If you would like to explore mentorship, you can get in touch via the LDComics mentorship scheme – or if you’d like something more bespoke (longer-term perhaps), drop me an email and let’s discuss.
What I can offer
Mentorship takes the form of regular online or – if you’re in Brighton, and you would prefer – in-person meetups, during which we discuss your aims, look together at any work in progress, and set actions or goals for you to work towards.
Some of the areas where I can offer a strong steer include:
- The creative act of comics-making. Where do you begin? How do you end?! What makes a satisfying story? Have you hit a block or are you not sure that you’re going in the right direction? We can take a look and untangle some of those challenges.
- Materials: I mainly use digital drawing these days and am very happy to talk about the practicalities of that, but I can also bring experience of many other media including collage, inks, gouache, pen etc.
- Are you interested in documentary comics, finding and telling true stories? I’ve made a major project this way, so can advise on where to find subjects, how to ensure they are safeguarded, and give practical tips on taking the project form conception to fruition.
- I’m always happy to chat with advice on running a comics project large or small: are you interested in making an anthology, working collectively, etc?
- Ugh, social media and marketing – we just want to draw, right? But thanks to my day job, I’ve got expertise in graphics/simple animations; social media platforms; crafting great posts and posting them at the times when they’ll be seen; writing press releases or all aspects of PR. It’ll be easier once we’ve talked about it, I promise.
More about me
I’ve been drawing comics all my life. These days, I’m most interested in comics that do good.
In 2016, I coordinated the Draw The Line project, bringing together more than 100 comic artists from 16 different countries to draw positive political actions. The resulting book was first crowdfunded in the UK, and then published with Street Noise Books in the USA.
My subsequent work has also focused on activism, with the self-published Sorry for the Inconvenience We Are Trying to Save the World acting as an instruction book for protest, and the documentary graphic novel The Noisy Valley recounting true stories of protest from the Rhondda.
Comics I love:
I am mad keen on comics that tell a uniquely specific story from the creator’s own experience. I’m a big fan of Fumio Obata’s Just So Happens, Eleanor Davies’ You, A Bike and a Road, Mariko and Jillian Tamaki’s Just One Summer, Tiitu Takalo’s Me, Mikko and Annikki, Anneli Furmark’s Red Winter and Escaping Wars and Waves by Olivier Kugler.
I’d love to hear about your favourites too!
Get in touch via LDComics or directly.
Myfanwy Tristram 