RaeBerlin

3 weeks ago

This is a funny job. Webcomics are often cited as the future of comics and the internet and I don’t know what else, but the fact that no one has retired from them yet means that I, at least, rest a little uneasy in these shoes sometimes if only for the lack of having a dependable compass by which to steer the ship. I just want to make the best decisions I can, so that I will be around longer, making drawings and comics and writing and other things that I hope people will enjoy. I’m not sure what will work out with these opportunities that have come my way, and I guess I can’t really say much about them, but I think I’d be a fool if I didn’t give them a try. So I am going to! Whatever I can let you know, I will. »Kate Beaton announcing that she’s taking a break from webcomics for the forseeable future. So follow her new Tumblr, with all her researchy bits! (via ladiesmakingcomics)

Read this the other day and surprisingly got really excited instead of sad. Mainly because I enjoy watching the process in which artists work. Some people can stick to something for so long, and yes they may be good at it, but what’s next? How are you growing in your talent? Sometimes I think if I were ever a musician, I’d take time to form side projects outside of my band or if I was an artist I’d collaborate with other people on things. What you started with will always be important and will always be what made you. But what you do with it is something else entirely. Launch yourself onto every opportunity rather than stick to your comfort zone. Kate Beaton already seems like a down-to-earth lady. This just makes her even cooler in my book!

via ladiesmakingcomics

1 month ago

RIP Pizza Island | Pizza Island «

Well, it was a good run and at least I found out about a lot more lady comic makers. Not just Kate Beaton.

1 month ago

ladiesmakingcomics:

Kate Beaton’s Marceline the Vampire Queen

K. Beaton rocks so hard.

(Source: ladiesmakingcomics)

via ladiesmakingcomics

4 months ago

So uh, this book is out today. ADD TO CART, CHECKOUT, PURCHASE NOW PLEASE! Actually, I may have to buy the combo because I bought the first Hark! A Vagrant, lent it to a friend, and have yet to get it back. I think she thought I was giving it as a gift so I’ll just leave it at that and buy another one. Yay, so excited!

5 months ago

So to prepare for my Sketchbook Project, I checked these three books out from the library for inspiration. I received my cute little Scout Book like 4 days ago but I picked out my theme for it about a week and a half ago. My theme is I Remember You. Now I know the project suggests that the theme is just a starting point. It’s not there to hold me down. But I think the theme I picked is so perfect for the ideas that I have that I really would like my sketchbook to embody this feeling of remembrance. I want to chronicle a lot of this summer’s and past summers’ events in my life. And being that the sketchbook tour starts in April of 2012, what a great way to launch the season.

I have to admit, I felt really lost at first and I thought to myself why did I even sign up for the project. I can’t really draw & my work will totally fail in comparison to what others are doing. But then I remembered that this project is for me and if I keep that in mind, I’m sure it will go smoothly. I want this to be fun. I have until the end of January to complete my sketchbook and hopefully I’ll have time to share with y’all all the work I put into it. Until then, here is where I’m starting. I’m so excited!

The books:

An Illustrated Life by Danny Gregory: a cool little peak into artists’ and designers’ sketchbooks that are often very private.
The Art of Jaime Hernandez: I actually had two friends at two very different times in my life introduce me to Love & Rockets. Though I’ve never read all of the comics, I have really enjoyed the ones I’ve picked up. This book is sort of a history of Love and Rockets with some work that’s never been seen before. I really like illustrated stories. I never wanted to make comic books but I did want to grow up to illustrate children’s books. I guess I just went the way of comics to get a better idea of that little kid dream. Two years ago I read a cool biography of Jack Kirby and of course as a young girl, I really liked Daniel Clowes. Obvious reasons. In the past few years I have been introduced to Kate Beaton, Art Spielgelman, and Frank Miller. It’s a select few and I’m not a huge comic book geek but I’m always down for some good storytelling.
The Drawing Breakthrough Book by John Hastings: A lot of how-to drawing book bore me to death, which leads me to believe I’d rather take an actual drawing class, but this one has good exercises and is pretty simple to follow. I wouldn’t say it’s for someone who wants to learn to draw from the ground up but it is good for us doodlers who need a little push in the right direction.

10 months ago

annearchal:

I’m trying to figure out what this popular style of art is called, besides “bad” or “hipster.”

It’s not really folk, because it doesn’t borrow overtly from any specific traditions. It’s not outsider art because despite the prevalence of self-publishing it’s been recognized by the institution (for example, Julia Wertz is nominated for an Eisner Award this year). It’s not quite naïve either, because despite the fact that Kate Beaton and very likely at least some of the others have no formal arts training, they are part of the art world and art practices. I guess you could call it ‘pseudo naïve’ or ‘faux naïve’—although that implies the ability to draw in a naturalistic style (in the manner of Picasso) which I seriously doubt these artists have.*shrug*

I guess I have a sort of ambivalent relationship to this style of comic-ing that has grown significantly in popularity as of late. On the one hand, the form does serve its function—that is to say, telling a story and/or getting laughs. It makes sense for Kate Beaton’s drawing style to be totally unrealistic and break all the laws of perspective and anatomy, because she tells silly jokes. Wertz’ comics also have a sense of humour and tell the story of a young adult situated in that stage of life between the irresponsibility of being a teenager and the maturity and responsibility that comes with being an adult. In this way, the naïve style of her comics make sense. However, because we associate the naïve style with such things as innocence, childhood, madness and humour, it often (for me at least) clashes with the sometimes serious nature of her writing. It also doesn’t help that Wertz’ drawing style looks like it reached our era from a time machine that took off from some teenager’s desk in 1984.

In my opinion, art is most successful when rendering style and content match. I love ancient art, medieval art, indigenous art, folk art and outsider art (all of which tend not to be naturalistic) for this very reason. However, I do scratch my head a bit when I see intelligent and highly educated people (by comparison) who are a part of the institution, who may or may not have studied art at the post-secondary level or on the side, who simply cannot work in a naturalistic mode. This doesn’t relate simply to comics, but to the most erudite gallery art as well. Why? Because I see naturalistic representation as ART 101—the stepping stone for institutionalized artistic expression. You gotta know the rules to break ‘em.

Now I am a fan of the Underground Comix scene that flourished in the 60’s and 70’s, and which persisted into the 1980’s (Robert Crumb, the Hernandez Brothers, Art Spiegelman, among others). However, compared to the new crop of comic artists, the aforementioned draughtsmen are the equivalent of Rembrandt. This raises a red flag for me, because there is an important distinction between adopting a naïve or faux naïve style because it fits your objective, and adopting a naïve style because you don’t have the skills necessary to work in a more appropriate mode—to the detriment of the work. This is the point where charming naïvette begins to cross over into just plain bad (and potentially insulting, to people in the industry that have put in many years of studying and perfecting their art).

What are you thoughts?

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I don’t really have a comment as I think this was an interesting read despite me being mildly obsessed with Kate Beaton. You would think I’d be offended but I liked this. The other artists of Pizza Island I’m not as familiar with, but I enjoy the project of female cartoonists getting together. I think it really helps them to edify one another and supports a comfortable environment.

But as far as Kate Beaton goes, I feel like she’s a historian/comedian. It’s really graphic storytelling, which is what most comics are defined as. She reminds me of Sarah Vowell only she brings her historical humor in snippets and bad doodles rather than a full on book. I happen to enjoy that and also wouldn’t know what to classify her art as. But I love it. I have to say that although I don’t think Kate Beaton is a trained artist, there is something special about how she presents facial expressions even if the rest of her panels are a bit of a mess. I’m not very good at art criticism, never have been. But I appreciate those who can even look at throw-away comics and have something to say. Does this kind of art threaten “real” art? Does it really have to be defined? I’m not sure but I do enjoy it. Well, then I guess I did have a comment.