More tool reviews

Lately, I haven't been loving the brush. I probably just need to break down and buy some new ones, since my current sable brush like one year and 60+ pages old, but buying brushes is SO HARD. And I'm tired of the struggle and hand cramps.

I've never been able to draw with a nib. We all had to give them a try during our first year at CCS. I would scratch with the thing until I wore a hole in the paper and still never get a line out of it. It's just not my thing.

Since these tools aren't doing it for me lately, I've been giving pens a try. These two valentines were drawn with a Pentel Tradio, which has a felt tip that kinda acts like a nib, except with it decides to spray ink everywhere.



In retrospect, these cards probably aren't going to do well. Do people buy Valentines for their pets?



And these sketches were drawn with a Right-Handed Pelikano Junior (which is amazingly comfortable, and they make a left-handed version, too) that I outfitted with a fountain pen converter, and filled with black Speedball ink.





The Pelikano inked just fine over gouache, which was nice.

Next I might try drawing comics with the fountain pen, unless the brushwork really does look better? I really can't tell anymore.

ArtWorks '09

It's Fall, and that means it's time for another ArtWorks. A few of my inked pages and a screenprint from Basket Ogress will be on display at Dartmouth College's Hopkins Center for one whole day this Wednesday, October 7th from 11 am to 6pm.


There will also be work on display from fellow CCS 07' "Pioneer Class" graduate Bob Oxman, who works over at the Hopkins Center as a night security guard. Keepin the art safe! I assume Bob will have pages up from the next installment of his epic Smuttynose graphic novel.

Beyond that, not much happening around here. I've been sick, so I haven't been drawing as much as I've been sleeping and watching Farscape.

Elsewhere on the internet, people have been saying some pretty nice things about my comic. Sometimes in french, and sometimes accompanied by a scary photo of me...have I mentioned I've been sick?

L'il Ainjil!

Woman King was nominated for an Ignatz Award
for Promising New Talent!

You can purchase copies online here or here.

Or read reviews of the book here, here and here.

And there's a 30-page preview of the book here.

This book was self published, and there are still about 300 copies in boxes in my closet. I would be ever so grateful if you were to pick up a copy.

Other cartoonists nominated in this category are T. Edward Bak, Hellen Jo, Ed Luce, and Amanda Vähämäki. Be sure to check out their work, too!

Friend and neighbor Cat Garza was also nominated, for Best Webcomic! Why hasn't someone put together a print collection of this guy's work yet?

Everyone wants to be a mouse.

The Funny Aminals anthology will debut at SPX in September! For a while the editors had planned to do a color insert for the book, and asked me to do a painted comic. This idea was later abandoned, as color is expensive and hard to do right. But, here's the one page of the submission I did finish. And I've submitted a short black and white story in the anthology, too.

Jon Mathewson was kind enough to write a review of Woman King for Panel to Panel.net
They have lots of nice comics for sale, including that one turtle thing I helped write.

Someone in a French-speaking country reviewed my first book, Tragic Relief, here. I took French in high school and college...but hardly retained any of it. I hope they liked it.

Many thanks to Alec for sending me the link!

Woman King Reviews and New Studio

Sorry I've fallen behind on posting weekly paintings and comics. A group of us just moved into a NEW STUDIO! Moving is hard work. I'll catch up on scanning this weekend.


In the meantime, here's some nice things to read on other websites:

From the Daily Cross Hatch:
Frakes has come a long way since her earlier mini Tragic Relief (which was later re-drawn for the Xeric-funded release). Her lines are confident and vivid, her backgrounds are lush, and she knows how to apply dry brush strokes in a really effective, elegant way. Attending the Center for Cartooning Studies has clearly had a huge impact on how she works.

From Rob Clough at High-Low:
Frakes' work reminds me a bit of Eleanor Davis in the way she works in myth and allegory, putting a modern spin on it...Like Davis, there's a sensitivity in her line that borders on fragility, informing the actions and gestures of her characters.


From Henry Chamberlain at Newsarama:
Colleen Frakes' Woman King, a continuation on her take on fables and myth. Since her Xeric winning Tragic Relief, her work has gotten sharper and the scope of her storytelling keeps getting more complex. A recent graduate of the Center for Cartoon Studies, Frakes finds herself coming into her own with Woman King giving us a distinctive style and vision.

And a nice mention from Brett Warnock at Top Shelf:
I got her awesome book Woman King, too, but in mini-comic form only. I saw at MoCCA that it's out now as an a beautifully designed "real" book.

Buy a copy for yourself here!

News

Convention Appearances 2009:
confirmed:

Stumptown, April 19th and 19th
Oh Portland, how I love you.
Maine Comic Arts Festival, May 17th
I've never been to Maine before.

planned:

MoCCA, June 6th and 7th
Hope to be debuting my 2nd book here, if I can get it finished and get a table. Either way, I'll be there hanging out with the IKJK crowd.

SPX, September 26th and 27th
I turned my registration in a bit late- though not as late as I did last year! Either way I'll be here with a box of books.

...and that's all for 2009. I don't plan on attending APE again this year. As much fun as the convention and being in San Francisco was, it didn't make up for all the headache of getting a temporary seller's permit and filing taxes (which I'm still working on). Sorry, California!

New Reviews:

The Try Harder blog did a nice little write up of Indelible that I somehow missed. Thank you!

Inkstuds was also nice enough to review the 2nd Four-Square Anthology, No. While you're there, you should take a break and listen to their podcast. It's perfect to draw to.

And Henry Chamberlain at Newsarama did a lovely review of the Xeric edition of Tragic Relief. Thanks, Henry!

New Art:

Still working on the bear story, but there is an end in sight. And a monster in the woods, look out!

Update Blog- CHECK!

This weekend was for checking things off my comics "to-do" list.


New icon for IKJK site redesign. CHECK!

Finish another chapter of the bear story. CHECK!




2 page painted comic for BASH magazine #6. CHECK!


Ink and scan my 3-page submission for Side B. CHECK!

What's left on the list:

-Finish lettering my Side B comic (I've been working on this thing since Spring, but it keeps getting pushed onto the back burner for other projects. No more!)

-Submission for the "Love Comics" anthology that the current CCS freshmen are putting together.

-I was asked to draw a "Bearotaur" or "Minobear", half bear and half bull. Not sure how this is gonna work yet.

OH YEAH! And Rob Clough was kind enough to review some of my work on SeqArt again. The website seems to be down, but Penina found a Google cached version of it. Check it out. He also reviews some of my favorite books that the CCS alums have put together this year. Man, I know some amazing people!

Tragic Relief loves Sequart

Rob Clough was kind enough to review the Tragic Relief book at Sequart.com, check it out!

He also did a review of the Tragic Relief minis a while back, and has been very good about pointing people towards the work of fellow CCS alumni and students.

We like him, he's good people.