NYCC 2010 Interview from Derek Gordon

Check out this video from Derek Gordon's interview with Curls Studio at the 2010 New York Comic Con.

Interview with Curls Studio founders, writers, artists and publishers Carolyn Belefski and Joe Carabeo as they discuss they're unique titles and characters, inspirations, artistic philosophies and....wrestling promo???

Interview with Curls Studio at NY Comic Con - Oct. 2010 from A2Opinion on Vimeo.

Curls: Plymouth Rock

This comic is a direct response to Frank Iero’s “Happy Danger Day!” blog post. Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

You can view more Curls comics at http://www.curls-studio.com/curls.

Wrapping Up 2010 and Holiday Heist Map

Curls Studio has been having a busy 2010. This past Wednesday, "In Between the Panels: DC’s Emergence on the Graphic Novel Scene" was held at Busboy and Poets, sponsored by the Women’s National Book Association. The panel was filmed by Astray Productions and will be posted soon. In addition, we are also planning on posting film and audio from our panel "The Other Side of the Table: Lessons from Creators" which took place earlier this year at New York Comic Con.

Check out this coverage from "In Between the Panels: DC’s Emergence on the Graphic Novel Scene" from Comicsgirl. I will also be posting a blog recap with a few photos when we get the film footage ready. Until then you can join us this Sunday for Holiday Heist!


We even have a handy vendor map for you. And if I can find it quickly in storage I just might be wearing a Santa hat, like Curls in this map. See you at Holiday Heist and if you have any suggestions or recommendations for 2011 tour stops, please let us know. Thanks.

Holiday Heist
Sunday, November 21, 2010 -- 10:00 AM - 5:00 PM
The Soundry
316 Dominion Road
Vienna, VA 22180

ALTERNA-TV.COM Interview

I was interviewed by Anthony Letizia of ALTERNA-TV.COM after Pittsburgh Indy Comics Expo 2010 about Webcomics, Webseries, TV and New Media.

Here is a sample:

Carolyn Belefski was an attendee at the PIX Indy Comics Expo and had a broad collection of her work on display, including traditional comic book-style creations as Black Magic Tales and The Legettes. A finalist for the Kim Yale Award for Most Talented Newcomer in the 2010 Lulu Awards, Belefski is also a webcomics practitioner, having taken the comic strip Curls, which she created for the Virginia Commonwealth University school newspaper, onto the Internet shortly after graduation. In many ways she exemplifies the independent spirit and opportunity that the melding of traditional comics and the new webcomic medium represents, and her insights correlate to the webseries just as much as webcomics.

“The Internet allows people to create their own opportunities,” she explains of her decision to utilize the web for her work. “It seems easier to build a fan base now than in the past, especially globally. With webcomics, anyone with access to an Internet connection can read your material. Before the Internet, you’d have to be a published author or artist, usually in the print medium. With the door open (and some motivation) you can publish yourself at a relatively low cost.”

The same can obviously be said of the television industry with its Hollywood insider mentality. The advent of the webseries, coupled with the dropping cost of the equipment needed to film, has opened doors for creative types interested in the television medium who had no previous chance of breaking into the business. The structural difference between television and the webseries, meanwhile—most webseries episodes are significantly shorter than what can be found on the networks—is partially due to the changing nature of the entertainment needs of a more web-savvy audience, just like webcomics.

“Webcomics provide people with quick entertainment and characters they can follow along with,” Belefski explained. “In this era of new media, audiences recognize and support stories that they are interested in. I also think we are living in a time of selective media. People have more choices and avenues to digest how they want their time to be spent on the Internet, therefore traditional media is being pushed aside in favor of fresh webcomics.”

Read the complete "Webcomic Insights for Webseries Practitioners" article here: http://www.alterna-tv.com/news/pix.htm

Holiday Heist 2010

Curls Studio has been accepted to exhibit at Holiday Heist at The Soundry in Vienna, Virginia on Sunday, November 21. The event is sponsored by the DC Craft Mafia. The Soundry has been converted from a auto hobby shop into a coffee shop and art gallery. It serves as studio space for artists and musicians and is the perfect place for cozy holiday craft shopping.

This year's show features awesome handmade arts and crafts by 25 selected local crafters and Craft Mafia members. Please join us and find some great gifts to give this holiday season. Admission is free.

Holiday Heist
Sunday, November 21, 2010 -- 10:00 AM - 5:00 PM
The Soundry
316 Dominion Road
Vienna, VA 22180

AIGA DC - When Lightning Strikes!

AIGA DC is asking people to submit 10 images of inspiration. I have decided to share my submission with you. I have a folder on my computer called "Imagery" and whenever I am having an uncooperative day, I take a moment to recharge by looking at these visuals that inspire me to create.

I am inspired by...


Goats in Trees.


Magic and Criss Angel who teaches me you can do anything you set your mind to.


Meeting Jeff Smith at my first SPX as a volunteer. At this moment, I knew I wanted to take my comics to a higher level.


Burlesque and The Pontani Sisters. Circus performers and sideshow entertainers.


This Fish.


This.


Working hard.


Creating iconic characters and allowing people to have fun.


Taking over the world.


Saving the world and believing in love.

Now what are you inspired by? Let AIGA DC know by submitting your 10 images and coming to When Lightning Strikes! on November 15, 2010.

Help kick off DC Design Week by submitting images of whatever makes you tick, creatively. We're asking you to get your creative juices flowing and show the world what inspires you. It could be a butterfly, things shaped like hearts, the National Cathedral, a big jet airplane... it doesn't matter what, who, or why—we want to see it!

There will be a show-and-tell slideshow presented by noted creatives including Pat Taylor, Antonio Alcalá, Philippa Hughes, John Foster, Judy Kirpich, Ethel Kessler, Carolyn Sewell, Terry Wilson, Richard Brandenburg, and Sam Shelton as special guest MC.

Submission details:

• Submissions should be JPGs with a brief description (25 words or less)
• Send all entries and questions to aigadcinspire@gmail.com
• Include in your email: your NAME and title of your submission
• Maximum one submission per person, 10 images per submission
• Submission should be no more than 10 megabytes
• Deadline for submissions is November 10th, 2010

This is not a competition. It's inspiration!

When Lightning Strikes!
Monday, November 15, 2010
6:30 PM - 8:00 PM
RFD – Regional Food and Drink
810 7th Street, NW
Washington, DC 20001

This is a free event! Limited street parking may be available in the area. Metro access is via the green, yellow, and red lines at the Gallery Place-Chinatown station, just across 7th street (northern exit).

Special thanks to RFD (Regional Food and Drink) for generously providing the space for this event.

Guest Blogger for Jimmy Palmiotti's SEXY MONDAY

Today I did a take-over of Jimmy Palmiotti's SEXY MONDAY feature on his blog. For those of you who do not know, Jimmy has written the comic books Jonah Hex, The Pro and Power Girl... just to name a few. Every Monday he has been posting photos of sexy women in a feature called SEXY MONDAY.

Today was the day the ladies got to have some fun with SEXY MONDAY for the first time and I got to select some imagery for the gals. I hope you enjoy it. If I could add one more photo, it would be of Criss Angel, but I will save that for my next blog post.

Check out today's SEXY MONDAY: http://jimmypalmiotti.blogspot.com/2010/11/sexy-monday-one-for-ladies-by-carolyn.html

Please comment on Jimmy's blog and let us know which photo is the sexiest. Thanks in advance.

XOXO,
Carolyn


thanks Carolyn...everyone, I think she did a great job... thats me and Carolyn [ above] from the NYCCC...check out her link and her work. A real special lady in so many ways...and so cool...we need more like her.

JIMMY

PS: NEXT WEEK...Sexy monday 50.

NOV 17 Comics Panel at Busboys and Poets, 5th & K Streets

Hi everyone! I was asked to be on a panel and now I'm asking you to join me. Please pass this on on anyone you think would be interested. Did I mention - it's FREE to attend. ALL are invited to...

In Between the Panels: DC’s Emergence on the Graphic Novel Scene
Wednesday, November, 17, 2010, 6:00 to 8:00 p.m.
Busboys and Poets, 5th & K Streets, Washington, DC
Cost: FREE and open to the public!

The Women’s National Book Association, DC Chapter will sponsor a panel discussion on the DC graphic novel scene. The panel for the event, to be held at Busboys & Poets in Mount Vernon, from 6:00 to 8:00 p.m., will include Carolyn Belefski, Molly Lawless, Matt Dembicki, and Mike Rhode. The event is free and open to the public.

Carolyn Belefski is the mastermind behind the web comic Curls. She is also one of the creators of several other comic books: Kid Roxy, Black Magic Tales, and The Legettes, and an indefatigable (nightly) poster to her blog, Sketch Before Sleep. Her work has appeared in USA WEEKEND Magazine, The Commonwealth Times, Virginia Living Magazine, Magic Bullet, CROQ Zine, and The Pulse on COMICON.com. Ms. Belefski is a nominee for the Kim Yale Award for Most Talented Newcomer for 2010.

Matt Dembicki is a DC-based cartoonist whose work includes the award-winning nature parable Mr. Big, The Great White Shark Story, Xoc, and The Brewmaster’s Castle, about legendary DC brewer Christian Heurich. His latest anthology, Trickster: Native American Tales: A Graphic Collection, has received rave reviews from Booklist, Publishers Weekly and School Library Journal and has been nominated as one of the Young Adult Library Services Association’s 2011 Great Graphic Novels for Teens. In addition to his own work, Dembicki also hosts kids’ workshops in the DC area and beyond on making comic books.

Molly Lawless, a Boston native, moved to the DC area in 2005. She has self-published mini comics as well as a compilation, Infandum! Ad Infinitum. She is currently working on a full-length graphic novel for McFarland Publishing titled Hit by Pitch. She is an avid blogger and includes stories about her family in her daily posts.

Mike Rhode, panel moderator, is co-author of the comics research bibliography, editor of Exhibition and Media Reviews for the International Journal of Comic Art, and a contributing writer for Hogan’s Alley. In 2008, he was named Best (Comics) Art Blogger by the Washington City Paper for his Comics DC blog. Rhodes edited Harvey Pekar: Conversations, a book of interviews with the late underground comic book writer and author of American Splendor published by the University Press of Mississippi. He has written for the Comics Journal and was selected as an RFK Journalism Awards judge for the editorial cartoon division of Comics Journal in 2009 and 2010. Rhodes currently writes about comics for the City Paper.

This event is FREE and open to the public!

Recap: Wonder Woman Day 2010

Super Hero Weekend featuring Wonder Woman Day was held on October 23-24th, 2010 at Comic Fusion in Flemington, New Jersey. I donated a Wonder Woman sketch to their auction which benefited SAFE in Hunterdon, a non-profit agency serving victims of domestic violence and sexual assault. You can read about my art in this previous blog entry.


My art for Wonder Woman Day was selected to be used on volunteer and staff shirts at Comic Fusion.


Comic Fusion raised over $16,000 for the shelter!

Jill Pantozzi wrote about attending Wonder Woman Day in her blog, Has Boobs, Reads Comics, which includes photos.