I Like Big Mutts

I just put this drawing in the mail for a penpal/ fundraiser supporter:

I know this pun has been done but I swear I came by it independently. Also, I have been kind of emotionally focused on my need for a dog. Maybe after I get back from Poland…

Thank you to everyone who has already donated (your drawings and paintings will be heading your way asap), and if you haven’t already, I’ll be doing this until the end of June! If you have an extra chunk of change, it’s a great chance to get a custom zine cover or birthday card or something along those lines. But also, no donation is too small–it all adds up and is really incredibly helpful (and those postcards are pretty cool).

Love,
jb

Teaching myself Photoshop

I am attempting to learn how to do things in Photoshop. This would be easier if i had a newer version of the program and/ or a tablet of some sort. This is why I stick to black and white doodlin’.

In other news look at my cute gym buddy. I doodled this in my sketchbook while waiting for the actual comic I am working on to save in Photoshop, because it took like a half hour.

<3 jb

I get home from my job and get to work.

As planned, I turned that comic I drew the other day into a mini-zine. It turned out pretty well, although I’m never quite content with the effects of photocopying on the cross hatching I use to disguise the fact that I can’t draw that well.

I also started a new piece which I am hoping will actually resemble a multi-page story I can submit to a project my friend is doing.

My thoughts are with folks stuck in the snow and fighting in the streets tonight.

<3 JB

It’s time to make a zine!

I made this with the intention of chopping it up and turning it into a mini-zine. I couldn’t scan the whole thing though since the margins were slightly too wide (oops). So here it is in chunks.

Here’s a photo of the whole thing:

<3 jb

back to pen and ink.

I’m going to be talking (hopefully more facilitating a conversation) about zines at Red Emma’s in Baltimore on Thursday, February 24th at 7 pm. Check out the Facebook invite.

<3 JB

CISPES ride update

I drew/photoshopped this image for the thank you notes for folks who gave money to CISPES (which you can still do!) a couple weeks ago when I did that epic 180 mile bike ride with the coolest friends this side of the Mississippi.

Here are the cards:

<3 jb

negative criticism makes you try harder.

The judges’ comments from the City Paper contest just got posted, and I pretty much got burned…Emily Flake said “Poorly imagined and lame. Drawing could work for something but get somebody else to write it” which hurts because I really like Emily Flake’s Lulu Eightball, and also because saying “lame” for something you think is stupid or bad is some ableist bullshit straight up. Benn Ray, whose comics I haven’t seen but owns Atomic Books, said “Perry Bible much? Polished line work but underneath it all beats the heart of a Cathy”. Which sucks because as you probably know, I loathe Cathy.

Exhibit A:

deets:

note the “*not cathy”.

This other dude Tom Scocca who I think just makes fun of various comics for a living said “Disturbing in maybe a good way, but not-funny in a bad way” which I think a) might be a comment on the comics I chose to send and b) a comment on the City Paper’s taste, which runs towards anal sex with animals and anything soaked in alcohol.

But Tony Millionare, who draws Maakies, another one of my favs, said, “This could become a great comic. It is drawn well and has soul. The drawings alone are saying more than the words. With time, this person could become great” which makes me feel all warm and fuzzy. I’m going to wrap myself up in that one.

And also not do my entry for next year the day of the deadline while chatting with my teachers.

<3 jenna b.