Nominate Curls for Comic Riffs Webcomics of 2011

If you're a fan of my comic strip, Curls -- please consider nominating it for The Washington Post's Comic Riffs ‘BEST’ WEBCOMICS OF 2011.

You can nominate by e-mailing "comicriffs@washpost.com" or posting in the comments on this Comic Riffs blog: http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/comic-riffs/post/best-webcomics-of-2011-an-open-call-for-nominations/2011/11/17/gIQAuQiVUN_blog.html

Thanks so much for your support.

XOXO,
Carolyn

Article about Curls in The Connection newspapers

Michael O'Connell interviewed me for The Connection newspapers. The article is called "Drawn to the Web: Comic strip artist Carolyn Belefski finds a home and an audience on the Internet" and discusses digital comics, with focus on the Curls comic strip, and promotes the upcoming SPX show this weekend.

Click to read the full article here: http://www.connectionnewspapers.com/article.asp?article=354019&paper=61&cat=104

World Turtle Day

Just learned today is World Turtle Day. Celebrate with Turtle Neck from the Curls Webcomic. You can't deny a turtle who likes wearing turtle necks. Check out some of THE BEST OF TURTLE NECK: http://www.curls-studio.com/curls/?tag=turtle-neck

XOXO,
Carolyn

Curls: The Webcomic

I don't post my Curls Webcomic to this blog very often, but I figured every once in awhile I should remind you about it. Curls can be found at www.curls-studio.com/curls and it updates every Monday and Thursday.


This wonderful and purely fun with a side of insanity comic strip is about a gal with mitten hands, who runs into adventures with her best friends:
• A life size slice of Toast named Toast of the Town
• Applause, a Siamese Fighting Fish who is the boxing world champion in the waterweight division
• Turtle Neck, a turtle who wears turtlenecks
• Pitter Patter, a penguin waiter
• And more!

Carolyn Belefski was nominated for a Friends of Lulu Award in 2010 for Most Talented Newcomer to recognize cartooning work by women. You can check out a brand new Curls webcomic every Monday and Thursday at www.curls-studio.com/curls.

VCU Libraries Digital Collections

I was recently informed by someone who works for Virginia Commonwealth University Libraries that: "VCU put all the Commonwealth Times issues online (I was the lucky person who removed the archived collection from their bindings and prepared them for digitization) so you can you can find all your Curls adventures as a Ram here! :)"

http://dig.library.vcu.edu/cdm4/index_com.php?CISOROOT=/com

For those of you who do not know, I have a webcomic called Curls, which got it's start in VCU's student newspaper, The Commonwealth Times, published in print every Monday and Thursday. You can now search the database of VCU Libraries Digital Collections to read my Curls strips from 2002 to 2004.

Now I publish Curls on the web every Monday and Thursday in honor of the original publication days. You can read Curls here: http://www.curls-studio.com/curls

Your Schedules - Curls: Days of the Week

Last week, I invited everyone to submit their schedules to the Curls Webcomic - and now here are the results! I am really impressed with how creative the schedules are... in addition, it is so interesting to me what everyone is up to! A huge thank you goes out to everyone who participated. Please go visit the following sites:

Carolyn Belefski (my sample schedule) - Curls


Ali Thompson - Best Available Productions


Jose Capetillo - @realchicofiesta


Joe Carabeo - Astray Productions


Jim Coon - Last Dollar Comics


Troy-Jeffrey Allen - Typographic Era


Rafer Roberts - Plastic Farm


Susan Page - More than Just Super Friends

Curls: Days of the Week

I don't post each strip to the Curls Studio Production Blog, so in case you didn't know, I have a webcomic called Curls which updates every Monday and Thursday at http://www.curls-studio.com/curls.


Here's a handy weekly schedule to remind you to read the Curls Webcomic every Monday and Thursday. In addition I've filled out my upcoming week for you and in return I ask you to do the same. Maybe you have an improv class scheduled? Or you are taking your child to soccer practice? Either way, Curls wants to know what is going on in your life! Send me your upcoming week and I'll post it on the blog and link to your site. You can use a tablet, like I've done or you can print out the blank one above fill it out by hand and take a photo or scan it. Email your schedule to info@curls-studio.com by 10 PM EST Monday, March 14th to be included in the blog post.

Feel free to post the schedule on your blog or website to let people know about the Curls Webcomic. Thank you!

Curls and Cerebus Illustration

Above is a commission I did of my character, Curls, with Dave Sim's character, Cerebus. I hope he'd like it. Arsia Rozegar did the wonderful colors.

The illustration really comes to life when it's in color... which honestly leads be to believe if Curls is on the web, there should be no reason why it shouldn't be in color. I am used to black and white from the times when Curls was published in The Commonwealth Times newspaper. I would like to have more Curls strips in color, but it is time consuming so we will see where it goes in the future. I think this piece came out really well and I'm proud of the work Arsia and I did for it. It was fun to create this.

Be sure to read Curls every Monday and Thursday at this site: http://www.curls-studio.com/curls

The Washington Post: Vote Best Comics of 2010

Hello True Believers of Curls Studio,

The Washington Post (Comic Riffs) is looking for nominations for their Riffy Awards.

Nominations will be accepted till 11:59 PM on Monday, December 27, 2010. You may send your nominations to Comic Riffs via e-mail (comicriffs@washpost.com); via Twitter (Twitter.com/comicriffs); via Facebook (Facebook.com/comicriffs); or in the comments on the Post page.

For more info: http://voices.washingtonpost.com/comic-riffs/2010/12/best_of_2010_time_to_nominate.html

Please consider my webcomic Curls for Best Webcomic - and let The Washington Post know!

Thank you and enjoy this holiday season,
Carolyn

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