Comics the callan way

Here's my third annual holiday comic, and I thought all three of you might be interested in my comic making process.


I start with doodling out poses and dialogue, working out what I want to say & how to draw it-they influence each other and I tend to go back and forth between them.


Then I do a rough layout-here I used panels, mostly just to see if I could, so there was a little bit more of a formal structure to work with than I usually have. Between the rough and ink, I do a cleaned up pencil, but I figured it would be sort of redundant to see it.


Inking! I used a micron on the lettering & panels, and a dip pen for the drawing. I scanned it in, cleaned it up and made
it into a bitmap tiff in photoshop and then coloured it in illustrator.


The final framed product. I think it turned out pretty nicely.

the pirate alphabet starts with AAAAARRRR

According to the internet, today is international Talk Like A Pirate Day, and who am I to argue with the internet?

A couple years back, my friend Jess threw a surprise pirate themed birthday party for her then boyfriend; I designed the cake & it still makes me laugh when I look at it.

Pigster Pie

I'm having fun with this little guy.

The Pigster and Produce.

Fall is apple season, after all.

Puss In Boots

A sloppy doodle of puss in boots; I've been rereading Angela Carter's short stories and her take on puss is particularly fun.

The Pigster

I think he likes jazz and farmers markets.

Three Little Birds

I remember, in the days after 9/11, before we could go back to school and after MTV started broadcasting videos again, they played a ton of Bob Marley. Three Little Birds is my favorite; everyone could use a few cheery birds telling them not to worry, now and again.

Bob Marley - Three Little Birds
Uploaded by hushhush112. - Music videos, artist interviews, concerts and more.

COOOOLD

Its chilly already; I'm not a fan.

Robot of love

Bearded Lady

Sunburn

I never learn.

Neko Neko

Cupcake hat!

I've been looking at ridiculous hats on etsy; this doesn't bode well for my dignity this winter.

SOOKIEH IS MAHN

A few weeks back, me & lene attempted to watch a bit of True Blood, a vampire show that has tons and tons of very vociferous fans- and it was terrible, and this coming from two people who un-ironicaly enjoy some pretty horrible television! This is a quick photoshop doodle of Bill, the main character Sookie's vampire boyfriend who seems to spend most of his time brooding and saying her name in a very funny accent. I think lene's post it doodle better captures his piece-of-toast-shaped face, tho.

Well Done, Sister Suffragettes

Today marks the 89th anniversary of the 19th amendment, granting women the right to vote, so what better way to celebrate it than a look back at the Suffragettes? The Suffragettes began as a british movement (the american branch preferred the more gender neutral term 'Suffragist') of radical women who's protest techniques- marches, chaining themselves to buildings and politicians vehicles, hunger strikes, even some violence- were outre for their time.



Of course, these uppity women made the old guard uncomfortable, and the inevitable stream of misogynistic editorial cartoons followed; I particularly love how much fun the woman on the far right in the second image is having beating on the police- she's clearly having the time of her life. (I hope one day to have a reason to shout 'jump on him, he is only a mere man!' in public).



Its wonderfully inspiring to see these old pictures of women joining together for a mutual cause, unapologetic and forthright in demanding their civil rights. Also, their hats are fabulous.

Feminism is by its nature a contrarian movement- second wave versus third wave, anti porn versus sex positive, so on-but I think it would serve us well to remember, every once and awhile, what we can achieve through unity, and acknowledge the struggles & gains of the women before us.

I'll give the last word to the world's most cheerful fictional Feminist, Mrs. Banks:

Well done, Sister Suffragettes.

Chicken Nugget Lemon Tooty

The very talented kids over at Chicken Nugget Lemon Tooty are having a little blog-iversary celebration, asking people to take a drawing and reinterpret it in their style. The problem with kid's art though is that they're usually so perfect in terms of self contained humour, story & character that it doesn't always seem like there's anything to add! That said, I took a crack at a version of Grace's 'Drifting.'

Let's go to the mall!

I don't think I've ever posted this- this was done as a test piece for a fashion company that wanted the animated girl in their website intro updated. I didn't get the job, alas, but I think she's pretty cute- and its fun to see how much I've progressed in illustrator, even in the short time (november) since I did it. Fresh drawings next post!

Elephant in the room

Sorry kids, better post tomorrow :D

Calavera

Silly photo shop doodle inspired by Jose Posada's etching of calavera de la catrina

ROAR

Been on a bit of a rampage today; my apologies if I've stomped on your city :D