Issue 35: Spring Changes, Comic Trackers, + Post-NIF Recovery
Tracking my comics progress, taking a break, and sharing some fun new projects!
Hello hello, friends and good folk!
Just want to start with a quick thank you to everyone who was able to make it to our event last weekend! It warmed my heart to see familiar names in the chat, and I appreciate your participation and interest! 💖
If you missed the event and would still like to see it, you can check it out on the Co-op’s YouTube channel. There was a lot of great discussion from all of our panelists, and I thoroughly enjoyed listening to these artists whose work I admire very much talk about their processes!
SPRING CHANGES
This spring is truly acting as a time of renewal for me because these last few weeks have seen many changes happening that I’m very excited for!
We’ve updated the Co-op critique group I facilitate to meet every other week now, and between that and the weekly Art Huddle and all our NIF work and Summer Camp prep, I’ve found myself a bit squeezed for time, so I’ll be stepping down as a member of the Co-op’s Newsletter Committee in the next few months.
I’m very eager to use that time to dedicate to Burden and those other comic scripts I mentioned to y’all recently. I’ve made a couple of dedicated spreads in my planner to track my progress that I’m looking forward to trying:
I was inspired to try this new layout by some conversation happening in the Co-op’s Discord where folks were sharing how they keep track of their work. I already had a comics log where I keep note of how many days a year I work on comics, with the aim of increasing it over time. This new system is already motivating me to do even more!
I think it also helps to serve as a visual reminder of how much work goes into making a comic— and this isn’t even all of it!
I love this spread for my comics making log lol. It’s one of my favorites to fill out, and I always feel so proud when I spend time actually doing the thing I want to do.
BREAK TIME!
Today’s newsletter is a bit on the short side because I… am in need of a break lol. I’ll be taking a few weeks off from the newsletter to give me time to catch my breath and catch up on a few tasks that got pushed to the side for NIF work.
I’ll be back in July with our normal schedule! ✨
JULY + AUGUST EVENTS + ONGOINGS
Art by Alina | @ObscureOccultist
If you make comics (or love those who do), I encourage you to join us in the Co-op so you can attend our Summer Camp program coming up this July and August!
For the last several months, we’ve been working on this 9-week series of events for members, and we’re so excited it’s almost here! I’m very proud of our little team’s hard work bringing this to life, and I’m excited to continue working as Chair of Events Committee to make even more fun and helpful events happen for our membership 💖
With the economy worsening for all of us, my hope is to use Events Committee as a way of helping my fellow cartoonists (and me lol) connect with and support each other and to learn more skills to hopefully help them navigate the turbulent waters that can be an art career these days. If you’re someone with skills you’d like to share with the Co-op (marketing! publishing! vendor experience! editing! crowdfunding! comics skills! finances!), get in touch with me by replying to this email or email the Events Committee directly at events@cartoonist.coop!
COMMUNITY FEATURE
If you’ve been around for a while, you’ll likely know that I’m a big fan of Power & Magic Press’s comics anthologies, and they have a new one coming out soon!
“HOW TO TOUCH GRASS is a comics anthology about connection, isolation, and accessibility, all through the lens of the goofy command to ‘touch grass,’ balancing humor with sincerity. This non-fiction collection will bring together personal stories, informative essays, original journalism, foraging recipes, how-to guides, amateur philosophy and more. The Kickstarter is set for Summer 2025!“
As a largely homebound cartoonist who loves the outdoors and very much misses “touching grass,” I’m very interested to see how this anthology comes together 👀
RECENT READS + FAVORITES
I've been on a mission recently to find more comics suitable for younger kiddos for one of my nieces, and I was very pleased to come across Avery and the Fairy Circle and Spring Cakes for her current age. They're so cute, and I love all the colors used in them. I can't wait to give them to her later this year!
And here are some of my favorite things from the past few weeks:
Watching: Mickey 17 (2025)
Listening: to the neighborhood house sparrows as they chatter outside our window
Doing: I’ve picked up some more hand sewing with a scrappy paper piecing project!
This style of piecing is called English Paper Piecing (EPP), which involves wrapping fabric around a precut piece of paper, then sewing them together to create a larger design. It’s something I really enjoy as a way to wind down at night and as a way to use my scrap fabrics leftover from bigger projects.
I’ve been waiting a few years to have enough variety to make a scrappy star project like this, and I’m excited that it’s finally here!
Speaking of sewing…
I wanted to sneak in a photo here of one of the two scrappy quilts I made for my newest nieces! I forgot to include it in a previous newsletter where I mentioned it, so here it is now instead! lol
How about you? What have been some of your favorite things lately?
Hope this week is kind to you 💖 Thanks for reading!
