The Mighty Thor & Hazel Boswell

Couple of new updates...

Hazel Boswell - French Canada

My Grandmother had many lovely folk-art type illustrations framed in her home which depicted scenes from Quebec City where she grew up.

I grew up seeing them in her house and had a real fondness for them. When she passed away, I inherited these pictures which now hang in our house.

I realized I knew nothing about the artist, and so many years later, I still found them enchanting. Thanks to some sleuthing and trusty Google, I found they were illustrations from a book written and illustrated by Hazel Boswell called "French Canada: Pictures and Stories", and was printed in 1938.

It was very popular in its day. I tracked a copy down on Abebooks and thought I would share the wealth with scans of all the illustrations. I posted them all up at Flickr here.

Drawn even featured it as a post - yay!

The Mighty Thor!
I'm doing a lot of writing on my Gerald Bull graphic novel right now and I find it frustrating to not being doing any artwork, so I do some sketches to keep myself interesting and my skills up. Here's the Mighty Thor!

Miniature Show at the Art Exchange

The 5th Annual juried Miniature show at the Art Exchange here in London, Ont is running all this month and I have 2 pieces in it.

Muskoka Fall, $90.00 framed & matted.

 

Isla Mujeres Flowers, $90.00 framed & matted.

Each piece submitted needed to be just 4 x 3 inchees (hence miniature), then the pieces are matted and framed by the Art Exchange and displayed at the gallery. When I spoke to the owner he said he hoped he would have 100 pieces in total and would have room to hang up each piece.

This year there is a really nice variety of pieces including sculptures and 3D pieces. The Art Exchange has posted photos of each piece in the show on their website here.

Reception is this Friday, February 5th at 7:30 PM. Rosie and I will be there so come by and say hello!

Kazoo T-Shirt

A perennial best-seller. Based on the Magritte "Ceci n'est pas un pipe" painting and done originally for the Toronto band Toca Loca. This design is available in Women's and Men's sizes.They are hand-screenprinted by Fresh Ink on 100% cotton pre-shrunk shirts and are only $20.00 each.












Women's Medium Size
Note, these are snug fitting and fit more like a small.






Men's Medium








Men's Large

Men's X-Large

T-Shirt Size

Women's Medium Men's Medium Men's Large

Note Preferred Colour Below

Silver Surfer T-Shirts!

Based on my take of a classic Kirby pose, this design is available in Women's and Men's sizes.
They are hand-screenprinted by Fresh Ink on 100% cotton pre-shrunk shirts. Below we see my lovely Rosie modeling it. Cost is only $20.00 each.

Win a Free Shirt Contest
For a chance for a free shirt of your colour and size, just post a comment on this blog or RT my Twitter message by tomorrow, December 10th at 1:00 PM. You'll also get a copy of each of my mini-comics still in print. Contest is now over. Winner is Sookie Mei! Thanks to everyone for participating.
Sizes are Women's Medium, Men's Medium and Men's Large. Lots of colours available, but note that quantities are very limited, so get your order in soon so you're not disappointed!

Women's Medium Surfer Colours
Medium size only available. Note that these are a tailored snug fit. I usually take a medium, and this fits, but is more like a small size. If unsure, I would suggest the Men's medium.

At left are colours available.




Men's Medium Surfer Colours









Men's Large Colours

T-Shirt Size

Women's Medium Men's Medium Men's Large

Note Preferred Colour Below

Friendly Neighbourhood Spider-Man

Though I love super hero comics, I don't really draw much of them. The first time I did in a loooong time was for the Joe Shuster Awards last year when they asked artists to do their rendition of Superman (my fave).

I liked the experience and people seemed to like my take, so I've done a few more illos here and there, especially if I find myself stuck drawing one of my own stories and need to loosen up a little. Anyway, here's my take on everyone's favourite webslinger - Spider-Man.

Update - friend and comic blogger extraordinaire Alan David Doane did up this awesome colour version for me. What a treat to get it in my email. He got the feel of those Romita Sr. Spidey comics just right in the colour tone to me. That run has always been my favourite of the book. Thanks Alan!
Gerald Bull Project
So what's happening with that big graphic novel project you're working on you ask? Well, slowly but surely progress is happening. I did a big chapter breakdown recently where I mapped out exactly what would happen in each chapter of the book. When my lovely agent/editor Sam Haywood gently mentioned that if I did that story it would take me 10 yrs and would be 400 pages long, I had to agree it was too much.

I had done a traditional chronological take on the character and had put in way too many details as a result of the amount of research I'd done. It was hard for me to see the forest for the trees in terms of what was really important and integral to the story, and what could be cut.

Anyway, I finally figured out a better structure and did up a new chapter breakdown that got the thumbs up from Sam. The story is much more streamlined now and stronger. I had put the drawing on hold while I worked all of this out and am glad I did, or I would have had to toss all that work out.

So - back to the drawing board literally for me. I am re-energized and ready to go!

Griffin!
My daughter's best friend is named Griffin and I did this sketch to explain to Rosie just what a Griffin is. I'm going to run off some copies for Griffin and Rosie to colour together!

Trouble With Comics

Darwyn Cooke Storytelling Workshop
I recently got to attend a storytelling workshop with comic master (and friend) Darwyn Cooke, it was a great experience that I wrote a full piece on at the Trouble With Comics blog here.

Below is a shot of Darwyn reviewing work from my new GN from the portfolio review session of the workshop. Darwyn did a one on one with all participants, and we all got to see and listen in on all the reviews - this was just as educational as the formal workshop itself.

This is actually the 2nd Storytelling workshop with Darwyn I've been to. The first was a much shorter one he did back in 2007. The write up from that session is here. I specifically remember that writer Nalo Hopkinson was in the audience then, which I thought was very cool!

Joe Shuster Awards & Speakeasy Show
Tomorrow night (November 5th) is the Speakeasy comic show in Toronto. I've exhibited at this a couple of times and it's always fun. The Joe Shuster Awards will have a bunch of pieces on display at the show. They have asked Canadian comic artists to do up their version of that old Canucklehead Wolverine, then the pieces will be auctioned later on eBay to raise funds for the awards.

Here's my contribution...

Word on the Street

Wow, it's been a long time since the last blog update, and there's much to write about. Let's get to the first order of business...

Word on the Street, September 27th, Toronto, Ontario
I will have a booth at the Word on the Street on Sunday, September 27th in Toronto. This is a fabulous street festival celebrating literacy and the written word. This is the 20th anniversary of the Festival and it looks bigger and better than ever.

Heavyweights like Margaret Atwood, Nicco Ricci and Kenneth Oppel will be on hand, but of special interest is the Comics and Graphic Novels Tent, presented in partnership with TCAF. The tent will have discussion panels and presentations by some great local talent and friends like Claudia Davila, Willow Dawson, Brad McKay (of the Doug Wright Awards) and Kevin Boyd (of the Joe Shuster Awards).

I will be in the "Fringe Beat" section at booth# FB14 (see map above). Lezley Davidson will be sharing the table with me and she will have very first book of her webcomic "Peeling Onions" on hand. I will have my minis for sale as well as t-shirts including the my popular "Silver Surfer - Kirby Style" silk-screened shirt. Best of all, WOTS is FREE for all to attend.

Draw Parker Contest
To celebrate the launch of Darwyn Cooke's new "Parker" graphic novel, Darwyn had a contest on his site encouraging people to draw their version of the character and send it in. Darwyn himself would hand-pick the winners. There was a really good response with a lot of artists participating. You can see the gallery here. Below is my entry.

I read "The Hunter" by Richard Stark recently in anticipation of the graphic novel and really enjoyed it. To me the character didn't come across as young and handsome though. He seemed like an older, rugged kind of guy, yet with a very magnetic personality.

In my drawing, I also wanted to get across his style of dress being rumpled, and a little worn. This is from a scene in the book where he is staking out a character...

I ended being disqualified from the contest being a "friend of Darwyn's". We get nothing but his love, apparently. I'll take it I say!

Other News

• Here are photos from my signing with Willow Dawson at L.A. Mood. Carol and Gord were great hosts and it was a terrific signing. Thanks to everyone who came out. A bonus was spending time with pal Willow.


• Here's a link to my interview with the National Post for TCAF. I was really happy how this came out.

L.A Mood, TCAF Wrap-Up & The Paris Guns

I think May 2009 will go down as one of my busiest months ever. I'm going to start from the top with what's still coming up, then work my way backwards through the month...

L.A. Mood Comic Signing with Willow Dawson
This Saturday, May 30th I will be signing with the wonderfully talented cartoonist Willow Dawson at L.A. Mood Comics & Games. I will be brining copies of all my comics for sale, some original artwork to view, as well as my new t-shirts I did up for TCAF (kazoo shirt, and Silver Surfer Kirby-style shirt) for purchase.

Willow will have her comic work on hand, as well as limited edition prints and buttons. We will be a captive audience from 12:00 - 4:00 PM at the store, so please come on by, say hello and feel free to ask us any comic questions you may have. The event is free and totally family friendly!

TCAF Wrap Up
So another TCAF has been and gone and as ususal lived up to they hype. Big kudos to Chris Butcher and the Beguiling for putting on such a great event. I have been a guest at every TCAF, and I have to say that this year was bigger and better in almost every way.

Especially impressive was the amount of media coverage the fest received this year. It totally paid off as the crowds were massive (as you can see from the photo above - I'm in the pink t-shirt). I think this video on (that even got Boing Boing'ed) really captures the feel of the weekend:


Highlights of the weekend for many, but here are just some:

• Sharing a table with good friend and huge talent Frank Cammuso. My husband and I first met Frank and his wife Ngoc at SPX way back in 2003 I think, and we soon became fast friends. Since then we've hung out at many a con, and it's always a pleasure to chat with him, get his opinions on the industry and just generally to catch up.
  
  
• Attending the Doug Wright Awards and seeing the surprise and joy on the faces of the recipients Jillian and Mariko Tamaki for Skim, Kate Beaton for Hark a Vagrant!, and Matt Forsythe for Ojingogo - all WELL deserved. Since I was a juror this year, I knew who the winners would be, but I was still totally nervous for all of them as well as the other great nominees.
  


• I have to hand it to the Doug Wright Committee for totally doing the evening up right at the Jackman Hall in the AGO with emcee Don McKellar. The Billy Crystal type opening video for the best book award was hilarious, and the Q&A with Seth and Brad McKay about the Collected Doug Wright book was really illuminating. I can honestly say that Seth's comments on how he designed the book have made me think differently about book design.
  


• Party at The Pilot put on by Chip Zdarsky. This was a great time and it seemed like just about all the guests and their friends showed up!
  


• Finally catching up with fellow cartoonists, friends and comic fans is really what it is all about. There are too many of you to mention here, so please take my thanks to everyone who came by and said hi.

The Paris Guns
Finished in time for the London Studio Art Tour, Chapter One of my longer Gerald Bull story is out! Called The Paris Guns, this chapter works as a complete story in and of itself and takes place in France during WWI. Below is the cover.