barekublishing

what a fool i've been

2011-10-21T01:02:00.002-04:00

i do foolish things.
sorry.
fortunately, i think i will be spending much more time at the drawing board again.

lo-fi

2011-02-04T15:19:00.003-05:00

okay, i know nobody sees or hears from me anymore (unless you are in this town), but rest assured, somewhere in the mix...clare 2 is in the works

autumnal bits

2010-10-10T17:04:00.004-04:00

hey, my beautiful buddy annie is editing a book, and here is where you can help!
this book is gonna be rad!

also, some of you who know me personally: i no longer have your phone number and you do not have my new #. email me? and know that i don't look at that often either.

okay, goodbye again, cyber-world.

scraps

2010-09-12T17:59:00.002-04:00

hey folks!
it's been a long time!
i forgot to mention last time that clare will be at this thing in nola:
Just to recap on the details, the exhibit will run September 11 - November 30 at Trouser House. The installation is a two-room environment comprising a zine library and reading area. On September 18, Trouser House will host a zine-making workshop for teens at the New Orleans Public Library Alvar Branch.
Trouser House | contemporary art + urban farming
4105 St. Claude Ave
New Orleans, LA 70117
http://trouserhouse.org

other than that i am back in austin, thanks to everyone's support when i had a bit of trouble a couple weeks ago.

i'm working on a zine right now(in lieu of going to the ida work party), so i'm going to try to finish that before week's end.
until next time.
k

nesting

2010-06-18T16:30:00.011-04:00

hello everybody! it's been so long since i have posted and while many things have changed, some things did not so much, like my usage of technology.
so, one of the changes is that a dear friend and i decided to do something relatively easy: play house! this may possibly be the first time i've signed on a lease, unless i did once over a decade ago. anyway, we have beautiful girls:

and the creature in the background is my friend tally-ho:

she poked out one of her eyes two weeks ago, but she doesn't seem to mind. i don't have a picture of that cuz i haven't used/seen my camera in two months, when i took all of these pictures.

what does any of this have to do with comics, you ask? well, not a whole lot except for distraction and inspiration. it really has been a crazy couple of months and that's just the lovely tip of the iceberg. and i will only include the lovely things here and now. back in april we of the house held a fund-raising car wash for the work hard stay hard work party happening this fall, where i think am registered to be captain of chainsaws and hopefully will be able to get my butt in gear to make a basic safety and maintenance booklet. here is a flyer i made for the carwash:

well, this is old news:

last march i printed another mini-comic, called clare, to take with me to staple!, that was held here in austin. staple!, by the way, seemed rather dudely to me, kinda more mainstream than i was expecting. but an odd aside, last night i visited some friends who're house-sitting for someone i do not know and i noticed some of auntie lynda barry's books on the shelf that didn't seem to contain many comics, and then i found a copy of my beauty patrol there as well, with a staple! program. kinda some small and unknown circles going here? anyway, clare--very limited print run on this one.
here's some of what it looks like:

also, another friend is putting together an anthology, and i just about buried my pages in the forgotten dust long ago, but finally finished them and sent them on--old fashioned style snail mail, since i am still lacking scanner access. i did a short 7-page piece and then i also did a one-pager. usps, please do not lose these!
here is a preview of the seven page story:

okay, that's all i have for now. have a good solstice, everyone. take a bow, twinkie ding-dong!

dry drizzle

2010-01-19T16:26:00.009-05:00

hey out there, my apologies for no updates since last year!

speaking of which, here is a perfect something a friend sent me a couple weeks ago, which put me into the perspective of anyone who has ever tried to contact me; i am so sorry everyone:

speaking of missings, some of you know i have this favorite ball-point pen. and some of you know i've 'lost' it, and it has returned to me time and time again. it's like i am supposed to learn some lesson. well, recently, i thought she was gone for good. weeks had passed and i was sad, but i got over the gamut of loss. and then the pen returned. i immediatedly documented this(with said pen):

i guess i am following the phone/contact apology with this cuz it's related. i'll write a love letter to my pen, when i know you should get one. in a way, i guess that is the lesson to be learned. it's that time when folks turn over their new leaves, where-ever a new leaf comes from in the winter, and maybe it's time i start acting like a human.

speaking of humans, here is some stuff some humans have made, some recent aquisitions:

every so often i like to stop by domy and if i've sold any books, i like to pick up a little something for my library. a collection of doris--which i expect will take me a while to read through. cindy's writings are right on, which is hard to read sometimes. it's taken me a while to read a singular doris zine in the past. also, this kind of billy--it came with a cd (which seems to be the thing everyone's doing) which i have not listened to yet but look forward to the moment of experiencing it. this book plays with identity, which was the hook for me. and lastly, sad animals by adam meuse. i had to. i mean, sad animals!:

what else? want some sketchbook images? fine.

the funny shadows are from my window screen (these are photos), but i think it makes a nice effect.

and finally,
here is a comic i am working on. working on it is like a test of my psyche, which is why i don't feel like i can show even a whole page here. and yes, i seem to be hand-coloring it...also using a brush pen, which is unusual for me.

oh yeah!! one more thing! barekublishing/American Stonghold will be representin' at Staple! march 6, here in austin. come say hi at table 73b!

thanks for stopping by!

this week

2009-12-14T19:38:00.006-05:00

we here at the offices of barekublishing are celebrating the pony's birthday. to start, here is a comic featuring the pony:

the fishing trip was drawn this past june or july, and is printed in the funny aminals anthology. at the time i had just breezed through "a drifting life" by yoshihiro tatsumi, which influenced me to play with the vertical four-panels for each page.

also, credits for the story idea are due to Neighbor Lee, who employs this tactic while sometimes enjoying the out-of-doors.

if you wish to celebrate a birthday too, whether for the pony or someone else, please do so. if you are in austin and wish to commence in the onesies extravaganza cruise friday night, meet us up north at the bout time (or go to one of the various shows) and then set sail to my house for the afterparty featuring dj wonder! you can send me an email with questions about the venue if you are not a creep.

if you can't find it, grind it

2009-12-08T23:13:00.004-05:00

i have been having bouts of misconcentration around projects. i have magically alleviated some of this bother by deciding to pull together the first installment of the clare story into a mini. now i get to be all dreamy about production. today after my job i spent a long time (for me) on the avenue of obtaining a scanner and tomorrow i will look at a free one from craigslist.

i kinda like this part of the process, where ridiculous gets serious.

anyway, since i don't have anything new scanned, here is something old.

it's from an unfinished comic that folks seem to refer to probably more often than other things i've worked on, although i don't think too many anybodies have seen it.
barekublishing is pleased to present a glimpse into a bygone era of secret wonder:

i love my mom

2009-12-02T16:16:00.003-05:00

sometimes i think about what her life must have been like in her younger days.

she didn't have it easy
my mom is amazing and beautiful.

it's friday

2009-11-13T12:38:00.004-05:00

nobody came for johhnycakes?

what IS clare all about? part IV

2009-11-12T21:02:00.003-05:00

what IS clare all about, part III

2009-11-11T20:39:00.003-05:00

what IS clare all about? part II

2009-11-10T18:31:00.001-05:00

what IS clare all about? part I

2009-11-09T22:34:00.001-05:00

those who know what clare is all about

2009-11-08T20:00:00.001-05:00

the challenge:

2009-11-06T23:21:00.000-05:00

today is

2009-11-05T13:23:00.003-05:00

also: crumb, spiegelman, and mouly to be in austin on the 13th.

be not faint of heart!

2009-10-30T20:40:00.003-04:00

still working on clare. this comic makes me think i'm nuts--that is, i never thought i'd be drawing something like this. but i will try not to falter!
happy spooks everyone!

excitement of the hunt

2009-10-20T12:35:00.006-04:00

i forgot to mention!!

after looking in one big art store and not finding the nibs i wanted, a friend passed this along to me, an antique box (which once belonged to someone's grandfather or great-grandfather) of nibs--hunt 67 round point:

"a pen is only as good as its point" sez the box and well, i would like to believe these were probably crafted from a far superior grade of metal than ones i could find new today.
i'm pretty happy about these nibs and they are what i've been drawing clare with. they've seemed pretty durable, not that i have to worry about burning through these in a week or even a month. these come from when getting your nibs in bulk was more than 3 or 12--i'm not gonna count or figure how many would come in this box.

oh! and further exciting news--yesterday was a drawing day and i arrived to discover silky had burned me a wooden name plate for my drawing table!! yes, austin has been pretty decent to me thus far.

CLARE

2009-10-18T21:59:00.003-04:00

hey all
i started a new comic two weeks ago that i am tentatively calling "clare"
i've been having fun with it. last week i averaged a page a day, which with job and social obligations, i was pretty happy about. but now it's averaged a page every two days cuz i only did two this week. here's one of them, page six:

so other fun news, i have a drawing buddy here in atx: silky! i went over other day to draw and just the night before she found a drawing table on the street that she brought home for me to use over there! so, i worked on the above page then. and we also talked about gathering together screenprinting materials. yes!!
we'll see how clare goes--
i apologize for the picture quality. thanks for tuning in in these sporadic times.

falling right into place, things are

2009-10-02T13:29:00.004-04:00

hey cadets!

first of all, WHY ARE WE BOMBING THE MOON?!?

second, big congrats to miz colleen and cat for winning ignatz awards last weekend at the small press expo (SPX)!! miz colleen recieved one for promising new talent and cat got one for outstanding online comic!

speaking of spx, the funny aminals anthology is now available!

i didn't have a chance to mention that rob clough wrote a nice review of some of my stuff here a couple months ago. check out high-low anyway; rob gives thoughtful and intelligent reviews.

so what else is there?
i've relocated. i left white river, had some summer travel and work(see below), and i have very recently landed myself in austin, texas! with so much going on, it's been hard to get to the drawing board. and i also have not yet found the nibs i like to use. but! i do have a space where i have been drawing when i get a moment to do so. just to stay limber, i've been messing around with one-page 2x3 grids. also just sketchbook scribbles and brush sketches. but i also do not currently have regular access to scanners or for that matter, computers. so do not worry, those of you anxious and awaiting! i have not forgotten! but i may not be posting regularly for a while...

with my new location, you can pick up some of my books at domy books, down on cesar chavez. russell there knew jose, and i saw a singular issue of pizza wizard! in the austin store there are also items of interest, a gallery show (and i think ron rege might have a show here later) and a secret room with an installation. check domy out if you are in austin or houston.

also (not quite comics) when i first got here i started compiling and adding to one of my backburner projects--an illustrated basic chainsaw safety and maintenance book/zine/primer. i hope to have it completed for next fall, where some of us extended family of ida are planning to participate in a workweek and i may be presenting a workshop on chainsaw basics and the manual would accompany it.

and i guess lastest is some recent aquisitions--i ran into edie fake out there in the woods and i got three more of his books: gaylord pheonix issue 4, thisisnotaplaceforlovers, and rico mc taco. edie's pretty swell and look for some of his work -possibly this winter- from secret acres. also, my fantastic new housemate gave me the kinship structure of ferns by dewayne slightweight. some good readin'

oh, and as for secret acres, it looks like ken dahl's book, monsters, is finally out!! i do highly recommend this.

here are some pictures from the in-between, for the curious:

i finally got to see a LAVA performance at summer camp! they're hard to take pictures of due to all the moving.

my baby-love, valentine!

look how close to the barn this walnut was!! we cut probably over 20 trees from around the front barn. the chickens were temporarily moved and part of the coop fencing taken down for this and some other trees. there's some of the firewood produced on the other end of the lengths.

still standing sturdy: i worked on the structure of this bridge a little over two years and some rushing highwater ago.

that's it for now! thanks for reading!

2 tone

2009-07-15T00:44:00.003-04:00

or not too tone?
sometimes i pretend i don't have other things to do. i've been messing around with putting half-tone grays on my funny aminal comic.
here's page one:

i know here in computer-land things should just be colour-poppin, but i did it this way in consideration for the printed page.
also, thanks to cat who gave me some tips on doing it this way. my test print-out looks alright, but really makes me want to see it on cheapo newsprint paper!

happy fourth!

2009-07-04T13:54:00.006-04:00

today will be more odds 'n' ends.

has anyone out there seen this:

it's the marvyns preview by jeremiah piersol. i have been a fan of his since i laid eyes upon a copy of "the latoya jackson story," and i might add good luck in ever finding that gem!!!
so, this is just the first volume of "the marvyns:proper deception" and has quite the cast of characters. i anticipate how piersol will weave this story in the future. piersol has an underappreciated dark sense of humor and some of the characters are properly disgusting as they represent the different parts of society and the sicknesses that ail us. i laughed through much of the book!

in other news, last night i played i was part of the press as i went to a book release party at the revolution in white river junction, vermont. i snapped photos and conducted interviews.
the featured releases were woman king by c. frakes; monsters & girls: amelia part 2 by denis st. john; don't hate, menstruate by jen vaughn; and indestructble universe quarterly 2 morgan pielli.

there were some all-stars there and you can tell by my photos they will go to hell:

zara the pirate, who got interviewed:

bk: [zara], what brings you to the book-release party?
z: people
bk: oh, i see, i see--when did you start this obsession of yours?
z: uh, last tuesday-it kind of hit me like a bolt of lightning

b. elston

nicholas patten

sam carbaugh

jess

c. frakes

morgan & denis st. john

gabby & jen vaughn

robyn & dennis

dane, jon chad and chuckles

and
here are some highlights from my interviews!

denis describes his comic as "body horror--a genre of horror hat describes a physical transformation or a physical pain but it's not the same thing as the torture genre."
he recommends all the books, "which will be available at revolution for all time."

morgan has "spelled out all the difficult words, and you can sound them out."
his comic "holds doors open, waters the garden, will function as a shim if your table leg is too short--if the others are too long, useful for propping up the tv so it's at that right angle so you can watch it without getting a glare, sops up spills, shade your windo if you tape it over the top. it's very, very practical."

jen "will be your tour guide through the uterus"

lastest but not leastest,
c. frakes is inspired by bears. she also claims, "i do silent comics cuz i'm not good at--sayin' stuff"

i disagree as we all know images can say many things words cannot.

thank you, dear reader for tuning into the antics here at barekublishing.
and yes, the film's expiration date was 06/02. but really, isn't this the future of polaroid, rumored to have been discontinued?

Cherry's and bears, kibbles and bits

2009-06-29T16:31:00.007-04:00

posting from my personal side:
hey all, been busy with the non-comics. in a couple weeks i will be going to the woods for a month and from there, moving to someplace hotter than white river. in short, just trying to get my life together to go, which includes working on my auto.

i did take a break from that this weekend, though. yesterday was the four-year mark since cherry-o died. for those who don't know, she is/was a big love in my life and she had cancer and i was almost constantly by her side in her last months. anniversaries are funny. there are certain things i do for this day. one is go to the water. this year was queechee gorge.

i inherited a camera from my roommate so i started a flickr account. you can see photos of the swimmin hole i found and i also went to a peony festival yesterday.

so, although i've been having almost too much anxiety to draw, or much else, i have started a comic for submission to the funny aminals anthology. yay! i guess i can still draw (kinda) after all! here's a preview cuz i kinda like using the camera intead of a scanner for a non-finished work:

also, it has been raining a bunch and the lilies out front finally opened:

back in the junc-yard

2009-06-10T12:22:00.006-04:00

hello lovelies,
i'm back in white river from a weekend down in new york. i had a great weekend.

and yes indeed, i held the dummy for snappy's book in my very hands!!! i don't know if i can adequately express the excitement of that, but i am going to love the final object, all properly bound and on the proper stock. it was really refreshing to talk shop (book-making business) with someone who doesn't do comics but still doing the same thing in a way.

MoCCA:
i scanned the internet and plenty of folks had a few grips about the whole thing. i had a worthwhile time. i guess i didn't realize how hot it was. it was hot, but hey, even though i've been up here in vermont the past two-ish years, i've spent time in the south and have done outdoor labor and such which i think lends to more tolerance of conditions that are out of your hands than sitting around in offices. and i really, really don't mean that to sound bad toward those who do that. i do a fair share of sitting around these days.
the times i realized it was hot and stuffy was when i went to panel discussions, and that was a bit in hindsight. i thought my passing out no matter how interesting the panel was due to sitting still.
i also went into the weekend knowing i would have a loss of funds, and i was okay with that. i did sell a couple books and i did some tradsies. some folks are not into that, depending on their product, but heck--it's people-magick to trade!! that said, i feel like i had some good interactions considering the compression of it all.
here is my mocca booty:

i haven't looked through it all, but here is some info and/or excitement:
fagelhjarta by sofia falkenhem
crooked teeth and the archer by nate doyle i had seen his work at mecaf, but didn't really pick anything up from anyone while i was there.
jin and jam by hellen jo YES!
will play for food by pat woodruff (it's the cardboard book) the presentation of this book is better than many of the minis i saw. it was at the sva table, which i can say i appreciated much as most of their minis were $1 or $2, an honest price, especially compared to some of the $4-$5 minis i saw. little pieces of paper stapled together should be cheap.
the first book of hope and the second book of hope by tommi musturi,these editions through bries
the hookah girl and other true stories vol 1 by marguerite dabaie
keha by tiitu takalo
lillian the legend by kerry byrne available from conundrum press
i also want to check out the new sundays, but i thought that could wait until i was back here in the junction.

i could keep going, but that's enough for now.

HAPPY JUNE!

2009-06-03T09:44:00.009-04:00

and i am figuring out how the links work, please be patient.
i'm going to mocca!

this'll be my first time there! i'll be volunteering at the center for cartoon studies (ccs) table, #804. on their display i will have beauty patrol, and perhaps something else if space permits. another gem i am bringing along will be the indelible collection, which i coedited with c. frakes and is a fundraiser for scholarships for CCS. two incoming freshwomen next year will be recieving scholarships in which sales of this book helped contribute to that fund! that's really exciting! the price is $10-15 and can also be ordered from ikjk. also, the cover was one of my earlier screenprinting experiments(and there is a print on the back as well):

i will also be found wandering around, with a satchel of comics to hopefully power a couple tradsies, including but not limited to the ugly place and a reprint of pocket porn #1, written by the clever pilou and drawn by myself. there are a couple of the panel discussions i want to check out, descriptions here:
http://moccany.org/artfest-09-program.html

i am also excited about non-comics aspects of the trip. one is the physical act of travelling and the headspace that comes with it. this is probably crazy-sounding to most folks who find travelling a headache. i have a strange love of roads, those great scars cast upon our land and the beauty and ugliness that landscapes provide. i will also be travelling with these folks, so check them out at mocca too! table 510.
i am also looking forward to seeing some pals! one of them is snappy, a supersweetheart photographer, who has a new documentary photography book called welcome home in the works and will be out VERY soon. perhaps you've seen some of her work in a plethora of other places, but check out her website.

by the way, have you checked out the shulz library? amongst the bounty of ever-new entries beauty patrol got a review here. books by my buddy brandon and myself are pictured here. unfortunately, the computer screen doesn't show the colors of the screen prints too well. anyway, if i am able to get my hands on some copies of brandon's lusty tales, i'll bring them to new york too. lusty tales: densely filled four-panel grid story about the west and other bonuses like a hiawatha story. there is also a project that we are collaborating that may or may not be ready by the time i leave or ever. i know it's a vague mention, but i only want it to be a small blip on the radar for now.

maybe you were amongst those

2009-05-26T00:33:00.005-04:00

who perhaps thought i was only kidding when i said i was gonna screenprint a cover to my 24-hour comic. i try not to lie. well, here is:

very simple yet satisfying print. red on red action with some lavender gray. i forget sometimes how neat-o screen printing can be on construction paper. i wish it would translate on the computer screen. i am still working on the inside cover, but here is approximately what the full outside cover looks like:

screenprinting magic!
i might as well post a couple pages as well, but that'll be it for now
page 2:

page 14:

twenty four ours

2009-05-24T17:22:00.007-04:00

yesterday/this morning there was a 24-hour comic event put on by grandpapier http://grandpapier.org/ you can see names of participants from various cities and some of them have put up their work. my name isn't up probably because whoever submitted names probably thought i'm too much of a wingnut to actually participate seriously, but i ended up being one of two (possibly three?) folks that i'm aware of who had the chops to finish. jen http://thevaughncurse.com/ was an inspiration, she worked hard all day and night and stayed in her seat much better than my wandering bear ass and we both finished drawing around 6:30 am, leaving about an hour and a half left of the 24.
for those of you who may be unfamiliar with 24-hour comics, the goal is to create 24 pages of comics within 24 hours. i believe it originated with scott mccloud throwing down a challenge to steve bissette in order to churn the creative juices. now it is a celebrated world-wide challenge and there is an official day for it, but sometimes they just happen.
i did mine in a sketchbook, with china marker. a china marker is a sort of grease pencil wrapped in paper. overall, my pages are pretty rough and sloppy--it was refreshing not to rule out the borders. i'm still scanning, but here is a page:

p.s. sorry the links don't work. when i do them the way the computer wants me to, they don't show up at all.

silkies

2009-05-21T15:09:00.009-04:00

it's ninety sumptin degrees today, which makes it hard to sleep when one goes to bed at six a.m. and the sun shines on as you nap. i've been in the colodny basement again all night.
here are some conceits from last week. here is a picture of me:

that was drawn by brandon:

as we did a collaborative print. i've also been doing this thing--i've managed to shake the obsession of printing on black, but now i've tended to use at least one color that too closely matches the paper it is on and/or is just hard to see. for instance, can you tell there is a difference in color in the snowstorm scene? :

so last night i finally had an oppurtune moment to print some covers for an anthology for a writer's conference i sometimes am able to go to. and wouldn't you know it? for some reason i decide to use white on cream for one of my colors. well, here that one is:

it didn't quite come together as i would have wished(image-wise), but it was relatively quick to do only two colors, so there was a certain amount of satisfaction in doing only a couple colors. i might start doing more two or three colors for my screenprinting fun.

little explosions

2009-05-19T13:56:00.007-04:00

hi gyrls! it's been a doozy of a time the past few daze! i have been catching up on sleep, at times by unannounced surprise.
I GRADUATED! jeff smith (bone) was the commencement speaker. right now there is an exhibition up of the thesis work in the ccs lobby. stop by and take a gander if you find yourself in the upper valley. my dad came to town and i've gathered he was a hit at the party. folks loved him!
I WENT TO MAINE! mecaf was nicely situated, their first time and my first time as well at one of these comic book gatherings. it may be the only one i go to. crowds can make me feel funny sometimes. i love maine and it was too short a visit; i thought about moving back there.
THIS AFTERNOON I WAS A MEMBER'S GUEST AT THE ROTARY CLUB LUNCHEON! that would be District 7870 Southern New Hampshire and Vermont hosting group study exchange team Visayas District 3860 The Philippines, who made presentations about the Philippines.
i realize this entry doesn't have a picture, so here is some nonsense from my sketchbook:

afternoon luba

2009-05-12T00:43:00.003-04:00

at the end of the ccs school year, there is an exhibition of the seniors' work. so i hung some stuff and was using a small hammer for the tacks. holding and seeing that small hammer reminded me of luba. she walks around with a hammer. and that's how it is. and even though it looks oddly tiny, you still know everything will be okay. cuz you don't #^(% with that.
below ryland is thinking about how being a beauty patrol cadet has carried him through all the tender moments of hop rockin world unification. or maybe he just caught me with a camera.

fingers crossed

2009-05-04T15:08:00.002-04:00

i just turned in my work for my thesis review. i kept boiling down and boiling down what to include, and now i hope it's enough.

time for a nap

2009-05-01T03:11:00.006-04:00

i just got done screen printing (silk screening) the cover to beauty patrol! it will be one of the things i turn in for thesis work on monday. i will also have some at the maine comic arts festival, at the american stronghold table, may 17 in portland, me. for now i need some shut-eye.

thank you!

2009-04-28T16:42:00.003-04:00

thanks to amanda ann and the american stronghold gang for last night.

Beauty Patrol!

2009-04-20T11:58:00.002-04:00

a little suspense in the interim:

southpaw sketchin

2009-04-14T10:48:00.001-04:00

life isn't all beauty patrol! --even though it should be. sometimes i just scratch out things lefty-like.

soon

2009-04-12T01:15:00.004-04:00

i want to write the joys of reading little orphan annie.

instead...

i had a magical dinner with dane martin the other night. and drew this sort-of fan art.

beauty patrol!

2009-03-29T19:08:00.004-04:00

hey gals,
beauty patrol is making a comeback! for about two weeks i didn't draw anything cuz my wrist was blown out for some reason. i even had a stint where i was convinced i would draw everything southpaw from now on. but this week i finished 4.5+ new pages! i am also trying to update my dummy copy for editors' day, now called industry day at ccs.
here is page 19:

and page 22(which is a spread with p.23-another nine similar panels):

MURPH! book release party

2009-03-29T18:58:00.005-04:00

see more annie murphy at http://ghostcatcomics.blogspot.com/

Event: Book Release, Art Show, and Book-Signing
for
I Still Live: Biography of a Spiritualist
A Xeric Award-winning graphic novella by
Annie Murphy
Friday, April 10th (the first Friday after the first full moon after the vernal equinox), 2009
7:00pm--10:00pm
1914 S.E. Ankeny
Portland, Oregon

Come celebrate Spring and the spirit of renewal, rebirth, and recovery
with this comic book tribute to poet, activist, and spirit-medium Achsa Sprague, and a show of original artwork from the book.

What the people say:

"I Still Live is a masterful hybrid work.
Part adaptation of the spiritualist Achsa
Sprague's diary, part history book, and
part memoir, it channels the past into the
present in a haunting and vivid way."
--Alison Bechdel, author of Fun Home

"Annie Murphy has that rare gift to make
history feel immediate and urgent. I Still Live
is not only well researched but comes alive on
the page. Achsa Sprague has been revived."
--James Sturm, author of The Golem's Mighty Swing

"This was the most self-assured debut of the year by
an artist whose interests include the intersection
between spiritualism and feminism and whose style
occupies the space between quietude and poetic sweep.
As she refines her style, she will be a fascinating talent to watch."
--Rob Clough, of Sequart Research and Literacy Organization.

review at comicrelated.com
news article from Vermont Woman Magazine
#3 on Comics Journal's ten great minicomics of 2008

Thank you to Charles at Eberhardt press for printing this
new and improved, two-color off-set version of the comic,
and thanks so much to the Xeric Foundation for funding it.

I sure hope you can make it.
Sincerely,
Annie Murphy

help helen wheels!

2009-03-26T12:16:00.004-04:00

check out her situation here:

http://helenfund.blogspot.com/

basically, helen's house burned down the other day and she is looking to rebuild. i met her at michigan and she has a wonderful heart and it'd be kind to give back, especially now. the site above has a link to donate and info of what may be needed. thanks!

beauty patrol!

2009-03-08T17:56:00.004-04:00

tragic relief was right! no one's really seen much of beauty patrol! (you have to sing the title) i just kinda figure whatever you think beauty patrol is, it is. i have heard varying descriptions of what folk think beauty patrol is, and yup, they're all true!
if you are still wondering what it is, it is my current work-in-progress and apologies that i don't really put anything substantial work-wise on this blog yet. exposure 99% of the time curdles creative juices for me. but i've been thinking about beauty patrol because my time has been doing other things this week and i have no new pages. but weirdo that i am, here is page ten from a couplafew weeks ago. it's not one of the most spectacular pages of beauty patrol, but fulfilling in another way.
here's to winter ending soon!

beauty patrol!

2009-03-04T01:12:00.004-05:00

my sketchbook just told me that i apparently made some beauty patrol fan art a coupla weeks ago too!

beauty patrol!

2009-03-04T00:07:00.005-05:00

oh lassies, there has been more beauty patrol fan art surfacing, this time by the ever-industrious c frakes (if i knew how to make these links work...tragicrelief.blogspot.com)
thank you colleen!!

beauty patrol!

2009-02-21T18:34:00.005-05:00

yes girls, i waltzed into the studio the other day and found upon my desk some beauty patrol fan art from bernie kosar! thank you bernie; i'm quite sure there are many out there who also ponder what life is! now they need not feel so all alone.

after-dinner mint

2009-02-07T22:47:00.002-05:00

sketched after selections of stone soup, thank you!

some pencils

2009-01-28T15:04:00.008-05:00

okay, i know i haven't posted much, or really anything i've been drawing lately, so here is a look at some pencils i did mostly over the weekend that the lovely melissa mendes is inking for a collaborative project under the adventurous golden age heel of editor jason lutes. a mongolian boy adventure!
there are some backgrounds, borders and text in blue pencil, which does not show up. also, areas with x's note to fill with black.
DO YOU LIKE HORSIES?

a sad tidbit and a fun memory

2009-01-22T03:46:00.004-05:00

kerry passed on the 7th. peacefully in her sleep. she was much too young, only 28.

and i believe there will be a benefit at wild iris books in two days, on the 24th.

of all things i could say of her, i pick this:
she was probably the closest match i have had wrestling. i don't actually wrestle many people. one beautiful night on the beach around jacksonville we were carrying on and getting schwilly and wrestled in the moonlight in the sand while the waves lapped the beach. it was sooo much fun!
bye kerry. you knew a good time. see you next time our spirits meet.

happy new

2009-01-22T02:45:00.005-05:00

hi, many things have happened since my last post, some joyous, some tough. also, not enough happened...at any rate, happy new year, happy new president and all that jazz.
the spring semester has just started at my school and there are some new classes that the freshman are having and i have had the oppurtunity to sit in on these classes, which i appreciate.
i don't feel like writing much but am posting because i did want to share this gem:
the other day, How2 Zine lept into my hands. in the back of it is this perfect comic, which i have been looking for for several months now; it's been on my mind since june cuz i wanted some friends in cambridge to see it. and i couldn't find it, and then it magically appeared!! i'm one lucky kub! and i'd like to share it with you--i hope you like it. as i said, i do think it is perfect for various reasons.

annie murphy gets a xeric!

2008-12-31T12:34:00.007-05:00

murph is rad! and she recently got a xeric to print her comic "i still live"
here is an excerpt, scanned (with permission) from the copy i recieved last spring:

the xeric foundation award grants for self-publishing. to find out more, check xericfoundation.org.
to see more of annie's stuff, check her out! http://ghostcatcomics.blogspot.com/
there are some more pages from i still live and she has also had a hand in creating a tarot deck (in which some of the images are there too). it may be possible that decks are still available too?
anyway i adore annie; she has good spirit(s) and worked hard on this project.
and happy belated murphday!

use it or lose it

2008-12-31T02:40:00.004-05:00

well, it has been half a month since the last post.
i will start off with some tiny gripes but then it will get better.
tonight the copier was giving me grief.
it is rather frigid outside.
i lost my thumbdrive!
yeah, the new one, on which i was almost done coloring those pages. i get a sort of one-track mind sometimes and well, i just finished scanning those pages again. that is, since i feel like i need to finish them. someone told me to wait a week and now it's been about a week. i know i had it on the 23rd, and probably the 24th and then i stayed homebound, mostly doing housechores for a couple days and when the daze was over, my memory was gone.
nearly absolute nutso i've been driven--i've repeatedly looked in places where i don't see myself putting putting it. i would like to see this occurrence of misplacing memory sticks (a fairly new development in my life) to be ushered out with 2008.
things will positively get better.
i have been using some recent time to fabricate a small world in my head for use with future comics. i have been wanting to dash some out and probably would have if i was not paused at character designs.
admittedly, it is not all fiction. the couple of pages i have in mind stemmed from my awe of the postman. on particularly crappy days he wears a cape. and often i pretend he is an old dyke.
i am technically on break from school, so i have also been reading. the other day i finished poison river(outlines the story of luba before she shows up in palomar), and have now dug into palomar, both are by gilbert hernandez. after work this evening i read the chapter duck feet, where la bruja comes to town. uh-oh! this is where my mind really, no, REALLY started being blown away. ... it all falls apart but is so carefully crafted that it just makes sense and holds on. yeah!
anyway

full moon weekend

2008-12-15T02:03:00.006-05:00

first off, thank you lamberts!
they gave us a turkey a couple weeks ago and friday i put it in the fridge from the freezer and yesterday a handful of us here in the junc had dinner together at the american parlor/red haus, which was quite nice.
i appreciated sitting down with folk and eating together. so often i either eat standing or grazing while working. and i also enjoyed spending time in the kitchen, which i don't do nearly enough as of late. having a hand in food preparation feels good for the soul.
it really felt like a sort of happy holiday. thank you everyone!
this was also made possible because i have spent the weekend teaching myself to color on the computer. being at this point is making this comic fun again. i kept re-drawing these images that originally took about five minutes and made me laugh for about fifteen. inking seemed to take forever, and felt relieved when i reached what seemed an okay stopping point. but this coloring thing: it is taking forever (i sat at this computer for about thirty-five hours on saturday). and there are intervals where i start to exclaim that this is an awesome comic and sometimes i mean it! it's good not to be sick of whatever you are working on. that too is good for the soul.
anyway, here is a peak:

northern hibernation p3

2008-12-09T13:17:00.003-05:00

well, this is the scribble from sunday and i haven't drawn any more hibernation pages. last night i was looking over some pages of my other project, fixin to scan some stuff. i ended up accidentally destroying one of my pages(i dumped white crap all over it), but then i think i've salvaged it. we'll see.
here is a preview from my top secret comic! it's a panel from page one. yes, that's who you think it is with me. please don't tell her!

that's it. for now. i'm going to try doing some computer coloring with the pages to this, something i don't really ever fathom myself doing much--mostly because doing things the old-fashioned way has more personality and warmth. for the time being i have access to computers and such, so i might as well take advantage of that. who knows! maybe i'll love it.

northern hibernation page 2

2008-12-06T23:23:00.003-05:00

this is page two from a couple hours ago. already deviated from the original writing.

northern hibernation p1

2008-12-06T16:59:00.003-05:00

i had a downhill week, but today i am feeling better. i'm happy to feel like not being so uptight about drawing stuff. this was today's warm-up drawing and it's the good-old fashioned way for me: to size for photocopying and not on any fancy paper and not with any ideas around it being a project to undertake.
this morning i went to the post office with the extraordinary j-lok and as he waited in line i wrote on the back of an item of post the prose beginning of this page and the pages to follow it.

screen printing (and miscellany)

2008-11-30T11:45:00.026-05:00

screenprinting was once called silkscreening, but nowadays it is often a synthetic rather than silk used on the screens. the basic concept is that you create a stencil, but it should be more durable than if you made a stencil from paper or cardboard and is used for multiple copies or printing on fabrics. and with access to technology, it should be a simple process. i know i know--access sometimes is hand in hand with privilege, but please remember who i am.
screen printing can be used for all sorts of projects for which you may need to make multiple copies: fliers, cards, posters or anything your imagination lets you do. plus, it can be a relatively cheap way to have color printing and once you are a bit used to it, you will know how to produce dandy fx onto your project.
here, i will be doing the cover to a tiny book.

your screen...screen frames can be made from wood, picture frames, etc. i'm sure you are inventive enough if you are going to do it yourself. for the screen part silk will work; there is also mesh that gets sold. or aquired. the higher the mesh count, the finer the holes to pass the ink through. a standard mesh count is around 110-120 for screenprinting. or, you can buy a screen where the material is already attached to a frame.

i was a bad doobie and didn't clean my screen. ideally, i would have screens with images fixed upon them or i would clean them right away. i remembered i didn't even use this screen last time as it's in bad condition from early use. so i cleaned it and opted not to use it. i chose an extra screen that is currently available for my use.

i put masking tape on both sides of the screen. it makes for easier clean-up.
next, i put some photo emulsion into a scoop designed to spread it across a flat area and cover the screen with a thin smooth layer of emulsion.

the emulsion is light sensitive, so don't leave the bottle sitting around with the cap off and put the screen in a dark place to dry.
since this takes time, i use the time in between trying to accomplish other tasks for this book.
i will do the foolish task of printing on black. so i take my cardstock(i put a couple extra in to allow for mess-ups) to the industrial paper cutter and with one fell swoop my stack is done. this paper cutter has a blade that drops down when two buttons are simultaneously pressed (hey, just like working in a factory!) and the other scraps of paper buffer the bottom so all my sheets will have a clean cut(that's just how i have learned to work with this cutter). i would otherwise use a smaller paper cutter, scissors, or most likely, a knife & ruler.

now, back in the day, i did things to size for a photocopier. nowadays i can have multiple pages on a file on my little memory stick for the computer.

in this production lab, i happen to have access to a copier machine. otherwise, you can take your thumbdrive to a printer. i imagine this could be a headache as i thought my file was correct, but test prints showed something was off just a little with computer settings, and i'd have to find the discrepancies in some step of creating the file. so, i fix whatever settings i need to and start printing!

i then take that stack to the paper cutter of the future...

now my screen has had time to dry and i prepare my transparencies. if i was a little more anal about this, i'd have it on file so if i ever lost it, i could print out a new transparency. in defense, thumbdrives can go missing too. basically i took my bottle of black and inked right on the transparency. tracing vellum can also do the trick, but i like the clear sheet because if i don't like a line, i can wipe it away with a tissue and spit. since the images are small, they can all fit on this one screen. i also put some tape along the edges and in corners that is sticky-side up so the transparencies will stay in place. this would probably be more crucial with more complex images. it also lends to making sure the images are that much closer to the screen.

(the tracing paper, you can use this instead)

(tape in the corner)

think of this next step as a sort of picture developing. there is a layer of the photo emulsion on the screen. any areas that are "blacked out" will block light exposure in that area. a light table is great for this, but if you don't have one in your living room, you can build one. i think you'll need a non-standard lightbulb, which could ordered on this here interweb(and other materials, if you cannot find them locally).
exposure times can take some getting used to. over- or under-exposing your screen by just a couple minutes can make a difference. the time for the table i'd been using had been around 18 minutes, but now there's this sign:

so i set the screen on the table, cover the other side with black paper (so the light doesn't reflect around to where i do not want light exposure) and set weight upon it all. i also set a timer and then start the exposure.

in the meantime i run up to get some newsprint for my cheap liner paper(i do enjoy a bit of fanciness) and cut that to size while waiting.

when the exposure is over, wash out the unexposed places in the screen. it should come out clearly, only the mesh should be in those areas you wish to print through. if there are fine lines you can check it by holding your screen in front of a light to see if the light comes through clearly.
a basin sink or hose comes in handy. here there is one of the sprayers used by dishwashers in restaurants. i've covered up the other portion of the screen so i can just print some of the images.

next comes registration. it is good if you've got a beater table that you can affix hardware to, or a flat board. for years i'd keep random hinges i'd come across in order to build up a cache of supplies for attaching frames to boards.
anyway, here there are some nifty screw clamp hinges attached to the table top. put the screen in your hinges and see where the image falls and figure out where on the paper it will be printed.
some folks like to create tabs to slip their sheets into. i've never found it to be accurate enough. so i merely line tape where i want my edges and that is usually precise enough for me. do what works for you. the first round of registration has more wiggle room than subsequent rounds, which need a bit more tweaking around the alignment.

it's good to do a test copies. plain/scrap paper is cheaper than the cardstock. so put some ink on the screen

and spread a layer of it over the image area with a squeegee. be careful not to apply much pressure here. this is just to cover the area, not to push the ink through.

now pull the swkeejee over the area, with pressure, so the ink goes through the open areas. look at your print!

and honestly, the screen did not come out as good as i would like. so i take some photo emulsion remover and clean off the screen.

i will have to start over, but next time i will have the other parts of the book ready already and will get to do other things during the wait times.
hopefully this is helpful if you have some sort of interest in print process. if you have questions, ask! i may have missed the inclusion of something.
i am also not the #1 expert on all things screen printing, but i want the information to be accessible, especially the visual of it. i've seen silkscreening steps in zines, but mostly in print with a couple diagrams, which can be overwhelming, depending upon how one processes information.
if i am able to have this camera again, i will show some more when i really do my printing.
stay tuned!

new button

2008-11-27T10:33:00.004-05:00

well, this isn't the skillshare posting yet. i woke up to a message asking if i had a paypal(apart from others asking), so that is why that has been added...perhaps temporarily. it is at the bottom of the left column.
there will be a products/buy button added when i have comics again. thank you.

thank you!

2008-11-26T15:29:00.003-05:00

i'm in school at the moment. after the semester started, a distasteful situation came up that i needed funds, pronto. and the whole thing sucked up a very large portion of two months' time, which i could have otherwise spent on drawing for my thesis or being nicer.
i just wanted to thank everyone who helped me with my fundraising, and all those who contacted me wishing that everything works out and that they were not able to send anything. but words do count for something big in my book. thank you, loves.
speaking of school, i need to have some sort of semblance of a thesis synopsis on monday. i'm a little fretful over this and what i will be able to include as above i had mentioned much time and energy had been put elsewhere.
i have other plans for this turkey weekend than preparing my thesis presentation, though! hopefully my next post will be a skill share. i have borrowed a camera from the school and will go over steps for screenprinting. i don't really ever take digital pictures, so this whole thing will be another learning experience, like this blog. see? i learn and hopefully you might too. my aquarian self thinks knowledge should be free and flowing for all.
also, i've run out of my comics on top of losing my thumbdrive, so there has been a process to slowly getting to print. this one that i am looking to do will be the pocket porn issue one that has the story in which i collaborated with writer pilou, "i like feet." the cover design is very simple and i feel like it will be a decent example for the skill share.

2008-11-21T15:16:00.006-05:00

so there are crazy coincidences. i have been hesitant to post what i've recently been drawing as it is intended as a (hopefully surprise) gift to an estranged friend. but i've reached a certain spot again in my being. it's since hearing about kerry. that evening i spoke with this friend, who once was lovers with kerry. i wanted to make sure they knew. most of you know i don't like using the phone. and the conversation i had with my old friend was comforting in the timeless connection kind of way, and intense on a few levels--her reaction to it all and the fact we haven't had much communication. and i told them to call me whenever, hoping it would be understood that not only would i understand the feelings and reactions of people involved (some of you know i had a lover with cancer a couple years ago but also that's around the time when those two friends were together, so it has stirred a little extra up in me as well) but that yeah, i am their friend and am open to speaking again. i am sorry if it is confusing if i am being ambiguous abut the identity of my friend. that's just how it has to be for me.
anyway, i thought it was funny that i thought this comic i am drawing would be the reaching out, but the universe has it's own way of working things out. so, i will scan something current soon, now that i feel like i don't need to be completely secretive about it.
here is a scribble i did one day for a warm-up, which i eventually thought was the best comic i've done in months! it probably won't make much sense to most people and is called for a love like brothers. love ya, buddy.

oh yeah...i quit smoking since then too! i feel a ghost of a lost as i didn't realize at the time that my last cigarette would be my last, and it feel like i should have been more celebratory around it, but oh well. the recent news has shaken me around certain aspects of life and it was time i quit being so self-abusive with the smoking. it did serve it's purpose for a while though.

testing.

2008-11-18T13:54:00.005-05:00

okay, this will lend some insight into me. this page is an excerpt out of a comic i drew six or seven years ago, when i was still quite ignorant that there is a whole world of folks making comics out there. that is, comics that are are not readily accessible if you do not live in a big town or have access to a computer or know where to look. and looking back, it amazes me that even a year and a half ago when i would try to search for comics on a computer, i still wouldn't find much.
anyway, the insight. admittedly, the reference from this page is to a richard brautigan book. i read much of his writing when i was younger and it certainly had an effect on me. even the very words on that page point toward why i have not had much of an internet presence.
i am also seeing how the image turns out, resolution-wise, so i will have a better idea of what to do with future images.

please help!

2008-11-18T13:24:00.003-05:00

originally came down to maybe post some comics samplings, but something more important has come up:
this message is from Rainbow of Pagoda. Kerry and her family are my friends. i am a bit crushed by the news. i will be sending something, and if you are at all able to do so as well, please do too. if you would like a mailing address for a donation, email me at kubbybear at gmail dot com.

a jacksonville lesbian family needs to be in our healing circle
thoughts.
linda their mom, and daughters kerry and stacy, were frequent
visitors at pagoda, and festivals,
and the girls grew up to become lesbians. now kerry has cancer and
is out of the hospital,
stacy has arrived to help, and linda is also caring for her
alzheimers mom. granny.
this family is broke.
in st augustine, a fund raiser at kozmic blues cafe, will be held nov
30 starting at 2pm. shefay will play at 4:30, and they are not sure
of the rest of the line up. maybe kareoke.
please show up OR SEND A CHECK, or item to be donated.

linda jackson was with pat cobb, who produced the festival for years.
a lot of you met these
sweet daughters at potlucks.
we will continue to think about how to fund raise, and i hope you
will send your ideas to me or mama raga. or dorothy campbell. or
cheryl at c o e. or me.
THANKS FOR ANY ENERGY, especially your mental focus. it will be felt.
rainbow

exciting non-comics news!

2008-11-17T11:08:00.000-05:00

i forgot the most exciting news of all!
i've already been accepted for crew this summer!!!
Set-Up/Srike, Flex
love and see you in july,
Kubbz Strike

trying this thing out

2008-11-17T10:27:00.000-05:00

hi, it's kubby. i've started a blog, against my better notions.
in fact, in the middle of my first post, i froze the computer for about ten minutes and just had to start over. see? this computer thing is bad news bears.
anyway, here at barekublishing i will try to update what i am working on comics-wise. of course, i cannot limit myself to the narrowness of only posting on comics (i know, i know--any topic can become comics-related), so there will probably be tidbits here that interest or amuse me.
first of all being this: http://www.oculture.com/
open culture, your guide to smart media. amongst other things, i listened to a few podcasts on virology while drawing this weekend. i think it's one of the only podcasts dealing specifically with viruses, and the site is This Week In Virology: http://www.twiv.tv/
one exciting thing i heard was there was a guy with lukemia who also had HIV. he got a bone marrow transplant (for the lukemia) from someone who had a naturally occurring mutation (CCR5) which somehow blocks viruses from entering cells. so after his transplant with the white blood cells with the mutation , he is now apparently HIV-free. ... ! ... as this is new stuff there isn't a solid confirmation about it nor has it been submitted for publication yet. but this is exciting! if that mutation can be harnessed...
but back to this blog: hopefully there will be a facelift of sorts once i dig around how to manage this blog thing. blogspot has you choose a template, which are fine but kinda boring, especially considering the numerous blogs that get made in the same color/pattern scheme.
images coming soon!