For now, my plan is to continue writing these monthly updates and then also produce my bimonthly email newsletter which will be more in-depth.
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It’s been a good month. I finished a dense 12 page strip and a few smaller things. I can’t tell if they’re any good but at least they’re done. Now I’m taking a few days to read and plan and recharge.
I’m starting up a daily sketchbook practice again in February. I’m seeking my next big (or bigger – the 12 page strip mentioned above felt ‘big’) project and this seems like a good tool to find it.
I’ve been thinking about how to keep my work from becoming too loose or sloppy. Currently my solution is to draw a little denser and tighter than normal, but that’s a very straightforward response to that concern. Seeking other solutions.
I really enjoyed Austin English’s recent column about minicomics. This part in particular overwhelmed me:
“The anonymous nature of this zine has always placed it as a high watermark for the potential of zine culture: here is something perfectly made, sent out into the world without explanation, that commands respect because of what’s inside of it and despite of everything else.”
It’s sad though at the same time somehow special that for a few of the comics discussed, Austin’s column could be the only formal record that they exist. I wanted to learn more about John Hanciewicz’s ‘Monday Wednesday’ mini, for instance, and the only mention I found online was a previous review of the book by Austin.
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The Maker, Jorge Luis Borges
In Praise of Darkness, Jorge Luis Borges
Windowpane 4, Joe Kessler
Hax, Lale Westvind
Normel Person, Lauren Weinstein
Eye, Warren Craghead
Channel, Walker Tate
The Last Lover Letter, Alyssa Berg
No Man is an Island, Alyssa Berg
House Fires, Madeleine Witt
Jumbly Junkery 12, L Nichols
An Aleatoric Basis for Understanding, L Nichols
Kindling, Xia Gordon
Ego Comme X 5, ed. Loic Néhou
Ego Comme X 7, ed. Loic Néhou
Education, John Hankiewicz
Underwater #1, #4-7, Chester Brown
Chimera, Lorenzo Mattotti