'Twas the night before Christmas

Merry Christmas Eve! I'm Italian (in case you missed the "zio" at the end of my name), so Christmas Eve is a big deal in my family-- as much so as Christmas day is. We all get together and eat seafood, and then exchange gifts! This year I made chocolate peppermint cookies for everyone. This is also the first year I made my own cards:

I was stumped for the longest time on what to do, and then one day I watched the Rankin Bass classic "'Twas the Night Before Christmas," and I decided to draw a little tribute to the movie as my card. It's always been one of my favorites, along with "The Life and Adventures of Santa Claus." Anyway, here's wishing everyone a happy holiday!

I seem to enjoy posting on Thursdays

Hello again. I have returned with some sketches and some news. Sketches first:

I've been sketching Briana quite a bit lately, but there's a good reason: she'll be showing up next chapter and I didn't have as much of a handle on her as I would have liked. Sketching her has remedied that.

And now enjoy the gang's winter looks! These probably won't be seen for another couple of chapters, but since it's actually winter in real life and I was feeling festive, I drew them. Also, Michio is gigantic for some reason.

Now for the news.

First off, I've been working on Bad Grammar: Chapter 2, but I hit a few snags (such as writers' block and getting two new jobs to distract me). I recently sat down and forced myself to choose a direction for the story to go in, so hopefully I'll have some material to show in another couple of weeks. Also in regards to Bad Grammar, I've been thinking of turning it into a webcomic. The more I think about it, the more I think that webcomics may just be the outlet for me.

Now, on a note completely unrelated to Bad Grammar: I've started another new project, sketches for which you will soon be seeing here. It is a line of greeting cards for awkward situations, which will be linoleum cut and handmade, then presented for sale (most likely via a site such as etsy). I'll also be working on a gift for some friends of mine, but don't expect to see that until after the holidays.

Well, that's all for now.

Sketchdumping

Just thought I'd drop down a few sketches. While working on chapter 2 of Bad Grammar, I of course felt it appropriate to change the outfits of the main characters. All except Michio. Of course, this will be commented on by the other characters.

And here are some sketches of Briana.

This here is just a bunch of random sketches/doodles. That poor ghost. :'(

Where the sketches are

So, I decided that it was too troublesome to have my sketches on an entirely different blog, even with the link... So they're officially going up here instead. Hooray! Also, I did a "Where the Wild Things Are" piece, seeing as it's all the rage now.

I did this with watercolor pencils, since I couldn't find my Koi watercolors... I hadn't used watercolor pencils in a couple of years, so that was fun. I also used those Ph Martin's watercolors, gotta love those super saturated colors. And the lines are with india ink, of course. I just wanted to do a fun fall piece-- and who doesn't love jumping in a pile of leaves?

Jess and Lizzie in: "Hey Jess?" and SPX interview

So SPX was a lot of fun, and overall successful in my mind. I'll definitely sign up again for next year! One of the many cool things that happened to me during the weekend: I was interviewed by a feminist podcast/blog, Fully Engaged Feminism! Here's the link:

Fully Engaged Feminism: Interview with Marie Condenzio

I apologize in advance for the nervous laughter and constant clapping (can you tell I don't do these kinds of things often?) Also, I didn't recognize my own voice at first. I sound so much more high-pitched in my own ears.

Anyway, here's the second Jess and Lizzie comic, which was in the compilation we talked about (and you can see the booklet in all its hand-made, stapled glory in the bottom right-hand corner of the picture on the blog page).

And there you have it!

So, my checklist is getting pretty full. We have:

1) Continue Jess and Lizzie Series

2) SPX

3) ???

4) World Domination

So far, so good.

Jess and Lizzie Preview

That's right! Jess and Lizzie will be starring in a new comic entitled "Hey, Jess?" which will be printed with "Ummm" in a mini-book and sold at SPX. Here's a peek at their new look:

I decided to keep the color scheme for their clothing the same, but to give Jess and Lizzie slightly different hair colors and skin tones, just to differentiate them a bit more.


And here's a quick color study of Jess' room. Again, I decided to repeat the colors from the first comic.

And just a look at what Jess and Lizzie will look like in the room. I mainly did this to help me visualize the color scheme of the individual panels and decide where to place them for their discussion.

The new comic will be between 3 and 5 pages (I'm still working out the details) and will cover another sensitive issue in puberty: breast growth. After this one, I think I'll either move on to body hair or go more in-depth with the menstrual cycle. Eventually, I look forward to having a "your body and you" type of comic book put together. Anyway, that's all for now.

News: Small Press Expo

Well, I have some exciting news for everyone!

I will be an exhibitor at this year's Small Press Expo in Bethesda, MD. The Expo is September 26th and 27th, and you can buy admission for the weekend or for a single day if you like.

In addition to touting some completely new comics, which you will be able to see the inklings of up here as they reach a finished state, I will also be selling printed books of Bad Grammar: Chapter 1. This in particular is exciting news for me.

So, if you're in the area, please stop on by to see me, and of course all the tons of wonderfully talented people who will also be selling their craft. Or, if you're not, buy a plane ticket now. I know I'll certainly be breaking the bank, with all the comics I'll be buying!