Recap: Comics Making Studio at Artisphere

On the evening of Thursday, September 12, 2013 Joe Carabeo and Carolyn Belefski collaborated on the chalkboard wall in the Works in Progress Gallery for their artist residency at "Comics Making Studio" exhibit at Artisphere in Arlington, Virginia.

For their experiment called "Animal Chronicles" Joe came up with an animal and an object, then Carolyn drew each combination on the wall - for example, Fox/Harmonica or Cat/Lawnmower. In about three hours, twenty combinations and sketches were created. Each drawing was only up for a brief time period, then erased over and a new sketch appeared in the same place on the chalk wall. Click on the photograph above to see an animated GIF of all the sketches and progress.

The exhibit space also featured original art for Magic Bullet, Washington, DC's comics newspaper. Attendees were also encouraged to create their own comic and had access to take the past two issues of Magic Bullet home with them.

Thanks to Matt Dembicki and Evan Keeling for organizing the show and thanks to Joe Carabeo for photographing the art.

For more photos, check out: https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10152090580037381.1073741841.50763422380&type=3

Recap: New York Comic Con 2013

New York Comic Con was October 10-13, 2013 at the Javits Center in New York City. Curls Studio had exhibited for the past several years in Artist Alley, but this year was our first time switching it up and trying out the Small Press section on the main floor of the convention... and I dug it! We shared a corner booth with Teresa Roberts Logan of Laughing Redhead Studio and had such a great time with her!

This year I stayed at the table 95% of the time and did not attend any panels. My goal was to represent the booth and meet people there. All I can remember was it was very crowded and only having a small moment to make an impression on people walking by. I did some original art, had a magician do a coin trick for me at the booth, saw outstanding cosplay outfits, got interviewed by Tom Racine at Tall Tale Radio, and more. Our booth was located next to wrestling superstar, Virgil.

For a change of set-up we created a Curls Studio mobile on the side of our booth with several circles rotating in the wind. I think this is a very nice visual, as we are now starting to brand with our circles and the "C" icon.

For more photos check out: https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10152090096567381.1073741840.50763422380&type=3

We hope to be back at NYCC again. Thanks to all who visited the booth on tour this year!

Recap: Baltimore Comic-Con 2013

Being as it's the very last day of 2013, I should recap the fall touring season for Curls Studio. Excuses aside, it has been very busy for the past five months. Can't believe Baltimore Comic-Con was September 7-8, 2013 and we are just starting to recap it! 

On Saturday, I was invited to join Amy Chu's panel, "Self Publishing: You Can Do It" featuring Jimmy Palmiotti, Danielle Corsetto, George O'Connor, Dean Haspiel, and myself. The audio is here, if you'd like to take a listen: http://carolynandjoeshow.wordpress.com/2013/09/10/baltimore-comic-con-self-publishing-panel/

I got to attend my first Harvey Awards, which is a nice dinner and awards show hosted on Saturday night. The winner for "Best Online Comics Work" was Mike Norton's Battlepug. Since he was not present, Baltimore Comic-Con asked me to accept the award on his behalf, but I didn't know who was going to win until the announcement was made to everyone. The lights were very blinding on stage, but my big joke was that I didn't fall down when stepping up to the stage, so that's winning half the battle!

On Sunday, I took part in the "Team Cul de Sac" panel with Chris Sparks, Joe Sutliff, Dawn Griffin, and Barbara Dale. Here is the link to audio from the panel: http://carolynandjoeshow.wordpress.com/2013/09/19/zarvox-presents-the-team-cul-de-sac-bcc13-panel

We were able to recruit a few people to walk with us for the Parkinson's walk in DC because of the awareness from this panel. Here is the blog recap for the walk: http://curls-studio.blogspot.com/2013/11/recap-team-cul-de-sac-at-moving-day-2013.html

It was the greatest feeling to see several people at the show - even co-workers from the past couple full-time jobs I've held. Curls Studio really appreciates the support and enjoys seeing people come to the table year after year.

More photos from Baltimore Comic-Con 2013 are located here: https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10152089889767381.1073741839.50763422380&type=3

Hope to see you next year! Mark your calendars for a three-day show next year. It's September 5-7, 2014!

Regular Show Fan Art

Here's an illustration I did for the Cartoon Network show, Regular Show. The concept is having the characters as Russian Dolls and Rigby is popping out of his doll shell.

2013 Best Local Comics from Washington City Paper

Magic Bullet is listed as a comics highlight of the year by Washington City Paper. This year I edited Magic Bullet #6 and #7. It is a honor for the publication to be recognized.

You can read more about it here and view the other comics the Washington, DC area has to offer: http://www.washingtoncitypaper.com/blogs/artsdesk/books/2013/12/12/scrawl-minded-the-years-best-local-comics/#more-104196

Thanks to Michael Rhode for the write-up!

Curls in Comic Creators for Freedom 2013

This is the fourth year I'll be taking part in a fundraiser event called Comic Creators for Freedom: Fighting Together to End Human Trafficking.

Over 150 comic creators from around the world come together to raise funds in support of Love146. Most of us spend our days (or nights!) writing and drawing stories about brave heroes. Banding together to form the Comic Creators for Freedom, we finally have a chance to become the heroes.

Superheroes come to the rescue. That is why we are raising money specifically for Love146 and their work in providing care to survivors of child trafficking and sexual exploitation.  

This year's theme is Awkward School Photos, as you can see in the image above, my character, Curls, is representing the awkwardness. We hope you are able to donate December 2-14, 2013 to receive the complete downloadable wallpaper featuring several comic characters. Want to participate? Find out what you need to do to get involved and donate on the Curls fundraising page - my goal is $30 because if each comic creator raises $30, we will beat our overall goal of $5,000! Everybody chipping in can make a large impact.

If you are curious what has been done in the past for this cause, here is the art for 2012, 2011, and 2010: http://curls-studio.blogspot.com/search/label/Comic%20Creator%27s%20Alliance

Thanks to Lora Innes and Crystal Yates for organizing this mission.