From Joann Sfar’s “The Rabbi’s Cat.” (for #fanartfriday)

Life drawing: Longer study

In this week's class the model played out the four different poses from Caravaggio's "The Crucifix of Saint Peter". About 20-30 minutes for each pose. 

One of my teacher's critiques was to bring the tonals all the way down the sketch (as the shadow under the cross is CRAZY drastic and sends your eye right there). Something to keep in mind for next time... 

Keep moving forward!

A Frank Miller Robin

Catching up on belated #fanartfriday topics.

Musings from Comic Con Adventure Time

Howdy folks! 

I've finally gotten some time to sit down and breath after a stretch of post-travel blahs, Easter family madness and the insanity that is "oh gawd, WHY DIDN'T I FILE THESE TAXES SOONER!???"- and thought I'd take a moment to do a little write up about Mocca and Stumptown!  If this is your first time hearing those words, no I'm not talking coffee (though I drank plenty of that!) I spent two weeks in the US early this month attending indie comic festivals on both coasts. Mocca Comics Fest took place April 9-10 in NYC and Stumptown Comics Fest happened April 16-17 in Portland, Oregon.

RESULTS! I had an absolutely brilliant time in the States; the people of New York and Portland were warm, inviting and completely charming. And that's not even counting the amazing people I met on the convention floor! I came home with a whole bundle of mini-comic-goodies that were traded, gifted and sometimes thrown at me while the lovely artist shyly scampered away! Here's photographic evidence of my mini-comic haul: 

Thank you so much gang!! I keep them in a box beside my bed so I have something awesome to read before sleepy time.

I also wanted to give a shout out to Karen Demsko who gave me an honest to goodness GOODY BASKET at Mocca! Thank you Karen!

My glee could not be contained, so I spread bubbles all over Manhattan and Brooklyn.

I also want to thank my fantastic table mates at both conventions. Joy Ang , Sam Bradley and Sarah White were kind enough to invite me and my man Gerry to squish alongside them at MOCCA and help debut the second volume of The Anthology Project. And what a debut it was- all copies of book 01 and 02 were completely sold out by Sunday afternoon! 

(Myself, Sam Bradley and Sarah White)

(MOCCA Fest photos taken by Shahriar Shadab)

At Stumptown I tabled with the incredibly talented Sam Alden who was one of my ACA comic camp buddies and is working on a beautiful book titled "Eighth Grade." Keep an eye out for that one! 

(Our community table: Pictured here are Sam Alden and ACA comic starlet Lilly Moore! Not pictured but part of our community table are Thi Bui, Chris Hunt and Sean Pryor.)

(Here's a picture I just had to share because it's ridiculously fun and I was pleased as punch to finally meet Jen Vaughn (comic artist and writer for The Beat) in person.)

Alas that I don't have more pictures, there were so many amazing people that I got to meet and hang out with but I'm afraid if I try to name them all I'll ultimately leave someone out. So instead I'll say THANK YOU EVERYONE FOR BEING AWESOME!!!

 I cannot recommend these conventions highly enough, if you're local or just passing through town, check them out next spring. There are so many amazing creators and creations to meet and enjoy.

 Aaaand... yeah! Okay, I said it'd be a short blog post, but this is definitely not the end of my travel adventures. The comic conventions took place on the weekends and SO MUCH MORE happened in between...

*cough*

*cough*

... but I may save those stories for a travel comic I'm going to be working on with a couple of the amazingly talented folks from The Anthology Project. Either way, you'll hear it from me first here on the ol' blog.

Cheers!

A couple evening sketches

Study of a coyote skull

drift and dream...

Nana (final)

The two Nanas from Ai Yazawa’s emotionally charged shojo manga series “Nana”. Drawn for #fanartfriday

Nana sketch

Rough sketch of Ai Yazawa's 'Nana' for a belated #fanartfriday.

Thursday night life drawing

 (2 min ^)

  (5 min ^)

  (10 min ^)

  (25 min ^)

 (25 min ^)

Locker buddy

A birthday drawing for my little sister Heather- two characters from her webcomic "Lethal Lips!" CHECK IT OUT HERE: http://hesbell.deviantart.com/gallery/8940776(she's so gooood)

Dancer

My finished ink illustration for the 'Art of Survival' fundraiser for cancer relief. The original will be on display at the Swansea Town Hall Community Centre Gallery from May 9-21 and all auction proceeds go to the Canadian Cancer Society.
More info on the website: http://www.artofsurvival.ca/index.php

Groo

Groo (the warrior buffoon) and Rufferto (the dog) from Sergio Aragonés action-adventure/humour series “Groo the Wanderer” (one of my favourite comics as a kid, and it still holds up!)

(for #fanartfriday http://fanartfriday.tumblr.com/)

Birch Trees

My rough sketch and some colour searching for the upcoming Girls Drawing Girls book “As Nature Made Her.” My chosen topic is “birch tree”. This still needs some brain-loving (don’t know WHAT is happening with the light source) but this is the set up and mood I’m going for.

Thursday night life drawing

 (2 min ^)

 (15 minute lower body studies ^)

 (25 minutes ^) I started this one over 3 times and STILL got the arm cut off, bah!

(25 min ^) Messed up the knee but my teacher came to the rescue (floating study)