Shredded Hexagons

Well here's my finished zine, you saw the type set for the cover in an earlier entry...

It's a pretty decent zine, I think, I'm proud of it! Especially because I made the thing in less than a week, printing and all. 

The Amazing...?

Apologies for the slightly rubbish quality of these pics; my phone does not have the best camera. (I've realised it tends to focus pretty weirdly, apart from anything else. Like, thanks phone, a small point in the top right-hand corner is obviously likely to be the important thing to look at.)

Anyway, here's a quick bit of letterpress for the front cover of the zine I made for the Portland Zine Symposium. I'll post some pics of the actual zine shortly. Nothing fancy, just this nice san-serif font from the Em Space collection in 72 point.

Zines Galore

This weekend I went to the Portland Zine Symposium and picked up this lot, all through trades. Pretty good haul, I think. I'm going to read through them, and then I might come back and tell you about the best ones. 

Number FIVE

Oh what's that? Could it be a new zine maybe? The long-awaited issue 5? With hand-letterpressed covers and 40 pages of scintillating content?

YES. That is what it is. OMG.

Stumptown Comics Fest 2011

I love Stumptown Comics Fest! So much amazing art, and everyone is so nice! Comics nerds are the best.


Here's most of my haul from this year; it should keep me going for a while. Some artists I had heard of, some were new to me. I got a couple of prints too.

Some new favourites were the Perfecting Loneliness 24-hour comics which you see top right, plus an issue of Wuvable Oaf, a hand-spot-coloured comic about bears. (The hairy gay guy kind.) Plus some old favourites: Papercutter, Clutch, Erika Moen.

Some links to check out:

Reid Psaltis (fantastic illustrator - got some of his foldout minicomics)
Sarah McIntyre (adorable childrens' book illustrations, plus comics)
Wuvable Oaf
Emi Lennox (Perfecting Loneliness etc.)
Farel Dalrymple (Yeah, this guy is amazing. And he drew a lovely drawing in the comic I bought from him.)
Papercutter etc.

Shoes, Step 1

I just scanned some sketches and converted them into a format that I can screenprint with (upped the contrast, made them greyscale, fixed some gaps, and switched to bitmap). Pretty exciting, they will be screenprints soon. I also think that whenever I finally get around to Enthusiasm Issue 5 these drawings will appear there. (What can I say, I enjoy drawings trainers.) Call this a watch-this-space post. Soon it will be wall-to-wall trainers, simply everywhere!

Susie's Golas, 2010

Tim's Nikes, 2010

Lucy's Nikes, 2010

EnthuZINEasm: Part IV

Well kidlings, it's that time again! Yes, the time for your lives to be brightened by the appearance of a new and exciting installment of your favourite zine, Enthusiasm.

We have some excellent things to offer you in Enthusiasm Issue #4. Including, but not limited to: lesbian subtext, webcomics, sandwiches, children's tv, movies star making out, cats and dogs living together, and interesting maps. (Not the bit about cats and dogs living together. That would be CRAZY.)

Here's Tim's intro to put this zine into a suitably grandiose context:

(Click for full view.)

So if you would like a copy, just drop a little comment in the box down there, or else contact me or my fellow zinester Tim via email, facebook, text, phonecall, carrier pigeon or semaphore. You won't regret it.

Coming Soon...

What's this? Could it be the cover for the next issue of our thrilling zine Enthusiasm, which you should all be familiar with by now? Yes, I think it is!

We're almost there with Issue Four, and it's going to be full of all sorts of interesting things to read and look at.

Who's excited? I know I'm excited. You in the back, I can tell you're excited.

(Apologies for the crap picture. It'll look better photocopied, stuck on the front of the zine and in your hands.)

Ooh New Readables

Check out my haul from the London Zine Symposium 2009!

What you're looking at here is:

Zine Fest Zine
Claptrap 3
Sweet Valley 69 #3
Hey Monkey Riot, Spring
Brainscan Zine 23 1/2
Girl Photographer One
Ricochet Ricochet #8
You Don't Get There From Here #10
Cute But Sad comic
Stolen Sharpie Revolution II: A DIY Resource For Zines and Zine Culture

Plus a couple of badges, postcards, and a kitsch little photo from this photographer guy which I will put in a clipframe and put on my wall, yes I will.

I gave some copies of Enthusiasm away to some of the people I got zines from (oh the joys of zine exchange!), but even more exciting, it was on sale there! Only a couple of distros so far, but it's a good start.

All in all, the best day ever was had by all. Sunday trains took ages to get to London, but this enabled me to get over my hangover from the truly epic party the night before. Also had a pootle around Brick Lane and Spitalfields market(s), where there were swarms of ice-cool youths. Perfection.

Ooh, Ziney!

Look at what I'm going to on Sunday!

I absolutely shouldn't, what with this being the week to pay the council tax and water bill and all, but I figure this will definitely be worth it. Also I will be hungover, because we're having a party the night before. Still worth it.

Details here:

Website here: London Zine Symposium 2009

EnthuZINEasm: Part III

I've been meaning to post this for ages and ages... What I wanted to say was here, ta da! Our latest zine. It has things in it about bikes, politics, graphic novels, coffee and historical crazies. If you would like a copy and I haven't given you one already, please let me know and we can work something out. So that's that done.



I'm going to start the layout for issue #4 any day now. Submissions are welcome as always, and if they won't fit in the next issue they can go in the one after that. Got some stuff lined up for #4 about lesbian subtext, fictional towns, music, and lets face it probably bikes and comics and coffee too. For these are the things we are enthusiastic about, ha ha. Exciting!!

Instructions

Some zine-related information for y'all, because people keep asking:

The submissions floodgates are open for Enthusiasm!

BUT we have a nice wodge of submissions for Issue #3, so your fantabulous pieces will more than likely appear in Issue#4.

Issue #3 will appear some time this month, a Christmas present to the zine world, and Issue#4 will be a January/February kind of deal.

Bring forth your amazing and creative submissions, party people!!

Just because I thought I was obliged to put a picture in. Flughafen the bear is getting his head squished next to a piece of my foundation year 'artwork', oh dear.

Chainring Heart

This is what I just ordered from Microcosm Publishing:

Papercutter #7, Bad Lyrics Project, Biff #3, Big Hands #3, Buzz #2, Coffeeshop Crushes #1, Cramhole #2, Dreamwhip #13, Flying Lesson #10, Green Zine #14, Indestructible book, Journalsong #6, Kerbloom #66, La-La Theory! #2, The: A Fancy Word For Widow, Likes / Dislikes zine, Listy #3, Papercutter #6, Post is the Most #2, Really Gay!, Snakepit #16, Sourpuss #2, YOU. zine, When You Can't Stand Yourself, Go Outside, Sounds of Your Name 1.0 (free copy), Patch #127: Slingshot Woman, Patch #058: Chainring Heart, Patch #084: I Heart Tofu, Patch #088: I Read Zines, Patch #102: Fix Shit Up, Patch #116: Record Playerz, Patch #137: Camera, Patch #120: The Pedal Power Don't Stop, Patch #119: You Can't Hug with Nuclear Arms, Patch #014: Feminist Fist, Patch #187: $0 per gallon, Patch #130: Sweetheart Chainring, Patch #029: Peace Dove, Patch #149: I Heart Vibrators.

That's 38 items, people! Someone please stop me before my zine obsession gets out of hand!!

To be fair, this was partly a group order, with the patches and everything. Plus most of these items were one or two dollars, and the most expensive was four dollars. We had to get Microcosm to send the zine and patch package to an intermediary in the states, because they don't mail overseas. What a hassle. But so worth it.

Microcosm are a zine distro and small-press publisher based in Portland OR and Bloomington IN. If you've heard of a zine, they stock it. (And if you don't know what a zine is, here's a handy definition Lucy found: "a small, handmade amateur publication done purely out of passion, rarely making a profit or breaking even." Sounds about right.) Microcosm also do tshirts, badges, patches, stickers and posters. The vibe is very bike hipsterish, pro-veganism, anarchism, feminism, DIY, that kind of thing; I'm pretty sure they make no money whatsoever. Microcosm have also apparently just opened a store in Portland; wish I could go visit it. Check out the super-cute logo also:


I am so excited about the ziney package of joy that is heading my way! It's going to be amazing!

EnthuZINEasm: Part II

Hey kids, guess what madly exciting thing has just arrived upon the zine scene? That's right, it is ISSUE TWO of our wonderful publication ENTHUSIASM.

Topics covered in Issue 2 include: the proper music to listen to in the autumn, the fun of sending letters, the fact that reading is sexy, GK Chesterton and Frank Herbert, whether lesbianism may be a suitable lifestyle choice for you and your friends, and the Isle of Man.

View above a crappy photograph of the front cover because I do not have a scanner, and below is the back cover, with a sea monster and our new email address. They both look way better in real life.


Please email or comment if you want a copy, because our only desire is to spread the love. The next issue is due out at Xmas, so contributions are very welcome, provided you are literate, enthusiastic and not an idiot. Which I am sure you are not.

Check out the beauty of issue one here.

Art! Commerce!

A new zine friend of mine has some paintings for sale, and very attractive they are too. A3 sized, gouache, poster paint, ink and collage on mount board, going for a bargainous £15. Visit her deviantart page for more details - secretbear - and, UK readers, this is a vital opportunity to support a burgeoning artist. And fund her tattoo.

Interim

Breakfast

The Cat Knows

Refrigerator Rhyme

You can't have that last one, because I bought it myself already. Sweet.

EnthuZINEasm

Unbelievably, Tim and I actually managed to pull a zine together, as threatened. It's called Enthusiasm, you may view the cover of Issue 1 below.


Tim sums up the ethos of the zine thus:

"This ‘zine was conceptualized during drunken conversations (like most worthwhile ideas) between Susie and I in various locations around Portland, OR and Norwich, UK. These discussions would usually go along the lines of “What do we really like?”; to which the answer would usually be, “lots… [list ensues]”. However, on one sunny, or possibly wet, day we sat down and made ‘serious’ plans during a moment of sobriety. Why have a zine about just one thing, when we can simply include everything we like? Everything we’re ‘enthusiastic’ about?"

So there you have it. Enthusiasm is full of zippy articles about the topics close to our hearts, with contributions from Tim and I and several of our intelligent and devastatingly attractive friends. Subjects covered include Japanese history, being pretentious in coffee houses, Byron, Foucault, Rolf Harris, Doomsday and Facebook. It was so much fun to put together!

Page 8

Which conveniently brings us to Enthusiasm issue 2. We would love contributions of all kinds, so long as, you know, it's something you're enthusiastic about. (No negativity here. America taught Tim and I, god help us, to be proactive.)

The deadline for submissions for issue 2 is September 10th. Send Tim and I whatever you come up with, let us know what you're thinking of writing about along the way.

Word limit is fairly fluid; I can work around most lengths, but I may have to cut your baby down, so bear that in mind. I am a harsh but fair editor. Here are some rough guides, bearing in mind each page is A5.

One page: 375 words
Two pages: 750 words
Three pages: 1000 words

Something like that. Be inventive, list format always works well, or not, please include a drawing if you wish, let me know if you have any layout ideas for me. No angsty poetry please.

If you don't have a copy of issue one yet, gasp! why don't you? Let me know, I will send one to you post-haste.

Distribution of issue one has been a little patchy, what with the summer dispersion of peeps, but issue 2 is going to be flung far and wide for the reading pleasure of the masses. And, *ahem*, if anyone wants to help with photocopying...

Questions? Comments?

80s Skaters

These are my new bezzie mates. They are polite and hygienic young men.

Team Alva

Darin Bendall is a designer, artist, animator who lives in Tokyo but is from somewhere in the States, I think? I'm not really into his style so much, but he did contribute animation for the fantastic video for Chinese Translation by M Ward, a video which has a touch of simple genius about it, much like the song.

Anyway, this post is not about the work of Darin Bendall, it's about the fantastic images of 80s/90s skate magazines he has on his site. As the man says: "When I was back in Oklahoma I acquired a small stack of skate magazines from the 80s and early 90s I though I'd share. I hope you enjoy them as much as I do, cause this shit just makes me want to run straight out and duct tape up a bunch of Converse, do bonelesses all day long and then come home and draw skulls. These are all from Thrashers circa 1986-1990. Skate or die..."

I just admire anyone who managed to look cool during the 80s. Also I feel like I can steal a few zine ideas from these. Especially the fork guy further down. Those who know me will remember that I enjoy incorporating cutlery into my work. Ah, for a hardcore zinester like myself, everything is inspiration!

Young Rick Howard

Jeff looks so sad!

Frigid lien

T.g.

Halftime!

Street Style

Eddie Reategui

Henry Gutierrez

Aaaron 'Fingers' Murray

More skate scans here. Thrasher magazine (still running) here.

Continuous Cities

On the agenda for today: Theo Ellsworth, an artist based in Portland Oregon. Makes prints, art zines and comics, including a zine called Capacity.

Topics covered: spacemen, contraptions, leaves, twining greenery, astoundingly complex cities, dryads, stars, monsters, little boats, impossible flight, beast people, creatures with frightening aspect but friendly agenda, canals, rooftops and weathervanes, prosaic captions for freaky things, giant heads, scaly lizard things and clouds.


Ellsworth's bio says that "He has a miniature city inside of his head that is overrun with funny monsters, yet he still manages to come across as a semi-normal guy." This seems likely, looking at his art. I also have my own miniature city inside my head, so I am pleased to identify with his work.

His bio also states that: "He is abnormally fond of clouds, and wants to build things out of them. He is prone to fits of whimsy, and tends to have weird dreams." Which is average Portland artsy hipster stuff, really.

I just love Ellsworth's stuff, especially the b&w incredibly complex images of repeating architecture, or the springs, levers and platforms of a nonsensical gadget (these remind me a little of Heath Robinson) I just wish I could draw that kind of multiplicity, but I've found that you have to have a fantastically thorough understanding of what you are repeatedly drawing in order to make it work. I get confused over the angles and in a frustrated mess about how everything connects up.

The coloured-in work is good too, he seems to have a muted autumnal approach to colour which is interesting, occasionally breaking out into a subdued rainbow.

Ellsworth has a stall at the Saturday Market, all those in Portland, although the last couple of times I've been in town he hasn't been there, which is a shame 'cause I wanted to buy a print. Capacity should turn up in all good zine-selling stores (and in the zine rack at the Paradox), and the Art Capacity website is worth a look.

One more thing: This is Theo Ellsworth's desk. I love this guy.

Venues

I just realised that these two illustrations were kicking around my uni computer account, so I thought I would post them. I drew them for the now apparently defunct music zine, The Revolution Will Not Be Amplified; they wanted a couple of illustrations of hopping Norwich gig venues.

Norwich Arts Centre, 51 St. Benedicts Street

St. Andrews Hall, St.Andrews Plain

Oh, (probably) doomed zine, I think they only managed one issue. There was really no need for me to bother doing these pictures, except for the fact that, you know, I like drawing things. Besides, Tim and I are going to produce a zine ourselves after Easter. Nyeh nyeh.

I have only ever seen one show in St.Andrews Hall (maybe also the student King Lear in the first year?), that was the weird string lady thing with Lydia. The Norwich Arts Centre, however, is like my second home. They have such awesome stuff there all the time. Love it.

The Revolution Will Not Be Amplified

...is the name of a music blog based in good old Norwich. Tim lent me a copy of it a few weeks back, and I wrote off to them asking if they need any artistic input. (Which they did, it was pretty text-heavy.) Below are a couple of covers I worked out, and which I doubt they will use; I haven't heard back from editor dude. Oh well, at least they were fun to put together. I feel a bit creatively starved if I don't do any art along with my literature stuff. Oh my tortured inner artistic soul!

I am so into the zine aesthetic lately. Or at least my idea of the zine aesthetic, which is probably totally wrong, because I foolishly missed out on the vibrant Portland zine culture. I sensed its presence, and promptly decided I had no time and it was too cool for me. Anyhow, I have a feeling zines involve a lot of collage and photocopying and messy text and lectroset. Do correct me if I'm wrong. The first cover below is a reworking of a Russian propaganda poster, with all the political text replaced with pretty flowers. I actually used virtually the same design for my Dad's birthday card, but figured it was worth repeating; I don't suppose my Dad would mind, if he ever found out. The second was supposed to involve a rip-off of the Jackpot Records logo, but got steadily less rip-off-y. Probably a good thing, I'm breaching enough copyright as it is (hello, this entire blog).

The myspace page for The Revolution Will Not Be Amplified is here. It's a darn good zine actually, they seem to know their shit.