A real hit-and-run post this week, as I’m busy packing. Actually my suitcase was already half packed, because last week I went down to sort a few things out for my elderly parents in Devon; having come home to briefly touch base, I’m off to Somerset for a three day work retreat, and from there will travel immediately up to Kendal for the Lakes International Comics Art Festival.
I don’t know, you spend lockdown barely leaving the house, and then everything comes at once.
I’ll be at LICAF a day early, as I’m speaking at the academic conference that takes place on the Friday. Comics Up Close, it’s called, although somehow I don’t seem to be able to remember whether it’s that, or Comics Close Up, for more than a few minutes at a time.
If you’re around, do come – it’s open to anyone with a ticket for the main LICAF festival. I’ll be on at 12:20, right after one of my personal comics heroes, Olivier Kugler (whose work, as it happens, I often cite as an influence when I’m presenting about Draw The Line).
I believe it’s also going to be accessible remotely – but don’t quote me on that; I can’t find any details.
Progress report
In all of this, I’ve made zero progress on Satin and Tat, nor do I expect to next week, the first half of which will be packed with work meetings and the second with comics activities. I did take my portable hard drive and photos of my thumbnails down to Devon with me, but even while doing so I knew it was very unlikely I’d have either the mental space or the energy to work on it.
One thing I did do is pick up a biography of David Bowie from the Oxfam Bookshop in Exeter, which at least felt like background research material (what do you mean I’ve already written the script for Satin and Tat and drawn half of it? I’m sure I can shoehorn some more detail in…)
However I did manage to churn out my Inktober pics each day. Tonight I’m going to try to get ahead a bit, so I have some in hand while I’m otherwise occupied.
Inktober: protest placards
I’m enjoying drawing these.
Today it occurred to me that they might be useful for groups campaigning against the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill, which is currently going through parliament and aims to restrict the right to protest in the UK. After all, they show a variety of people protesting for important causes, in a peaceful and often witty and intelligent way.
I’m happy to share high res versions with such groups if they get in touch, and I’ve also decided to make them all into a zine/comic book once October is over.
So yep, probably won’t be blogging next week, but the week after I’ll presumably have things to say about the artists I’ve seen, and maybe the comics I’ve bought, at LICAF.
Myfanwy Tristram 