| Angoulême part 4 of 5 - ink wash mayhem! |
[Feb. 7th, 2010|06:29 pm] |
Some (more!) sketches from the festival...
Italian student on the train, Paris to Angoulême
These are created in my usual way, drawn with a brush pen and then tinted later on.
( Many more under the cut! )
On its way, my last Angougou themed post - a review of Joann Sfar's directorial debut, "Gainsbourg: Vie Heroique."
A bientot! |
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| More More More: Alternative Press at Angoulême |
[Feb. 4th, 2010|01:01 pm] |
In my third Angoulême post, I'd like to interview two of the people behind Alternative Press, a fantastic London collective that made its first appearance at the festival this year.
When I first moved to London I had a hard time finding a 'comics scene'. There were great events, like Paul Gravett's ComICA lectures, and the MCM Expo (a huge fair oriented towards mainstream comics and manga), but during the months between bursts of activity on either front, a cartoonist's calendar could look pretty empty. Then, a few years ago, I started to notice a lot more fairs to attend, a lot more parties and performances to check out. A lot of these, I came to realize, were events organized by a collective known as Alternative Press.
Gareth, Jimi and Peter - France, 2010
This year, Alternative Press became publishers, creating the showcase anthology Publish You (in which my work appears). As a result, they got their first table at Angoulême's annual International Comics Festival, the biggest global comics fair outside of Japan. On the occasion of the Angoulême debut, I wanted to ask Peter and Jimi how they and their cadre of like-minded artists and activists (including Gareth Brookes, pictured above) had made order out of chaos and given us London cartoonists someplace new and interesting to sell our wares, meet artists from other disciplines, and - perhaps most revolutionary - enjoy the temptations of the open mic!
Peter Lally is a co-editor of Bedsit Journal, a long-running collection of work by Peter and his friend Richard Cowdry, amongst others (including Mardou, my cohort in Whores of Mensa). Peter's ribald, scratchily-drawn tales of overexcited waiters, drunk actors and lovelorn girls in the big city are very much worth seeking out.
Jimi Gherkin is an artist, musician and printmaker whose own varied interests make him a natural for the heterogenous world of Alternative Press. His neon-colored mini's offer everything from philosophizing on life and death to instructions on setting up your own silkscreen press, and are utterly unmissable.
( On to the questions... )
By the way, the next Alternative Press event is in London on February 13th, at the St. Aloysius Social Club off Eversholt Street. For more info on this and Publish You, visit the Alternative Press website. |
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| Train Sketches, Angoulême 2010 |
[Feb. 3rd, 2010|12:16 am] |
On the way back from Angoulême we spent a grand total of 9.5 hours in trains, due to faults on the line. Aside from learning all sorts of vocabulary for broken train parts (caténaire, anyone?) I finally got into my stride with sketching. Throughout the trip it'd been really difficult - but thanks to a lot of downtime and ![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif) jabberworks's colored pencils, things suddenly started to feel a bit more natural.
Here's a picture of the lady herself...
more ( under the cut ) |
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| Brits Hit Angoulême |
[Feb. 1st, 2010|08:47 am] |
 
Gareth, Peter and I see the sights. Photo by Jimi Gherkin.
This year I had the happy privilege of hanging out in Angoulême with a whole crowd of British cartoonists and illustrators: Jimi Gherkin, jabberworks, tozocomic, Oliver Lambden, Gareth Brookes, Francesca Cassavetti, seanazz, Dan Lester, Peter Lally, and Angoulême veteran Nick Abadzis, who's joined the hallowed ranks of Dargaud artists with his amazing graphic novel, Laika.
Lots of sketches to post, things to talk about, and even a film review...but first I've got to unpack!
Thanks so much to Sean, Francesca, Dave L. and Oliver for sharing their table with me! Don't forget to pick up a copy of their amazing anthology B.A.S.T.A.R.D.S - it will give you a glimpse of the Camden comix scene that you will never forget!
More to come...
PS If you're thirsting for Angoulême sights and sounds, check out jabberworks's fab sketchbook comics over on her blog...lots of crêpes, Percy Pigs and other naughty treats await. Also, don't forget to check out the festival Twitter feed over at Comix Influx. It's a great starting point for finding out about the most interesting books, events, and people of the Festival. |
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| Does the Frenzy Never End? |
[Jan. 26th, 2010|04:01 pm] |
I write to you from a place between frenzies - Christmas frenzy, New Year's frenzy, freelance frenzy and now Angouleme frenzy.
Tomorrow morning Stephen, jabberworks and I will be speeding towards everyone's favorite French comix mecca, to meet up with tozocomic and others later in the week. So many great folks from the UK comix scene are going this year: Francesca Cassavetti, seanazz, Nick Abadzis, the Alternative Press boys, hopefully John and Patrice Aggs. Can't wait!
Some interesting news - as of February I'll be formally joining up with the cartoonists and illustrators who work at the Fleece Station in lovely Deptford, South London. More on that and Whores of Mensa 5 when I return - but I'm pretty excited to be working at a studio again!
In the meantime, here's a shot from a recent freelance gig, wherein I was asked to illustrate some licensed kids' comics. It was fun - I like drawing cute little characters!
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| Blue Year's Eve |
[Jan. 4th, 2010|11:21 pm] |
An atypically uncheerful image of my husband, 1 hour into a 1.5 hour tube ride to Chesham, a northern suburb of London, for a friend's New Year's Eve party (zone 9!)
His frown turned upside down once we arrived and got dancing to Stax Records compilations, chatted with a pirate and enjoyed the sight of Dizzee Rascal singing backup for Boy George on Jools Holland (my admiration for ol' Diz, already quite pronounced, is now without limit - what other star, of hiphop or any other genre, would happily, quasi-anonymously, sing BACKUP for hours on end, before his own performance? A very selfless way to start the New Year, methinks).
Some New York sketches are on the way once things calm down at Aigburth Mansions....but in the meantime, all the glad tidings of the season!
PS And no, for those of you who know Stephen well, the 'stache did not survive the New Year's weekend...more's the pity! |
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| Sunbathing in London |
[Nov. 25th, 2009|03:19 pm] |
Lately I've been taking lots of short Tube trips, and I've scaled my sketchbook down accordingly.
When I put these on the windowsill to photograph - that being only place in the apartment that gets natural light, at this time of year! - the irony of these many-meters-below-earth commuters finally getting some rays really amused me.
( More sunbathers under the cut... ) |
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| Ellen and Whores of Mensa at the ICA in London, this Sunday! |
[Nov. 3rd, 2009|12:53 pm] |
Hello everyone,
This Sunday, November 8th, I'll be sharing a table with fellow Whores of Mensa contributor Jeremy Day at the Institute of Contemporary Art in London, participating in Comica's annual celebration of small press comics, Comiket!
Organized by comix legend Paul Gravett, Comiket is the best place in London to get a sense of the Capital's independent comics scene.
Come along for Whores of Mensa rarities, as well as my Undertow graphic novel and Jeremy's excellent minicomics.
Festivities start in the ICA theater at 1, and stick around for fun in the ICA bar afterwards.
Hope to see you there! |
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| Chemo is DONE - plus, Handmade and Bound '09 update |
[Oct. 21st, 2009|11:29 am] |
Chemo, a seven page story with drawings by me and text by Sharon Lintz, is now DONE. Info coming soon on when and where you can see it in print!
( Read more... )
Do you have a story you'd like to see in comix form? I'm always open to commissions - just send me an email at ellen at little white bird dawt calm.
In other news I'll be at the Handmade and Bound show here in London on Sunday, the first of November, selling copies of my graphic novel, Undertow. Peter Lally of Bedsit Journal fame has organized a comix table, so this will be a great opportunity to pick up the latest and greatest in local mini's. Plus, the setting is the fab St. Aloysius Social Club, possibly the best countercultural church hall in Britain.
Hope to see you there! |
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| Chemo by Sharon Lintz (with pictures by me) |
[Sep. 25th, 2009|06:12 pm] |
Busy busy week, shuttling to and from the British Library, starting a new part-time job, and enjoying the last glimmers of nice weather before the long, dark English winter begins.
Here's an image-in-progress from a story I've been working on with writer Sharon Lintz. "Chemo" is Sharon's love letter to all the things that helped her get through breast cancer: biking, Philip K. Dick, her students, and Battlestar Galactica.
Next up: toning this, and then moving on to my story for Whores of Mensa 5. The theme for this issue: anything and everything having to do with entertaining and parties. My story is a bit of historical fiction, featuring a printing press, a diving bell and an ocean liner. We're having some guest artists in for this issue, which is very very exciting. More on that soon, here and on whoresofmensa!
PS Freelance commissioners of the world, I just updated my illustration portfolio. That is all :) |
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| Lovely Betty |
[Sep. 8th, 2009|03:14 pm] |
It's as close to hot and sweaty today as London has been all summer, and I'm inside, working on some celebrity drawings for my illustration portfolio.
Here's one of America Ferrera, the star of Ugly Betty.
While working on this I had a great time listening to Will Kane's interview on the Nostalgia of the Future blog. I thought I was 'au fait' with French music from the sixties - but then I talked to Will. He is absolutely the definitive expert on the subject, and World of Kane is a great source of images and film about everything rare and wonderful 60's France has to give the world.
Gainsbourg is just the beginning - so, enjoy! And if you're in Londres, Monsieur Kane is starting a new club night, the Stagnant Society, with all the yé yé and freakbeat one city can handle (and possibly more). Check it out!
More celebs soon... |
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| The Daily Crosshatch Reviews Undertow |
[Aug. 21st, 2009|08:05 pm] |
It was a pleasant surprise today to see that Sarah Morean of the Daily Crosshatch has reviewed Undertow, my graphic novel about Coney Island in the early sixties.
This review has a very nice opening line:
"I read self-published books in public all the time, but it’s been ages since a stranger openly read over my shoulder because they were so interested in the page. I think that experience bodes well for Ellen Lindner’s black-and-white comic book Undertow."
Click here to read the review in full.
Undertow's available at a slew of bookshops in NYC (St. Mark's Comics, Jim Hanley's, Rocketship, St. Mark's Books, Desert Island), London (Gosh!), or online at Lulu. Or, simply email me ( ellen at littlewhitebird dowt calm ) and I'll sort you out.
Thanks for reading! |
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| Sketching Across South India |
[Aug. 17th, 2009|05:36 pm] |
Annu on the train to Tiruvalla
Back from India, and busy trying to sort it all out. I think it'll be a long time before I figure out what I thought of it, or what it was even LIKE, but for now...some sketches for you. And a quick travelogue.
We started in Trivandrum, the quiet, almost rural-seeming capital of the coastal state of Kerala. From there we headed east across the nub of the Indian subcontinent to Chennai, the mad, sprawling coastal capital of Tamil Nadu, stopping at Kochi along the way, and taking a very pleasant three day detour to Pondicherry, a French colonial outpost on the Bay of Bengal.
One thing made the trip extra special - we stayed with Stephen's relatives (namely his Aunt Reebu and Uncle Jaiboy) and family friends for most of the trip, and they were so generous with their time and knowledge. I've just posted my sketches on Flickr, with short titles to identify where each sketch was made. Click on the sketchbook to go take a look! (For those of you in South London, the title is an allusion to a ridiculously named Indian joint in Camberwell...I couldn't resist!)
( Some notes on sketching in India... )
( Here are a couple of my favorites - please visit my Flickr for the complete album. )
Today, it's nice to be back from an excellent one day trip to Oxford for Caption, to see jabberworks give an awesome talk on what cartoonists can learn from children's books, and congratulate cleanskies and her new husband on their marriage. cleanskies and I also had a very productive chat about the next issue of Whores of Mensa, so more on that soon, I hope.
Thanks for reading! Next: block printing fabric, and other stuff to do on wet afternoons in Kerala. |
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| Let the Mystification Commence |
[Jul. 23rd, 2009|06:19 pm] |
In a fitting and hopefully triumphant end to what has been a very start-and-stop summer, my huzz and I are heading off to visit relatives in his mother's native state of Kerala, on the southwestern coast of India.
This sketch is inspired by the old Air India mascot...if I'm walking like an Egyptian here (slightly odd, I admit), it's because a) I am a Bangles-loving dork, in all circumstances, and b) I have no idea what to expect. Aside from heat. And humidity. And hopefully...awesome?!!)
Ever since seeing the amazing video of Emmanuel Guibert drawing with water, and Choi Juhyun's beautiful and enigmatic graphic novel Sous la Peau du Loup, I've been curious about trying out the technique of drawing with a dropper of some kind, and also using more color in linework. Definitely something to look into with greater application once I return.
Behind the ( cut )
you'll find some glimpses of what I've been doing with my summer between visa applications...some freelance work for Black Swan Wine. I've been doing some other stuff too, that I'm not sure I should show. But when I get back, there'll be plenty to look at - sketches from India, and sample artwork for the comix biography of Lee Miller I've been writing.
Oh, and while you're on the internet, why not tune in some
Robot Dreams on your Google homepage? I got an email from my pal Sara Varon today, with the happy news that millions of Google users can look at 7 different illustrations of hers whenever they fancy reading a blog or checking their mail.
See you in 2 weeks! |
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| Transatlantic Action |
[Jul. 3rd, 2009|05:25 pm] |
Funny bunch of sketches here. In New York I fell in love with the Tombo. Strangely, I got back to the UK and discovered the Tombo is not waterproof! D'oh. Back to Faber-Castell, I guess :) Usually some of the fun of sketching for me is coming home and 'developing' the images, adding tone and color. Not this time!
London Tube, June 09.
( Take a look behind the cut for some of a motley bunch of sketches, from New York and London. )
More to come soon.
While I'm here I'd love to congratulate my pals Mardou and Ted May on the birth yesterday afternoon of their daughter Veronica Jean. She's super-gorgeous, and I'm sure will defy genre as magnificently as her parents do.
Congratulations, guys! |
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| Hellos from New York |
[Jun. 10th, 2009|12:37 pm] |
Photo courtesy Marion Vitus
MoCCA was kind of a blast. Plus, I got my new visa the next day! Woo hoo!
Thanks to ztoical and joshpm for being such excellent tablemates. See you guys next year!
Thanks as well to the folks at Studio Deep 6 who have opened their doors to me during this time away from my workspace. They are such nice people, and AMAZING cartoonists! I felt seriously humbled my the quality of work going on in there.
I fly back to the UK on the 17th...I can't wait to come back to New York soon, though! :) I owe my brother a crushing defeat in badminton, if nothing else.
PS Anyone got any tips on good NYC/NJ/Philly area shops that might stock Undertow? Thanks a lot! |
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| Blue Cat (and a quick goodbye) |
[May. 13th, 2009|06:35 pm] |
Thanks to everyone for their kind thoughts regarding my visa situation - I really appreciate it!
I'm in New York as of Monday...time to train for the Japan Day 4 Mile Race in Central Park, hang out with my parents, get some sewing and reading done, and see people! I need to look past the visa stress and enjoy the opportunity to go home.
Thanks to the incredible generosity of ztoical, I'll be at the MoCCA Festival in NYC on June 6 and 7, with Undertow aplenty...please come by and say hello.
In the meantime, enjoy my 'daily' sketch...didn't you know that Bengal kitties and floating fingerprints were natural enemies? |
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| Bad Witch |
[May. 5th, 2009|10:41 pm] |
Feeling a bit weak after some serious visa drama, still unresolved...here's to spending more time drawing, and less time worrying! |
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| Friday night and Wednesday morning |
[Apr. 15th, 2009|01:27 pm] |
Friday I decided to cap off a day in the retail salt-mines with a 7k run. As one does.
So today's sketch is actually a collaboration between my zonked-out, post-run self Friday, and my alert-and-doing-taxes self today.
I may be dragging on these sketches, but someone out there must like me, because the radio is playing "Lipgloss and Cigarettes" by Pulp!
This one's inspired by a particularly Van Dyck-ish photo of 6Music dj and friend of mikedawsoncomic, George Lamb.
Last night Stephen and I went up to Tufnell Park to enjoy the Tombola of Fun night at the Star. Gosh! maestro Nat Metcalfe organizes it, and it was enormous fun, themed around the work of singer, actor, and one-man Brit Brat Pack Anthony Newley. Will Kane gave us a wonderful precis of Newley's career, and Nat got a great lineup together, including my new favorite comic, Danielle Ward (otherwise known as 'the Moneygeddon girl offa Newswipe). If you enjoy humor about stinky vintage clothes, getting your kit off in a Hoxton working men's club, and unsafe football grounds, Danielle's comedy may be for you. If not, head up to Edinburgh to see Nat himself - all the info is on the Tombola blog.
In other news, I just found out in order to renew my visa, I need to take the "Life in the UK" test. Reasonable, I bet you're thinking...I mean, I DO live in the UK. But...to live in the UK, do you really need to know exactly how many people in the UK are Welsh? Or on what day St. Andrew's feast day falls? Or what a quango is? GIVE ME A BREAK. I can name most of the Arsenal starting 11, and I enjoy the music of Richard Hawley - surely that's enough?
Rant over - see you soon! :) |
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