The original comment. (Click to embiggen.)

The artistic interpretation.

I’m working on a couple of short stories for the anthology my cartooning group is putting out this summer. I’m not saying much, but I will give you this hint:

Helpful, no? It’s a nice break from Furlough. I’ve never purposefully wrote one- or two-page stories before, and it’s making me concentrate more on being deliberate and slow. I’m drawing larger for the first time – the book will be 5.5×8.5, a la Furlough, but my layout is 8.25×12.75. Got that? I’m also drawing clean inks onto a sheet of Bristol, using a lightbox so that I can see my pencils. It all looks very arcane when I do it, and it has led to me closing the blinds on some very nice, sunny days lately. The things I do for art.

What am I talking about? Why, look:

And just like that, I was registered for the Jet City Comic Show, which will be held here in Seattle on September 25th. This has been added to my appearances page, along with some other updates.

*Weirdly, this is only perhaps the second time someone’s made a pun based on the similarity of my last name to the anglicized name of a certain European country. I used to try to use its similarity to Poland to tell folks how to spell it, but I gave up because it just confused people. So cheers to the administrator who made the connection.

Here’s what’s on my little drawing pedestal thing right now.

As my gaps get smaller, I’m finishing whole pages more; I think I’ll finish this pair tonight. Along with others.

Yesterday, I went to an Artful Investigation class at my friend Jenna’s studio. It was a lovely break – I’ve been mostly alone with my art lately, and mostly following a pretty strict process. Yesterday, I got to be elbow-deep in sequins, paint, glitter, collage material, china markers (my new favorite), tape, and all manner of other supplies. There were six of us plus Jenna; I forget sometimes (but try to remind myself) of what a lovely, nourishing experience it is to be around a table with other women and just create. There’s a feedback to it that’s completely friendly and not at all competitive – oh, how did you get that effect? How did you make that bird? That’s just amazing, I’m so glad to be here while you’re making such a beautiful thing. There’s an intoxicating gentleness to it. I came home and slept four hours last night, just because I’d used this very specific muscle for a good eight hours.

Here’s a peek at what I made.