Rock 'N' Shop Recap

Last Sunday, December 21, Joe and I had a table for Rock 'N' Shop at the Black Cat. I was really impressed by the large turnout for a Sunday night. There were all sorts of things for sale. Lots of records, silkscreened items, toys, and handcrafted merchandise. Curls Studio was there with comics and other fun items that related to our comics such as the Curls Magic Mittens and Curls Greeting Cards.


I was glad to have people come up to us and say they remember us from the Richmond Zine Fest and remember the Paris Hilton strip or say they recognize us from SPX. It also was very good to meet new people who don't get out to the typical comic conventions. We represent comics in DC's art and music scene... while performing on the very same stage as Good Charlotte, Remy Zero, and Phantom Planet!

Get in the Holiday Spirit!

Enjoy these Curls comic strips. If you click on the top comic you can see it animated in full glory. I have to say this is a great use of an animated gif... if I do say so myself! The one below with the reindeer is actually based on a real experience. On Saturday I looked out the window of my home and saw a giant deer with full antlers! I believe his name is Prancer.

Rock 'N' Shop is this Sunday!

We be frickin' here. Click on the map above to see exactly where... right in center stage, baby!

Rock 'N' Shop is at the Black Cat in Washington, DC on Sunday, December 21, 2008 from 8:00 PM until now... MIDNIGHT!

1811 14th Street, NW
Washington, DC 20009

FREE ADMISSION! Be frickin' there.

Rock 'N' Shop at the Black Cat

Join Curls Studio at Rock 'N' Shop at the Black Cat in Washington, DC on Sunday, December 21, 2008 at 8:00 PM - 11:00 PM. Get some holiday shopping done while supporting artists and creators in the DC area... and get out of the mall! Give the gift of handmade or something different. Admission is free!

Image credit: Dirty Pictures

Curls at the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade!

Earlier this morning Curls was at the 82nd Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade! She celebrated with her friends Toast of the Town and Pitter Patter, the penguin... they were in balloon form on the parade route.

This, my friends, is my dream and lifetime goal... to have one (or more!) of my characters I created to be larger-than-life balloons at the Macy's Parade! So continue to watch this space for the future.

Happy Thanksgiving from Curls Studio!

24 Hour Comics Day 2008

On Saturday, October 18, 2008 Joe and I celebrated 24 Hour Comics Day at Laughing Ogre Comics at University Mall in Fairfax, Virginia. We started at noon and ended at noon on Sunday. It was not too exhausting, but I was having trouble focusing in the beginning. Once we hit dinner time I was okay. The store brought us pizza, drinks, and snacks. They were very accommodating.

24 Hour Comics Day is an annual challenge, created by Scott McCloud, for cartoonists to produce a 24 page comic book written, drawn, and completed in 24 consecutive hours. I am proud to say that we did it... all 24 pages. I completed the cover later, but all 24 pages are done and that was the goal. We even got certificates when we finished!


Joe and I did a Black Magic Tales story called To The Moon. We plan to first sent it in to the Ohio State University Cartoon Research Library to become a part of the 24 Hour Comics Day Collection then we plan to sell it at upcoming conventions and on the Curls Studio Etsy Store. Below are three pages that we selected to show on the blog.




I was interviewed by Michael Tolosa while working on the comic at the McDonald's next door. This was during the first few hours when I needed to focus. I worked from around 4 PM to 7 PM there. The rest of my time was spent at the comic store. Below is a link to his film.

24 Hour Comics Day - Curls Studio
Carolyn Belefski of Curls Studio explains what it’s like to participate in the 24 Hour Comics Day and what she expects to get out of the experience. She spoke to me from the McDonald’s adjacent to Laughing Ogre Comics at University Mall in Fairfax, Virginia on Saturday, October 18, 2008.

Michael Tolosa Interviews Curls Studio

Curls Studio was filmed by Michael Tolosa at Baltimore Comic-Con and Small Press Expo. Thanks Michael! Here are the links to the films:

SPX
Carolyn Belefski and Joe Carabeo of Curls Studio compare Small Press Expo to Baltimore Comic-Con. Carolyn also shows off her world-famous toast.

Baltimore Comic-Con
Carolyn Belefski and Joe Carabeo of Curls Studio talk about their comics and how they began collaborating. Curls Studio is based in northern Virginia and they were on-hand at Baltimore Comic-Con to promote their work.

SPX 2008 Recap

Thanks to everyone who turned out for Small Press Expo this past weekend. The show went very well for us and we got to catch up with many people and meet many new people as well. We sat in our special row of tables with Sugar and Spite, Jim Coon, Terry Flippo, and Geoff Grogan. We had a grand and successful time.


I got to release my hand-made Toast of the Town dolls. He has been at the past few shows in his toaster for display only, but now I have begun to sell him to the public. He has bendable arms too!


Adam from The Dollar Bin filmed me drawing a cowgirl version of Roxy Monroe from Black Magic Tales.

I discovered new comics like Turtle, Keep It Steady! by Joseph Lambert. My friend, Nadia, who came down from New York showed me to this comic and I really enjoy it.

Thanks to everyone who came out to support. Just a reminder Curls Studio will be exhibiting this Saturday at Richmond Zine Fest from 11 AM to 5 PM. We have a table next to Stephanie from Gentle Graffiti. Hope you can join us!

Film: Baltimore Comic-Con Dancing

Check it out: Curls Studio is dancing at Baltimore Comic-Con 2008! It's the last dance at 3:55. Thanks to Josh Eiserike for filming us.

Baltimore Comic-Con 2008 Recap

Last weekend was the 9th Annual Baltimore Comic-Con. As soon as we arrived in Baltimore on Saturday morning Joe and I ran into a snag because the tire on Joe's car was low. It turned out to be inquired and was deflating. Joe helped me bring our table materials into the convention and put up our backdrop... then he spent the first half of the day getting a new tire. Once we got past the tire incident, Joe came back and was determined to make the weekend great to make up for lost time... and have a great time we did!


I released the latest Curls book... a collection of 24 comic strips called The Booga Fish. I'm using a new brush style and it makes me feel more loose. Hopefully you can check out the book at SPX this upcoming weekend.



One of the cool things about this convention is that people who purchased from us before are coming back to read out new books as well. It seems to be that we are building our fan base and I enjoyed talking to everyone who stopped by. I did a lot of fun commissions ranging from My Name Is Earl to a Roller Derby Girl and I did some Roxy Monroe as well.

My favorite moment from Saturday was having Kenneth and Jessica Rocafort come by our table. They really are top notch people and very supportive. Kenneth had this really cool militant green shirt on. Yes, we all know it! He rocks. I got to do a Roxy sketch in Jessica's sketchbook and Kenneth gave us the Madame Mirage trade paperback. Madame Mirage is awesome. If you have not seen it you really need to check it out. Also, Kenneth has a huge grand project in the works. The world better be prepared for him.


On Saturday Joe got to meet Darwyn Cooke and Tim Sale. Two huge influences! Sunday was a slower day, as it usually is compared to Saturday and that made for a more relaxed and super fun day. I had two highlights on Sunday. One was meeting Tim Sale... which by the way was a deadly line. I'm usually a patient person, but I had a POUNDING headache from lack of sleep and the guys behind me were just non-stop complaining about the line... but once the line started rolling I was feeling a bit better. Tim Sale is an awesome rockstar. I think he draws Catwoman the best... and did I mention his lettering? The best as well!

Joe got a Black Cat sketch from Kenneth Rocafort on Sunday and he filmed it for our "Watch Kenneth Rocafort Draw! AGAIN!" segment on the upcoming film for this Baltimore Comic-Con. I'm looking forward to that. If you have yet to see last year's Baltimore Comic-Con video, you can check it out here. Also on Sunday a local newspaper filmed Joe and I dancing. They said it will be posted online, but I seem to have forgot the name of the paper, so if you know what it is please do tell.

The other highlight of Sunday was at the very end of the show. Joe discovered a guy who does street magic. It was amazing and I felt like I was on Mindfreak. Anyone who knows me knows that I really enjoy watching Criss Angel and this guy was the closest thing I have seen to Criss's powers. We filmed a lot of his magic and you'll be seeing that in our upcoming film as well, so come back to check for that soon. Wow. It was crazy.

Hope to see you at SPX! October 4 & 5. Table C5B. Be there.

Baltimore Comic-Con, SPX, Richmond Zine Fest

Curls Studio will be hitting the road for three events in the next few weeks.

First up is the great Baltimore Comic-Con... then the following weekend we travel to Bethesda, Maryland for Small Press Expo... and last but not least we go south to the capitol of Virginia for Richmond Zine Fest. Below is more information on how to get to us with table locations and a floor map for SPX. Hope to see ya soon!


Baltimore Comic-Con
Artist Alley - Table 56
Saturday, September 27 -- 10:00 AM - 6:00 PM
Sunday, September 28 -- 10:00 AM - 5:00 PM
The Baltimore Convention Center
One West Pratt Street
Baltimore, Maryland 21201

Admission:
1-day Pass: $15 per person
2-day Pass: $25 per person


Small Press Expo
Table C5B
Saturday, October 4 -- 11:00 AM - 7:00 PM
Sunday, October 5 -- Noon - 6:00 PM
Marriott Bethesda North Hotel & Conference Center
5701 Marinelli Road
North Bethesda, Maryland 20852

Admission:
1-day Pass: $8 per person
2-day Pass: $15 per person


Richmond Zine Fest
Saturday, October 11 -- 11:00 AM - 5:00 PM
Gay Community Center of Richmond
1407 Sherwood Avenue
Richmond, Virginia 23220

Admission:
FREE!

Curls featured on Etsy's The Storque

Curls: The Printable Brain was featured by Sean Flannagan, an Etsy product team member, on The Storque, Etsy's e-zine super-duper blog. He writes:

I've had a love affair with independent comics since grade school, when my mother took away my prized collection of Robert Crumb books and consequently made weird comic art even more desirable. These days I enjoy hunting for the next comics genius on Etsy. cartooncarolyn of Curls Studio has some great mini-comics for sale, including this one about something a lot of us wish we had: a Printable Brain.

Thanks to Etsy for showcasing the power of comics!

Heartbreak Fan Art

Curls is fan of Heartbreak. A really huge fan of Heartbreak, as you can tell. I channeled my inner teenager when creating and envisioning this image. I actually am not a huge fan of the Bop and Tiger Beat magazine guys like Jonathan Taylor Thomas. Probably because I like men, not boys. JJT did rock years later when he guested on Veronica Mars... or maybe it was just the show that rocks. Nevertheless, I had a fun time positioning the Heartbreak guys as male heartthrobs.

Curls: Olympics Music

It may just be me, but I think the NBC Olympics bumper theme music sounds like The Adventures of Brisco County Jr. opening credits theme song. Joe doesn't think it's the same song, but I believe in Brisco and Bruce Campbell! It's so dramatic and intense... even if it is not the same song, it could probably be exchanged easily. Check out swimmer Michael Phelps and gymnast Shawn Johnson in this strip. They are just as powerful as the theme.

Curls: China Olympics Opening Ceremony

Did you happen to catch the 2008 Summer Olympics opening ceremony coverage from China? It was a gorgeous spectacle. I can't believe the effort of choreography, fashion, music, and graphics... all that hard work paid off. See if you can find our gal, Curls, in the strip above.


She was in the drum line last Friday and I captured her in action. She's been away for a few months practicing!

Curls: Paris Hilton for President!

So who will I vote for in the 2008 presidential election? I've narrowed it down to two choices: green party candidate WALL•E or independent candidate Paris Hilton. I think WALL•E's running mate should be Hal, his cockroach friend. Paris Hilton says she's thinking about selecting Rihanna. I have yet to be sold on that choice, but we'll see. Read this article, Wall•E for President, to see why he would be a great President and view this video, Paris Hilton Responds to McCain Ad, to see why she would make a great President.

These are the best choices we have, America!

Foundation Year

CROQ Zine, a print zine devoted to hip crafting and indie business, will be publishing a two page comic I did called Foundation Year. The theme of the issue is "Art School Confidential" and they asked for something art school related.


I took a trip down memory lane and focused on my first year of art school, the Art Foundation program at Virginia Commonwealth University, an "art boot camp" that determines which path of art you'll major in (Sculpture, Fashion, Kinetic Imagery, Painting & Printmaking... and so on). I was so crazy that year because I was trying to get into VCU's Communication Arts & Design department.


Foundation Year shows my struggle and success and all the chaos that ensued. Plus it features my world famous, life-sized, paper-maché sculpture of Windex: New Bigger Size.


Pick up a copy of CROQ Zine from their site or at their Etsy store when the issue comes out soon. I don't know when that will be, but I'll let you know.

Favorite Foods

Since I talked and thought so much about food yesterday... I figured I should continue and talk about food some more! Here is a list of some of my favorites:

- Hush Puppies (may I recommend The Fish Market in Old Town Alexandria, VA or Buz and Ned's Real Barbecue in Richmond, VA)
- Bubble Tea (specific flavors I like: Lychee and Pineapple)
- Almost anything from House of Blues
- Cheese Fries (you have to go to Ben's Chili Bowl in Washington, DC for the best)
- Nachos (the best come from ballparks and carnivals)
- Pizza
- The Dairy Godmother in the Del Ray neighborhood of Alexandria, VA (specific flavors I like: Pumpkin custard, Raspberry sorbet, and Summer Pudding custard)
- Mostly any fruity drink or fancy drinks in general
- Granny Smith Apples
- Uncooked carrots
- Island Way Sorbet (sorbet in a real fruit shell)

Carolyn's Interview with Iron Man

DSC_0027.JPG
Originally uploaded by dollarbincomics

Long lost forever... now it only exists in the minds of Carolyn, Joe, Brian, and Kris (from The Dollar Bin) due to it not actually being recorded. Ha!

Heroes Con 2008 Recap

Joe and I left Virginia for Heroes Con on Thursday to spend the night before in Charlotte instead of just driving into the convention (like we did for New York in April). The extra night made the trip more relaxing for us. Charlotte is in a construction phase and I saw how the city is expanding. It's very up-and-coming and very clean. There were public art installations, an outdoor play, and a drum circle around town. One of the first sites we saw at the Westin was Darwyn Cooke at the front door.


The convention in general was the most laid back we've been to and I bet you'll notice in this post how much I'll talk about food. This is because we treated this trip like a vacation. Reasons being: this is the furthest we have traveled to an event, this is the first time we've stayed in a hotel for an event, and I've taken off time from work to be in Charlotte and have fun!



I did quite a lot of sketching and was amazed by how many sketch requests I got! Two of my favorites were Black Canary (for a DC Comics themed sketchbook) and Kid Roxy (for a man named Daniel, whom we met in New York). It's nice to see reoccurring faces come to the table. I've noticed the more conventions and events we go to, the more we'll see loyalty in the people we've met before and it's always good to see them again and build connections.

We met a girl named Roxanne. It was very cool to meet a real Roxanne... maybe she's the real Roxy and she's a future criminal... watch out for her! She was very excited about the books and I hope she enjoys them. I liked her a lot!

On Thursday night we ate at Pike's Old Fashioned Soda Shop. We had burgers and a vanilla float. It was cool to find out that they shot a scene from the movie Shallow Hal with Gwyneth Paltrow and Jack Black in that restaurant.

For dinner on Friday we ate at The Penguin Grill inside The Alley Cat... again we ate more burgers with a side of cheese fries and for the first time in our lives... we ate fried pickles. Can you tell we were eating healthy? I can.

Let's stop talking about food (we'll get back to that later). Back to the convention... Joe filmed a "Watch Amanda Conner Draw" segment for our upcoming short film on Heroes Con. Check back for that soon. I got to talk to Cliff Chiang for a bit at his table and that was very nice. John Gallagher (the creator of Buzzboy) came by our table to say hello. He was kind enough to include Kid Roxy in the Kids Love Comics! "Comics Garage" poster at Heroes Con which features Buzzboy, Amelia Rules!, Roboy Red, Patrick the Wolf Boy, Kid Roxy, and others. It was very awesome to be included in that project.

Another project we felt great to be a part of was The Dollar Bin's "Friends Assembled" Anthology. The book looks great and I really am proud of The Dollar Bin for putting it together. What can I say? The Dollar Bin rocks. More on them later.

On Saturday Joe and I tried to make it back to The Penguin for the Heroes Con Art Auction. Unfortunately, torrential rain was pouring down and it would have been hard to walk there. We waited for the rain to stop... it didn't. Then we decided to drive, but there was a hip hop car show going down and the parking lot was super crazy. After over an hour of either waiting for the rain to stop or trying to get out of the parking lot, we figured we should skip the auction and go to Fuel Pizza across the street. I would have liked to see the auction, but it just didn't work out under our conditions. In line at Fuel we met Gary McKee from Tsunami Studios and actual ate with him too. It was different to met someone in line at a pizza joint and strike up a conversation that lead to comics, but then again we were in a town that was holding a comics convention. It was good times.

Now back to food. All convention long I was craving the "nachos grande" from the concession stands. I will tell you right now... my vice is carnival nachos. Yes, ballpark nachos. The cheesier the better. Yes. I'm cheesy and I like it! Well, on Sunday we got nachos! Finally.

The main highlight of the entire convention for Joe and I was attending the Dead Dog Party at Heroes Aren't Hard To Find comic shop. There was barbecue, more Fuel pizza, snacks, and drinks. Joe and I walked around the store for an hour as the party was just getting started. It is a very nice and friendly store set up. We also are fans of the exposed brick on the back wall.


We shared a table with Adam, Brian and Tre from The Dollar Bin at the Dead Dog Party. I have a feeling if we lived in South Carolina, like they do, we'd be super friends! Or... if they lived in Virginia, like we do, they would be super friends with us!


Curls Studio met Adam and Kris from The Dollar Bin last year at Baltimore-Comic Con. (Click here to listen to our interview from that moment). Until this weekend I had no idea of what Brian, Devin, or Tre looked liked or how they were in person. All I knew was their voices from their podcast. I liked meeting the complete set of five guys this past weekend. Now I finally know who I keep calling "Mater" (from the Pixar movie, Cars) in my head is. It's totally Brian.

We talked for like five hours about wrestling, comics, movies, and more. Actually about two hours of our conversation was completely focused on wrestling. I don't think Adam was as into that part, but Brian and Tre were into it. Especially Brian... he even knew the Motor City Machine Guns! We also got to talk with the very funny Rachelle, writer of the comics blog, Living Between Wednesdays. Cliff Chiang sat at our table for a conversation and we met Chris Schweizer at the very end of the party. I've checked out his work and I think it's pretty sweet. Also halfway through the party, another huge rain storm happened! Luckily we were under a tent, but the rain was so heavy it was coming at an angle inside the tent! There was some crazy wetness going on, but it was all so fun.

Thanks goes out to organizers Shelton Drum and Dusty Harbin for putting on Heroes Con.

Hopefully we'll come in contact with the folks we met at Heroes in upcoming events. We'll be at Baltimore Comic-Con in September and SPX in October... hope to meet you there.

Let me end this by saying that I have a thing for Martian Manhunter's big skull. Ask me about it... if you really want to know.

Check out all the Curls Studio Heroes Con 2008 photos on the Curls Studio Flickr page.

Heroes Convention 2008

Curls Studio will be at Heroes Con 2008 in Charlotte, North Carolina this weekend at the Charlotte Convention Center! You can click on the map above to see where we'll be located... in Small Press space SP-27.

Admission:
1-day Pass: $10 per person
3-day Pass: $20 per person
Kids 12 & Under get in FREE!

Open to the Public:
Friday, June 20 -- 11:00 AM - 7:00 PM
Saturday, June 21 -- 10:00 AM - 6:00 PM
Sunday, June 22 -- 11:00 AM - 6:00 PM

While you are there, be sure to look for The Dollar Bin Anthology. Curls Studio has contributed a short and fun Black Magic Tales story called "So We Stole A Time Machine." The contributors include: Rob Ullman, Andy Runton, Steve Hamaker, Brandon Padgett, J. Chris Campbell, Jon Mulé, Curls Studio, Catie Lambert, Ben Towle, Mark Dawson, Duane Ballenger, Brian Defferding, Josh Drews, Chris Schweizer, and Adam Casey.

See you there!

AIGA DC in da house!

Last night, I went to the AIGA DC IN HOUSE event at National Museum of Women in the Arts and I have to say that I think it was the best event of the season, besides AIGA FIFTY of course! The venue and sponsors were wonderful and I was especially impressed with the sound quality. Thanks to Lee for planning such an awesome event.

I typically like events with speakers which are educational and offer me inspiration. AIGA DC has been trying to provide different programming for every type of designer and every level of designer. This year, we had a lot of student events and events promoting diversity and green design. IN HOUSE was no exception. We were reaching out to not only in-house designers, but also interactive and web designers. There were a lot of new faces by reaching out to different areas of the design community!

The speakers included Khoi Vinh (Design Director, NYTimes.com and also the author of Subtraction.com), Faz Besharatian (Design Director, Web Strategy & Operations, AARP), and Rob Covey (Senior Vice President, Content and Design, National Geographic Digital Media). All of them gave wonderful presentations and insight. I can tell you they are hard-working, honest, and super super smart! I realized that all their sites are designed to be "quiet." The design has stepped back to give the content room to breathe. As much as it looks so simple, this is not an easy thing to do considering how much content they are working with.

Another interesting element of their discussion was that much of it focused on how to work with people and build relationships. I've realized myself in the past year that having good clients is more important than having good design. When you have good clients, then that leads to good design and the understanding of each other. As a designer, you need to know what the client needs out of you to create the final piece that can help the client connect with their audience. On the other hand, the client needs to be educated with design decisions in a dialogue with the designer. A large part of good design is building relationships. It was great to hear the opinions and discussion at the event. I really enjoyed being there.

Roxanne Monroe with Treasure Island

Check out the evolution from sketch to final art of Roxanne Monroe... you know, lil' Kid Roxy!

Politics and Project Resolution

I came across two photos on the internet today that took me back a few years. The photos are of Tim Kaine (Governor of Virginia) and Mark Warner (former Governor of Virginia) holding flyers with an illustration I did for the Project Resolution prompt, "Tony Danza’s Live Circus" back in 2005. The other guy in the photos is George, Project Resolution's Technical Director.

Oh man, I remember trying to get Tony Danza to come to the show because at that time he had a talk show that had a segment called "Tony Comes To Your Town!" or something like that. I wrote letters to try get get him to come to Project Res, but he never showed up...

Project Resolution is a monthly event in Richmond, Virginia where filmmakers are invited to present their work to receive feedback and critique. There is a prompt each month that filmmakers use to get motivated and create a short film.

You can go back in time and see the flyers I illustrated to advertise the shows by going to the Project Res website and clicking on past shows. I did most of them between the years 2003 and 2005.


This is my favorite flyer. It was for an open prompt, where people could do whatever they wanted to do. It just takes me back and it's cool to see two Governors of my home state holding the flyers!

Photos: AIGA FIFTY Exhibition

The AIGA DC AIGA FIFTY Exhibition was last night at the National Postal Museum. With over 250 people attending, It was a success overall... although I did learn a tremendous amount about event planning over the past year... and even on that day in particular! I think the venue was spacious, the open bar was a good surprise for those attending, and food did not go to waste.


I hope everyone who went had a good time and enjoyed themselves and the 50 pieces of design on display. Thanks to all the fab volunteers (Lina, Janet, Matt, Lara, Alice, Chris, Nadia, Anthony, Ham, and Joe) and board members who went the extra mile (Mira, Dan, Jo, Dian, Hobbs, Steven, Kerri, Jake, Jill, Betsy, Debra, and Catherine). You guys were what made the event special to me.


My favorite part of the event was when Lara (my co-worker whom I share and office with), Ham (my art director), Joe, Brian (my brother), and I were standing talking in a circle at the end of the event and I realized that these are the people I spend the most time with in my life... all together.

Check out more photos of the event on the AIGA DC Flickr page.