Author: rozihath

Wake me up when September (or 2020) ends

| rozihath

Afternoon all!

It’s September apparently, and there seems to be some vague sense of normality returning to this very weird world we’re living in. The kids are in school, Zoom meetings are the norm and libraries are open. And as the seasons shift again, the evenings are getting much shorter and the nights cooler here. Autumn is in full swing! (Click here to hang onto summer that little bit longer with the spring-summer 2020 sketchbooks, now on sale)

So, what’s next? I’m glad you asked.

After a very busy month-or-so working with AccessArt on their DrawAble campaign, I’ve been diving head-first into some really exciting projects. One of which is finishing up my Weekly Comics (still yet to be named, d’oh).

I’m just about ready to start painting the extra pages, which is a pretty mammoth task in itself. But, once this is done I’ll be very near to completing the book and getting it ready for print. Woop! Above and below are some of the inks I’ve been working on pre-paints.

In other news, I’ve picked back up on working towards writing my next book. Exciting stuff! I’ve mentioned before about working on a big book, and this one I’m allowing plenty of time to get my ideas down and explore what the story could be. Part of figuring out the story is getting all of my random tangents of ideas down on paper, so this week I’ve started the process of hashing everything out with a pen and trying to build on some of the stronger ideas and see how these various bits could combine together. It’s like dumping the contents of your bag out and trying to decide whether it all needs to really be in there or not.

Part of the figuring out process has been drawing on inspiration in the unknown, and after a few really busy weeks I took some time out to wander around Bristol and recharge my creative batteries. It was so very needed!

Thankfully I managed to pick up some new books to help with my story writing whilst I was there, including Travels with a Writing Brush: Classical Japanese Travel Writing from the Manyoshu to Basho which is fascinating so far (and most likely incredibly niche).

Once I have something more substantial I’ll start sharing, but for now it’s all staying very close to my chest.

And finally, big happenings are on the horizon at the collective Good Comics HQ (not to be confused with GCHQ). I can’t reveal any full details yet, but it’s going to be really good… Keep your eyes peeled for announcements in the coming weeks.

And that’s about it for now! Stay safe everyone.

x

Let us inspire you

| rozihath

Hi everyone,

It’s been a little while since I last updated you all, and I have lots to discuss! It’s already feeling very autumnal out there, so if the view out of your window is anything like mine currently is (grey, rainy, a general feeling of blergh), then settle down with your hot beverage of choice whilst I catch you up on what I’ve been up to.

First up, as I briefly mentioned last month, I’ve been working with AccessArt on their new post-Covid resources for school-age children, DrawAble.

The purpose of DrawAble, from AccessArt themselves, is:

…a series of resources to help schools deliver an inspiring and appropriate curriculum for pupils aged 6 to 13 working at home or school. AccessArt DrawAble connects drawing, narrative and visual literacy to provide pupils with a creative bridge to help them navigate from lockdown towards the new normal.

AccessArt DrawAble – see the full website here.

It’s been such a wonderful project to be a part of, and not only has it been a joy to create something for children in the midst of all this chaos, it’s also sharpened up my filming, animation and video editing skills to no end. I’m still no post-production expert (there was quite a lot of cursing software at one point), but it’s been a fun learning curve.

First I worked on an ‘about me’ video, which sits among other creators videos for the Let me inspire you section of the DrawAble site. Here it is!

Check out the full page here!

For the second video, I was asked to create an activity resource based on my practice. The very knowledgable team at AccessArt and I worked together to get the activity and tone right for key stage 2 students (aged 7-11 in the UK), and this led to the 3-panel challenge! Check it out below:

And, you can see the whole resource free-of-charge here. Amazing stuff!

Other artists and creators involved in the DrawAble project so far are Stephanie Cubbin, Lizzie Knott and Lorna Rose, with more being added in the coming weeks. It’s a wonderful resource, so be sure to check it out and spread the word!

I’m so grateful to AccessArt for the opportunity, and hopefully my activity is useful for kids (and grown-ups) in finding new ways to be creative.

In other news, as the nights are getting noticeably longer, it’s time to start thinking about the season ahead! Autumn-winter is just around the corner, and now my Spring-Summer 2020 sketchbooks are on sale for just £3.

These sketchbooks are perfect to fit in your bag or pocket, and have crisp G.F Smith paper throughout. I’ve sketched in mine, stuck photos in and painted in it – all mediums work well and there isn’t any bleed through. I especially love the soft gold paper in the middle, it shimmers beautifully in the light.

Here are some lovely reviews from my previous seasonal sketchbook, autumn-winter 2019:

These SS20 sketchbooks are in short supply, so grab one whilst you can for just £3 with free UK delivery (flat £2 P&P elsewhere in the world) and keep summer going for a little bit longer!

And finally! Now that I’ve completed my work with AccessArt, I’m able to get back to my weekly comics work, and turning them into a complete, printed comic. I’m roughly 75% of the way through inking the additional panels, and then I’ll be working on painting these up and getting them scanned and edited to flow with the rest of the book.

I’m still struggling to think of a title for these, and I’m trying to steer away from my usual one-word titling of previous releases (Moon, Rocks, Njálla, etc.). Better get thinking – and thinking in more syllables!

Thankfully I have some time before printing to iron out these details – fingers crossed the new book will be out in October. So I’d better get cracking!

Until time time, stay safe everyone.

x

Take a loaf off

| rozihath

Hi everyone,

How is it late July already? Time flies when you’re arduously hiding indoors from a worldwide pandemic and mass society-engrained, systemic racism.

In other news, it’s been busy here at HQ! I’ve been working away at the extended version of my weekly comics, which will be made into its own standalone story (see the work-in-progress image at the top). At Good Comics we updated our submissions guidelines for creators and have been working towards our late-2020 releases. AND I’ve been working with AccessArts on their upcoming DrawAble project for September.

See – busy! So, lets start from the top.

As I mentioned in my last blog, I’m really excited to be releasing my weekly comics in the form of a brand new printed comic, for sale later this year. I haven’t released a new book since Rocks last year, so it definitely feels overdue.

I wrote a blog about my techniques and methods behind the weekly silent comics project over on the Good Blog – you can read it here!

The collection is yet to be named, but whilst I’m working away on extra pages and panels to pull the story together, I’m also conscious that most of my previous printed releases are monosyllabic… Maybe it’s time to get a bit more creative? Watch this space!

In other news, we three wise people at Good Comics have been busy rewriting our submission guidelines for comic creators, updating various areas of the site and releasing our newsletter (which you really should sign-up for, we’re very witty).

It was a little complicated to find our submission guidelines before, so we’ve streamlined the process. Generally speaking, we’re looking for great stories by creators who have a distinct art style, and a distinct voice that we’re able to nurture. If you’re making comics and don’t have the funds to release your first book, or you’re needing support in making the leap to self-publishing, talk to us!

Last but definitely not least, I’m currently working with AccessArt on their latest project for young people; DrawAble. I took part in their Draw-A-Bird project years ago, submitting art to be sent to Primary Schools around the UK, so I’m thrilled to be working with them again.

DrawAble, in their words, is “a series of resources to help primary schools deliver an inspiring and appropriate curriculum for pupils working at home and in classroom bubbles due to the Coronavirus.” By working with them, I’m creating my own resources to help kids create artwork and comics in the new “normal”, and these resources will all be available online for free from September.

I won’t give too much away just yet, but I did end up making a dumb comic about bread as an example of how comics can be anything you want them to be:

Maybe there’s a new subsection of my work that will include pun-based comics? Who knows.

And that’s about it for now! Until next time, please make sure you wear a mask when needed, and keep fighting the good fight.

x

Longest day, shortest night, longest fight.

| rozihath

Greetings everyone.

What a crazy few weeks it’s been. In the wake of George Floyd’s harrowing murder in the US, it’s been difficult not to be confused and sickened by what’s going on, and has been going on for years. A catalyst for change has come, and I truly hope things change for the better.

In the UK alone, there are petitions still needing signatures for justice and to improve education. Here are just a handful:

I get frustrated enough at being shouted at by random men in the street for my choice of footwear, I cannot even begin to imagine what life is like for BAME people in this country and the world over. Let’s work together to educate ourselves and push for real change.

Despite the grim reality of racism, I did push through and finish my weekly comics. Here are the final set:

  • Week 8
  • Week 9
  • Week 10

Having not really created anything of great length since Moon, I’m really pleased with how this exercise worked out – both in improving my technical ability and in the self-set deadlines which kept me thinking and working on this week after week. Missed the first 7? You can look back on my blog and see them here.

I’m also excited to announce that I’m planning to print these comics in a collection! There are a few areas of the story that don’t completely flow, so I am now spending the next couple of weeks looking at the pages as a whole narrative, and editing/filling in gaps where needed.

It’s quite nice to be able to come back to these, as in the early weeks I had no idea where the story would be going, and now I can add in panels here and there to add extra depth to the story. Thankfully my handy editors (below) are able to offer quite specific feedback.

A bundle of gerbils

Watch this space for more news on the collection, coming shortly!

In other news, this year’s Spring-Summer sketchbooks are up for sale online! I had a lot of fun making these, and I’m already enjoying using my prototype for plans and ideas. Check out what they look like:

Each sketchbook is hand collated, trimmed and bound by me, with very specific paper choices to make these a nice thing to have in your bag or pocket whilst you’re rambling around. The monstera stamp has also been designed and carved by yours truly, and each stamp print is unique.

The sketchbooks are available in a very limited run, for £4 each. Free shipping in the UK and a flat fee of £2 P&P elsewhere.

And finally, as I’ve nearly wrapped up a couple of projects I will now be delving back into an ongoing project that took the back-burner for a short while. This one will be a big one, so it’ll take me some time. Any guesses what it is about?

Until next time, stay safe and look after each other.

x

Life, camera, action

| rozihath

Greetings all,

It’s an unsettling time to be alive. Aside from the worldwide pandemic, which is horrendous in itself, we’re also seeing Black lives tourmented the world over – filmed in the most awful and sickening scenes of targeted racism and police brutality.

As a complete and utter white person who has managed to fall down and pick myself up a multitude of times, I know I’m privileged. I have more learning to do, but I do know that things aren’t equal at the moment, and everyone has the power to change it.

I could come on here, write my fortnightly blog and offer some links, then carry on with my day and talk about comics and sketchbooks and whatever else I’ve been up to. But, it’s so unimportant right now compared to the structural racism that’s been brought to everyone’s attention time and time again.

At Good Comics we looked and listened to what people were saying, and compiled a list of links that we’ve been looking at. That’s certainly not all of it, and we’ll keep sharing as we find more. We’re also reading, watching and trying to learn more, learn BETTER about the world around us, and try to be a part of making it safer and more honest going forward. After all, having to explain to a ten-year-old, who is utterly distraught at videos of violence towards Black people, why people are still being treated differently based on the colour of their skin is something I’ll never forget.

Listen, read, read and read some more, and do what you can to help.

Lockdown & leafy plants

| rozihath

Hello world!

We’ve made it. We’re 349’650 days into lockdown and I am struggling to know what day it is. I have however, set up a structure for me to go for a run every 3 days as it coincides with needing to wash my hair, so that’s something.

GOOD NEWS! I’m now up to week 7 with my weekly comic, and the end is very nearly in sight. What originally started as some self-exploration of what I’d like to achieve is now it’s very own story and a conclusion I have scribbled down in my sketchbook. In my last blog I brought you weeks 4 and 5, so here are 6 and 7!

  • Week 6
  • Week 7

I’m still having a lot of fun with these comics, and I genuinely am so glad I started them. With another 3 week’s pages planned until the finale, I will then be looking at printing the final collection in a small run for sale later this year. Sound good? Excellent.

Here are the rest of the week’s pages so far:

  • Week 1
  • Week 2
  • Week 3
  • Week 4
  • Week 5

In other news, this season’s Spring-Summer 20 sketchbooks are very nearly ready! As you may remember, last year I released the Autumn-Winter 19 sketchbooks for people to use into the changing seasons. Each sketchbook is made from high-quality paper and hand-collated, trimmed and bound right here by me.

This season’s colour scheme is green and gold, with a nice neutral paper throughout scattered with some low-opacity paper, lightweight speckled paper and a beautiful glistening paper. As with AW19, I’ve designed and hand-carved a stamp for the books, modelled on my monstera plant.

Sketchbooks will be going up for sale tomorrow, so keep your eyes peeled on Twitter, Facebook or Instagram to see when you can grab a copy. These are a very limited run, so if you’d like one, be quick!

Another bit of exciting news, Two Set Issue 2 has been released! You may remember I created a comic for the zine earlier this year, and the mag launched last weekend to sell-out success. I managed to get my mitts on a copy which includes other creators such as Ed Syder, Ian Johnson and creator of Two Set, Claire Alleaume.

The second issue is already sold out online, but you can still pick up the first issue for half off. Rest assured Issue 2 will be available from a couple of shops including Palomino very soon and there will be a small re-print soon. Watch this space!

And that’s about it for now! Head over to the Good Comics blog for some fun Quarantine Q&A interviews with our creators Claire Spiller and Gareth A Hopkins, as well as a handful of other things to keep you occupied. Until next time!

x

Spring has sprung

| rozihath

Hello everyone,

We made it to May! I hope everyone is safe and well despite the obvious coronavirus-shaped elephant in the room. The longer our lockdown goes on, the harder it is to have anything new or positive to say. Nevertheless, remember to look after yourselves the best way you can, whether that’s marathoning box sets on tv or training for a marathon.

I’m still maintaining my goal of one comic a week, which I’m glad for! This last week I finished it a few days earlier (harder than it sounds…) and released it through the Good Comics blog. and shared all the comics in order this far.

Here are week’s 4 and 5 below, to get you up to speed:

  • Week 4
  • Week 5

After week 4, I decided to make a dumb poll on Twitter to see what everyone wanted to see included next. Thankfully the people voted for clearly the best option!

I’m starting to get into a good routine with these weekly comics, and I have the rest of the ‘story’ mostly mapped out. It’s still a useful challenge for me, and I’m looking forward to showing you all week 6 (when it’s done). Watch this space!

In other news, I’m very happy to announce that as last year’s Rocks is very nearly sold out, I have donated 50% of the profits made to Bournemouth’s Natural Science Society.

Rocks was very much a project of discovery and realisation about the way I make comics. Between finishing Moon and starting Rocks (note to self: consider more than just one-word titles for future books) I’d hit a wall with creating, and pushing myself through to the end of Rocks was tough yet rewarding. I’m very grateful for the information I gained from the BNSS, and Rocks will always be the one which helped me learn to pick up a pen again and restart my journey, releasing some of that pain I was feeling in Sparenting.

If you’d like a copy of Rocks before it sells out, you can pick up a copy from my Etsy store for £3.00 + P&P.

Lastly, you’ll be glad to know that I’ve started work on my next seasonal sketchbook! The remaining autumn/winter books have now fully sold out, and I will be finishing up spring/summer in the coming week or so.

Missed the autumn/winter sketchbooks? Take a look at this post to learn more.

Autumn-Winter sketchbook

Until next time!

x

Stay home and make comics

| rozihath

Greetings all,

We’re another few weeks into lockdown and social distancing, and the outside world is getting pretty wild. As is the internet, where people are planking, playing bingo and setting up creative backgrounds for their conference calls. What a time to be alive! Regardless of all the good-spirited humour going around, I do hope you’re all keeping safe in this strange time.

Low and behold, I’ve managed to keep up my weekly comics! I completed my third week comic at 22:45 on Sunday night, so it wasn’t completely down to the last minute… but near enough. Take a look at week’s 2 and 3:

  • Week 2 linework
  • Week 3 linework

It’s been a fun challenge to work on, and in a similar mindset to Rocks last year, I didn’t initially write a storyline for this. I drew the living room, the bedroom, and in the third week, the entrance to my flat building. Oh, and my beat-up old Vans. The epitome of lockdown drawing.

BUT! I have been working on telling a story through the transition of colour more so than my usual approach, which uses one solid colour palette for the whole project. For example, Moon was peaches, blues and neutral tones, whereas Njálla was blues and greens with a touch of neutral, and Ø was bright pinks, yellows and turquoise. Cosmos & Other Stories is the exception to the rule as it was a collection of shorts, but there was an underlying general palette running throughout.

As it stands, each of the weeks have been pretty different so far, so keep an eye out for number 4 coming out this week (possibly around 11pm on Sunday again, if I don’t get started soon…)!

In other news, I’m currently running a sale over on my online Etsy store! As lockdown continues people are starting to feel their mental and physical health decline as a result of being stuck inside, and the temptation to go outside seems to be pretty overwhelming. So, stay home and read comics! Or make them. Or both.

Everything in my store is 15% off until Sunday 3rd May, including sale items. Use coupon code STAYHOME15 and treat yourself to something. Go check it out! I’m down to the last few copies of Njálla, the Njálla colouring book and Rocks, so be quick.

To put your minds at ease, all my packaging is done safely at home, and postage is purchased online and printed here too. All my comics fit in letterboxes, so I am able to socially distance fully to get orders to you. Safety first!

Finally, I just wanted to have a quick shout about the incredible Raze by Claire Spiller, published by Good Comics. It’s a beautiful comic about old Gods and our role in looking after nature and the environment. We were delayed by the coronavirus, but Raze has now arrived and all orders are being sent out sharpish. I can’t recommend it enough, and if you’d like to get your hands on a copy please visit the Good Shop.

And that’s it for now! Stay safe everyone.

x

Shelf-isolating

| rozihath

Greetings one and all!

Low and behold, I’ve actually managed to get myself behind my computer again and offer my wit and wisdom to the world in the form of yet another blog. Crazy! Apparently COVID-19 is doing wonders for my productivity at least 75% of the time (the other 25% is spent aimlessly being annoyed at everything and avoiding the news).

After my last blog I sat down and spent an hour or two really figuring out what I wanted to achieve this month – and why I haven’t been enjoying working on another comic I started months ago. Instead of dwelling on it, I mixed things up a little and set myself the challenge of a…

Weekly silent comic!

That might seem like a punishment to some, but as most of my comics have very little wording anyway, it’s just a further extension of what I normally do. This time, however, I wanted to do some drawing from real life and what better way to start than the room that I have spent the majority of my waking hours in. The living room.

Working in a similar method to the last couple of comics I’ve done, I sketched out my idea into a sketchbook, refined the pencil drawings, took a picture and loaded it onto my computer to digitally draw all the linework. I then printed off a copy and used my lightbox and some gouache paint on mixed media cartridge paint.

It’s also been a great excuse to pull out some of my favourite small press silent comics from my bookshelves, including comics from the likes of Emma Raby, John Cei Douglas and Lando.

The next instalment is a follow on from last week, and I have the idea and concept sketched out already – so the ‘story’ will continue soon. Keep an eye out!

In other news, I also finished up my Major League Mugs drawing of Pee-Wee Hoss McGraw! (see my last blog if this makes no sense to you).

I painted it on cheap sketchbook paper so it got a little muddy in places, and I didn’t do as good a job on the text as I’d hoped, but as the Flomaton Funyuns would’ve been a pretty gritty minor league team anyway, I figure they wouldn’t have minded.

There’s still time to draw your own Major League Mug, so check out my last blog for all the details and get drawing!

Finally, in hope that this may help out another person stuck at home with a grumpy family, last week’s home art school activity was making papercut illustrations together. I started as I meant to go on, with a whale:

This is now added to my ongoing whale sketchbook inspired by Nick Pyenson’s Spying on Whales and Herman Melville’s Moby Dick (I read the full one, but if you’re short on time maybe just go for this one).

Anyway, that’s it for now. Remember to sign up to the Good Comics newsletter as we’ll be sending that out to inboxes next week. And, I’ll be back in a couple of weeks with the next blog!

Until next time!

x

Disclaimer: This week’s blog is NOT sponsored by shades of red and orange, it’s just apparently my hue of the month.