New comic! Like everyone else, I have love-hate-why-did-food-receive-more-likes-than-my-drawing-what-is-WRONG-with-you-people type relationship with social media, which I tried to illustrate here:
Thoughts from an SPX First Timer
SPX was over a whole week ago so this post isn't very timely, but I wanted to get some of these thoughts down before I forget, and they all go off into the void. And so:
- I’ve never sat behind a table before hawking my work for strangers, so I was unprepared at how overwhelming it was to exhibit. (To be fair, I know how overwhelming it is just to attend SPX, so in retrospect, I probably should’ve seen it coming.) It got much easier the second day, though, after the initial shock wore off.
- Regrets, I have a few. Mostly not introducing myself to more people, not having a sexier table display (though this post by Yellow Cardigan was an absolute godsend for us noobs), and not making little pins with little cats on them, which is basically a wasted opportunity at SPX.
- There are different philosophies on how much you should talk about your work to onlookers. I tried my best to read the individual person (did they want to chat? Would they rather browse in silence?) and generally erred on the side of keeping my mouth shut unless they asked questions, which was easier, and how I prefer to look at work.
- Yes, most of the money I made went right back into buying comics. This I do not regret.
- You learn a lot by silently sitting behind a table and watching people look at your work. What page they open to? Do they laugh? Do they open to more than one page? Did they ignore the book you thought they would pick up first? This is all valuable feedback.
- As Tom Spurgeon said of SPX: "I got a lot of stories from people all weekend but the general shape I heard about the most was an artist's astonishment at being told something they made was personally meaningful to this real-life human being standing in front of them. It doesn't get much better than that." Amen.
From my Museum Guide. Turns out I am not the only one who's heartbroken by old men in baseball caps.
Stuff you can buy
SPX is now over, but you can still buy some of the work I was hawking. Phew! It was overwhelming, humbling, and exhausting, and I'd do it again in a heartbeat. I also learned it's much easier to sell work from behind a table than it is to browse the work of other people in a comic-convention setting. Who knew?
SPX this weekend!
Coming to the Small Press Expo this weekend? Swing by and say hello! My table is H7A:
Below, a small preview of the stuff I will be hawking. Books are all $5, the Museum Guide is $1 (and the postcards are free).
A few new cartoons
Who doesn't love to complain about the creative process? Definitely not creative people, I can tell you that much!
I may decide to do a cleaned up, non-sketchy version, but I like the spontaneity of this one for now.
Another semi-fatalist cartoon:
Exhibition at Wild Hand Workspace this June
This June I will be exhibiting at Wild Hand Workspace, a gallery/workshop in the Monroe Street Market in Brookland just bursting with charm. I'll be displaying original work, comics, and some print goodies for sale.
Wild Hand Workspace presents a solo show by Dana Jeri Maier.
Hours
6-9PM on Thursday, June 18th
11AM - 2PM on Saturday June 20th, Sunday, June 21st & Saturday June 27th
Opening reception
6-9PM on Thursday, June 18th
Place
Wild Hand Studio 8
Monroe Street Market
716 Monroe St NE 20017
Museum Guide, Updated
Remember that Museum Guide I did last summer? And remember how I have to overwork everything within an inch of its life? Well, here's the net result, which is an updated version of my Museum Guide, with additional gallery floor plans and text. The cover is based on the Museum Plan for the Prado Museum in Madrid, Spain (pictured on the right).
You can buy a copy here. Below are a few more preview shots, plus some rough sketches that I liked, but did not make the cut in the final version.
Guess which one is mine!
A few more interior pages:
A drawing that made it into the Bench guide, amid a few other doodles:
The drawing below did not make it into the Guide, but I have a soft spot for it anyhow:
Cartoon in progress
A new cartoon I've been working on:
Here's how it started in my sketchbook:
And on the right is a super-embarrassing first attempt that I am still on the fence about sharing in the first place.
Will I draw this again to get it perfect? Maybe. Will I keep going on this one and overwork it within an inch of its life? Also a possibility!