SpringCon Weekend and Owl Updates

It seems like whenever I am wrapped up in a tight deadline I have to disappear from my life for awhile. So it was during the drawing of Startled Maggie issue one. The drawing is all finished now and Raighne and Justing are doing the editing and designing which leaves me time to return to the owl comic again. At least until Startled Maggie's debut at CAKE in Chicago in June. So here is a photo of two pages from the owl comic. The one on the left is the work in progress. The one on the right was finished in 2008. Why the disparity in years? The page on the left is one that I thought should be added to help the flow of the story. When the left page is done it'll have the mom owl laying an egg.

Owl Comic Pages in Progress

2d Cloud with Noah Van Sciver at SpringCon 2011

This weekend is the Midwest Comic Book Association's SpringCon. I will be helping represent 2d Cloud on Sunday with Raighne.

Upcoming Comics Lineup

I've been making comics! I've contributed to two anthologies (NO ME and Little Heart) and I'm halfway finished with the first Startled Maggie comic. More info below:

Little Heart
Little Heart is a comic anthology created to show support for marriage equality, produced in partnership with 2D Cloud and [MN]Love. This project was spawned by the very urgent need to fight the 2012 referendum that seeks to instill discrimination and hate in the Minnesota state constitution. This book was funded by kickstarter. 170+ pages, perfect bound, 5” x 6”, color and black and white. Artists are Tuesday Bassen, Emma Reynolds, Tim Sievert, Michael DeForge, Alex Fukui, Ellen Redshaw, Anna Bongiovanni, Hannah Blumenreich, Megan Tulius, Hedwig Vinson + Rachel Kowarski, Christopher Adams, Milkyboots, Luke Holden, Ed Choy + Sam Sharpe, Tammy Ray, Noah Van Sciver, Sally Madden, Jeremy Sorese, Emily Carroll + Kate Craig, Sean Lynch, Joseph Remnant, MariNaomi, Maurice Vellekoop, Zak Sally, Meghan Hogan, Barbara Schulz; with Christopher Butcher handling the introduction. Projected release is at TCAF (May 5th).

NO ME
Jason T. Miles, creator of Dead Ringer and small press distributor PROFANITY HILL, has an upcoming anthology called NO ME. My contribution is a comic called Pretzel. I'm one of 60 contributors. Here's the line-up: Josh Bayer, Marc Bell, Jean-Michel Bertroyas, Jim Blanchard, Nikki Burch, Ben Bush, Adam Buttrick, Sean Christensen, Chris Cilla, Max Clotfelter, Mark Connery, Scott Davis, Marc Deckter, Aerick Duckhugger, Austin English, Eroyn Franklin, Gabrielle Gamboa, Julia Gfrôrer, Tim Goodyear, Justin Green, Eric Haven, Cameron Hawkeye, Meghan Hogan, Raighne Hogan, Gerald Jablonski, Dunja Jankovic, Juliacks, Patrick Keck, Keenan Marshall Keller, David King, Bobby Madness, Jesse McManus, Mr. Mike, Lane Milburne, Jason T. Miles, Tony Millionaire, Tom Neely, Andy Nukes, Virginia Paine, Marc Palm, Léo Quiévreux, Luke Ramsey, Tony Remple, Helge Reumann, Xavier Robel, James Romberger, Tim Root, Kevin Scalzo, Josh Simmons, Justin Skarhus, Ted Stearn, Conor Stechschulte, Ian Sundahl, Tom Van Deusen, Noah Van Sciver, Blair Wilson, Ajax Wood-Storm, Martine Workman, Chris Wright, Sophia Yanow. The final page count is going to be somewhere around 268 pages. Projected release date is either Stumptown Comics Fest (April 28th)  or Olympia Comics Fest (June 2nd).

Startled Maggie
Startled Maggie is the first in a series of autobio comics by me and published by 2D Cloud. 5" x 7", with black and white interior line drawings, 2-color covers, 32 pages. Startled Maggie premieres June 16th at CAKE in Chicago. Publisher's synopsis: "Startled Maggie is a 32 page autobio serial focusing on a mischievous little spit-fire at the very beginning of her run. Drawn in light pencil and printed off a risograph, this new series is pointed at the ephemeral quality of memory and what makes early life such a funny and charming place."

Help Us Make Little Heart and Marriage Equality Happen in MN

Geirdoz brides getting married in Little Heart, the comic anthology for marriage equality

Raighne & Meghan Hogan of 2D Cloud photographed by Simon Stromberg, creative director of [MN]Love

VIDEO: Little Heart: A Comic Anthology for Marriage Equality WHAT IS IT ABOUT: I'm super excited to have my Geirdoz brides appear in the Little Heart comics anthology for marriage equality. Little Heart is a comic anthology created to show support for marriage equality, produced in partnership with 2D Cloud & [MN]Love and YOU. The comics included in the volume cover a variety of material, from auto-bio, science fiction, intimate vignettes, romantic incidentals; work created to show that love strikes all walks of life.

This project was spawned by the very urgent need to fight the 2012 referendum that seeks to instill discrimination and hate in the Minnesota state constitution. Since Little Heart’s inception, the project has grown. The reason for the growth is that the issue itself is bigger than Minnesota. Which is why we have enlisted artists across the US, Canada, and a small sampling of international artists.

WHY KICKSTARTER: Coming in at 170+ pages, perfect bound, 5” x 6”, featuring color as well as black and white -- this book is going to be a looker. It’s also going to be a little spendy to produce. The production costs are about 4k to pay the artists and another 4.5k to print the book at Bang Printing, here in Minnesota. Using Kickstarter as a sort of pre-order platform will allow us to print 1000 copies and pay the artists. Should we exceed our goal, extra funds will go towards increasing the print run, higher production values, and paying the artists a higher rate.

VIDEO: Raighne of 2D Cloud and Simon Stromberg of [MN]Love talk about Little Heart

WHO ARE THE ARTISTS: Tuesday Bassen, Emma Reynolds, Tim Sievert, Michael DeForge, Alex Fukui, Ellen Redshaw, Anna Bongiovanni, Hannah Blumenreich, Megan Tulius, Hedwig Vinson + Rachel Kowarski, Christopher Adams, Milkyboots, Luke Holden, Ed Choy + Sam Sharpe, Tammy Ray, Noah Van Sciver, Sally Madden, Jeremy Sorese, Emily Carroll + Kate Craig, Sean Lynch, Joseph Remnant, MariNaomi, Maurice Vellekoop, Zak Sally, Meghan Hogan; with Christopher Butcher handling the introduction/foreword.

WHAT ARE SOME OF THE PLEDGE REWARDS FOR BACKERS: At 20$ you get a copy of the book itself and 1 of 4 riso prints. At 100$ you get a drawing by Dustin Harbin or a page from Noah van Schiver's comic. At $250 or more you get a date with one of the cartoonists living in your city.

MAKE YOUR PLEDGE HERE! Without your support Little Heart cannot happen.

Marriage equality matters.

Gay Veteran Steals the Show at Romney Endorsement Event

Storyboarding while Setting the Twist

As I was coming down with a flu and head cold, Raighne asked if I could do him a favor. "Could you finish a Startled Maggie comic by mid March instead of July?" 3 weeks later, I'm healthy enough to fulfill that favor. Raighne's concept of the Startled Maggie comic is a series of comics about my life. Pictured here is my work station carved out of a corner of Raighne's studio. While I was retrieving photos and my baby book from her house, my Mom handed me a yellow book. She muttered, "You might just think it's silly." It turned out to be a journal of my nefarious activities as a toddler. So, while I wait for the twist to set in my yarn, I'm storyboarding a handful of stories that Raighne chose from the yellow book and watching an interview with the man who made my spindles.

lk2g-053 Rhinebeck 2008 Interview With Jonathan Bosworth from Let's Knit2gether on Vimeo.

Wool Before and After Drum Carding

Washed Wool Before Picking and Drum Carding

My Strauch Petite Drum Carder and Carded Wool

Food Slam Illustration in Veggie Colors

After I finished coloring my Food Slam illustration for Mark Granlund's The Book of Bartholomew last night, I was pleasantly surprised to find that the colors are very veggie! There's purple eggplant, carrot orange, a light leafy green, and a dark rich earth color. Yum!

Sketch for Food Slam

This is a sketch (which I'll finish later with color) for Food Slam. It's one of Mark Granlund's last chapters in The Book of Bartholomew. I also illustrated the chapters Mo and the Tree of Want and Claire Speaks Out. You can read them online or purchase the mini books from Mark.



My cousin Nick created the stop motion animation Stop This Train as a project for one of his high school classes. I love it!