Inktober2018

 and My Rules:
• include my comic character somehow
• include the word prompt - lettering!
• no color

So here are all the drawings I did for Week Three:

Day 15 - WEAK

Day 16 - ANGULAR 

Day 17 - SWOLLEN

Day 18 - BOTTLE

Day 19 - SCORCHED

Day 20 - BREAKABLE

Day 21 - DRAIN